[S1] 021 Unexpected Guests

Just then, there was a knock on Chad's door and Lionel's voice rang out, "Chad?"

　　When there was no answer, Lionel reached out and pushed the door, but it didn't budge when he pushed and pushed.

　　"Chad," Lionel continued, "are you asleep?"

　　The next moment, Lionel heard two hard knocks on the wood from inside. In the past, if Chad had been lying on the bed and had not been able to answer the door immediately, he would have used this to respond first.

　　He waited, and a few moments later the wooden door creaked open and behind it was Chad in pajama.

　　"Do you still have a fever?" Lione asked with a concerned glance at the crimson on Chad's face as he walked inside.

　　Chad coughed lightly twice and gestured slowly, "Better already."

　　Lionel stepped around the tea table and walked straight to a window in the side wall, peeking out without moving, before reaching back to close it: "I heard you had a fever again, and it's windy and snowy outside, why did you leave the window open like that?"

　　Chad's heart was beating like a drum, Hans had gone out through the side window, and she wondered if he had remembered to wipe his footprints off the snow in his haste.

　　She didn't often lie, her head bowed slightly, "I just woke up and felt stuffy in the house, so I opened the window for some air."

　　Lionel said nothing, but turned back to the tea table, where the cup of tea Chad had poured for Hans and the buttermilk tea powder still lay, and lifted his robe to sit down, his eyes falling again on the bed.

　　The pillow had been left lying on the side of the bed and the bedding was in disarray.

　　He had watched Chad grow up, and the boy had always been a neat and tidy person, even when he was ill, he shouldn't make a mess of things on his bed.

　　It wasn't like him.

Chad seemed to sense it too, and deliberately sat on the edge of the bed, holding the fallen pillow behind him.

　　She was quietly trying to flatten the messy bedding when suddenly Lionel opened his mouth again, because with a ghost in his heart, Chad's whole body jumped at the sudden sound.

　　"Anyone else come to see you in the middle of the night?"

　Chad shook his head and lied sheepishly: "I had a nightmare, and kicked the bed and messed it up. I was about to get up and straighten it out, when you're here."

　　She was half-truthful, she did had a nightmare and was still not looking well.

　　Chad wondered if Lionel believed that, but only to see him look down and take a plain pad from his pocket and handing it to Chad "Enoch asked me to give it to you on his way out."

　　Chad took it and saw that there was nothing written on the stationery but a few small, animated drawings in sign language, the little people on them came to life, and the corners of Chad's mouth twitched for a moment before he couldn't help but smile.

　　Enoch had left her a message that said something along the lines of: please don't worry about hanging on brother.

　　Many people on the estate knew she could not read or write, but Enoch was the only one who cared her. So every time he sent her a message, he drew a picture instead.

　　"When did Brother leave?" Chad asked.

　　Lionel: "This morning at four in the morning, before dawn."

　　Chad paused, then suddenly remembered the cross necklace she had received yesterday at St. Paul's Cathedral, and subconsciously reached for her waist, but felt nothing, thinking that there were two of them, and she had given one to Hans, so there should be one left.

　　Looking around, she realised that the clothes she had been wearing that day had been cleaned and folded squarely at the end of the bed.

　　She suddenly remembered that Enoch had probably taken the other necklace, because that on the night she had returned from church, her body had felt like it was on fire, and she had seen Enoch's face in a haze.

　　As if she suddenly remembered something, she untied the cowhide pouch at her waist with trembling, burning hands.

　　Seeing her take out a cross necklace, Enoch's eyes burst into tears: "Only my little brother is good to me."

　　Enoch wiped a tear from her eye and said with a sob, "This mission is not going to be easy and this may be the last time we meet, but you are sick again."

　　Lionel looked at her as she stared into her cowhide pocket and spoke slowly, "Ackerman and his servants did not follow up this time, but the Duke has reported the matter to the King, but the old King's mourning period has not yet passed, so the young king only said that he couldn't make a big deal out of it now, but would remember Ackerman's uncle's faults and would certainly disposed of."

　　What he didn't say was that the reaction at the palace this time was really strange. If Duke Orville had been wronged in the past, the young king would have done everything he could to deal with the situation as he saw fit, because the two had grown up together and were from the same father. Every now and then, for various reasons, he would summon Orville to the royal city.

　　But the king had his own reasons, and Lionel, a mere knight, could not say anything else but to bring the subject back to Ackerman, "The Duke of Ackerman knows how to pick on the soft ones, If he provoked Duke's other knight that day.

he would have been guilty of lynching, convicted of a felony."

　　Chad, unlike the other knights, had the rank of deputy head, but not of nobility, and if one had to give a verdict, she was even worse than a commoner, because she had been bought by the Duke and was considered a slave, a slave being Orville's personal property, and even if the Duke of Ackerman provoked as such, he could only be charged with robbery.

　　But Chad came back intact, not even injured, but with a subsequent fever for body reasons, and the young king's decision was reasonable, as he could not really punish his own uncle for a lowly slave.

　　So the king's decision was to be expected by Chad.

　　However, she was more worried about the false Duke of Ackerman that day, and she felt that there was more to it than that, but the Duke of Orville had not reported to the King, and although he had his reasons, Chad was still worried about him and hopefully the nice ending of things would turn out to the Duke's side

*

　　Late winter on the Lancaster family estate.

　　Chad walks through a long corridor by the water, beyond which the winter jasmine is in full bloom and Chad is drenched in its strong scent, before turning into a courtyard in the depths, andthe courtyard is heated by pipes, so there was no snow on the ground. The melting snow falls into a pond along a paved waterway.

　　There were several goldfish in the pond, probably because of the cold weather, and they were all very still, lazily waving their golden tail fins.

　　It was still early, so Chad crouched at the edge of the pond, flicking his fingers at the water to create ripples, and watched the fish for a while before turning back into the side room.

　　There were two maids with faces as pretty as jasmine standing under the veranda, and when they saw her arrive, they bent their heads slightly and called out to her, "Lord Chad."

　　Chad was about to go inside when one of the maidservants stopped her, "Please wait here, Your Grace, the Duke is meeting with a guest at the moment."

　　Chad froze for a moment and stopped in his tracks.

　　Orville had been sympathetic to her fever and had not allowed her to accompany her to the royal gathering this week, and Orville had stayed at the palace for lunch and returned to the palace when it was nearly dusk.

　　It was not a good time to invite guests, and they would probably have to stay for dinner in the domain.

　　One of the taller maids was very clever and, having been with the Duke for several years, she knew most of the sign language without any difficulty.

　　She shook her head, "Lord Duke is not dining on the estate this evening, and this people is a previous friend on the estate, so the kitchen has prepared the meal."

　　It was a rare sunny day and the clouds were rolling in and out of the sky, with a few hints of sunshine visible.

　　The two little servant girls were whispering and giggling, and Chad had a bit of envy in his eyes, if she were an ordinary girl, she would probably be playing with her girl friends like this too.

　　The little servant girl she was talking to suddenly turned to her and whispered, "Lord Chad, Mary just said you have beautiful eyes, like amber."

　　Chad wasn't expecting her to talk to her out of the blue, so she was startled, then panicked and had nowhere to put her hands.

　　The other servant girl blushed and pushed her shoulder, blushing and complaining in a low voice, "I didn't say that, you're just talking nonsense, I'll never talk to you again!"

　　Mary paused, half-faced, and turned to expose her companion again: "You said last time that it would be nice if the Knight Chad wasn't a mute ..."

　　Another servant girl hastened to cover her mouth, "Don't be offended, Lord Chad, but don't take it personally."

　　Chad shook her head, but took their words to heart, Gill ...Gill had complimented her eyes in the same way, very few people on the estate had complimented her on her looks, only a few compliments on her sword skills when she was competing in martial arts, and Chad was physically a girl after all, and she had secretly leapt for joy at the compliment For a long time.

*

　　At the same time, the door of the hall slammed and out came a woman with a gorgeous taro-coloured shawl around her shoulders and a dark purple dress, with a snow-white face, small brows and a small mouth, a beautiful face, about twenty years old, her head in a braided bun.

　　When she came out, she was a little dishevelled, still looking down at her belt, and when she was not careful with her feet, she bumped into Chad.

　　She looked up in a hurry, her little snow-white face painted with a beautiful make-up powder, and said in a busy voice, "Why are you ..."

　　But after getting a good look at Chad's face, her face immediately went cold and she scanned over her with contempt before sneering, "It's you?"

　　Chad was surprised, too.

　　Surprisingly, this person was the maid who had been a favourite of the Duke of Orville, Janet, who had been thrown out of the manor because she had a sloping foot. And now that she was on her feet and legs, she must have recovered from her illness.

　　And there is a grudge between Chad and Janet, to be precise, it's just that the Janet holds a one-sided grudge against Chad.