Chapter 28: Return to the Castle

The lord has returned.

This was quite unexpected for those working in the castle. Originally, they had thought deep down that perhaps this lord had fled due to fear of the castle’s curse. But even thinking this, they still diligently performed their duties, as they were paid to do the work. After all, Julian had told them he would return within a month, and if he didn’t come back by then, they would figure something out.

And now, this lord had indeed returned to the castle within the time limit. Not only that, he had brought back ten strong and sturdy (at least in the servants’ eyes) warriors. This naturally became a topic of conversation among the castle staff, though as servants, they naturally couldn’t say too much. After all, nobles always had many mysterious and strange affairs, which were not for them to be concerned about.

Among these people, perhaps only little Erin didn’t consider those complicated issues. In fact, she had more important things to do.

“Here is your tea, miss,” Wearing a somewhat oversized maid uniform, Erin walked steadily to Ophariel’s side, bending slightly, then placing the teacup from her tray on the table beside Ophariel. Ophariel picked up the teacup nonchalantly, took a small sip, then closed her eyes.

The girl nervously hugged the tray, watching the young lady before her, while Julian sat nearby with an amused expression, waiting for Ophariel’s “judgment”.

Finally, Ophariel opened her eyes, and a smile appeared on her previously serious face.

“You’ve passed.”

Hearing these words, Erin couldn’t help but excitedly gasp. She raised her head excitedly, looking at old Marfa standing beside her. Only Erin herself knew what kind of tests and training she had undergone during these days when Julian and the others were away. When she was still an ordinary village girl, Erin thought that being a servant was simply about serving the master and following their orders. But after being recruited by Julian, Erin discovered that even as a servant, there were so many things to do, so many rules to follow.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but finally closed it, just looking at Ophariel with excited and eager eyes. Although Julian was the master of this castle, in this castle, the one with the power to appoint and dismiss personnel was this beautiful lady.

“You can go now, Erin. We’ll call you when we need you.”

“Yes, Miss Ophariel.”

Although very excited, Erin still remembered Grandma Marfa’s words. She bent slightly, then turned and left, her cute little face unable to hide a bright, sunny smile.

“A very cute girl,” After Erin left, Julian finally commented. Unlike Ophariel, Julian didn’t care much about the castle’s personnel matters. Even in his previous life, his goal was to play various interesting “games” with his friends or enemies. For this kind of thing, there were always specialists to handle it for him, and for Julian, this “darkness under the lamp” was not within his scope of concern.

“Although not very beautiful, but very cute.”

“Indeed,” Ophariel nodded, then looked towards the main door with a hint of melancholy.

“Many nobles like this type. They’ve grown tired of those beautiful women…”

“Is this what you’re worried about?” Hearing this, Julian raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect this princess to be a feminist.

“No,” But Ophariel shook her head. Then, she lowered her eyes, seeming to recall something, or perhaps thinking about something.

“This is just a chance I’m giving myself.”

Saying this, Ophariel obviously didn’t want to continue this topic. She raised her head, her bright clear eyes staring at Julian.

“So, Lord Julian ‘sir’, I think we should proceed with today’s work.”

“Of course…” Faced with those clear, transparent eyes, Julian paused inexplicably. In fact, after returning to the castle, Ophariel seemed to be “retaliating” for Julian’s previous probing, always wanting to “discuss” castle operations with him.

“Is there any other problem?”

“Not enough personnel!”

Ophariel bit her lip lightly, looking at Julian before her with a hint of smugness. He had told her so much about warrior professions before, and although Ophariel had learned a lot from it, she hadn’t forgotten Julian’s teasing – the back of her right hand still ached when she thought about it. So, she didn’t mind making this lord suffer a little in her area of expertise. However, up until now, Julian had seemed to handle all the challenges Ophariel presented with ease, which made this former princess somewhat dissatisfied.

“Not enough personnel?” Julian crossed his hands, sitting in the chair, looking at the young lady before him with a hint of curiosity.

“But I think it’s enough. Although four people is a bit few at present, isn’t it enough just to take care of you and me?”

“If it were just the two of us, this certainly wouldn’t be a problem, my lord,” Ophariel raised an eyebrow.

“But nobles need to socialize, interact, and gather. If one day, a noble wants to come to your castle as a guest, what will they see? A castle managed by only four people? Oh, right, and only Erin as a maid among them? How are we supposed to explain? ‘Sorry, esteemed sir, we’re currently short-staffed, please wait a moment while we go hire some from outside?’ My lord, you surely don’t want this to become a handle for other nobles to embarrass us, do you?”

“Then how many people do you say we need?”

“At least…” Thinking about this, Ophariel considered for a moment before coming up with an answer.

“We need thirty people.”

“Thirty people?” Hearing this, Julian finally couldn’t remain indifferent.

“Isn’t that a bit too many? You know, there’s no noble who wants to see ghosts running to this castle to chat with me, right? Don’t forget, this is a castle with a terrible curse! The previous owners all died unnatural deaths. In those nobles’ eyes, I might just be the next poor soul who’ll turn into a corpse one morning. I don’t think they’ll be interested. Besides, where are we going to find these thirty people?”

Although Julian’s recruitment in Twilight Town had never been canceled, apart from these four people, the others in the town still seemed to be wary of this ancient castle and unwilling to work here. Those willing to work here, besides people like Marfa who were proud of their family history, were only people like old Bomba who had no relatives. Even Erin, if it weren’t for her parents’ early death and the fact that a ten-year-old girl couldn’t find much work in the small town, she probably wouldn’t have taken this job. The old town mayor was also helpless about this, but Julian showed a very carefree attitude. If no one came, so be it. After all, he still had people around him now, right?

The only pity was that those Wraith Warriors hadn’t yet been able to absorb enough soul power. Otherwise, if they could fully materialize, they could wear maid uniforms to do these trivial tasks. After all, one of the reasons they appeared here was to serve someone who no longer existed. So, this kind of work shouldn’t be difficult for them. Unfortunately, until now, even the best among them, Judy, hadn’t absorbed enough soul power to take human form, so Julian had to give up on that idea.

“Then we can buy slaves,” Ophariel frowned, finding that her lord really didn’t care about this matter at all.

“Although it’s not wartime now, some well-educated slaves are not hard to find. My lord, I think you should understand my meaning.”

“We can still consider it, can’t we?” Faced with Ophariel’s questioning, Julian casually brushed it off as usual.

“Anyway, there’s still plenty of time. Why don’t we focus our attention on the construction of the town itself? This is what we should be paying most attention to…”

However, Julian’s words were not finished, because at this moment, a crisp knock sounded, and then Erin walked into the room. Her clean, cute little face showed some nervous and uneasy expression.

“My lord, someone wants to see you.”

Standing in the spacious hall, Thomson quietly sat on the sofa, carefully examining the castle before him.

As a noble servant, Thomson had served the Bird family for thirty years. He had seen many nobles and been to many noble castles and territories, but how to put it… such a unique place, Thomson was seeing for the first time. Although from the outside, this Twilight Castle looked somewhat dilapidated, after walking in, Thomson felt his view was not correct. The interior, though spacious, was not dirty, but very clean and tidy, and the furniture was arranged quite orderly. From the perspective of an experienced servant, Thomson could even see some unknown tricks in it – the family crest was hanging in the center at the top of the hall, and on both sides below it were placed armor and swords. These were all traditions of ancient nobles. Many nobles would use these methods to display their family glory and the way their family rose to visitors.

However, this crest seemed a bit strange…

Thomson frowned, carefully observing the crest above, and at this moment, a young voice came.

“Welcome to my castle, esteemed guest.”

Hearing this voice, Thomson immediately withdrew his gaze. He focused on the young man walking down the stairs towards him, bending slightly.

“Hello, noble lord.”

He took off his hat from his head and placed it on his chest while lowering his head.

“I bring greetings on behalf of the Viscount of the Bird family – Lord Euwen Bird.”

“Please convey my thanks to the Viscount,” Julian’s response was equally impeccable.

“May I ask, your purpose for coming…”

“Oh, it’s like this,” Saying this, Thomson straightened his back and reached into his bosom to take out a gold-embossed letter.

“In fact, I think you also know that this Twilight Forest has not had a lord appear for a long time. Previously, it was always managed by our Bird family. Because of this, Viscount Euwen hopes to come and visit you, and at the same time hand over some documents that originally belonged to your territory.”

“I see,” Julian showed an expression of “sudden realization”, then he again showed his original elegant, charming smile.

“I certainly welcome his arrival. May I ask when Mr. Euwen will depart?”

“If you agree, then ten days later, my master will set out,” Thomson quickly answered.

“Then, I will eagerly look forward to his arrival. Thank you for bringing me this good news,” Julian said, making a gesture with his hand.

“Then…”

“No need, my lord. I must hurry back to report this good news to my master. I believe he will be moved by your enthusiasm.”

Saying this, Thomson took his leave, and Julian, after seeing him off, turned back, showing a helpless bitter smile, looking at Ophariel who was standing on the stairs, silently watching him.

“Ten days…”

“At least ten people, my lord!”

This was Ophariel’s final answer.