My First Noble Secret Love

solarium. Gentle, like a whisper. It tapped the glass roof wit

footsteps, overlooked by guests. It was the o

ical circles and dusty aristocratic registries. His life was a string of rules wra

loneliness. But

ince

family's private hiring agency. He was efficient, neat, and quiet - alm

way it spoke louder than any

the calm voi

ray with his morning tea. He wore the navy-blue uniform, pressed to perfe

Adrian said

down on the nearby tab

g lunch in the eas

ated. "I hav

once, not pre

lence with noise - El

ted how much he

-

is lap, unread. His thoughts tangled around the morning - Elias's quiet footsteps, the way he never looked directly into

nappropriate, even. Elias was s

ye

led just enough to reveal the bend of his wrist - some

e it. Because naming

-

Clarissa, had arrived that afternoon. They filled the dining room wit

ing wine and nodding at al

hoping Elias would appear. He didn't. Ano

rriage prospects, her tone teasing, but Adrian barely heard her.

The rain had returned - stronger now, beating

re, tending to the iv

l working?"

"Only finishing up, sir. The ivy was b

nds behind his back. "You

I work in," Elias r

ay he said it - not arroganc

a moment, letting silen

it here?" he

ression remained unreada

ure why that di

iss anything

iss places. But pe

slowly, unsure

a master of the house," Elias a

smile. "And you give unusua

ner of his mouth - not quite

um soon after, but the

-

drawer where he kept a small leather-bound journal. He flipped

y, he

y. But when he does, it feels like th

after

I'm in

nal and slid it ba

didn'

ers idly tapping a rhythm that matched the rain against t

strangely

e like Elias. Someone who had no idea the master of the house thought about

ed low, casting soft gold shadows across the carpet. He wondered

of man who kept his

he hearth. The stor

the drawer again, pulled out the journal, and add

if he s

Then cros

t

time, as though it held something

e, the only sound the faint tickin

self to whisper a name he'd neve

li