Chapter 532

Lily’s New Mansion
Summer arrived, and it seemed my new home was finally ready—so it was time to move.
Today, I’d be saying goodbye to the place I’d lived in for so many years, Spider’s Cotton Cloud.
It would continue operating as a shop, but no longer function as my home.
Eventually, I might hand it off to someone else, but for now, I’m still the owner and designer.
It’s too soon to pass it on.

“Wow… this really is a magnificent mansion.”

(It really is. Spinning all the security webs around this place is going to be a challenge.)

(We’ll have to increase the security forces too. Four of us were enough at Spider’s Cotton Cloud, but even ten might not be enough here.)

“I’m counting on you, Talat, Kiblinki Saltas.”

Anywhere you’d normally see glass windows, I’d replaced them with panels of Talat’s spider thread.
I also inserted those panels into the window frames and doors to increase durability.
Honestly, it’d be faster to brute-force your way through than to try smashing them.

Aside from that, at Spider’s Cotton Cloud, invisible threads were spun throughout the house as part of Talat’s web, providing security.
Also, aside from Amira's guards, a few of the other Kiblinki Saltas protected my home too.
But this mansion was on a whole different scale, so the security measures needed to be much more thorough.
Yep… this was going to be a lot of work.

“Lily. The mansion staff is already assembled.”

“Oh, right. So you really did bring them all the way from the Darshe Principality?”

“Even with a marquis’s letter of recommendation, it was apparently impossible this time. If it were doable, I would’ve recommended a few people from the start. Even the Trade Guild had no say when it came to mansion staff. No one had people they could readily recommend as fitting for a newly appointed platinum-class merchant.”

“I see. So these are acquaintances of Lady Plum, the former princess of the Darshe Principality?”

“That’s right. The Darshe Principality and the Gaze Faith are enemies. It seems they’ve finished rooting things out on their end after my situation, so there should be no problem bringing people from over there.”

“Sounds like a complicated situation.”

“That’s the noble world for you. And it’s a world you’ll have to get used to too, Lily.”

Ugh, sounds exhausting.
What should I do first…? I guess I’ll start by greeting the staff.

Thinking that, I headed toward the gate, where the gatekeeper saluted me and opened the gate.
Yup, that was a Darshe Principality–style salute.
Once I passed through the gate and entered the mansion, the staff waiting in the entrance hall all bowed to me at once.
That was a McFarlane Dukedom–style bow, wasn’t it?

“It is an honor to meet you. I am Modalfas, the house steward. Standing here is the head maid, Faniga.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Lily. As introduced, I am Faniga, the head maid.”

“Thank you ve—”

“Pardon me. Lady Lily, as our master, you must not use polite speech with us.”

“Uh, but…”

“That’s just how it is. You’ll need to get used to it.”

“Huh…?”

“That’s how it works, Lily. Masters and servants must observe their social positions even in how they speak.”

“Uh, okay. I understand. Thank you, Modalfas, Faniga. I’m Lily, your new master starting today. What about the others?”

“You wouldn’t remember them all if I explained everyone at once. Also, even among those doing the same work, there are differences in status. Today was a full staff greeting, but normally, there are butlers and maids whose positions wouldn’t permit them to be present for this.”

Wow, the servant world is really that strict?
After asking more about it, it turns out the staff selected this time weren’t from the lowest ranks.
But when new people are hired in the future, they’ll only be allowed to greet me once—after that, they’ll avoid direct contact with the master whenever possible.
It’s a pretty complicated system.
Well, I guess I’ll just have to accept that this is how things work and get used to it.
For now, I should focus on adjusting to my new surroundings.

What do you think about this chapter?