Hailey was very surprised inside. There was no law against hiring a woman as a butler, but she had never seen a noble family in the capital hire a female butler.

This place wasn’t just any mansion; it was probably the highest-ranking castle aside from the royal palace. Not just anyone could be the butler of such a place.

The woman who introduced herself as the butler was very small in stature. She was a somewhat short, plump, middle-aged woman who looked quite ordinary. But her eyes appeared quite sharp despite her gentle impression.

Axel sheathed his sword and threw out his characteristic sly remark with a smirk.

“Is making guests wait and leaving them standing at the door the Winchester way of welcoming?”

“I apologize for the inconvenience. However, the lord has said that you are not a guest and should enter on your own.”

“That damn old geezer.”

The butler hesitated briefly at Axel’s blunt remark but quickly regained her composure, hiding her expression.

Butler Dora had heard many stories about the new ‘young duke’ to come.

He’s a complete rogue. He kills anyone who annoys him without a second thought. He’s utterly insane. Recently, he caused a commotion in the capital, harming several noble families.

That ‘rogue prince’ becoming the ‘young duke’ of the great Winchester had deeply troubled the staff of the Grand Duke’s castle.

Especially since the butler Dora, who oversaw everything, had many staff members coming to her with their concerns early on.

Dora respected and was loyal to Winchester, but she wasn’t about to just watch a rogue prince destroy the peace of the sacred Winchester.

“If you knock on the door twice from now on, it will open. There are protective spells and facial recognition spells, so the door will open once it identifies you.”

When Dora knocked on the door twice, it automatically opened.

With a face that seemed to say, ‘Isn’t it easy?’ she gave a dignified smile, which only further angered Axel.

‘Teaching me like a child. How dare she.’

Axel knew how the door worked, having been to the Grand Duke’s castle before. He was just throwing a tantrum out of spite.

“Achoo!”

But Theo’s sneeze stopped Axel from adding another word. Theo was already sniffling.

Axel gathered all his nonexistent patience to quickly let Hailey and Theo, who were struggling with the Winchester weather and covered in dust, rest.

“Then, please follow me inside.”

Hailey and Theo’s mouths simultaneously dropped open in awe as they followed Dora into the Grand Duke’s castle.

They were captivated by the enormous garden, incomparable to the mansions of most nobles in the capital.

The distance from the entrance to the main building of the castle was so far that they had to take another carriage ride inside. The Knight Order went to the newly prepared second annex, which was designated for their use.

“You must be very tired from your long journey, but how about greeting the lord first?”

“We’ll rest today and greet him tomorrow. As you can see, we’re all in a mess from the warm welcome.”

“I apologize, but the lord has requested to see you now.”

A subtle tension passed between Dora and Axel.

Hailey, on the other hand, was really tired. Honestly, she wanted to skip the tour of the Grand Duke’s castle and the greeting, and just take a bath and lie down with Theo.

Normally, since Axel had come to the Grand Duke’s castle as a young duke, not only the butler but other staff would also come out to greet him.

So far, Axel’s actions were incredibly rude and a humiliation for him, who used to be a prince.

Even that butler, while appearing to show respect, emphasized that Axel was beneath the Grand Duke.

Of course, it was true. He was no longer a prince and had entered this place with the temporary status of ‘Duke.’

But still.

“Are the other servants too tired from working to come out?”

“No, today is the memorial day of the Archangel Ayla. It’s one of the biggest memorial days in Winchester. On Ayla’s memorial day, it’s customary to spend the day quietly without wandering around. Therefore, we are operating with minimal staff. It’s something everyone in Winchester knows, but I didn’t consider it. Please don’t misunderstand, young duke.”

There it was again. Subtly mocking Axel and treating him like a temporary guest staying briefly in Winchester.

Khalid also found the butler, who subtly disrespected his master, quite annoying.

‘If you don’t get along with the butler, it becomes tiring.’

Moreover, that butler was one of the people who received immense trust from the Grand Duke.

But if Axel continued acting as he usually did, he would only appear more like a reckless rogue. No one would care about the subtle provocations.

Sure enough, as Axel gripped his sword tightly and stepped forward, Khalid quickly intervened.

“Wouldn’t it be rude to meet the lord looking so disheveled? How about tidying up a bit before meeting him, young duke?”

Thanks to Khalid’s clever intervention, even Dora couldn’t argue further.

Axel, seemingly satisfied, released his grip on his sword and nodded.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

“This way, please.”

Instead of the tired-looking Hailey, Axel lifted Theo up.

Theo had been staring intently at the butler Dora’s ears with curiosity.

As Axel’s long strides brought him closer to Dora’s back, Theo reached out his hand.

“What! What! What are you doing!”

Where did the dignified butler go?

Although Axel hadn’t expected this situation, he couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

Curious Theo, while being held by Axel, had stretched out his arm and lightly touched Dora’s pointed ear.

Dora’s ears were pointed like the fairies in the storybooks Theo had been reading.

Startled by the sudden touch, Dora jumped and turned around. It was innocent little Theo, blinking his wide eyes.

The child who had caused a stir in the capital and was adopted by that rogue prince.

The rogue prince who was now smiling while holding the child.

“My child is very curious, so please be understanding.”

The child had done nothing wrong. It was natural for a child born and raised in the capital to be curious about the unique appearance of the natives of Winchester Island.

When the flustered Dora shouted, the curious Theo shrank back and looked at Axel, wondering if he had done something wrong.

Dora approached Theo with a gentle expression.

“Little duke, do you know about the natives of Winchester Island?”

At her kind voice, Theo looked up at Dora again.

With eyes full of curiosity, Theo kept glancing at Dora’s ears and shook his head.

The natives of Winchester Island were born with a unique appearance. Unlike the usual human ear shape, their ears were pointed like those of fairies.

When they lived only among themselves, they didn’t realize they were ‘different’ because everyone had the same ear shape.

However, as they moved outside the island, they realized their appearance was different. Different appearances were often subject to discrimination, and Winchester began to experience such treatment outside the island.

But they had pride. Having these ears meant they were descendants of the natives of Winchester and had inherited the blood of the true mages.

As time passed, natives also intermarried with non-natives, mixing their genes, and the probability of being born with these special ear shapes decreased, resulting in ears that looked like those of ordinary people. Dora was one of the few remaining descendants of the natives of Winchester.

“Do you know that the natives of Winchester are born with special powers?”

“Yes! I read it in a storybook!”

Theo answered excitedly, recalling the storybook he had read with Hailey.

“These ears are a gift from the gods to the natives.”

“Why is it a gift?”

Theo tilted his head. Dora smiled and replied.

“Don’t they look like fairy ears? Because they are special, they are a gift, little duke.”

‘Wow!’ Theo’s eyes sparkled even more.

“Then! Um…”

“Please call me Dora.”

Noticing that Theo was pondering what to call her, and despite him being only five years old, Dora responded politely, treating Theo as a little duke.

“Dora, are you a fairy…?”

“I’m not a fairy, but there’s a legend that the ancestors of the natives of Winchester were fairies.”

“Wow! Wow! Can I touch your ear one more time?!”

As soon as he said that, Hailey sternly scolded Theo.

“Theo, you must not be rude.”