As the toasts concluded, Adon managed to send a telepathic message to his assigned servant.

Excuse me, sir, but I would appreciate a small serving of sweet pudding, if that could be arranged, he sent.

The man looked around, slightly alarmed, until Adon added, This is the butterfly, by the way.

Then the servant seemed to breathe a sigh of relief—as if glad to discover that he was not, in fact, insane—and the mask of decorum fell over him again.

As you wish, sir butterfly, he thought.

Then he whispered the same words.

Dinner conversation had broken out around them now that the toasts were finished, so Adon did not think the noise carried.

And a few minutes later, a small dish of pudding was delivered.

Adon would have clapped if he had hands. The pudding was as delicious as any of the sweet drinks that he had been consuming, and it added a milky novelty to the flavor profile of the evening. He made a mental note to ask for this stuff again.

The conversation between the royals and the Duke’s sons began again near Adon, but he was not initially part of it—aside from listening in, which he did eagerly, trying to learn as much as he could about the world of the nobility.

The King and Queen occasionally jumped in, but they mostly spoke quietly to each other and let Rosslyn and the young lords talk among themselves.

There was some banter back and forth, mainly about Rosslyn, William, and Frederick’s respective combat training. Adon gathered from context as well as Telepathy that for Dessians, every male subject was expected to serve in the military for some part of their life. It was also understood that the sons of the Duke of Dessia would traditionally serve as officers.

“It is a pity none of our respective tours of service overlapped,” Rosslyn said. This was apparently meant to be a subtle reference to the fact that she had spent more time in the military than either William or Frederick. Both of them had served only a token period, in part because for Dessia, this was a relatively peaceful time. William was three years older than Rosslyn, while Frederick was only one year older.

Adon marveled slightly at how much context he would have missed out on if he had not been getting snippets from Telepathy.

“I nevertheless had a good impression of you from your officer corps when my unit visited your border region,” said Frederick.

The accompanying thought there was, They were all eager to inscribe their names on the young Princess’s heart, even though they had never met her. Poor bastards. My brother has never labored a day for your country, but it will be he who wins her hand.

“That is curious,” said Rosslyn, “seeing as my term of service had only just begun at the time you started yours, Frederick.”

She detected some hidden mockery in Frederick’s words, but she could not be certain.

“I do not know how to account for it, either, Rosslyn,” he said innocently. “I suppose word of your prowess as a leader spread quickly.”

Rosslyn smiled as if the words were a genuine compliment. Adon knew she wanted to frown.

“I have heard good things about your leadership as an officer,” William agreed, playing the moment completely sincerely. “Though my source was within the Dessian officer corps.”

Adon picked up that the Dessians and Claustrians sometimes engaged in joint military exercises—and also that William was thinking about kicking his brother under the table. So far, the older brother seemed like a decent guy.

I guess he probably will marry Rosslyn, Adon thought. If William was a bad person, Adon would simply tell the Princess whatever she needed to know to reject him. But William did not seem that way to Adon. At least not yet.

The only real mark against William was that he was ambitious. He knew that he was here to try to win Rosslyn—and therefore to try and win the throne of Claustria. When he could, he had steered the evening’s conversation to subjects like the military, which he knew Rosslyn was interested in. He was trying to make a favorable impression and leave nothing to chance.

It felt like there was something vaguely manipulative about it, but wasn’t this just how dating worked, in the universes Adon had visited where dating was a thing—as opposed to here, where there was no such custom?

Adon did not know. He wished he had ever had William’s relative charm. The man was even able to smooth out the little hiccups that his brother kept causing. Frederick clearly thought the Claustrians were a bit simple, unsophisticated compared to the brothers and the Dessian nobility.

“At least the rumors are good,” Rosslyn said. “I suppose I cannot complain if people talk about me with earnest approval. I have always tried to earn it—from the soldiers in particular.”

Adon heard the caveat in her thoughts—the only person whose approval she cared about more than that of the soldiers had always been her father. She wondered what he thought of how she was holding her end of the conversation.

William’s eyes fell on Goldie and Adon for a moment.

“Speaking of rumors,” he said in a low voice, “I have heard a rumor that mystic beasts can shapeshift. Transform their bodies into whatever form pleases them. Perhaps it is more lore than rumor. But I have been wondering, since we got here, is there anything to that?”

Adon choked on his drink for a moment as William’s thoughts on this subject came through. They were more images than verbalized ideas. Images of Goldie in a humanoid form, performing indecent services—on William’s brother Frederick.

William looked at Adon as the sound of the butterfly choking gurgled through the air. The young lord’s expression was carefully blank.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Have to make sure I do not give away that I can read his mind, Adon told himself.

His eyes darted to look at Goldie for a moment, but of course, she was completely unaffected by what William had been thinking.

“William!” Rosslyn exclaimed—more harshly than she had intended, Adon knew at once—dropping the napkin she had just been holding into her lap as she spoke.

Her voice was still hushed, fortunately, but the Duke’s heir looked chagrined.

Rosslyn, what is going on? Adon transmitted to her specifically.

Her face colored slightly. Well, this is not an ideal way for you to find this out…

For me to find out what?! Adon wondered.

Then he repeated those words, in a slightly calmer tone, to Rosslyn.

Um, can I explain it later? she asked. This is a delicate topic. Adon felt a hastily erected wall blocking him from reading any deeper thoughts on this subject. He sensed that he might be able to climb over it, but he chose to trust in the Princess instead—for now, at least.

“Um, my apologies, Princess,” William said uncertainly.

“It is a rather rude topic of conversation,” she said, trying to calm herself.

“I understand,” William said, the corners of his lips turning up slightly as if he was restraining a smile—which Adon sensed that he was. “I should know better than to make a reference to, um, bodily functions at the table, in front of a lady.”

A reference to bodily functions is not the whole problem, and you know it, Adon heard Rosslyn thinking.

She remained annoyed but tried to calm herself down.

“I appreciate your understanding, my lord,” she said formally.

William reacted to the use of the formal phrasing as if he had been slapped in the face. His facial expression soured, and his hand tightened on his silverware. Then he took a few quick, deep breaths and shoveled a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

How was that inappropriate in your mind, if you don’t mind my asking? Adon transmitted, again only directing the communication to Rosslyn.

He thought he saw her blush deepen slightly.

Truly? You too? she thought back at him, her inner voice flustered.

Well, I would have transformed my shape in front of him, if it would reduce any tension, Adon replied. I’m not embarrassed. Plus, I think that Adaptation probably became more potent after my adventure with the Golden Eagle, and I haven’t really tested it out yet.

Please wait on that, she thought instantly. I should add that it was inappropriate in more than one way. The remark could be construed as discussion of a bodily function at the table, which is certainly a breach of etiquette. But a more important issue is that those who know about your existence will see the country’s resident mystic beasts as an extension of our military power. By asking if you can transform your shape, he is trying to assess how far your power has developed. People tend to look at a country’s adventurers the same way… If you just wanted to test your Adaptation out in front of an audience, Goldie or I could watch you later.

Adon wanted to tell Rosslyn that trying to measure his power had not actually been at the forefront of William’s mind—and were the brothers really playing these kinds of games in dealing with their ally, with a war with the Empire looming over the Kingdom?—but at the same time, Adon found the actual subject of William’s motives far too embarrassing to broach. And for all he knew, despite the rather lewd thought he’d intercepted, the Duke’s sons had come here with orders to gauge Claustrian strength.

I guess I understand, Adon sent. Do you really believe they’re thinking that way with the Empire on the march?

It took Rosslyn a minute to formulate a response for him, because she was engaging William in a conversation about something else—small talk about their respective palace gardens—and it was understandably difficult to carry two conversations at once.

The nations that are not directly on the front lines with the Empire never take them as seriously as we do, Rosslyn finally thought. Even Dessia, which has a long military tradition and has taken part in every war with the Empire waged on this continent, is probably too relaxed. It has been a century since they last had to fight the Empire. They will likely stand with us, because of my father’s close relationship with Duke Pruford. But they probably believe we are in our present state of high alert, not because of how dangerous the Empire is, but because we are weak. The brothers no doubt believe that they could defend Claustria better than we could if they themselves were in charge. I will grant that Dessia has always punched above its weight in matters of war. They are still catching up to Claustria in population, but it would be impossible for us to conquer them even with our four hundred thousand additional subjects. That does not mean they are a match for the Empire, though, any more than we are.

There was a short lull in the conversation with the young lords while Rosslyn was communicating to Adon, and Goldie took that as an opportunity to insert herself into the discussion. She had previously been quietly chatting with Samson.

The two of you traveled a long way, I understand, Goldie sent to the young lords, Rosslyn, Samson, and Adon all together. Was it, um, safe to do that? What is it like, traveling across the land?

Adon observed what was probably unnoticeable to everyone else—the concern Goldie had about the idea of leaving the safety of her familiar environments, which she was trying to use the brothers to either validate or alleviate.

To them, it probably just felt like small talk.

“For a vulnerable young maiden, I confess the trip would have been hazardous,” William said. “We had to hang a few bandits on our way here. But the Branden Guard protect every member of the Dessian ruling house. Even if my brother and I were not capable of defending ourselves, they would have seen us safely to the capital. They have never lost a single member of our family, whether to assassins, brigands, or monsters, in the two centuries since Duke Branden established them.”

“A most noble institution,” said the King, who Adon had almost forgotten was sitting right next to Rosslyn. “I am glad they kept you safe on the difficult road here.”

In his mind, Alistair added, They must have been attacked within Dessia. I am certain the army wiped out nearly all the brigands in Claustia, and none of those clever enough to survive would have been foolish enough to go after the brothers and their guards.

“Doubtless, our noble mystic beasts would not need to worry about traveling,” said Frederick. “They could avoid any such enemies by simply retaining their natural shape—or kill them, undoubtedly, as they preferred. I assume the three of you have mastered basic Mana use.”

There was a question in his tone as he spoke those last words. This, Adon sensed, was an actual attempt to gauge his and Goldie’s powers.

He quickly and carefully composed a message to Goldie alone.

Don’t say anything to that, he sent. They want to gauge how strong the three of us are.

Adon was about to send the same message to Samson, when his brother spoke up all on his own.

We are still working on it, Samson admitted. Adon is the strongest at basic Mana use.

But Samson and Goldie are both extremely promising! Adon added immediately and loudly, flustered at suddenly having to speak up.