Lady Odila sighed deeply, "I shall read out the mansion rules to you." She muttered while opening the notepad in her hands.
She adjusted her spectacles with one hand and gave them a hard stare. "How preposterous of two unmarried to stay in one room. How did you even convince Mr. Kaspar?"
"She is my betrothed." Killian tried to justify his clause.
"And?" Lady Odila scoffed, "The Great Father is already generous enough to let you stay in this beautiful mansion and you want to cause him trouble already? I do not know what kind of preposterous explanations provoked Mr. Kaspar to give you two a single room. Do know that I, and the rest of the maids, will appeal against it. Betrothed or not, how insolent!"
Both Killian and the Princess were speechless. They hadn't even asked for the same room. Kaspar had brought it up first, otherwise, it was just as preposterous for them. For safety reasons, Killian preferred staying with the Princess 24/7.
"Alright," Lady Odila took a deep breath, "As two betrothed, you must not be caught doing anything preposterous. Keep a distance." She started by attacking them for something that they had acted out, so they simply nodded. "If the Great Father happens to pass by, bow down exactly 45°. You are not allowed to look at him, ever.
If the Great Father talks to you, respond with respect. Any disrespect towards the Great Father will not be tolerated.
The Great Father currently has 2 wives. Make sure to be available for them at all times. Your affiliation does not matter when it comes to serving the Great Father and his wives.
You are not allowed to touch anything in the main library of this mansion. A separate library for servants is available by the grace of the Great Father.
You are not allowed to step out without permission. Everyone is granted a permit and a curfew along with it. It is important to take it before leaving otherwise you will be subjected to punishment.
You are not allowed to speak or gossip about the Great Father, his wives, or his children. You must be respectful even when no one is listening.
Since you are the ambassadors for the Royal Palace, you must learn common Palace etiquette. There is a catalog for common Palace etiquette in the servant's library. You must read it before your first job. If you let the Great Father down in front of the Royal Family, you will be subjected to punishment.
There is a chance you will listen to the Great Father in person because of your affiliation, do not speak before him, speak after him until he says so or question him. You are not allowed to have any expression either. Keep it neutral and professional.
The basement is off-limits, especially for you, Sofia. We let it go this time because you got lost. However, go there one more time and you will be subjected to punishment.
Punishments are determined by Mr. Kaspar."
There was nothing that the Princess and Killian could do but nod. Since Kaspar had put them in the same room, they were sure Lady Odila wouldn't be able to do much about it. No matter how strange it was for them, they had to play along for safety reasons.
Lady Odila left their room for them to rest for the next day. According to the explanations, their work seemed quite on and off. Instead of being busy every single day, they were expected to work on a few occasions - any time the Great Father wanted to express his thoughts or send gifts to the Royal Palace.
The mansion itself looked like a castle.
Its interior was one of a kind. The Princess and Killian had never seen anything like it. There were well-polished ceramic tiles, stained glass, marblework, and strange kinds of lanterns; nothing like Miraculum. Instead of wells, wooden pipes brought water inside the mansion. It was fascinating.
The water closets were different from the ones in Miraculum. There were chamber pots and flush toilets, unlike Miraculum. In Miraculum, toilets were built over the bare ground, and the waste was buried inside the earth. The chamber pots were convenient and found in almost every toilet. The flush toilets were few. However, every single toilet had running water.
The bathing area was common for servants - separate for males and females. For the Great Father, his wives, and his children, separate cauldrons were available.
The Princess and Killian were given a detailed tour of the mansion when they were supposed to rest for the day. Their curiosity had gotten the best of them and some random butler was ready to show them around.
Either way, this wasn't the Land of Ignis. This wasn't Miraculum either.
"Killian, let us go to the servant's library. We might be able to find something there." The Princess suggested to Killian.
Though she didn't want to leave before seeing the Great Father, she still wanted to understand where they were.
The two made their way to the servant's library only to be shocked at how big it was. Even the library back in Miraculum's Royal Palace wasn't as big as the servant's library of this mansion. Every single thing about it was suspicious.
Killian walked up to the librarian, "Is there a catalog for common Royal Palace etiquette?" He asked.
"You can find all the catalogs on the 3rd shelf." The librarian replied.
Killian turned back to the Princess and guided her toward the 3rd shelf. She ran her fingers across the unusual banded books. In Miraculum, they punctured holes into one end of the papers to tie them together. Over here, the pages were somehow stuck to each other. Some books were sewn as well.
The Princess stopped her finger at one book, "The Holy Roman Empire?" She read it out loud and then pulled the book out.
It was a beautiful manuscript written by a historian. It was in good condition, meaning it could be new.
"Dated: 11th January 1570." The Princess's eyes widened in surprise.
She turned around to walk towards the librarian with the book still in her hand, "Excuse me, what year is this again?"
The librarian dumbfoundedly looked at the Princess, "1617?"