A Tale of One Deviant (Book One)

Chapter 149: Earl's Troublesome Morning

"Hm?" Earl looked up from the ground, having been watching where his footsteps would land while deep in thought. He'd heard...a horse? "Oh."

     Already, the estate was in front of him. It wasn't that far ahead. In fact, the bleached white ground that remained stained with his daughter's mana for years was already almost underfoot. Through snow, rain, wind, ice, or shine, it remained. It was then snow, so the white-on-white ground was difficult to tell apart when distracted and walking forward. The front gates were straight ahead.

     Earl narrowed his eyes. The hood was pulled up over his head deeply, protecting from the cold that was already biting red into his ears and nose. The cloak had been shrunk so as to not have any excess dragging beyond him, as well as his borrowed pants, and the blood had been magicked away so as to not alarm anyone when arriving.

     However, they still appeared to be alarmed.

     "State your name and purpose," a guard on the outside stepped forward, crossing his spear alongside the one of another guard with him. Earl raised his brows. That kind of treatment wasn't something he'd been subjected to in a while, and he didn't really mind it, but...was his hood that low? It was just covering his forehead. They could see his face.

     But he caught a glimpse of his raw, bitten feet, and the beaten-up cloak that had survived Basusda with him. Earl was sure that if they couldn't recognize him while he was wearing it, then it must've been worn enough that Frederick wouldn't want it back even after heavy washing.

     "Good morning. Earl de Libellule." He lifted back his hood, watching the guards breathe in tightly in shock. Their spears whipped back in place instantly. "Just coming back from a morning walk."

     "I-I-I'm sorry, Sire, I didn't-"

     "It's fine. I'll wear something different, next time."

     Assuming there is a next time.

     They pulled the gate open for him, and he gladly stepped on through. The ivy that tangled over it and thrived during summer was dead in the late autumn, covered in snow. It obscured, mostly, the sight of two newly-arrived carriages parked in front of the estate's front doors far ahead.

     That's right. They were coming back today.

     Earl was just a bit surprised, seeing the luggage being taken down by the footmen that appeared to do so. The carriages were almost unpacked, ready to be taken away, the horses unyoked and given a rest in their stalls. Earl sidestepped the fountain standing in the middle of the way, looking around. He'd not paid much attention when coming home for the first time, but it still all looked good even while bound up in sacks, covered in snow, or dead until spring.

     He liked to think it wasn't just because he paid them well.

     "Sarah, Martin," Earl greeted, appearing behind them. "Good mo-"

     They jumped. The two oldest and most collected servants in the de Libellule country manor, jumped.

     "Master Earl," the head maid cut him off, turning around on the spot to, he hoped, greet him back. "You-"

     Her own words cut off, and that mask of indifference descended. The other servants were watching.

     Martin turned around more calmly, but stiffly. His single monocle seemed to have become a set of small glasses perched on his nose, likely from the extra work that his master had shoved onto him while disappearing to the north for a while.

     "Master Earl," Martin greeted back, blinking once. "Might I ask what this absurd greeting is?"

     "Absurd?"