Knock Knock


    “The mistress lets you know that dinner will be served in half an hour. If you would join her in the small dining room in the east wing.” Severin was still drowsy, but hearing the voice coming from the other side of the door reminded him where he was.


    After his dealings with Mr Everheart had concluded surprisingly quickly, Mylana had announced that it was still some hours until dinner would be served, that until then she had some personal business to take care of, and invited a tired Severin to rest in one of her mansion’s many guest rooms, in the meantime.


    This explanation once again reminded Severin of how much Mylana had given up when joining him. That despite her at times questionable attitude, she must truly care for the Emporium; otherwise, to him, her sacrifice wasn’t making much sense.


    Still, he managed to resist the temptation of the warm nest he had built himself and forced himself to get up; though according to the voice that had called out to him, it was still some time until his presence at dinner was required; on the other hand, it was too soon for him to go back to sleep again.


    Severin washed his face and made himself look presentable. Then he left the room that was bigger than his own apartment back on the mountain and went on a short exploration through the spacious mansion.


    He found that his guestroom was only one of many, though it appeared as if his was the only one currently inhabited.


    He found a courteous staff member-not the one who had called out to him, that one had simply disappeared after delivering their message- who pointed out that additionally to the sink and toilet in each of those rooms, there was a large bathing facility available to him in one of the basements. He learned that it was designed so that it could hold all the manor’s potential guests at once.


    That description intrigued Severin, but as he didn’t want to stray too far, he decide to trust her word on that; based on the scale of everything else he had seen so far, there was no reason for him to doubt the description.


    ever seen in one place.


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    ‘small dining hall? Nothing fancy?’ Those words repeated in his mind over and over again, as he stood there, staring like a country-bumpkin.


    ““R-Right,” but eventually the admonishing voice confirmed that he was in fact in the right place.


    Slowly, at first, he approached the richly laid table.


    Two steps later, his stomach betrayed him. The next instant, he sat opposite Mylana, who was well hidden behind a proverbial mountain of food.


    Some sweet, some spicy. Some hot, others cold.


    But every single one of them tasty.


    ‘If Em ever finds out about this, I’ll never hear the end of it.’ But despite his bad conscience, Severin didn’t stop stuffing himself. At this point, his table manners had already been long forgotten.


    It wasn’t just the overall taste of every single item he tried, or the novelty of trying the food of a different culture- a different world even-, though those were certainly part of it. But it was also the lack of a System actively inhibiting his sense of hunger that made gorging himself on delicacies just that much more enjoyable.


    His stomach was budging and a wave of nausea washed over him; forty minutes after the beginning of dinner, Severin wished for nothing more than to be carried back to the bed in his room and be left alone for at least one whole week.


    If only Magda, who he didn’t know if she had even touched the food, hadn’t had other plans for him.


    ““Wha~?” Surely this had to be a cruel joke? At first Severin didn’t at all understand what Mylana was talking about. Until it slowly started to dawn on him.


    “Already?”


    “What do you mean already?” she chastised. “Do you have any idea how long you have slept?”


    He didn’t, and Mylana’s raised eyebrow indicated she already knew his answer.


    “Really?” he instead asked.


    “Really. Now let’s go. I reckon you can use the exercise.”


    Now his attention was more focused on the other properties in the upper-class district they were currently walking through.


    But while certainly impressive, he noticed that none of those they passed seemed to even come close to Mylana’s in terms of size or splendor. None of the properties, much less the actual mansions, could compare.


    Which beget the question. Was there another noble quarter he didn’t know about?


    Because if not, what did this say about Mylana and her status?


    With renewed curiosity, Severin turned his head towards the old woman walking next to him.


    “