Sir Brauss had not had a quiet morning in weeks.
Three days ago, it had been the preparations for Viscount Burdois' visit — the guest rooms, the menu, the particular arrangement of the reception area that the Young Master preferred. Today it was the documents. Letters to be drafted, appointments to be confirmed, a schedule of upcoming noble visits that seemed to grow longer each time he looked at it. The Young Master kept him busy. Deliberately so, it sometimes felt.
His study was filled with the sound of his quill scratching against the paper, otherwise silent. The room smelled of light sandalwood incense, something that matched the serene calm of the old man.
A knock on his door caught his attention. A woman in her fifties was standing solemnly with an envelope in her hand. The old butler's eyebrows creased by a millimeter.
"Please come in." Sir Brauss adjusted his glasses, though they needed no adjusting. "What is it, Mrs. Volta?"
Mrs. Volta carried herself with practiced grace, as she always had. She placed the envelope on the old man's desk carefully, her hands steady, her voice soft but firm.
"Sir Brauss, I am afraid I must resign from my position as head maid. My brother and his wife passed away recently in an accident — it was quite sudden." She paused for just a moment. "I am the only family his daughters have left. I cannot in good conscience leave them without someone to look after them."
The old man stilled for a moment, then bowed his head in respect for the deceased. "I am sorry for your loss, Mrs. Volta. Truly." He looked at her for a moment with something that wasn't quite sentiment but wasn't entirely professional either — the quiet acknowledgment of two people who had kept this household running through better times than these. "You have served the Cornwell family with great distinction. The estate will not be the same without you." He picked up the envelope carefully. "I will pass this to Miss Beatrice personally."
Mrs. Volta deeply bowed and excused herself.
Old man Brauss took a deep breath and rose from his desk, resignation letter in hand. He walked towards Miss Beatrice's study with purposeful steps, though his mind was anything but settled. The Young Master would not be pleased — that much was certain. But there was nothing either of them could do. The existing female staff were already placed and settled — she had no grounds to move them without cause. But a vacancy at the top changed things. Whoever filled Mrs. Volta's position would answer to Miss Beatrice directly. And that was not a small thing. He could already see where this was heading.
He shook his head, already tired.
He knocked on the door upon arriving at Beatrice's study.
"It is the butler, Miss Beatrice. May I come in?" Sir Brauss announced himself and waited till Beatrice let him in. Cool air, scented with fresh fragrance of pine and lavender incense hit him as he pushed open the door. The first thing he noticed was the window which was wide open, letting in the autumn chill inside.
The Young Miss was sitting on her desk, absorbed inside her book, unbothered by the chill. She looked perfectly at ease — the kind of calm that made Sir Brauss feel, not for the first time, that he could never quite get a read on her.
She finally looked up to him when he approached her.
"Miss Beatrice, I bring unfortunate news. Mrs. Volta has submitted her resignation." He placed the envelope on her desk with care. "Her brother and his wife passed away recently, quite suddenly. She is the only family her nieces have left. She feels it is her duty to go to them."
Sir Brauss saw Beatrice open the envelope delicately and read its contents., her eyes betraying nothing.
"I see." She set the letter down. "Please prepare for her journey and see that she is well provided for on her way back. Whatever she needs." A brief pause. "Her service to this estate has been nothing less than extraordinary."
The old butler bowed, "Yes, Miss Beatrice." He waited for a breath. "As for the new Head Maid..."
"I will appoint one, Sir Brauss." The immediate response from the Young Miss made him pause for a moment.
"I have a list of recommendation, Miss. Would you like to have a look at it once?"
"Yes. Please bring it to my study by evening." Beatrice nodded, her eyes dropping back to the letter on her desk.
She said nothing further. But she didn't quite dismiss him either — there was something in the way she sat, a stillness that wasn't entirely settled, as though a thought was sitting just behind her lips.
Sir Brauss, who had spent enough years in service to recognise the difference between a conversation that was finished and one that was merely paused, cleared his throat.
"Is there anything else, Miss Beatrice?"
Beatrice, with her voice soft and steady, looked up into his eyes, "Sir Brauss, it seems I have become neglectful of the estate since my parents passed away. I would like to correct my shortcomings starting now."
What came after shook the old butler's core.
"I must ask that you to bring me the estate papers — the accounts, the contracts, the mine and smithy records for the county. All of it. As the eldest, I cannot continue to neglect what is ultimately my responsibility. My brother should not have to carry that burden alone."
The old butler seemed to have lost his composure for the very first time in a long while. Why would the Young Miss all of a sudden ask for these? If this reaches the Young Master's ear...
"There is no need to worry, Miss Beatrice. The Young Master seems to enjoy the work..." He couldn't finish his sentence when he saw the cold look in Beatrice's eyes. Just like her Grandmother's.
An uncomfortable chill ran up his spine.
He immediately shifted his eyes away from hers, looking down at his hands holding his cane. His voice came out cracked as he rushed to speak.
"I shall bring you all the required documents, Miss. Right away." He hurriedly excused himself out of her study. His legs moved faster than his mind. He could not have refused her. There were no grounds for it. And yet he knew, with a certainty that settled uneasily in his chest, that this would not sit well with Herrace. The Young Master had been moving too deliberately, too eagerly, for this not to matter.
Never did he think that sorting the estate papers would feel like lighting a fuse.
---
Inside her study, Beatrice stared at the resignation letter. She never thought her luck would work out so beautifully.
Since the Viscount's visit, three days had passed. During this short while, she had busied herself into looking and calculating the money she had on her hands. There wasn't much—adding her monthly allowance that she had been collecting since the last year and the amount she could acquire by selling some her jewellery at an auction, it came nowhere near the sum that was required to invest in any kind of business. Which meant, she would not be able to have a stable income...or chances to expand her network.
Persuading the Earl at the banquet would also pose difficulty if her financial backing was weak as well.
But, she knew a very crucial piece of information.
Earl Everleigh discreetly supported the Second Prince. That was precisely why she needed him — and precisely why he might need her too, whether he knew it yet or not.
In the past three days, she had come up with an idea.
The Cornwell county was rich in iron and copper — the kind used specifically for magical weapons and artillery. She had always known this the way one knows things about their own home, without ever stopping to think about what it actually meant.
She was thinking about it now.
Whoever held the Cornwell title controlled a significant portion of the empire's capacity to arm itself. That wasn't just family heritage. That was leverage. The kind that factions quietly went to war over.
But she had that. Or she would, if she could hold onto it.
The question was whether Earl Everleigh had already figured that out.
She looked down at Mrs. Volta's resignation letter still sitting on her desk. Of all the things she had expected this morning, this had not been one of them. And yet here it was — a door opening exactly when she needed one.
She tapped one of her fingers on the desk as she waited for the Butler to bring in all the documents.
It was just the beginning.