Servants in the Castle

Thomas left the study feeling a wave of disappointment. As he walked downstairs, he paused at the landing, wanting to pull out a cigarette to light, only to realize he had hidden them under his pillow.

Mr. Carter, the butler, strictly forbade servants from smoking inside the castle.

"Thomas, what are you hiding here for?" A maid walked up from downstairs. She was about thirty years old, wearing a black and white maid's dress, and carrying a mop and bucket.

"Nothing."

"Is the master still not letting you serve him personally?"

Thomas slapped the wall in frustration. "Maisie, tell me, why doesn't the master like me? Although I haven't been a personal valet before, I was the first valet for Viscount Roosevelt. I am capable of doing this job."

"How would I know? I'm not a maid from Tulip Castle; I've never even seen the master before."

"I'm just asking you, is there anything I'm doing that's not up to par?"

"You should ask Mr. Carter or Mrs. Morson about that... Besides, I don't think you have anything to worry about. The master only has three menservants. Jesse is an assistant, and Tom is clumsy; he can't serve the master at all. Perhaps that's just the master's personality. In this small town, no one is more suitable to be a personal valet than you."

Thomas cheered up a little. "That's true. I heard the master wasn't valued by the Count at Tulip Castle. Perhaps he'll just be the Baron of Flower Town for the rest of his life, living in the poor countryside."

"Perhaps."

"Maisie, do you regret following the master here?"

"It doesn't matter to me. No matter how bad life in the castle is, it's better than going back to the farm to starve to death. I've already sold myself to the master; there's no point in thinking about regrets."

Thomas was just about to speak when someone interrupted him unexpectedly. "Do you not have work to do? Thomas, Maisie, watch your behavior! Do not whisper outside of your own quarters and the kitchen!" Coming up the stairs was none other than Carter, the butler of this humble little castle.

He held a ring of keys and a bottle of red wine, inspecting the entire castle.

"Yes, Mr. Carter, I'll go to work right away." Thomas and Maisie hurried away, each to their own tasks.

If small nobles were servants to great nobles, then valets and maids were considered servants to the butler. The aristocratic system had always been this clearly stratified.

Although the castle was small, there was no shortage of work.

Even with only one noble like Liszt to serve, the daily workload was enormous. For instance, the cleaning had to be done inside and out every morning and evening. Then there was the laundry, heating water, preparing food, and cleaning the toilets. Most of the work was left to the menservants and maids.

But this didn't mean Carter didn't have work. On the contrary, besides managing the servants, Carter was responsible for greeting guests, pouring wine, supervising the serving of meals, receiving and sending letters, keeping high-end tableware, managing the wine cellar, and taking care of the most important guests.

Old Carter was fifty years old this year. In an era where the average life expectancy was less than fifty-five, he was already an elderly man.

Knock, knock, knock.

He knocked on the study door.

"Come in." Liszt's gentle voice sounded from inside, carrying the "Steel Accent" popular in high society. In the Iron Ridge Kingdom and its vassal states, countless nobles considered the Steel Accent to be the mark of nobility.

Old Carter took a deep breath.

He hadn't had much interaction with Liszt at Tulip Castle, as he had mainly been responsible for one of the Count's villas. A while ago, during Liszt's coming-of-age ceremony, the Count had assigned him to serve as Liszt's butler. It was a promotion in position; being a butler was the ultimate goal for all servants.

But the benefits had certainly decreased.

However, Carter didn't have any complaints. He had sold himself to the Tulip Family at fifteen, and thirty-five years had passed since then. He had never married and was all alone, having long considered himself a part of the Tulip Family.

If he could spend the last few years of his life following the bloodline of the Tulip Family, Baron Liszt, it would undoubtedly be a happy ending.

"Master, reading at night hurts your eyes. You should be more careful. No matter how many candles you have, they aren't as good as the sunlight during the day."

Liszt smiled slightly, moving his eyes away from the parchment book on the table to look at the somewhat aged butler. "Mr. Carter, have you checked all the rooms?"

"Except for the rooms where the servants still need to work, all other rooms have been locked."

"Very good. Then, let's have a drink together." Liszt had already noticed the red wine in Carter's hand. Nobles were obsessed with alcohol, to the point where an unwritten convention had formed: the master of the castle would drink a few glasses with the butler before bed at night and chat about the castle's affairs.

Liszt didn't like drinking, but his predecessor had loved it, to the point where his body had a craving for alcohol.

However, the alcohol content here was very low. Unless he drank it wildly like beer, it was hard to get drunk.

One glass of red wine each.

They clinked them gently.

Swirling the glass, Liszt took a small sip. "Can the castle's expenses hold out until this year's tax collection?"

"I'm afraid that's a bit difficult. You didn't bring much wine from Tulip Castle, and there isn't much wheat flour left either. Flower Town's geographical location is very remote, and no merchant caravans are willing to come here. Even if we have gold coins, it's hard to buy wheat and wine. But the good news is that there are plenty of wild fruits in Thorn Ridge, so there's no need to worry about having no fruit to eat."

Liszt was not valued by the Count, so naturally, he hadn't received much when the family split.

According to his memory, when his sister Lvera had split from the family, her carriages had been loaded with thirty carts, while he... he hadn't had a single carriage, only a few horses and a team of laborers carrying some luggage.

The treatment was worlds apart.

His predecessor had harbored too much resentment, but to him, this wasn't a big deal. After all, he wasn't the Count's real son. At most, it was just awkward when father and son met and he had to figure out how to show closeness.

"We can't do without wheat." Liszt put down his wine glass and said in an unquestionable tone, "Flower Town must develop as soon as possible. The trade route must be opened!"

The staple food here was bread.

If there was no white bread made from wheat, they would only be able to eat black bread made from rye and oats, which was rough and hard to swallow. Liszt could no longer eat his favorite hometown dishes, and if he couldn't eat fine white bread either, he would starve to death.

"Opening a trade route is not an easy task. Thorn Ridge is too dangerous."

"Don't worry about that; I will solve it. The future of Flower Town will not be limited by poverty, and the castle will not remain so humble, not even having a name." Liszt said solemnly.

Only a magnificent castle could have a name. Calling Liszt's humble castle a castle was already a compliment; if he gave it a name, other nobles would laugh him to death.

"Have the Elf Bugs been taken care of?"

"Very steadily, Master."

"That's good."

After finishing the glass of wine, old Carter took his leave tactfully. "Master, get some rest early. I wish you a good night."

"Good night to you too, Mr. Carter."

After Carter left, Liszt read for a while from the parchment book that described the customs of the Sapphire Grand Duchy. The book was very thick, about the thickness of a dictionary. But the content was actually very sparse. The parchment lived up to its name; the thickness of a single sheet was almost as thick as pigskin.

"How was paper invented again?" Liszt recalled. He found that his memory was quite good, and he could clearly remember the papermaking process he had seen online. "When I have time, paper must be invented too... The Industrial Revolution seems unlikely, but there are still many ways to get rich."

In a trance, he lost himself in thought again.

Sure enough, the Snake Script made of smoke appeared before his eyes once more.

"Task: As a lord, you need to understand everything about your territory. Please take a tour of Flower Town, understand the crises facing the territory, and prepare for future development. Reward: Sublimation of Battle Qi."