After Cecilia finished her late morning and lunch meal, a maid from Lagos Castle came to see her.

“Greetings, Madam. I am Helen.”

Cecilia remembered seeing this woman, who appeared to be in her mid to late thirties, earlier that morning.

She was one of the maids who had brought in the bathtub when preparing for Cecilia’s bath.

‘If I requested someone to guide me, they should have sent the head maid or the butler.’

Cecilia was baffled. And it felt odd.

‘I didn’t think Hoffman was someone who would be that thoughtless.’

“Did Hoffman send you?”

Cecilia, who was about to address her like an ordinary maid, changed her tone.

“Yes, Madam.”

“What kind of work do you do at Lagos Castle?”

Helen wasn’t sure how to answer.

She did a variety of tasks, but there wasn’t a single word that could encompass all of them.

“Tell me everything you did from morning until evening yesterday.”

“Yes, Madam. Yesterday morning, I…”

Helen began by checking if anyone had been sick overnight as soon as she woke up.

Then, she and the maids opened the windows that had been closed during the night to air out the castle.

If the maids found broken window frames or cracked windows, they would inform Helen, and she would note it down.

Laundry was the most important task in the morning.

They had to finish it in the morning to ensure it would dry by the end of the day.

Meal preparations were handled by the kitchen staff.

Helen would stop by the kitchen once or twice a day to check if the supplies had been properly stocked and if there were any other issues.

After breakfast, she and the maids would begin cleaning.

Since the castle was so vast, they divided it into sections, cleaning only specific areas each day.

While cleaning, if the maids found anything that needed obvious repairs, they would report it to Helen, who would record it.

In the afternoon, she went to the outer castle.

The outer castle housed the stables, barns, carpentry workshop, and blacksmith’s shop.

Helen didn’t handle these tasks directly.

She gathered feedback, complaints, and requests from the workers and recorded them.

In the late afternoon, she would collect and organize the dry laundry.

Before dinner, Helen would report everything she had recorded throughout the day to Hoffman.

She always made sure to close all the windows before ending the day.

Lagos had many nights when light drizzle would fall, so checking the windows was crucial.

‘She’s a butler.’

Cecilia thought after listening to Helen’s explanation.

‘But she’s also doing odd jobs…’

It seemed she was handling both management and practical tasks.

‘And she didn’t introduce herself as a butler.’

Helen had only given her name.

‘She’s too young.’

A female butler in her mid-thirties? Cecilia had never seen that before.

“So, you must be quite familiar with the layout of Lagos Castle.”

“Yes, Madam.”

Cecilia didn’t bring up the oddities she noticed just yet.

Rules were often made to fit specific needs.

At Grand Duke Jericho’s estate, the hierarchy was clearly defined, with strict rules on what duties each rank could and couldn’t perform.

Cecilia had thought this was normal, but after several marriages and experiencing different families, she realized that each had their own ways.

“How long would it take to tour the entire castle?”

“If Your Ladyship would like only a quick tour, it would take about two hours. If you want to look closely, a whole day might not be enough.”

“I’ll take a quick tour today.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Nanny. Gather all the grand ducal servants. The knights too.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Benjamine and Helen stood on either side of Cecilia.

Behind them followed three knights, along with the maids and servants from the grand duke’s mansion.

The hallways of Lagos Castle were generally wide, so even with dozens of people walking, it didn’t feel crowded.

“There aren’t any people around.”

When Cecilia mentioned this, Helen asked,

“Which people do you mean, Madam?”

“The workers.”

“They are all working, Madam.”

“And there are no guards.”

Cecilia glanced at Helen, who looked unsure how to respond.

“Don’t they post guards in the hallways?”

Helen thought to herself, ‘Why waste manpower like that?’ and answered,

“No, we do not have guards stationed in the hallways.”

Cecilia felt as if they were speaking past each other.

“How many servants work inside the inner castle?”

“One hundred and two, Madam.”