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AS the lady starts to lose her appetite, Tabitha and the head cook brainstorm ways to help her regain it.
She’s always eaten very little, though enough to stay healthy. We decide to try to improve the appearance of her meals as well as distribute nutritious food to the servants who like to give her snacks.
She’s also begun to sunbathe in the back garden every day, spending more and more time gazing up at the trees. She seems very lonely.
Noticing as much, the gardener gathers some items. He’s always liked to do things his way, even if they aren’t very typical of a gardener, like the time he built a snow mountain for sledding. That was surprisingly well received by the lady, so perhaps he’s thought of something she’ll enjoy.
She herself has not registered her decreasing appetite or frequent apathy. She simply seems to accept whatever is happening to her body. She still enjoys delicious food and fun activities, however, so the staff know to focus their efforts on those areas.
We must survive just one month. And when Master returns, she’ll surely recover all her energy to welcome him home.
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SAFEGUARDED by the marquisate, the Kofis have served the Drewetts as butlers for generations.
Of course, the Gift does not manifest in every member of the family. Occasionally, outsiders who seek to profit from our Gift attempt to abduct us, and the marquis and his family have always protected us from such villains. We are therefore raised to believe that our Gift should be used in service to the Drewetts.
Most of the time, the Gift manifests in a single person per generation, yet by some miracle, both my older brother and I were so blessed. But we’re certainly not equal in ability: his range is far more extensive, covering half of the Drewetts’ grounds, and he is intelligent and skilled as well. As the eldest son, he was quickly awarded the responsibility of training the current marquis, Lord Wallace, whom he eventually began to serve as steward.
The marquis’s previous steward was not a Kofi, so my father was merely one of many butlers serving the Drewetts. Despite our Gift, we have only a short history of stewardship, maybe about ten years.
Although I’m also a steward, the management of the Drewett estate is substantially more difficult than that of the Noel household. And while I’m not envious of my brother’s talent, that doesn’t mean I didn’t struggle when I was younger. I used to wonder if I would’ve had an easier life if I didn’t possess the Gift. I took a while to find my place, joining the Drewetts’ private army, studying martial arts, even traveling on one of the marquis’s trade ships.
When I succeeded in those ventures, Lord Wallace, seven years younger than me, still free of the frown that’s typically etched into his features, always cheerfully encouraged me. “You’re amazing, Ethan,” he’d say, as though I wasn’t second best to my brother permanently at his side.
Then the old marquis fell ill, forcing Lord Wallace to inherit his role at twenty, not long after his marriage.
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“IS that a message from Master?” a voice had inquired.
I paused. I’d been on my way to deliver instructions from Lord Wallace to the steward regarding an emergency inspection of a small village beset by a landslide.
The voice belonged to one of the maids Lady Katrina had brought with her when she married. Tabitha, I think her name is. “Is there something for the lady? A message or gift perhaps? …No? I see. I see.”
Since the current marquis’s wife had died some years before, the Lady Katrina became mistress of the household the moment she married into the family. Despite her young age of sixteen, she possessed all the dignity and grace of a high-ranking noble, and I could understand why the servants immediately deferred to her.
Yes, I suppose they are newlyweds, I remember thinking, though as far as I knew, my brother had always handled such sentimentalities in Lord Wallace’s stead…
“It’s an unplanned trip, and the village isn’t really a place that sells gifts fit for the lady,” I’d said in their defense.
“Oh, no. She isn’t the one asking, so please don’t misunderstand. I was just curious. Maybe it’s a little forward of me, but I assumed Master would have sent a message to his new bride despite his busy schedule.” With a gentle smile, the maid quickly slipped down the hallway.
Wow. That was scary.