3 – The Castle’s Servants

Thomas felt disappointed as he left the study and went downstairs. He stopped when he reached the staircase landing, wanting to take out a cigarette, before realizing that he had left them underneath his pillow.

The butler, Mr. Carter, had prohibited the servants from smoking in the castle.

“Thomas, what are you hiding here for?” A thirty-year-old maid wearing a black and white skirt, and carrying a mop and a bucket came up from downstairs.

“It is nothing.”

“The lord still does not let you wait upon him?”

Thomas patted the wall in vexation: “Maisie, say, why does the lord not like me? Although I had never been a gentleman’s valet before, but I had once been Viscount Roosevelt’s number one servingman; therefore, I’m qualified for this job.”

“How should I know? I was never a maid of Tulip Castle and had never seen the lord before.”

“Tell me, is there enough s.p.a.ce for me here?”

“You should ask Mr. Carter, or Mrs. Mawson… Besides, I do not think that there is anything for you to worry about. The lord only has three servingmen. With Jesse being an a.s.sistant and Tom being clumsy, they cannot wait upon the lord. In this small town, no one is better than you at being a gentleman’s valet. Perhaps this is just how the lord is."

Thomas cheered up a bit: “Yeah, I heard that in Tulip Castle, the lord had not received the count’s favor, he might just continue being the Baron of Flower Town and live in this run down place for the rest of his life.”

“Maybe.”

“Maisie, do you regret coming here with the lord?”

“I do not mind it. The life in the castle is different, it is better better than going back to the farm and starve to death. I have already sold myself into servitude to the lord. There is no point thinking about regrets, and I do not regret anything.”

Thomas was about to speak, when suddenly someone cut him off: “Have you no work to do? Thomas, Maisie, pay attention to your actions, and do not chit chat when not in your room or the kitchen!” The one walking up the stairs was this crude and small castle’s butler, Carter.

With a key and a bottle of red wine in hand, he was inspecting the castle.

“Okay, Mr. Carter. I’m off to work.” Thomas and Maisie hurriedly left, each one going to take care their own business.

If lesser aristocrats were servants of greater n.o.bles, then servingmen and maids were also considered to be servants of butlers.

Although the castle was small, but there was still a lot of work to be done.

Even though there was only Liszt, an aristocrat, who had to be served, but the daily workload was still great. Taking hygiene as an example, everything had to be cleaned every day in the morning and at night. There was still laundry, water heating, cooking, and cleaning the toilet bowl. Most of the work was a.s.signed to servingmen and maids.

But this did not mean that Carter did not had work to do. On the contrary, besides managing the servants, Carter still was responsible for welcoming guests, pouring wine, overseeing the dishes, receiving and sending out correspondence, a.s.suring the superior quality of the tableware, managing the underground cellar, as well as attending to the important guests.

Old Carter was already fifty years old. In this age, where the average life expectancy was less than fifty five years, he was already extremely old.

Ding dong ding. He rang the study’s bell.

“Please come in.” Liszt’s gentle voice came from the ‘steel tune’ popular among the upper cla.s.s inside door. In Steel Ridge Kingdom and its va.s.sal states, countless aristocrats were honored with these steel tunes.

Old Carter took a deep breath.

Although he had been in Tulip Castle, but he had not had any contact with Liszt, being mainly responsible for one of the count’s villas. During Liszt’s coming of age ceremony, the count had a.s.signed him to Liszt to serve as a butler, giving him a promotion. Butler, was the ultimate goal of any servant.

Yet, his status had certainly declined.

But Carter had no complaints. He had sold himself into servitude to Tulip Family when he was fifteen. Thirty five years later, not having married and being all alone, he considered himself being part of Tulip Family.

Being able to follow an offspring of Tulip Family, baron Liszt, during the final few years of his life, was undoubtedly a good ending.

“My Lord, reading at night is harmful for the eyes, you need to pay more attention. Increasing the number of candles still will not make the light as good as daylight."

Liszt smiled lightly, moved his gaze away from the thick bast paper book lying on the table, and looked at the aged butler: “Mr. Carter, have you checked all the rooms?”

“Apart from the rooms the servants use to do work, the other rooms have all been locked.”

“Very good. Then, let us have a drink together.” Liszt had noticed the bottle of red wine in Carter’s hand. Aristocrats loved wine, to the extent of forming an unwritten rule – the master of a castle, before going to sleep, would have a few drinks with their butler, and talk about matters related to the castle.

Liszt did not like to drink. His predecessor, though, liked to drink, to the point that his body craved wine.

However, the wine’s alcohol content was very low; therefore, unless one drank like crazy, it was difficult to get drunk otherwise.

The person and their gla.s.s of red wine touched lightly

Liszt took a sip: “Can the castle’s expenses be supported by the taxes this year?”

“I’m afraid that it is going to be a bit tight. You have not brought much beverages with you from Tulip Castle and there is not much wheat flour. Flower Town is very remote and there are no caravans willing to come over. Even if we have gold, we still have great difficulty in purchasing wheat and beverages. However, the good news is that there are a lot of wild fruit in Thorns Ridge; therefore, we do not need to worry about a lack of fruit.”

The count did not care about him; therefore, Liszt naturally had not received much supplies when he left home.

According to his memories, when his sister Lvera left home, she left with thirty fully packed carriages, while he… did not even had a single carriage when he left. He just had a few horses and a group of people carrying a bit of luggage.

The difference in treatment was vast.

His predecessor was too resentful. But for him, it was not a big deal. After all, he was not the count’s real son. At the most, when father and son met, he would have to express affection and endure the embarra.s.sment.

“A lack of wheat will not do.” Liszt put down the cup and stated in an unquestionable tone, “Flower Town must be developed as soon as possible, and a trade rout must be established!”

In the village, bread was the staple food.

Without wheat to make white bread, they could only eat the rough and hard to swallow black bread made of barley and oats. Liszt already could not eaten the food he liked, and if he also could not eat the delicate white bread, then he would starve.

“Establis.h.i.+ng a trading rout is not a simple matter as Thorns Ridge is just too dangerous.”

“Do not worry, I will take care of it. In the future, Flower Town will no longer be restricted by poverty, and the castle will not be this crude thing without even a name." Liszt said solemnly.

Only majestic castles could have a name. A crude castle like that of Liszt, if it was given a name, then it would be a laughingstock of the aristocracy.

“Were the sprite worms taken care of?”

“They were, My Lord.”

“Good.”

After finis.h.i.+ng the cup of wine.

Old Carter tactfully said his goodbyes: "My Lord, rest early. I wish you a good night."

“You too, Mr. Carter.”

After Carter left, Liszt read the thick bast paper book, Sapphire Grand Duchy’s customs and practices, for a moment. The book was very thick, approximately as thick as a dictionary. When it came to content, however, it actually had very little. The thick bast paper lived up to its name, being nearly as thick as pig skin.

“How was the paper invented?” Liszt sunk into his memories. He found out that he had a good memory, clearly recalling the papermaking process he had seen on the Internet, “When I have time, I should invent paper… Although industrial revolution does not seem too likely, but there are still many ways to make a fortune.”

Suddenly, he entered a state of trance.

Sure enough, smoke Serpentines once more appeared before his eyes.

“Mission: As the lord, you need to understand everything about your territory. Please inspect Flower Town, comprehend the crisis befalling your territory, and lay proper groundwork for the future development of your territory. Reward: advancement in qi.”