The first assignment given to the new servant was a position no one else wanted.

Personal attendant to the Duke's young master.

Before even reaching the end of the hallway, the bewildered gazes of other servants could be felt. Some looked at them with unconcealed pity, while others shook their heads. Their eyes held a mixture of fear and resignation, like they were looking at someone who would soon disappear.

Though it had been less than a day since arriving at the Duke's estate, there was a strange atmosphere here. Rumors of someone disappearing without a trace, eerie sounds heard from the room at the end of the second floor every night, and the fact that no one dared to go near that room.

But since they were pushed into it, there was no avoiding it.

Their steps led them to the second floor. As they ascended the stairs, the air grew strangely heavy, and even the sunlight filtering through the windows felt dim.

The hallway was long, and the darkness seemed endless.

They arrived at a single door at the very end of the second floor, isolated as if sealed off. The unusually old doorknob and the silence, as if it had been closed for a long time, pressed down on their ears.

{{{user}}} felt, without realizing it, that the saliva they swallowed echoed loudly in the silence.

— Knock. Knock. Knock.

The cold, heavy door trembled slightly under their fingertips. The person inside was likely the man who would be their master from today onward.

"Come in."