The appearance of the middle-aged steward brought memories from years ago flooding unbidden into Ellie's mind.
It was back when she had insisted on following Greg home to Duke Sass's Mansion as his maid to repay his kindness.
In those early days, although Greg was always avoiding her, everything else had been fairly normal.
He ate on time, socialized and studied, and occasionally even gave her a somewhat helpless smile.
But later, everything changed.
Duke Sass recruited a group of strange people from who knew where. Their movements were secretive, their faces gloomy, and they always carried a peculiar air she could never quite put into words.
Once those people entered the mansion, its atmosphere changed completely.
First, the servants began disappearing regularly. A manservant might be sweeping the courtyard one day and vanish the next, and the person in charge always explained that he had resigned and returned home.
Later, even several relatives from branch families disappeared, yet no one dared ask where they had gone.
And during that time, Young Master Greg changed dramatically too.
The boy who had once been cheerful around others gradually became extreme and withdrawn.
He began distancing himself from those around him, first his fiancée, with whom he had once been quite close, then his adopted younger sister in the family.
He had also tried to distance himself from Ellie.
But every time he tried, Ellie punched him straight in the face.
The first time, he hid from her for three days. She waited outside his door for three days and nights, and when hunger finally drove him out to find food, she punched him again.
The second time, he locked himself in his room and refused to come out. She kicked the door open, dragged him off his bed, and beat him