...
Later, at the library
Two youths strolled into the library. The atmosphere between them could have been better, as when one of them wanted to start a conversation, the other responded with shrugs, throwing then the question back, signaling that they didn't want to answer it, which made an exciting exchange impossible.
One of them was Alexander, wearing a slightly crumpled-up blazer and having unkempt hair and fur while looking for something. In contrast, Emma looked like a Lady from a picture book on etiquette, exemplifying nobility. Her black dress perfectly matched her bluish hair, fur, and eye color, making her look like a beautiful puppet made of porcelain. Every choice she made regarding her outfit made her appear much more mature than she actually was, even older than the company she was with.
"Alexander, what do you think about what happened at the Silver-Tail estate?"
"It was bad, I guess, but what do you think?"
Emma looked at him and sighed, finding her rendezvous rather dull. It was as if Alexander didn't know what to talk about, and thus, brought her to the library to get some inspiration while she tried to find interesting topics by herself, but nothing helped.
Seeing Alexander, he also seemed a little drained and spaced out, probably because of the rendezvous with her sister and likely the spar they had, 'Damn it, Matilda! What is wrong with you?!'
It was clearly too much for him to spar and have another rendezvous afterward, but she also thought it was not too much to ask for some semi-interesting conversation. All he did was answer them casually and throw the question back to her, expecting her to have a monologue while he could relax.
It wasn't fun and felt more like when she went to her first ball at the Heart-Fire estate, where she talked mostly to her older peers, who couldn't hold a candle to her intelligence.
"It's fine."
Emma demanded a lot from her future husband and knew that if she found someone as intelligent as her, he would probably have ambitions to go to the North and West. If this were the case, he would also look for someone strong, not caring if it matched their intellect, following the tradition of their Knightages. Thus, she was ready to join a harem, as she also didn't know it differently and found it quite pleasing.
Of course, she could look for someone strong and intelligent, but someone like that usually didn't exist as the day only had so many hours. From watching her Father, who she would describe as reasonably clever, she saw a lot of potential but knew that honing his sword arts took a lot of time. She believed one should choose one thing and concentrate on it to become the best, never mind what she found was more important or appealing.
Hearing how intelligent and charming Alexander was made her eager to meet him, but after spending some time with him, she became increasingly disappointed. Even though exhausted, she thought he wouldn't be more eloquent after a good night's sleep.
However, considering all his accomplishments, he seemed very intelligent and ambitious, but so was a hog who tried to carve out territory against other monsters, and looking at her current situation, both the hog and Alexander were equally stimulating in their fluency.
She wanted to have someone with whom she could converse for hours about politics, economy, fine arts, military arts, administration, etc. She was curious and loved listening to others' thoughts and trying to discuss them. However, for this to happen, grunting wasn't enough.
She needed constant input. Her natural [Intelligence] attribute was 33, making her a genius. Thus, her partner would also need to be close to it. Otherwise, she would feel like she was having a rendezvous with an animal.
Despite her arrogant thoughts, she wouldn't voice them directly. She wanted to become an administrator, and building relationships was necessary, even more so with her peers, who would become highly important later, especially someone like Alexander, 'Never mind, let's just suffer through this Outer Circle again.'
It wasn't the first time her Mother, Cecilia, wanted to partner her up with some apparently brilliant youth, but it never worked out. They were clever but relative to others their age, which didn't mean much. Ultimately, Emma only stayed at the estates and suffered through weeks of bland discurs.
"Ah! Here we go!"
Emma looked to the side, seeing Alexander picking up a book with those great parchments the Leonandra's had, showing her proudly, "You know what this is?"
She shook her head, but as she looked more closely at the leather book cover, a small girl was drawn on it, holding a basket and dancing around, 'Is he showing me now his favorite book for puppies? I should've guessed.'
It always escaped her mind that she was very young, which meant that she would always be paired up with peers who were roughly the same age, at most five years older. So, obviously, they would talk about fairy tales and other puppyish things. Even though someone was talented in many things, it didn't mean they were mature enough to hold engaging conversations about more mature topics.
Alexander answered proudly, "These are the fairy tales I have written down, and look at this..." He came close, opened the book, and showed it to her.
She opened her eyes wide in disbelief. The penmanship was excellent, and all the letters looked as if they were copied, "Want to read it? It's my first book, and I thought you would be interested."
Emma looked at him and back at the book, "Your first book?"
He sheepishly smiled while scratching his neck, "I mean, our rendezvous isn't going well since I am a little drained after talking for hours about metals and how to hammer them with Matilda, so I thought I could show you some of my writings, and maybe we can talk about it? You seem like you know your stuff."
Emma nodded, finding it quite interesting, and started reading. After some sentences, she slowly raised her eyebrows, "Why fairy tales, though?"
Alexander nodded, coming close to her, which made her slightly flustered, "Yes. Let's say I can copy books easily. The first one I want to give to every student should be a fairy tale book. Since they are young, it would be perfect for them..." He tapped his book while smiling widely, "...this one, to be precise."
She raised her eyebrows and looked at him, confused, "Only fairy tales?"
For her, it felt as if someone threw pearls in front of a pig. She wanted to ask about the ability to copy books easily later. Still, as of right now, it was more important to her to ask why Alexander wanted to do something so stupid.
"This is silly..." For some reason, her tongue slipped, and she became overly honest. It was as if Alexander's natural aura made her much calmer and more open.
She wanted to apologize immediately, with Alexander only chuckling, "Good point, but can you read, for example, any fairy tale first and then tell me how you find it?"
Emma suddenly felt a whirlwind of emotions, from confusion to relief. Alexander was like the antonym to her earnestness. He was doing what he wanted, clearly seen by how he dressed, not caring what others would think about him, and infecting all around him with this carefree attitude. As such, she didn't expect much from his fairy tales, nodded at him, and started to read a random story she chose after turning over some pages.
At first, Emma thought she would go through it quickly and then reprimand him for wasting his potential and time by writing such books. He could've done so much more.
Even worse, he said he could copy them somehow. If this was true, she would be even angrier since there were many more significant texts than some stupid heroic stories. Still, after reading her first fairy tale, she immediately understood the reason.
It was a fairy tale called The Boy Who Cried Human. While very simplistic in approach, style, and lesson- it was perfect for very young puppies, with a meaningful moralistic and ethical reasoning it wanted to pass along.
She stood there, staring at the last sentence, and suddenly understood why he wrote it. It made all sense to her now, looking at the whole picture. The free education he wanted to provide, together with the fairy tales aimed at the common youth, was obviously a way to influence them. She turned around and looked at him, with interest now, awed.
While fairy tales were nothing new, they were mostly written to fit nobility since many commoners couldn't read. Thus, they were rather monotone and mostly told how noble youth should act to match their status, which became bland after the third story, as one could only be told so much about how vital a dignified appearance was.
Worse, many written fairy tales came from central Mal-Gil, and since Moorgrelian culture was far different, they tried to change the perception of their local nobility. However, it worked little since they were too different in their approaches, education, etc. It usually ended in confusion, especially regarding insect and avian-kin degradation, making their youth feel somewhat uncomfortable, especially since all Guard Household servants were mostly made up of those sub-races.
Commoners also had their fairy tales, mostly from mouth-to-mouth tellings, with little to no consistency. Also, they mostly depicted heroic encounters, brave adventurers, etc. There were little lessons, like the moral one about not lying.
'Was this fairy tale a fluke?'
She immediately started reading more, using her skills thoroughly, and suddenly found them intriguing- Redhood, the goose that laid golden eggs, the frog princess, and so on. They all had a moral core that could teach the youth to become a better person. Considering all the other things like free education and a way to copy books easily, it would change the morals and ethics of the future youth.
Also, those stories were endearing and suitable for nobility, too. There was no reason to give them only to commoners since most moral lessons in the book were generally seen as something worth pursuing.
Emma turned to Alexander, looking at him like he was a rough gem who needed to be ground into a beautiful jewel. Something inside her wanted him to be more sophisticated and noble, like a gentleman who could be all she wanted since he had all the prerequisites.
He smiled at her charmingly, "Done?"
She nodded, "Yes..." She gulped and blushed suddenly, "...this is fantastic..." However, she wanted first to know how he did the copying process, "...and you say you can copy them as much as you want?"
He scratched his neck, "Thanks. All the fairy tales are... let's call them inspirations, but sure. I can copy them..." With a finger swirl, another book, looking the same, floated toward him, opening up before her, "...see? It's the exact copy, and I have around a hundred of them... I guess? It was a test, though, and in the future, I will be able to make much more of them."
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
She opened her eyes wide, not believing what she heard. Copying books, even with skills, was a lot of work. The book she was holding had around 600 pages and would need more than a week to copy fully down, and such work was tedious and hated by many scribes. Thus, it was also costly.
"I want all of them!"
Alexander looked at her, bewildered, only to laugh, "Haha, how about fifty? I need to give them those I teach, all right?"
She blushed and nodded, "Sorry..." Feeling the book in her hands, she changed the topic and decided to ask later how he exactly copied them, "...I love it, especially the morals you want to ingrain into the youth."
"What is your favorite one?"
"I love The Little Fish-kin..."
Like that, she found the charming, intelligent, and talkative boy she wanted. He described his visions, his work, and how his fairy tales would play a vital role. It was exciting listening to him and giving her opinion, which he took seriously, which led to more stimulating topics about morals, ethics, and their current system.
Their conversation was enriching and almost made her blush, as it had been so long since she could actually talk to someone on her level. Even the discussions about the fairy tales she didn't like, which were close to what she would describe as disobedience toward nobility, suddenly became an exciting discussion.
However, she felt very sad when their rendezvous ended, as he needed to meet with Vanessa, "It was wonderful, Alexander. Hopefully, we can continue this tomorrow?"
He smiled while scratching his head unseemingly, "Yeah, thanks, Emma..." He looked at his pocket watch, clearly under time pressure, "...now I need to go, sorry."
Like that, he was gone with her, left alone in the library. Even though she smiled till he was gone, it turned immediately into a frown as she had too much on her mind.
'I need to talk to the others. If they are interested, we need to make him our fiancé.'
For her, jealousy or rivalry was something she didn't really know about. She would rather share her future husband than not have him at all. As such, she hoped he also thought like this and was open to a harem. The worst that could happen was that they would fight over him if they were also interested.
Yet, another thought constantly scratched her mind like a rusty nail, 'He is too sloppy.'
Alexander acted like a commoner. Even though some of his behavior was refined, others were not. For one, she would need to educate him properly and get some servants who would look after his clothing, hair, and fur. She would also need to get a cosmetician if he constantly had these large bags under his eyes.
However, while those things were important to her, they were not really something she would say that would be an exclusion criterion. They could be easily fixed with enough time, and then he would become an ideal fiancé.
She licked her lips slightly, seeing it as a great challenge, 'Tomorrow, I will start with his hair. A little critique here and there should be fine to make him more conscious of his sloppiness.'
...
Evening, Alexander's kitchen
Two youths were inside a kitchen before a worktop, crammed with various kinds of containers and kitchenware. Beside the worktop, where the girl was standing, letting her tail hang low, was a small table on which a myriad of ingredients were, while another table was beside the boy, who had some bottles on it. His tail moved around too much, almost hitting the bottles and nearly making them fall.
"Ehm... Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"Is this really a rendezvous?"
He pointed at the apples on the small table beside her, "Would you please?"
"Alex..."
He turned to her while tilting his head in confusion, obviously unaware that she was somewhat uncertain. Looking closer at him, he was exhausted but tried nonetheless to appear charming as he forced a smile. The rendezvous with Vanessa's sisters were probably too much for him, especially since he was unfamiliar with such practices customary for the Cold-Snouts. On some days, her brothers would meet up with four to five girls and be still energetic in the evening.
However, she could barely look straight at him, blushing, as he looked cute with an apron and some flour on his face. While he looked adorable, she waited for him all day, even changing her outfit multiple times. She ended up with a snow-white summer dress since it also seemed to be the current popular fashion choice in this region. It also matched her pinkish hair, fur, and dark purplish eyes.
Regardless of her meticulous and thoughtful choices, it seemed all for naught the moment he dragged her into his kitchen and put an old apron made out of cheap linen on her.
"Hm? Why shouldn't it be a date?"
After some thought, Vanessa wanted to be honest at first but decided against it. Ultimately, it was enough for her to be close to Alexander, as she loved his smell. For some reason, it was so honest and pure that it made her relax, while when she was at other balls or estates, all she could do was smell dishonesty, deception, and hypocrisy.
Her [Divinity Line] was ideally suited for her to be the future Lady of the Cold-Snouts, as she could passively smell the emotions and true intentions of others. Usually, she hated it, as the skills made her nervous and anxious. She could only relax with her family, as they were always sincere to her, sometimes a little bit too much, but it was better than the opposite. As such, it made him immediately attractive to her.
However, now she needed to concentrate on baking, something she had never done before. She handed him an apple, "Here you go, Alexander."
Alexander looked at the single apple, raised an eyebrow, turned back to her, and chuckled, "I need a couple more."
Vanessa blushed slightly, "Sure... how many?"
Alexander tapped his cheek and showed a three with his fingers, "Three if you may, my Lady."
She rolled her eyes, and as if something slipped her mind, she became more honest, sounding slightly annoyed, "Why do we bake? Can't we just ask your servants?"
After accidentally voicing her displeasure, she wanted to apologize as it came over as rude, but he only chuckled, "Why not? It is fun, though, right?"
Vanessa stopped herself and looked at him, confused, "Fun?" For her, such activities, if she was honest, were underneath her and seemed too arduous.
Alexander nodded, handing her a weird metallic object and a small knife, "Yeah, sure. We can talk while doing something with our hands and, in the end, enjoy a delicious cake, right?"
Vanessa didn't think it was that fun, but she didn't say anything, assuming it was the weirdness that her Mother talked about when it came to talented people. They were always somewhat weird or quirky. Though she had no problems with such people and only hoped he wouldn't drag her into the kitchen every time they met.
She looked toward Alexander, who started mixing liquor and medicine for puppies, which would help them sleep, usually used when they were very young and got their first fangs as they sometimes hurt when growing.
She looked back at what she needed to do, confused by the knife and the other metallic object, asking, "What should I do with it?"
Alexander stopped mixing and licked his thumb, coming closer to her, "Never used a peeler?"
She shook her head, which made him chuckle slightly, "Look at this..." He took the strange metallic object, "...it's my invention... somewhat, but you can peel apples much more easily and safely with it..." He took an apple and started peeling it, "...great, right?"
"I guess?"
He took her hand softly and laid the peeler into it, closing it while smiling at her amiably, which made her blush, "Try it..." He returned to mixing his weird mixture with some other odd concoctions, "...you really never cooked or baked? Not even a skill at level 1?"
She shook her head while slowly trying to peel the apple, "No, I love to play music and paint. Poetry is also something I enjoy, but I never considered that such an... activity would be fun."
"Why shouldn't it be?"
After peeling for the first time, it became easier since she had probably acquired the skills, as she heard the bells of Orbis twice, "I don't... know."
After tasting what he had mixed, Alexander suddenly made a cute noise, "Hm! That's the stuff!..." putting it into a glass container, "...I see, but..." He looked at her charmingly, "...don't you think a baker or a cook loves their work?"
She actually never thought like this. For her, such work was always for lowly servants, and many of her peers thought the same, so there was no actual need to think about it at all, "I think they would stop being cooks or bakers when given the chance, though."
While she talked, Alexander took some more ingredients, like what she identified as flour and salt, and let them fly over her head, which surprised her, "Magic?!"
Alexander chuckled, letting them land beside him, "N... yep, but it's a little more complicated..." He took another bowl, making the ingredients fly slowly inside as if they were sucked into a whirlpool, making them rotate beautifully, mixing everything, 'Fascinating.'
However, her thoughts about this intriguing magic were interrupted when he continued, "I think cooking or baking can be as much an art form as music. Look how the different ingredients mix inside the bowl, making every single cake special by taste and smell. Even a small deviation will create something unique. A piece of music will also always sound different by person, instrument, and how the musician feels, not even including the people who listen, which will also all have different tastes, right?"
Vanessa looked toward him, and he adorably smiled back at her. She then turned back at the fascinating display of magic, now looking closer at the ingredients, 'He is right.'
What Alexander said made sense to her. Before, she thought it was all the same, and it always depended on how well the cook could follow specific instructions, yet what if someone put more sugar inside than needed? She, for example, had a sweet tooth, while her sisters liked spicy or salty dishes.
Thinking this, she started to peel her second apple but was interrupted when the bowl with the flour and other things flew to the side, letting it stand there. Another bowl made its way to him with three eggs, some butter, sugar, the liquor blend, and some plant she didn't know, which was squeezed before her eyes. The three eggs broke, making their way inside the new bowl with the other ingredients, creating a small whirlpool as they mixed together again.
Alexander interrupted her as she watched this fascinating scene, "Music, huh? What instrument do you play?"
She looked at him, smiling, and automatically started peeling the third apple, "I play the piano."
"Oho, what kind of music do you like the most?"
She smiled slightly, blushing, "I like what Merlin had written in his younger years the most."
Alexander immediately raised an eyebrow, "Let me guess: The moonlight sonata?"
She became much more joyful, "Yes! It is actually my favorite piece. Do you also play an instrument? Most usually don't even know the names."
Alexander shook his head to her disappointment, but his answer made her nonetheless happy, "I don't, but I would love to listen to you..." He turned and smiled at her, but it felt somewhat forced for some reason, "...say, is Merlin your favorite musician? I only know him from his shi... great magic research."
"Yes! I love his violin pieces like The Four Seasons..." Alexander suddenly flinched, making her look at him confused and worried, "...everything okay, Alex?..." She glanced at the bowl in the air, still mixing, which made her sigh in relief, thinking it would fall on her, "...if doing magic is too much for you, you don't need to impress me, as I am already in awe of your talent."
Alexander smiled back, still forced, "It's not that, honestly..." She could smell that he didn't lie, which confused her, asking, "...what then?"
He sighed, "I... Merlin was such an intelligent magician with so many ideas, but he concentrated on music, which is making me a little sad about what else he could've developed."
"Don't you think music is important?"
He immediately looked at her, flustered, "No, I didn't mean like... that?"
When he looked at her, she was chuckling, playing a small prank on him, waving her hand in dismissal, "It's fine, Alex, but music makes people happy, and isn't it what we all look for? Maybe the music he wrote in his youth was something that inspired him to do great things later on?"
Alexander sighed, "Hm, you are right..." He tilted his head a little while smiling, "...well, I'll show you all three something great in the next few days, so stay curious."
She was done peeling the apple, laying it down, and proudly showing it to Alexander, who nodded at her happily while looking at them. Though his smell indicated, he didn't like how she did it, "Good job! Now let's slice them into pieces..." He turned to her, coming a little closer and taking the knife, "...you know, it's very dangerous. Can you do it?"
Vanessa took the knife out of his hands and swung it beautifully, "You know, I am a Cold-snout..." She stood, posing with the kitchen knife playfully like a Knight, "...even I learned some sword arts!"
After some silence, both laughed suddenly, "Fine, Ms. Knight. Thy shall your way to slay the devious apple be... frutious..." He winked while making a stupid pun, which made her roll her eyes.
She started cutting them elegantly, not showing that her sword art skill was only at level three, "By the way, what do you want to show us?"
While talking, he took the two bowls, mixing them together, "A play."
Vanessa raised an eyebrow, finding it great to find someone with an artistic side, even though it was not her specialty, "You act?"
Alexander shrugged, smirking, "Something like that, but you will see and love it, don't worry."
While she cut the apples, they talked more about all kinds of different things while joking around, 'This is fun.'
For the first time, she actually found something enjoyable besides fine arts. It was especially delightful with Alexander, whose smell made her relax, even making her stutter and insecurity vanish.
Alexander put his mixture into the baking pan, then pushed it slightly to her, "If my Lady would do me the honors and put the apples on thy cake?"
She chuckled, "Of course. How could I reject the honorable request of my dearest Lord."
After she was done, he put it into the oven and brought a chair to her, "Now, we can talk, drink tea, and this cake..." He pointed at the oven with his thumb, "...will be your and your sister's little nighttime dessert for later, great, right?"
She chuckled and sat down on the dirty chair, not caring anymore as she enjoyed the rendezvous too much, "You don't want a piece?"
He shrugged while also sitting down and letting a cheap tea set float over, "It's fine. If I want a piece, we can bake again, right?"
She nodded, smiling cheerfully, "I would take it as an insult if you wouldn't ask me."