CHAPTER 87: MOVING HOUSE X BUTLER

Sidney’s ancestral home was located at 11 Baron Road in the Western District of Londan.

Like all devout followers of Nature who craved proximity to nature, the three-story mansion was nestled within a sprawling, verdant woods. Its exterior was primarily stone walls that appeared unremarkable at first glance, but the interior was luxury at the highest degree, brimming with the classical, aristocratic charm with the theme of the old Union Jack of Londan.

A black sedan entered the estate gates, winding through the tree-lined path before stopping at the main entrance. After getting out, Wayne walked the perimeter of the three-story mansion.

According to Silvia, Sidney had unfortunately been hospitalized to receive verbal therapy for his mental illnesses. When the church was booking him in, they discovered that the supposedly frugal and thrifty priest had issues with tax compliance and received substantial sums of unexplained assets.

The church, courageously facing its own faults, reported the matter to the tax authorities. After a series of procedures, the evidence was found conclusive, and Sidney’s ancestral estate was seized and transferred to be auctioned.

It was a ‘public’ auction conducted entirely behind closed doors. A low-profile rich heir named ‘Wayne’ won the auction and quickly completed the entire process. All documentation checked out. His ownership would be a sacred, inviolable right.

Wayne would have asked when he ever participated in the auction and signed anything, but when Silvia presented him with the property deed... well, of course he was the ‘Wayne’ who had signed everything.

Getting too obsessed with the technicalities wouldn’t help in life. One should especially avoid getting hung up on the details. When it was time to play dumb, play dumb. He would even admit to being actually dumb if his master would consider him first next time—if there was a next time.

There was no other reason; he just liked taking a loss.

“Master Wayne.”

Hearing a familiar voice come from behind, Wayne turned around to see the monocled butler. Overjoyed, he strode up to embrace Veryl.

“It’s really you, Veryl.”

“Yes, I, Veryl Elholm, will be at your service starting today.” Veryl bowed slightly. Straightening up, he adjusted Wayne’s somewhat disheveled shirt.

Wayne spread his arms, happy to let Veryl fuss over him, grinning so broadly he couldn’t close his mouth. As they said, one day apart was like three autumns. Since he and his butler had been separated for twenty-eight days, sixteen hours, and thirty-four minutes, they had effectively been around a hundred years apart. He missed Veryl terribly.

“You’re still the best, Veryl. I can rest easy with you here.”

Wayne sighed with genuine feelings, once again indignant on Veryl’s behalf. That butler named Megan was fine, but the impression she left him had nothing to do with being a butler. She was pretty, had a great body and temperament—she seemed more like a CEO’s personal secretary than a butler, the kind that warmed their employer’s bed...

He was getting off track. Anyhow, his point was that Megan was so beautiful that every time she stood beside Auston, he couldn’t help but view them through tinted glasses, wondering what the nature of their relationship was.

Silvia, as a High Reverend at the Church of Nature, might as well have vibrant green hair to mark her as a victim of her husband’s disloyalty[1].

Veryl was different. His every word, every action, and every part of him from head to toe was the epitome of what a butler should be. He was Wayne’s favorite.

His affection for Veryl was so unconcealed, heartfelt, and impassioned that even Veryl’s seasoned heart couldn’t help but flutter a few times. Back in Enrod, Wayne had indignantly said that he was far superior to Megan and made the best butler for the Lando family. He also promised that once he returned to Londan, he would bring this up to Auston to try to get Veryl transferred back to the city.

Veryl felt a spark of hope, but fearing that greater expectations would lead to greater disappointment, he hadn’t allowed himself to get too hopeful.

Unexpectedly, he received a call for his transfer back to Londan in less than a month.

Silvia had told him that he wouldn’t be serving Auston once he returned, but serving Wayne as his new master. Wayne, after acquiring a new house, specifically requested Veryl as his butler. He felt deeply honored by the recognition. A true retainer died for a master who recognized their worth, and he swore to devote the rest of his life to his new master. But then...

He got a call from Auston.

Veryl was lost. Wayne was an excellent master, but Auston was, too. He wasn’t sure what decision to make between the two.

“Veryl, when did you arrive?” Wayne entered the mansion and saw the four familiar stocky maids. He gave each of them a reunion hug. Time seemed to have rewound to a month ago. He loved his new home.

“I arrived in Londan early this morning. I’m taking inventory of your assets.” Veryl picked up a list detailing the properties of Wayne’s estate. Every item was meticulously organized by category for clarity.

Now this was what you called a professional!

Wayne gave a thumbs-up in approval and said sincerely, “Don’t push yourself too much. We have plenty of time to take care of the inventory. Let’s get a hot pot started first. You have no idea what I’ve gone through during the twenty-eight days, sixteen hours, and thirty-six minutes without you. I ate whatever the dog ate. It was miserable.”

Veryl smiled without comment. Such exaggeration. He knew that Wayne had attended the Lando family dinner as a young master.

Wayne had just arrived at his new home and didn’t know his way around. Veryl, having been preparing the place all morning, gave him a thorough tour. He already knew every detail like the back of his hand.

“Such professionalism! I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

An hour later, the maids had prepared hot pot and rice. Wayne enthusiastically invited everyone to sit down with him and dine together. Veryl declined the invitation on behalf of himself and the four maids, but under Wayne’s threat to forgo food, they ultimately shared lunch with their new master.

After the meal, Veryl continued taking inventory. His decades of dedication to butler work made him hold himself to the highest standards. He had an extraordinarily heavy workload. Not only did he need to verify everything against the legal bills, but he also had to reassess the value of each item.

From the mansion’s land area and the area occupied by the house and the garden, down to the furniture, ornaments, and artwork, he had to personally confirm everything to ensure his master’s interests; even the number of stair steps was included.

At the same time, he had to provide answers to his master’s inquiries immediately.

Wayne didn’t have such a workload. He entered the office and used the key Silvia had given him to open the desk drawer, spreading out the blueprints found inside.

His new home was a magical fortress, which a Gold-rank mage had devoted his heart and soul to construct. Its actual value far exceeded the auction price. If Silvia hadn’t leveraged her status as the High Reverend and Lando family’s influence to quickly hold the auction and determine the winning bid, Wayne on his own...

Case in point, Veronica had paid the unpaid rent for the detective agency.

The mansion had multiple magical defenses. From the outermost forest to the core triple defenses, layer upon layer of security left the place with no weakness. Silvia even went so far as to call it impregnable.

Not to be confused with unbreedable.

Setting that aside, Wayne memorized the blueprints, planning to test each defense once night fell.

The outermost Guarding Barrier of Nature needed no explanation—it was excellent for clearing small fries. The strong could break through, but the weak would become fertilizer instantly.

The core triple defenses were respectively the hexagram, cross star, and triangle star, corresponding to the Black Iron, Silver, and Gold magical ranks. Had Sidney reached Legendary-rank, he might have added the life field of a legendary mage.

Wayne picked up the phone on the desk and called Veronica, telling her to write down his number and call regularly, asking her to pass along the number to Vera and Kristen so that they could reach him directly.

With the mansion transferred from Sidney to Wayne, the phone number had been changed to prevent harassment from Sidney’s former associates.

Not long after, Vera called. The Sun’s follower was bursting with energy, announcing excitedly that she would be spending the night at his place, and she wanted a feast!

Her excitement stirred something in Wayne, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

He then received calls from Veronica and Kristen. The three magical girls would visit together, bringing gifts to celebrate. That wouldn’t be necessary. They were all friends, and the formalities only created distance. If they wanted to give him something, he would rather they get a big gift box and climb inside.

After the calls, he summoned Veryl and told him about the gathering that would take place in his new house instead of the detective agency. With three ladies coming tonight, the table should be set accordingly. And he needed a moving truck to move his belongings from the detective agency before dinner. But ignore the sprouting potatoes.

Perhaps ninety-nine percent of his old belongings would never be used; Veryl would buy everything new. However, Wayne couldn’t bear to throw them away. He figured it would be better to store them in the warehouse. What if he needed them someday?

Veryl worked efficiently. He sent two maids to accompany Wayne to the detective agency for the move. The truck was already en route and would arrive before them.

***

Wayne’s Detective Agency.

Wayne opened the door and walked in, pointing at the bookshelf in the office and instructing the two maids to pack everything into boxes for delivery, scheduled to arrive at the new agency on Commercial Street tomorrow.

In the past, he had lived and worked at the detective agency due to his financial condition, but from now on, his work life and private life would be separate. The items here would be sent to his new home and the agency on Commercial Street. Decorations like books and old files would go to the agency, while personal belongings would be boxed and sent to his new home. For instance, he’d already put his diary in his bedroom.

For privacy reasons, it wouldn’t be safe in the study.

Then there was the bed on the third floor where Veronica had spent one night. It couldn’t be disposed of carelessly; throwing it away seemed inappropriate, but keeping it wasn’t particularly useful. He packed it up and had it sent to the new house.

Forget the bed Vera had slept on. She had been a muscleman at the time, and Wayne found the bedding reek of testosterone. He told the maid to move it to the backyard and stuff it in a barrel to burn it.

The magical materials left by the original Wayne were still in the archive room, along with Lily Haworth’s posters. After 0.25 seconds of hesitation, he packed them for transportation to the new house.

They seemed useless now, but who knew? They might come in handy one day. Better to keep them in the storage.

While cleaning up the second-floor bedroom, he picked a few reasonably presentable clothes and had the maids burn the rest in the backyard alongside the bedsheets and pillowcases. When he lifted the mattress, he discovered a black briefcase hidden under the bedboard.

The maids were burning things in the backyard, Do was sleeping underground, and Wayne opened the briefcase on the second floor.

It was a radio!

A binary communication device that, when plugged and operated manually, could emit beeping Morse codes in audio form. Wayne had only seen one of these in movies before. Their users typically fell into two categories: heroic and handsome operators on the side of justice, or evil enemy spies with pronounced mustaches or bright red lips and large curls.

“I’m too handsome not to be on the side of justice...”

He closed the briefcase with trembling hands, a drop of cold sweat rolling down his forehead. After three seconds, he adjusted his posture and opened it again.

The radio was still a radio. It wouldn’t transform into something else just because he opened the briefcase differently.

Bang!

He slammed the briefcase shut, saying in denial, “Impossible, absolutely impossible.”

He paced back and forth in the empty bedroom, muttering to himself, “I used to be a good-for-nothing third-rate detective. As a detective, it’s perfectly normal to own a radio. I only hid it under my bed because I was afraid of being misunderstood...”

“That makes sense! That must be it!”

“Of course that’s the case!”

Finding an excuse to comfort himself, he immediately brightened up. “A third-rate incompetent spy—bah, a detective who only knew how to buy merch and write erotica was messy enough a character. No more plot elements would be stacked on top. Don’t dwell on it too much. I must be overthinking.”

“Master Wayne, where should this box go?” one of the maids asked from the doorway.

“Send it to the new house...” Wayne’s heart clenched, panic rising in his chest at the thought of having his secret discovered. He waved his hand and said, “Never mind, I’ll handle the box. I’ll clean up the second and third floors. Go to the first floor to check if we’ve missed anything in the office.“

When the maid left as instructed, Wayne was already drenched in sweat. The sudden plot development caught him completely off guard. Even though it had nothing to do with him, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“I’m overthinking it. Spies need to maintain regular contact, and I haven’t touched the radio for so long, yet no handler ever looked for me...”

He paused. Objectively, it would’ve been quite difficult for anyone to find him in the past few months.

“Whatever. I’ve entered the magical world and am no longer ordinary. The grudges and bad blood in the mortal world have nothing to do with me.” Wayne frowned deeply. He and the original Wayne were different people. This move was an opportunity to cut himself off from the body’s past. Besides, he was a mage now. Could anyone from Wayne’s past chase him down and do anything?

I’ll give you the cement barrel treatment!

He thoroughly searched the second-floor bedroom and the archive to make sure there was no other suspicious item. Then he went to the backyard to bury the briefcase, telling Do to hide it well.

He didn’t want anything to do with his past identity. Now, he just wanted to make money and pursue magic.

***

Wayne’s Estate.

Wayne sat on the living room sofa with a gloomy expression. The plotline had revealed itself too suddenly. With the looming war, he feared that someday, someone would come knocking to put a pair of silver bracelets on his wrists.

“Looking at the bright side, we all know how the Windsor intelligence agency is. It’s a complete joke. As long as I don’t say anything, no one will know...”

“Master Wayne, is something troubling you?” Veryl, a former Windsor intelligence operative, appeared at Wayne’s side with a pot of black tea.

“I do have some concerns.” Seeing Veryl made Wayne feel inexplicably more assured. He sought his advice. “Veryl, have you ever experienced this awkward situation... I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s about having a complicated role you can ignore but cannot really ignore, so you feel on edge and scared to speak your mind. You don’t want it, but you don’t know how to reject it, either.”

Veryl’s heart lurched. His hand trembled slightly as he poured the tea. After a moment, he said bitterly, “Master Wayne, I didn’t expect you to find out so quickly.”

What? Find out what? Are we talking about the same thing?

Veryl, are you hiding another master behind my back?

Raising an eyebrow, Wayne picked up his cup of tea and sniffed it, saying in a low voice, “That’s right. I know everything, so speak up. There’s no one else here.”

“As expected of you. You picked up on it so quickly. I thought I could hide it for a little longer.” Veryl stood by his side and lowered his head like a student who had made a mistake. “I sincerely apologize. Before returning to Londan, Master Auston told me to—”

“Wait, correct your address. I don’t want to hear you calling anyone else ‘master’.” Wayne raised his hand and interrupted. Veryl’s way of addressing Auston made him feel cheated.

“Mr. Auston contacted me and asked me to continue serving the Lando family. I am to regard him as my master and report your every move to him at all times.” Veryl made no attempt to hide anything. He didn’t want to lie to his master.

“Did you agree?”

“I did.”

Veryl’s expression became ashen. He had lost his master’s trust, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he would be taking the train back to Enrod tonight.

“Did you hesitate?”

“Somewhat.”

“That’s good enough!” Wayne stood up and straightened Veryl’s collar with a smile. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together. You may belong to him now, but one day, I’ll win you over to my side.”

“But...”

Veryl was deeply moved. He couldn’t believe that Wayne would still trust him after learning of his betrayal.

“I can’t find a better butler than you... Mr. Lando can do without you, but I can’t!”

1. In Mandarin, wearing a green hat is an expression that means one’s spouse is cheating on them. That evolves into the expression of having green hair and other variations. ☜