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“And there were no problems?” said Lord Zeff.

Raul didn’t understand why he was asking that. “No, lord. What problems might there be? These poor guys are all out cold. Literally.”

“You didn’t feel any strangeness?” the man said, still eyeing Raul with that characteristic intensity. “Dizziness? Headaches? Gaps in memory?”

Raul blinked a couple times. He felt the need to be more direct now. “Why are you asking that?”

The Lord Elroy exhaled a heavy sigh. “You’ve forgotten again. I told you before. And you’ll forget this, too, I’m sure.” His expression twisted, and he released Raul from his gaze. “Bastard...”

Raul was entirely lost. He looked to his brothers, but they their faces spoke of equal confusion. “Lord? What are you...? Did I do something wrong?”

“Not you.” Then Lord Zeff patted him on the shoulder. “In fact, you have been doing great work, Raul. Keep it up.”

And then without even waiting for a response, the man left.

Raul could only watch with a strained expression as he watched Lord Zeff go. Such odd behavior. It was growing worrisome. Forgetting things? How could he have forgotten anything? Especially when he had so many people around to remind him?

He didn’t dare broach the subject outright with anyone, but in the back of his mind, Raul was beginning to feel that most pernicious of fears that all servants felt.

The fear of insanity.

Not for himself, of course, but for Lord Zeff. Granted, Raul did not actually know him all that well, so perhaps this type of behavior was not entirely out-of-character for him, but it was concerning, nonetheless.

And it would make a terrifying degree of sense, unfortunately. With how much pressure the man seemed to be under. The weight of everyone’s expectations? Along with all the turmoil that he had endured? Everyone here had been through so much in the recent months, and while it wasn’t a contest, it did seem like the Lord Elroy had gotten it the worst out of all of them.

Or if not the worst, then damn close to it.

And there were countless stories about servants breaking under such circumstances.

Raul dreaded to even think about it further. Everyone was depending on the Lord Elroy, right now. Looking to him for guidance. He wondered if they didn’t see what Raul was seeing.

If that man actually broke...

At this point, Raul couldn’t even imagine what that would do to their brethren.