The songs of woodland creatures woke Nero from his deep slumber. He squirmed and groaned underneath the warm and cozy duvet. Nero stretched his numb arms and rose to lazily sit on his bed. His eyes were partially closed as half of his consciousness struggled to keep up.
There was a brief moment where he had to come terms with the fact that he was no longer in his apartment but rather in the sleeping chamber of Nero Lanchaster, the youngest lord of the fallen dukedom. A character inside the novel Linda tortured— told him about. The villain of the novel.
Nero shrugged and looked around the room. He noticed three silhouettes obstructing the light that had seeped through the gaps in his door and bathed a portion of his floor. It appears that the servants his mother had assigned to him were already awake and ready to serve him.
In front of his room, Mei trembled after Francine finished knocking the door. Mei was the new servant that had to take Francine's place yesterday as the other went out for an errand.
Mei sneakily pinched her palm so she could remind herself to calm down. It's not like she was scared. Well, she was significantly less afraid than yesterday because Lord Nero had been acting calm. The cursed lord even faced the duke to defend the duchess. It's just that she was simply overwhelmed. Perhaps it had something to do with being the first to encounter the new Lord Nero.
"Come in," a low voice was heard.
Granted with permission, Francine gently pushed the door open. The three servants bowed down to their young lord before proceeding to their chores.
The three servants were quite clumsy, even Nero can tell. He can't blame them; the room was unfamiliar for the servants to clean. It's because the original Nero refused to allow anyone into his room. It was the reason it was so unkempt.
Of course, this hadn't stopped the duchess from sending servants to serve him every morning, fearful that her youngest son would catch a disease due to how filthy the place had become.
"G-good morning, My Lord," greeted a freckled servant. He was trembling as he held a tray containing a glass of water.
Nero reached for it and drank the warm water to soothe his throat. He placed the drinking glass back and faced the freckled servant.
"Thank you," he said.
Gio, the freckled servant, raised his shoulders in surprise. When he realized how unprofessional his reaction had been, he immediately corrected his stance and bowed.
"You are most welcome, My Lord!" he exclaimed. His face was flushed, and he had a happy grin on his face.
Nero nodded and looked around again. When he noticed something, his lips pursed.
"Wouldn't it be better if you just pulled the drapes?" he asked. The room was too dark for the servants to properly spruce it up. Especially given how long it had gone without being cleaned.
Francine, Mei, and Gio exchanged glances. They had all heard about how a servant was beaten because they had woken Lord Nero up by opening the window.
An old maid had narrated to them that the servant had knocked, but Lord Nero was too deep in his sleep to respond. The servant decided that they could simply do their cleaning quietly, especially since the duchess had personally requested that they do so.
Because the room was too dark due to the thickness of the drapes, the servant decided to open just a small gap. It was unfortunate that the light had found its way directly to Lord Nero's face. Because they had disturbed the cursed lord's sleep, the servant had to bear the wrath of their enraged lord.
Of course, Nero knew of this. It just took quite the time for him to remember because his mind gets sluggish whenever he wakes up.
Once he recalled the incident, he slipped off the duvet. Gio quickly went to his side to prepare his footwear. Nero let Gio place the soft sandals to his feet and waited until he can stand up and walk to the windows to personally pull the thick violet drapes.
Once again, the sun boasted its magnificence. Such action was beginning to appeal to Nero. He should incorporate it into his routine.
He looked out the large window once he had pulled the lever to open it. Nero closed his eyes and breathed in the cool morning breeze. He leaned in close, opened his eyes and took in the scenery.
From his position, he could see the duchess' garden, a section of the field where their knights practiced, and a glimpse of the border, where a dense forest stood proudly. When he tilted his head to the side, Nero was surprised to see that he had a balcony terrace.
The open space adjacent to his room was quite large and his mother must have decorated the space, as there were potted plants all over. There were even some that were hung. Unfortunately, everything had already wilted due to a lack of consistent care. And because of the harsh weather conditions, the majority of the pots have already cracked.
Nero straightened his back and walked towards the glass door that would lead him to the balcony terrace. The glass door was hidden by another thick curtain. This time, the drape was a deep shade of red that matched the color of the wall. No wonder Nero hadn't noticed this part of his room.
Ignoring his servants' not-so-subtle curiosities, he drew the drapes open which brightened his room even more. Behind him, Francine frowned as she realized that some items were unsalvageable due to their ruined state. She reminded herself that she needed to speak with the head maid about it.
Nero took his steps carefully after sliding the glass door open. When he was about to reach the intricately designed railing, the wind suddenly became more ferocious. He heard his servants called out to him.
"My Lord! Step back-"
To protect his eyes from the sudden pressure, he closed them. When the wind had died down, Nero opened it again and was greeted by the sight of a glorious being. A magnificent creature, an exquisite white dragon, stood before him.
Nero blinked. Someone was on top of the dragon, looking down on him with a taunting smirk. It was a beautiful man with striking features of blue hair and purple eyes.
"Dragons are majestic creatures, aren't they?" an almost melodious voice asked.