“FROST!” Bryson shouted out angrily. He was currently sitting on his bed arms folded watching angrily as a very overwhelmed brunette maid was in his massive walk-in closet frantically throwing about clothes.

“In a moment!” Lila Frost shouted out frantically as she was trying to organize all the various clothing within the massive closet.

“I have been waiting for several moments already!” Bryson yelled back.

Eventually Lila emerged out of the closet, slightly out of breath but with clothes in hand.

“I got them.” She said as he approached Bryson.

“That took you forever.” Bryson said annoyed as he got up and let her help him put on his outfit, “How in the world are still this terrible after all this time?

“It’s difficult! It was laundry day and the other servants still give me hell!” Lila complained.

“Laundry day is the same day every week and you shouldn’t have entered the laundry room at the same time as those servants. So why are you still so unprepared.” Bryson snapped at her.

“Well… I overslept.” She reluctantly admitted.

“Of course you did.” Bryson said with a disappointed sigh.

“I’m not used to waking up early for laundry day!” She said defensively as she helped straighten Bryson’s jacket and collar.

“You’re the worst.” Bryson said as Lila finished with his outfit and he viewed his reflection from his mirror. Noticing a missing piece he scanned the floor before pointing at a handkerchief that had fallen by Lila’s feet.

“Missing something.” He said.

“Ah!” She emoted as she quickly picked it up and tucked it into Bryson’s breast pocket.

Bryson gave an annoyed sigh, “Well… better than your first month here.”

“Hey, I was never supposed to be doing this. Besides, at least I got them.” She said defensively.

Ignoring her comment, he took a glance into his closet room, unsurprised he saw a that some of his clothes had been scattered across the floor. With an annoyed grimace Bryson walked out of room and down to the dining room, “Clean it up.” He called out as he left.

Without hearing a reply he walked through the hallway and recalled what had happened through the past few months. It had been over four months since the events of the warehouse. His older brother Gilles had only received a few superficial injuries and recovered the next day.

Nico Reese on the other hand, took a bit more of a beating and had to be sidelined for a few days before he could return to duty. It would have been longer if not for the fact that the Coldwaters gave him some magical healing ointments. A reward for doing his job. A good thing too, apparently the magic blade that injured Nico would have normally left him crippled permanently.

Sable had barely talked to Bryson since then. Never once bringing up the fact that she helped cover for him when his father questioned them. Bryson had no idea why and with the lack of communication, he had no way to find out currently.

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His other siblings only followed what happened at the warehouse with only minor interest. They did show concern for them, but they felt more rage toward their attackers than anything. Bryson still has no idea what happened to those who got arrested and he wasn’t sure he would ever want find out.

His parents were another story, however. They coddled him a lot, a bit too much for Bryson’s liking. He had overheard some of the servants mention how on his eighth birthday they were planning to give him a special magic professor to improve his arcane abilities. That only meant more work for him, and he already had to deal with his servant.

Lila Frost was in all honesty an extremely subpar house worker. Which made sense considering that she had originally only worked part-time for the estate. She lacked the fundamentals in what was needed to be a proper servant and often struggled to get some of her tasks done.

Though that wasn’t entirely her fault, the moment Viola found out about Lila she tried her best to make her life miserable. It seemed like Viola thought Lila’s rehiring was Lila trying to get back at her and Viola took that insult about as well as a slap to the face.

Obviously, Viola herself wasn’t going to be able to do anything to stop Lila’s rehiring, so she tried her best to make her job as difficult as possible. Bryson wasn’t sure of it, but he was nearly certain that Viola had given all other servants instructions to cause as much trouble to Lila as possible.

Bryson’s thought process ceased when he noticed a few servants walking through the hallway. Looking at them he recognized those servants to be part of the laundry staff. He recalled how Lila mentioned how they caused her problems.

Well, may as well and try and make my life easier. Bryson thought and he approached the servants.

“You three. You were responsible for this morning laundry, correct?” He asked.

“Oh yes young master.” One of the servants replied with a kind smile.

“My clothes arrived late this morning. Why was that?” He questioned.

“That is terrible news! We gave all your clothes to your personal servant immediately. She must have lost her way getting back to your room. She is quite simple and easily confused.” The servant answered respectfully.

Bryson didn’t even need to look at the servant in the face to see the lie. He also saw that the two other servants tried to hide their smiles as the servant spoke to Bryson.

“The servant Frost, you believe she still lacks in skill?” Bryson asked.

“Yes, I believe that she needs some improvement. I feel as if she is in over her head.” The servant replied.

“Hmm, she is new to this.” Bryson said aloud.

“Yes, it is a shame that she isn’t more experienced.” The servant said.

Bryson then shifted his cold gaze toward the servant, “What is your name?”

“Uh, Stephen, young master.” The servant Stephen replied, slightly unnerved by the sudden glare on him.

“So… Stephen, you believe that my personal servant is inadequate.” Bryson said slowly.

“Um… yes.” Stephen said quietly. The other two servants looked at each other nervously.

“So are you saying that I made a mistake?” Bryson seethed out.

“Uh…”

“Are you saying that the person who was handpicked by my very own parents was the wrong choice? That they made a mistake?” Bryson asked, eyes narrowing.

“No… no.” Stephen stammered out.

“So then, you are saying that she is working perfectly fine?” Bryson questioned.

“Y-yes.” Stephen said quickly.

“So, if she was doing her job adequately, then why was she late?” Bryson asked again.

“Oh… well-”

“If she wasn’t the one at fault, then I would assume that it’s due to you.” Bryson said, his voice sending chills down the spine of the servants.

“No-”

“Shut up.” Bryson snapped at Stephen who went silent. Giving a pregnant pause, Bryson spoke again, “If Frost ever arrives late with my laundry again, I will know who to blame. So make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Bryson growled.

Wordlessly Stephen simply nodded, wide eyed and fearful of what would happen if he spoke out again. Bryson’s cold gaze held on him for a moment before shifting toward the other two servants. The two servants refused to meet his gaze and focused their sights on the floor beneath them.

Staring at them for a few more moments he then proceeded to move past the hallway and toward the dining room for breakfast. I don’t know if that helped Frost or that harmed her. He thought as walked. He hoped that this would help clear a few things of Frost’s table. Less headaches for him. Now what was he going to do after breakfast?