“Auri, let’s not talk about the family business as servants. Personally though, I don’t think you should worry about it at all. You probably don’t know because you were working at the tea garden far from the mansion, but the two masters are quite close to each other. Those family conflicts you read about in the drama books won’t happen here,” the maid with a pockmarked face giggled.
The sound of horse hooves came from the narrow trail outside of the garden.
Soon, a rider wearing shining bronze armor appeared in front of the maids.
He halted his horse at the garden entrance and removed his helmet.
He was a vigorous young man with brown hair. The sunlight somewhat deepened the lines and curves on his face, giving the already handsome man an even more extraordinary look.
Those grey-green irises swept past the maids and finally fixed on the middle-aged maid standing beside Auri.
“Greetings to you, Head Maid Mana.”
Mana dropped the basket she had been holding and bowed to the knight. “Greetings, Master Leon.”
Leon looked at the freshly-picked tea leaves in the basket and sighed. “My brother went to that old man again?”
Mana lowered her head and replied with courtesy, “Master Angor went to study at Mister Jon’s.”
Leon twitched his lip and muttered to himself, “Study? What the heck’s going on with that old geezer, talking about his fallacy all day? Now, Brother learns from him and gives him tea too. That man’s just a psycho! I have no idea why brother insists on going there.”
He pulled on the reins in annoyance. “I see. You can continue with your work, I’ll go look for him.”
With that, Leon gave his horse a soft kick and trotted away.
A while later, Leon came to the southeast corner of the manor where an exquisitely designed wooden house supported by suspension stilts sat on a small hill near the woods. It has raising eaves and two parallel levels. Only one side of the house actually touched the earth, the other three stayed in the air, merely supported by stilt pillars.
No matter how you looked at it, this wooden house didn’t sit well among any of the structures in Goldspink Empire. Leon couldn’t even recall seeing such similar buildings during his travels in the other nations.
“What a curious house. It looks sturdy though most of it doesn’t have solid ground.” Leon was still frustrated about how the old man occupied too much of his brother’s time, but that didn’t stop him from admiring the amazing craftsmanship of the structure… He just didn’t show that on his face. Besides, it’s the house that Leon was interested in, not Jon himself. Maybe this was a common sight from where Jon came? Although Leon never figured out where that was even when Jon had been living in the Padt Manor for nearly 20 years.
Pushing open the wooden bars, Leon saw some vegetables and fruits growing in the yard. There were some withered vines crawling on the racks nearby. They grew “hanging clusters” in the Month of Harvest, and Jon called them “grapes”. Leon remembered their sweet taste. However, it was currently off season.
Behind the bamboo door of the house was a young man with a handsome look swiftly writing something on parchment rolls using his quill and ink.
Leon approached him. He tried to be soft on his steps, but those bronze armored boots still produced a heavy noise on the wooden floor.
“Ah, you’re here.” The young man put a period on the parchment and looked up at the visitor, his clear voice filled with friendly passion.
“Angor! My dear brother. You sound as if you knew I would come.” Leon smiled.
Angor shrugged and grinned, “No. But this will make me more… proactive.”
“You learned this from that old man too?”
Angor shook his head. “No one needs to teach me that. Our father used to talk like this anyway.”
“So… If someone misinterprets your will and doesn’t talk at all, how would you start the conversation then?” Leon raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll just stay silent and wait for it.”
“What if that man does the same?”
Angor curled his lip. “That would be embarrassing. I think I’ll turn to leave, lest I get embarrassed and continue whatever there is if he decides to stop me.”
Leon only smiled and nodded without giving any comment. He then looked around the room.
“Where’s good old Jon?”
Hearing this, Angor frowned a little and showed a bit of worry. “You know, Teacher’s body is getting worse by the day, every part of him is… wilting. His legs completely gave in the day before yesterday. He just applied his medicine and is now resting upstairs.”