33 – Master of the Longtaro Castle
The rocking carriage made Liszt drowsy.
Rocking all the way from the Sea Crab City to the Red Rock City. They stayed overnight at the Red Rock City before once more departing at the break of dawn. Two hours later, they finally saw the Longtaro Castle towering half up the mountain.
The Longtaro Castle was nearly four times bigger than the Tulip Castle. It had a two hundred meters tall guard tower. Because of its location being half up a mountain, the castle was practically integrated with the mountain.
In his birthplace, Earth, Liszt had once went to Europe. There, he had toured the Neuschwanstein Castle.
The Neuschwanstein Castle was similarly majestic as the Tulip Castle, only lacking a steep precipice at its back. But compared to the Longtaro Castle in front of them, the Neuschwanstein Castle looked like a small household. Only the White City of [The Lord of the Rings] could be compared to the Longtaro Castle in terms of grandeur.
A city stood below the castle.
The carriages did not need to go through the city, directly following a slightly precipitous mountain road towards the castle. Halfway through, they met a group of knights of the Longtaro Castle. Learning that they were relatives from the Tulip Family, the group of knights immediately escorted the carriages to the castle.
A knight dashed up the mountain to relay the news in advance.
Therefore, when the carriages had arrived at the castle’s gate, the Longtaro Castle’s successor and cousin of the three siblings, Meopal Longtaro, was already waiting for them along with servants.
“Levis, Lvera, Liszt.” Meopal was a man of a striking appearance and a graceful demeanor, with his sapphire-like eyes being particularly beautiful, “I have received a letter regarding your arrival. I have already been waiting for you for quite a while. Was your journey smooth?”
Liszt had to admit.
Whether in therms of appearance or temperament, his cousin was very outstanding, not putting on airs. Standing together with him, it felt like he was more of a brother to him than Levis.
“Cousin Meopal, everything went smooth.”
“Cousin (Lvera), you are more beautiful than last year.”
“Thank you for your compliment, cousin, but compared to your pretty face, I feel like I am being mocked.” Lvera looked at Meopal, saying half-jokingly and half-seriously.
Meopal laughed out loud: “This is not something I can refute, am I right, Liszt?” The second half of the sentence was directed at Liszt.
Liszt smiled slightly.
He had finally confirmed that the reason Lvera had bullied him for so many years was because of her jealous towards his appearance: “Cousin, you are right.”
“Haha, great men do indeed have identical standpoints. Now, let’s go inside. Father is currently outside presiding over the quarterly taxation. He has yet to return. Grandfather is recuperating. He was very happy when he heard that you came.”
“How is grandfather?”
Meopal sighed: “Grandfather’s illness is in fact a complication caused by the recurrence of old injuries, it has its ups and downs. The grand duke had already sent a court doctor to treat grandfather. I am sure that he will get better soon.”
……
On the bed inside a gorgeous bedroom sat the master of the Red Crab Island, one of the grand duchy’s seven marquises, the previous commander of the court fleet, and Longtaro Castle’s most distinguished personage.
Merlin Longtaro.
He was an old man past seventy years of age with a pale and wrinkled face. Despite his long-term fostered majesty, it was still not capable of concealing his ageing and the illness-incurred weakness.
Even tough he was a Sky Knight once capable of soaring the lands, yet he still could not escape the erosion of time.
His sapphire-colored irises were suffused with white, leave alone the head full of white hair.
He rested quietly by leaning against the bedhead. A short-legged coffee table was placed on the quilt. Using quill pen and ink, he laboriously wrote symbols on the thick bast paper.
The age spots on his face were particularly eye-catching.
“My Lord, Young Lord has brought the Tulip Family’s two Young Lords and Young Lady.” The butler, who was almost as old as Marquis Merlin, used a particularly light tone as not to disturb the marquis.
Marquis Merlin faintly paused his pen before continuing to write, all the while not raising his head: “Melissa’s children? Let them come see me, this half-dead old fogey.”
“My Lord, you are only temporarily sick, soon you will recover. As you had said, you have to live until one hundred years of age, you still have to boil the neighboring marquis, Wallace, alive.”
“Haha, I have also threatened to slaughter the grand duke’s sapphire dragon for not letting me become a dragon lord. However, there is no use. This time, I am definitely loosing to that old fart.” Marquis Merlin smiled heartily. He quickly wrote the final few symbols and put down the pen.
The servant waiting upon him to the side immediately took the coffee table away.
The old butler supported the marquis to steadily lean against the bedhead, he then leaned over and arranged the red bow tie around the marquis’ neck.
A servant fetched a bronze mirror.
Other servants brought over water, a towel, and a hair clip to service the marquis in succession.
The marquis had his image carefully brushed up, quickly recovering his dignified appearance from that of an old man with a foot in the grave. Then, he waited.
When he heard the familiar footsteps outside the door, his turbid eyes could not help but emit a glimmer of light.
Which was rapidly concealed.
Meopal entered the bedroom along with the three siblings.
Levis took the lead and, along with Lvera and Liszt, quickly walked to the bed before following the etiquette of a junior: “Grandfather, I, Lvera, and Liszt came to visit you. Father had entrusted me to give you his sincere regards. He hopes that you will recover soon and resume the graceful bearing of the Longtaro Сastle’s master.”
“Your father is considerate.” The Marquis nodded faintly. “Was your journey smooth?”
“The journey was smooth.”
“Good. Since you came to visit your grandfather, then stay a few days in the Longtaro Castle.
“Yes, grandfather.”
The marquis’ gaze swept through Levis, Lvera, before finally resting on Liszt, his eyes revealing a look of found recollection: “Liszt, you grew up.”
“Yes, March 9th was my coming of age.”
“I heard that your father had enfeoffed you as a baron, which town is your fief?”
“The Flower Town.”
“Hmm, he had not conferred you the title of viscount. It seems that Leewilliam, that count, is quite the failure.” Marquis Merlin’s assessment was very rude, and then his tone turned sorrowful, “I have not witnessed you coming of age, Melissa will definitely rebuke me. Looking at you is like having Melissa standing before my eyes.”
Meopal echoed the sentiment: “Grandfather, cousin Liszt has indeed a striking resemblance with aunt Melissa. When I was little, I have seen aunt Melissa, thinking that the flower of Longtaro was the most dazzling flower of the grand duchy.”
“I have no distinct recollections of my mother’s appearance, leaving me to only view her portrait in the Tulip Castle.” Said Liszt. His predecessor indeed did not remember his mother.
Melissa had passed away when Liszt was two years old. A two year-old child had not much memory to show for.
Although there was a portrait of Melissa in the castle, but he had not often seen. Moreover, even if it was a portrait, it was highly distorted and had difficulty conveying the bearing of the actual person.
It was regrettable.
The marquis quickly curbed his mood: “Although it was more than a decade ago, yet sometimes, I feel like it had been just yesterday… You should be weary from the journey. Meopal, take your cousins to their quarters to rest. At the lunch feast, I hope to see the youngsters in high spirits. In addition, if time permits, you youngsters should hold a ball tomorrow night.”