Creak!
The butler pushed open the slightly sagging wooden door, which scraped against the threshold with a reluctant groan.
Ruger had found things rather odd all the way here. Everyone in the city said this nobleman held no great rank but possessed immense wealth, yet that was not what he saw. Although the estate was large and beautiful, there were very few servants, and he had scarcely seen any. Various small details had not been properly maintained, and the flowers and plants along the way received only the most basic care, just enough to keep them from growing wild.
As the door to the two-story building opened, Ruger was the only one who followed the butler inside this time.
"If I may ask, Sir Wagleng's wife..."
Ruger studied the furnishings as he walked.
"It is no secret, so please do not concern yourself, my lord," the butler said gravely. "The mistress passed away twenty years ago and returned to the embrace of the Twin God. All the nobles in the city know. The master used to be a very strong man, leading a fleet on trading voyages for the great Twin God. Whenever he was away, the mistress would stay here in the garden... Each time the master returned with his fleet, he would bring her seeds for different flowers and plants... After she passed, he aged very quickly. This latest incident has aged him a great deal more..."
The old butler spoke softly as they walked.
Ruger pursed his lips. He had once loved moving stories like this, but now he could only feel that, compared with the path of transcendence, an ordinary person's brief life was far too hurried. Fierce emotions worthy of song and tears passed before anyone had time to savor them, becoming forgotten dust in