CHAPTER 18: TRADITION, ETIQUETTE AND VANITY

When we approached the city of Northedor, it was already late in the afternoon. There was a long line at the gate of people and carriages. We stopped at the end of the line and by the looks of it if we followed the line we would be stuck here for hours.

“We need to get through here, official business of the crown.” I heard the driver shout at the line.

I felt the carriage begin to move but soon we stopped again. I heard the driver arguing with someone.

“Why the hell should we let you through?” I heard a gruff voice shout.

“Can’t you see that banner? Those are the king’s colours!” I heard the driver retort.

“What? You got some noble ladies in there?” I hear the voice reply.

“Wait, you aren’t permitted to approach!” I hear the driver shout.

“What are you going to do? Bleed on me? Let’s see if there are any pretty flowers in here.” I hear the voice say as it shifted to the right side of the left side of the carriage.

Charlotte leaned out slightly of the window to see what was going on.

“Oh so there are pretty flowers in there.” I heard the voice say

“Move and close the blinds.” I say curtly as I stand up and face the door.

“Come out my pretty, let’s have some fun…” I hear the voice say lecherously from the other side of the door.

“Katsuro please don’t kill him.” Charlotte said tentatively.

“Don’t worry, he’ll live…” I say as I lower my mask and I hear the door knob turn.

As soon as the door opened I drove my boot right into that grinning face. The man tumbled over backwards with a yell and fell back into the dirt. I calmly got off the carriage and drew the bayonet on my hip.

“You like plucking flowers?” I ask coldly as I approach.

The man is wearing dirty leather armor with bits of chainmail and plate. He lay on the ground clutching his face. My high [Dexterity] stat meant that even if my strength is low, the speed of my strike would still convey significant force on an unprotected face. More than enough to break his nose.

The man caught sight of me and yelled out in shock. I heard movement on the right and I see two more similarly dressed men running towards me.

“Oi you want to die?” I hear the other man shout.

“Do you?” I ask coldly.

I sense the man in front me try to rise to his feet so kick him again right in the balls with my armoured boot. The man screams as he doubles over clutching his privates. Then I hear the two on the side draw their weapons. In a flash my gun was out and I fired right at one of their swords, shattering it, the hot bits of metal spraying into his face.

There were screams all around me as the roar of my gun echoed out. The other guy yelped as he saw his comrade fall to the ground clutching his face that was now shredded by the shattered sword.

“I suggest you make way, before I kill one of you.” I say coldly.

Then I spot a group of horsemen riding towards us from the gate, they must have heard the shot. They’ll be here in a few minutes so I holster my pistol and sheath my bayonet. The guy that was still standing turned to see the cavalry and he stilled. He sheathed his sword and calmly waited for them to arrive. Odd, I would have expected him to run…

When the cavalry arrived the lead horseman approached me as he turned to look at the banner flying over the carriage.

“What is the meaning of this?” the horseman asked.

“This guy wanted to pluck some noble flowers.” I reply dryly as I turn to the guy who is still groaning on the floor.

“Who are you?” the horseman asked.

“Onaga Katsuro the Dark Hero.” I say calmly, at those words I saw the eyes of the horsemen widen as they looked at me.

“They attacked you?” the lead horseman asked as he looked at the three men.

“They were making threats. I don’t like threats.” I reply crossing my arms.

“Perhaps you could escort us in? We are headed for the Rift.” Charlotte said as she got off the carriage.

“You are the Life Hero?” the lead Horseman asked.

“I am Charlotte von Holstein, the Life Hero. Pleased to make your acquaintance good sir.” Charlotte said with a graceful nod.

“Certainly Life Hero, the rumors are true about you, about you as well Dark Hero.” the Horseman replied.

“What might the rumors say?” Charlotte asks.

“They say you are a beautiful maiden beyond compare, with hair like flowing gold, eyes like shining sapphires and skin so fair it would make the moon blush.” the horseman said with a nod.

“Hmm, rumors do have a tendency to exaggerate, I assure you I have never made the moon blush and my hair is tad too light in colour for gold.” Charlotte said with a smile.

“Your humility is truly virtuous Life Hero. As for you Dark Hero, your reputation precedes you. You live up to the rumors and more.” the horseman said with a nod.

“What are they saying about me?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“They say the Dark Hero uses a weapon that fires with the sound of roaring thunder. They say you wear a cloak of the darkest midnight made roiling shadows and you wear the mask of a demon. They also say you are a soldier, tempered in fires of war, ruthless as you are efficient. They say you do not know fear and fight with ferocity of a denizen of the outworld.” the horseman said.

“Well let’s hope the rumors are true.” I say calmly.

“I hope so too Dark Hero, for all our sakes.” the Horseman said with a nod.

“Come the Viscount wishes to meet you.” the Horseman said.

As we entered the city I saw the city was quiet, many were walking around with pale faces. No doubt a Rift being so close to their city was making them uneasy. Then they began to notice the banner above our carriage and they spotted me in my black helmet. They began to point and talk. I could see the light of hope ignite in their eyes as they looked at me.

In the face of destruction it seems people will even look to the devil for hope…

The carriage was led to the main keep of the city, when we disembarked we were led through the castle. I saw heraldry of the house that ruled, it was a flag with a white background and a blue line splitting the flag horizontally. In the middle was a symbol of an eagle in gold. At the top of the flag was the words “Orelais Invicta”.

“Orelais Unconquered…” Charlotte said as she looked at the flag.

“That Latin too?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, I’m assuming this city is ruled by the House of Orelais. The gold eagle is a symbol of nobility, over a white background typically symbolising purity, the blue line is extremely thin… perhaps it symbolises the nearby river?” Charlotte mutters as she examines the coat of arms.

“We’ll find out soon, come on.” I say.

“Katsuro?” I hear Charlotte ask.

“Yeah?” I reply as I turn to face her.

“Later could you let me do the talking?” Charlotte said gently.

Well considering the fact that my interactions with the nobility thus far have been hostile at best, I suppose the pragmatic thing would be to let Charlotte do all the talking. She is a noble and thus she would definitely know how to talk around them.

“Alright.” I say with a nod.

Charlotte nodded and gave me a warm smile at my show of trust. I just hope I can keep my temper in check, Shuji always did say I have a fiery temper...

Eventually we found ourselves standing outside this ornate door with the same coat of arms emblazoned on it. As we are let in I got my first look at this Viscount, who was sitting behind a hard wood desk. He had a head of brown hair and was moderately built. He looked to be about middle aged probably in his mid thirties, I wouldn’t say he’s good looking but I wouldn’t say he looks like an ogre either.

Although there was one thing about him that rubbed me the wrong way. He looked so relaxed, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, as if there wasn’t a demon invasion happening just across the river…

“Greetings heroes, you come at fortuitous time.” the noble said cheerily as he stood up.

Fortuitous? He must know we would be coming. I mean unless he’s mentally disabled, but judging by the fact he knows the word “fortuitous” I doubt so…

“Greeting my lord, I am Charlotte of the house of Holstein, the Life Hero. A member of your cavalry guard informed us that you wished to see us?” Charlotte said with a graceful curtsy.

“Yes, Lady Charlotte. I am Viscount Kimble of the house of Orelais. I wished to offer you my hospitality before you embarked on your great venture.” the Viscount said as he approached from behind the desk.

“You are very kind my lord, but I would be remiss if we stayed too long, not when brave men and women fight demons just across the river.” Charlotte said gently.

“Truly the words spoken of the Life Hero do not ring hollow. Still I was not expecting your august selves to arrive until this evening. I am sure you must be weary from your long journey, may I offer you a night of hospitality for you to rest?” the Viscount said with a smile.

“Yes perhaps that would be best, it would not be prudent to arrive at the battlefield weary. We shall depart in the morning and make way to aid those valiant defenders of the realm.” Charlotte replied cordially.

“Excellent, then this is surely a fortuitous day, for my domain to draw first blood from the ancient enemy. An honour that comes once in a millenia.” the Viscount said grandly.

Seriously? The world is ending and this guy is celebrating the fact that his soldiers get to draw first blood? He celebrates while he is sitting in this fancy office that is as large as my living room back home. While his own soldiers are fighting across the river, bleeding and dying in the dirt, he sits here and dreams of glory and prestige? I feel my anger start to boil as I get flashbacks to that one commander in HQ back in Sapporo who everyone knew had a crate of american whisky in his office…

“Thank you, my lord, perhaps we could be shown to our rooms? It has been quite a journey and we wish to get as much rest as possible before we depart.” Charlotte said suddenly as soon as I opened my mouth.

“Of course Lady Charlotte, I hope you will join me for dinner? I will prepare the finest fare available.” the Viscount said as he gave Charlotte a small bow.

“It would be an honor my lord.” Charlotte said with another curtsy.

When we left the Viscounts room we came across a large man wearing armor similar to those thugs we met outside the city. At the sight of us exiting the room he got off the wall he was leaning against.

“Ah the great Heroes, you must be the Dark Hero. I heard you gave my men a good beating outside the gate.” the man said calmly.

“I don’t like thugs. If they are your men you need to learn to control them.” I reply coldly as I narrowed my eyes.

“The rumors say that the Dark Hero is a soldier, unusual as Heroes go…” the man said as he approached.

“Most of the time the gods send welps that know nothing of war. The only thing that kept them alive was their stats and all the people the nation throws in front of them as shields.” the man said coldly as he stopped in front of me.

“You have a problem with the Heroes?” I ask as I place a hand on my pistol.

“I have a problem with those who break my shit and think they can walk away.” the man growled as he locked me in his gaze.

“Try me.” I reply coldy not flinching from his gaze.

The man smiled and in a flash I felt myself being thrown against the wall. Then I found a small dagger at my throat.

“Katsuro!” I heard Charlotte shout.

“Oi get off him!” I hear Jacob yell as he draws his sword.

“You do know if you kill me, you won’t get out of this alive.” I say calmly.

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“You think all of these weak little shits can kill me?” the man asked.

*click*

“Who said anything about them?” I reply coldly as I point my gun at his belly from below.

“You cut my throat, I blow a hole in your stomach. You think they’ll heal you after you kill me? I can tell you that a shot from this in the stomach is a slow and painful death. I’ve seen quite a few myself…” I say.

“You don’t have the nerve kid.” the man said.

“Try me. I’m ready to go, are you?” I reply coldly as I shove the gun against his belly.

Then the man’s face broke into a smile.

“You are crazy, aren't you kid?” the man said.

“Possibly.” I reply.

The man let out a laugh as he got off me. He put his dagger back into its sheath and he took a step back.

“Hmmm, it looks like you just spared those three a beating.” the man said with a smile.

I don’t reply as I just stare at him, my gun still pointed at him at my hip.

“Relax, I’m just screwing with you. I am Bovarian captain of the Company of the Bronze Bulls. Those men you ran into outside were part of my mercenary band. I thought I should get to see what kind of Heroes I will be fighting with in a few days.” Bovarian said with a smirk.

“The Viscount hired you to fight with us?” Charlotte asked.

“What do you think I’m doing up here sweetheart? The Viscount isn’t going to risk the knights the crown sent. He sent only half the knights he was given by the crown across the river. Word is the men on the other side of the river are mostly common soldiers. That ass hat behind that soundproof door isn’t going to risk his own hide even for the damn Rift.” Bovarian said as spat onto the fine carpet.

“Besides, I’m sure soldiers in the different worlds are more or less the same. Death and war rarely changes after all. I’m sure the guys back in your world fuck with the new guy to measure them up.” Bovarian said as he looked at me.

“You’re right about that, war doesn’t really change. It’s just how we fight it and how many end up dead or maimed that changes. The core idea always remains the same.” I say with a sigh as I holster my pistol.

“The rest of them seen it yet?” Bovarian asks as he looks around at the rest of my party.

“Seen what?” Jacob asks.

“What a man can do to another man.” Bovarian replies as he turns to look at Jacob.

“No.” I reply.

“Wait till you see it kid.” Bovarian said.

“We’ve fought before.” Jacob said defensively.

“No that’s not what I said, the fighting’s the easy part. You gotta listen boy.” Bovarian said as he tapped the side of his head.

“They will...” I ask as I cross my arms and lean against the wall.

“Won’t they?” I say as I look up and see Bovarian turn back to face me.

“Aye… they will. Word is the demons live up to their reputation and more.” Bovarian said.

“Reputation?” I ask.

“You’ll see, don’t worry. Shouldn’t be anything that you haven’t seen before, judging by that look in your eyes. I’ve seen that look before, I know what it means...” Bovarian said.

“See you around Dark Hero, I’m sure we’ll see each other in action soon enough.” Bovarian said as he turned away and began walking towards the door.

See you around...

After that we were led to our rooms, it had a similar layout of a common area surrounded by rooms. This time however, there were eight connected rooms. The room was also less luxurious as the one back in the capital Regus. That was not that surprising all things considered but it was still quite the room.

Needless to say I was seething all the way to the room, if Charlotte hadn’t cut me off I would no doubt be cursing at that Viscount.

I plopped myself onto one of the sofas and began muttering dark threats under my breath.

Bloody fucking idiot

Glory I’ll give you glory…

I’ll cut a demon’s head off and dump it on your pretty little desk...

I’m so distracted that I don’t even realise that Charlotte has taken a seat next to me. I only realised when I felt her take my hand.

“Hey you ok?” Charlotte asked gently.

“Huh, yeah… it’s nothing…” I reply as I look away.

“I know you're upset but… try to bear with it...ok?” Charlotte said as she gave my hand another squeeze.

“Yeah, right… sorry…” I reply after taking a deep breath trying to calm down a little.

“I think there’s wounded entering the city.” Ivan said as he stood next to the window peering out.

I immediately stand up and let go of Charlotte’s hand. I rush over to the window and see a line of wagons entering the city in the distance. There was a large square at every entrance to the city no doubt so that the gate could be more easily defended if breached.

I saw the wagons moving past the gate and as I looked my vision seemed to tunnel slightly and my vision zoomed in slightly. I guess my high [Perception] stat also let’s me see over long distances. It didn’t zoom in much but it was enough for me to see that those weren’t wounded in those wagons. They were corpses…

“Those aren’t the injured, they’re the dead…” I say through gritted teeth.

I counted five wagons filled to the brim with bodies. The bodies were just piled haphazardly on top of each other.

“There must be at least a hundred bodies down there…” I say as I punch the side of the wall cracking the fine wood.

I blink and I’m back in Sapporo, my platoon had just been pulled off the line. We had lost too many men and were combat ineffective. So we were stuck back in the forward base cooling our heels while we waited for the next batch of cannon fodder.

There was a truck, a military ten tonner truck, it’s back was filled with bodies, some boys, some girls, some missing half their heads, some missing limbs… all of them kids…

Then I smell it as I approach the truck, the smell of rotting flesh. There’s so much blood it’s dribbling out from the back of the tank. The faces of the dead, their cold eyes gazing into nothing, pupils dilated in terror, mouths open in a soundless scream…

Katsuro?

“Not now Naomi.” I snap as I hear her voice from behind me.

Katsuro?

I hear again and I lose my patience, I wheel around and I’m back in the room…

I look at Charlotte, who is standing there, her brows furrowed in worry.

“Hey man you ok?” Jacob asked as he put a hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine…” I say as I clear my throat.

“You called me Naomi…” Charlotte said softly.

I freeze at those words and I feel a lump in my throat. As old memories started to surface again.

“Charlotte…” Jacob chided from the side.

“Right… sorry…” Charlotte said looking away.

“It’s fine, just some bad memories that’s all…” I say.

“Oh… I’m sorry I asked… that was… tactless of me…” Charlotte said apologetically as she bit her lip.

“No, it’s ok. Naomi was… a friend…” I reply softly.

“I lost a lot of friends back home…” I say as I walk away from the window and take a weary seat on the sofa as I pinched the bridge of my nose. Trying to blink the ghosts of the past out my vision.

“Perhaps we should get some rest, we will need it for the battles to come.” Ivan said as turned his head from the window.

“Yeah, that would be good I think.” Jacob said.

Later that evening we were invited to dinner with the Viscount. There we met his family, his wife is a pretty woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She looked to be about the same age as the count. He also had two daughters and a son. One daughter was in her teens probably about 15 years old and the younger one looked to be about a year or two younger in her early teens. They were both a splitting image of their mother, I bet if you aged them up ten years they would pass for the wife’s sister. The son was the oldest looking to be about old as me, making him about 16 to 17.

I’ll turn 17 in about a month… I think… I don’t really remember what day it was when I left. The days tend to blend together when you are fighting a war everyday. I mostly get updated on what day it is when we get our orders to attack as there is usually a date and time if it’s a large operation.

The food was extremely lavish, there was an entire suckling pig on the table. The pig was almost a metre and a half long. I’m pretty sure you could feed thirty people with this pig alone. Not only that there were fish, stews, hams, cheeses and much… much more.

In terms of food this is the best we’ve received so far, it would probably be delicious if I could taste any of it. My taste although improving is still dulled to the point where most things just taste under seasoned. So I mostly just grabbed whatever would be easy to eat, like the salad for greens, some ham for protein, fruits for vitamins, bread for carbohydrates and nuts for… iron? Nuts are important I’m sure…

In truth I was done quite quickly so as usual I reached for the cup of wine in front of me. This I could taste and by taste I mean feel. I may not be able to taste the flavour but I can certainly feel the burn as it went down.

As I examined the table I saw the two daughters eyeing Jacob, the younger one was sneaking looks at him while the older one was eyeing him like a piece of meat. Surprisingly none of them were interested in Ivan, well he wasn’t as handsome as Jacob but still, he had a level cap of 100. As I glanced over to Ivan I noticed he was talking to Volva who was listening to him with rapt attention.

Ohh… I know that look, so that’s why… looks like Ivan’s taken then. Well Ivan doesn’t seem to be any the wiser about the way Volva was looking at him, my best guess he has no idea. If I’m honest Ivan doesn’t come across as the type that would be very sensitive to this kind of thing. I mean the guy is tough as nails, hard as rock but I guess he’s as dull as one when it comes to the fairer sex.

I look at the son and as I expected he’s eyeing Charlotte. Well Charlotte is beautiful even by the standards of this world. If you put her next to the princess it would be hard to definitively say who is better looking. The decision would have to be made based on your tastes I suppose, Charlotte is more petite and generally looked to be the ideal example of feminine purity. The princess has a much curvier body and larger chest. That combined with her striking red lipstick and platinum hair made her look much more sensual than Charlotte.

“You finished already?” I heard Charlotte ask.

“Yeah, I can barely taste most of it anyway. So I just covered my food groups.” I reply as I look over.

“Hopefully one day you can taste food again. When that day comes I’ll make something for you.” Charlotte said with a warm smile.

“You can cook?” I ask, surprised.

“Don’t sound so surprised. I don’t have the servants do everything you know.” Charlotte replied looking a little annoyed.

“So you cook all your own meals?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Well… no, it’s more of a hobby… Oh quiet you!” Charlotte said as she gave me a little shove on my shoulder.

“Alright I’m sorry.” I say with a small laugh.

“Hmphh.” Charlotte said as she crossed her arms and looked away pouting.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you.” I say as I reach over and place a hand on her shoulder.

I felt her shoulders relax at my touch and she turned around to look at me, uncrossing her arms.

“So what can you cook?” I ask, this time a bit more seriously.

“I don’t cook, I bake, I’m quite good at making cakes and tarts.” Charlotte said.

“Oh I used to like eating fruit tarts, you know... before Japan ran out of fruit.” I say.

“Then tell me when your taste is more or less back to normal, then I’ll make you some.” Charlotte said with a smile but her smile faltered towards the end.

“It is getting better right?” Charlotte asked her brows furrowing into worry again.

“Yeah it is.” I say with a smile, I’m lying honestly, I can’t tell if it’s getting much better.

“I’ll let you know when my sense of taste comes back.” I say.

“Promise?” Charlotte asks, as she raises her right hand and extends her pinky.

“Promise.” I say as I link my pinky with hers.

“You know in Japan we call this the Yubikiri.” I say.

“Yubikiri?” Charlotte asked.

“It roughly means, finger-cut off swear.” I say.

“Oh… that’s a bit extreme.” Charlotte said, slightly taken aback.

“Then you won’t like what we usually say next.” I say with a playful smirk.

“What?” Charlotte asked with a bemused grin as she looked at my smile.

“We then say, pinky swear, whoever lies will be made to swallow a thousand needles.” I say with a laugh.

“Are Japanese sayings always so extreme?” Charlotte replied with a laugh.

“Well our ancestors were samurai afterall, death before dishonour and all that.” I say.

“Well then I’ll hold you to that promise, on pain of needles. One day I’ll make you some treats.” Charlotte said.

“You got it.” I say as I extract my finger from hers.

As I do so I sense a cold chill on the back of my neck and I turn to see the son glaring at me. I narrow my eyes and he looks away instantly.

“Lady Charlotte, how are you enjoying the food?” I hear the Viscount ask.

“It is very good my lord. You honour me with your hospitality.” Charlotte said with a smile.

“Think nothing of it, in fact I was hoping to introduce you to my son. He is a rising officer in the army and will soon be knighted to the Grey Eagles Knight order.” the Viscount said as he gestured to the son.

“Greetings Lady Charlotte, apologies for the late introduction. I am Aurelio Orelais pleased to make your acquaintance my lady.” Aurelio said with a smile.

“It is an honour my lord, I would like to apologise for my late introduction.” Charlotte said sweetly.

“Do not trouble yourself with it, I must say the rumors do not do your beauty justice my lady.” Aurelio said.

“Thank you for your praise my lord. I would be remiss with your introduction if I do not introduce my compatriots as well. This is Jacob Smith the Light Hero.” Charlotte said as she gestured to Jacob.

“Nice to meet you.” Jacob said with a cordial smile.

“This is Ivan son of Igor.” Charlotte said as she gestured to Ivan.

“A pleasure.” Ivan said with a curt nod.

Charlotte then proceeded to introduce the four girls with her usual grace and a civility. Then it was my turn.

“And this is the Dark Hero, Onaga Katsuro. He is a veteran soldier from his world, experienced in the art of war and many enemies he has felled. You will be hard pressed to find a more capable and valiant soldier.” Charlotte said as she turned her head towards me with a gentle smile and a soft expression on her face.

She reached out and placed a gentle hand on my arm and her facial expression for all intents and purposes looked like a love struck maiden. Then she winked with her right eye which was out of sight of the Viscount family that was sitting opposite us. Catching her meaning I returned the smile and placed my hand on hers.

“Always a pleasure to meet another aspiring soldier, perhaps I could give you some pointers on combat. Training is all well and good but I have battlefield experience that would no doubt be useful to you.” I say as I turn back to face Aurelio who is now wearing a dark expression on his face.

“I can tell you will be a capable warrior, I have an eye for such things after my years in combat. I could offer some knowledge to you if you like.” I say cordially.

“If you don’t mind the hassle Dark Hero, I would greatly appreciate your advice.” Aurelio said in a slightly clipped tone.

He wasn’t actually going to take up my offer judging by the look on his face. It seems Charlotte was really good at this…

Charlotte managed to deflect that forced introduction without a single word of refusal. A few words of praise from her, a hand on my arm and a lovestruck expression was more than enough of a message to Aurelio. She wasn’t interested in him, why would she be? After all there is a more capable warrior, who has a level cap leagues above him which she spends most of her time with. Masterfully done…

Take a seat kid, you're outclassed…

The rest of the meal finished up with no more forced introductions and now full we headed back up to the room. When we reached it I took a seat on the sofa and Charlotte took a seat next to me.

“That was well done.” I say with a smirk.

“Oh you mean that introduction?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah, I can see why you asked me to let you do the talking. I would have just told him off honestly.” I say.

“Hmm, diplomacy is a subtle art, it can be approached extremely methodically. The theory is easy enough to understand, the struggle is that you have to make your move the moment the other party’s line ends. The Viscount… has a crude understanding at best for the rigours of diplomatic speech.” Charlotte said.

“Crude understanding?” I ask curiously.

“He should know that you are a soldier and a capable one. Not only that he should know that you wounded the knight commander at level 1. There is no way his son could outclass you in terms of military skill or achievement. When he brought up his son’s military career it was easy enough to deflect it. I barely had to do anything, he dug his own ditch and proceeded to throw himself into it.” Charlotte said with a smirk.

“So how would you approach it?” I ask, I may be good at war, but Charlotte is far my superior in diplomacy. I mean, I’m not exactly a subtle guy…

“Well if I were him, he would first ask what I enjoy or have interest in. Then he should drop that subject momentarily and press home the point that that meal was extremely lavish and expensive. Etiquette would then demand that I say that I am grateful for his hospitality, which implies a small debt that needs to be paid. Then he should mention that his son has similar interests as me but is not as experienced in that field and then propose a short meeting. He should ask me directly to give some advice to his son, with that I would be obliged to return the debt of the meal and accept the request. In that scenario I would be sitting in a private room with his son instead of being in here.” Charlotte explained.

“Huh, remind me never to get into an argument with you.” I say with a smirk.

“Oh we don’t do this to people we are close with. It’s considered bad form and a sign of disfavour. My father once spoke to me like this on an occasion where I did something wrong, it is an extremely cold thing to do when you are speaking with someone that you have a close relationship with.” Charlotte said with a smile.

“Glad to hear it.” I say with a laugh.

“Well doing this requires a clear head. If you are genuinely upset it would be hard to think so clearly. Usually arguments with loved ones or close friends are emotionally charged, meaning neither party can do it most of the time even if they wanted to.” Charlotte said.

“Besides it wouldn’t work anyway even if the Viscount succeeded in setting up a meeting.” Charlotte added with a giggle.

“Yeah I don’t imagine you would be interested in that guy.” I say.

“Not just that, part of being a noble is knowing your own position. A Visount is quite low in the aristocracy hierarchy. It’s a rank lower than a Countess or Earl and even a Earl would be considered a poor match for a Duchess. Judging but what I’ve seen so far, the heroes are partners worthy of royalty. My best guess would be that our social strata would be only lower to the royal family. I mean just look at the way the princess behaves towards you. The four of us are the most desirable partners on the continent. If aristocratic tradition is to be held strictly, I would not even consider choosing a Viscount’s son.” Charlotte said.

“Sounds complicated.” I say with a smirk.

“It is… also quite stifling truth be told… but that’s not the only reason I wouldn’t consider the offer…” Charlotte said shyly as she blushed slightly.

Afterall, I have eyes for someone else...