"Lord Burnette, someone is here to meet you. From what I heard, they are nobles from the capital and want to discuss something important with you. What should I tell them?"

The butler asked his lord what to do for their uninvited guests.

In all his years of experience and serving his lord, he had never seen guests like the ones sitting down in his living room. Their noble bearing and dignified presence commanded his utmost respect.

The girl who introduced herself as the one being sponsored by Duke Lockhart looked too young. But something about her screamed her grace and made the butler believe her.

He was also sharp enough to recognize that the maid behind the girl was not to be trifled with.

His experience and instincts told him he needed to be more careful than ever.

But his Lord was the opposite; he had already drunk himself to sleep by then. And waking up his drunk lord was not an easy task to do.

"W-What do you m-mean there is someone here to meet me? Why would someone come to meet me? Have they lost their mind? Go and tell them that I have nothing to give to them."

The Local lord yelled as he tried to take another swing from his empty bottle.

A look of disappointment spread across his face. He looked at his empty bottle before he threw it away and stood up to get a new one.

Having too much alcohol proved to be detrimental to the Lord's health as he swung on his feet before almost crashing.

Lord Burnette had no dignity of character to call himself a Nobel. And yet, he had been bestowed the privilege of being a local lord just because of his name and blood in his veins.

"I am sorry, my lord. But our guests are here on behalf of Duke Lockhart. I cannot send them back without offending the Duke."

Those words changed the look on the local lord's face, and he looked afraid for a full minute before he pulled himself together and coughed to hide his nervousness.

"I-Is that so? Then why haven't you said this since the start? I will head down right now."

Lord Burnette assured as he headed out.

He had neither taken a bath nor brushed for a while. He stinks, and the smell of alcohol slung to him.

"My lord, it might be good to freshen up before you come down. I don't think greeting our guests in your current condition is a good idea."

The butler spoke, but the local lord had enough of his butler telling him what to do.

A vase flew toward the butler, but the aim was too wide to hit him. It hit the wall beside the butler before shattering into a million pieces.

"Clean that up while I go and talk to our guests. This is my time to make a solid impression on the Duke's household."

The local lord said it confidently, and the butler was sure his lord would make a strong first impression.

However, whether that impression of a position is negative has yet to be seen.

...

In the end, Layla had to wait about twenty minutes before the local lord showed up. His unkempt appearance and unshaven face told a story that Layla did not want to know.

She could see even Mary being triggered when she saw the local lord's current attire.

"Our lord has some…particular dressing sense. I was unaware it was a noble ethic to dress this shabbily."

Layla spoke in an ambitious voice. Her words had enough edge to cause trouble but not enough for it to become a complaint…yet.

Lord Burnette either did not understand what Layla said, or if he did, he chose to ignore it by thinking of her as a kid who did not mean what she said.

Well, the joke was on him since Layla meant every word of the insult she had hurled at this man.

"Ah, are you from the Duke's household…? I was expecting someone older and with more authority…not that you people are bad. So, what can I help you with?"

The local lord finally asked the question he should have been asking since the start.

Layla felt irritated by the man in front of her. He was a stinker and rude, and most importantly, he did not seem to respect Layla, as his questions were addressed to Mary instead.

Maybe he thought Mary would be a better alternative to pursue to form a friendship since she was older and part of the Duke's household rather than Layla, who did not even have a foundation.

This made Layla mad, but she knew this was the right choice given the circumstances.

But just because it seemed like the right choice did not mean Layla would hold a grudge for this.

"Excuse me, Lord Burnett. But I would like to get to the root of the problem here. Recently, I came across a continuous local pond that was used to facilitate local irrigation. Such things can cause a huge problem for a domain.

I want to ask if you knew about it and who was behind it."

Layla asked the local lord with a straight face. She saw no point in playing around with a fool who would not even understand her half the time.

The local lord looked confused for a minute before something clicked in his mind, and his face turned to one of understanding.

"I see! So, you found that contaminated pond and came here to ask questions? You don't have to worry.

The people from the temple said it was a necessary risk and that God's will must contaminate the water source. I had no choice but to agree since it was a god's wish to do that."

Lord Burnette dismissed this case as trivial, and his face showed his thoughts. He was not taking his role seriously, and now he had admitted to harming his local people directly.

This man did not deserve to be a Nobel, much less have an area to govern.