The rest of our journey went off rather smoothly.

It was only after having passed hours and days on the road that I finally realized how remote the manor was from civilization.

I had once asked Shania's parents where they lived; they answered, "Dubhan, the nearest town."

Well though, I'll give them that it was indeed the closest town, but I wouldn't dare use the word "near" to describe how far that town was from the manor, for it took us half a day to get to the closest thing to a semblance of civilization.

That also meant that Shania and her parents had to make a similar trip every week to replenish the manor with food and supplies. One must salute the dedication needed and spent to make the journey back and forth.

Usually, they do arrive at the manor early in the morning, shortly after breakfast, implying that they most likely left their homes the night before, if not the day prior. Rounding that to a month, that is four such trips every month.

Though four days didn't seem like much in thirty days, one had to go on the trip to understand how time and energy-consuming these journeys back and forth were.

Perhaps I should ask Maa to reduce their delivery frequency to once every two weeks.

Wait—but wouldn’t that imply that they'd be paid less?

Hum— All things considered, I think it would be best if I didn’t say anything. After all, they’ve been doing it for nearly nine years. I, an outsider, have no say in this matter. If there is something they are discontent with, I’m sure they will talk it out with Maa. Whether she actually listens, that’s a whole other matter.

In any case, I should mind my own business.

Despite not being able to read the book I had planned to read on the road, I found another way to entertain myself: the scenery.

Having been raised in the middle of nowhere that is the Rosetta Domain, I was used to seeing green countryside, but the lovely green I saw skimming along the road was simply stunning.

From the carriage windows, I could see green and vibrant landscapes, mountainous reliefs, and a blue and almost always cloudless sky.

Though winter was approaching, the sky was graciously clear and the sun was radiant. Despite being the same sky and sun as the ones hovering above the manor, here, coupled with the exquisite landscape, it created an entirely different kind of scenery.

We stopped several times along the way, in several of the duchy's numerous towns, led by nobles.

The duchy's nobles were not all stationed in the duchy's major cities. Only the highest and middle-ranking nobles usually live there.

Low-ranking nobles were usually assigned to a small domain in the countryside, such as the towns we stayed in, for them to do what they were assigned or were simply there to do.

In a broader sense, the existence of low-ranking implies the existence of a certain hierarchical order. Here in Beaumont, most, if not all, low-ranking nobles were subordinate to one of the five great families and were stationed in the remote domain where they were to exploit the resources available in their domain on behalf of one of the great families they served under.

All of the towns we visited were run by nobles who were subordinate to Grandfather Emilien Edouard's family. We mostly stopped in these towns to eat, rest, and give the horse that pulled the carriage a break.

Once we were finished, we resumed our journey. And soon, our final destination was finally within sight after three days on the road and nine different stops.

"You see that, Boy? That's Beaumont's capital: Beaufort, the city of my ancestor, our ancestors. " Lord Emilien declared proudly.

From within the carriage, I could view the city. It was a massive city surrounded by a massive wall.

Located in the heart of the Duchy of Beaumont, the city I saw from the window was Beaumont, the duchy's capital.

Even from this distance, I could already glimpse the city's impressive structures, among which six stood out particularly.

Five massive castles.

One at each cardinal point across the city, another in the middle of the city that appeared to be more overbearing than the four others, and a final one equally massive located between the castle in the north and the castle in the middle.

Five of these six structures were the castles of the five great families, with the final one serving as the local church's cathedral.

After a short final ride. We soon arrived at Lord Emilien's castle.

We were now in the courtyard.

When Lord Emilien and I stepped out of the carriage, several people, whom I assumed were servants based on their clothing, were already waiting for us.

"Welcome back, My Lord," they all said together, bowing their heads.

Lord Emilien simply dismissed them with a wave of the hand, before asking, "Where is he?"

"He is in the library, as usual, my Lord," a man dressed as a butler responded.

"I see. Landau, Get this man over there over there to the rooms I asked you to prepare," Lord Emilien ordered, pointing at the masked man that approached us.

The masked person in question was Syrus.

It had been decided in advance that Syrus would have to hide his identity behind a mask because he is a well-known face in Beaufort. After all, he had been serving my father since he was two years old. It would be suspicious if the former head-attendant of the Duke's son, who had vanished without a trace years ago, were to reappear out of blue serving a mysterious young boy with an unknown background.

Thus, it has been decided that Syrus would wear a mask and go by the name Rufus.

"Yes, Lord Emilien."

Syrus and the butler acquiesced.

"Perfect, come, boy, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to," he said while patting me on the back of my head.

"Someone?"

"Yes," he simply smiled without revealing who it was.

With these words, we proceeded to the castle's main entrance.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a massive entrance hall with a plethora of stairs and doors. We climbed one of those stairs for about five minutes straight until we arrived at a large hallway. A hallway from which I could see a group, led by a person of rather short stature, approaching from the very opposite side.

At one point, they were close to us. And, finally, I could see, at a close distance, what the short-statured person looked like.

"Welcome back, my Lord," each of them greeted, bowing their heads to Lord Emilien.

Everyone bowed and saluted Lord Emilien, except for the short person, who, I admit, at first, despite the distance, mistook it for a girl.

But when he opened his mouth to utter something, I realized I had made a wrong assumption.

"Welcome back, Grandfather. I apologize for not being able to welcome you at the entrance."

The one I assumed was a girl who spoke in a boyish voice.

Just like me, he had long hair, so I admit that played a role in my initial wrong assessment.

He was about the same height as me.

long, silky silver hair.

Jewel blue eyes

Put aside that person's little girl-like features; that boy had in common with Lord Emilien that which I had in common with my mother and father.

I couldn't tell if he was older or younger than I was, but based on his long uncut hair, I knew for certain that he couldn't be older than ten.

"This is nothing. It's not like I announced my arrival to you," Lord Emilien said simply, peering down at me, "but since you're here, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to," before patting my back and encouraging me to introduce myself.

"This one is named Ronandt. May the Accursed Almighty and everlasting blessing be upon us."

"This one is Mael, May the eternal and merciful blessing of Kiady be upon us."

Satisfied, I believe, with my performance. Lord Emilien explained. "Ronandt is the son of a friend of mine; he came from afar to see the famous hero of our Duchy and one of the seven holy paladins: Armand Aubrecht."

"But isn't Lord Armand supposed to arrive in three months? Mael asked, suspicious.

"Yes, but you see, this Ronandt over here is a very punctual person. So he came here early to avoid being late, and being the son of my good friend, he will be our Edouard’s family guest in the meantime.

"…I see."

He made it clear that he was still unconvinced by Lord Emilien's explanation, but not wishing to continue the debate, he didn’t further more than that.

"So Mael, I'm counting on you to get along with him."

"I'll do my best, Grandpa," Mael dryly replied.

"Oh, and where is she?" Lord Emilien enquired.

In response to Lord Emilien's question, Mael's face became dejected.

He sighed deeply and said, "Grounded since Grandpa's departure." She won't be able to come over for at least a week or two.

"Oh, that's a pity," he said, his tone indicating that he was truly disappointed by the news.

"Don't tell me you're going to introduce him to her," he said, pointing at me as if utterly horrified by the prospect.

I was still not sure who "her" was, but the "him" Mael was referring to was unmistakably me.

"Yes, I'm confident they'll get along. After all, as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together'."

Mael began scrutinizing me from top to foot, ultimately staring me straight in the eyes, "Now that I think about it, he really does resemble her."

"Who is 'her’?" I inquired of Lord Emilien, not able to contain my curiosity..

Upon being asked that question, a strange smile took shape on Lord Emilien’s face.

""Her" is—well, for the time being, I don't think I need to tell you who she is; you'll run into her one of these days. "

"I…, I see."Lord Emilien made it clear that I would not learn anything about the identity of the famous "She" from him.

When I turned to look at Mael, he immediately averted his gaze.

"Now…It's time for the boy to get some rest now that you two have met, though it's a shame "she" isn't here. I'm sure Ronand is exhausted after our long journey. right? "

"Yes."

I wasn't particularly tired, but it would be impolite to say no here, and I was curious to see what my room looked like. After all, it was my first time being in a castle;