Elenor stared at him bewildered before nodding affirmatively. "You're my favourite, Alec."

Hearing it once more gave him reassurance. His face softened and he had a small smile on his face. He brushed away the strands of hair from Elenor's face. Looking at her made his heart flip. How in her eyes, he was the only one in sight. Nobody else, just him. He wanted to kiss the corner of her eyes. How nice it would be to see her lashes tremble from it.

"Say it again." he softly asked.

Without batting an eyelid, Elenor did as he asked, "Alec. You're my favourite."

He wished this moment would continue to last forever. But there must be a line to be drawn. He took a few steps back and genuinely smiled.

"Yes. I am milady's favourite."

-

Alec left her room afterwards, leaving her alone in her room. Elenor made her way towards her bed and fell on to the soft bouncy mattress. After a short moment of silence, she made a weird noise before shooting up.

She covered her cheeks that were slowly turning redder as she replayed what happened moments ago. This was weird. No scratch that, it was bizarre! Elenor kept moving around on her bed, messing up the covers and blankets but she could care less about that right at this moment.

Her brain was going into overdrive seeing Alec's genuine smile like that. It was beautiful that it made her heart flutter so much. But the answer to why he had such a smile was unknown to her.

Just when she thought Alec couldn't be more beautiful than he already was..

"I'm going to rip all my hair out from this!" she frustratedly said to herself, gripping on her hair before letting it go.

Elenor flopped back down on her bed, deciding to call it a day. She didn't want to dwell on her thoughts and questions about Alec's odd behaviour.

The next day she got up earlier than her usual timing and got dressed herself. She wore her attire that she used when she wanted to go horse riding or when she wanted to train her physical strength.

Tying her long straight hair into a high ponytail, she slipped out of her room without anyone catching on and left. She headed to the usual place she would train and stayed there for hours.

Although she had a good night's rest, her mind kept replaying the scene from yesterday even in her dreams.

'The best way to distract oneself is to be busy!'

Elenor continued training her strength, ignoring the voices that called for her. Whether it be for breakfast, a break or even just a chat. She immersed herself into her training, forgetting everything that was happening around her. That is, until Alec forcefully lifted her up from the ground.

Caught off guard, she let out a squeal in surprise. She tried to get out of Alec's hold but as usual he was much stronger than her.

"Let me go," Elenor punched him a couple of times on the back as he continued bringing her back inside.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that milady."

"Alec!"

He only set her down once they reached her room. Before Elenor could do anything else, a set of food was placed in front of her. Finally hunger set and her stomach growled.

"Um.." she awkwardly darted her eyes away, not wanting to look over at Alec who knew she was starving this whole time.

"Eat up. It's only me here."

She really wanted to eat. She really did but the way Alec continued to look over her with keen eyes made her feel cold sweat running down her back. She stared at the food then glanced over at Alec.

Alec won't stop looking at her but she wanted to eat so badly! She furiously shook her head and smacked her cheeks. She must have startled Alec although he didn't show any signs of being startled.

Her brain must be going astray. Alec only cared about her health! Yes no other reasons. He was just being a good exclusive butler. Elenor frowned at herself, how could she ever think such a way of her own butler. If he ever found out, he would be disappointed in her.

After countless brainwashing chants in her head, she finally ate the food. Elenor sighed in happiness as she continued finishing up all the food on the plate. Once she finished eating, Alec cleaned everything up.

While he did, Elenor continued to strengthen her mental state. That way she won't disappoint Alec with her train of thoughts if he ever found out.

"Maybe I should sit under a waterfall." Elenor pondered to herself.

Alec glanced back at her. Why on earth was she thinking of sitting under a waterfall?

He couldn't question her train of thoughts as she abruptly stood up and headed out of the room once more. He wasn't able to stop her since he was still cleaning up after her meal.

"Where are you going now?" Alec asked hurriedly.

Elenor turned to him as she continued walking away. She held up a thumbs up along with a smug smile. Without saying a word, she disappeared into the long hallways.

'Don't worry Alec I will not let mere thoughts get a hold of me!'

Alec drew a long sigh and continued cleaning up. If she keeps running away, he will just continue to chase after her. He sneered at himself pathetically. It was a simple tag game and he couldn't wait to end it.

Elenor was too absorbed in strengthening both her mind and body she didn't catch on; she had created a tag game between her and Alec.

---

okay before you come for elenor being dense and all just wait! i swear everything becomes good and all 😌 kinda weird for saying this HAHAH tbh i feel like this chapter is more towards as a comedic relief (o′┏▽┓｀o)