Chương 388: Chapter 361. Arrivals For The Summit

/Creak... /" Lord Matthew... King Warrick has arrived. Are you prepared to greet him?"" Yes, Brandon, I'll come now. Are Sarah and Anna already greeting them?"" Yes, Lord Matthew, I believe that they are. Also, I believe that Princess Cynthia has also come with her Parents, like last time."" Really? Cynthia? Why would she want to come?" Brandon just looked at me instead of answering my question... I wonder why? There was silence for a moment, before he decided to ignore my question and just continue to speak."

I'll return to explain to them that you'll be coming in a few moments."" Thanks?"" Sure thing, Lord Matthew." /Creak. / With that, Brandon closed the door, and I finished up the paperwork for the day. It was currently an hour before noon, I had been working for around 3 hours I'd say? I had a late morning, Sarah and Anna were a bit...

"Enthusiastic" last night, since we'll be having Warrick and Aqua... And I guess Cynthia, staying with us for a few days, they wanted to get the most out of me last night... And into the early morning. I woke up a few hours after I was able to fall asleep. Thankfully, Paladin's Recovery makes a nap feel like a 9-hour sleep, so I was able to leave Sarah and Anna to sleep a bit more and I was able to start on my daily stack of paperwork.

Emily, Ruby and Colin had off today, since it was Saturday, and I have everyone who works under me take off on the weekends, the only thing is that this week is an exception for the Maids and Butlers since we're expecting Guests. I was grateful that they didn't mind the extra work. I know that for Maids and Butlers, they believe that they should be working every day, but I can't in good conscience do that here. I'm treating this weekend like they're working overtime and I'll be paying them as such...

As well as what they've requested for a special reward, in the case of most of the Staff, it's different desserts or pasta dishes for their personal meals for around a month, not a big deal. Deborah asked for me to use some of Lily's abilities to grow special flowers in the garden, which is doable for me and I actually am looking forward to it. Deborah has been pretty quiet since arriving here to work, I've seen her around mind you, but she just seems to be content with her situation.

Even when I ask her to join us for a meal so I could hear any of her complaints, the only thing she's ever asked for is new buckets and other assorted tools for her job. I've more than happily gotten them for her, but something still feels "off" to me. Not in a strange way, but in the kind of way like she's holding herself back. The only time I've seen her get passionate about anything was when the Servants fought me tooth and nail about mandatory days off." Oh, look at the time..." / Chatter! Chatter! Chatter!

/ I took a look at the clock in the room and realized I was losing myself in my thoughts. I quickly got up to leave the office, I could hear some noise from downstairs, it looks like everyone is doing well, it seems lively... Almost too lively? I walked downstairs as quickly as I could to see a somewhat strange sight..." No, we should be staying here, you have a vacation home, don't you? I heard you both talking about it when we came the last time! Doesn't it make sense then?""

But shouldn't you want to stay with your daughter? She has her own, quite large house, doesn't she? Besides, they'd feel more relaxed in their own home with family, right?"" Now, now, both of you are right... Which is why My Family should be staying here, seeing as we don't have a vacation home, nor does my daughter have a home that we could stay in."" Ah, My Love! Good morning!"" Darling! Just in time!" Grip! Sarah and Anna saw that I had finally stepped foot on the 1st floor, and they immediately came to me...

Which usually would be nice, and I would be happy to greet them, but the current situation was a bit too... Puzzling... As in, how the hell did this happen? 3 Royal Families were currently sitting in my living room, and they seemed to be arguing about where they were staying? I looked to Sarah and Anna for an explanation. Anna quickly informed me of what was going on as Sarah happily grabbed my left hand to hold onto. I observed the 3 Queens who were currently speaking to each other.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator." You see, King Warrick, along with Queen Aqua and Cyn had arrived first, then King Leonard and Queen Crystal. A few minutes after, finally, King Alan, Queen Aria and Alice had walked through the door. One thing led to the other and they began to speak about where they were staying.

Sarah brought up how we had fashioned some houses for them to stay in and then King Warrick wondered aloud why we did that, since he could just stay here. And now, the Queens have been going back and forth for a few minutes talking about staying here."" I see... I guess I need to handle this, don't I?"" Well, it's a matter of Kings and Queens, so I'm not quite sure what we can do, Darling?""

Could be the case, but I'll be damned if I let someone else dictate how I run my house, let alone let all of that wasted effort of the people who cleaned up the homes they're scheduled to use." With my final words to Anna, I turned to the 3 arguing Queens with their families all looking actually somewhat peaceful with awkward smiles plastered on the Kings faces.

Cynthia, Charlotte and Alice were all sitting and facing each other, they all looked glad to see me, I guess seeing their mothers arguing isn't exactly how they imagined this whole thing going? Once the Princesses noticed me, their parents were next. First was actually the person I've never met before, Queen Aria Mars, the Queen of Bestia. She was in the middle of saying something to Aqua until she saw me, once she did, she stood up, as did the rest of the group once they all saw that I had entered the room.

She looked somewhat like Alice. Slightly older, but still full of energy and quite pretty. She had Alice's dark-brown hair, only her hair was all the way down her back. The real difference was her eye color in comparison to Alice. While Alice had red eyes, Queen Aria had light-blue eyes, they looked like they were made of pure ice.

While that could give a sense of coldness to someone, the fluffy animal ears and tail that were reminiscent of a cat's ears and tail, were both elegant and sleek, but gave the impression of someone that was attentive and in good sprits. This was in comparison to King Alan's somewhat floppy ears, that remind me of an older dog's ears. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen King Alan's tail yet... I wonder if it's somewhat smaller than Queen Aria and Alice's own tails?

Maybe it has to do with King Alan belonging to the Wolfkin and Queen Aria belonging to the Lionkin? I guess Alice takes after her father's side a bit more, since she has more wolf-like features, even though her face is very reminiscent of her mother's now that I can compare them?" Matthew! Good to see you!" King Alan was the first to greet me, his wife poking him in the side with her elbow can do that for a person I guess?

He interrupted my thoughts, but I appreciated it, I greeted him, but my eyes fell back on the room as I was more interested in what was happening currently." It's nice to see you, King Alan... It's nice to see all of you. Having said that, could anyone explain why Kings and Queens were arguing about staying in my house when I've already prepared quite spacious accommodations for everyone?"

"!"

"!"

"!" My question quickly caught everyone by surprise. I was surprised mostly by King Leonard and King Crystal's reactions. I've seen them act mostly stern and quite pompous on occasion... I'll be honest, it mostly comes from King Leonard, but he is dealing with a lot to be fair." Well... You see..." Queen Crystal was the first to try and explain herself, but she couldn't seem to come up with anything." The explanation for why it's come to this, is quite difficult to explain if we're being honest.

But, if we'd break it down to the foundation, it's because of Our Children, Marquess Drake." A clear voice that reminded me of a serene, calm lake took my attention. The words it spoke eventually registered to me. I looked at the source, as did everyone else with a knowing look. I was the only one who didn't quite understand what Queen Aria had said." Daughters? What about them, Queen Aria?""

Well, it's quite simple, Our Daughters are quite close to your wives, Marquess Drake, however, they can't simply walk over and plan a playdate with them, either they're in a different place or busy working. Us, Caring Parents simply want Our Daughters to have a good time this week leading up to the Summit. Hopefully spending as much time with their Friends as possible. With that, Aqua, Queen Crystal and I are usually the best in our Countries when it comes to Social Decorum and the like.

So, we've been having a light spar against each other as a form of entertainment while we awaited Our Host. that being you, of course."" Is that so?" Everyone nodded their heads to Queen Aria's words. I can't exactly chastise them for anything, they're Kings and Queens after all... But still, I'd prefer for them to spend their time in their own dwellings." You look dissatisfied, Marquess Drake?" Queen Aria seemed to notice what I was thinking.

She wasn't wrong, everyone who's met me before looked almost offended by Queen Aria's observation. Of course, everyone wanted an explanation, except for Sarah and Anna of course." I just dislike the fact that I and my workers had prepared houses for you all to spend your time here comfortably. I feel like all of that hard work was for nothing."" Oh..." With King Leonard's voice full of surprise to my words, I knew that I just finished this entire debate."

Well, if that's the case, why not just have Our Daughters stay here until we head back? How does that sound, Aqua? Queen Crystal?"" That sounds like a great idea, Ari!"" I quite like that idea as well... And please, just call me "Crystal", I'll do the same, Aria." It seems like I'll need to accept this concession if the look in Queen Aria's eyes says anything... Also, the look in the Princesses' eyes around me as well, since they all looked hopeful for me to accept it.

I quickly looked to Sarah and Anna, they didn't seem to have an issue with it, so I decided to just role with it. I nodded my head with the hope that this week would be peaceful.