Chapter 35

**CHAPTER 35**

**"Now, can you bring me to the kitchen?** I'm ravenous, and I don't have a good sense of directions."

Richard sighed in content and nodded approvingly. "Of course, I'll gladly accompany you there, Mistress." He then turned around and began to stride forward.

Allison followed him like a little puppy while remembering the directions they passed. Minutes later, they arrived in the kitchen. In an instant, he was elapsed as her world went in slow motion, and her mouth drooled like the way how she drooled at Hades' sweaty, sexy body back at the gym.

With cold legs, she drew to the two-door refrigerator elatedly to find something to heat up and devour. Her eyes instant found their way on a plate of lasagna. She reached for the plate and fished it out from the refrigerator. She walked towards the microwave, plugged its wire on, placed the cold lasagna inside, and set the timer for ten minutes.

A chortle echoed around the corners of the kitchen that rendered her to turn her head and saw Richard, who was staring at her with smiling eyes as if he was watching his one-year-old daughter walk for the very first time. Straight away, she flustered and sat on the nearby stool timidly with her head hung low. She saw him sit on the stool beside hers through her peripheral vision.

"You know, Mistress..." Richard started, trying to create a conversation, "I know that the Master may seem to be hard to understand. But please, when you get to know him better, you would see that is likable."

She turned her head and looked at him with confusion. "Wh...what do you mean?" she asked. That man who trapped her into marrying him was likable? In what way? Or maybe Richard was being biased as he had been serving Hades for seemingly a long time.

Richard smiled at her. "I am the only surviving employee of the Master who was never being fired ever since he took over this mansion," he said, taking a deep breath. "The Master's father, the Lord of the House of de Vries, was an influential and powerful man that even his allies envy him. The Lord makes both friends and enemies in a day. When the Master was still young, he was jolly and timid. He used to be kind and a gentle person, but then, something happened that changed him."

"What changed him?" she couldn't help but ask. She knew she hated him in some way but damned curiosity! She never thought Hades would be that kind of person. A jolly and timid person? By the looks of his face? Nah, he didn't even look like one. He's better to be described as a beast.

Richard's lips shuddered before he answered, "A tragedy."

She stared at him with her inquisitive green eyes as if telling him to go on. She wanted to know more!

"That day, May 11, 2005. The Master was celebrating his 18th birthday while the Lord was on his way home from a business trip to surprise the Master when his private plane crashed. The investigation said that it was murder. A small bomb was secretly attached to one of the plane's wings and exploded while the Lord was on his way home.

"The tragedy left a huge scar to his family and also to us, his servants. But the one who was affected the most was The Lady of the House. She was extremely affected by her husband's death that she had undergone major depression and is needed to be rehabilitated. It pained the Master and his sister, Mistress Hera, because of such misfortune that has come upon their family. Mistress Hera left and led her life alone to find comfort while the Master took the responsibility of the business the Lord left since the Lady was not mentally capable.

"Ever since that tragedy, the Master changed. He became... cold, distant, short-tempered, and rude. He changed so much that even I, the one who witnessed him grow, don't even know him anymore. The tragedy pained him so much that he wanted it to go away by giving his father away. He renovated the whole mansion and even hid his father's piano, the only thing his father is extremely fond of. The Master is now extremely short-tempered that he fired every servant in the house who unconsciously does something wrong to him. Before, no employee ever lasted in this mansion for more than a week. It pains me to see the Master that way. He was like a son to me."

Richard sighed and looked at her with a glint of joy in his eyes. "But then, you came." His words rendered her mind go completely blank. She came? What did he mean?

Thankfully, the microwave made a small sound, pulling her away from her reverie. Instantly, she went on her feet to pull the searing hot lasagna from the microwave. She then opened the dishwasher to get a spoon. Allison stared at the lasagna hungrily as it steamed, tantalizing her with the appealing color of the meat, pasta, and sauce. She was excited to eat it.

"I must go now," said Richard before standing up. "Have a good night, Mistress Allison," he said with a bow.

"Won't you give me company?" she hated eating alone.

He shook his head in decline. "I'm afraid I cannot. I must get to bed and be ready early tomorrow morning. Am I assured that you remember that the Master's room is upstairs?"

She nodded in response, she grew up respecting people, and she hated bothering them for her convenience."Yes, I remember. Good night, Richard."

"Good night, Mistress," he said, bowed once again, and left the kitchen silently. He moved so gracefully that even his shoes didn't make any sounds when he took a step!

She focused on the lasagna that was already waiting to be devoured. However, while she was eating, she couldn't help but think of Hades and the catastrophe that happened in his life.