my armed maid

Chapter 77 74: Burying the Monuments of the Past

The next morning, Nolen opened the door and shivered in the cold December wind.

The housekeeper Ma Enna has been waiting for him at the door for a long time.

"Good morning, Ma'ena." Nolen stretched, "Does the housekeeper always have to be so diligent and have to watch the master get up every day?"

"No, this should actually be Ms. Yuna's job."

Ma Enna bowed and said, "She has already started practicing as a maid. I think it won't be long before you can experience her daily personal service."

"Ha...that's really something to look forward to."

Nolen went to the main hall to eat and asked casually, "Is your work going smoothly? Is there anything I need to solve?"

A new official is always very busy when he first takes office. After handling some affairs at the city lord's palace yesterday, he attended a banquet of dignitaries in the evening.

He was actually not interested in interpersonal communication among nobles. He felt that it was just a waste of his time and extremely troublesome.

Unfortunately, this was also a necessary means to integrate into the upper class circles of Linfeng City. He could not shirk the banquet during this period, and did not come back until very late every day.

"Everything goes well, I have assigned corresponding tasks to each servant."

While Nolen was eating, Maena took out his notebook from the lining of his coat, "However, there are still some matters that need to be confirmed by the master personally...such as the uniforms of the servants."

"uniform?"

"Yes, uniform."

Ma Enna nodded, "There are currently thirty-two servants employed in the mansion. Although this number is not too many, it is still quite a lot.

“Their image represents the face of the owner. When guests enter the mansion, our servants are the first to receive them, so it is also important to manage their image well.

“A good servant should be dignified and courteous, neither humble nor overbearing, and clean and neatly dressed.

"The first two will be trained by me personally. As for the uniforms of the servants, the emphasis is on uniformity, and there are a variety of uniform styles to choose from. It all depends on the master's personal preference."

"I see." Nolen nodded and glanced at him, "I think you look pretty good."

When he saw Ma Enna for the first time yesterday, he was wearing a black top hat, a slim coat, a black vest and a white shirt. These attires that were different from the mainstream in the city left a deep impression on him.

"Sir, you have good taste. This is the dress style of the imperial capital. It is also the most popular daily dressing style among the imperial nobles."

Maena smiled and said, "My former master once went to the imperial capital to do business. At that time, he was deeply impressed by the dressing style of the nobles there. After returning, he ordered a set of the same style for all the servants in the palace. Style uniforms.

"It's just that Linfeng City is located in the western border. The mainstream dressing style in the central part of the empire has not yet become popular here. If you don't like it, I can also change the uniform to traditional robes and long skirts."

"I see." Nolen thought for a moment and said, "I want to see the maid's uniform."

"Please wait."

Ma Enna excused herself for the time being and quickly brought a prepared picture album and opened one page to show him.

The picture album shows a maid wearing a uniform skirt with a black background and white edges. This is a maid outfit in the imperial palace style.

The main body of the maid outfit is divided into two layers. The inner layer is a black bottoming dress, and the outer layer is a white apron. Compared with the traditional simple long skirt, the maid skirt has pleats and more decorations, and the knee-length skirt The pendulum is also shorter.

At the same time, stretching out from under the maid's skirt were slender legs wrapped in black stockings.

"Are these... stockings?" Nolen's eyes lit up.

"Yes, these are women's stockings that have recently become popular in the imperial capital."

Ma Enna obviously has a lot of research on clothing culture, and said, "Actually, silk stockings are a traditional decoration in the national culture of the central empire. Initially, they served aristocratic men.

“They use tight white stockings to show off their strong legs and think this is a symbol of beauty.

"Until a few years ago, the alchemists of the Imperial City invented a thinner and more elastic stocking material. This material was quickly accepted by female customers because of its fashionable appearance and good feel, and became popular among the aristocratic circles of the Imperial City. trend.

"Nowadays, male nobles in the imperial capital rarely wear silk stockings. Instead, women are carrying forward this decoration. It has to be said that it is a joke."

"Praise alchemy." Nolen said solemnly, "This master's contribution to mankind is probably no less than mine."

Maena chuckled: "It seems you like this uniform very much."

"Yes." Nolen agreed immediately, "Let's do it in this style. Sooner or later, I will go to the imperial capital to collect the style. This will be regarded as being in line with the mainstream aesthetics of the empire in advance."

Maena thought this was a good reason and left with a smile.

After a while, Yuna was called to take over and stood neatly behind Nolen.

"What did Ma Enna teach you yesterday?" Nolen asked by the way after finishing breakfast.

"Taught me daily conversational vocabulary, aristocratic standard walking and standing postures, etc... That's it for the time being."

Yuna said cautiously, "Well, sir, is today's breakfast to your taste? I need to remember your dietary preferences."

"Heh..." Nolen smiled, "There's no need to be so reserved. Didn't I say before that you can just call me by my name."

"But, this is against the rules." Yuna said weakly, "If Mr. Maena finds out..."

During the day yesterday, the image of Ma Enna as a strict teacher had been deeply imprinted in her mind. If she made a mistake, he would definitely torture her severely in a calm and majestic tone.

"I'll go tell Maena. It's your prerogative."

Nolen smiled at her, "At least when we are alone, you don't need to be so polite. I am still more accustomed to our previous way of communicating."

Looking at his smile, Yuna's heart skipped a beat. She quickly lowered her eyes and stared at the toes of her shoes, not daring to look at Nolen.

A good maid should remain calm at all times and keep her emotions in check - this is what Mr. Maena taught her yesterday.

"By the way, there is another thing that may be related to you."

Nolen added, "There was a meeting in the city lord's mansion some time ago, and we decided to erect a monument outside the city.

"This monument is firstly to commemorate the soldiers and people who died in the war, and secondly, it is also to leave a warning to future generations - we will remember the pain of this war and vow not to let this tragedy happen again. .

"Today happens to be the day when the monument is completed. As a representative of the city lord's palace, I will go there to worship later. Do you want to come with me?"

Yuna was slightly startled: "Okay."

The two immediately got into the carriage, met with some other officials at the gate of the city lord's palace, and were escorted out of the city by a small team of the Knights.

"Originally, the monument was planned to be erected in the city, but later it was decided to build it outside the city."

Nolen explained, "Compared with the relatively safe city, people living outside the city were more seriously injured by the war, and they are also the group of people who most need to use this monument to commemorate their relatives."

Yuna nodded and asked curiously: "Where is it built?"

"It's Ganlin Village." Nolen said softly, "It was the starting point of the war, the first village invaded by the prairie people, and the place most severely damaged by the war.

“With it as the center, a large number of nearby villages were slaughtered by the prairie people, and a large number of villagers were killed. When they died, not only did they not have graves, they even left no bones...

"So this monument is also a tombstone for them, a place where survivors can honor their dead, and that's the last thing we can do for them."

Ganlin Village...

When she heard this name, Yuna was stunned.

No wonder Nolan wanted her to come and pay homage to the monument, because Ganlin Village is her hometown. The atmosphere in the carriage fell silent, and there was no conversation all the way.

The monument is located at the entrance of the village. As the carriage from the City Lord's Palace arrived at Ganlin Village, Nolen got off the carriage and met the team that greeted him at the entrance of the village.

The geographical conditions of Ganlin Village are very advantageous. The surrounding land is fertile and is a naturally high-quality pasture. There is also a medium-sized Ganlin Lake nearby, which is a very precious water source on the grassland.

Therefore, after regaining the lost land, Linfeng City quickly rebuilt Ganlin Village on the original ruins.

Within a week, not only the monument at the entrance of the village was completed, but most of the houses and facilities in the village were also repaired.

In a few months, it is expected that hundreds of villagers will move here, giving the village a new lease of life.

"Nolen, I want to go in and have a look."

Yuna looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar hometown in front of her with a complicated expression.

"Go." Nolen nodded slightly.

What he didn't tell Yuna was that it was he who advocated the construction of the monument at the meeting at the City Lord's Mansion, and it was he who insisted on setting up the monument in Ganlin Village.

In addition to the fair and aboveboard reasons, there is also a little bit of his personal thoughts.

He knew that Yuna's hometown was in Ganlin Village, and he hoped that her injured heart could feel some comfort when she saw the rebuilt Ganlin Village and the monument set aside.

"Thank you." Yuna whispered and walked towards the village.

On this side, the entourage carried the wreaths from the carriage to the monument. The people who stayed in Ganlin Village gathered here to mourn all the people who died in this war together with Nolen and other representatives of the City Lord's Mansion.

On the other side, Yuna walked into Ganlin Village alone. On her left were newly built houses and on her right were messy ruins.

After a war, she stepped on the land of her hometown again. The old memories conflicted with the unfamiliar scenes in front of her, which made her feel like she was in another world, and she had an unreal feeling like she was in a dream.

She walked across the wooden bridge at the end of the village, crossed the renovated streets, and finally stopped in front of a manor with red bricks and green tiles.

She couldn't remember it wrong, she could walk here with her eyes closed, because this was her home.

She still remembered that the left side of the manor was originally her family's stables, where her father raised many purebred prairie horses.

The yard in front of the manor was originally empty, where she played with her brother and learned how to ride a horse.

Her original home was not that new and beautiful, it was just an old two-story house with mottled walls that could shake off a lot of dust with just a tap.

Compared with the old home that had been reduced to ruins, the newly built manor in front of him was larger in area and more elegant in architectural style.

In other words, the style of the entire Ganlin Village after reconstruction was like this. It was so new that she felt very strange.

Yuna stood in front of the manor for a long time, feeling a little at a loss.

Reason told her that the reconstruction of Ganlin Village was a good thing, but emotion told her that this was no longer her hometown.

She no longer knew every house in the village, nor every person passing by in the village.

My home no longer exists.

After a long time, she turned and left the village and came to the monument at the entrance of the village.

The memorial ceremony was over and people dispersed, leaving only the wreaths and offerings in front of the monument.

Yuna stood alone in front of the monument, looking up at the few lines of text on the monument:
  "The Lebus tribe invaded and killed countless people. Linfeng City fought for two months, and finally wiped out the enemy invaders and won the victory.

“To commemorate the soldiers and people who died in the war.

"Roland Calendar 77.10-77.12"

Just a few lines of words, but a revolving door of more than ten years flashed through Yuna's heart.

Be it hometown or relatives, everything is buried in the long river of time. Only this monument stands here, silently telling the tragedy that happened here.

"Dad, Mom, Haru...I'm back."

She knelt in front of the monument, "I avenged you. Did I do a great job?"

The cold wind whistled in her ears, and for a moment, she seemed to hear her parents praising her.

"Yuna is going to become a knight. Is she so powerful?"

"Chief? Isn't that a great thing? Come here, mommy will give you a kiss."

"Hey, don't rush to send us there. We are staying well in the village. You don't want to work too hard and tire yourself out..."

"..."

The sound of the wind gradually stopped, she closed her eyes, and a few crystal tears fell on the rough stone floor.

What she knew, she had actually known for a long time, that she would never be able to go back to her former home or see her former relatives again.

Since you already know the outcome, why do you keep mentioning it over and over again, only to make yourself more sad?

So when the war was going on and after the war, she had deliberately not thought about it, and she never mentioned to Nolen that she wanted to go back to Ganlin Village.

Because she knew she couldn't control her emotions.

Now it seems that it is so.

At this time, a slight sound came from behind her.

She didn't have to look back to hear the sound of Nolen's footsteps.

Nolen came over, didn't speak, just bent down and handed her a bouquet of flowers.

Yuna took the bouquet and placed it in front of the monument.

After a moment of silence, Nolen said: "Let's go home."

"Ah."

Yuna wiped the corners of her eyes and stood up slowly, "Let's go home."

Escape is just a stopgap measure. After the disaster has passed, people will eventually have to clean up the messy past and move forward.

She took one last look at the monument and Ganlin Village, then turned around and followed Nolen's back step by step.

Goodbye, dad, mom, and brother.

To make you proud, I became the chief of the Knight Academy.

In order to avenge you, I became the White Raven of Linfeng City.

And now, I will spend the rest of my life repaying our benefactor and fulfilling my final agreement with him.

Although I don’t know what the future holds, being by his side is my destination.

From now on, that is your daughter's new and only home.

　Thanks to Sunset Fish Gray for the reward, the war chapter is officially over, and a new chapter will begin tomorrow!
  　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)