Each noble's mansion would require a head maid, a head butler and a head knight. One of the most basic requirement for a noble's manor to operate, servants for chores and knights for security.
"What do you mean by that, my lady?"
"I'm hiring them. After all, I need those who I can trust and have skills"
Based on Almas' reports, Rosette was able to persevere through skillfully dividing her task on time, while Erica used her brute strength and endurance this past few weeks.
After digging their background, I found out that Rosette is the breadwinner of her family which is why she can't die no matter what. While Erica's pride is the one thing that keeps her going. Her pride to only serve that she sees worthy to be served, whether they are evil or kind.
"There will be maids and knights that will come from the Emond duchy a week from now. So I expect that you two will be able to confidently face them and get along with each other"
Rosette was left speechless and cried. Now, she can support her family better than before without having to stomach the evil deeds of her former master.
While Erica can now face her family with confidence who were underestimating her this whole time.
I dismissed the two as I go do the important matters myself.
"My lady I have brought the lamps you ask of me"
"That is good. Light them all up"
I then opened a door with a spiral staircase made of a special wood leading down. It took us thirty minutes to go all the way down. Though it would normally take ten minutes, it too us longer since we have to put up the lamps.
What greeted as at the very bottom was a giant wooden door.
'Almas, open it'
-Understood, master.
The door opened slowly as Samuel pushes it.
"My lady... what is this?"
A giant lake that have its own ecosystem. Mosses grew from the rock walls, there were a lot of fishes swimming in the spiritual rat-made lake and herbal flowers were growing here and there.
"Remember the live fresh water fishes I bought"
"Yes"
"There they are"
"But, why did you put them here for, my lady"
"It is a fish farm"
Not only is it a fish farm it is also a huge garden reserved for plants that are extremely rare to cultivate.
In the novel, the Klein barony was destroyed when the magician's dragon went berserk which then created an enormous crater, making way for the water underneath to flow upwards.
"How did you discover it my lady?"
"That is a trade secret, Samuel"
It was Almas who did all the work creating all of this though.
"But my lady, what are those crystals? The way down here was dark but this entire place is bright"
"Those are luminous stones. They are a special type of rock that produces light"
If I remember correctly, actual luminous stone only glows for a brief amount of time. Besides, these stones are Almas' poop from eating all the food I gave him this month.
And since the stones emits light for a few months, that is the same thing as killing three birds with one stone.
"I want you to guard this place until I get back. Not just this secret place of mine but the entire town as well"
"You... where are you going to my lady?"
After hearing what I said, he froze for a moment and turned back to me.
"I will have to go back to the empire after two months. I still need to finish the deals I made with the empress"
He was sad to know that his master, who he swore to protect with his life, was going to be apart from him for half a year.
"Who will be by your side?"
"Sir John can keep me safe. And I doubt there would be anyone in the palace who would try to kill me"
After taking a deep breath, he knelt down and gently took my right foot onto his hands. He then kissed the tip of my shoes.
"I don't want you to go, but as a knight who follows your command I will do as you say"
"Thank you for understanding"
He stood up.
"How mean of you my lady. Is this your way of rejecting me?"
"....?"
I looked at him as if I was confused of what he said but he new me better than I thought.
"Don't pretend. I know you know how I feel about you"
"Yes, I do. What you are feeling about me is just puppy love with admiration"
"It is not!"
"It is. You simply see me as 'good' because I saved you from the death that was waiting for you and your beloved father"
"I am serious about it. Why won't you understand, my lady? Am I being too greedy? Is that why you are rejecting me?"
"No. However, I will rethink about this four year from now. If your feelings for me remains the same then I will give you a chance"
It's crazy how straightforward this guy is towards a fourteen year old girl like me.
"Thank you!"
We went back up after finishing our talk.
"By the way, won't it be bad to use wood here, my lady?"
"It is fine since it naturally absorbs the moisture in the air which makes it harder and more resilient against fire"
"Is that so"
A week later the order I put from the merchant association and the maids and knights from the Emond duchy arrived.
The servants were friendly and open, so were the knights which made it easy for Rosette and Erica to fit in with the rest.
Due to the servants' passion for their work, they insisted on doing the re-decoration of the entire mansion today instead of tomorrow. The over the top mansion filled with useless decorations were change into furnitures that were up to my tastes.
Due to my unusual aesthetic design sense, the rest were stunned by the result.
The decorations that were used by the previous lord was then sold to the merchant association for a fair price.
"Is everyone here, Samuel?"
"Yes, all the servants and knights who are off work are right here"
The servants and the knights were confused why they were all gathered. What made them even more confused was when they saw the imperial knights from Vanifi excited.
Some servants then handed out the food I made.
"Eat well. This is my reward to you all for your hard work"
The imperial knights immediately ate their share and ask for seconds in an instant.
Seeing them eat their food so enthusiastically the others were curious to find out and took a bite.
"It's delicious!"
"Amazing!"
"What is this?!"
While it is their first time to see a dish using ground meat, seeing the other fellow servants ate the food in front of them, their curiosity push them to try it out and eventually ate everything on their plate.
The knights who had a schedule for tonight received the same food in boxes so that they can eat their warm dinner at the cold night as they work.
They were happy to eat good food they have never ate before and was begging me to teach the chef on how to make it. As an excuse, I told them that it was a secret family recipe that only I know of since both brother Roman and brother Nicholas don't know how to cook.