“So how does it feel to now be an earl?” Nela started poking at Braydon as soon as they were back inside his carriage. Rhydian had taken Gerald’s place outside as the latter had gone to collect their belongings from the inn that they had been staying at.

“And how does it feel to be the heir to a duchy?” Braydon returned. It was not like he could answer that he was over the moon, it had barely set in yet. Though he might have been had the King announced the summary execution of his brother, if not both then at least George. With the King announcing who would be stripped of their titles in the coming days, Braydon was more anticipating that than thinking of his title being raised.

“It hasn’t really set in yet for me. Perhaps it will when I eventually return home.” Nela sighed wistfully, but her choice of words told him that she at least intended to stay in Cliforge in the near future. He was not going to say that he could understand her feelings about returning home, he couldn’t. But he could, at least appreciate that she was staying in spite of that.

“Then I think it will set in for me once I lay eyes upon possibly the largest mansion in the city.” Braydon was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. While many of the King’s lesser allies had been given this or that deposed noble’s residence. He had been given the former residence of none other than the most powerful duke that Fiveria had ever seen. Needless to say that, while not the royal palace, it was definitely the most impressive noble residence outside of the imperial capital of Barakhil.

“It will be hard not to, won’t it?” Nela agreed with a chuckle, wiping away her momentary melancholy. If there was one thing that told you that you had just won big, it would be having one of the fanciest mansions on the continent to call your own.

“Well then it can set in for you now. We have arrived, Sire.” Rhydian called out as the carriage came to a stop and he went to the side to open the door for them. Being one of the most important nobles in the kingdom, Ryder’s residence was very close to the palace. And with their conversation, neither Braydon or Nela had thought to look out of the window of the carriage or they would have seen it a while ago.

“Consider it set in.” Braydon stepped down, taking a moment to admire the good taste of the soon to be dead man. If there was one thing that Ryder had that many a noble lacked then it was definitely the taste to look grand but not self indulgent. Even if the sheer size of the mansion would normally scream self indulgent.

“I should think it would. Thank you.” Nela responded as Braydon helped her down from the carriage.

“First things first, how about we see how many of the servants we have to get rid of.” Braydon admired the mansion but it was now his. He was not about to stand outside staring at it when he could go in. Not to mention that there would be very little time before half of the merchants in the city and then some would be banging down his door to try and get access to the lucrative business that was war in somebody else’s backyard.

“Looking over your shoulder already?” Nela asked with a smile that made Braydon shiver. He had almost forgotten how ruthless she was when it came to scheming. It seemed like she was going to refresh his memory.

“We at least need to keep enough to serve any guests, even if we replace them later.” Rhydian reminded the two before they stripped the entire staff.

“Does that not defeat the point?” Braydon asked, if they did not strip the staff down, then it was likely that any spies would have a field day listening to any discussions. Ryder might have known who they were but they would have no clue.

“Then be smart about it and only talk about important things when there are no servants in the room.” Rhydian was determined to make sure that they could treat guests properly. They would only get a chance like this once or twice. Even if they kept the same position, the various merchants and lords would only maintain their enthusiasm for so long. Not to mention be in the same place at once.

“Then I need to write a letter to Colin at some point today. Who knows when I will remember to tell him if not today.” The merchants would most likely be the ones going around the capital to make connections on the first day. The lords would be the day after. They would not want to look as eager as a common merchant after all, that would be too damaging to their pride. And whilst he could shrug off most merchants, the same could not be said when the various aristocrats came in large numbers.

“I will make sure to hold you to that.” Nela gave him a sidelong glance. He was not sure if she was doing that to poke at him or if she were just eager to test her new toys, the servants.

“This isn’t a letter to the King, nor am I Viscount Roast Pork.” Braydon reminded just to make sure. He had thought her spartan when getting him to write his first letter to the King. He had been proven wrong when she got Baron Abel to write one.

“Yes, but that is no excuse when it comes to something as important as rooting out spies.” Nela pulled the sweet smile that he had not seen in a long time. And Braydon wished that he had not just seen it, even though he knew that it was directed at the fun she was going to have interrogating the servants.

“I will leave you two to your fun, I believe the servants should have already been told in advance about our arrival. They should be waiting for you in the main hall.” Rhydian left to direct the carriage driver to the stable. Because it would not be Duke Ryder’s residence if it did not have all the amenities that a noble would want. Even if it was in the tight for space capital city.