Dylan returns to his family's home af ter leaving the house three years ago in an attempt to quell his romantic infatua tion with his older brother's wife.

When he comes back home, he finds his throbbing heart longing for her deep ly once more.

Through his bitter struggle, he hears rumors of his older brother's close relati onship with the housemaid Anna, which enrages him into vowing to do eve rything in his power to kick the house maid out of the household for his sister in-law's sake, thus beginning the con stant harassment toward Anna.

As their relationship tangles, it evolves into a deeper bond-one that he didn't expect.

Then, Anna finds out his reasoning for approaching her in the first place...

“How’s the cleaning?”

“It’s nearly done.”

“What about the blanket I told you to take care of?”

“I sent a child to pick it up, so they’ll bring it soon.”

The richest household in the village, the Kilner family, was buzzing with activity. They were undergoing a major cleaning project the likes of which had not been seen by them in quite a while.

The hardest working amongst them was Madam Jane, the lady of the house. She had been working diligently since early morning, forgoing any breaks to ensure that everything was ready for the guests that were set to arrive later that day. She strode tirelessly through every corner of the house, pointing out all the little flaws she deemed in need of correction, yet the true labor lied in the efforts of the Kilner family’s hired workers, who broke their backs in attendance of every demand.

“I’m not sure if the food is being prepared properly. Have I already told the chef that they should never put mushrooms in the soup?” Madam Jane asked Samantha.

Samantha was a woman who served as the head of all the employees. She had been a facet of the Kilner household ever since she was twelve years old, staying with them even until she grew into middle age and her hair began to show hints of grey.

She tried to coax Jane into relaxing, shrewdly crafting a reassuring response. “Yes, you did. Everything is progressing smoothly thanks to you, madam,” she said. “So, why don’t you leave the work to your underlings for now and relax with a cup of tea?”

“This is all for my child who’s finally returning after three long years away from us, Samantha.” Madam Jane tried to stifle the overwhelming joy surging through her heart, willing herself into suppressing her rising blush. She spoke with her hand atop her pounding chest. “Excitement of this magnitude won’t go away with just a cup of tea and a nice, calming seat!”

She rushed toward the underground level where the house’s kitchen was located.

Exasperated, Samantha began to mumble to herself. “Why don’t you realize that sitting down and not doing anything would help us out far more?” she bemoaned, before hurriedly chasing down the stairs after Jane.

***

Anna entered a room at the end of the third floor hallway holding a winter blanket larger than herself in her arms. She placed the blanket upon the room’s bare bed.

Inside of the room, cleaning it, were two women older than her. After setting the blanket down, one of the women, who had been sweeping the floor, approached Anna wordlessly and helped her spread the blanket over the bed. Anna nodded to her in gratitude, silently thanking her for the help.

The woman stopped to look toward the window. “He’s here,” she hastily whispered.

Anna’s gaze naturally followed the exclamation and she glanced outside the window as well. There she spotted a horse carriage riding toward the house, treading upon the grassy weeds as it did so.

The woman who was helping Anna couldn’t help but give into her curiosity so she approached the window fully. Anna opted to watch as well, so she settled beside her, catching the carriage just as it slowed to a stop at the front entrance of the building.

The coachman got off and opened the door of the carriage, revealing the dashing figure of a young man as he alighted from his seat. Anna could recognise at a glance that he was the second oldest young master of the Kilner family: Dylan Kilner. Dylan looked manlier and much sturdier than he did on the day he first left three years ago.

The whole family waited beside the entrance, eager to greet Dylan. Sir Crane and his wife, Madame Jane, stood beside the eldest son of the house, David, and David’s wife, Carol. Dylan individually embraced them each, one after another, with the only exception being Carol, his sister-in-law, to which he provided a kiss on the back of the hand instead. It was an ordinary greeting, but it was accomplished with a sophisticated and noble air.

The last woman who was cleaning, a blonde, spoke up, chastising the two girls by the window. “If you want to lose your jobs and end up homeless on the streets, keep lazing around like that,” she said. She had been left to mop the floor alone while the other two watched the family reunion, mesmerized as they were by the Kilners’ elegance.

“Especially you,” the blonde continued. She rested her hand on her waist and glared, pointing a finger right at the pale woman standing next to Anna. “How could you laze around like that when you don’t have a sponsor willing to bear the brunt of the consequence for you should you make a mistake?”

The pale woman lowered her head in guilt and retrieved her forgotten broom to resume sweeping. However, it was not she whom the blonde had an issue with. In truth, her qualms laid with Anna. The blonde was condemning Anna in a subtle way, indirectly insinuating that Anna had it easier than the rest of them because she had someone to fall back on in case she screwed up.

However, Anna couldn’t find it in herself to react angrily at the blonde despite hearing those malicious words. She didn’t like how the blonde was disparaging the individual supporting her by calling them a ‘sponsor’, but it was true that she was able to work in a more relaxed manner in comparison to other employees of the Kilner family thanks to them.

The only thing that Anna felt was truly unfair was that she and the person behind her never wrongfully begged for forgiveness nor did they provide excuses whenever she made a mistake. With a shrug of her shoulders, Anna turned back to look outside the window once more, only to find that the house’s lively and populous front yard was now completely empty.

“You look much more capable than you did three years ago, Dylan,” David, Dylan’s older brother, said. He smiled warmly as he lifted his wine glass.

Dylan grinned playfully, his perfect teeth peeking through. “Three years is not a short time, after all.”

A clinking sound rang out as the brothers’ wine glasses lightly tapped each other. Blood red wine danced within each glass.

“You know that, so why did it take you three years to come back to us?” Madam Jane interjected. “I was worrying about you day after day, concerned about whether or not you were eating or sleeping properly. At the very least, you should have sent a letter, or—”

Sir Crane cut her off. “So you’ve completely returned?” he asked Dylan. Jane glared at her husband for the intrusion.

“Yes, I’ve completely returned,” Dylan nodded.

Hearing this, Madam Jane shed a tear of genuine happiness. Sir Crane scolded her display of emotion, citing that she was making a fool of herself, but his claims were tempered by the way he held her hand and took a handkerchief from his pocket, kindly dabbing away her tears.

Using this slight diversion as a chance, Carol joined the conversation. “Welcome back to the household, Young Master.”

Dylan smiled at her in response and nodded.

Three years was certainly not a insignificant quantity of time, and considering how old memories eventually fade with age, Dylan assumed that if he chose to live away from his loved ones for long enough, his emotional connection to them would fade as well. However, that didn’t seem to be the case. The memories he possessed of them, as precious as they were, didn’t become any less precious simply because they were left in the hands of time. In truth, absence had made the heart grow fonder. He loved and appreciated those memories even more than he once had before.

He watched as Carol lifted a little bit of mashed potato from her plate into her mouth. Although she was eating, she wasn’t consuming a substantial amount of food at all. Spotting his gaze, she gave Dylan a small smile, curious as to what he was thinking, but soon her smile grew faint.

Just like the pale skin upon her face, Dylan’s heart became white as well. The three years he spent trying to forget about the woman who became his brother’s wife now crumbled apart in his mind.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would be in your room reading books,” Samantha said as she lowered her head, embarrassed. She wasn’t often the type to make mistakes, so she felt particularly flustered. Aware of this fact, Anna, who stood behind Samantha, lowered her head as well.

“I think it’s more like you didn’t think to knock on the door since this room has been empty every day for the last few years.”

Dylan’s tone of voice sounded like water flowing down a river. Anna raised her head slightly. He was sitting on a windowsill with the sunlight pouring in, his gaze still fixed on his book.

“I’m sorry,” Samantha said.

“I didn’t say that to hear you apologize. I’m just saying let’s both pretend we don’t exist around each other and mind our own business.”

Dylan’s voice was the same as it was all those years ago. Anna felt so relieved to hear it once again that a small smile crept up onto her lips.

At that moment, Samantha glanced at Anna. Nodding her head in understanding, Anna walked towards a closet built out of red mahogany wood with the intent to put away the clothes she was holding. She pulled on the closet door’s handle, but for some reason it didn’t budge.