The return of a certain someone's shut-in life

"Magnus, when was the last time you saw the young master?" a woman in maid attire asked. She was cleaning one of the windows in the Nightmoon family's mansion. However, a sudden gust of wind forced the window open, causing her green hair to flutter and interrupt her work.

"Ugh! Why is it so windy today?!" the woman yelled in frustration while trying to close the window, so she could continue her work.

"I haven't seen the young master since....last month...." a butler with cyan hair and green eyes replied to the woman. He had long hair that was tied in a ponytail. He had a grim expression when replying to the maid.

"That's around the time I last saw him too...." the maid said with the same expression.

"He is alive....isn't he?" the woman asked Magnus with a worried look.

"What are you talking about Gloria?! Of course, he's alive! Haha! Yeah..." The butler known as Magnus tried to dismiss the worries of the maid, but he himself wasn't sure anymore.

"You still leave food outside of his room, right? What happens to the food?"

"Ah, right! The food always ends up finished! That must mean he's still alive!" Magnus exclaimed as a look of relief spread across his face.

"That's good to hear but it's still concerning that he always shuts himself up in his room now. What if he's depressed about Lady Nightmoon's disappearance? Can we be sure he's fine?" Gloria voiced her concerns.

"I'm worried too but when I asked the young master whether he's troubled or not, he said he's fine...."

"...With a polite smile on his face, right?" Gloria concluded Magnus's inner thoughts before he could express them.

Both of them let out a deep sigh after that. The young master's polite smile that could put politicians to shame was a concern in itself for them.

"Hello, Mr. Magnus! Hello, Ms. Gloria! How are you both?!" an energetic little girl asked as she rushed over to the two.

The looks of despair and hopelessness the two had on their faces quickly vanished with the little girl's arrival. The grim looks on their mugs were replaced with sparkling eyes that expressed "hope".

"Dawn! Could you please check if the young master is alright? He locked himself up in his room again!" Magnus begged the little girl as he bowed down earnestly to please her.

"Yes, Miss Dawn! I too beg of you to check the young master's condition!" Gloria similarly bowed to the little girl who was the two's last hope.

"What?! Dusk locked himself up again?! For how long?!" Dawn asked Magnus as she started storming towards the young master's room.

"Uh...For a month...I think." Magnus followed the little girl and replied to her question which came from genuine concern.

"What?! He stayed in his room the entire time I was on a trip to the city with Daddy?! How can someone even stay in their room for so long?!" Dawn cried out, baffled by the absurdity of Magnus's words.

"That's what we've been asking ourselves as well," Gloria commented as she followed Dawn as well.

As the three quickly headed toward Dusk's room they ended up meeting with a certain someone.

A man with white hair and green eyes. He was tall and had an impressive figure. He looked to be in his early twenties, although, in reality, he was somewhat older than that.

It was Dusk's father and the Lord of the mansion, Stygian Nightmoon.

"Ah, hello Mr. Nightmoon! How are you?!" Dawn asked Stygian with an innocent smile.

As a commoner, Dawn was supposed to address Dusk's father as "Lord Nightmoon", but as Stygian didn't mind she was allowed to call him "Mr. Nightmoon" instead.

"I'm fine, Dawn. But where are the three of you headed? You seem to be in a rush." Stygian asked, curious to find out about the commotion.

His appearance caused a great disturbance in the unity of the three. Mostly due to Magnus suddenly losing all the strength in his legs and shaking uncontrollably like he was having a seizure. However, Magnus was still a butler of the Nightmoon family. No matter how afraid he was, he had to answer the lord's questions. Even if it meant the end of him. And so he mustered up all the courage he had, gritted his teeth, and opened his mouth to answer Stygian but.....

"Dusk locked himself up in his room again! I'm here to drag him out or he'll get sick from not getting any sunlight!" Dawn explained the situation instead of Magnus.

"Ah, I see. I'll leave it to you to check up on him then. Thank you as always for looking after my son, Dawn." Stygian said with a grateful smile.

"Leave it to me!" the little girl said proudly. She then resumed storming towards Dusk's room.

However, she was not followed by Magnus or Gloria anymore. Because Magnus had fallen on his knees the disappointment he felt towards himself for not being able to answer one simple question from Stygian, overwhelmed him. Gloria understood Magnus's thoughts well and so she started patting the young man's back with sympathy.

Meanwhile.....

Each step she took meant the end of another's peace. And yet no one stopped the evil girl from destroying her target's respite. Instead, they had supported the devil incarnate to destroy the wishes of a child who merely wanted to be at his lonesome.

And then, finally, she arrived at her destination.

"Dusk! Are you there?! I want to see you, so can you come out?!" Dawn shouted and then knocked on the door.

However, there was no response from the opposite side.

"Dusk?! Are you there?!" Dawn shouted again and this time attempted to open the door, which she assumed to be locked.

But surprisingly, the door opened up.

"Huh? The door's open...Dusk, if you're there I hope you don't mind me entering...." Dawn said and entered the room.

But the one she was looking for was nowhere to be seen. The room was neat and clean. There was exquisite furniture in the room and the paintings on the wall suggested the room was well furnished. And yet, although there was everything in the room that a commoner could wish for, the one who should reside within it could not be found.

"Eh? He isn't here? Where is he?!" Dawn mumbled as she inspected the room. She noticed a lot of flowers, stones, and....knives placed on a desk.

She was curious as to why such things were on Dusk's desk when she suddenly sensed someone's annoyance towards her. This was the effect of her skill. And from it, she could tell who the person was. Because only one person always expressed their annoyance at her.

"Dusk?!" she uttered the name of the person and then turned towards the place she sensed him.

And then she saw him. A young boy with white hair like his father and deep blue eyes. The boy looked as though he had just climbed up to the window. He looked at her straight in the eye and then asked,

"Do you know what sea monsters eat for dinner?"

"What?"

"Fish and ships."

Note: My novel got a contract offer! I'm probably going to accept it after reading through the contents carefully. Thank you all for making this possible! And thanks again to all those who keep gifting me power stones and read my novel!