As soon as he accepted the mission, Cassian heard someone knock on the door with a soft, discreet tap. As if whoever was calling feared causing a disturbance.
Cassian looked toward the door for a moment, still seated on the bed with the system screen in front of him.
"Cassian-sama." A young, feminine voice was heard from the other side. "May I come in?"
The first thing Cassian thought about was the "sama." It was strange to hear it, since he had only heard it in anime or novels.
Then he remembered the mission, to behave as Marek Nightrend would.
Without further hesitation, he stood up from the bed and straightened his posture. "It's about time you came."
As soon as he said that, the door opened immediately. The girl who entered quickly walked to a few meters away from him, then bowed in a respectful greeting.
"Forgive my delay, Cassian-sama. Breakfast is ready." the girl said without even daring to look him in the face.
Cassian simply looked at her. He was several inches taller than her, and that satisfied him slightly.
Then, pushing that thought aside, he looked at the girl more carefully.
'So she's Thessaly.'
In the novel she was barely mentioned; she had been Marek's personal maid, now his.
She had short white hair and red eyes similar to his. But what caught his attention the most were her pointed ears.
An elf.
Cassian kept staring at her longer than he should have, in silence, until he noticed her shift subtly, apparently uncomfortable.
"And what are you waiting for? Lead the way." Cassian ordered in a serious tone.
Thessaly nodded again, turning around to guide him, but before following her Cassian adjusted his clothes slightly.
"Let's go." he murmured, following after her.
✶ ✶ ✶
The mansion's hallways were long, tall, and absurdly decorated.
Cassian walked behind Thessaly, observing everything calmly.
The walls were made of polished dark stone with golden details, carpets covered the floor in the main walkways, and every so often there was a sculpture or painting that probably cost more than his family had earned in ten years.
But more than the architecture, what caught his attention the most was the number of people.
Dozens of servants. Perhaps hundreds if he counted those crossing the side corridors or disappearing through secondary doors.
All wearing the same uniform, all moving with professionalism, and something Cassian noticed was that none of them looked him in the face.
They simply bowed slightly when he passed near them.
'Of course,' he thought with a hint of irony. 'I'm a duke.'
It was a title that had fallen upon Marek when his parents died, for reasons the novel had never clearly explained.
What he did know was what Marek had done with that power: basically nothing useful.
Instead of managing the territory he had inherited, Marek had diverted the duchy's resources into his personal pocket with a consistency that was almost admirable if it weren't so stupid.
The result was a territory falling apart while he spent the money on anything else.
But at twenty-two years old, the king had taken everything from him.
Now Cassian was nineteen. Almost twenty.
Which meant he had two years to fix what Marek had caused before the crown decided the duchy functioned better without him.
'Priority number one,' he noted mentally as he kept walking. 'Don't get removed before I can do anything.'
When they reached the dining hall, Cassian was surprised by the enormous size of the room. The ceilings were high and large windows let in the light of the two suns from different angles.
In the center stood a long dark wooden table, with enough capacity for at least twenty people.
And it was for him alone.
Along the sides of the room, spaced at regular intervals, were maids. All of them with features Cassian immediately recognized: animal ears, tails, and a couple of them with small horns almost hidden beneath their hair.
Beasts. More precisely, beastwomen.
Cassian vaguely remembered that the novel mentioned Marek had a rather obvious preference for hiring maids exclusively from that species.
A fetish the man had never tried to conceal.
Cassian glanced at them briefly as he took his seat at the head of the table.
Well. He couldn't deny the maids were… attractive.
Thessaly positioned herself at his right side without being told, a spot clearly habitual for her.
The food arrived within seconds.
✶ ✶ ✶
The food was good. Remarkably good, in fact. There were flavors he couldn't quite identify, yet he liked them anyway.
Cassian ate slowly, without any rush, letting his gaze travel across the room with the same neutral expression he had worn when leaving his chamber.
It was then that he noticed an elderly man, tall, with white hair slicked back and wearing a formal suit of impeccable cut.
He was standing near the side wall with his arms behind his back.
He was not an ordinary servant. His posture was too straight, too confident in his own place in that room.
Cassian glanced at him from the corner of his eye as he brought the wine glass to his lips.
"Alveris."
The name came out on its own, with a naturalness that surprised even him. He didn't know where the information came from, whether from some fragment of Marek's memory or simply from having read enough about that world.
The man reacted immediately, approaching the table quickly.
"Yes, Cassian-sama?"
"I want to see the current state of the finances and expenses. Bring me the papers."
After he said that, there was a brief silence until Alveris reacted.
"Of course." he replied as he straightened and withdrew without making a sound.
Cassian watched him leave, then turned his attention back to his meal.
Noticing his wine glass was empty, he slightly raised it to his right, where Thessaly refilled it with more wine.
While he waited, Cassian began mentally reviewing what little he remembered about how the economy worked in that world.
The system was simple: bronze for daily expenses, silver for formal trade between merchants and minor nobles, gold for those who handled great wealth.
1 gold coin ➜ 100 silver coins.
1 silver coin ➜ 100 bronze coins.
It was an easy scale to understand.
The complicated part wasn't the system. It was knowing the state in which Marek had left the duchy's accounts.
Alveris returned before Cassian finished his glass, carrying a folder of documents which he placed on the table to Cassian's left with a brief bow.
Cassian looked at it without touching it yet.