113 The Mansion

Finally, after just another hour of travel, the group arrived in the new Sera County. 

The first place they were greeted with was a town that looked more or less peaceful, the residents stopping now and then to witness the majesty of the carriage and then going back to their day to day life a moment after. As far as the girls could see, the town did not have any issues. 

The buildings were not too old and the sanitation was at a satisfactory standard, all things Tanya wanted to check off before beginning her tenure as a countess. Luckily, she managed to receive a relatively good territory.

"Mistress, the mansion is just up ahead. I welcome you to the household humbly." The driver spoke while slowly driving the carriage towards a set of steel gates.

"So this is where we will be staying for the foreseeable future… it seems rather nice. My territory is adjacent to the east of this, but I guess I can live here to be with my amazing wife." Rose almost scoffed as she remembered how much better her own county is.

"When we merge the territories together, it will be much better. Trust my words, Rosy. I have been planning this day for many years and I will not get a single thing wrong. I already know my policies." Tanya grinned confidently. She was an emperor, so why can't she manage just a small county such as this? It would be rather embarrassing for her to be this weak in management skills.

"Oh, I rather like the idea of merging things together~ how about tonight we do a little merging-"

"Sorry, Rosy. I will be very busy getting all of the necessary papers signed. Serena already told me that since this county belonged to another noble at one point, I must deal with the transfer contracts." Tanya was not lying, and she was quite happy too. For one night she would be free from bedroom duties. She could not thank Serena enough for telling her.

THUMP

"We have arrived at the gates." The driver announced, stopping the carriage abruptly to get the girls' attention.

"Finally, I've had enough of sitting in this for so long! My butt hurts because of the bumpy ride and average padding." Erina sighed joyfully. She was not a big fan of sitting down for so long, preferring the outdoors anyway.

"This mansion oddly looks familiar…" Penelope commented, peering through the small window at the front of the carriage.

Through the slit, the girls could probably only see a quarter of the front side. This left much to be desired in terms of view, but stopped too much sunlight from blinding them during the ride they had just been on.

"Of course it looks familiar. When my parents found out that I would receive a noble title and land, they approached the king and Queen to be given permission to build something that feels like home. Therefore, this mansion is a complete replica of the one in the Vermillion Duchy. Penny will be able to guide you~" 

"The only thing that is different would be the staff. I had to source the staff from my loyal homunculi followers. So rest assured, there will be no betrayals in the mansion. You can also trust that the homunculi are combat trained and can wipe out any would be assassins that attempt to take a stroll through our new home. Even the carriage driver is a homunculi- a new one though." 

"..." the girls did not notice that the driver had in fact been one of the homunculi that Tanya had raised.

"We can sleep easy, too easy." Serena laughed wryly, feeling stupefied of Tanya's vast network of power. Not even herself, the crown princess, had access to so many combat trained servants in her palace. She just got a few royal guards of the 2nd ascension to escort her.

Yet Tanya had a 4th ascension powerhouse that Serena was pretty sure was Neya Alpha, the student body president, as well as many more similar followers.

The group left the carriage after entering the premises, being ushered towards the door by the driver. Two guards were stationed at the front door, both of them being 3rd ascension homunculi elites, nominated by the homunculi. These two guards were given the names 'Omicron' and 'Zeta', two of the oldest serving of Tanya's forces.

The duty of guarding Tanya and her lovers' wellbeings was an honour for the guards, fueling the fire within them to work diligently and carefully. 

Upon seeing Tanya and the girls approaching, the Omicron and Zeta bowed and opened the doors for them.

"Master, we humbly greet you and wish for your greatest fortune." Omicron immediately greeted without any reservations, feeling honoured just seeing Tanya.

"Upon receiving the information sent by the academy branch, our team has concluded that the mistresses need a larger bed. As such, we have constructed a specially made bed that can fit nine humans. Whilst your group is only eight, we have left room for Alpha to be able to guard on-site." Zeta said after Omicron finished speaking, revealing a detail that wasn't in the briefing Tanya had prepared.

"We strive to protect master and her lovers with all of our beings. Please enter now and enjoy the hospitality of the place that you have chosen as your home. The head butler is in charge of the tour, we hope you enjoy the mansion." With that, the guards bowed their heads again and gestured for the girls to proceed through the door and into the mansion.

"Thank you very much, Omicron and Zeta." Tanya smiled warmly and patted their shoulders like a parent.

'Master praised us!!' The guards immediately went into their own world of thought.

Immediately after going through the door, the girls were met with an entire hall full of homunculi dressed in butler and maid outfits, all standing up straight and ready to serve.

"Greetings, we are the servants that will be managing the mansion for master. We humbly greet you all and hope that we will be of assistance when asked." A homunculus, at the centre,announced. Unlike the others, this homunculi chose the appearance of a middle aged man, appearing much more experienced and wise than the others. However, this much was just aesthetic. All of the homunculi could do something as basic as managing a mansion.

"That is over 100 homunculi… Tanya, you really have been busy." Rose tapped Tanya's shoulder twice, still surprised. She did not expect for there to be so many after just a few months. If she were to know that this was not even the tip of the iceberg, Rose would have surely fainted.

With that, Tanya and the girls arrived at the mansion and settled themselves in relatively fast. Although Yuri, Erina, Serena, And Diana would only temporarily live here due to the fact that they would need to attend the academy again the next year, They had the intent of treating the mansion like their home. As they would soon live here continuously, they did not treat it distantly.