A passage that had puzzled him for a whole week.

“Task: As a lord, you need to understand everything about your territory. Please take a tour around Flower Town, learn about the crises facing your domain, and prepare for future development. Reward: The sublimation of battle aura.”

The content was brief and not complicated.

But what Edward Thompson couldn’t understand was why he could see the smoke serpent script. Searching the memories of his predecessor, he found that the smoke serpent script had appeared since childhood. But back then, the smoke was very faint and blurry, so much so that he couldn’t make out what the serpent script was saying, and he always thought he was hallucinating.

It wasn’t until after his soul transmigrated that Edward Thompson could clearly see the text.

He was dazed for a moment, then reached out, wanting to touch the smoke, but it immediately vanished, which seemed to confirm the idea that it was a hallucination.

But now, Edward Thompson didn’t think it was a hallucination. Maybe this was a benefit for transmigrators, a manifestation of some system? He couldn’t say for sure, but he decided to verify it.

As long as he toured the territory, he could complete the task. Whether or not he received the reward would be the proof.

If he didn’t get it, it meant it was just a hallucination.

If he did, it meant it was a benefit.

A transmigrator’s golden finger—before the transmigrator acts, the golden finger comes first?

Chapter 3: The Servants in the Castle

Thomas left the study, feeling waves of disappointment. As he went downstairs, he stopped at the landing, wanting to take out a cigarette and light it, only to realize the cigarettes were hidden under his pillow.

Butler Carter strictly forbade servants from smoking inside the castle.

“Thomas, what are you doing hiding here?” A maid came up from downstairs, about thirty years old, dressed in a black and white maid’s dress, holding a mop and a bucket.

“Nothing.”

“The master still doesn’t let you serve him personally?”

Thomas slapped the wall in frustration. “Maisie, tell me, why doesn’t the master like me? I may not have been a personal valet before, but I was once the chief valet for Viscount Roosevelt. I’m fully capable of this job.”

“How would I know? I’m not a maid from Tulip Castle. I’ve never even seen the master before.”

“I’m just asking if there’s anything I haven’t done well enough.”

“You should ask Mr. Carter, or Mrs. Mason… Besides, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. The master only has three male servants. Jesse is an assistant, Tom is clumsy and can’t serve the master at all. Maybe the master’s personality is just like that. In this small town, no one is more suitable than you to be the personal valet.”

Thomas perked up a bit. “Yeah, I heard the master isn’t valued at Tulip Castle. Maybe he’ll be the Baron of Flower Town his whole life, living in the poor countryside.”

“Maybe.”

“Maisie, do you regret following the master here?”

“I don’t care. Life in the castle, no matter how bad, is better than going back to the farm to starve to death. I’ve already sold myself to the master, so there’s no point thinking about regret.”

Thomas was about to speak when someone suddenly interrupted: “Don’t you two have work to do? Thomas, Maisie, mind your behavior. Don’t whisper outside your own rooms and the kitchen!” Coming up the stairs was the butler of this humble little castle, Carter.

He held a ring of keys and a bottle of red wine, making his rounds through the castle.

“Yes, Mr. Carter, I’ll get to work right away.” Thomas and Maisie hurried off to their respective tasks.

If minor nobles are the servants of major nobles, then male and female servants are also the butler’s subordinates. The noble system has always been strictly hierarchical.

Though the castle was small, there was no shortage of work.

Even though there was only Edward Thompson, the sole noble to serve, the daily workload was still enormous. For example, cleaning: every morning and evening, the entire place had to be cleaned inside and out. There was also laundry, heating water, preparing food, cleaning the toilets—most of the work fell to the male and female servants.

But that didn’t mean Carter didn’t have to work. On the contrary, besides managing the servants, Carter was also responsible for receiving guests, pouring wine, supervising meals, handling correspondence, safeguarding fine tableware, managing the wine cellar, and taking care of the most important guests.

Old Carter was already fifty years old. In this era, where the average age was less than fifty-five, he was already an elderly man.

Knock, knock, knock.

He knocked on the study door.

“Come in.” Inside, Edward Thompson’s gentle voice sounded, with the “Steel Accent” popular among high society. In the Kingdom of Steel Ridge and its vassal states, countless nobles regarded the Steel Accent as a mark of honor.

Old Carter took a deep breath.

At Tulip Castle, he hadn’t had much interaction with Edward Thompson, mainly being in charge of one of the earl’s villas. Recently, at Edward Thompson’s coming-of-age ceremony, the earl assigned him to serve as Edward Thompson’s butler. It was a promotion in position—becoming a butler was the ultimate goal for all servants.

But the treatment had certainly declined.

Still, Carter had no complaints. He had sold himself to the Tulip family at fifteen, and thirty-five years had passed. He never married, had no children, and had long considered himself part of the Tulip family.

If he could spend the last years of his life following a blood descendant of the Tulip family, Baron Edward Thompson, it would undoubtedly be a happy ending.