"Then, for the next two weeks, you're not needed in this room. You'll receive your assignments for the day by means of a letter that will be slid under your door. You'll eat your meals at separate times from me and in the kitchen. In general I don't want to see you for the next two weeks. Now, get out of here; you're done for the day. The rest of your meals will be brought up to your room for today," Edgar said, his gaze turned down towards his feet.

She could see his left hand clenching the doorknob, as though he were trying to crush it in his hand. His entire demeanor was rather menacing at the moment. Perhaps, she should've been more careful last night, but she couldn't go back and redo things. Regardless, she knew that right now she needed to get out of the room before Edgar exploded with rage.

Standing up from the bench, she walked towards the door and past him. As soon as she stood in the hallway, the door closed behind her. She knew that she should probably feel bad for him, but he did technically give her what she wanted. It wasn't a trip into town, but he just gave her ample time to find a way into the workers' garage. Of course, she suspected that there might be more eyes watching her now. Edgar may have shooed her away for two weeks, but he probably wouldn't have her actions go completely unchecked.

Still, it was strange that he was so controlling over her actions in his house. She did live here now, so she expected a little more freedom than she received. It was his house, and he was her employer, but she had never expected him to be like this. Granted, she should've known after he pulled that letter stunt. With all of this in consideration, she still desired to have an answer from him about why he had such a close eye on her.

(F/n) didn't think it was natural for someone to be so upset by having one of their workers, who lived with them, explore their house. If anything it was weird that she had to sneak around just so she could go to town herself. Of course, she had never asked him if she go into town by herself. She did assume that he just wouldn't allow it because of his constant insistence to go with her if she even mentioned the word town.

Even with all this, she found that she couldn't remove her feelings for him. They were still there, but she supposed that she had grown accustomed to working for him. She would still blush whenever he teased her or got too close, but in other circumstances she could act quite normal around him. Sighing, she decided that she would just head up to her room for the day and relax. Granted, her room window overlooked the workers' house. So, she could potentially see a way in from there. With a small determined smile on her face, she started to go to her room.

When he had closed the door after she left, he felt empty. He had just willingly sent his muse away. Didn't he just give her what she wanted? She wished to get away from him, didn't she? That was her purpose for sneaking around, right? Why else would she have entered the garage when he was away from the house? Was he wrong about her adoring him? No, he was certain that she still had feelings for him. His beloved had to have feelings for him, or what would he do?

All of these questions felt like a heavy weight crushing his mind. At the same time, though, he just couldn't help but feel a void. That emptiness seemed infinite. Just what had he done? Part of him wanted to swing open the door and chase after her. He desired to wrap his arms around her and never let her go, yet here he was standing? Of his own volition, he had secluded himself in his workshop. Couldn't he have just forced a confession out of her?

He didn't need one, though, since he already knew the answer. Frankly, he just wanted her to confirm it. To just hear it from her beautiful lips, he would be fine. She would offer him an apology, and he would accept it with open arms. Instead, she remained silent and tried to deny her actions. Didn't she know that she couldn't lie to him; he could read her too easily.

Regardless, why had he let her go? Could he really withstand two weeks without seeing her? He loved having her in this room, while he worked. The sun would always shine so divinely on her. It would paint her form exceptionally. There would be no imperfections. Even her uncomplimentary clothes would be raised up in elegance. Her natural beauty could dominate those awful articles of clothing.

Thinking upon such a topic, he pulled a pale blue box off the top shelf that was above his desk. A crème colored bow decorated the container. He set it on the surface of his desk before taking the lid off. Inside, a thin layer of crème colored tissue paper covered the surprise. After he pulled the tissue paper back, he ran his right fingers over the soft and airy fabric.

Layers of white chiffon fabric framed the torso before flaring out at the bottom. Short sleeves covered the shoulders of the wearer, while black vines grew from the waist and tangled themselves into the top and bottom of the dress. Dark and pale blue roses sprung open from the vines' ends, creating a pop of color.

Edgar knew that the dress would look gorgeous on her, and he meant to give it to her as a gift today. That was until what just occurred a few minutes ago. Pushing the box aside, he rested the palms of his hands on the top of the desk. His head hung downwards, as his hands gripped the edges of the desk harder. "Why did I let you go?" he muttered to himself, as his gaze turned to the empty bench.

                                                                                    ~~~~~~~~~~

Three days had passed since the incident with Edgar, and it was now the fourth. Still, (F/n) hadn't found a way to get around the workers and into their garage. Howard was as watchful as always, even more so now that Edgar had essentially banished her from his sight.

Like Edgar had stated, though, she did indeed receive her tasks for the day by means of a letter. Usually, it was just to retrieve some toys from the workers' house or give a list of new requests to them. Sometimes it was both. After that, she had the day to herself, but there wasn't much to do. She had tried to ask the house staff if there were a library or a television somewhere, but they remained quiet. It's not like she had the patience to watch the workers' garage all day through her room window. Such a task could only keep her busy for maybe fifteen minutes at most.

So, when she tried to search for a library or television, the house staff would always seem to appear from nowhere. They stated that she shouldn't be sneaking around. Thus, when she attempted to explain herself, they would just remain silent and not tell her anything. Was this also Edgar's doing or were they just mad at her for lock picking a few doors? It's not like she meant to break into one of their rooms.

If anything, the hardest part of this was the constant boredom. She couldn't even get near the upper east wing without one of the house staff once again magically appearing and stating their typical phrase of "no sneaking around". How did she know that Edgar would have his house staff watching her carefully?

This meant that she would usually spend her days out in the garden. She never encountered Edgar there, and it was away from everything. The water fountains added a peaceful harmony to the stone gazebo. Occasionally, a butterfly would fly by and land on a nearby flower. (F/n) would watch it flutter off when it finished with collecting nectar. Her chin would be resting in the palms of her hands, and she wished that she could just fly off like that. Such ability would definitely ease her boredom.

Granted, today, while she sat in the garden, she drifted off. Her head rested in her arms, which were on the tabletop. She breathed softly, as she had a dreamless sleep. If Edgar were to see her in that state, he probably would've called off his order. The male, though, was off in his workshop and was doing his best to keep his mind off of her.

Thus, time passed and neither was bothered. Of course, the house staff hadn't worried too much about (f/n) missing her dinner, since they knew that she didn't have an eating schedule for the past three days. They knew that she would retrieve something to eat on her own if she became hungry. As for Edgar, they were concerned. He had basically locked himself in his workshop and missed some of his meals, which he never did. Tonight, he hadn't come for dinner, which was resemblant of the past three nights.

While the house staff was discussing this matter, (f/n) had woken to find herself still in the garden. Judging by the color of the sky, she assumed that it was about seven at night. So, she stood out of her chair, stretched and headed back to the house. This meant going through the forest at night, however. She had wanted to avoid such a thing, but apparently her sleeping body hadn't thought of that.

Being mindful of this fact, she hurriedly made her way through the small forest and tried to ignore the sounds in the undergrowth. When the sounds started getting closer to her, she took off into a sprint and didn't look back. She cursed whoever thought it was a good idea to place the garden inside the forest. Sure the forest provided a barrier around the well kept garden, but it didn't exactly provide a peaceful walk.

Once she exited the forest, she stopped her running pace and caught her breath. Resting her hands on her knees, she slowly recovered from her exercise. Soon, she made her way back to the front doors of the main house. Her plan was to go straight up to her room and figure out something to do. So, when she entered the house and heard the servants concerned voices coming from the kitchen, she wondered what was going on. Upon closer inspection of their conversation, she decided to make a change in her plans for the night.