20 Broken woman with a glass hear (1/2)

Elise walked confidently through the castles gates and entered into the halls of her ancestral home, the Blackwolf manor. Ashley stared in amazement at the classy interior of the castle, the halls were heated with small fire stones embedded within tiles of the floor.

They illuminated the rooms with a warm comforting orange glow which made her feel very comfortable. Suits of armour and ancient paintings lined the walls with elegant curtains covering the windows. It was a remarkably different change from the bare bones look of the castle's outside.

Elise handed over her daughter to Elena and ordered the servants who were following them.

”Escort my daughter to my room and then go to the town and buy every toy that is popular right now.”

”Also, she should have at least twenty personal maidservants.”

The crowd behind her: ??????????

Twenty maidservants for one person? The old butler sighed to himself and hurriedly picked out twenty girls to serve as the little duchess' personal maids.

He was going to select a few gentlemen as well but the look in Elise's eyes made him quickly change his mind. Who told him to serve such an overprotective mom.

Ashley was then escorted away to her new room while followed by a crowd of twenty servants all cheerfully talking and laughing with her. Elise smiled and waved goodbye before turning to Gerald with a serious look.

”I need to see you in the study immediately.”

Gerald nodded and dismissed the rest of the servants as he followed Elise into the study room.

(In the study)

Elise opened the door with a flourish and stepped inside, the old room stayed exactly how she remembered it. A bookshelf lay on the left side of the room with a cozy fireplace warming up the study to a pleasant temperature.

The desk at the back of the room was cluttered with papers strewn about in a haphazard manner. Elise walked to the seat behind the desk and sat down. She would often be struck with a wave memories of a little girl playing with dolls on her father's lap as he dealt with issues that popped up around the dukedom.

They were fond memories and a small wave of nostalgia brought a tiny look of pain to her face. Gerald followed her into the room and closed the door to prevent any sound from leaking. Instantly the look of pain vanished from Elise's face and a cold mask took its place.

”What noteworthy events happened in my absence?” Elise questioned with a commanding tone.

”My lady, none dare to create any problems in the dukedom after you destroyed the underworld gangs five months ago. There have been a few minor racial tensions between the demonkin and the mermaid tribes over land disputes, but it has all been settled by the peace corps without the need for violence.”

Elise leaned back and sighed slightly, despite the atmosphere of equality and peace present in the dukedom. There would always be minor problems that would rear their ugly head due to the differences in the culture of the dark races with each other and humans.

The problems had to be dealt with swiftly to avoid potentially bigger or violent acts from occurring. This led to the establishment of the peace corps by her grandfather.

The peace corps were built from strong warriors from every race and tribe in the dukedom who were trained as the personal guards of the people. They dealt with minor and major crimes and were responsible for arbitrating arguments between citizens in a public setting.

Of course, they were no match for the monster extermination squad or Elise's personal guards, but their strength was not to be underestimated. Each member was required to swear an oath of fealty to serve both the dukedom and the people within.

Only then could they wear the infamous black armour with the symbol of a wolf printed onto the capes of their uniforms.

Elise pursed her lips together and her eyes flashed a dark violet as she asked in a quiet tone, ”What is the status of the shipments from the merchants?”

”There should be a fresh batch in roughly a fortnight, we have located and bought from the Ottones kingdom and the Fernatea empire. The merchants will deposit the goods at the harbour and are forbidden from entrance into the city. We may need to pay an extra fee to buy their silence,” Gerald spoke in an equally hushed tone.