Perfect (PewdieCry)

Chapter 3

The next few days were like a routine. I would do my chores in the day like usual, chatting with other servants and maids sometimes and when dinner was done, we would all go to our own rooms to sleep. But when everyone else had fallen asleep, a gentle knock would echo in my room where I sat beside the window, waiting. Silently, I would open the door, and there he was: my master. Cry. We would sneak to his room, and he would take off his mask. Then we would talk - mostly him ranting to me while I listened and patted his shoulder in reassurance - but I was fine with that. Maybe even glad that I could help him like this.

Sometimes I would fall asleep still sitting beside him and I would wake up on his bed. When I looked over, I would see him sitting asleep on the chair beside me, awkwardly leant forward that half of his body looked like it fell on the bed while the other half remained seated on the chair. I felt bad when it first happened, ashamed that our roles of master-servant had somehow reversed, but of course when I told him about it he just said that it was taken in return for listening to his problems. So I willed myself to walk back to my room or at the very least, sit on the chair when sleep started to catch up on me.

The vase that I broke was pretty much forgotten. Every time I tried to pay for it, he would just decline, using his position as master to his advantage. Eventually, I just gave up trying.

"Felix, could you help me bring these new furniture upstairs? Master will be mad if I don't finish all this up before lunch." I pulled myself from my stupor and looked up at Ken. He was also working here and was one of the servants I became friends with. He was actually the one who questioned Cry's mask shamelessly on the first day; I'm surprised he hadn't been fired right away.

"Uh, um... Sure, yeah." I shuffled over to him, grabbing some small sculptures laid on the table by the window. Ken went ahead upstairs and just as I was about to follow, something outside caught my attention.

Cry was outside, talking - though it seems more like he's arguing - with another nobleman who I presume was a relative. Cry stormed away angrily soon after, shutting the mansion's tall gate loudly and the man merely watched him leave, expression showing boredom. I felt a shudder as he looked up through the window where I was and looked directly at mebefore walking away.

I never saw Cry anywhere in the house for the whole day. Usually he'd be walking around the house like a patrol guard but today, he wasn't. And when I did catch him eating by himself on the long table, he told me to leave him alone for a while. I nodded slowly, hesitantly, confused and wanting to ask what happened, but seeing him with the mask, unmoving and without even looking me in the eye made me feel so far away from him, and I couldn’t find the right words to ask him what was wrong.

I thought that maybe he’d tell me tonight like always, so I let it be for now, going about my routine. Soon, dusk quickly shifted to nighttime and as the grandfather clock tolled the stroke of midnight, I was already waiting for his arrival, facing the door as I sat on my bed.

But he never came.

An hour had passed but sleep never laid a finger on me. Probably because I was so used to staying up this late to listen to his honeyed voice venting about his problems in these hours. But more importantly, what’s taking him so long? He couldn’t have slept already; he could’ve told me-

Oh wait… He did say to leave him alone for a while, didn’t he?

I facepalm and lie down the mattress, blushing at my own stupidity. Of course he wouldn’t come, he said he wanted to be left alone! But… why? What happened between him and that man earlier today? What could they be arguing about?

I sat up, unable to sleep with all the questions circling my head. Maybe I should go check on him…

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