Mordi immediately picked up one of the garnish leaves on the plate, and put them in his mouth, spreading them on his teeth, giving him a rotten teeth look.
He turned around with a leery and ignorant look, looking like a hillbilly villager, even more uncivilized than a random tenant of the village.
" Hallo ! The Mastah chef told me to take these upstairs. He's short on man powah ! so, me is helping out. It'iz a secret." he whispered.
" You .. ! " The guard said.
Mordi gentry probed the guard's mind, suppressing the fright on his mind. Just a little bit of leak of the emotion is enough to raise the guard's suspicions.
' Did I see this guy in the stables ? ' the guard was wondering.
He needn't have worried at al. Mordi gave a sigh of relief before continuing.
" Brotha'h ! Nex'd time you come, I will give ya a bettah horse ! Do me a favor. " Mordi whispered, pushing the champagne glass towards the guard.
The guard looked around, and stole one of the goat cheese canape on the plate.
" You bring some of those golden tarts to the barn when you are done. Don't forget , otherwise I will report you to the lord ! " The guard warned him.
" yeah! Sure .. sure. Absolutely. " Mordi promised the guard.
"We will be in the fourth barn. " The guard told him before turning around, and going back to his station.
'Thank the Circe for sloppy servants ' he thought, before continuing.
The path to Cassandra was free of any other obstacles.
One could tell how much importance Lord Bright placed on this party by how empty the rest of the castle is.
Mordi still perceived a few things from how the castle looked.
Lord Bright's financial capacity, as well as the military capacity are both wildly underestimated in the capital.
The paintings that are hung in the corridors belonged to the lowest rung of artisan's in the capital, with most of them belonging to new and upcoming artists. Those could almost be coerced at the cost of peanuts.
Yet, they were framed using solid gold frames of considerable weight, each carrying its own safety inscription. The glass used is a fire proof and stab proof dragon glass alloy, which boasted a price higher than gold per gram.
It is also used for making the best quality shields and could be recycled.
The doors are made of weapon quality steel, with painted softwood decor. The carpets are repurposed mammoth wool, which is sturdy, and super cheap.
You can split the entire ensemble like this.
Extremely strong steel, eternally valuable gold, extremely rare glass - extremely cheap paintings, extremely cheap wood, extremely cheap carpets.
If these were in any other place, they would probably just mean the lord is a little eccentric and frugal.
Put them in the house of a man with military might and sufficient rank, the meaning is completely different. Lord Bright is preparing for a coup.
If not today, tomorrow, if not this year, next year. He most probably already finished acquiring all the relevant materials, looking at these corridors.
He is ready to strike, and perhaps, his sister is involved far too deeply in this treason.
Chills ran down Mordi's back when he finished the analysis. He needs to take away his sister as soon as possible.
He entered the room with the tray in his hand.
The room was surprisingly opulent.
It has a domed ceiling, painted all around with a calm teal, which felt more like fabric than paint.
The floor was carpeted, not with the rough mammoth wool he had seen earlier, but with the finest of the sheeps wool, that only the richest of the kingdom could buy.
The window curtains are finest cotton gauze, paired with spider silk. Even the tassels are made of rubies, sapphires and night pearls set in platinum eggs.
There's a round dining table in the center, made of mahogany, with a single chair, indicating it's a dining table made for a single person.
Yet, the table has a turnaround topper for rotating the dishes, and a special slot for placing an ice bucket, even a bar underneath the table, facing the solitary chair in the room.
The chair is studded with gold buttons and straight backed. The trimming is made of a mixture of gold and platinum wires, the sewing itself is done with the gold wire. Looking at the fine stitches which are done with gold, Mordi once again determined that he must take his sister away from here.
He walked into the ensuite room.
There's a girl sitting on a princess chair, her painting away at a maddening speed.
Mordi's eyes fell on the picture at first.
It's the entrance of the Elora Bright just now.
However, the focus is on him, instead of Elora Bright.
One could see the strange sort of water bubble surrounding lord Bright and himself.
Chills went down Mordi's back.
' What the ?!!! '
He would be found in no time when lord Bright sees these pictures. Hells, even if he managed to run away, he would be hunted for like a lost slave and found at all cost.
" Cassie ! " he called, before moving forward to look at the woman in the chair.
But the moment he did, he almost screamed in fright, for her eyes were rolled back with only whites showing, while her hands still moved with crazy speed to take the colors from the palette near her, then painted on the canvas like there's no tomorrow.
" Cassandra ! " he shook her, waking her up from the trance.
When she came to, she saw the painting in front of her, then at himself.
" Mored ? " She called him doubtfully.
It was his old name. He changed it as he got adapted into a new family.
" Yes sister ! I have come to take you away from this cursed place. " he told his sister.
Cassandra looked at him, as if she couldn't understand what he was saying.
" Cursed place ? " She asked slowly, gathering her words slowly, as if she was newly learning to speak.
" Yes. We will go away from here, to a place where we are free as birds ! You will never have to suffer under the hands of another nobleman ever ! we will be safe and happy, just as we were once. " he said excitedly.
Cassandra looked at his excited face, then, slowly, she giggled.
Her giggles slowly turned into repressed laughter, then into outright guffaws. She laughed mockingly at Mordi, pointing a finger at his nose, slapping the armrests, rolling around in the chair.
It's as if she couldn't believe how stupid and foolish Mordi was being.
" Sister… ?!" Mordi called out softly, with a completely wilted expression.
His excitement has long since seeped out, making way for the memories of their childhood.
'Why did he forget ? '
" You .. You think I would go with you … !!!!" she gasped out between the laughter.
' Cassandra has always looked down on him. On top of that, she is a …'
" Free as birds ? Could you be any more tacky ? Free as birds to eat worms ? If you want to eat worms for breakfast, do it yourself. " She snapped out at him.
' Narcissistic and greedy bitch ! '
She liked the rich, and despised the poor. Like the saying, ' distance makes memories fonder ', he forgot all about how his big sister twisted his world view. He overly romanticized their childhood memories.
" The birds are alive ! In the end, the hound used for the hunt has no end other than being killed after the hunt. Sister ! Think again. " Mordi implored.
After all, the girl is his sister. He would regret it until the end of days if he did not do everything in his power to save him. He looked around for anything to help him, a habit long forgotten, but has come back as a reflex when encountering his formidable sister.
Meanwhile, his eyes fell on the painting she had thrown aside.
He did not mean to, but his mind automatically recognized the person in the painting.
' that.. That's Rina ! isn't that the girl who acquired zero skill a few days ago ? ' he wondered for a fraction of a second.
Yet, Cassandra caught on to that.
" You recognize the girl ? " she asked, her tone sharp.
" No! " Mordi denied instinctively, like a boy caught with his hand in a candy jar.
'Oh ! Just why in the world did he think to rescue his devil of a sister ? She is far too capable to die silently. She's far too nasty to live in trouble. ' Unfortunately, it's too late for regret !
" Come now, Little brother ! look at this room. Do you think you could afford to keep in a suit like this, dress me in the latest fashion of every season even if you use all of your money ? " Cassandra asked lightly.
Mordi did not answer.
He stubbornly thought, ' yes, I can ' . However, the reality is he could barely do that, if he used all their income for a quarter.
Even now, his sister proved to be as incisive and observant as ever. She interpreted his expression all too correctly.
" Hmm… not bad, little brother. Seems like you have not starved all these days. " She sighed, before she continued.