Upon reaching the entrance of the town, Riz's gaze falls upon two guards stationed on the left and two guards on the right, diligently fulfilling their duty of safeguarding the town's gate.
Perhaps due to the lateness of the hour, Riz's carriage stands as the sole presence at the entrance, alleviating the need to wait in a queue. Furthermore, being of noble status, he anticipates that he can bypass any potential wait and enter the town directly.
Upon seeing the emblem adorning the carriage, the guard didn't stop it but instead, immediately gave a sharp salute.
Reina, however, pays no heed to the salute, proceeding into the town without offering any acknowledgement.
Once Riz is inside the town, he finds himself captivated by the sights that unfold before him. There, he saw the houses, constructed predominantly of wood, cramped packed together and rising upward. Such a view is common since the land available inside the city wall is limited. A narrow street that leads to the centre of the town.
Normally, you can only see pure medieval towns in illustration. While European cities back on Earth retain traces of their medieval origins, they have all undergone significant modernization.
The Ryntum mansion is located on a small hill northwest of the town. In order to reach the mansion, the carriage moved on the main road around seven meters wide passing through the square in the centre of the city.
Riz stops looking at the view outside since not much could be seen in the dark. It didn't take a long time to reach the mansion. By the time they arrive, Riz can see an old man in his fifties pacing back and forth in front of the mansion.
When the old man sees the carriage approaching the mansion, his face lights up with joy and relief. Riz can even see a tear glistening in the corner of his eye.
The carriage then stops and the old man immediately straightens his back.
Reina steps out from the carriage followed by Riz. He can immediately guess who the old man in the suit is.
'This must be the butler', Riz thought.
"Welcome back young miss Reina and young master Riz. I am glad that you're safe young master Riz. Master Richard has been worried about you", greet the butler with a slight bow.
"Thank you, Edward", Reina replied.
'So his name is Edward'.
"Thank you for your concern, Edward. As you can see I'm fine and well", Riz said with confidence.
Edward looks slightly surprised hearing Riz's answer but he quickly maintains his calmness.
"Since everyone has eaten dinner, I will ask the kitchen to make new dishes for both of you. Would a young miss and a young master prefer to have your dinner at a dining table in your own room?", asked Edward.
"We will just have it in our own room", Reina replies hurriedly. She is really tired of finding Riz in the forest and can't wait to take a rest.
After some twists and turns, Riz finally found his room. Riz directly heads to his bed and starts lying on it. There are so many things that happen today that make him very tired.
"Knock" "Knock" "Knock"
Riz slowly stands up from his bed and walks towards the door. After opening the door, he sees the servant with the dishes in front of his room.
"Just put it on the table", Riz ordered the servant.
Without wasting any time, the servant quickly put the dishes on the table and left the room.
After enjoying his dinner, Riz lies on his bed, trying to sleep. He decided to take a look at the mansion tomorrow.
....
The light shines into Riz's room through the curtain. Riz who is sleeping frowns when the light hits his face. He slowly opens his eyes and sees it's already morning. He reluctantly gets up from his bed.
Now that his room has become bright, he can see the room clearly.
His room's shape is rectangular with a size of around ten meters long and six meters wide. When entering through the door, there is a king-size bed on the right. The bed frame is a luxurious European style made from wood.
To the right side of the bed, there's a window.
In front of the bed, there is a small table and sofa where Riz enjoyed his dinner last night.
From the bed, Riz can see there are two doors. One on the left and one on the right.
Riz stands up and walks toward the right door to see where it leads him.
"So this is the bathroom. How convenient, but without a piping system, I still need the servant to put the water in the tub for me"
Riz then walks to the left door and discovers this is a closet.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
"Come in", Riz said.
"Good morning, young master", said the maid who is around his age.
She is Charlotte, Riz's personal maid.
"Good morning, Charlotte. Can you ask the servant to fill the tub with water? I want to take a bath".
"Yes young master, please wait for a moment", said Charlotte. Although they are the same age, she's giving a vibe of a competent career woman.
....
Charlotte then leads Riz to the dining area where all his family members are waiting to have breakfast.
There he sees his father at one end of the long rectangular table. There are two women on his left and right followed by his siblings.
"Ohhh Riz, you're finally here. Come and sit, we have been waiting for you", says the man that looks around forty years old. He has black hair and eyes just like Riz.
Out of all his siblings, none of them is black-haired. To put it in simple terms, Riz is the only one resembling his father the most.
Naturally, his father dotes on him the most.
He looks like a retired warrior. He looks dignified and emits an aura that battle-hardened warriors would have.
The blonde-haired woman with blue eyes that looked like in her early thirties on his father's right side gave him a contemptuous look.
Sitting beside her is her children, Robert and Rachel. She appeared as though she had something to say but ultimately chose to remain silent. "This must be Maria," Riz remarked.
Then, he shifted his gaze towards the disinterested woman seated to his father's left. Her brown hair and piercing red eyes revealed little emotion. 'This one must be Josephine'.
Beside her sits her children, Reina and Russell.
At the table, only his father and Reina look at him kindly. Others either look at him with disgust, hatred or indifference.
Riz slowly approaches the table and sits beside Russell.
"Since everybody is here, let us start eating"
....
Riz's initial thought is naturally due to his commoner's blood. However, only Maria probably has that thought. For example, the eldest, Robert who resembles his mother with blonde hair and blue eyes, is simply jealous of the attention Richard gives to Riz.
The marriage between Richard and Maria is a political one. There is no love whatsoever, naturally, Richard didn't give much thought to Maria's children. He just simply fulfils his duty as a husband and lord. In addition, Robert also being influenced by his mother's disgust of the commoner.
Rachel is at least a little bit better than Robert. She is indeed being influenced by her mother but that's it. It is not to the point of emitting killing intent.
Josephine and her children are even better. Josephine herself doesn't give a f**k about Riz. Unlike Maria who is ambitious and wants to exert control everywhere she can, Josephine prefers to spend money on gems and dresses.
It can be said that out of all members of the Ryntum family, Josephine holds most of the wealth in the form of luxurious goods.
Reina as mentioned before is the only sibling that is good to Riz and really regards him as her brother. She looks just like her mother with brown hair and red eyes.
Russell inherits his mother's brown hair but Richard's black eyes. He has an indifferent personality like Josephine so he didn't cause too much trouble for Riz.
....
After finishing his breakfast, Riz decided to explore the mansion first and then headed to the library. There is a lot of information that he needs to learn.