Chương 14: The Butler Is Not...

It had been three days since Cecilia had consumed the Heirflame. After regaining consciousness, she had simply left me alone in the training room, and since then, we had barely spoken to each other, let alone connected. She had stopped coming out of her room as well, except when it was time to eat. That was one thing she never skipped. As for me, I was currently preparing for our journey to the main house. It would take us no more than two days by carriage to reach the estate.

The mansion where Cecilia lived was located quite far from the main house. This had been done for a reason. Cecilia spent most of her time at the academy and rarely returned to the mansion. Whenever she did come back during her vacations, she was expected to stay here. That way, even if she caused trouble, there was little chance of it reaching the main house. I tightened the strap around one of the bags, picked it up, and loaded it onto the carriage.

"Is everything ready?" I turned my head to look at Cecilia. She was wearing a beautiful purple dress, her hair tied up in a stylish arrangement. With the soft click of her heels, she approached and gave me a small nod. I don't know if she got the ability she was supposed to receive from the event. I'm not even sure myself. But right now, other than hoping, there isn't much I can do.

"Yes, my lady. Everything is almost ready. We can leave whenever you wish." Suddenly, Bella appeared from behind Cecilia, dragging a ridiculously large bag behind her. Cecilia stared at the bag before looking at Bella.

"Are you sure this is all you need?" There was obvious sarcasm in her voice, but being Bella, she completely failed to notice it.

"Yes, my lady. I have everything I need! My dresses, my hairbrush, my shoes, my books…" Before she could continue listing every single item she had packed, Cecilia raised a hand and stopped her.

"I don't need to know. Let's just get in already." Cecilia had decided to take only Bella and me with her to the main house. The remaining servants stood at the mansion gates, waiting to bid their lady farewell. I helped Cecilia into the carriage and then helped Bella in after her. As for Bella's enormous bag, I placed it in the second carriage. Once everything was settled, I walked over to the first carriage and took a seat beside the driver. I gestured toward the guard at the gate, signaling him to open it.

The massive gates slowly swung open. And just like that, we left the mansion behind and began our journey toward the main house. — The territory of Rosenkreuz was in the southern reach of Ossraith. The main house was located in the heart of the South, in a place called Bramara. To reach Bramara, one had to cross three mountain ranges. Everything in the South was ruled by the Rosenkreuz bloodline. The mountain range territories also came under the rule of the branch families of Rosenkreuz.

One by one, we passed by them. The journey was anything but normal for someone who had never traveled such a long distance, and at that, in a carriage. If not for my Supreme Butler Trait, I would for sure have been puking my guts out. We had to camp multiple times for all kinds of purposes, like resting, eating, and such. So, the time it took got extended a little bit. But I did wonder during the journey, how come she wasn't traveling with any of the guards or anything? She was, after all, a princess.

But maybe it was me who still didn't really understand the influence of the Rosenkreuz in the South. With the family banner above our carriage, no one in the entire South had the guts to stop the carriage for inspection, let alone make trouble. Currently, it was nighttime. We had made our last camp, as the next day, once we started again, we would finally reach Bramara. On my left, near a small river, Bella was making food.

Look, I'm not an evil man, but without modern technology like smartphones, there aren't many things you can really do to keep yourself entertained. And for me, just interacting with Bella was entertaining enough. She was the kind of person who could turn even the most depressing and sad situation into a good memory. She just had that power. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. But from time to time, I did wonder if she could use magic or not. I walked up to her.

She was using a wooden spoon to taste the salt in the food, making an animated expression.

"What are you making?" Her body tensed up the moment she heard my voice.

"Sir Edwin, you scared me! I'm making rabbit stew." The food looked very delicious. Just looking at it was making me hungry. She had talent when it came to cooking, and it smelled really good too. But I wasn't here for the food. I was here for entertainment.

"Is the food up to standard?" I asked.

"Yes, Sir Edwin. The food is very delicious. I tasted it."

"Did you say you tasted it?"

"Y-yes, Sir Edwin." I looked at her, confused "With that," I pointed at the wooden spoon she was holding. She looked at the spoon and nodded.

"So, you're telling me that you tasted the food with the spoon you were using to make it, and then used that same spoon again to stir the stew?"

"Yes." Her voice was much less excited this time.

"Bella, are you bored of life?" She looked at me with confusion.

"If you are bored of life, you can tell me. I'll make it easy for you and end it right here, right now." I picked up a knife from near the cooking setup and pointed it toward her. She was scared now, trembling like a cat. Oh, I felt bad but I couldn't stop.

"No, Sir Edwin! I don't want to die! I'm sorry, but I don't know what I did wrong!" Big tears had already started falling from her eyes and onto the ground.

"You did nothing wrong. You are making food for Lady Cecilia, who is of noble birth. And you, who are nothing more than a commoner, made her food with your dirty spoon." I stepped closer.

"Tell me, isn't that something I should consider an act of disrespect and kill you right now?" I moved the knife a little closer to her neck, though not close enough to actually touch her.

"Mom... your daughter has failed to live a good life. Forgive me." Then she closed her eyes. Did she just give up on life. What the hell. But before I could continue my entertainment…

"Stop bothering her, Edwin." Cecilia had come out of the camp. I immediately put the knife back where it had been. Then I patted Bella on the head before standing up. But not before whispering slowly into her ear, "You survived today. Next time, you won't be so lucky." After that, Bella served us our food. For some reason, mine was a little cold. I wanted to complain, but when I looked at Bella, ready to bite down on her food, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

After dinner, it was already very late, so Cecilia and Bella went to sleep while I remained outside the camp, looking up at the night sky. It had been a while since I came to this world, and I was finally starting to get used to it. Despite this world being destined to be doomed, just for this single moment, right now, I felt nothing but peace. In a way, it was the most beautiful night I had ever seen. This world wouldn't be so bad to live in… If it wasn't for the dark future waiting for it.

— The next day, we started traveling early, and it took us no longer than 6 hours of continuous traveling to finally reach Bramara. The moment we entered the city, I couldn't help but stare. It was like I was looking at a city straight out of 18th-century England, minus all the disgusting things. Nothing here looked dirty or unpleasant. The streets were wide and properly maintained, with stone roads stretching through Barmara.

Buildings stood on both sides, most of them two or three stories tall, with some even reaching higher. Their designs were old-fashioned, but at the same time, there was something elegant about them. People moved through the streets everywhere. Merchants were shouting out their prices, shopkeepers stood outside their stores trying to attract customers, and carriages passed by one after another.

There were clothing shops, restaurants, weapon stores, bakeries, bookstores, and all kinds of other businesses I couldn't even recognize. There were also small stalls set up along the roads, selling everything from food to strange-looking items whose purpose I couldn't even guess. There wasn't garbage lying around the streets, and there was barely any unpleasant smell despite the number of people gathered together. Even the horses pulling the carriages seemed to be taken care of properly.

After another twenty or so minutes of traveling, we finally reached the main house. And the moment I looked at it, the common sense that I possessed left reality. Because what I was looking at was something, How was I even supposed to describe it? It was big on an unimaginable scale. It was like I was looking at an entire city inside a city, except that, technically, that entire city was nothing more than a house.

For the first time, I started to understand that I had been completely wrong about the wealth of the Rosenkreuz family. Though I had no idea just how wrong I actually was. As I was still lost in my daze, our carriage approached the iron gate. At first glance, it looked completely normal. There was nothing particularly special about it. But if anyone was wondering why the main house of one of the most powerful families in the Kingdom had a gate like this, the answer came soon enough. A guard approached us.

The moment I saw him, my instincts told me immediately. That man was powerful. Not"he could probably beat me" powerful. He was quite strong and from inside, I could sense hundreds of thousands of more either like him or even stronger than him. The entire place was crawling with absurdly powerful monsters wearing human skin. Then the guard opened the gate. He placed one hand over his chest and bowed slightly, the metal of his armor vibrating from the impact. And then we entered the main house.

If this was just the entrance, then what exactly was I going to witness at the celebration? — A cloaked man entered the dark room after knocking on the door twice. Closing the door behind him, he immediately fell to his knees, not daring to look at the individual sitting on the throne in front of him.

"What is it that was so urgent that you had to bother me?" The person's voice came out cold.

"Cecilia has returned to the main house."

"Why is it that whenever things are going right, that child has to show up."

"What is your command?"

"Keep a close eye on her and report all of her activities." Seeing that the man was still there, the person spoke again.

"Is there anything else?"

"The butler that came with her. He took me by surprise." He paused for a moment.

"Why?"

"Because he was not the same butler we sent to the mansion."