He only encountered Duke Taevas during supper time. Belladonna was right, he did look much older even when only 2 years have passed.
His hair was almost fully gray now, and wrinkles overrode his face.
Other than that, he was the same stern and hot-blooded Duke Taevas. He didn't greeted Ronin as warmly as his sister did, and only said.
"You are back."
He was wearing gloves and was holding a pumpkin in his hand. Both of which were dirty, and he headed for the sink to wash it.
"Where have you been, Father?" Ronin asked him.
"Garden." He said. "Grab the knife over there for me."
"What about the cook?" He asked.
"I dismissed them all a year ago. Mavretri is perfectly capable of cooking, and I'm capable of handling a knife."
So they really have degraded to what this kind of aristocratic setting would think of as 'poverty'.
Which Ronin merely found funny, as at least they have a roof over their heads and food to eat, just not as much as before and had to be self-prepared.
