As Daeng went to clean off the paint, he entered the bathroom.
The bathwater was full of jasmine buds.
He slowly walked in, his feet stepping on the cold, wet floor.
Before he got into the bath, which was made of cold, hard stone, he slowly touched the marble inside. It was cold.
He slowly entered the water and lay completely submerged.
As he closed his eyes, Daeng cried. No sound could be heard.
He slowly lifted his head from the water. His eyes shivered. He looked at himself, touched his hands and his lips, and asked... "Can I really love? Do I deserve it? Is it love...?"
Daeng tucked his head against his feet and stayed like that for hours...
A sorrowful, cold night turned into a new morning, leaving the drops of rain to fall alone on the trees and the flower buds.
A loud sound of someone hitting the hard table echoed in the main room of the mansion.
"Do you know how much loss you caused through this indecisiveness, Thanat? Are you really the same Thanat who used to be responsible for even the tiniest things?"
With an angry and domineering voice, the lord of the Asawa family (grandfather of Daeng) questioned Thanat.
Thanat's father, Wichit, kept his head bowed and said, "Lord, please forgive him this once. It is his first mistake."
The grandfather looked at Thanat with pity and said, "Look at the state you are in..." He avoided looking at Thanat and said, "Get out."
"Khrab... Lord," Thanat said. His face was cold and expressionless.
After Thanat went outside, Wichit looked down.
The grandfather suddenly said, "You... help him if he needs a hand. When my father was the Lord, he would always hit me, even for a small mistake. He destroyed so many families. That is why the Asawa family is now trying so hard to help others. I don't know if I have the strength or if I will live much longer."
"My dear Wichit, you will be the next Lord after I am gone. Don't make any decisions with anger. You need to understand your position and help others. I hope the next generation will be like that... but Thanat, he is not like us."
"My Lord... Father..." Wichit got down on the floor and knelt. "Father, it's my fault. I gave him everything he asked for. It's all my fault," Wichit said.
"Get up. I am your father; if you kneel, it is a pain for me. We cannot force Thanat to change, so let's see what we can do. Get up and come here..."
The father and son shared their pain.
While in the main kitchen of the main mansion, the lady of the house, Ying (Wichit's wife), and Thanat's wife, Kaew, were making sure everything was ready.
"Dear Kaew, come here. You will be the next one to lead this house, so make sure you learn everything."
"In here, everyone is like one family, whether they have a high status or not. So, make sure you do the same," with a smile, Ying said.
The head servant of the main mansion joined them, explaining even the tiniest details while they all laughed.
Suddenly, Aung started running toward the third mansion.
"Dear Aung! You can't run! If Daeng knows, he will be the one who gets hurt!"
Everyone in the kitchen ran toward Aung, playing with her.
It was a warm, sweet morning.
Ying and Kaew watched Aung play and smiled.
"When will Nong Maliwan come?" Ying asked.
The head servant replied, "Master Decha and Khun Maliwan will arrive next week."
"Kaew, you haven't seen Aung's parents yet. Nong Maliwan is my sister. They are always travelling; they are the sweet couple of our house. Maliwan is pregnant, so they are coming back."
"Only Nong Waen didn't come here. She is always in the third mansion, or else she is travelling."
As Ying spoke about Waen, her eyes became teary. "She is the youngest, so my Lord (Wichit) always worries about her."
Kaew touched her hand and calmed Ying down.
Wanting to change the sad mood, the head servant said, "Khun Kaew, you don't know the love story of Master Wichit and the Lady!"
Kaew looked surprised while Ying felt shy because of the head servant.
"It's not much... my Lord really tried hard to win my heart."
"Who doesn't know? Everyone knows," Ying said with a proud smile.
The whole kitchen started to tease Ying while Aung reached the third mansion at high speed.
While the main kitchen was noisy, the kitchen in the Third Mansion was very quiet today, unlike previous days.
"Chim, let me ask you something," the head servant (nanny of Daeng) of the Third Mansion called to Chim.
"There are some new girls joining. Master Wichit asked us whether we need more helpers."
Chim sighed. "No. They will probably come here for the young master or for gossip, so it's a no. We already have enough people."
"That is what I also said. Now I feel better. I wondered if you guys needed more help," the head servant said with worry.
Chim hugged the head servant tightly and said, "Oh, don't be like that!"
Everyone in the kitchen teased Chim . "Don't you need something, Chim? Today you are extra sweet!"
"What is this? Can't I be sweet?" Chim acted sad, teasing them back. "I am going now.
The young master is probably waiting for me."
As she was going to Daeng, Waen came into the kitchen and asked, "Hasn't Daeng come down? It is already late."
"No, I think Young Master probably slept too much," the head servant said while nodding.
Chim entered Daeng's room and slowly locked the door.
"Chim... does anyone ask about me?" Daeng asked. He couldn't sit down because he was so worried.
"No, everyone thinks you are sleeping because you are tired," Chim said.
"Chim, what can I do? I am scared. Look at me... don't I look like something bit me?"
Daeng asked while looking in the mirror. He looked at his ear; it was red. He thought to himself, "What am I going to do? It is so hard to lie to them..."
"Oh... Young Master, did you guys...?" Chim signaled with her hands in a naughty way.
"Chim! You... you are the one! Why did you let him come upstairs?" Daeng asked.
"Even the birds, and look at these ants." Chim looked at the ants on the floor and continued, "Even they know Master Kiat likes you. So, I just wanted to help." Chim smiled awkwardly.
She added, "That's because Master Kiat is so good, and the young master likes him too, right so..."
"I am sorry. Chim will never act like this again," she said.
After seeing Chim's face, Daeng said, "Mmm... It's okay, Chim. Don't look sad. I am okay."
Suddenly, a knock was heard from the door.
"Daeng... open up."
"Mae! Why is she here? Chim, do something!"
Chim was frozen. "Young Master, if we don't open the door, it will be the end of us."
"Daeng, open the door, dear."
"Khab, Mae... I am coming."
Chim opened the door. Waen stood there.
"Dear, you never lock the door during the day."
Waen looked at Chim, who was sweating from head to foot, and then at Daeng, who was ignoring her.
"Daeng..." Waen thought to herself. "Forget it. Daeng will tell me when he is ready. I will wait."
"Dear, come here. Let's have breakfast. Let's go."
She forcefully took Daeng and Chim with her.
Daeng moved his hair to cover his ear as they walked.
The day passed, just like any other, and everything slowly went to sleep.
Daeng was sitting by the lotus pond, playing with the water with his feet. He was thinking about the time he spent with Kiat.
Suddenly, someone approached him slowly.
Daeng saw a shadow and knew who it was.
He slowly looked back.
A hand was holding lotuses, with water still dripping from the stems as if they were in pain.
Kiat approached Daeng, smiling. Daeng's expression slowly changed, becoming shy but happy.