Lady of House Alba

The guests

Unexpectedly, Elena returned home that day with a new personal maid. If her mother wanted to object, but the words did not come out of her mouth once she realized that her daughter had been alone for more than a week because she had forgotten to place a new person at her disposal, at least temporarily until Mariela came back.

"This is much better." Elena approved of the appearance of the girl now that she'd taken a bath and changed into clean and warm cotton clothes. "Laila, go with Nancy, she will show you the kitchen, and you will ask the manager to prepare a snack for us."

Training her to work as a personal maid in a noble family's home would secure the girl's future, and it was better than other strenuous labor out there. If Laila stayed by her side, Elena might even be able to teach her to read.

"Yes, my lady."

The child had recently become an orphan when her grandmother died, and after discovering that Elena didn't have the heart to leave her on the streets. At best, she would be placed in an orphanage, but it was difficult to tell in what situation those institutions were in the county. It was embarrassing to think that way when it actually was her family's responsibility, but Elena knew what her father's views on the matter were.

During the fifth year of the empire, the Grand Duchy of Alba decreed that all homeless children were the responsibility of the nobles of the territory and that they should provide shelter, clothing, and food for all of them. Sacred places became orphanages and schools through the years following these orders, as Vallas started to recover from the wreckage of war.

However, the Valverde family had gotten into debt during the years the conflict lasted, and due to her father's refusal to employ sorcerers in his farming lands like others were doing, they had not recovered ever since.

Being short of money, that law was just another uncomfortable pain in the neck for the Earl, one more reason to detest the Archduchess and her family.

It was difficult not to hate those who came to conquer the kingdom suddenly to change everything at their whim. Elena knew that, before Vallas was part of the Empire, the nobles also went to temples to worship God and the saints. But temples that were not destroyed or burned down became public institutions and academies that taught the arts of Raeden, and the saints that had been scarce during the last century were also gone. Vallas' families could only cultivate their faith within their homes.

In addition, winter barely touched the southern lands since the foundation of the kingdoms, so Vallas used to live in an eternal spring. After Raeden and Alba's family arrived, however, every year winter came with a little more force, along with all the magic and mysterious arts of the north. The townspeople (and, more discreetly, several nobles) said that this was a sign of God's displeasure with the new rulers.

In any case, if something like God's displeasure with men really existed, Elena did not believe that it was the Empire's fault. According to Mama Juana, God had abandoned the continent long before the war, and that is why the Saints had stopped appearing over the years.

Would things be really different if the Royal Palace had never fallen in the hands of the Grand Duchess and her family?

Elena did not know what kind of people her uncles were, but she could imagine that her father, being the youngest of four children, was never prepared to take over the county. He didn't have the strength of character for that either. The family would probably prosper much more if someone else were in charge, but Enmanuel Valverde had a habit of complaining a lot and putting in little effort.

When the county needed money to rebuild their houses and to work the fields again, the immediate solution he found was to marry the Baron of Lagos' natural daughter, Viviana Lagrave. But once he was married and the Lagrave family's money secured, he soon disgraced her with his various affairs throughout the kingdom.