Renold, the man in the dented suit of armor led Jacob to a fairly large mansion. A stone wall ran around the entire premise while the first thing one noticed upon entering the gate was the fountain.
Jacob was not too thrilled about following this man, but he was still not in control of his own body. Therefore, the only thing he would be able to do was watch as things progressed from the inside.
The mansion seemed to be well maintained, which was a given due to this being a nobles home. At least, that's what Jacob assumed based on the few maids attending to the garden and the butler that stood at the front entrance.
"Woah, this is where you live?"
Jacob's mouth opened wide along with his eyes in amazement.
Coming from the alleys searching through the trash for food or hoping that some wonderful soul would be kind to give him a bit of change. This place was paradise, like a whole new world.
Renold said nothing, he only looked over Jacob as he continued to lead him on.
No one needed to tell him, he knew it in his heart. Meeting Renold was his destiny, Jacob knew that his life would no longer be the same anymore.
Upon entering the mansion, Renold snapped his fingers towards a fairly young maid. She was either in her late teens or early twenties, but Jacob couldn't really tell.
The young woman moved swiftly as she hurried over to Renold. Renold was held in high regard here, therefore, she could not do anything to upset him. Yet, when she looked over towards Jacob she wanted to pull her long black hair out
How could he bring in this filth? It was an utter insult to the nobility.
Not to mention, Jacob's entire body was covered in dirt. When was the last time he took a bath? She did not even want to think about it.
The sparkling white marble floor that she just cleaned right before Renold arrived would need to be polished once more.
Giving Renold a wry smile, she gazed into his blue eyes.
"How may I be of service?"
Her voice was very tranquil, contrary to her inner thoughts.
"This here is Vulcan. Clean him and feed him, once you are done with that bring him to the study."
Cutting straight to the point was Renold's style. With his experience, he knew how people loved to dance around with their words not being too clear on what they want.
Hearing that she needed to clean him and feed him made her want to protest. While she might not be the most renowned in the city, she felt that her status here in the mansion was high. After all, she was cute, young and highly intelligent. It was how she worked her way up the hierarchy here.
The deciding factor besides Renold's status was that he mentioned Vulcan would be visiting the study. That in itself was highly important as not many people have been there before.
She's only managed to enter the study twice since being here, and it was an experience she would never forget.
Renold left the maid with Vulcan and walked off.
Watching Renold's back fade as he walked up the stairs, the maid's expression changed. Vulcan found it unnecessary for her to say anything as her body language told it all. It was the same way others looked at him.
The pretty maid found him repulsive.
"Follow me."
Even the way she talked to him, not one ounce of respect. Still, he was getting free food so might as well go along with her. Not to mention a bath, even he couldn't recall the last time he happened to have one of those.
Following behind her, Vulcan stayed silent. He only let his eyes wander as he observed the walls that held various portraits. While he did not know who they were, he felt that the people in the pictures were the ancestors of the current owner. However, none of them held a resemblance to Renold.
Pausing, he gazed at a vase. It was weirdly shaped like a snake curled around it. The silver scales seemed very lifelike. He wondered how anyone was able to create such a piece of work.
Reaching out to touch it, the young woman slapped his hand away.
"What are you doing?"
Rubbing his hand in the spot she hit, he looked over at the vase. It was exquisite, causing him to become mesmerized. Just one touch, that was all he wanted but, this woman would not even let him have that.
Did she despise him that much?
"I only wanted to touch it. Why did you hit me?"
Vulcan's brittle voice sounded out.
The expression on his face was that of a child who just got scolded for doing something they were not supposed to. He felt wronged, as he did nothing wrong so why was he hit?
If this was the street, he may be able to understand as the other homeless citizens fought over the slightest piece of food. Be it a bone with a small amount of meat left on it, or an old moldy slice of bread. Food was food and to survive one must eat.
The young woman did not care for the look on his face. To her, the piss of the old butler was more valuable than Vulcan's entire existence.
"Look here, do not touch anything. If it breaks, can you buy it? I think not. That vase was created more than a hundred years ago, it is the only one in the world. Do you honestly think I'm going to let you break it?"
Her voice rose, but then shortly fell as she began to realize that she was communicating with someone who lacked the same knowledge as her. How could he possibly understand the worth of any object, let alone this vase. In his mind, he must believe that the 'serpent dragnic' is the same as any other vase in the world.
"What is one touch going to harm? Will it break? Look's pretty sturdy to me."
To him, it made no sense. He just could not comprehend how one tiny touch would cause the vase to break. While the young woman continued to tell him it was going to break if he touched it, he refused to believe her words.
Vulcan has seen a vase before, he knew that they were some sort of artwork that the rich enjoyed collecting. Once, he managed to find a broken vase and no matter how hard he squeezed the shard in his hand it wouldn't shatter.
Considering that the shard he held before was basically the same, this vase would not fracture if he touched it. The young woman was overreacting.
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. In truth, he was correct but she would not let him know that. Instead, it was best to reiterate that his kind was so worthless that he should not be allowed to touch anything.
"Everything if you accidentally break it. Your hands are dirty, one touch from you would cause a priceless treasure to become worth nothing. Just follow me, so we can get this over with."