Chapter 14
The Roland family’s mansion inherited from ancestors were located on south west of the Roland Prairie. A tributary of the Roland River pa.s.sed through this place. The land was fertile. Several farm villages and even towns were established there.
This was the origin of the Roland family. A few hundred years back when their ancestors were a little n.o.ble who owned just a small village, their bloodline started to spread in this land.
The carriage crossed a black tree forest. The trees were lush and the air fresh. Following an even path you could see a little hill on the left, and a high tower on the right. That was the Roland’s mansion.
After several hundred years of glory, the small village no longer existed. The mansion was also reconstructed countless times and it’s size grew considerably. A red stone wall embracing a castle. The castle was built using white colored stones mined from the hill. It was said that there was once a small mountain to the left, but after several hundred years of mining, that small mountain became a hill.
The arrival of the eldest son of the chief of the family received much attention. The Roland family’s private army, three hundred soldiers, who guarded the castle put on their s.h.i.+ny equipments and waited under the red wall in an array. The arched entrance gave Duwei a feeling of vigor, and he could see this wall could become a solid defense when needed.
The three hundred soliders demonstrated qualities of abundant training. They rode on horses with a straight back and showing adept riding skills. Their equipments were also of fine quality. These soldiers were selected from the various private armies throughout the Roland Prairie. They were well trained and could even rival the local military of the imperial city.
The black forest outside the castle was a natural hunting ground. Hunting events were held annually, which was also a type of training for the soldiers.
The castle’s main body consisted of two towers. One taller than the other. It’s even taller than that hill. Duwei knew from learning his family history that there was once a weird chief of the Roland family. Even though he’s a general, he was especially interested in Star Reading Techniques. He even married a Star Reader. That taller tower was built for his wife so she could better observe the sky.
Red carpet span from the door of the castle to Duwei’s carriage. When Duwei was about to get off, a silver haired elderly man came up to him. The old man had a slender build, dressed in a charcoal formal suit, acted old fas.h.i.+oned and serious.
As Duwei stepped on the ground, the old man bowed down deeply and said with a deep and slow voice, "Little master, I am the butler Sier Roland. I received info about you coming three days ago. Everyone in this castle had prepared to welcome you. Please follow me."
Then the old butler led Duwei up the stairs. His ettiquetes were flawless, humble yet did not flatter. While Duwei was walking on the red carpet, he carefully walked along just outside the carpet to let Duwei experience this honor to himself.
The first impression inside the castle was the big flag hanging on the wall. The flag was about eight by six meters. It almost covered the whole wall. This was a flag of the family’s emblem. The flag gave this castle a solemnity feel to it.
All the servants and maids were standing on the sides of the lobby in uniforms to welcome Duwei. Though Duwei wasn’t interested in this weird "inspection". He nodded casually and said to the butler with a low voice, "Mr. Butler, will you lead me to my reading room now? And everyone else, please go back to your work."
Butler Sier followed Duwei’s order precisely. Soon, Duwei was led to a reading room. Well, Duwei was more willing to call this place a library. Because it was huge.
The room was circular, even the ceiling was rounded, and carved in decorative designs. On the sides were statues, most of them were ancestors who expressed excellence. Surrounding the room were huge shelves. These shelves were two stories tall and filled with books. Duwei roughly calculated, the number of books were several ten thousands. There were also many metallic cabinets used to store important stuff, such as the family tree or important files.
As a family that gain their power through war, even the reading room gave off a scent of warrior. A two handed sword and a huge axe hung on the wall across the entrance. One side of the wall had shelves displaying various weapons, though most of them archaic.
Duwei was attracted by these weapons. He could see these antiques were maintained very well.
"These were the weapons of the family’s ancestors." The butler’s voice came from behind. "These weapons were a record of their glory."
Duwei touched the desk softly and looked around. He could see everything was carefully cleaned and maintained, yet traces of age were obvious. Even the desk under his hand was probably older than the butler.
"This room used to be the center of family politics. This was where the chiefs of the family ruminated