"Yay! Then let's head to the front hall to find the head butler now!" For some reason, Tina was so excited that she practically bounced with joy.
Jenny, standing nearby, pinpointed the reason for Tina's excitement with a single sentence: "I bet you're so happy because you finally get to go somewhere other than Snow Manor to have fun!"
"Uh-huh!" Tina, her thoughts exposed, felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water over her.
Mia, however, smiled nonchalantly. "It's fine. Let's go find the head butler and take a stroll elsewhere. Staying in Snow Manor all the time does feel a bit stifling."
Hearing this, Tina bounced with excitement again, barely resisting the urge to hug Mia. "Miss Mia is the best! Miss Mia is awesome!"
Still such a child! Jenny thought to herself, exasperated.
The head butler was the same kind-faced elderly man who had first brought Mia to Snow Manor to meet Arthur. After hearing Mia's intentions, he smiled respectfully. "Miss Mia, wanting to meet a friend is, of course, no issue. However, the person you wish to see is currently some distance away from here, so you may not be able to meet him right away. It might be this afternoon before you can see him."
"That's fine. I have nothing else to do anyway, so waiting a bit doesn't matter," Mia replied, understanding his words perfectly. She had already seen how things worked at Moore Manor.
"Then, Miss Mia, would you like to return to Snow Manor to wait for news?"
Mia glanced back at Tina, who was practically vibrating with eagerness, and smiled. "No need. I'd like to take a walk around here and have a look. Is that okay? Are there any restrictions?"
Noble families often had secrets they kept hidden. Mia asked this purely out of respect for their customs, with no other intentions. From her words, the butler sensed something special about her. Though she came from a servant family, her speech carried the refined habits and elegance of a well-educated noble. Perhaps it was innate, a natural self-discipline.
The leader loves someone truly worth loving, the butler thought.
With his usual kind smile, he replied, "Miss Mia, Moore Manor is entirely open to you. There is no place here you cannot go." Not even the forbidden grounds, accessible only to the leader for centuries, were off-limits.
"Oh, that's a relief. I was worried I might accidentally go somewhere I shouldn't!" Mia said.
"Would you like to have a few more people accompany you, Miss Mia?" the butler asked.
"No, thank you. Just me, Tina, and Jenny will be fine. Too many people would be inconvenient," Mia quickly declined. She didn't want a crowd trailing her during a walk—it would feel awkward with all those eyes on her.
"Very well. If you need anything, just call for me."
"Thank you, head butler," Mia said warmly.
"Miss Mia, please don't use such formal language with me. I'm just a servant of the Moore family—I can't bear it!" The butler was startled by her excessive politeness.
"Then stop using formal titles with me, too. I can't handle it either! After all, you're older than me, my elder!" Mia said sincerely.
"This—" For the first time, someone had spoken to him like this, and the butler was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Head butler, just agree. Using formal language with Miss Mia makes her uncomfortable. Do you want that?" Jenny, always quick to find the right words, hit the butler's weak spot.
"Exactly! Head butler, you don't want the leader to think you're ignoring Miss Mia's wishes, do you?" Tina chimed in, eager to get outside and play.
Hearing this, the butler looked deeply at Mia and bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle. "Miss Mia, I'll do as you wish."
"Head butler, you're doing it again!" Mia, flustered by such a grand gesture, didn't know how to react.
The butler straightened up and chuckled softly. "Ah, old habits. I forgot for a moment." The leader truly loves the right person. One thousand years of waiting and searching were worth it!
"Miss Mia, just a bit further is Mountain Lodge," Tina said, turning back to explain as she led the way. "Mountain Lodge is a lively gathering spot in Moore Manor. Gentlemen, ladies, and young masters often come here to chat and socialize, so you might run into them later." Perhaps because she was thrilled to be out, Tina was chattier than usual.
This reminded Mia of Dick, her childhood playmate. If those two were together, it'd definitely be a blast! Mia thought as she walked.
"Tina, Jenny, can you tell me about the people living in Moore Manor? Why is Arthur the leader of the family when there are older gentlemen around?"
Mia had been curious about this for a long time. Arthur was so young—how could he have become the leader of the entire Moore family as a child, with a status higher than anyone else in the family? Even his name was puzzling. Moore wasn't his first name or his surname; his surname was Taylor. Yet everyone else in Moore Manor was surnamed Moore. How could there be such a strange family lineage?
"Um…" Tina glanced at Jenny, worried she might say something wrong again. At least she knew better than to speak up this time!
Jenny, who had been concerned about Tina slipping up, felt a bit relieved.
Since Tina couldn't answer Mia's question, Jenny thought for a moment before responding, "Miss Mia, only the leader can explain these things clearly. But we can tell you about who lives in Moore Manor. Most of the residents here are servants. The most prominent figure, aside from the leader, is Lord Solar, the elderly gentleman who's second only to the leader in status. He's… let's see, sixty-nine years old this year, I believe. Then there's his wife, Lady Miller, his only wife and the person he loves most. They have their eldest son, Henry; their second son, Mike; their daughter, Sophie; and their youngest son, Harry. Those are the names the leader gave them."
"My goodness! Henry, the eldest son, is twenty-three, right? How old was Arthur back then to be naming people?" Mia was about to nod along with Jenny's words but then frowned. She roughly estimated Arthur's age and realized he must have been very young at the time.
Mia's words sent Tina into a fit of glee, practically dancing with excitement, as if she'd finally been vindicated. Yesterday, she kept saying the wrong things, and Jenny had scolded her all evening in their quarters, even calling her a thoughtless fool. It left Tina feeling like a sinner from last night until now, constantly on edge.
But now—ha! Let's see how Jenny explains this to Miss Mia!
Yet Jenny remained calm and unfazed, answering Mia without a hint of nervousness. "Miss Mia, the leader is older than the eldest son."
"How much older?" Mia shrugged, unimpressed. "Two or three years at most, right?"
Jenny gave a mysterious smile. "Miss Mia, appearances can be deceiving!"
"Are you trying to tell me Arthur's thirty or something?" Mia scoffed. "Don't scare me!" Based on Arthur's looks, saying he was twenty-five would already be a stretch for most people. He barely looked older than his early twenties.
Jenny lowered her head with a smile and gave a slight bow. "My apologies, but I can't say more. You'll have to ask the leader yourself."
As she spoke, she shot a glance at Tina, who was eagerly waiting for her to slip up, her smile brimming with triumph.
Did Jenny say that on purpose? Tina, catching Jenny's smug look, froze for a moment. But why would she do that?
"Hmm…" Mia found it odd. Every time she asked about Arthur's age, they deflected the question. But she didn't want to press them further. After all, they were servants, bound by rules not to speak about things their master forbade. If she really wanted to know, she'd have to ask Arthur himself. But would he even tell me?
Oh well, dwelling on it wouldn't help. Better to move on to another topic.
"Jenny, does Lord Solar have only three sons and one daughter? Does he have any other relatives?" Mia asked.
"Yes, Miss Mia. Lord Solar has only four children, and all his other relatives have passed away. So, in the manor, it's just Lord Solar, Lady Miller, their three sons, and one daughter… oh, no! There's also Lady Anna Ivan now, the wife of the eldest son. She was Miss Ivan before she married into the family recently."