Somehow, the fact that I had been told when to expect our arrival meant that a crowd had already gathered at the castle’s main gate to welcome us. However, there was one important person who should’ve been there, but wasn’t.

‘Where is the head of the family?’

No matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t spot the head of the household. It was strange, seeing the owner of the house absent while the son and daughter-in-law were being greeted by the crowd.

This was odd. If he hadn’t shown up at all during the summer break, I might’ve thought …