Morvran was pleasantly surprised to see that his oldest servant, Herman, was still walking amongst the living. The man had been old already as he had started his job at the mansion.

But now, he was even older. And half blind. But the lack of eyesight did not stop Herman from recognising the general right away.

"Young master, Morvran! What a relief to see you so well.", the old man wanted to get up from his seat but his legs were weak and he couldn't stand.

"Please stay seated, Herman.", Morvran insisted and shook the mans hand. "Is everything alright? You seem exhausted."

Herman laughed. It was a short, coughing laugh. He did not seem to be able to use his lungs more than that.

"Oh, everything is just fine. You know, time can't be stopped. But a man as young as you shouldn't worry about it now. I was thrilled as the emperors letter arrived, young master.", Herman patted Morvran's arm. "I wondered when you would come to see us again."

"Speaking of us...", Morvran glanced around. "Where is everybody?"

The dining hall was as empty as a desert. Usually there had always been somebody around to clean the huge table or to polish the silver and the mirrors.

A deep and sad sigh escaped Herman.

"Times are hard, young master. He have lost a few servants last winter. The mansion had been attacked by a battalion of Redania."

"This close to the capital?", Morvran couldn't believe it.

But Herman nodded.

"Sadly, yes. The neighbouring nobleman has send us support but by the time the knights arrived we had already lost half of our people. After that, many left out of fear. Only a few loyal ones are still with us. I've tried to find new people but many fear this mansion now. All I was able to find was this young this.", with shaky hands, Herman pointed at you. "A little noisy but a good worker."

Grumpy, you twisted your mouth and crossed both arms in front of your chest.

"Thanks?", you mumbled.

A soft laugh escaped the general.

"I already had the pleasure. Uhm... Your name?", demanding, he looked at you.

"(Y/N)... young master.", you answered.

"A fitting name.", Morvran figured, a grin on his pale face.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Child!", Herman interrupted your rising anger. "This is not the correct way of speaking with your master. Settle your temper a bit and choose the right words. Didn't I teach you how to properly behave?"

The memories of Herman's lectures made you roll your eyes. Gods, you had hated them. Every day he had demanded from you to tell him how to correctly title the nobles. Every day he had forced a broom between your shoulders so you would walk straight. And every day he had wanted you to learn reading and writing.

Of course, the last two had been quite useful.

But the rest?

Absolute pain in the ass.

"Excuse me now, young master. I need to return to the food.", you bowed before him and wanted to run along.

But a harsh grip on your shoulder stopped you.

A little confused, you turned back again, fearing the general would punish you for your loose mouth. But instead of being angry, he looked at you with his normal facial expression.

He looked a little grumpy by nature. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. To be honest, if you looked at him long enough, he even seemed quite handsome. He had an oval shaped face, with a strong chin and a jawline that wasn't as defined as the one of an elf but also not as round and loose as the one of a human. His lips had a nice colour to them, a little rosy but still dark.

His eyes were blue but you figured that it was more of a greyish blue than the rich blue of the sky.

Gods, he was more handsome than you had expected him to be.

Even his hair was to your liking, although you usually hated this kind of auburn hair.

"Is something on my face?", his voice ripped you out of your thoughts.

Immediately, you shook your head.

"Not at all, sir. What's the matter? Why are you holding me back? I need to return to the food.", you said.

"Just a moment. Please tell the other servants that they shall prepare three chambers. I have guests that will arrive soon."

"That's not my task, sir. I am just for the kitchen-!"

"Hush now, child!", Herman interrupted with a harsh voice. "Do as your asked. The masters orders are your task."

A little sour, you glared at him.

You loved that old man to bits and pieces but sometimes he was dancing on your last nerve. However, you were not willing to make more of a fool out of you that you already were. The general must have had a pretty bad opinion about you by now and you did not want to make it any worse. You needed this job. Payment and a roof over your head were good.

Loosing this wasn't an option.

"As you wish, young master.", you said, bowed and rushed away.

You could already smell the burning meat.

Hastily, you jumped back into the kitchen. Just in time to safe the mushrooms from catching on fire and the pots from boiling over. Cursing, you whispered your hands on a cold towel, as the hot water burned them.

Why was this happening at all?

You had been working just fine and now that the general had appeared, things went downhills. Everything seemed to be out of control. Maybe his presence was a bad omen.

A sarcastic grin appeared on your lips as you thought about it. At least he was a handsome bad omen.
As things calmed down, you informed the two housemaids about the situation and asked them to prepare two more rooms, besides the one for the general. Of course, these lazy birds tried to argue but in the end, Herman took over and scolded them. Everyone took the orders as demanded, even though the mood was spoiled and went off to work.

"(Y/N), child come here for a second.", Herman asked, as nobody was around.

With a questioning look on your face, you turned around.

"Hm?"

"The young master has told me he has lost his horse this morning. Be so kind and keep an eye out for it, will you? You're the only one that leaves the mansion from time to time."

"Of course."