Harol thought he remembered most of what Freya had said from before, but he wasn't absolutely certain. He might've just made it up in his head too, because looking at her, no offense, made one think of such life. Harol found himself wondering what Freya's skin would smell like when clean, and instantly continued wondering what had made him think of that. Now that he thought of it, Freya hadn't smelled like she had been on the road for days or weeks. Odd, but that was a good thing nevertheless. He wouldn't need to be saying that out loud though. Could easily be taken as an offense. He wouldn't want that, not at all.

Lord Mortimer had entirely different questions on his mind, and everyone would agree that those were more applicable to the situation at hand. "So a traveler for long? Interesting. That kind of life differs much from our kind of life, staying mostly at our great house, away from others. But I believe that leaving was not a choise you made yourself... You must have been driven out or something alike. Well, I cannot say I would know that, but that is what I believe. You are free to correct me. Whatever be the case, I hope your stay is enjoyable, even if it is widely out of touch to your usual life", he replied to Freya's short explanation, before asking another question: "But then we come to another thing, that being how our house works. Our etiquette might differ somewhat from what you are used to. I could always ask Cyrus to teach you, but I believe", he spoke, glancing at Cyrus in a somehow irritated manner which could be seen even with his blindfold in the way "that you will find it more pleasant to learn with someone you share something with, so I would propose that", now again turning his head, this time towards Harol and nodded at him "Harol here will teach you. Not that you would have done something wrong, but to avoid it in the future. You are okay with this, are you not?"

As he finished talking, Mortimer downed his last spoonful of soup. As soon as everyone was finished with their appetizer, the servants carried away their empty bowls and brought in a platter with an entire roasted duck in addition to a plate for each participant. "Now, I would usually cut the roast into fitting pieces, but for obvious reasons that won't do now. Cyrus, would you mind doing the honours?" Mortimer asked. "Not at all sir", Cyrus replied and was handed the appropriate tools for the job: A long jagged knife and a rather large fork. It took him some time to cut several pieces out of the roast, but he stopped once there were around seven pieces loose. "As per tradition, guests and ladies first!" lord Mortimer said with an eager smile as Cyrus lowered the tools onto the platter and everyone was handed the smaller forks and knives.