Drama after dinner.

After the meal, Antoniette watched all the members of the house leave the table one by one as it was Aidan who was the first person to stand up. He had not talked after his warning to Eloise but Finley had managed to lighten the mood as he began to converse with the twins, removing their attention from their corner of the table. She could see his broad shoulders from where she stood and the tranquil feeling she got from staying behind him made her feel lethargic as she swayed a little under the cool breeze coming from the open windows. She had not rested since she arrived in the Knight mansion and now the whole workload was now taking a toll on her.

Aidan heard a distinctive yawn coming from behind him and shook his head. After taking one final bite of the steak on his plate, he wiped his mouth and stood up. "I am very tired now, let's talk about other matters tommorow. Servants, you may also retire after clearing the dishes."

"Thank you, Master." The servants chorused while trying to hide the happy smile on their faces since the three ladies' own were quite sour. However, they couldn't even contradict him so they watched him walk pass them to his room as Antoniette cleared his plates and carried them to the kitchen.

"Older Brother is really prickly these days, don't you think?" Evelyn grumbled under her breath after making sure he had truly left the room. "It's like he has become another person ever since Father died. He has cut down all our allowances and no longer lets us do what we want anymore. He used to be quite the indulging brother, wasn't he?"

"I don't think it's a bad thing to force you two to attend lessons and make you all behave like proper ladies." Finley watched one of the female servants pour him another cup of wine before he continued to talk. "You all know that the Knight family has weakened somewhat considerably after your father died and your brother is trying his best to stabilize the company. You all should-"

"Enough!" The twins' mother who had been eating all this while suddenly stood up, shocking everybody but one with her outburst. "I have had enough with your interference and I will not hear of it again. Know your place as a interloper whose position isn't different from that of the furniture of this house."

The whole room was stunned into silence as they heard her words and then she stood up and left the room with her head held up high. The servants immediately did their work, some of them even retiring for the night as they left the remaining three people alone in the room. Eloise looked genuinely upset as she tried to comfort her cousin who looked indifferent to the commotion that had just taken place. "Finley, please don't mind Mother. She is just frustrated with my older brother...."

Finley put down his cup of wine and interrupted her midway to her explanation as he revealed a small smile. "There is no need to worry about it, Eloise. It has been very clear for a while that your mother isn't happy that I managed to inherited a small part of the fortune that her husband painstakingly built. Please help me explain to her that once I fulfill the requirements of the conditions that enables me to access that fortune, I will leave this house."

Eloise couldn't even respond properly to his words as he already stood up and left the dining room. The twins were dumbstruck for a while and then Evelyn ordered the servants to also clear their plated before asking her sister. "Is what he said really true? Mother hates him for inheriting some company shares that belonged to Father?"

Eloise shook her head. "She is just resentful that Father didn't leave her any sustainable assets like he did to Aidan and Finley. They weren't on good terms before he died after all."

Evelyn managed to catch a trace of disdain and anger in her sister's voice as if she knew something that she didn't but didn't dwell on it much and chose to tease her a little instead. "You have always been very protective of Cousin since we were little. It's almost as if you have a crush on him."

"That is absolutely ridiculous, Evelyn!" Eloise straightened her figure in shock as she glared at her twin with slight panic written on her face. "What goes on in your head these days, I wonder?! If you would excuse me, I would like to sleep instead of listening you say such absurd things."

"I was only jesting, Eloise." Evelyn tried to explain herself with a helpless tone as she watched her sister leave the room and shrugged her head. She also yawned a little, also feeling a tired from the day's events so she decided to retire for the night.

During the night, Antoniette found herself unable to close her eyes when she thought of the feeling she had when she had touched that man's fingertips. She had never experienced anything like it before and wondered if this was the same one the romance novels talked about. Rolling to her other side, she vehemently denied it as she knew what it could mean for her. For now, the only time she could spare wouldn't be for romance but for work.

"Are you still awake?" Louisa's drowsy voice could be heard beside her as she sensed Antoniette's unruly movements on the same bunk. She had finally woken up due to her tossing and couldn't endure it any longer.

"I am sorry. I just have a hard time sleeping in an unfamiliar environment." Antoniette immediately stilled her movements and whispered apologetically amidst the silent atmosphere.

Louisa also adjusted her position and slowly she closed her eyes drowsily. "That's okay, my dear friend. But you should sleep while you can because there will be hard work waiting for you tommorow. Do not let go of such a precious opportunity...."