(3)">Chapter 57 [part 2] - (3) (1/2)

Chapter 57 [part 2]

(3)

TN: (*＾ڡ＾*)

After a few days, Lucia got off her sickbed and was good as new. She had been in bed for quite some time because of the indigestion, but there were no aftereffects.

As though a reward for the last few days of poor food, the table was full of high quality dishes for lunch as well as for dinner. They did not forget to be considerate and only gave her food that was easy to digest.

“Jerome, the number of maids has diminished a lot. There are faces I haven’t seen too.”

“Yes, Milady. The employment period has expired for many.”

The Duke ordered for the servants waiting on the Madam to be changed because their attitudes were bad. In any case, most of them were employed temporarily. They were initially to take all subsequent temporaries to the capital, but since such a situation occurred, the Duke just terminated all the contracts.

The plan was to find the whereabouts of the maids that worked in the residence in the capital and re-employ them. After which, he would leave one maid in charge of managing the Roam castle.

Even though the maids that waited on her for over a year were changed in a single morning, the madam simply replied with, ‘I see’, and said nothing more.

At first, Jerome thought she was an innocent and delicate person but over time his thoughts changed. It was rare for someone to deviate so greatly from his first impression but the Duchess was truly a mysterious person.

‘She’s truly strong.’

As soon as she got married, she was taken to her husband’s home where she didn’t know a single person so she was bound to be lonely and uneasy. If she looked for someone to rely on, it would usually be the maid who took care of her like her hands and feet.

When a maid was favored by the mistress of the house, a ranking forms among the maids. Discord among maids was like a drizzle that went unnoticed until one was drenched. At worst, it could even invade the authority of the steward so most noble stewards were worried about such tiresome things happening.

The Duchess handled those working under her with a clear line. She ordered only what was necessary and did not bother with superfluous actions. Even if something was done wrong, she simply pointed it out and it was rare for her to raise her voice.

In that respect, the madam resembled the duke closely. The reason why servants found it hard to attend to the couple’s needs even though they had never been disciplined before was because the servants weren’t given any room for engagement.

‘Is it because their marital harmony is good?’

It was very strange but no matter how Jerome thought about it, if the couple’s relationship became estranged, the one to suffer the biggest blow would not be his mistress but his master. Jerome couldn’t give an objective reason why, but it was an instinctive feeling.

“His Grace sent that you should recuperate well and come to the capital at the end of this month.”

“What recuperation will takes that long? It’s just indigestion. Everyone is making such a big deal out of this.”

Jerome smiled ambiguously.

‘Milady says so because you didn’t see Master properly during your fever.’

Jerome was on edge in the receiving room when his master called the doctor and kicked up a storm. When Anna was called back at dawn and came out looking pale, Jerome’s heart sank, thinking the Madam’s illness was very serious.

When the Madam finally fell asleep and his master came out, one didn’t know how much his master rebuked Anna for not treating the Madam properly. It was the first time Jerome saw his master expressing such extreme emotions. He truly felt pitiful for Anna who was shaken up. She would probably gain a handful of gray hair.

‘I hope Milady continues to be beside Master this way. I am earnestly hoping and looking forward to it.’

Looking at Lucia relaxing in satisfaction as she drank tea, Jerome thought this way.

People didn’t know much about the Taran family. Apart from the fact that it was a very famous knight family, nothing was known. In the north, the land was harsh, the population was small, and day in day out, war with the barbarians broke out on its borders.

It was indeed a land without room to spare for profits. This was a reason that no one coveted the vast land that was the Taran territory.

Of course, the Duke was wealthy. No matter how ungainly the land was, there was no way the owner of such a vast land could be poor.

Even though everyone acknowledged the financial and military power of the Taran Duke’s family, no one looked beyond that. The Taran family was a family that had existed for a very long time.

They didn’t thrive enough to stand out conspicuously but they weren’t invisible. Their years of power could not be ignored. The Taran territory, the north, had been ruled by the Duke of Taran for quite the long time and in the north, the Taran family was like King.

Nobles saw the people’s support as a trivial thing but at times the support could become a tremendous force. If the Duke of Taran took the lead, the northern people would all follow without complaints. Taran’s military power was not the knights that belonged to the family but all of the northern people. Other nobles were unaware of this.

The north was calm. It was contradictory to say that the north which was always at war with the barbarians was calm but except from the war, the north was calm. Unlike other territories, in the north, there were no occasional uprisings.

One might think that the reason was because people were united to fight against the barbarians but the biggest reason was because they all had enough to make a living.