Chapter 336 - 336 To The Royal Castle

After returning home, once the banquet was over, Marcus for the first time in a while took a long break and simply relaxed.

He spent his days lounging about, reading books, taking long baths, and playing with his beast companions.

All in all, it was a lot of fun for him, and allowed him to really take a load off.

He had been working pretty hard for quite some time, and while there had been little patches of respite, it had been far too long since he took multiple days just to rest easy.

However, his days of respite soon came to an end as the promised day where Mrazivý was going to show him around the castle had come.

And with the anticipation growing inside him, Marcus had decided to wait right by the gate in the guard station.

Currently he was having a conversation with Violet and Amy who were the maids on watch, and both of them were a bit uncomfortable with talking to their employer so casually.

Of course, most nobles would not treat their staff in such a familiar manner, but Marcus was not one to care about social hierarchy unless it would cause him problems to ignore it.

'Oh, there she is.'

Luckily for the maids and Marcus, just a few minutes after dawn Mrazivý's carriage could be seen coming down the road.

Smiling Marcus was happy that she was on time, and had the maids get ready to open the gate.

He then exited the guard station and went out front to greet Mrazivý much to her carriage driver's surprise.

"Lady Geist?!"

Astonished to see her master's friend waiting at the front gate, the carriage driver had not expected a noble to come to greet someone out in the open.

Still, that was what Marcus had done, and Mrazivý and Sir Heward quickly exited the carriage, and the first thing that Marcus noticed was the different look that Sir Heward was giving him.

It was by no means friendly but at least he was no longer glaring murderously.

Now he had more of an expression of a father who did not approve of the man his daughter was going out with.

'I guess Mrazivý managed to convince him that I am not some mind manipulating monster.'

"Looks like you were pretty eager to go to the castle huh." Mrazivý said with a wry smile.

She could tell by Marcus' being at the front gate as well as the subtle look of excitement on his face that he was really looking forward to seeing the royal castle.

"And here I was hoping you would show me around your mansion first. But I suppose that you do not think of me as a good enough friend to show me your home even thought I offered to show you mine." Mrazivý said in an overly dramatic way, obviously teasing Marcus.

Sighing Marcus played along with Mrazivý and said, "Yes you are right, what kind of friend am I when I do not even offer you the hospitality of my home. Please follow me to my abode, so I may give you a grand welcome."

The two then stood there for just a moment before no longer being able to contain themselves and laughing at how ridiculous they had been acting.

"Ah but seriously if you want to come and see what my house looks like, we can. Though I doubt it compares to where you live."

"No, it is fine, we made plans to look at the castle today. When we come back you can show me around your estate."

The two of them then got into Mrazivý's carriage while Sir Heward took up his post on the coachman's stand, having already been told to do so.

Along the way Mrazivý told Marcus a bit about the castle and some of the areas they were going to visit, like the grand hall, the large atrium where the royal family grew various types of plants, and the throne room, just to name a few.

Soon the large castle that was made out of white stone, and was toped with blue stone, came into view.

The castle was surrounded by a massive wall that was nearly as tall and thick as the city's outer wall, and the number of fortifications on it made it look near impregnable.

'This is my first time seeing it from so close, but it sure is large, unnecessarily so.'

As Marcus fully appreciated the size of the castle that they were approaching, he realized that it was certainly larger than any castle every built-on Earth, by a wide margin.

In fact, it made his own manor look like a rundown shack, and there was little doubt that it well exceeded one million square feet if not even two million.

However, as they entered beyond the wall with ease since Mrazivý's carriage bore the emblem of the royal family, Marcus was able to see that beyond the wall there was not just the castle but also what appeared to be another city itself.

There were a number of smaller estates peppered throughout the tens of thousands of acres that made up the castle's grounds, as well as a large square full of shops in it.

Of course, the castle was further separated from this area by another smaller wall, but Marcus was surprised to see that there was basically another community behind the walls of the castle.

"You did not tell me that this was here." Marcus said as he looked out in amazement.

"Oh, did you not already know about Castle Town. This is where ministers, generals, lower ranking members of the royal family, and the like live." Mrazivý said as if this was completely natural.

However, for Marcus this was another wonder of this world, since back on Earth just the grounds of the castle would already be the size of a small city.

Though the area was not as developed as a city would be, but there must have been at least ten thousand or so people living here.

Unfortunately, while Marcus had wanted to stop and look around, not many things were open yet, as the sun had only just risen into the sky, and they continued on their way towards the main castle.

Passing through the second wall that was quite a bit smaller but separated the castle from the rest of the area, Marcus was finally able to take in the full scope of the building.

Shortly, they began making their way towards the eastern side of the castle, where they got out of the carriage and began heading towards a small side entrance.

"Okay Heward, you can take the rest of the day off. I will be showing Irene around the castle, so there is no need to protect me here." Mrazivý said, clearly telling her guardian knight that she wished to show Marcus around alone.

Bowing his head Sir Heward did as Mrazivý instructed though he was somewhat reluctant to leave.

Then after Sir Heward had left Mrazivý led Marcus towards the castle's entrance where two guards were standing watch.

"Welcome back your highness." The two guards said simultaneously as they stepped out of the way and opened the door for Mrazivý.

And as the two of them stepped through the doorway, Mrazivý turned around and gestured out with her arms and said, "Welcome to the royal castle."