It was still amazing. It was hard to believe that the illustrious House Granado belonged to the same social category as House Chandelan, which had nothing to their name but dairy farms. The more I thought about its history, the more dignified this white castle appeared in my eyes.
“But Lord Kyros is a count, isn’t he?” I asked.
“He is, but he is also the duke’s heir. He earned his title of count for himself through the success of the Granado Trading Company. However, when the duke passes, he will inherit the duchy—although he must first marry. Until then, he remains Count Granado, the lord of this castle.”
“Does he live here?” I asked. “It doesn’t really feel…lived-in.”
“Our lord uses the castle for business negotiations, ceremonies, and parties. Its main function is to impress a sense of gravity upon guests. Think of it as a display of sorts. Feudal lords used to inhabit the castle, so one can lodge in it, but the facilities are old and quite uncomfortable. Instead, our lord lives in the mansion.”
That makes sense.
We exited the castle from the back gate, and beautiful scenery unfolded in front of me. Colorful flowers bloomed in the vast garden, and beyond the garden lay a stylish mansion. It was made with bricks and wood and looked warm and inviting. Next to it was the bathhouse I’d visited the previous day.
Yesterday, I kept my head hung low the entire way, so I didn’t notice the estate was structured like this.
Apparently, the mansion had been built after Liu Liu had left the ducal castle to move here. There were waterways, wells, a water supply system, fireplaces, and even ventilation windows. The building was bright, clean, safe, convenient, and comfortable.
Mio opened the door of the mansion and continued her explanation of the facilities. “On the first floor are the kitchens, bathrooms, and servants’ quarters. Most of the servants are live-in, and some also live here with their families. We take turns with a shift system so that the castle is protected and that the needs of our lord are met at all times.”
“Wow…”
“On the second floor are the private rooms of the count and his family. Breakfast and tea are served in the respective bedrooms, while lunch and dinner are served in the dining room.”
Come to think of it, yesterday Mio did specify we’d be eating in the room “tonight” as though it wasn’t a regular occurrence. I wonder what the dining room looks like…
“Next, we have the main guest room—that is the one you’re currently using, my lady. Guests are usually given rooms in the castle, but close relatives and friends stay in the mansion.”
“Is that so? But then, why was I given that room?”
“Your father slept in the castle,” Mio replied. It didn’t quite answer my question…
We kept walking through the mansion as Mio continued her lengthy explanation. It was a wonderful place, bright and beautiful with flowers everywhere.
The old castle was impressive. It had obviously been mended carefully over the years and was very neat and clean. Even the thick walls, which had overwhelmed me at first, appeared dependable and reassuring from the inside.
How marvelous… It’s all so different from the Chandelan estate.
Our family was also rather ancient and our estate vast, but I’d been managing it all on my own. There was no money to hire help or to pay for repairs, so the state of the estate naturally degraded over time.
Along the way, Mio introduced me to every waiting maid, chef, and even gardener we crossed paths with. Some were very friendly, while others stiffened and regarded us with awkward expressions, though they all introduced themselves politely.
Our tour had started at the main gate, and now we arrived back at it, concluding our tour.
Suddenly, the gatekeeper caught my eye, and a soft “Ah!” escaped my lips before I rushed toward him.
He was tall and slender, looked about my age, and he had wheat-colored hair and reddish-brown eyes.
It’s him! He must have been on break when we came by earlier.
“Mr. Thomas!” I called out to him. “I’m so sorry for the trouble my father caused you yesterday.”
He turned to me and jumped back, surprised. “Madam! H-how do you know my name?”
M-madam…?
I supposed I was indeed the count’s fiancée. I chose not to argue about that and simply lowered my head before clarifying, “I think I heard Lord Kyros call you that. Did I get it wrong?”
He shook his head. “Not at all! I just never would have expected you to remember my name.” He let out an embarrassed laugh as his cheeks reddened. “I’m a little happy about it, actually.”
When he smiled, you could see one of his teeth protruded a little. It was charming, and I laughed too.
“I’m glad I got it right. Nice to meet you! I’m Marie Chandelan. Might I ask you for your full name, if you don’t mind? I’ll be in your care from now on, so I’d like to remember everyone’s names.”
“My full name is Dibomov Thomas Tender.” He laughed awkwardly. “You don’t often hear names like mine in the kingdom, so it’s okay if you can’t pronounce it. Please feel free to call me by my middle name, Thomas.”
“Dibomov… Were you perhaps named after the hero who discovered Lehav Island?”
Thomas’s reddish-brown eyes widened in surprise. “You know about him?! I’m from Lehav!” he revealed excitedly. His mood had soared, and he smiled brightly while grabbing my shoulders enthusiastically. He was about to hug me when, suddenly, he found himself on the ground.
“Lady Marie is our lord’s fiancée,” Mio told him firmly. “Please refrain from touching her.”
Mio had been the one to throw him to the ground. I hadn’t even seen her move, but she was somehow behind Thomas, with her knees bent. Thomas prostrated himself in apology. I wanted to pull him back to his feet, but I had a feeling Mio would scold him even more if I touched him, so I forced myself to stay put.
Thomas seemed to still be unable to stand, and he remained on the ground. But as we made our way back, I could hear him softly say, “I’m so glad I got to speak of my birthplace here, in the capital…”
After visiting the estate with Mio, I discovered that it was far more multicultural than I would have expected. Many of the servants were immigrants or of mixed parentage. While everyone could speak the tongue of the kingdom, some had strong accents or physical traits that made their foreign origins obvious. This perhaps explained why there were traces of foreign influences all around the mansion. I saw a statue that seemed to represent a foreign god, a large tapestry with phrases in foreign languages, paintings of landscapes that didn’t exist in the kingdom, and so much more. Many of the items seemed to be from Ypsandros, but there were quite a few objects from other countries as well.
That said, the room I was staying in only had things from the kingdom, which was a little disappointing.
“Does Lord Kyros import goods from all over the world?” I asked.
Mio shook her head while pouring me a cup of tea with a peculiar scent. “The Granado Trading Company only imports goods from the Republic of Ypsandros. We source them directly from a port city in Ypsandros and transport them by ship to the kingdom, where we sell them to both people from Dilts and merchants from other nations.”
“In that case, was the tapestry I saw in the dining room from Ypsandros?”
“Oh, that. It belongs to the head chef. He comes from Fralia, so I assume he must have brought it from there.”
“What about the doll in the entrance?”
“That one belongs to Johan, the gardener. He crafts a new one each year in accordance with the traditions of the Banderi states.”
“There are a lot of foreigners among the staff,” I commented.
“That’s because our lord is narrow-minded,” Mio remarked. She hadn’t hesitated one bit while saying so, but I couldn’t believe she’d call her own master narrow-minded! Still, despite how rude it sounded, I hadn’t felt any ill-intent in her tone. If anything, she sounded almost like she was boasting.
“While our lord takes after his mother as far as appearances go, he is still Diltsian. However, he despises this kingdom’s elitism and has decided to proactively hire foreigners instead. Naturally, we only hire skilled people, but those who found doors closed elsewhere for the wrong reasons are welcome here.”
“Are you from the kingdom, Mio?”
Mio didn’t nod or shake her head. Instead, she replied, “I was thrown away on the side of a highway right after my birth, so I have no idea. Considering my hair and eye color, I assume I might be.”
“I-is that so…? I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize, my lady,” Mio said. Her tone was just as flat, and she seemed not to care one bit. “I was found by a troupe of travelling entertainers. While we were traveling through the kingdom, the duke fell in love at first sight with Madam Liu Liu, and she became his concubine. She took me with her to his castle when she left the troupe.”
“Then, you’re her adopted child?!”
“No, I’m just her ward. With his position, the duke couldn’t have married a foreign woman with a child. I was not brought up as Madam Liu Liu’s daughter, but as a chamberlain-in-training.”