03: Laffrey

The mansion was a relatively large place compared to the commercial buildings in the city, but it was more magnificent, it had a residential area with the main building connected to a garden at the front, all this with its external walls of a visible gleaming white found only in grandiose structures such as the central library, Kalamit academy and the tower of the heavens, on the left side separated by a wall was the winery where a large stock of used wine was prepared for distribution on demand and finally, next to it, the wine shed. wine storage and treatment, both made of a smooth dark wood meticulously cleaned and cared for.

Secilia was standing in front of the entrance gate of the mansion looking at her, she liked her house, but the feeling of being there was always one of obligation and not rest, but it wasn't like a prison.

After a moment of daydreaming she sighed realizing that her mother had headed straight for the winery area and with a head command called Secilia. Taking a deep breath, she headed for the winery just a few steps away from the woman, keeping a despondent expression on her face.

Upon arriving at the winery and entering the place, the girl saw her father, a tall figure with hair as dark as night and radiant green eyes highlighted, he was a man who, even with no reason to learn the art of combat, had trained for a good part. In his life, it was clear in his muscles in contrast to his dark red suit with black underwear and the absence of a tie, his rigid expression standing out behind his thick beard, albeit somewhat youthful for his age.

" How are the wine preparations for the festival going? We will have some important guests, I want everything to be in order."

The man said with a serious tone that was compatible with his deep voice, he received a clipboard with notes, Secilia knew well that this represented the amount of production and harvest, so the requested boxes, in addition also contained the records of the festival organization .

"Very well, I want you to send 15 crates to the Ildens Hjerte inn and the same amount to the Cyclops Ojne tavern, inform Tales so that he can check the surroundings of the coast and if all the caravans on the outer side of the wall are well allocated, also inform him. collectors who after the 13th day of solar fortune."

The man turned to the door making a bow notifying of the arrival of Helena and Secilia. Mr. Laffrey motioned for the man to leave and begin the orderly preparations.

"Where have you been, Secilia? If I remember correctly you have class until 12 o'clock."

He walked towards the girl with his hands on the back of his jacket and looked her up and down, highlighting her height of almost 2 meters.

"Y-yes... But I…"

"Did you go apple picking again… Or did you meet that boy… Clark?"

He would interrupt her with a rigid and direct tone, his presence always scared and intimidated the girl in a way that made her cringe.

"I was picking apples..."

Secilia replied without lengthening the story, she knew how her father hated it and it would be even worse if she did.

"You shouldn't waste time on this, just ask the maid to bring you the apple, you have more important things to learn, Jeriak said you missed class earlier, any really important reason to do so?"

She knew what he wanted, for her to admit that she was with Clark practicing archery, but she couldn't do that if it wouldn't be enough for Clark and his family.

"No sir…"

The man let out a sigh and walked silently to the back doors of the winery with the two following him.

The door opened onto a small garden of white roses with a walkway in the center, the group headed towards a hexagonal gazebo. In its center was a hexagonal marble table, although one would like to stop for a rest and forget about responsibilities Secilia knew her father would not want to sit down at this hour, there was much to be done and so they headed for the mansion.

The interior of the mansion was composed of white with red details and silver objects that covered the furniture.

"Helena, could you accompany Secilia to the music room? Your teacher is waiting for her morning class."

The man spoke with his arms still behind his back, Helena nodded in affirmation as she followed Secilia, who had her head down, to the second floor.

On the stairs that split to the right and left was a painting of the family: Andino, Helena, Secilia and Teodor, the older brother who was studying abroad.

The two were heading to the right where the music and art rooms and her father's office were located further down the hall. Helena stopped in front of the room on the left opening the door for the girl who took a deep breath and entered the room.

" Hello Seclia, shall we start class?"

Said her teacher with a calm expression holding a violin. The girl walked over to the chair, picked up a violin and sat looking at its strings.

"The servants will call you when lunch is ready.

Said Helena just before closing the door.

Secilia was sitting in front of the teacher, both playing the violins almost synchronously with Secilia making some slips.

"Lunch will be ready in a few moments, the Duke and Duchess are waiting for you in the dining room."

Said a short-haired woman in dark blue with piercing purple eyes.

"Okay, you can go ahead, Miss Secilia, I'll put the instruments away."

Secilia rose, placing the violin on the chair and making a simple curtsy lifting the sides of her dress, leaving after that.

"Where have you been today, Rosaria?"

she asked after leaving the room.

The maid closed the door and waited for Secilia to walk before answering her.

"Miss Helena has released me to attend to my personal affairs in the city.

"A pity, I wanted you with me there at…"

Rosaria was making a clicking noise in her throat, warning her to be careful.

"Picking apples, but I know you wouldn't let me go"

Secilia noticed that a maid was cleaning one of the rooms, as she passed she sighed and Rosaria nodded in the negative.

After descending the stairs on the second floor, the women made their way to the dining room, a large rectangular area with a table that covered much of it with seating for up to 10 people.

"Sit down, Secilia."

Said the duke, sitting in the chair at the end of the table opposite the door, Helena was sitting in the chair on the duke's right.

Secilia followed in silence towards her chair to her father's left.

"How are the music lessons? Is the violin teacher interesting?"

Helena asked quietly, shifting her gaze to Secilia and keeping a smile on her face.

"She's a great teacher, she told me she came from south Mascaly.

Secilia answered her mother in an instant, but she was still kind of tense in the presence of her father.

"Paraty?"

" A village further south, Vivin"

Andino answered his wife's question, he kept his eyes on the two

"She was recommended by the director of the bard academy, she must be a very good violinist.

The employees entered the room with the food putting them on the table and immediately leaving, only 3 employees were left in the place: Rosaria, Corvan, a boy with dark red hair and golden eyes, Érica, a young woman with red hair with spots on her face and light green eyes. Rosaria was standing next to Secilia, Corvan next to Andino and Erica next to Helena.

The teacher came into the room, bowing briefly.

"I'm sorry for the delay."

The Duke indicated for her to sit next to Secilia.

"How is your village, my dear?"

Helena asked putting food on the plate.

"Oh, it's a simple place, we don't have much there, it's a village that protects the south of Paraty"

"Protection? what dangers can there be so close to the city of discoveries?"

She asked the duke holding a glass of juice and drinking it.

" The forest has some rare creatures that are important to help the craftsmen, but there are poachers that invade the forest territory, so we make rounds to prevent that, there are also the dangers of nature that could disrupt the city."

" I see, your village seems like a simple but very important place."

Said the duke eating a piece of the stuffed chicken.

The woman nodded in agreement.

'How could Teodor have been?' It's been 2 years since he joined the order of knights.

Secilia asked without directing it to any of her parents.

" He…"

"He's fine, said he's too busy with royal affairs and won't be able to join this year's Kromblade."

Andino responded by cutting his wife and calmly drinking the liquid in his cup.

"I'll ask him to bring you something when he comes."

Secilia opened a smile and went back to eating.

After lunch the duke would get up from his chair and glance at Secilia

"Come on, Secilia, today you will accompany me."

The duke kept walking towards the door without waiting for her

Secilia swallowed hard and rose to follow right behind him with Rosaria and Corvan accompanying her.

"See you later, sweetheart."

The group after leaving the dining room went directly to the winery.

Upon arriving at the place, the employees made a bow and returned to work with only the assistant heading towards the Duke.

"We've already shipped the boxes and left the orders ready at the distributor, besides that some of the merchants are already arriving in the city, but the caravans shouldn't start arriving until tomorrow or at night."

The duke continued walking to one of the tanks where the wine was produced.

"Have you started the new production yet?"

"We started the harvest, without any problems this time and we are already carrying out the production"

The Duke opened the tank tap on a goblet and moved it.

"The Ildens Inn was thinking of hosting a treading show, why don't we give them some grapes and provide them with a tasting of modrika and farvayn?"

Secilia told her father as he moved the goblet, the Duke did not look at the girl when he heard her recommendation and then tasted the wine.

"Separate enough grapes for 4 Lagar, it should be enough for one presentation."

The Duke extended the glass to his daughter who accepted tasting the same, it was a light pink wine with a strong acidic taste, but keeping a sweet aftertaste which gave a distinct sensation where the alcohol seemed to appear at the beginning and disappear soon. then this was Farvayn wine made with grapes of the same name that had a whitish pink color.

"We will."

The duke was heading towards the exit, Secilia set the chalice on a nearby tray and followed right behind her father.

The group continued walking through the city, stopping in front of a few people to greet them, the vast majority were merchants or a few adventurers with gold platelets.

"The nobles haven't arrived yet, if they had any problems on the way?"

Secilia questioned her father right after the conversation with a merchant, the man looked towards the distant entrance of the city where guards were willing to check the visitors

"No major problems, just a schedule delay, a route blocked by rocks, we were notified yesterday."

Secilia smiled at a glance, her father was prepared, it was not for nothing that he was one of the few dukes who had direct contact with the king.

The Duke continued walking towards the Ildens Inn, on its sign was a heart with flames around it.

Upon entering the place, the group was greeted by a girl dressed in a maid's outfit.

"Welcome Duke, Miss

The girl performed a bow bow

"He's already waiting in the meeting room, can I help him with anything else?

The duke looked around the inn, the place was crowded with various merchants and adventurers in front of the reception."

Secilia was a little curious about who the "he" was referring to, but she didn't ask her father about the situation.

"Let Gaurin know that Lafrey Winery will sponsor the treading with 4 Lagar."

The girl nodded in agreement and indicated the way for her to guide him to the room.

Secilia remained somewhat curious, as she believed that the duke would only go to the place to announce his decision regarding the event.

The group followed the girl towards a wide corridor with side doors, at the end there was only a red one with a golden eagle on the door.

The woman standing on the left side of the door opening it for the group, was visible a long table with some chairs arranged. The Duke followed inside the place keeping a stern expression on his face, Secilia and the personal butlers followed close behind.

Upon entering the place, it was possible to see more clearly the details of the hall with four beams arranged in a rectangular shape in the corners of the room in a red tone with gold and a table with golden carvings forming a tree with several branches.

"It's been a while, Duke, I see you brought your daughter to this meeting."

Secilia turned to the left end of the table, noticing the presence of a man seated, at a glance the girl didn't notice anything else about him, but she felt that something about him was strange.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Headmaster Haj'yut.

replied the duke, sitting in the chair opposite the table, keeping his expression serene.

The so-called director glanced at Secilia and smirked.

"It's my pleasure, Miss Secilia, I'm Haj'yut, Headmaster of the Nalfir institute.

The girl smiled and bowed to the man who didn't look more than 40 years old, which surprised her for being the director and councilor of a kingdom.

The girl sat on her father's right side with a strange sensation running through her eyes, as if a feather had brushed against them. The headmaster returned his gaze to the duke.

The meeting ended near dusk, the group was in front of the inn with the director.

" See you at the festival, I heard that some Karlamity students are going to show up, I'm curious about their development."

Said the director putting his hand on his chin and opening a corner smile.

"So am I, the academy hasn't participated in the festival for 3 years, who will accompany you?

The smile stretched for a moment before replying.

"What I was told will be an acquaintance of your wife.

He looked at Secilia and smiled, pulling a bracelet of orange strands intertwined from his pocket.

"Here, it should help with the eye strain."

The girl took the bracelet without understanding how he realized it, but her father agreed with the gift.

After the girl put on the bracelet, the director performed a simple bow and left the room.

"Let's go home, that's good enough for today."

Said the duke turning towards the mansion. Secilia watched the director move on, but there was still something bothering her eyes, but now it was a thin layer of dark blue light that covered the man, the girl then turned around following right behind her father.