CH 272

The Reingens enter the impossibly luxurious mansion with trepidation.

“Welcome back, Master Floto. We welcome you as her guest, Lord Reingen.”

“-!”

Karl was overwhelmed by the rows of butlers and maids. Their quality is extremely high, far surpassing even the Houses of Duke Bayen’s Faction. They’re different from the servants who were at the Bayen’s party in the royal capital. And there are so many of them.

An excellent House Servant demands a high salary. To begin with, it is difficult just to find and bring in such a person. How many heads do they employ? They have to say that the quality and number are overwhelming compared to the ducal and royal families.

“Lord Reingen is tired,” Flora said. “Please show him somewhere he can rest for a bit.”

“Understood,” a maid said. “Lord Reingen, let us show you to your room. This way.”

“Ah, right…” Karl said.

He and Marianne are guided to their room. Their eyes stop at the things decorating the corridor on the way.

“If I may have a word?” Karl asked, stopping their maid.

“Yes?” the maid says as she obliges.

Karl points to a vase decorating the hallway.

“This looks like a pretty fine piece, but could it be…”

“That is a Hexen White Porcelain vase, one of the specialties of our territory,” the maid said.

In the end… it was exactly as he thought. Beautiful and glossy white porcelain. And there are brightly colored paintings on it. You could buy a house in the royal capital with just this vase. If you sell it to a nobleman, there should be a lot of them who’d want to purchase it at any price you put forward. Such a vase is used as a common decoration.

It is not placed for a special exhibition. It is placed normally with flowers in the hallway. And it’s not the only one. They are all over the corridor.

“Is this one such piece, as well?” Karl says, pointing cautiously at what looks like a large vase or an urn.

Its size is very large, about the size of a petite adult. Also, porcelain was not just a vessel, but it was also used to mold flowers and figures on the outside. It’s as if real flowers are wrapped around a vase and angels are sitting there, resting.

“That is a gift from the Hexen White Porcelain Potters to the Head of the House,” the maid explained.

“It’s beautiful…” Marianne says as she stares at it, enraptured.

However, Karl had a different impression. It certainly is beautiful. It’s a great product that he’d never seen before. But… “is it okay to leave such a thing in a place like this?” he can’t help but think. How much would something like this sell for? … No, he doesn’t believe you could even put a price on it.

“I see… thank you,” Karl said. “My apologies for having stopped you.”

“No, Your Lordship, it was no inconvenience at all,” the maid said. “If you have anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

And with that, she starts walking again. The paintings and porcelain on display are all pleasing to Karl’s eyes. Even he, who thought he was tired of seeing such expensive things, was amazed. And he would be surprised to learn that this was not the main residence, but a villa. If this is a villa, how grand is the main residence?

Karl sits down on a sofa in the guest room they were escorted to. The furniture is also soft and fluffy. It is made so that it does not burden the body. It is so comfortable that he wants to fall asleep there.

“Oh my! What a big mirror…” Marianne swoons.

“Don’t touch it too much or you might break it…” Karl said.

From the sofa, Karl nervously watches his wife looking here and there. He doesn’t know what he’ll do if she breaks something. A full-length mirror that was so large you could see yourself in your entirety at a glance. The paintings, ceramics, water jugs, and glass cups that are displayed in the guest rooms are all items that make you hesitate to use them casually. In the unlikely event that he breaks something, Karl is he is now, no, even if he was still the Marquis of Reingen, will not be able to compensate for it.

“Father, how are you feeling now?” Christa said as she arrived in their room.

“Oh, I’m much better now,” Karl replied.

The room is too luxurious and it makes Karl uncomfortable. However, since it is a hangover or seasickness, it will naturally heal over time without doing anything in particular.

“Oh my?” Christa said. “Didn’t you drink any water? Come on, here you go.”

“Ah, aah…” Karl gasped.

Without hesitation, Christa took a glass cup, poured water into it, and handed it to Karl. Karl wondered if it was okay to use it so casually, but it was handed to him, so he put it to his lips.

“Oh, what the…? This is…” Karl muttered.

“It’s refreshing and easy to drink, isn’t it? It seems to contain a little citrus juice,” Christa said.

This water had a slight acidic freshness to it, like fruit. Very easy to drink for Karl as he finds himself today.

“Then I will show you around this mansion,” Christa said.

“”Huh?””

Karl and Marianne both tilted their heads in confusion at that.

“There are a lot of things that you have to get used to in this mansion,” Christa replied, her chest puffed up in pride. “I’m already familiar, so I’ll show you both around, Father and Mother, and explain it to you two.”

And so their daughter took them out of the room and the Reingens were left to wander around the mansion.

After Christa took them out of their room… Karl and Marianne were exhausted. It wasn’t from all the walking that tired them out. They were tired of being so surprised.

The water that comes out when you turn something that was called a faucet. A toilet that was called a flush toilet. Hot water fills a wide bathtub to the brim. And so many others…….

It was certainly as Christa said. If you wanted to live in this mansion, you would have to acquire various pieces of knowledge and get used to it. If they hadn’t been guided by Christa, they surely would have made a terrible mistake.

“I’m already tired of being surprised…” Karl muttered as he looked at his wife.

“I agree…” Marianne said, looking back at her husband.

But Christa showed no mercy and said something even more surprising.

“You have to get used to living in this territory. In an inn, let alone in a private house, the quality of life is similar,” she said. “You need to know and become familiar with it or you’ll embarrass yourselves.”

“… Huh?” Karl said.

Do those in inns or other private houses live like this? He can’t understand what he means.

“Wh-What do you mean by that?” Karl said. “You can’t be… telling me that private houses around here also have those flush toilets and large baths?”

“I don’t think there are many houses with large baths,” Christa said. “But it seems they do have them sometimes. Also, there are faucets and flush toilets. You have to get used to it or you won’t be able to live in a place like this.”

“… Huh?”

He still does not understand. He can’t wrap his mind around it. It is natural that private houses do not have baths. Just because it happens sometimes doesn’t make sense. A faucet that lets water flow just by twisting it, or a flush toilet that has water washing everything away just by pulling a lever. He does not understand what it means. He can’t say anything else: it doesn’t make sense.

“It seems that the mechanism of these faucets and flush toilets rely on a hand pump to draw water into the tank on top of the building, storing it,” Christa said. “The servants will do it for you, but in ordinary private houses, the household will have to pump it themselves.”

He wasn’t asking how it all worked, but… he could process it however he still understood that it was outrageous. It’s not a problem that you have to replenish it yourself with human power. If this overwhelmingly convenient and overly-advanced facility were to spread throughout this town, no, throughout this territory… Christa didn’t understand how ridiculous it would be.

Karl wondered how much time and budget it would take to spread the same equipment in the Reingen Marquisate. It’s certainly amazing that they developed advanced equipment, but that’s not the point. What’s important is that it’s abnormal to spread such advanced equipment so thoroughly throughout your land.

“I’m tired of being surprised…” Karl whispered.

“I agree……” Marianne said.

After this, Karl and Marianne enjoyed the spacious bath, were treated to a sumptuous meal, and enjoyed the heavenly comfort of the fluffiest bed they have never laid on before.

“So then, shall we head to Caanburg today?” Flora asked.

“Caanburg?” Karl asked. “I remember that the capital of the Carruthers Territory was Carruzan, but was I mistaken…?”

The next day, Karl was feeling much better and decided to head to Helmut’s house. He would like to go sightseeing in this town called Cien, but that will be for another day. Karl and Marianne will still be in trouble if they stayed here for now. So even if they don’t rush sightseeing, they have plenty of time. Rather than that, they should head to Helmut’s house first.

“Huh? Yes… that’s right,” Flora said.”The capital of Carruthers Territory is Carruzan. Viscount Royce’s Manor is also in Carruzan. However, Helmut’s house is in Caanburg, so I think we’ll head to Caanburg for now…… would you prefer we head to Manor Royce first?”

“Oh, is that so.…?” Karl said. “No, if that’s the case, let’s head to that town, Caanburg, you said? We’re just visiting Helmut’s house. So first, let’s go there.”

With that, the destination was decided. As for Flora, if you go by land, it’s easier to move from Cien to Caanburg and then head to Carruzan or another southern area. Once you pass through Caanburg, go to Carruzan, and then return to Caanburg again, it will have been twice the hassle going back and forth.

The carriage departed and slowly crossed a large mountain range and then continued on through the woods. Before long, they arrived at a huge, well-maintained town that suddenly appeared in the middle of the trees.

“This… is this Caanburg?” Karl asked.

“It’s like a town floating in the forest… it’s quite fantastic,” Marianne said.

Karl and Marianne were overwhelmed by the town. Certainly, in terms of population and number of buildings, it is no match for other big cities. However, this town has a mysterious appearance that seems to have merged with the forest. And this is also full of vigor without losing to Cien. He can’t even feel the slightest bit of the roughness and meagerness of other towns in small territories.

A very clean, forward-thinking, and vibrant city. People are all smiling and busily coming and going about their business.

He knows what Christa said. Certainly, if she wants to live in this territory, she must know the common sense of this territory. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to do the same as she would elsewhere. Karl has to thank his well-mannered, prudent daughter who taught him all this well in advance.

“This is my main residence in Caanburg,” Flora said. “And that will be Helmut’s mansion.”

“……………… What?”

After arriving in Caanburg, Karl and Marianne were shown… a grand palace that was even more splendid than Cien’s palace, no, it was too splendid, and a grand mansion located to the right of the grand palace.

It’s good that the large palace in front is already beyond the realm of what Karl can understand. No, it’s not good, but he’ll just give that up. However… the large mansion on the right-hand side is not like the mansion of Marquis Reingen. Rather than like the mansion of Duke Bayen, it’s a gigantic manor that could be comparable to the royal residence or palace where the royal family lives.

“This is… Helmut’s house… is it?” Karl said.

“Yes,” Helmut said. “Miss Flora gave it to me as a wedding gift, saying I would need a place to live on my own.”

“You’re living so much better than us!” Karl wanted to scream but desperately restrained himself from saying. Wasn’t Helmut the third son of a viscount? Was Helmut a duke somewhere? At least that’s what the size of the mansion would fit.

“Flora, I’ll be inviting Father and Mother to stay at our home today,” Christa said.

“So it should be,” Flora said, nodding. “It would be nice to have a good rest today with just your family. I’ll be staying at this mansion there, so if there’s anything you need, please do come to visit me anytime.”

“Ah, ah… I see…” Karl said.

Karl doesn’t know what to do anymore. What should he do about the sense of distance from Flora’s standing? Should he humble himself and bow his head? Should he act as an older former marquis, still higher than her? At least, he can’t act arrogant toward such an outrageous party. Rather, Karl has atrophied.

“Come on, come!” Christa said, pulling her parents along inside. “Father, Mother, please don’t stop here and look at my and Helmut’s house!”

They forced themselves to walk. They don’t know what to do anymore. Could this be a dream? Perhaps they are already dead after the ship sank along the way. They can’t help but think about that.

“You, too, Father-in-law and Mother-in-law!” Christa said. “Of course, you’ll be spending the day at our home, yes?”

“Indeed we are,” Lady Royce said. “We’ll stay here instead of going home now, won’t we? Right?”

“Ah~…” Viscount Royce moaned. “Of course, we are…”

Viscount Royce’s face was a little tired, although Lady Royce was in high spirits. It’s just like Karl’s situation.

The two men met each other’s gazes. And they understood each other: “This will be hard on us.” one said and the other replied, “Indeed it will be.”… after the silent exchange shared through just the glances, they followed their children and wives into the mansion before them.