Kapitel 14: How long will the peaceful-drunkard, well, butler life last
At the entrance of the city, an unassuming carriage passed by the gates after the passengers had their identity documents checked. The carriage took the passengers to the Residential district, dropping them off at Cangnour. The two passengers exited the carriage, and if Josh was there, he would surely recognize them - it was the man with the eyepatch and his partner with a mustache and a set of malicious green eyes.
They were now wearing normal civilian clothes, and the man with the mustache also had a hat on, following the trend in Denil. The carriage had dropped them off at a grand estate; it was magnificent but couldn't compare to the Manchester manor.
"Master Payne, you have returned?" a middle-aged butler welcomed them into the house with a smile. The man with the eyepatch, Drew Payne, smiled. "Yes, I have. Tell me, Bernard, how is the situation in House Manchester?"
The butler, Bernard, shook his head at his master. "The new head of the family is her prodigal daughter, Sarah. It seems she had no idea of her family's true heritage. But her majesty sent people who revealed to her the whole truth, and she also left her with some instructions."
Drew smiled faintly and nodded. "I see. Well, in a few days, we will go to the Manchester manor to see my new ally and rival."
At the Manchester manor, in the garden, Ishmael was walking next to Lady Augusta Somerset. These past two days, the Somerset siblings had been visiting the manor nonstop, and it was always his duty to look after Augusta while her older brother discussed business with Sarah.
For the past two days, they never really spoke apart from the greetings. Sarah was reserved, and so was he; he would appreciate it if he could spend this time alone, but his mind was on another matter. Two days ago, in the café, one of his gifts had suddenly activated without external help.
Ishmael was still in the café, but it looked old and different, with a certain charm to it. However, the adults were blurry, and for some reason, he could not see them clearly. Instead, he saw two kids who looked almost identical, if not for the difference in age and gender. One would not be able to accurately tell them apart.
The two kids had different personalities - one was easy-going and talkative, while the other was quiet. Throughout their childhood, they would always come to the café until one day the female child was the only one coming. Before the vision could progress, he was forcefully brought back; someone had disturbed him.
He could see that the vision was about Augusta and her brother, but he did not understand why he suddenly saw it. It seemed like there were conditions in how his gifts worked, and currently, he only knew one method. His gifts were also very effective, but they had the potential to leave him in grave danger, especially the vision of the past, since it left him vulnerable and unaware of his surroundings.
Ishmael knew he had to dig further into this, and at the same time, he was also wondering why there had not been wanted pictures of him all over the kingdom. It had been a whole month since he had left Moonridge, and he heard that he was the prime suspect of Judith's supposed murder, so he wondered why it was so quiet.
He was pretty sure that the man with the eyepatch was still after him - no, after the key. Speaking of the key, he had not yet opened the sealed envelope he got ever since. A part of him was scared that by opening it, he would be throwing his whole life away. After all, he needed to make a decision only after knowing the severity of the issue.
Shaking his head a bit, he released a long sigh. Augusta studied him for a short while before asking, "Are you okay?" Responding with a calm "Yes, I am," he pushed back the thoughts and focused on his current task - watching over Augusta.
They walked until they reached the edge of the garden and found a beautiful wooden bench there. Augusta took a seat and invited him to sit with her.
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"How did Lady Manchester find you?" she asked, trying to strike a conversation. Ishmael told her how they met without hiding anything. She listened quietly, not disturbing him once, and when he was done relaying his story, she nodded. "Lady Manchester sure is generous."
Seating in silence once more, it was now Ishmael's turn to start the conversation since Augusta had started the initiative. "So, how does it feel having such an influential brother like Master Shaun?" he asked, trying to start up another round of talking.
Augusta turned to face him and did something unexpected of a lady; she shrugged. "Fine...I guess. Let's not talk about him; try something else."
Hearing her response, Ishmael cursed at himself. "Nice move, twat." "Er...you do not talk much, do you, Lady Augusta?" he asked, still suffering from embarrassment.
But she then smiled a bit before answering his question. "I think it depends on the company and the topics at hand."
Ishmael nodded, understanding what she meant. "I wonder what type of topics are of her interests...eh-why do you even care?" he thought to himself.
Saying nothing more, he focused on the scenery before him and got lost in its beauty. If only life was so simple, he would be in his garden, drinking beer and having a smoke, but things never went his way. Currently, he was a butler with no purpose, too afraid to embark on a life-changing journey.
Every time he thought about it, he would convince himself that it was best to observe first, but deep down, he knew that he was just too afraid to make his move. The year was almost coming to an end, and he had not done anything productive besides drinking, and now he was just a butler.
When he was still a low-ranking official, he used to be zealous about protecting the kingdom and its people; that's why he was so headstrong, and thanks to the good head on his shoulders, he was able to attract the eye of her majesty.
Her majesty was one of the, if not the most powerful person in the Western continent. Her army was vast, plus she was also an excellent strategist and tactician. She had a plan and a backup plan for almost everything, with the only one rivaling her being Emperor Darwin Mendabich. But that did not mean that all the other powerful figures of the continent could not match; after all, some preferred to remain low-key.
Queen Julian the fourth was the most dangerous woman on the planet, and until any other queen or empress managed to outwit her or defeat her, the position solely belonged to her. He, for instance, knew that he was smart, but his real strength lay in his photographic memory, the ability to remember anything he had seen vividly, which made him a great detective, and his great analytical thinking. He was able to break down complex matters into smaller components for better analysis, but he was now limiting his ability in search of a peaceful-drunkard life, well, butler life, but then he wondered how long his peace would last.
"There's something strange about you, Ishmael; you are hiding something. I can see it. But as interested as I am in you, I do not wish to delve into your secrets, for now...I still have a lot I'm faced with." Augusta suddenly spoke, her gaze on him.
He kept his expression calm and kept quiet, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with her, but he wondered what was the "lot" she was faced with.
After a short while, Shaun and Sarah approached them, chatting merrily and laughing a lot, making both him and Augusta frown, but for different reasons.
Arriving in front, Shaun thanked him for taking care of his sister while he was gone, and he also invited him for a few drinks, which he didn't mind since he was one individual who loved a free drink. But he first asked Sarah if that was okay, and she agreed with a smile.
Bidding the two siblings farewell, Sarah and Ishmael stood at the entrance to the manor, both with a soft smile. Sarah turned to him and nodded before retracting back to the manor without saying a word to him.
"What's that about?" He asked himself as he followed behind her. The minute she turned her back to Ishmael, a frown appeared on her face, and her eyes had a slightly hurt expression, but she quickly shook her head and smiled.
"Sarah, what's wrong?" He asked as it was his job as her butler. Sarah shook her head and answered without turning to look at him, "Nothing, Ishmael. Please tell Simon to go fetch Derrick; it's getting late...you may also go with him."
She entered the manor and left him staring at the door. Shaking his head, he left for the stable.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein