The Duke's Son

•Chapter Three•

Knock. knock. knock

"Who is it?" He sprung up from his bed and headed to the door, opening it slightly.

He could see a trembling maid holding a tray, flinching at the sight of him.

"Yes?" Louis asked, letting the door open wider.

"Uhh...umm—Sir Ad- I mean, Young Master Adrien asked me to prepare this for you young master." The maid bowed slightly, the tray shook and spilled some of the tea but Louis was busy thinking of something else.

"Eldest brother did?" He asked in confusion.

He stood there in shock for a while before snapping out of his stupor and finally ushered the maid in.

The maid hurriedly headed to the table next to the window by his bed and placed the tray a bit clumsily, making some of the silverware clink.

She stiffened in fear, remembering what the other servants said to her before coming here.

'Don't annoy the young master or he'll lash out at you and drive you away.'

But the current Louis did neither of the two, he quietly sat down and took a biscuit from the plate—nibbling at it in a sort of daze.

The maid bowed in apology and bid her pleasantries before turning back and headed to the door.

"Wait." She heard Louis called, making her stop dead on her tracks.

"Is there anything more that you need young master?" She forced a smile as her hands gripped the tray tightly.

"Did eldest brother say anything, besides this?" He gestured at the food in front of him.

The maid shook her head "No, sir. He only told us to give you the snacks."

"Oh." He exclaimed softly.

The young girl hesitated but inquired again if Louis needed anything more.

"No." He smiled at her before reaching for his notes by the bed and taking his pen out. "I'm great. Thanks. You can go now."

The maid left the room in state of confusion, she was sure that the young master would berate her of all the mistakes she did, stumbling on her words, spilling his tea, and even placing the silverwares clumsily—she expected yelling and maybe a vase flying towards her but instead met with a young boy looking like a lost puppy and asking for his older brother.

She shook her head and turned to look at the closed door behind her and hurriedly left.

~~~~~~~~~

Louis sighed in satisfaction his protesting stomach has finally settled down and he was starting to feel drowsy.

He was confused as to why his eldest brother sent him food but he wasn't about to complain because of it.

He grabbed the last of the biscuits on his plate and washed it down his throat with his tea, making another satisfied noise before continuing to write notes on his lessons from earlier.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Where's Louis?" The duke asked one of the servants.

Half an hour has already passed since they started dinner and not a peep from their youngest was to be seen.

Just as Richard was about to say something again the double-doors opened abruptly and they could see a young maid hurrying towards Maxwell before frantically whispering something.

Maxwell slightly frowned before confirming again what the maid said.

"My Lord," the old butler started, a trace of worry could be heard in his tone. "It seems that the young master is not in his room as of the moment."