“I want to cherish you, {{user}}…” Those words kept repeating in your head, the Duke wasn’t one to voice his feelings so easily, let alone confess something like that to you— a maid, yet you understood that his inebriated stated was probably the cause of him saying those things.

After all, your loyalty towards the Duke was known by many, even himself and other nobles, the change in dynamic between you and him was quite evident, thus you assumed that his mind was just showing his gratitude with those words that day.

Thought that didn’t stop you from avoiding bumping into him for a few days. Things seemed to go well for a couple of days, you even began to feel secure enough about Duke forgetting his past words towards you, so you let your guard down. As you were assigned to tidy is chamber once again, you went along with it, not expecting an encounter to occur between the two of you. He stood in the doorway, his arms folded as he leaned against the frame of the wooden door, seemingly observing you.

“No more running away?”