Alexandria Terramanz

I sipped my tea as Sir Foltest, who took it upon himself to act as guard tensed. Brigette who at some point had gotten behind him noticed.

“Sir Foltest what’s wrong?”

He squinted at something, or someone then suddenly broke into a grin.

“Seems like an old acquaintance wants to talk.”

“Shall we accompany you?”

“No need, I want to talk to him alone first. you’re free to listen and watch.”

I nodded and looked at where Sir Foltest was staring, and I recognized who it was from the stories that Sir Foltest told me about.

A man in a wheelchair, light brown skin, a chiseled face, dark black eyes, black hair though not as dark as mine. That can only be the crippled lord! the former “Prodigal Swordsman” Oberon Flamberge! Oops! He probably would not want to be called the crippled lord. I wonder how he wants to be addressed though.

At some point, they had reached a distance where they could talk but they just stared at each other. Brigette pulled up a chair and sat next to me. I had been paying so much attention to the two of them that I did not notice the woman pushing Oberon Flamberges' wheelchair.

I glanced at her and was slightly surprised. She had blood red hair that ran a little past her shoulder and her skin was paler than any she had seen before, her face was beautifully symmetric and her eye-, I jumped because she suddenly turned her gaze towards me.

“My Lady you startled me. what is it? Brigette said surprised.

“It’s nothing just don’t stare at that woman.” Brigette probably understood since there was only one other woman besides the two of us nearby.

“I understand.”

I nodded at her and kept my eyes on Sir Foltest and Oberon Flamberge.

Red hair, pale skin, and blue eyes are not something we see here often in Sagitta. Where is she from? The Orion Kingdom? No, I have seen a few Orions, and they look nothing like her. Maybe from somewhere in the unexplored lands. I remember old man Wes would often tell us stories about the unexplored lands when we could not sleep or misbehaved. He spoke of creatures beyond human imagination and of no matter of weapons being able to hurt them. Those stories used to scare my sister Ludivine the most. How simple those times were. Even Sylvain was a better person back then or maybe I was just blind to the truth. I have never asked Brigette when the abuse started. I tell myself it is because I am waiting for her to open up about that part of her life. But another part of me knows that I simply do not want to learn the truth. If I knew that the abuse started when I was able to do something about it, but I failed to notice I would probably never forgive myself. If it was not for Sir Fol-

“Bahahaha!” Sir Foltests deep bellowing laugh knocked me out of my reverie and startled Brigette, and surely attracted other people’s attention despite how deep in the garden we were.

It seemed that something happened that finally broke the tense silence though looking at the red-haired woman’s lack of reaction you would not be able to tell.

“Even a beast without claws or fangs is still able to hunt it seems.” Sir Foltest said,

“I will take that as a compliment Sir Foltest.” Oberon Flamberge replied with a smile.

“So, what do you want? I am sure you did not come all the way here just to reminisce, did you? Though I would not mind if that were the case.”

Oberon Flamberge nodded “I would not mind reminiscing a bit with you either Sir but truthfully I came here to meet the third princess lady Alexandria Terramanz the Baroness of Aquilae.”

I was surprised by his boldness but gave the matter some thought.

Sir Foltest did not turn to me but said. “Your thoughts my Lady?”

I would be lying if I said I was not interested. Those two have a fascinating story to tell of that I have no doubt and though he is no longer a noble he was still able to get an invite to the royal palace.

My mind made up I stood up. “I would like to invite the both of you to join us for tea. But before that, I believe proper introductions are in order.”

“I am the Baroness of Aquilae and third princess of the Sagitta Kingdom Alexandria Terramanz. You are already familiar with Sir Foltest.”

Sir Foltest merely smiled and nodded at them. I gestured for Brigette to take my hand so I could introduce her. Brigette took my hand and stood up.

“Introducing the Aquilae castle Stewardess Lady Brigette.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Brigette bowed.

“It’s a pleasure to make you acquaintance Lady Brigette, Lady Alexandria, and to be reacquainted with you again Sir Foltest.” Oberon Flamberge acknowledged.

Oberon stared at sir Foltest and again another silent battle took place. Fortunately, this one did not take long to resolve. Sir Foltest nodded at him then he walked and stood next to Brigette and I. The red-haired woman pushed Oberon Flamberge closer to us until he raised his hand stopping her at a respectable distance away.

“I am the former lord Oberon Flamberge but now I simply go by Oberon.”

Well, now I know how to address him but to simply address him as Oberon feels wrong.

He gestured for the red-haired women to step forward. “Introducing my attendant Valeria.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Alexandria, Brigitte, Sir Foltest.”

I was slightly stunned. What a rich velvety voice. Fortunately, I was able to recover quickly.

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“Now that we are acquainted with each other let us drink tea and discuss whatever it is that you wanted to discuss or- Oberon.”

As I thought it will take me a while to get used to simply referring to him as Oberon unconsciously. Now I wonder what he will want to discuss with me.

Valeria

“Oberon, Valeria do you have any tea preference?” Alexandria asked while the stewardess prepared the tea.

“I do not drink tea, but Oberon has his preference that he always carries with him.” I reached into Oberon's wheelchair pocket and grabbed the black tea and handed it over to the stewardess Brigette to prepare.

“May I ask what type of tea this is?” Brigette asked.

“It is a black tea imported from the Sagittarii duchy,” Oberon answered.

“While we wait for the tea to be prepared I have some questions for you Oberon,” Alexandria said.

Oberon nodded his head in anticipation.

“I do not mean any offense when I ask this but how is it that you came to be invited to the royal palace?”

Sir Foltest who was practicing with his greatsword began paying attention to the conversation now.

Seems he is curious as well. Alexandria chose a good opening question. While everyone else that was invited is a noble of some sort, we are the odd ones. I of course was never nobility and Oberon was stripped of his.

“I take no offense at all Lady Alexandria. You are not the only one curious about why someone who was stripped of his rank and title is here, of that I have no doubt. The truth is I am not exactly sure why I was invited but I can venture to guess. This may sound arrogant, but I believe I am one of the most influential people in Sagittae.”

Alexandria seemed taken aback and blinked.

She does not believe him. Well, that will make her reaction all the better.

Sir Foltest just stroked his beard and contemplated.

Seems like he has a bit more faith in Oberon than Alexandria that may not be so surprising since he knows Oberon.

Brigette also seemed taken aback but she continued preparing the tea.

“Can you back up your statement Oberon? What proof do you have that makes you believe you are so influential?”

Although the questions seem confrontational Alexandria is genuinely curious to know if it is true and there is no malice in her questions.

“Lady Alexandria were you aware of the food shortage in the city around three years ago?” Oberon asked calmly.

“I was aware of it yes, but I don’t know much about what happened or how it was resolved.”

Unsurprisingly, the nobles in the city did not want it known that the crisis they were facing was not solved by them but by someone they considered a mere merchant. The fact that Oberon was former nobility was probably what stopped the nobles from doing something too drastic.

“Well, to say I single-handedly resolved it would be a lie, but I will not downplay my involvement either. I still have ties and connections to Vesterwood and through those connections, I was able to purchase a large amount of grain and foodstuffs at a significantly lower price than usual. Then I sold some of the grains and foodstuffs to vendors here in the city at a low price so they could distribute the food in the city at an affordable price. Finally, I opened kitchens in the slums where those who could not afford food could have a meal every other day. It is not the most appetizing, but it fills people up and they are still running to this day. What I want to get across by telling you this is that to the common folk I am a hero for being of great help in a time of crisis and in the time since I have helped the people of Sagittae in various other ways. I may not be able to field soldiers or knights but if I ask something of the populace I believe they will listen.”

I smiled slightly. Oberon indeed has connections in Vesterwood they are however through blackmail and extortion. While most merchants followed through to sell at an affordable price there were still some now missing greedy merchants who tried to skip town to make a higher profit elsewhere. More than Oberons altruism the kitchens are running to serve as cover for other operations now as well.

I gauged their reactions and found them satisfactory. Though the stewardess Brigette was so shocked that she nearly spilled Oberon's tea. I grabbed the tray from her shaking hands and finished preparing it while looking at the other reactions.

I filled a cup of tea and glanced at Alexandria. She seems surprised but also impressed. That is good if we want to use her, she needs to have a favorable impression of us. Handing the cup of tea to Oberon I then looked at Sir Foltest.

Not much of a reaction other than slightly surprised as he continues to stroke his beard.

“Oberon though I cannot verify what you said at the moment I do believe you are telling the truth as such large claims are bound to have evidence. And I cannot imagine other than impressing me for the moment, what you gain by lying only for the truth to be revealed later.” Alexandria said.

“I appreciate your tacit trust Lady Alexandria. However, I can imagine many men making greater claims to impress you for a moment.”

Wow! Starting to sweet talk her already! Should I be upset?

Alexandria examined Valeria and smiled at Oberon. “With such a beautiful woman already by your side Oberon I don’t think you are one of those men.”

“Some men are greedier than other Lady Alexandria. Though, you are right about me. I just spoke honestly.” Oberon said as he reached out to grab my hand in an attempt to gauge if I was upset.

I accepted it and squeezed hard enough to make him flinch in response.

“I believe him as well my Lady, if he is the same Oberon that I once knew then he is not the type to blow smoke. If he says he helped solve the food shortage three years ago then he did. Rather than stopping at verifying facts we need to look into the details of his claims.” Sir Foltest said as he grinned at the both of us.

Never have I met anyone who I wished their appearance matched their intellect more than this man. Could you not have been satisfied being just a simple brute?

Before Oberon could say anything in response the stewardess Brigette spoke first.

“I have a question if you don’t mind answering it. There is a popular bread shop near the blue tower named “Valeria’s Bread Shop.” Is there any relationship between the shop and the two of you?”

I wanted to answer but Oberon was quicker. “Indeed, there is a connection Lady Brigette, but I will let Valeria explain further.”

I began to massage Oberons shoulders as a reward for noticing and began explaining.

“Shortly after the food shortage crisis was resolved a couple by the name of Felia and Rowe came to Oberon and I asking for help in financing and supplying grains to help them open a bread shop. They must have learned that we bought grain from Vesterwood at a low price which is where they were from so that was the type of grain they were used to working with. They promised us 60 percent of the money made in the first year as a sign of good faith which then became 40 percent after the first year, we agreed of course, and managed to supply the grain as promised. Oberon and I personally delivered the first sacks of grain to the couple at their storefront. As the area surrounding the blue tower is quite popular my beauty gathered many admirers who were soon pretending to be going in the same direction as us. When we arrived at the store I announced that if they wished to see me again they should visit “Valeria’s Bread Shop” at the time a name for the shop had yet to be chosen and the name caught on, so Felia and Rowe kept it. That is my part in creating the most popular bread shop in Sagittae!” I said proudly.

Brigette clapped in appreciation of my tale, Alexandria nodded impressed, and Sir Foltest took practice swings with his clothed greatsword again.

“Impressive! can I assume that you have similar arrangements with other establishments Oberon, Valeria?” Alexandria asked.

“Yes, though none are as successful as the bread shop.”

“Well, now I am certainly starting to believe you are as influential in this city as you say you are Oberon!”

I can feel that now is the time to strike while Alexandria is impressed and excited. Sir Foltests presence is bothersome but as long as we are not too bold he will not push back more than necessary.

“I am glad you think so Lady Alexandria because now I feel like I can tell you my reason for approaching you.”

Sir Foltest stopped swinging his greatsword and stood next to Alexandria and Brigette. I enhanced my vision then strained my hearing and confirmed there was no one close enough to see or overhear us. I gave a nod to Oberon to let him know it was safe to continue.

“Lady Alexandria I want to support you in your efforts to become Queen of Sagitta!”