Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!

Chapter 710 - Visiting the in-laws: Ancient City of Kalina (Part 6)

After the exhausting breakfast, we politely declined the offer of Calix’s grandparents for me and my husband to stay in the main household. I honestly told them that we have already made arrangements to stay in my father-in-law’s house but we promised to make another visit before we leave Papierey. As if understanding why we chose not to stay, the two elders did not keep us for too long and even sent us through the gates with smiles on their faces.Runoh has prepared a spacious carriage for the three of us so we can travel comfortably to his estate in the outskirts of Papierey. It seems like he chose the farthest land possible from the main household so he can live freely and independently from his other relatives. He honestly told us with a cheeky smile that he only visits when there are special occasions or events arranged by his grandparents only but for all other parties, he declines to attend any of them.

It took almost an hour in the carriage before we reached the farthest part of Papeirey towards the southeast direction. When we reached the mansion of my father-in-law, all I can say was it was impressive. It seemed like building it was well-planned. As to why it was well-planned, it was about the use of land and location of each structure.

The land that my father bought for his branch of the family is from different towns. The mansion area and another building for his employees were in the outskirts of Papierey while the rest of the land which was right behind the mansion area was used for the other structures of the businesses that is under my father-in-law’s name. They were business that was solely his and was outside of the his family’s control.

The land behind the mansion and the staff building was under the jurisdiction of the next town named Lirika. I think my father did it on purpose to put his own businesses under another town’s area to keep it separate and independent to anything that has to do with the main household which is based in Papierey. It was a smart move not only for his business but also to protect himself even if it was with his own family.

The carriage stopped in front of the mansion gates and my father-in-law excitedly went down the carriage. Gone was the stoic face back in the main household. He was now smiling from ear to ear as he said out loud to me and Calix, "Welcome home, my children!"

He then almost pushed us inside the house and excitedly toured us around to the little paradise he made for himself. It is obvious that he was quite happy that he has somebody to share his achievements with. He also introduced us to his trusted staff and the new people that came under his care recently.

Before we know it, it was already lunch time so we had a meal. This time, the meal was more relaxed and the conversations lighter. Eventually, Calix could not take it anymore and start asking about how his father has been since he returned to his family after leaving his mother.

As per my father-in-law’s stories, it was hard at first and he spent every single day studying every single thing on how to manage the business. It was never his intention to take the position of family head and take care of all the affairs of the family. He studied because he wanted to make something of himself so that in the future, if his son can come back to him, he could provide him a home and everything he may want and need confidently.

The lunch then ended up with another session of crying together with the heart-to-heart talks between father and son. I wanted to excuse myself but the duo seem to not want the idea that I am out of their sight. I ended up having to listen to all the stories and yeah, witness all the ugly crying of the duo.

After all the emotional talk, we finally found the time to get to the business side of things like the finances, managing all the people under the household and any problems that my father-in-law might be having since he had to take care of everything on his own. A smile bloomed on my father-in-law’s face and he actually looked touched that we care for his well-being.

My father-in-law then started thanking me for saving those enslaves by the Cassia family and even giving funding for the cause of his school and his household. He said that it was a huge boost to them because now they can focus more on projects that were put on hold because of the sudden influx of people but not enough funding.

Calix then opened with his father that he strategically bought a few scattered parcels of land that is fit to be used for shops in different towns within the Kalina Duchy. Me and my husband then offered to pay for the setting up of the shops and thinking of the nature of the products that will be sold. All my father-in-law had to do is to manage the people that will be handling those shops and balancing the accounts.

My father-in-law disagreed about us not taking anything from the profits. He said that all the items that we will sell in the shops will be in concession agreement but we have to take at least half of the profits for each item sold. Eventually with much haggling and a bit of drama, we were able to reduce the amount that we would receive to 30% using the reason that we want to support the household cause and philanthropy work.

For the next few days, Calix and I stayed at Runoh’s mansion while helping him sort out paperwork, accounts and also finalizing the plans on the new shops. We also planned which to prioritize with the extra funding that I provided. Unlike my previous employer, my father-in-law was strict with the idea of "work hours" and "meal times". We were also required to go back to our rooms to sleep when it is "bed time". Calix and I laughed at the idea at first but had no choice but to follow although he was treating us like growing children.

At the end of our stay in Papierey, as promised, we dropped by at the main household of the Quillon family to meet the grandparents-in-law. As for the others that appeared again though they are not relevant, we mostly ignored them and simply showed basic courtesy.

Before we left, we were provided all kinds of gifts by the old couple and the aunt and uncles that were pretending to be nice. As to why I think they are pretending to be nice, it is just that they are overly enthusiastic and happy (even the ones that did not even give us a single greeting or looked at us with disdain during our first visit) about the idea that me and my husband are already leaving only after a few days as if we are some kind of freeloader or nuisance. We both tried to decline the gifts since we do not want them to ask anything back for this favor in the future but had no choice but to bring with us.

Eventually, once we are out of the house, all the gifts were secretly given it to father-in-law for safekeeping before we left for Papierey. We said that just in case they try to get favors in exchange for this so called gifts in the future, we can return them intact. It is not like we can’t buy these things.