Chapter 252: ORRIVALE
"Goodbye, princess and prince. We’ll definitely miss you both."
"Goodbye, Butler Cedmond. Goodbye, Mrs Cedmond." The siblings waved as the carriage began to move.
The Grand Duke and his family would be leaving the capital, along with their close servants.
The butler and head maid, however, would be remaining in the capital to manage the mansion and servants.
Aristia was in a carriage with her parents and Millie. Kai, Owen, Adeline, Melanie and Cassandra were in the carriage in front of them.
Another carriage following behind them had their luggage inside, while a handful of servants followed in another carriage behind the carriage carrying the luggage.
In a few days, they would arrive in the East.
During their journey, Aristia mainly paid attention to the outside. She spent most of the journey gazing out the carriage window.
The scenery shifted little by little, from the capital scenery to stretches of snowy forests and frozen rivers. Since February had only just arrived, the weather was still cold and everywhere was still covered with snow.
Like always, Aristia and her family stayed in inns. It was Kai’s first time traveling. He looked half-nervous, half-curious at everything.
They travelled for a few days before finally reaching their fief in the East.
"We’ve arrived at Orrivale." Wilson said, tapping lightly on the window.
[Oh. So this is Papa’s Fief.] Aristia nodded and turned back to the outside of the window, all the while chewing on some popcorn she had brought along for the journey.
The commoners she glimpsed looked normal and unbothered, busy with firewood, livestock, or trading in the markets.
[Of course they’re calm. The locusts haven’t made it this far yet.] Aristia guessed that it was because the locusts hadn’t reached this area yet.
When their carriage bearing the emblem of royalty passed, adults and children stopped what they were doing and waved and bowed, some even tossing flowers onto the road.
When they passed by the market squares, some even offered baskets as tokens when the carriage slowed.
Many cheered, "Long live the Imperial highnesses, the Grand Duke and Duchess!" While some children even chased the carriage beside it until the carriage outran them.
Aristia was a bit surprised. [Hm. They really love Mama and Papa.]
Finally, the family arrived at their destination.
The Grand Duke had an Estate in the East, and that was where the family would stay until they returned to the Capital.
The gates swung open for the carriages to pass through, and the carriages rolled forward into the Estate.
[Home sweet exile.] Aristia thought dryly, resting her chin on her hand as the carriage entered deeper into the Estate.
It wasn’t like she wasn’t happy about going to the East, it was just that the East was so far away.
[The Vanilla Courtyard is in the capital, Artsy is in the Hemsworth Fief. And even Willows Haven is in the capital. What am I supposed to do in the East?]
She clicked her tongue inwardly. [Just like I trust Randall to take care of the Art store, I can also trust the Kendall sisters with the restaurant. I could have let Owen do it, but... it wouldn’t be fair to him if we leave him behind.]
She turned her attention to the outside of the carriage.
[But this is like a vacation. A very long one because we might stay for six months... or a year. Depending on how long the locusts plan to stay in Amberale. From what I’ve learnt, Amberale’s pretty large.]
Regardless, she decided to just accept it.
Wilson’s Estate was very large.
Finally, their carriage stopped in front of a sprawling manor with large windows, light stone walls covered in ivy despite the snow, and broad balconies to catch the forest breeze.
This manor gave off an open, welcoming, and graceful feeling.
Footmen approached and respectfully assisted them in exiting the carriage. The family began to disembark.
Millie pressed against Aristia’s legs as she climbed down from the carriage, the snow crunching softly under her boots.
Aristia turned her attention to the entrance.
Servants had gathered at the entrance to receive them, lined in two neat rows. Their bows were deep, their timing perfect, and their eyes lowered with just the right amount of deference.
Aristia narrowed her gaze slightly. [These guys are just like our servants in the capital. Ugh! Will I ever get any gossip?]
Someone Aristia guessed was Wilson’s butler or steward stepped forward, announcing their arrival.
"Welcome to your Eastern home, Your Grace," the man bowed towards Wilson and Catherine. He turned to Aristia and Alaric. "Welcome, young Princess and young prince."
"Stewart." Wilson nodded at him.
He turned to his children.
"This is Stewart. You might not remember him since you were a lot younger the last time we were here. He’s the steward in charge of the Estate."
Aristia stifled a laugh. [Stewart the Steward. What a coincidence!]
But on the surface, she smiled cutely. "Hello, Steward Stewart."
Stewart smiled, wrinkles forming at the side of his mouth because of his age. Despite that, the man still looked and acted strongly.
The family entered the Estate and the servants dispersed.
The structure of this mansion was different from the one in the capital. Because it was a house in the Estate, it was larger than the one in the capital.
As expected, the inside of the house was warm. There were heating mana stones warming the mansion.
"Escort the princess and prince to their room." Catherine said.
Adeline and Cassandra nodded before leading them towards their room.
While Aristia was leaving, she heard Catherine instructing a servant to take Kai and Owen to their already prearranged rooms.
The servants had already carried their luggages inside.
Inside Aristia’s room, Adeline began to unpack Aristia’s things while talking.
"You’ll love the East, Princess." Adeline said while taking out a gown from the box. "If it hadn’t been winter and everything wasn’t covered in snow, you would have seen how green and beautiful it is."
Aristia nodded. "I guess it should be like that." She shrugged. "Well, there’s a lot of time to see it since we’ll be here even when winter’s over."
Adeline nodded and smiled brightly. "That’s correct." She stood straight with a gown in her hand.
"I’ll get water for you to bath with." She said, placing the dress on the bed and leaving the room.