Gabriel observed the butler that had come to pick him up. Young Lord, it was technically a title that should only be used for the one who would inherit the duke’s title. But Gabriel knew for a fact that the family current didn’t have a designated inheritor, not even Alice’s older sister, the eldest child, had acquired that seat. She also didn’t dare to go by that title, she was too upright for that.
So, one of the brothers was calling for him, a petty villain making a petty move. He couldn’t recall ever seeing this butler in the show so he either didn’t live long enough to appear or just wasn’t important enough to hover around either of the brothers. Still, even if it was petty, even if this unimportant man came this early and interrupted his training, there was only one thing Gabriel could do.
"It would be my honour, please lead the way."
He held his right hand to his chest but didn’t bow, the servant’s brows crinkling slightly due to the lack of respect. But there was nothing wrong with what Gabriel said, and he wasn’t actually required to bow to him, so there was nothing he could nitpick.
"Excellent. Let us make haste, the Young Lord will eat breakfast soon and does not enjoy being disturbed while he dines."
The servant straightened his brows with a subdued clearing of his throat, ushering Gabriel out of his own house as he took the lead. Gabriel, naturally, followed.
The servant quickly moved through the village, a clear wrinkle between his eyebrows as he kept his gaze straight ahead. He was probably from the main mansion and wasn’t used to entering this place, he probably considered himself above mingling with lower servants. Hell, depending on how close he was with the young master he might even feel insulted that he had to come here just to pick up Gabriel.
"You may take this route now, but you’d best not get caught taking it in the future. Have I made myself clear?"
The servant spoke up again as he guided Gabriel to a route different from the one he usually took. Normally he would go in a wide arch around the mansion to reach the village, but now they were going down a small path that led directly from the village to one of the back entrances to the mansion.
"Of course, you won’t see me on this path ever again."
Gabriel spoke nonchalantly, barely maintaining the base level of politeness. He’d watched the show so of course he knew about this path, it would cut at least half an hour of his walk if he used it to get to the training grounds. But this path… it was ‘reserved’ for the people of the main mansion when they had to get to the village. To walk it meant running into the people who worked there, the people who twisted a little girl into a monster.
"How sickening…"
He muttered again, just quietly for the servant to not catch his words.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, I was just amazed by the grandeur of the mansion."
It wasn’t entirely a lie. The mansion towered above him now that they had gotten so close, marble pillars engraved with soaring dragons decorating the doors and certain support points along the wall. Well, he at least guessed that they were support points, they were actually placed so randomly that he would believe it if someone told him that they were just there to look good.
"Naturally, the main estate of the Vritara duchy does in no way fall short of even the Imperial Family, much less the other duchies. We were, We are, We will be. That motto is the oath sworn by the first Vritara, it is no mere wordplay. No matter what befalls the empire, the Vritara have always been and will always be. A dragon never falls, never forget that."
The servant’s chest puffed out proudly as he spoke. The Vritara duchy had been around even before the Earhart Empire was formed, granted, they weren’t a duchy back then. Then they helped form the empire and were granted this land as a reward, only that family to the east had a history longer than the Vritara duchy. But the Vritara family far eclipsed the eastern family in wealth and reputation so they were able to somewhat ignore that fact.
"Once inside, stay right behind me and don’t wander off. Once we get to the Young Lord, you will keep your head lowered and never speak unless spoken to first. Do not speak a single word out of line and always maintain the highest level of respect and politeness, this is the future duke so act accordingly."
They stopped for a minute in front of the twin doors, each one engraved with one half of a dragon’s skull. This was the maw of the dragon, and to enter the mansion was to surrender to the dragon. Naturally, this wasn’t just symbolic, the Vritara Duchy’s bloodline was one of their greatest sources of pride. Vritra, the Great Dragon of Water was their progenitor, her blood was still strong in their veins.
The first thing that greeted Gabriel as the doors were opened was the smell, a soft floral scent reminiscent of budding petals hung in the air. Was it orchids, or perhaps lavender? The floor was entirely covered by a deep blue carpet, golden lines dancing about as they formed their patterns. Vases filled with blooming flowers of various colours were scattered about along the hallway, as were delicate sculptures of beasts and people. A few paintings were hung up on the walls, but none of them were portraits, just scenery and historic moments.
"Follow me, we shall head to the northern wing."
Northern wing, that meant that they would be going to the third Young Master, Leonardo. The Vritara family was the ducal household that ruled the temperate south, so they took the south as their most important direction. Thus, the southern wing was where Alice’s elder sister lived, the west was where Francis lived, and the north was where Leonardo lived.
Conversely, this empire took the east to be the direction of misfortune. That was where the land border of the empire was, and where the eastern family was constantly fighting against the the encroaching forces. So naturally, Alice would reside in the eastern wing of the mansion.
Gabriel followed closely behind the servant as they moved through the mansion, it was still before dawn so there weren’t too many people out. There was a bit of hubbub as they moved past the kitchen, preparing breakfast took time so they started work quite early.
He took the chance to peek in, spotting a familiar face amidst the scurrying kitchen staff. Monday One. She was clad in a simple maid’s uniform and sat in a corner, diligently peeling potatoes. There were a few band-aids on her fingers so was probably struggling a little with the sharp peeler.
She happened to catch his gaze as she looked up, a smile flitting past her face as she waved at him. It was natural. She was definitely getting treated better here than she did when she worked for Alice.
"I hope you end up happy."
He mouthed the words as he moved past the entrance. She was just a little orphaned girl who knew nothing, her life was hard enough as it was. She couldn’t be blamed for doing what she could to move towards a better life, she just wanted to live well.
They kept moving for a bit, but Gabriel didn’t see any of the other maids that came with him, they were probably stationed at different posts throughout the mansion. And finally, before long, they reached a set of closed doors at the end of a hallway, each door engraved with a large feathery wing.
"Your head, lower it."
The servant spoke sternly before knocking on the doors, the sound echoing throughout the hallway.
"My Lord, I’ve arrived with the servant known as Tuesday."
The servant didn’t lower his head after knocking, Gabriel could feel him look over, probably gloating over his position. If that was all he had to gloat over then he really had a sad life.
"You may enter."
The voice that came from beyond the door was the same as the voice that came from the carriage back at the orphanage, cold and somewhat distant, dignified and majestic. The servant hurriedly pushed open the door and brought Gabriel in, one hand resting on the back of his head so that Gabriel didn’t needlessly raise it on his own.
"So you are Tuesday."
Leonardo spoke up again as Gabriel was brought forward, stopping a few steps away from what seemed to be a desk. There was a small sound of flapping and then light tapping, a dark brown eagle with beady black eyes landing on the ground in front of Gabriel and hopping over to him, curiously inspecting him.
It looked normal, but Gabriel knew better. Leonardo belonged to a noble family, so when he turned seven he was allowed to step into the Spirit Pond, a special body of water that made it easier to contact spirits. This eagle was the one that Leonardo had signed a contract with, an air spirit.
"This one greets the Third Young Master of the Vritara."
Right hand pressed horizontally across the abdomen, left hand held close to the body, a slight tilt of his torso. A bow that was just barely polite enough to be deemed acceptable. The servant’s brows crinkled again, but it seemed like Leonardo waved his hand to stop him.
"I’ve heard from Knight Trainer Lawrence that you are a very straightforward and mature child, hence I will not play with words. I will provide you with a job in this mansion, my older sister or elder brother most certainly need a few more servants for miscellaneous work. Naturally, this means that you must stop working for the red-eyed one. Do you accept?"
Leonardo was speaking directly to him, but Gabriel almost felt as if he was directing his words to the carpet beneath him, what an odd sensation it was. But really, he certainly stuck to his word and wasn’t shy about his intentions. Good grief, he didn’t even refer to Alice by name or position.
"Before I answer that question, Third Young Master, may I ask why the Young Lady is so despised within this household?"
Gabriel could practically feel the servant’s gaze drilling into his skull at this point. First it was base-level respect and now he even dared to ask questions, the servant would likely have struck him if Leonardo wasn’t here. He did however flare up, but was quickly shut down by Leonardo.
"How dare…!"
"Enough. It is no secret and most are already aware of it, it makes no difference to tell one more person. Servant Tuesday, what do you think the most important quality of a noble is?"
Leonardo’s voice remained the same despite being questioned. Naturally, he was a noble after all, what a commoner servant thought or did was beneath his notice. Even if he questioned him then he would just attribute it to the foolishness of the commoner, that poor soul simply didn’t know better because of his humble upbringings. That thought seemed to pervade into this question, as he answered himself shortly after posing it.
"The answer is loyalty. A noble must be loyal to the crown, to the empire, and above all, to the family. And within the family, there is no relationship more holy than that of husband and wife, the leaders of the family. If they decay then so will the rest of the family, thus they must be perfect at all times."
The eagle that was looking up at Gabriel tilted its head a few times, its feathers bristling as its claws dug into the carpet. A spirit, especially those of a ‘lower’ class, would generally mimic their contractors emotions.
"Our Esteemed Father, is the image of loyalty. After he got married to the previous duchess of Vritara, he never once looked at another woman and gave his all to her, and this duchy. Our mother… could not reciprocate that loyalty."
Beady black eyes turned crimson and claws grew longer, feathers swirling as the eagle drew in all the air within the office.
"She had a tryst with a lowly servant, breaking the holy bond and vow she had made to our father. And worse yet, she fathered a bastard with that servant, perishing in the process so that she couldn’t even be punished for her crimes. All that remains is that red-eyed thing, a stain on the family name, a mark of broken loyalty. That thing symbolises the ultimate failure of our family, so tell me, Servant Tuesday, how could we not despise it?"
Gabriel wanted to laugh. No really, he did. This was a story that wasn’t in the show, why would the creator bother going into the backstory of the villain? She was the illegitimate child that never got what she wanted or what she gave, she was evil, that was enough explanation.
He’d wondered occasionally what made the great villain so despised by her family, what was the catalyst that twisted her so greatly. But that was it? She was born? Her mother had been unfaithful? What the hell was that? Was it Alice’s fault that her mother had a tryst, was it her fault that she was born? Was it her fault that she inherited the traits of her father rather than her mother? What a joke, what a terrible, horrible joke. He wanted to laugh at it, but he couldn’t, it was just that bad of a joke.
"I see, thank you for explaining it to me, Third Young Master."
Gabriel raised his head as he spoke. The servant was fuming and tried to lower his head before he could fully raise it, but Gabriel moved faster.
A large office, bookshelves that lined the walls, potted plants and a self-portrait. An entire section of the wall was just a window, giving a perfect view of the northern section of the estate, a small lake resting peacefully in the distance. A desk in dark red wood that had several stacks of papers neatly lined up. And sitting behind it, Leonardo De Vritara.
Dark blue hair that hung past his shoulders and shimmering golden eyes, the symbol of the Vritara family. Smooth features and neatly maintained eyebrows, he even wore lipstick that was just light enough to barely be noticed. A slim body covered by a clean white suit adorned with blue and gold, a pair of round glasses resting on his nose. Handsome and delicate, definitely someone who could be praised as a member of the ducal household. The two locked eyes, Gabriel giving him a polite smile.
"Now, to answer your request. I personally believe that in life, no matter which path you follow, there are tenets you must follow. For example, if you wish to live a cruel life, then one tenet you must follow is to never show mercy. After all, how can you be cruel if you constantly show mercy?"
Tenets. Principles. Guidelines. They permeated everything, they dictated lives. Even those who were of a different persuasion could become someone else if they followed the tenets of a different life-path. His master had personally proven this to Gabriel in his past life.
"Now, I don’t know about the Third Young Master, but I have decided to live the life of a Good Person, and thus adhere to its tenets. And of those tenets, the fifth one is quite simple; Don’t bit the hand that feeds you."
No one wanted to take in a rabid dog, no one wanted to raise a snake that would later poison them. Thus, the fifth tenet was a rather important one. And Gabriel, he had never forgotten it. So he held his right arm across his abdomen and tilted his torso slightly.
"Now, please excuse me, Third Young Master, but My Lady has lost her maids so I must go and take care of her. I bid you farewell and wish you a good day."
He spun around on his heels and immediately started to walk, his still dirty hair fluttering slightly thanks to the increasingly strong wind caused by the eagle. He could see the servant gawking, caught somewhere between fury and dumbfounded. But Gabriel ignored him, gave another semi-polite bow as he reached the door, and then shut it behind him in a soft manner. From start to finish, he had shown just enough politeness and respect to not be criticised.