The next day, Kael woke up early, washed up, and had a bit of breakfast under Old White's service.
He put on the simple mage attire and draped over the white mage robe. This was probably the most luxurious set of clothes Kael owned.
A mage robe was not cheap. Many commoner mages at the Secret Scroll Mage Academy still couldn't afford one.
Standing in front of the alchemist's glass mirror, looking at his slender figure, clear and clean face, but with a subtly alluring charm, he revealed a satisfied smile.
"From today on, you are just Kael.D.Helois."
Knock, knock, knock~
There was a heavy knock followed by two light ones from outside the bedroom: "Young Master Kael, I've already arranged for a long leave with the Secret Scroll Mage Academy in the Royal Capital. The carriage is ready outside. When do you plan to depart? Please give me a heads-up so I can prepare."
Kael opened the door and nodded at Old White, saying: "Let's leave early then, right now."
Old White had already placed the gifts in the carriage. With the coachman's command, Kael boarded the carriage and headed towards the Newman Domain, adjacent to the Lancaster Territory.
As soon as he stepped out, Kael's eyes were drawn to the pastoral scenery of the Lancaster Territory.
"Ingland Duchy, Lancaster Territory, so this is the first 'Newbie Village' in the beta test and the public test?"
In the game "Gate of the Netherworld," the first version of the human nation was called "Yibel Federation," and it was guarded by nine dukedoms.
Ingland Duchy was the first large map opened to players after the public test.
Though this map was excessively large, it would be exhausting to traverse without a teleportation array.
Even a newbie village like the Lancaster Territory could accommodate fifty thousand players...
After half an hour of rapid movement technique-boosted carriage ride, the carriage finally started to slow down and stopped. The coachman knocked on the carriage door, saying: "Sir, we've arrived."
"Please wait a bit longer outside." Kael got off the carriage and said to the coachman.
The Newman Manor was just north of the Lancaster Territory. Unlike Kael's three-story mansion with a large courtyard, it was merely a refined three-story townhouse, let alone a garden.
It was said to have cost quite a fortune to build it.
Though Baron Newman was a noble, compared to traditional nobles controlling vast resources, even the wealthier nouveau riche still struggled to obtain better 'core resources.'
Such as the grand estate in the Lancaster Territory where Kael resided, Baron Newman couldn't afford to build.
Kael stepped forward and gently rang the manual doorbell.
"Just a moment, I'll be right there."
Accompanied by hurried footsteps, the grand gate quietly opened, and a middle-aged maid, whose once-beautiful face could still be faintly seen, opened the door.
Kael performed a mage's salute and softly said: "Kael.D.Helois, visiting Baron Newman."
The middle-aged maid returned the salute, glanced at the handsome young man before her, and her smile became more enthusiastic, saying: "Are you Young Master Kael from Lord Anthony's family?"
Kael nodded, seeing the maid's smile grew even brighter: "Please come in and take a seat. Lord Newman mentioned you to Miss a few days ago. It's been a long time since we saw you. You truly live up to your reputation."
Noticing the coachman carrying several gift boxes behind him, she chuckled: "You come visiting yet brought so many things, that's really kind of you."
Kael took the gift boxes from the coachman and said loudly: "These are gifts prepared by my father. It's my first visit, so please don't refuse them."
However, he thought to himself that this somewhat dignified middle-aged maid's speaking tone didn't quite resemble a maid.
He didn't care much about it. After placing the gifts under the maid's guidance, he entered the hall.
With nothing better to do, he had a little chat. Under the social prowess enhancement effect, he soon learned that this maid, like Old White, was the housekeeper of the Newman Manor.
She managed a batch of young maids under her, making the manor much livelier than Kael's home.
Clearly, even though Baron Newman had spent extra money to obtain a residence matching his status, the daily living expenses were still far higher than Kael's household.
This was also the norm for nouveau riche nobles. Their daily life enjoyment was much greater than nobles of the same rank, even extravagantly wasteful. Other than the hard-to-get resources controlled by some traditional nobles, they truly lived freely.
"Please have a seat first, Young Master Kael. Lord Newman was supposed to be in the domain this morning, but someone informed us that he went to visit a guest. By my calculations, he should be back soon."
Kael nodded, not annoyed, as the visit had not been prearranged. Changing plans on the fly was quite normal. He just smiled and said: "Then I'll wait for a bit."
The middle-aged housekeeper called a maid to pour tea for Kael and then turned to him, smiling: "What brings you here today, Young Master Kael? Is there something you need from the lord?"
Kael thought for a moment, a hint of sorrow appearing on his face, and said: "The news has not spread yet. My father passed away last night while subduing the Evil God. So, I'm here to consult Baron Newman's opinion."
He deliberately used a more intimate form of address, in essence, probing Baron Newman's thoughts by retreating to advance.
Even if intermarrying with nobility to escape the vortex of the Charles family, if Baron Newman had other intentions, it might be more convenient to seek an alternative way out from within the family at a critical moment.
As for Old White's assertion that "Baron Newman couldn't refuse," it was too absolute. Without testing, who knew what Baron Newman was thinking?
He wouldn't bet his entire life on someone else. It wasn't his style.
The middle-aged maid sighed softly, saying: "The lord has mentioned before that Elanna is betrothed to Anthony's child.
It seems that Lord Anthony's passing has made you have some thoughts. However, this matter still needs to be discussed between you and my lord. We can't say much."
Kael heard this and fell into thought.
The middle-aged maid reheated a pot of tea for Kael. Looking at the calm and confident Kael, she couldn't help but marvel at what a beautiful young man he was, truly worthy of her lady.
No… thinking about it, her lady's married life would surely be incomparably blissful!
She unconsciously glanced at the little incubus tail, after all, it was rumored that the charm of incubus, whoever tried it, knew it.
Thinking of the master's sighs last night as they shared a bed, she had some new ideas in her mind.
At that moment, in the courtyard, a blonde maid quietly pushed open the door and excitedly said to a girl sitting at the desk reading in the bedroom:
"Miss, miss, I heard from the people below that Young Master Kael from the Charles family has come!"