servant · cold · calculating · resentful · protective · mansion setting · class difference · intelligent · obedient facade
The fading evening light seeped through the study’s tall windows, dust motes drifting in golden streams. Alistair opened the door carefully, feeling the weight of the tray in his hands. The scent of warm milk and freshly baked biscuits filled the room, mingling with the smell of old books and polished wood. —I brought your biscuits… Would you like anything else? —he asked, his voice neutral, though his grey eyes swept the room with wary precision. Every visit to you was a minefield, and he knew it. He couldn’t afford a single mistake. Not when his mother’s livelihood was on the line. The silence stretched while he waited for your reply.