The bell rang....
Soft. Faint. But it was enough.
Everyone stopped whatever they were doing.
Butler stopped strolling outside and went to his master's door....behind him chef and cook all left everything as it was not useless.
The maids, servants and even the gardeners all were inside mansion waiting. Waiting for a signal.
After getting the long awaited signal they all got together at door in less than a minute , they stared at door taking a deep breath and then....
Slam!!!
The door opened showing their worry face filled with panic, which calmed as soon as they saw him— Their master.
In seconds, the butler, the cook, the gardener, the maids—everyone burst inside, eyes wide, breathing ragged.
They found him lying on the bed—his body drenched in sweat, blood at the corners of his mouth, his clothes soaked through. Yet—his lips curled upward.
A small smile. Not the fake one he wore to ease their hearts.
A real one.
Their Master's Smile
It had been so long since the butler had seen him smile.
Not the calm mask Elias wore to ease others. Not the courteous nod he offered even while in agony.
But a real smile—one not carved from duty.
The moment it bloomed across his bloodied lips, the old man stepped forward. His knees trembled—not from age, but from restraint. From the ache of watching the boy suffer day after day while he could do nothing but watch.
The boy he had raised in silence. The one who never once cried in front of them.
He had once held Elias as a child, wrapped in silk, surrounded by cold nobles and colder futures. Even then, the child hadn't cried. Only blinked up at him with tired, ancient eyes.
Now those same eyes, hidden behind a blindfold, shimmered with power.
"Master… you found it," he whispered, the words barely escaping his dry throat.
The maids broke first. One gasped, hands clasped over her lips. Another began to cry, turning her face away.
The gardener, usually so quiet, stepped forward with trembling hands. "Please tell us, master—tell us you found a cure."
The cook held her apron tightly, biting back tears. "I prayed every night," she said, voice cracking. "I begged the gods. I didn't care which one answered."
Their master didn't look at them directly. He didn't need to.
His presence was steady now. The pressure in the room no longer wild or unpredictable. It was calm—controlled. As if the storm had finally obeyed the boy who had been drowning in it.
"I did it," Elias said softly.
A hush fell.
The servants stared, speechless. The butler took a single step closer, as if afraid the moment would vanish if he moved too quickly.
"You suffered for a year," the old man said quietly, eyes watering. "And never once… did you ask us for help."
Elias tilted his head slightly. The smile remained.
"I didn't wanted to trouble you," he murmured.
It broke something in them.
"You can never trouble us," the cook choked out.
"You are our pride," the maid whispered.
"You are our light," said the gardener.
And the butler—who had remained strong through the war, through betrayals, through the silence of watching his lord fall and rise again—finally fell to his knees.
"I failed you once," he said hoarsely. "I couldn't do anything for you. But this time… I swear, I will stay until the end and won't let you get hurt again."
He bowed low, forehead to the floor. "Let me serve you again. Not as a servant. But as a man who owes you his soul."
The other servants followed, each bowing with heads lowered, hands clenched tight.
They didn't kneel to a title.
They didn't kneel to a bloodline.
They knelt to a boy who smiled through pain.
A master who never demanded love—but quietly earned it.
Elias didn't speak. He didn't reach out or comfort them.
But the room grew warmer.
And though blindfolded, his face turned toward the window—where sunlight spilled through the curtains like a promise.
They stayed like that for a long time.
In silence.
In awe.
In quiet, bone-deep loyalty.
And outside, the wind carried a single, whispered truth—
He's returned.
And his eyes—
Even behind the blindfold, the air shimmered. They saw it. The light.
His body was exhausted. His rank had climbed—from nothing to seventh. But more than that, something inside him had stabilized. A breakthrough earned not by talent—but by endurance.
And the smile on his face was enough to make every soul in that room break into tears and laughter all at once.
He had survived.
And hope had returned.
-----
After hours:-
Everyone talked for a long time... Chef urging him to eat more since he will rover soon surely, butler telling him to rest, maids gossiping with him about recent events in capital.
Everyone talked for hours, letting the burden of their heart...they didn't ask the cure, they just were content enough to see their master smile again, or more like the smile of a boy they raised.
Elias was smiling and laughing,after hours they all stopped, Elias exhaled slowly.....then just as slowly he got up from bed.
Everyone got up from their seats— calm, firm and disciplined,they were patiently waiting for the first order after the whole week of isolation.
They all could feel and see the difference but no one spoke first.
" Young master" said the butler with a smileyvoice. His voice was laced with warmth and joy.
Elias eyes were covered but he could feel it, his sharp senses helped him but butler still held his hand to guide despite it. Like a father worrying about his child.
" We are returning to the main mansion, inform everyone" Elias said with firm yet soft voice not cold.
" Yes, young master"
" I will inform them"
" I will pack everything"
" I will make the transportation gate ready for departure"
" I ....I'll pack tasty food then"
" You know that it will only take just a minute to arrive??"
" So, what???" Chef said rolling his eyes with sass and left with the female chef ,holding hand in hand and swaying, making everyone including Elias chuckle.
After the order,
Everyone scattered to do their work ,excited after hearing the news of return, ofcourse ,not before bowing to Elias despite being seen or not.
Elias just smiled sensing the movements.
'Time has come' he thought.
-----