It was a new day. The sky was clear, and the wind was slightly chilly.
Earl looked out the window, feeling emptiness in his heart. It was the feeling that always came after returning home from vacation. Especially so since they did not take their time as much as they did when they were on their way. On the way back, Ari did not hire any Adventurer groups since there was no point in any with her being an Archmage now.
With the Magic Carriage going so fast on their way back, Earl fully understood now what Ari meant by too many conveniences ridding the joy of life back many years ago. He thought he understood because as a rich man in his previous life, he always had access to luxury like private jets and the such but this was not the same thing.
If he were to take a private in his previous life to go on vacation, there was still the fundamental concept of being plane, which added to the experience of traveling. Whereas in this world, the conveniences were teleportation and next level rapid travel.
There was not much that needed to be said about teleportation. It was moving from point A to point B. If they had instead, traveled to Dai via teleportation, half of the vacation experience would be gone. He would've never met the Wild Roses, or experienced dungeon crawling, or many other things. The same could be applied to the rapid traveling speed of the Magic Carriage.
Earl shook his head to clear his thoughts. All of that, was really just to say that some conveniences were not good. Or rather, he did not like them.
In the end, he was just a man who enjoyed every pleasure of life, and most particularly, women.
Entering the kitchen, he found Ari teaching Aria how to cook by the stove. The sight of a busty mature woman in a mage robe teaching a little dark elf girl in maid clothing would warm even the coldest of hearts. This has been happening for the last few days. Even though Ari would often dismiss Aria as "just a slave", she was surprisingly gentle and patient with the girl.
There was not any particular method they were using to treat Aria. Ari and Earl just taught her whatever when the chance came up. Ari taught her how to do various household chores that she was doing before while Earl was slowly easing her into serving him.
How, you may ask?
Simple tasks like preparing his clothes. Or having her prepare the bath beforehand if Ari is too busy for a sexy bath time.
On the topic of Ari, her routine continued as usual except she ignored the King even more than before now.
She still studied Magic in her study and checked the Royal Palace from time to time as usual but her life seemed to be much more leisurely now in the eyes of Earl. Per her words "There are no limits to Magic, so never stop learning!"
Her status as an Archmage was kept a secret and only Earl knew it right now. It was the reason why she went to Dai to take her final steps. The Beast Kingdom was a place dominated by Adepts. Which meant that none of them would understand what was happening when Ari became an Archmage. And the realm of Archmage was so fabled that none of other Court Mages understood what her halo was. This did not mean that there were not any rumors floating around in the inner circles, however. But these rumors were nothing when even those who had a slight hunch could not bring themselves to believe it.
It was not a surprise considering the number of people who reached the fabled realm in history can be counted on one hand and each of them had exaggerated tales. As such, exact and accurate traits of those in the fabled realm has not been recorded.
And while Earl respected the achievements of those who reached the Grand rank, he could only laugh at the other Court Mages' incompetence for taking an entire lifetime to reach the Grand rank after seeing how talented his mother was.
"Good morning! It smells good!" He said.
Ari smiled at his words but Aria remained stoic as usual. However, he knew that it was nothing but a front.
"This is where you thank my son for his words." Ari taught Aria. "It's not a matter of subservience, it's about manners and respect." She said gently.
"Aria thanks master for his kind words." Aria took a moment to step away from the stove to tell Earl. Her bright yellow eyes made contact with Earl's and was quickly broken when she bowed her head.
This was their way of training Aria. Teaching her how to respond to different circumstances without being forceful. In a way, her status right now was no different than that of a maid in training.
Slaves were normally forced to do things against their will right away. Aria was very fortunate to have landed in the hands of Earl. His mother was Ari, a rich, mild-tempered lady who was patient with her. And the master was a boy who was still growing and unknown of the ways of the world. He would occasionally tease and force her to talk to him but it was nothing. For this, Aria was grateful. And of course, she would never let any of these feelings show on her face.