Chapter 29 - Interested In Women

There was an unexpected call for order. No matter how much Raymond tried, his mother did not see things his way. He could not get rid of the staff she sent unless he went to the palace. And as much as Raymond hated that there were a bunch of strangers in his house, to the point where it made his skin crawl. He would not go live in the castle. He would be driven mad.

Raymond’s manor was big, but in less than a couple of hours, he felt like it had become ten times smaller. All of these servants were ones that were sent from the castle itself. There were more maids, groundskeepers, chefs, and above all, there were guards. Raymond kept a couple of guards at the front of the gates that lead down to his house, but that was it. It was a flimsy excuse for security but if risking his safety was the prince to pay for peace, then he would gladly do so.

Everything happened so fast, the new people moved in and suddenly Raymond was drowning. The guards stayed outside, patrolling the area, he could not look out a window without seeing one of them. It really messed up the landscape. Another painful thing he noticed was that most of the staff were girls. Older then him younger than him, but all looking at him with the same eyes.

Lilith did not really know what to do. The influx of people had her feeling quite overwhelmed and she and the other staff had to work to get them sorted out in terms of rooms and tasks and rules. No one in the house really had any set specific task that they needed to do. Yes, everyone had their main ones, but they all helped each other out when they could. There were times when Lilith would find herself helping Benny with the gardens or Mrs. Potts with the food.

But now that there were new people, Raymond told Lilith to tell Gloria and Mrs. Potts that they were the head servants and that they would assign people their roles and lay down the law. Everyone knew Raymond well and so they arranged things so that he would not be uncomfortable. Lilith was officially made to be Raymond’s personal servant, a spot she was sure all the other girls wanted.

Raymond was hidden away in his office while Gloria and Mrs. Potts addressed the new group. The old servants of the house stood in the front facing the rest of them. There had to be about thirty new people here. The majority were female. They stood right outside the front doors of the manor, everyone lined up as if it were a school assembly.

“No one is allowed past the second floor. The third floor is strictly forbidden for any of you to enter. Mr. Cavill is a busy man and disturbances only make his mood worse.” Gloria started. “You are to keep your noise to a minimum. If you see the Duke, keep moving, a light greeting, and nothing more. You are here to do work, not to make friends or on vacation.”

Raymond’s servants were really ready to do what it took to protect Raymond from his unwanted company and she could not have agreed more to the ruled Gloria stated. She could see the way the faces of the crowd morphed. All of them probably hoped that admiring Raymond would be a part of their daily activities. Lilith cringed at the thought of that. Just how desperate were these girls? Sure the Duek was handsome, but it really did nothing to be a creep about it.

But with the rule enforced on them, it only seemed to make things even more uncomfortable for them. The servants that came from the castle had the clique mentality. They stuck together, keeping all of their whispers and glares private. It seemed that since they came from the castle, they thought they were better than the original servants and so they acted all sorts of snooty towards them.

And Lilith got the worst of it. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why. But how were Raymond’s actions her fault? He kept most of the people in his life at arm’s length and the castle servants were even farther. He treated them with great contempt as if they were pests he could not get rid of. And it all seemed to be Lilith’s fault. There were times she would pass a group of them in the halls and they would whisper and glare as she passed them.

Multiple times, when Raymond walked about the house, Lilith had the pleasure of witnessing the failed attempts for servants to talk to him. It was like they were talking to a brick wall. A brick wall with a disdainful glare. They would immediately shut their mouths once he looked at them as if they were feces under his shoe. And the more they tried, the more it annoyed Lilith. Can’t they just leave him alone?

One afternoon, like all the rest, she brought him lunch. Glad that she would not have to maneuver past any straying persons on the third floor, she moved comfortably to Raymond’s office.

“Ths house is much louder than I thought it would be. All the footsteps and noises of people doing work. Which is quite unnecessary in my opinion. It makes this place feel suffocated.” she said to him as she rested down the tray. Lilith moved away some papers that were close to the food, stacking them nicely.

“Yes. I do not like it.”

“If you had moved to the castle, then you would not have had any moments of peace like this. And as King, well…”

Raymond scrunched his eyebrows and sighed. “I know.”

Lilith smiled a bit and then turned to leave. It was not like Raymond to want someone to stay with him while he ate but a lot of the time Lilith would just sit in silence in the room or clean as he ate. And the other times that she left, his office felt draftier for some reason. Her company was nice.

“Wait,” he called out. “Just… stay until I finish the meal so that you can just carry it back.”

Lilith was surprised that he wanted her to stay but she didn’t complain and grabbed the chair she always did and plopped herself down in front of his desk. Raymond picked up his knife and fork and began eating quietly and Lilith took to looking out the window, studying a scene she’s seen probably a hundred times.

Many thoughts circulated in her mind and there were questions she wanted to ask Raymond but she did not want him to take it the wrong way if she were to ask it. She thought that their relationship was good but then he kind of freaked out on her when she swapped his wine for juice. But, Lilith did it again and he didn’t freak out on her. So were they cool? She even comforted him when he was upset, she could say that that counted as something of a bonding moment.

“The new maids and such from the castle obviously have clear intentions with the way they are constantly approaching you. It’s obvious and yet they seem to have no shame.” Lilith said suddenly.

Raymond glanced up from his food. “Your point?”

“Will you ever be interested in a woman? And want to get married to her?”