Chapter 182 – Royal Treatment

Everyone was brought inside and given the opportunity to eat and clean up.

Syrus noticed the number of staff within the manor was quite small compared to what she was expecting. The strangest of which was the butler Havier. While working for Lord Hall, he seemed to command his own authority.

After Mary and Max returned from their bath. Syrus was very impressed with their royal look. Their black hair, which before looked like nothing special, covered in so much dust that it neared grey, now almost sparkled. Solid black and with bright golden eyes, they fit much more into the look of royalty.

While those two were getting cleaned up, rooms were organised for the group. The building had a large number of unused guest rooms, so everyone had the ability to have their own room. Ethan and Maca ended up sharing a room as the boy didn’t feel comfortable having his own room in such a large place. Anlesa took the opportunity to have her own room so she could have brief windows where they could remove their transformation.

Mary and Max were given a room to share; no one wanted to risk splitting the parent-child pair up. The nervousness on Max’s face during the whole ordeal was hard to deny.

[This sure is a big place…] (Eva)

[Not every day one gets to live the high life.] (Syrus)

[If you can call this the high life, it’s just a guest room.] (Luna)

[Oh, sorry, we aren’t used to getting our hands and feet washed by servants.] (Syrus)

[Hey! That didn’t happen to me… mostly…] (Luna)

[Wait, people actually washed you? Wow, someone is a lucky bugger.] (Syrus)

[Only for certain events… I hated it, of course, but as well, in most situations, it was considered a crime to see a saint’s body, but there were exceptions for events where things had to be perfect.] (Luna)

[Get up to anything interesting during those moments?] (Syrus)

[What? No?] (Luna)

Eva, also confused, decided not to comment on the situation. Syrus clicked her tongue when Luna didn’t get her message. She wasn’t going to explain it either, as that would ruin the joke. But she did have the idea to make Luna come to the realisation herself later. Syrus was in a strong trolling mood, so she began planning future fun.

When they were assigned their room, Syrus made a note to search the room for potential spy holes later. She didn’t want to risk people seeing them in other forms.

Max and Ethan got the chance to marvel around the house while all the adults were mostly calm. Maca didn’t show any particular expression, but Syrus could tell he was a little weirded out by some of the stares. He was so used to negative stares of fear and disgust and the occasional indifferent look from strangers, but the people working in this manor seemed excited… even impressed to see him. He had heard that in the past, this country used to treat people like him, but he never exactly understood the difference in treatment until he felt it.

Lavender was sitting back comfortably, enjoying the food.

Before long, however, the group got reorganised and everyone was back in the large open-area lounge room. There was a massive sofa that curved around the room with a fireplace in the corner.

“Thank you all for escorting M… Mary back.” The Lord lightly bowed his head.

The group were mostly unsure how to act. Maca just nodded. Ethan was way too nervous to even think of saying anything. Lavender had dealt with a few important clients before, but the whole atmosphere here was also a little strange for her and any confidence over the situation she had disappeared when the noble-like bowed to her.

“All good,” Syrus replied with a casual attitude that shocked the butler. No one was expecting formalities, but the atmosphere had shown everyone else as being pretty nervous, and somehow, Syrus had faded into the background. “It was something that had to be done.”

Syrus noticed the stares and smirked internally. “Would you like me to speak more formally?” Ready to toss the reins to Luna on a moment’s notice.

[Rude.] (Luna)

[It would’ve been funny.] (Syrus)

[I don’t doubt that.] Luna was all too aware of the looks of utter bafflement when they had swapped voices as a kid. There was certainly a degree of enjoyment in all those interactions.

“No, it is alright.” Lord Hall raised his hand. “Please, just stay comfortable.”

“Understood.” Syrus took a sip of the water provided to them.

[Nothing dangerous about the water, good.] (Syrus)

[I can apply some healing if you are worried.] (Luna)

[It should be fine. Nothing is reacting strangely with the body.] (Syrus)

[I shouldn’t be surprised you have been poisoned before; the mercenary life must’ve been a cruel one.] (Luna)

[Hey, even mercenaries being poisoned would cause a huge incident. There just happened to be one point where people were pretty determined to kill me.] (Syrus)

[Couldn’t imagine why. Likely one of the strongest fighters around, who would want a piece of that.] Luna said sarcastically, mostly due to the fact that she knew Syrus wouldn’t elaborate on it.

Mary muttered, “This place has certainly changed since I’ve been gone.” Her memories of her time within the city were vague at best, so she was just mostly making conversation.

The Lord didn’t seem to notice, and if he did, he didn’t care and went along. Luna wasn’t exactly sure. “Yes, the city has changed a lot since you left…”

He sighed, “I’m glad you missed the worst times.”

“The forgetting of the royal family, isn’t it?”

Lord Hall paused at Syrus's statement. “It… would be an aspect of it. There was a time after the tragedy struck when everything lost was attempted to be hidden. A plague that erased a whole aspect of our culture… was a pain that no one could bear…”

“The burial of our sins and failure could, in a cruel way, be considered another plague, as it only brought pain and suffering to the survivors and hurt future generations.”

“Though, has that changed slightly?” Syrus asked, “I’ve noticed some of your younger

staff gaze on Maca.”

The Lord replied, “I do apologise if it caused you any discomfort.”

Maca copied the earlier hand wave. “It is fine.”

“Back to what you said—” He paused to get the name correct. “Syrus, yes, there have been changes. There had been many families that had let their kids know when they became of age, but in the end, large secrets aren’t meant to last forever. The cracks, then the waves came. The open secret that was kept behind closed doors had been broken free. Led by the younger generation, they want to know what happened and to have a proper record of who was lost.”

Syrus noticed a few groups during their travel through the city that fit what Lord Hall was saying.

[Only a few years later…] Eva wondered how her life would’ve changed if she had been around to learn about the news.

“Has there been any trouble?”

“No.” The Lord quickly denied it. “Everyone in this country understands the pain… and the fact there isn’t really anything that can be done besides venting our emotions… nothing has come about that would be classified as trouble.”

Syrus too noted the slight reactions in Havier’s face. She already had a feeling he knew more, and if it was the main butler, that would put him in a good position.

Syrus asked, “So has this been recent?”

Lord Hall was beginning to get suspicious about these questions but replied nonetheless. “Depends. The recent demand is yes, but it has been an eight-year shift overall.”

“I see, thanks for answering.” Syrus noticed the concern she was getting and prepared her own edit. “Maca can confirm, but I have some relatives whose history could date back here. Physical traits included.”

The lord’s eyes went over the group to judge their reaction, and from them he nodded. Syrus's statement appeared to be true, which washed away any worries he had. He was a little worried about anyone potentially stirring up trouble when Mary had just gotten back.

Once the large group talk was done, everyone was given the option to spend the day relaxing in the manor. There were still plenty of places for Max and Ethan to explore, and Lord Hall very much had a lot more to speak with Mary privately about. The number of topics the trio guessed individually was nightmarishly large, so they hoped that Lord Hall was being considerate with what he was asking.

[...] Eva breathed out, not sure how to process everything that had happened today. She just needed a little more time for the information and atmosphere to flow through her mind.

[Well, we have basically been given free rein to explore the city.] Syrus said. [I say it is the perfect time to relax and explore. We deserve a good break after all.]

[Do you want to visit your old homes?] Luna asked Eva; they all knew that Eva needed to at least see what had happened during these last ten years.

[...Perhaps the day after tomorrow…] Eva replied slowly. [I need some more time to mentally prepare…]

[Okay, but remember, we are always beside you.] Luna provided her words of support.

[Don’t sweat it too much; it can be the day after or a week after. Whenever you are ready, that is all that matters.] (Syrus)

Neither wanted Eva to regress back into any hole she had escaped from. Not that they believed she would be falling back into said hole anytime soon; from the emotions they could feel, she still had a good mental state compared to before, and her desire to confront had never been stronger, but as she said, more time was needed.