AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Blinking rapidly to clear my head, I find that I can’t. This is strange. Surreal, even.
The fourth guy, who is also just a name and a face,Charles, gives me a quick, almost conspiratorial wink. “Charles St. James, Viscount Beaumont.”
“Hi,” I breathe out, my voice sounding small in the vast room. I force myself to meet their stares, even though it feels like I’m on display. “Ever Knight. No title. Just me. A nobody.”
Alistair’s smile is slow and lazy, almost as if he knows he’s got me on the ropes, which was his plan all along. “You are a legacy, Ever. Not a nobody.”
I shake my head vehemently. “You have the wrong impression of me if that’s what you think.”
His eyes flash with something dangerous, and I gulp again, but my mouth has gone dry, and I force down a cough without much luck.
“Welcome to KnightsGate Manor,” Benedict says, rising from his seat. He’s all casual elegance, his movements fluid as he approaches. “May I show you to your room?”
“Okay,” I bleat, the word coming out more as a question than an affirmation. Doubt crowds my mind as Benedict leans down to pick up my bag and takes the bookbag from Alex, who is standing nervously off to the side. With a shaky smile at the Lords of the Manor, like literally, for fuck’s sake, Benedict leads the way, and I follow cautiously. The door closes behind us with a soft click, sealing away most of the tension, but it still hums in my veins, electric and alive.
The grand staircase unfolds before us, each step across the marble floor a squeak in the quiet. I’m going to have to buy new shoes or go barefoot at this rate. Benedict’s back is straight, his stride sure. I tailhim, trying to match the rhythm of his pace, my hand trailing along the polished bannister as we head up the sweeping staircase, overlooked by a plethora of former Dukes and Duchesses and other nobility. It feels cool, solid beneath my fingers, grounding me.
The second-floor hallway stretches out, doors flanking us on either side. Each one is closed, holding its own mystery, its own slice of this enigmatic world I’ve stumbled into.
Benedict pauses at the final door, a fraction open. It whooshes softly as I push it wider, the sound cutting through the hush that wraps around us. My gaze sweeps the room, and for a moment, I’m rooted to the spot.
Pale colours wash over the walls and fabrics, pastels that catch the light from the bedside lamp in soft whispers. It’s a sharp departure from the heavy opulence below—no dark woods, antiques, old portraits or cold marble here. Instead, the space feels gentle, like a sigh in the night.
My feet sink into the plush carpet, a softness that seems to swallow the sound of my hesitant steps. The room breathes tranquillity, the kind I’ve never known either at my parents’ house or the student house that went up in flames.
“Do you like it?” Benedict asks, his tone almost hesitant as if he is waiting to hear me say yes and will be crushed if I say no.
“Yes. It’s nice.”Nice?Understatement of the year. A nook by the window calls to me, its cushions whispering promises of stolen moments with dog-earedbooks and forgotten cups of tea. It’s a corner of peace in a world that seems to be spinning faster than I can keep up.
“Nice,” he repeats.
Noticing the way he studies me, eyes intent as if trying to decipher the thoughts I’m scrambling to hide, I squirm under his gaze, feeling exposed without having said much at all.
“Lovely, it’s lovely. Really, it’s more than I could’ve expected.” I mean it, but my words come out tangled, laced with the uncertainty that dogs my every step in this grand house that reeks of wealth and secrets.
“Good,” he says, a shadow of a smile ghosting across his face. “Make yourself at home.”
Home. The word feels foreign on my tongue, too heavy to carry around in a place where I don’t belong. But the soft glow of the lamp and the gentle embrace of the space chip away at the wall I’ve built around myself, brick by brick.
“Thank you,” I croak before the silence can stretch into awkwardness, into something that demands more answers than I’m ready to give.
He nods once, more to himself than to me, then steps back, hands slipping into the pockets of his casual yet expensive-looking trousers. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” There’s a finality in his tone, a quiet understanding that I need space.
The door clicks shut behind him, leaving me alone in the middle of the pastel sanctuary. Silence floods the room, thick and expectant, and I exhale loudly.My heart races, a staccato rhythm against the softness around me.
Why do I suddenly feel like I’m a pawn who hasn’t figured out the rules of the game yet?
It’s not a great feeling, but I’m exhausted, so I kick off my shoes and sink onto the bed. The room’s comfort mocks me; it’s all too nice, too welcoming. I’m no stranger to mind games—I grew up with whispers and sideways glances—but this? This is a new level.
“Keep it together, Ever,” I whisper, my voice sounding foreign in the quiet. My fingers drum anxiously on my thighs as I scan the room. Alistair, Benedict, Charles, and Damien are enigmas wrapped in tailored suits and secretive smiles. They’re the kind of guys who own a room just by stepping into it, and now, somehow, I’ve stepped into theirs.
I force myself to stand, to move. My hands shake a little as I unzip my duffel bag, the sound loud in the silence. I pull out my jeans and well-worn t-shirts, each piece a reminder of the scrimping, saving, and scholarships that got me here.
These men are a puzzle, but I’m good at puzzles.
I place a photo of Mum and Dad on the dresser, their smiles frozen in time. It’s a reminder of where I come from, of the legacy teetering on the edge of obscurity. I can’t let them down. Not now.
Shoving my clothes into the enormous antique dresser, the wood creaking with age, the action is mechanical, grounding. But my brain’s still on overdrive. This seems too much of a coincidence for myliking. First, Alistair and Damien came to my rescue when I didn’t know them from Adam, only their names and faces and that they’re the most popular and wealthy elite at this Academy, and now I’m living under their roof. If this is some kind of game or whatever they’re playing, I need to learn the rules fast. Because one thing’s certain: there’s no going back now.
