A strange visitor in the study.

After a few days, the atmosphere in the house had calmed down and everything had seemed to return to normal. The maids in tbe kitchen had finished their morning work and gathered around to gossip as a normal habit and Louisa was in the center of it all. She put her hands on her hips indignantly and asked her colleagues. "What I am saying is the truth. Don't you believe me at all?"

The other maid shook her head and said. "It's not that we don't believe you, Louisa. We have also noticed that Master Aidan doesn't allow anyone to clean his study anymore but it can't mean anything."

"What do you mean it's nothing? Haven't you also noticed he also eats his dinner in the study and you can hear another voice coming from there if you listen carefully. I know what I am saying, he must be talking to his father's ghost!" Immediately Louisa said those words, there was a brief moment of silence before the other maids burst into laughter at her absurd words.

One of the maids managed to speak up in between her bouts of laughter. "Louisa, don't be ridiculous! How can you say such words with a straight face? The next thing you would talk about would be witches and goblins!"

Her face turned red as she became enraged by their mocking laughter so she stomped her feet before she left. The bell for work rang at that moment so the rest of the maids quickly dispersed and resumed their duties like the conversation never happened. Louisa mumbled angrily as she picked up a metal bucket, saying. "I know I am not the crazy one here and I will prove it. Just you all see...."

Meanwhile, Antoniette opened the curtains so that the sun rays could illuminate the room before she picked up a rag to clean the table in the study. These days had been very relaxing and comforting for her since she didn't have much work and was still able to send her salary to her hometown. In the beginning, she had been been courteous towards her master who was the only person who came to check up on her once in a while but she soon got lonely staring at the walls and talking to empty spaces so she made a bold request one night he came to see her.

"Master, if you don't mind...can you accompany me to eat when you have the time?" She said the first few words in a loud tone but her voice became smaller when she saw his stoic handsome face staring at her. She suddenly lost confidence and even proceeded to retract her statement quickly as she feared that she wouldn't be able to stay here anymore. "No, what I meant was-"

"Are you sure you want me to eat with you?" Aidan looked at her carefully gauging her expression as he said. "You must be feeling lonely staying here all by yourself, should I get one of your friends to stay with you instead?"

Hearing his words, the first person she thought about was Louisa whom she had stayed with but she felt that the situation she was in wasn't suitable to get another innocent person involved especially Louisa. She hadn't managed to befriend anyone in this short period of time she had arrived so all she said was. "I have no friends here."

Aidan suddenly remembered that she hadn't stayed long in his house and slowly nodded his head. Although he had his reservations about eating with a female alone, it was also a feeling that made him slightly excited since he had not found an appropriate opportunity to talk to her. He didn't have much experience with women and found the ones around him a bit irritating so he didn't know how to woo the woman he liked. "Alright, I will take my meals in the study. If you want, you can join me there."

She couldn't hide her smile when she heard his words and responded with glee in her eyes when she saw him leaving tbe room. "Thank you, Master Aidan."

And that's how they started eating and chatting together like good friends. There wasn't much she could learn about him since he was a very quiet person but the little she had managed to find out from her observations and questions was that the Knight family was involved with shipments and transportations which dealt with foreign companies. She realized that he was indeed working hard to sustain his mother and sisters' lavish lifestyle as he hardly had time to spend for himself. She always felt a little sad seeing him return with such a weary face when he sat down to eat with her.

That's why she also tried her best not to slack off with her own little duties. Although cleaning the study wasn't a tedious work like the rest, she wanted him to feel comfortable when he wanted to work and this was her little contribution which made her feel useful in his life.

She paused for a brief second, holding the rag as she sighed. She couldn't deny that she had fallen for the young man whom she knew she did not deserve. Their family background were very different but that didn't stop the feelings she had for him and it even intensified with the need to share the burden he carried so responsibly.

All her inner thoughts dispersed when she heard someone knocking on the door of the study so she quickly went to go and hide behind one of the chairs. Soon after, a man stepped into the room and looked around before he went to the table and started rummaging through the papers she had just arranged. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was Master Finley who was going through Aidan's documents. Her mind kept turning while she unconsciously took a step back and then she hit one of the flower vases behind her in horror.

Finley immediately stopped what he was doing as soon as he heard the noise and he stood up, looking around the room with cautious eyes looking around the entire room. "Who is that?!"