The figure in front of me is dressed in a knee-length full-skirted light gray tailor coat, with silver stitchings sewn on the edges. On the bottom, matching trousers rolled just above the ankle where it is met by a pair of light brown leather boots. He has light brown eyes almost amber in color, hair black with a bit of a natural curl, armed with a gentle smile that’s pleasant to look at, he is the human embodiment of sunshine. A very charming person even by modern standards, if this was one of those generic fairy tales he would be placed on the cover as the knight who rescued the princess in the end followed by the very cliche ending of ‘they lived happily ever after’.
My smile faded, the figure in front of me did so as well.
“Definity the blue one.”, I said as the servants bring out a similar outfit colored in blue with gold stitchings. The servants undressed me from the grey clothing and dressed me in this outfit and already the person in the mirror looks more lively.
“You look wonderful, my lord,” the servants shower me with praise. They are right I do look good but I would have chosen the gray outfit, however, this is a ball I’m going to, and despite what you might think there is a correct choice when it comes to dress uniforms.
“Got the carriage ready,” I ordered, the servants all leave the room as I do a final inspection of my uniform.
This is me, I gently touched my face feeling its detail, and this is what I look like well at least in this life. I guess the Japanese called this Isekai but unlike the traditional Japanese version of Isekai where I would be sent on a quest to kill the demon king or some other world-threatening disaster or the Chinese version where I would be perpetually leveling up to gain more life span eventually becoming immortal. So far I have yet to be given any set goals being reincarnated into this body, which I’m certainly piloting to the best of my abilities, at least none that I’m aware of.
Who I was before my reincarnation is not important, just an average person living through life, having an average education provided by the American education system and died from an average car crash the kind that wouldn’t even make it to the news now a day. Mind you I was the passenger of a car, I was not the object hit by the car nor was I in the process of saving a kitten from being run over. It was a very normal death considering the number of people who die from car crashes each year and how likely it is that they are the passenger of said car. Overall I lived a very normal life cut abrupt by a very normal death, a very average person indeed.
No, to be honest being normal and average have become the only thing I can remember from my past life. I’m sure that I could remember more details of my past life when I was younger but as time passed recalling those details became harder and harder, until now where I can only remember a collection of vague events. For example, there is one birthday celebration held for me when I was a kid, around 8 couldn’t have been more than 10, I remembered getting so overjoyed when I got a transforming toy robot from my father. It was one of those popular toys that had commercials playing on the TV every so often, I loved that toy even when I became an adult not so much for playing but more as a memento for that memory, I can’t remember what it looked like. I can’t remember what my father looked like either, nor my mother, I think I had siblings but not sure of how many. Close friends, first loves, hell, I can’t even remember the face I used to have. Eventually, I have grown to accept that this is my face now, this is what I looked like. It might even be a bad deal considering how I used to look; I know that I wasn’t a model or any of those sorts. That’s why I said it's pointless to dwell on the subject of who I used to be in my past life, instead let me tell you of this world that I have reincarnated into.
The land underneath our feet is the Lusian kingdom, others call it the Luse empire they used interchangeably since we do have a monarch, and the many lands that we have conquered and governed over make us an empire but they both refer to the country of Luse. To the west there are hundreds of islands of varying sizes, some under the protection and governance of other countries, others are independent city-states with their own little militia and other miscellaneous islands that don't see much traffics. Even further west lies a continent housing two empires, one up north another down south, for the majority of history since their founding they have been at war with each other, with periods of peace in between only to serve as a buffer for the next conflict.
To the south-east of the Lusian empire are miles and miles of deserts, there house the Omitopian united merchant nation. The name is a bit misleading as it is governed by a monarch but the nation itself is owned and run by a collection of five major guilds each specializing in an area of trade with one of those five guilds are owned and run by the royal family. In term of military, they are perhaps the weakest out of all the power and the reason that they have not been conquered by another nation is that its geography makes any sots of long expedition costly, being surrounded by deserts and all, and there are not nearly enough fortunes are hidden in those sands to warrant any greed from the other nation.
To the east of Omitopia after pasting all the deserts, hits a mountain range past the mountain range are the Dayuan dynasty it is ruled over by an emperor. The same emperor is rumored to have the best network of spies spread out through the dynasty, that nothing happens in its land becomes unannounced to him. There is another nation even further east but words of it rarely reach the Luse empire, what was its name again? Iga, Igie? Something that starts with the ‘Ig’ sound but like I said my knowledge of them is very limited, we hardly receive travelers from there being so far from the empire.
The nation of Luse has existed for over four centuries, five depending on how you choose to view history. It was not until two hundred fifty years ago when it really became an empire with its rapid expansion by way of conquering its neighboring countries. What allowed it to become an empire was not solo through its military might, no, what allowed it to become an empire was the fact that it is literally the center of the world. You heard me right, I did not misuse the word literally.
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When I was younger I was taught by my teacher, hired by my father to teach me the basic knowledge of the world, the lands that make up the world. He told me that Luse was the center of the world, I of course question him what could he mean by that. The teacher didn’t know what I was so confused about, got tired of me staying on that subject told me that I’ll know it when I grow up or some generic words to brush me off to continue teaching. I later found out that no expeditions who traveled past the known world came back, this explains why the map of the world is circular in nature. The world is not flat or anything mind you, ships still sunk into the horizon when sailing off, and the sun still rises and falls, but one noticeable difference is that there are three moons in the sky. Not one, not two but three, though I suppose that's the norm for the people who live here.
Being the center of the world means that Luse became the center of trade with the introduction of ships and vessels that could endure longer voyages. Spices, teas, luxury goods carried by vessels of various origin were offloaded and sold on the Luse market, all the crown had to do is squeeze a small tariff in there and money came in by the boatloads. With that money, Luse built the most devastating military for its time and became what it is today.
I am the oldest son of the Ingalls house, a house even older than the empire itself. We are a very old house going through its house there have been some name changes and multiple successful assassination attempts, we still managed to be one of the most powerful houses in Azlar, the Lusian capital. To put this into perspective we and a couple of other veteran houses own 36 percent of Azlar’s docks, the most prosperous dock in Luse empire, built after its enemy had sabotaged and destroyed the previous capital dock some 200 years ago. This might not mean anything to the common folk but imagine a merchant making his way to Azlar thinking that his cargo is going to fetch a good price on the Lusian market. Only to be told that you have to wait, over the next couple of days or even weeks you watch your cargo’s market price plummet, not even worth the trip you took to get here. I saw this happen to a merchant once, this is one of the handfuls of rules you need to be mindful of when trading in Azlar.
As you might imagine having control over whether or not those merchants can make a profit has led us to become wealthy; bribes, second taxes, however, you might call it, whatever it takes to gain the quickest access to the Luse market. Throughout the years, we also obtained favors from some rather influential individuals by giving access to the docks, all of this that helped us to become the house we are today.
It is not to say we are without equals, our success has warranted jealousy from multiple other houses. The thing about having something wonderful is that other people want what they can't have and they will do whatever necessary to take it from you. One other faction that’s in constant quarrel with us is the Clifonue, they consist of newly founded houses that rose to their new-found status with the growing Azlar market. Most of them have less than two generations of history but put together they are a considerable foe, nonetheless, they control around 23 percent of the docks.
I step onto the carriage prepared for me, inside are glass-paneled windows, black fur rugs, and seats so soft you can feel your body sink in when sat on them. The two pale horses in the front carry me off to Azlar.
Right now I’m going to a ball, a gathering of sorts but not for entertainment but rather an obligation. The downside of living this life is that, well, I’m ashamed to admit this but I’ve got no close friend or at least those in the traditional sense. With each relation and interaction a carefully planned performance, finding true friendship is impossible, for the circle of nobles are cutthroat and see kindness for weakness. My manservant Graham is the closest person that I would consider a friend mostly since we grew up together. I know that by modern standards having your servant as your only friend isn’t considered healthy but it's either that or no friend so let's toss modern values aside.
“Graham, what’s my schedule for today after this ball?”
Graham who sits opposite of me responds:
“My lord, your schedules are clear except for dinner with prince Jeremy.”
“You know you can drop the pleasantry when there’s only the two of us, right?”
“Yes sir,” Graham refusing to drop the mannerism, continues to speak in a formal tone.
Graham and I have not spoken informally since we’ve grown up, we’re like brothers when we were still children but as both of us grew up we grew more distant, I still see him as my friend but he probably only thinks of us as master and servant. I can't blame him, it is probably easier for him this way.
“This isn’t another attempt at convincing me to let one of his ships dock, is it?”
“I’m afraid I can’t speak for the prince, sir”
Prince Jeremy, the third prince of Luse, a natural-born actor. His name is known throughout the kingdom as the kind, humble, noble-hearted prince out of his five contenders. It is impressive that he managed to build this image for himself and gather so much public support. However, from the few encounters I have with him, let's just say that I have not met a prince who doesn’t want to sit on the throne, and prince Jeremy is no exception.
Let's think for a bit.
A prince who wants one of his ships to be docked during a time like this, why would he ask me and not my father for help? Yes, I’m afraid it probably holds contraband of some sort. Drugs? No, the risk is too high and he doesn’t need the money, being a prince if he needs money his supporters would gladly hand it over to him. I’m afraid the only thing that ship would be smuggling are weapons, and not just small firearms, otherwise there would be no need to hide, but enough to arm a small platoon. If I did help him with this I’d be forced to be on his side in the fight for the throne.
“Haaaa…… ” I gave out a long depressing sigh.
This is why I can’t make friends in the capital, with all the political drama, deception, and chance of betrayal at every turn, how could I. They never saw me as a person but as of the oldest son of house Ingalls.
As we passed the slums and the dock area, we arrived at the place for the ball, a Marquess’ house. Graham opens the carriage door for me as I step off preparing myself to suffer another day of dealing with the deceiving creatures called nobles.