Chapter 426 - Plans For This Summer

Over the next two days, every servant of the St. Claire mansion was busy in preparations.

Their Master and his family would spend every Summer vacation in the Summer estate located in their fief, however, this year there had been certain changes in their plans for this summer.

Instead of heading to the St. Claire fief, the Master along with his family would be heading further South to the Madam's maiden home situated in the Valente fief.

Everyone was, thus, busy in preparations for the journey that the Earl would make with his wife and children.

"Inform the Butler in our Summer estate that we will head over there before we return to Amarthea." Rutherford commanded Butler Limo who was pouring him some tea.

Tomorrow morning, their family would be starting their journey to Valente fief so the Earl was finishing up all his work here in Amarthea before he could enjoy this vacation with his family.

Since Valente was just below St. Claire fief, Rutherford had decided to visit his hometown on their way back to the Capital city.

Butler Limo nodded as he placed the cup of tea on his Master's table and headed out of the Office to complete the task that was handed over to him.

The Butler in the summer estate of the St. Claires could be considered as his teacher and mentor as he had learned everything from the older man who served Earl Rutherford's father from his days of youth.

When Rutherford first brought Limo back to his fief, it was this old Butler who was given the responsibility of training Limo to become the next Earl's butler.

The old man had done his best in teaching Limo and thus, Butler Limo held that man in high regard.

The two Butlers could not meet each other often as their duties required them to stay in their respective estates to ensure everything functioned according to the Master's wishes.

However, they continued to remain in touch with each other through letters, informing the other about the situation back at the estate in their charge.

Even this time, Butler Limo could not accompany his Master as he would have to stay back and look after the estate while the Earl visited the Valente fief and later on the St. Claire fief.

Therefore, he could only write to his mentor to inform him of the Master's plans and to make arrangements accordingly.

'I should inform him about Demon as well…' Limo decided as the Young Miss insisted on taking her etcher along with them on this journey.

Thus, it was necessary to make proper living arrangements for the large etcher who was already used to living in luxury while in their estate.

'I wonder how he will react.' Limo snickered while imagining the look on his mentor's face when he sees their Young Miss' etcher.

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With Butler Limo in charge of the preparations, the servants had been busy these last two days.

Last year, their Young Master had accompanied the Tanners to their estate for the Summer and hence had not been able to join his family to visit their fief.

The cold war between the two siblings was also one of the reasons why Howard had chosen to spend the vacation with Taylor rather than with his younger sister.

He had also not minded that he would miss her birthday which was during vacation days since that was his intention in the first place.

To stay far away from her was his plan for the summer which he had achieved with a little help from his best friend.

However, this year, Howard St. Claire was not going to miss the chance to celebrate his sister's birthday with her.

In fact, he had already prepared a present for her when there was still a week left before she would turn six.

Thus, forgetting all about his best friend this year, Howard was busy preparing for his vacation with his little sister.

_

In another part of the mansion, Raylene sat before the mirror while her two maids helped her get dressed.

"Madam, could you please tell us more about your maiden house?" One of them inquired with a meek tone.

Noticing the Madam's eyes falling on her, the maid blushed and lowered her head to hide her red cheeks.

This reaction made Raylene smile as her maids blushed while looking at her even when she did absolutely nothing to garner that response.

"Madam, we want to serve you better but we do not know anything about your old house." The other added when she saw how her fellow maid was too shy to even utter another word.

To say that these two maids were enamored with Raylene would be an understatement.

To them, their Madam was an amazing existence ever since she had the courage and willpower to drive out the wicked maid named Paula.

They knew how much that maid was held in high regard yet she dared to do something so insolent so they were extremely incensed to witness the incident that day.

After holding up a strong front before her previous maid, they had also seen how she had broken down in the arms of their Master which broke their hearts as well.

Ever since then, they chose to follow their Madam with all their heart and when they realized that she treated them well without showing contempt for their inexperience, their admiration rose higher than before.

Therefore, when they were informed that they would also accompany the Madam to her maiden house, they were worried that due to their lack of knowledge they might cause their Madam to be ashamed of them.

When Raylene heard their intentions, her heart warmed at the care and concern they had for her.

Since they were willing to serve her with such sincerity then she too would not make things difficult for them.

"My maiden family, Valente, has five members. My father, my elder brother…" Raylene began narrating the most significant parts about her former maiden life.

The maids paid keen attention to ensure that they did not miss out on any information which might help them serve their Madam better.

While Raylene was busy speaking about her childhood days and the likes and dislikes of her family, in her bedroom, a little girl was making her own preparations as well.

__

"Miss, are you sure that this would be fine?" Mrs. Jacinth had a worried expression on her face as she combed the violet tresses of her Young Miss.

Seated before the mirror, Yvonne looked up at the old lady standing behind her and smiled.

They were the only people in this room so the nanny decided to speak her mind about a certain decision that their Miss had made.

Yvonne's smile eased her worries a little but did not disperse them entirely.

"This will be a test to see how she would manage without your aid, Nanny." She reminded the maid of the reason behind the decision she had revealed to her maids.

When the family had decided to travel to the Valente fief, just like everybody else, Yvonne too was supposed to bring her maids along.

However, ever since last winter, Mrs. Jacinth had been getting weaker due to her old age and her recurring illnesses.

Not wanting to let her faithful maid bear with the aches of traveling for too long, Yvonne announced that she would take her other maid, Roselie, with her for this trip.

While Roselie was excited to serve her Miss she was also nervous that she would have to do it without her mentor, Mrs. Jacinth.

The older maid had encouraged her to do her best at that time but now, she was feeling left out.

Therefore, she had voiced out her concern for the younger maid while also displaying her desire to come along.

Every year since the Young Miss' birth, it was Mrs. Jacinth who would accompany her so she was disheartened that this year, she could not follow her on this trip.

Noticing the gloomy look on her face, Yvonne sighed as her nanny was sulking like a child being denied candy from a parent.

"Nanny, would you like to come along?" She questioned without beating around the bush.

This inquiry brought a flush on Mrs. Jacinth's face as her inner thoughts had been revealed before her Miss.

Therefore she did not try to conceal her desire any longer and nodded her head before looking down at the floor.

'Why is she so cute?' The little girl cupped her cheeks while looking at the adorable scene in the mirror.

"Miss, pardon this greedy maid who wishes to stay with you for longer." Mrs. Jacinth's strained tone startled Yvonne.

"I may be getting old but please do not keep me away from serving you." The old lady kept her head down while continuing to say what was in her heart.

From when she had fallen sick during the incident where Paula was sent away from the estate, she had noticed that her Miss was beginning to rely more on Roselie.

She was happy that Roselie was getting a chance to grow but at the same time, she was sad that her position as the Miss's personal maid would be taken away sooner or later.

This time when the little girl announced that she would just be taking Roselie for the trip, this fear only intensified in the older maid.

Therefore, she was now standing before her Miss with her request, revealing her weak and selfish thoughts without fear of what might happen next.