Rutus and the houseperson started hanging out a lot, and soon Rutus had an apprentice (or more) they still managed to help put where they were needed, so that was fine too. The stablehand started coming out of their shell and would even venture into the house every now and again.
If they felt anxious or overwhelmed, they would go back out to the barn. The cook became the one everyone would go to for advice, and the butler would join Endetmon on her meditation/training exercises. Occasionally they would spar.
At first Endermon would let him win, but with gentle correction, and lots of encouragement, she felt she no longer had to hold back as much with him. His weapon of choice was the bow and arrows.
They all coexisted peacefully, and if someone had a prior engagement the rest would fill in for them. It wasn't long before the staff knew all the stories and abilities of the group. If one got hurt or threatened, the rest of the group would first ask if they had it in hand, or if they needed help, would come in with guns blazing. Meaning, mess with one, get extremely protective others waiting in the wings.
Luckily it never came to that, they were pretty adept at handling things on their own. Usually it was in-house squabbles that were due to 10 people sharing a house. But a trip into town, because let's face it, there was always something they needed, gave them all an opportunity to calm down.
It wasn't long before they started making an upstairs, just for the bedrooms. Then bit by bit they began getting materials, builders, and everything else needed for expansion. It took a couple weeks but they gad the basics finished. The rest they could do themselves.
And even though Shiloh had her own room, she was hardly in it. Same for the maid. While they were finishing the building, they used those two rooms for storage. The downstairs bedrooms became a study/library, a more private meeting room for times they needed to be discreet, and a sun room.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It wasn't long before they had a magnificent two story house and enough room for them all. They even had some new horses born, so they also had to expand the stable and build a barn.
But those projects didn't take much time in the long run. They ended up with a modest estate. They decided to throw a party when all the buildings were complete. They began planning right away.
Instead of a guest list, they worked out how many could safely fit, and worked around that. Then they worked out the menu. Once that was done, then they started getting things brought there from the town. They made sure to credit those who made or designed something, that way they'd get business at and after the party.
Finally it was the night of the party and things were going great. They had hired musicians from town, and since it was a warm evening, they had the party in the courtyard. Whether the crowd was afraid of the group or they respected them too much, it didn't matter, because nothing went wrong.
Soon enough the party wound down, and the townspeople began to disperse. It took a bit for them all to be on the way home, but it was understandable, it was nearly the whole town that was there.
It was full dark by the time everyone was gone. They decided to clean up in the morning. They all went to bed happy that things went well. And after a decent rest, they got up and started cleaning the grounds.
Well everyone except the servant and the cook, they were making breakfast. They got to work and had a decent portion cleaned up when the cook announced that breakfast was ready. They sat down and ate, with easy conversation flowing.
After breakfast, Endermon went to the study to write thank you letters to all the people who donated or made stuff for the party. She knew her mother would have a fit if she didn't.
When she was done with those, she asked the servant if they would take the letters to yown to be sent out in the mail. They took the bundle of letters and went to find Rutus. Together they went off to town.