385 Warmane Mansion
Back in Sorvando’s capital, the carriage that Vincent and Tilla had used to travel arrived in front of a huge mansion that almost looked as grand as the central wing of the Kilerth castle.
Inside the carriage, Vincent was sitting on the opposite side of Tilla, watching her sleep on the seat before him so that she wouldn’t accidentally fall down or roll over as the carriage was moving.
Now that the carriage ca to a halt, Vincent looked out of the window at his mansion. A tingling sense of warmth danced in his heart as he looked at the place where he barely ca to sleep only.
The sa mansion that always reminded him of his life without actual family mbers was looking very inviting today. He couldn’t wait to go inside and show Tilla around.
“Tilla?” Vincent held Tilla’s shoulder and gently shook her to wake her up from her sleep. “We’ve arrived,” he whispered.
“Oh? We’ve arrived already?” Tilla mumbled as she opened her eyes and blinked several tis as if to shake off the sleep from her eyes. “It’s pretty close to the castle, huh.”
“Yes, it is very near.” Vincent gave a warm smile to Tilla and carefully slid his arms under Tilla’s head and her thighs. He gently carried Tilla in his arms and said, “That’s one of the reasons why you can find in the castle very early in the morning and till late at night.”
“Ah!” Tilla smiled. In a way, the short distance between the castle and Lord Vincent’s mansion had saved her life.
The coachman of the carriage had already opened the door of the carriage for the two of them.
.....
Vincent was careful not to leap as he stepped down the carriage. He gave a little nod to the coachman and thanked him. “Thank you for bringing us here, Benjamin. You may return to the castle now.”
“As you wish, Milord,” the coachman bowed to Vincent and started to prepare for the return.
When Vincent finally made Tilla face his mansion, Tilla’s eyes glimred and her lips slightly parted on their own.
The dark and grey colors of the stones, the massive pillars that held the mansion, and the architectural design of the mansion could easily make one believe that they were still in the castle. One could even say that this mansion was a child of the Kilerth castle in that sense.
“You look happy,” Vincent saw the corners of Tilla’s lips curving up slightly and comnted.
Tilla smiled even more widely and looked at Vincent. “I never imagined your mansion to look like this,” she said in response.
“Like what?” he asked while heading towards the main entrance of the mansion where his butler, housekeeper, and a few maids and servants had lined up to welco them.
Before the carriage moved from the castle, Vincent had asked soone to run to his mansion and pass his ssage to the housekeeper. Everyone looked eager by his arrival.
Tilla looked down at her legs that were hanging comfortably on the lord’s arm and said, “Similar to the castle. And I had never imagined that one day the sight of similar buildings would bring joy.”
Vincent chuckled and tried to make Tilla confess sothing. “Could the reason for your joy be because of the fact that you are going to stay with for a month?”
“I’m afraid it’s not what you think, Milord,” Tilla instantly refuted the ‘accusation’ as civilly as she could.
And she imdiately said what was in her mind, “I was saying that because your mansion reminds of the castle.” Her voice had a hint of sadness when she further added, “Hopefully, while I am here, I won’t miss the castle that much.”
“I won’t let you miss the castle, I promise,” Vincent smirked as he kept on gazing at Tilla’s dumbfounded expression.
“Welco back, Milord.”
Both of their attention was grabbed by the welcoming voice of the housekeeper, Penelope, of the mansion.
“Thank you!” Vincent acknowledged the housekeeper with a nod, a lady who looked like she was in her late fifties.
Vincent took a glance at Tilla and introduced her to Penelope as well as everyone, “This is Tilla, the handmaid of the Queen.”
Penelope gave a smile to Tilla and politely said, “Welco to the Warmane Mansion, Miss Tilla.”
“Thank you, Miss.” Tilla returned the smile and also didn’t forget to make an apology, “I apologize for the intrusion and any inconvenience I might put you all through because of my presence here.”
Vincent imdiately frowned at Tilla and said, “You don’t need to apologize when I practically begged you to co here and also begged the King and the Queen to allow to bring you here. It’s alright. They all understand your situation.”
To make her feel less awkward, Vincent looked at everyone standing there and asked, “You all are happy to have Tilla here, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Milord.” Everyone replied no matter how they felt about having Tilla there.
Tilla was already feeling a bit embarrassed to face all of the workers of the mansion because of how their Lord was carrying her in his arms. And now, she felt even more embarrassed as everyone’s eyes were on her.
Still, she smiled at everyone who she could see from the position she was being held and then looked at Vincent. Her eyes looked as though they were asking the Lord to carry her away to her room as soon as he could.
However, since almost all of the workers of the mansion were present there, Vincent thought of making an announcent to avoid the situation of the castle repeating here as well, although he didn’t believe it would since he deeply trusted the people who worked in his mansion.
He cleared his throat and said in an authoritative tone, “I should let everyone know right now that Tilla will be staying with us until she fully recovers. And during her stay here, I hope all of you will treat her as you would treat the mistress of this mansion.”
“Mistress?” Penelope almost busted everyone’s eardrums by exclaiming loudly.
Not just Penelope, everyone was shocked by Vincent’s last sentence, including Tilla. They were all looking at Vincent with eyes as wide as the saucepan and they were wondering if he was serious.
It was not that their master never brought any won ho before. It was just that he had never said this before. If anything, he would ask them to get rid of the won he brought as soon as the night was over.
Vincent slightly raised his brows and looked at everyone’s stunned faces. And he asked rather sternly, “What? Did I say sothing wrong?”
“No, of course not, Milord,” Penelope spoke on everyone’s behalf.
Instantly, her face bead as if she was embraced by the warmth of the moonlight. She almost squeaked with happiness as she laid her eyes on Tilla and said, “We will treat her like the mistress. She shall have everything that she desires.”
And everyone nodded their heads in agreent.
They were all happy because they were all thinking that at last, their master had found soone who would help him to put his roots in the mansion instead of always rushing to the castle or elsewhere.
Tilla held her breath and turned her head towards Vincent’s chest to hide her face. Her ears as well as her cheeks were burning from embarrassnt.
At last, Tilla asked in a whisper, unable to contain the awkwardness, “Milord, can we go in? I am a bit tired.”
“Oh, of course.” Vincent looked at Penelope and asked, “Is everything in order?”
“Yes, Milord. I have prepared the room that you asked for Miss Tilla,” Penelope replied.
“That’s good.” Vincent began walking down the corridor while at the sa ti, asking Penelope a few more questions. “Did soone go to get the nurses? And food items and chef for Tilla?”
Penelope walked behind Vincent as she answered the Lord.
“Stephan has sent so of the n to Silver Keep to deliver your ssage to the prospective nurses and chefs, and also to gather the food items. I am hoping that at least so will answer the call by tonight or tomorrow morning because the reward you ntioned is pretty high considering the type of jobs.”
Tilla was surprised that Vincent was going to hire nurses too. “Milord, that was unnecessary,” she said while looking at Vincent. “I just need to lie down on the bed. I don’t need a nurse for that.”
Vincent glanced at that worried face looking at him and clarified his intention behind hiring the nurse. “You never know when you will need an assistance of a human. I thought it would be better to have at least one human by your side in case sothing happens to you. We don’t know much about your body, so…”
Penelope also agreed with Vincent, “Yes, it is wise to have a nurse around. We could have taken proper care of you, Miss, but I am afraid we aren’t much experienced in that regard.”
Tilla didn’t protest since she knew they were right.
Penelope walked ahead of them when they neared the end of the corridor. She opened the door to a huge room for Vincent and Tilla to enter.
Vincent looked inside the room in satisfaction and said to Tilla with a smile, “This will be your room during your stay here. Do you like it?”
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