Restless Night

After a while, Ms. Cora returned with a key in her hands and gave it to Amayah and told her the room for which they were.

She deliberately gave her the room furthest from Master Nolan's room on the second floor. 'It's not my fault anymore since Master Nolan chased her out himself,' she thought to herself.

'Certainly took long enough,' she grumbled inwardly. She thought that this should've happened a long time ago. She wanted Amayah to have a taste of Master Nolan's merciless cruelty herself. But contrary to her expectations, not only did that girl, Amayah, not give up, she even requested to have her dinner in the room with Master Nolan.

It was most unexpected. Most people wanted to run away from him, but she was the first one to go towards him instead.

***

On the second floor…

After a while, Nolan eventually calmed down from the emotional turmoil. He frowned, wondering where Amayah had gone.

Didn't he say that he wanted to be alone only for a while? Was she really not coming back at all?

Nolan was once again overwhelmed by an insecurity he could not explain. Agitated, he started to focus on the ticking of the clock on the wall to calm down and get rid of the unwanted thoughts.

Eventually, it became too much. Instead of helping him calm down, the silence was making him focus more on the topic. It made him really impatient. He gnashed his teeth and got up from the sofa, turning around to leave the room subconsciously.

Nolan forged his way through the room carefully and grabbed the door handle.

When he opened the door, one of the female servants was passing by, carrying some things. When she noticed Nolan standing at the door, she couldn't help but jump in shock. She was scared out of her wits at his sudden emergence.

Sensing someone nearby, Nolan immediately asked, "Who's there?"

"Master Nolan, I-I was just passing by!" The maid answered timidly.

Not every servant was rude. In fact, most of them were like this one. They were terrified of Nolan and thus avoided him.

Nolan was long used to this treatment by everyone around him. Either they were disgusted by him or they were too scared.

Nolan asked, with a seemingly casual tone, "I have a question: do you know where Amayah went?"

He didn't want others to know that he was agitated, and felt somewhat insecure and scared, which even he didn't notice himself.

The servant immediately replied, "Young miss Amayah is in the room on your right."

"Oh? The first room?"

"N-No, the last room."

Hearing that, Nolan was rendered speechless. He could endure that she wanted to sleep in a separate room from him for once, but he never expected her to distance herself so much from him.

The maid saw Nolan's posture becoming tense and hurriedly said, "M-Master Nolan, can I go now?" At this point, she wanted nothing else but to run away as far as she could from here. She had started working at this mansion only a few days ago. She had heard rumors about how ruthless the young master of this house was before starting the work. And some of the maids here had also warned her not to cross paths with Master Nolan; now she could understand why. He was giving off a really strong sense of unpleasantness. She was really scared to her bones that even her voice was stammering.

Nolan, on the other hand, couldn't help but think in his mind. Did Amayah really intend to sleep in a separate room? He told her that he wanted to be alone for a while, not the whole night!

Nolan gritted his teeth and asked, "Did she herself ask for that room?"

The maid didn't take a second longer to answer, "Yes, I heard that young miss specifically looked for Ms. Cora to get the key to the room."

So it was the truth then, Nolan concluded.

Was she going to betray him too? Was she just going to leave him just like that?

Nolan clenched the door handle tightly in his hand, his expression dark. With a snarl, he slammed the door shut.

The maid staging there couldn't help but shudder from fear.

***

That night, Nolan couldn't fall asleep, even after an hour had passed lying on the bed.

He turned around, lying on his other side, facing towards the couch where Amayah slept. Before, he didn't notice much difference in the room when Amayah moved in, but today when she was not here, it somehow felt empty.

She was the only other person who accompanied him in this room after his accident. No one ever dared to go on the second floor unless there was a reason, but she was the first one who stepped not only on this floor but also in his room. Even though he couldn't see, just her presence brought an unknown flicker of warmth to this cold and dark room. Even though he wasn't consciously aware of these facts, his heart felt it.

It was a restless night for him.