Following their conversation, the two returned to their silent judgment of one another; thus, neither spoke again until the end of the trip.
Eventually, having arrived at their destination, the carriages stopped, and a guard descended from his horse to open the door for Kedra and Eliseo.
Eliseo gestured for Kedra to exit first, accompanied by Maria. Exiting the cart, Kedra was met with a massive mansion, along with an expansive garden surrounding it, decorated with all manner of exotic flowerbeds.
'I was expecting it to be bigger than my residence, but isn't this a bit much? It's basically five times larger!'
"Now, Kedra, I'll have a few people show you and your servants around. Ah, I've had the maids prepare your room for you; your new wardrobe should have been stocked with a handful of high-quality dresses."
"You'll be having dinner with us tonight; make sure you show up in something more proper than what you're currently wearing."
Kedra hadn't paid much attention to her clothing in the past, but thinking back, she had never actually worn a dress. Back at the residence, she would always wear shorts and shirts to make her training easier.
"Anyway, you are dismissed for now; have fun."
Without another word, Eliseo led Kedra into the main door of the mansion and promptly eclipsed himself.
Kedra was quickly approached by two maids, who stopped to bow their heads before introducing themselves.
"I am Olivia, and this is Anna; as instructed by his grace, we will be your personal maids during your stay in the family mansion, my lady."
Kedra examined the pair closely. Olivia, the first to speak, was much older than most of the nearby servants, with graying brown hair and large rimmed glasses that accentuated a plump face. Anna, on the other hand, was both shorter and younger than her colleague, with bright orange hair and a thin face covered in freckles.
"Happy to have you; could you two show us around?"
"Certainly, my lady."
Accompanied by the two maids, Kedra was shown around the mansion, starting with the main halls and moving to the kitchen, washrooms, and bedrooms, then continuing with a tour of the large garden.
'These maids are being surprisingly cooperative; I thought they would've acted more aggressively toward me since I'm a bastard child.'
Finally, the tour of the mansion came to a close in front of Kedra's room.
"If you'd allow us, my lady, we will help you prepare for the dinner."
"That won't be necessary; my current staff will be enough. How about you show Lionel to his quarters instead?"
The maids looked displeased, though they quickly hid any traces of such displeasure behind fake smiles.
"Very well."
Though they had agreed to their orders, the thought of having to guide a mere bastard child's guard was tiresome to the maids. As soon as they turned around, their mood seemed to shift from enthusiastic to irritated.
'Ah, there it is; it looks like they don't entirely respect me yet.'
As they began to walk away, they began discussing between themselves how to shake off the guard as soon as possible, leaving him to find his way himself. However, before they could reach a conclusion, they heard Kedra's voice call out to them.
"Ah, I must remind you that before you go, while you remain at my service, these four are your superiors, and you will treat them with the appropriate respect. Should you fail to do so, I will not hesitate to rid myself of you."
Despite her diminutive height and questionable origins, Kedra's presence and tone were commanding; she exuded an overwhelming air of authority that put to rest any questions the two maids had about her nobility.
Olivia, the eldest of the two maids, quickly took a bow and responded.
"Of course, my lady, we shall keep this firmly planted in our minds."
Heading into her new room, Kedra was met with an elegantly decorated room incomparable to her previous lodgings. A large queen-sized bed toped with a canopy was the main focus of the room. Next to it was a bedside table holding a magic lamp, a desk complete with a quill, and a large, unstocked bookshelf.
'That lamp doesn't look like it's using fire to create light; it probably uses an engraved circuit then. I'll have to take it apart when I get the chance.'
Looking to the opposite side of the room from the bed, Kedra saw a large ornate wardrobe fashioned from dark wood; in front of it was a short couch, and to its side, propped against the wall, was a small vanity.
Kedra opened the large closet, finding a full collection of high-end dresses; most of them were made of silk and adorned with intricate lacework, though they were all of varying sizes.
'Well, it makes sense that they're not fitted to me. Actually, it would've been more worrying if they were.'
Kedra picked out the biggest of the available robes, a dark red dress decorated with black lace and a golden lining. Holding it out in front of her, she suddenly remembered all of the tedious steps that came with donning such clothing and looked over to her servants.
"I'm going to need help putting this on."
The maids had been gawking at the exquisite furnishings, completely disassociated from the situation. Following Kedra's question, Maria rushed over, dragging Lucie along.
The two began helping her to the best of their ability, but neither had been trained to be a nanny.
"Forgive me, my lady; I don't have any experience with such intricate clothing."
They were struggling to figure out the complicated steps of putting on the dress; neither of them knew the order of the various pieces of clothing that came along with the robe. Suddenly, Mona spoke in a hushed voice.
"If I may, my lady, I was previously the nanny of a marquess' daughter before serving you, and I believe I could be of help."
"Really? I'll leave it to you then. Lucie and Maria, on the other hand, should both carefully watch how it's done."
Thanks to Mona's assistance, Kedra quickly donned the dress without much issue. Once it was done, she walked over to a nearby standing mirror and took a long look.
'Woah, was I always this adorable? Well, to be fair, the last time I actually bothered to look at myself properly was when I first arrived in this world. I've come a long way, huh?'
'But man, this dress is stuffy! I really hope I don't have to wear these things every day.'
Abruptly, three quick knocks on the door interrupted her thinking.
"Excuse me, my lady, it is time for diner." Kedra had recognized Anna's voice from the door.
"I'll be right there!"
'Alright then, time to meet my so-called family.'