4 Being treated politely

The manor that Dario Beaumont resided in had been gifted to the previous kings second son. After the war of succession it had instead been given to Beaumont by the new king, along with the surrounding territory and the title of a Duke to honor him for the great deeds he'd done as head commander during the war.

Amelia already expected the manor to be big, but it turned out to be even grander than she could've possibly dared to imagine. She'd always found the Ainsworth mansion to be massive but this must be two or even three times the size. The beautiful landscape surrounding it seemed to have no end in sight.

They had traveled for what to her seemed for hours and they had finally passed the front gate. Her body was trembling of exhaustion from the ride and she did not think she'd be able to hold herself upright for very much longer. She had to cling onto sir Pauls' back to not lose balance and fall off the horse. His cape had done little to shield her from the cold and her hands and feet had turned numb.

The front yard was so big that it took them another few minutes just to ride from the front gate to the main entrance. Waiting by the door stood an older looking grey haired man clad in a tailcoat, greeting them with a bow as they were within hearing distance.

"Sir Paul, welcome back. May I ask about the whereabouts of the rest of the crew?"

"I came back early since I recived an order from His Grace to escort miss Ainsworth. I believe that they still have two more houses to visit."

Paul hopped off the horse himself before lifting Amelia down. The gravel that dug into the soles of her bare feet helped her to regain some feel in them.

"We are to treat miss Ainsworth as a valued guest according to the orders from His Grace. I believe I can entrust you with that?"

The grey haired man bowed. "Of course. I will take good care of miss Ainsworth." He had a somewhat confused look on his face.

Paul turned towards Amelia. "I have some important business to attend to so I will have to take my leave. This man here is Duke Beaumonts own personal butler and he will take good care of you."

Amelia found that she did not want Paul to leave. Even though she did not know him very well she had at least grasped that he was not someone to lash out at her for no good reason. A strong feeling of unease rushed over her at the thought of once again being left alone with someone whos temper she did not know.

She pushed the feeling aside and instead curtsied despite her weak and shaky legs; she was in a vulnerable position and had no room to show any weakness or disrespect.

"I thank you sir Paul for your kind treatment of me. I wish you luck with the business you must attend to."

"Thank you miss Ainsworth. I wish you well until the next time we meet".

Amelia took the cape off of her shoulders and returned it to the knight. Paul bowed before once again mounting his horse, leaving Amelia alone with the butler. As his figure disappeared into the night her anxiety grew.

Despite this she turned around and politely greeted the old man.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, my name is Amelia Ainsworth."

"It is good to meet you miss. My name is Gordon and I am the head butler of this residence". He paused for a moment and looked at her before speaking again. "Why don't we continue out introduction inside? You must be freezing after the journey here."

He gave her a pleasant smile. Amelia thought that the butler had the kind of gentle voice that could immediately make anyone comfortable around him.

But of course, she wasn't just anyone. She did not let her guard down.

"Thank you for the consideration."

The butler went and opened the front door, bowed and motioned for her to head in first. This was an act that caught her by surprise. Even before she bacame a servant she had not been treated politely by somebody by any means. She wasn't sure how to act in response so she just meekly thanked him and made her way inside.

***

The inside of the castle turned out to be even more luxurious than the outside, something that had seemed impossible to Amelia just a short while ago. The floors were made out entirely of marble and the patterned wallpaper that decorated the walls looked to be handpainted. She theorized that the chandeliers must consist of real diamonds to not look dull in comparison.

Even now, after she had some time to process her surroundings, was she surprised by the lux around her.

She was on a sofa in the reception room. Gordon had gone to ready a room for her and she was warming up with a cup of tea in front of the fireplace while waiting. Despite having quite some time to warm up she still felt chill to the bone.

Amelia felt weird about receiving such thoughtful treatment.'It will surely end when Duke Beaumont comes back so I better not get used to it' she thought bitterly.

She leaned against the soft back of the sofa. Her eyelids were heavy and constantly counteracted her efforts to keep them open. Her body ached from the strain of riding and she was quivering.

She was exhausted.

'How much longer until mr Gordon is done? I mustn't fall asleep here...'

She knew that the best thing to do would be to stand up, or even walk around because one could hardly fall asleep while standing. But she just could not bring her body to move nor to open her eyes that were now closed. Her entire body felt incredibly heavy… Too heavy to budge.

The crackling sound and flickering light from the fire seemed to drift further and further away.