Chapter 4

The toddler ran swiftly and climbed on the chair specifically made for children beside the table. Following the child was a woman in her 20s, with brown hair and light brown eyes same as Damian and had some resemblance.

"Good morning Grandpa and grandpa Louis good morning as well." The toddler spoke in a soft sweet voice as soon as he sat down.

"This child...

The first thing he did after waking up is pestering me to come here. Just what do you use to bewitch this child father?" The woman spoke in a clear and soft voice even though it seemed as if she was angry by the choice of her words.

She walked towards the table and sat beside her child who appeared well behaved and had a serious expression on his face unsuited for his age. The child had worn simple clothing of shorts and a white shirt just like his mother who was dressed in a common dress.

The child somewhat resembled his mother slightly but had ash blonde hair and green eyes as opposed to his mother's.

Damian and Louis observed the little child while saying.

"Good morning my little knight."

"Good morning master Jude." Hearing both old men the toddler was happy but instantly hide his smile and kept a serious face.

Damian smiled while looking towards the young lady."He is a well-behaved child, why do you always scold him?" Louis also smiled and nodded. "Yes, young miss, master Jude always pays attention to manners."

The young woman shook her and sighed as she began pouring tea for herself.

"He's only behaving well here in front of you two, just see him jumping around as soon as you turn your eyes away from him."

The young woman said nothing against the two old men, as for the child he cleaned his hands with another wet towel and picked up an empty glass while looking towards Louis with innocent eyes.

Louis immediately picked up a pot and filled the glass with what appeared to be milk. "Young miss look at his eyes. Do they look like someone who misbehaves?" Louis smiled as he asks the young woman.

"Yes... yes...

He is innocent and a clever child. Happy now?" The young woman said while sighing again.

"hahaha...."

Both of the old men laughed hearing her say that.

The young lady was Damian's daughter who came to this town after her husband had died. Her name was Maia, After she came here with her husband's family she settled down in her father's house and handled some of the tasks related to the town and foreign merchants.

After his daughter calmed down a little Damian looked at Louis for a bit while talking in low voice.

"The little guy's birthday is coming soon and as this is his first birthday I've decided to celebrate with the whole town next month. What do you think?" Damian spoke as he asked his daughter her opinion about the arrangements.

His daughter Maia glared at her father the instant he brought out the topic of birthday and spoke in a raised voice clearly showing her anger.

"What do I think? What would I think after you blabbered your mouth around the whole town? Even if I say no you were still going to do this thing, right?" Damian and Louis looked at each other and averted their eyes from Maia while the young Jude trembled slightly hearing his mother speak in an aggressive manner.

After sipping his tea Damina looked towards his daughter again while smiling kindly. "Maia why are angry this much? I was not there when he was born so at least this time let me celebrate it."

"Yes, young miss, the whole town knows how clever and kind master Jude is and they all really love master Jude. They will definitely be happy to celebrate it." Louis took the clue and tried to convince the young lady.

"No need... no need

I already know you two started arranging things months ago and I'm telling you, you are spoiling this grandson of yours." Damian and Louis looked as if they were found out and chuckled softly as they looked embarrassed but both of them exchanged glances and showed sly smiles behind their eyes.

Jude the subject of their argument just sat there without talking as if he was afraid he would once again be scolded by his mother.

The company of four talked about the arrangements for celebration and some minor matters while enjoying the tea. The servants did not disturb them allowing them to enjoy the peaceful morning.

...

Meanwhile, a couple entered the town chief mansion through the backdoor. They were obviously nervous slightly while looking around as if searching for somebody. After arriving at the servants and guard's quarters they found an old man in his seventies who sat behind the table.

The old man was wearing glasses while writing on a big diary slowly. Even though it was early in the morning and despite his age, the old man appeared energetic and active.

His head was full white hair, wore a simple white robe for clothing. His face was full of wrinkles and showed the impact of time. But his grey eyes were still spirited.

The couple arrived in front of the table and produced a medallion from each of their pockets. After putting them onto the table the old man lifted his head and looked toward the couple.

The old man did not say anything and just lifted the two medallions and put them back in the drawer and pulled back two different medallions from a separate drawer.

The old man put the medallions back on the tabletop and continued to write down on the diary not paying any more attention to the couple.

The couple took a medallion each. The medallions were different from each other. the one in the man's hand was the size of a palm, black in colour and in a square shape with a single white mark in the corner.

While the one in the wife's hand was a palm-sized medallion in yellow colour with two green marks in one of the corners.

But instead of leaving, the couple stood there not moving, the old man lifted his head again noticing that the couple had not moved after getting the medallions.

The couple got nervous again seeing the old man looking at them.

"Elder Morris we request permission for leave for my wife in a few months if it is possible. It is not urgent but we thought it was proper to mention it early."

The husband bowed his head to the old man while speaking in a very polite way.

Following her husband the wife also bowed her head alongside him.

There were many people entering and leaving the servants quarter. So the scene attracted some attention but they did not linger around. The old man named Morris was well respected in the chief mansion.

Not only was he a manager here in the mansion, but he also worked as a teacher in the town's school.

Elder Morris did not speak immediately and just simply observed the couple. His gaze lingered around the husband for a moment and moved on to the woman afterwards.

After looking towards the wife for a moment he spoke slowly.

"Write a reason and submit it in the evening I'll look into it once I get the chance and send it to the Lord for confirmation." Elder Morris spoke in a calm and quiet voice. He sounded nothing like his age and had a powerful voice.