The day came, as I was informed by Holger and requested to prepare for the talk. I had prepared by asking my etiquette teacher about the ceremony. She herself was nobility, second daughter of a count, but nobility really seemed to exist in two very different castes.
The first caste was real nobility. People involved directly with the count, set to inherit the seat of power or otherwise related to it. This made me part of the first caste as I was the next head of Sterling ducal house.
But our family is an exception, rather than the rule. Most families have many more children than we do and this ends up creating the second caste. I think of them as ‘spares’. They are people who can only call themselves noble by the grace of their family, and don’t hold much power. The only way for them to come to such power is for everyone above them in the line of succession to perish.
It is different for men and women, though. Should Alicia end up marrying a head or next head of a house, she would become part of the real nobility too, but should she fail to do so, she will be relegated to a lower class.
It was a bummer, since I had thought the huge interest many of the noble girls showed in me at parties were due to my good looks (Hannibal is rather handsome, after all) and charm, but I felt like the reason of hoping to stay relevant in the future is much more prominent.
The nobles of this second class can’t just laze away and are most often hired by other nobles. Some oversee a small part of territory, some do research, and other like my etiquette teacher, tutor children.
One I had was why the princess was coming to our estate, when the royal family clearly should outrank us, but apparently it is custom for the women to visit the men, as they are looking to join their house.
After Holger had finished washing me, he helped me dress in the clothes mother had chosen for the occasion. They look pretty gaudy. I am donned in a long-armed loose, white dress shirt and loose black pants, both seemingly made of silk. On top of the dress shirt, I am wearing a black vest decorated with read thread forming roses. It doesn’t close, but three silver chains hang across the gap. Lastly is the belt in the same bland and red scheme, though no motif is recognizable in the pattern. The buckle seems to also be of silver and is carefully engraved with vines. The clothes I wear always seems to be a fair bit fancier than any other I had seen at parties, perhaps to show off our wealth?
Afterwards I am escorted to the main hall of the mansion. It is rarely used but its purpose is to receive guests or people seeking audience with the duke. My father sits atop a throne that is raised off the rest of the floor, with my mother standing behind him. Alicia is nowhere to be seen, though.
We wait a good while. I came here immediately after getting ready and I assume, much like was the case when I went to the parties, that princess Zoenna was getting ready in a room prepared for them. I had explored the mansion a little, but there is an entire wing with naught but empty rooms, so I presume they are for the purpose of noble guests staying in or preparing themselves in.
Half an hour or so passes, before they enter. A beautiful lady and a cute girl, clearly related to each other, come into sight. They are both slender with beautiful faces and golden hair. The lady has her set up in a bun, while the girl’s is loose and incredibly curly. The lady wears a long, smooth blue gown, while the girl is dressed in a white one, where the long skirt has many layers.
My father steps down from the throne, walks down the steps and kneels.
“This loyal subject greets the queen and the princess.” I had suspected she was the queen.
Since I completed Zoenna’s route, I am familiar with her, though she isn’t too present in the story. She was born a commoner, but the king apparently fell in love at first sight, cancelled his engagement and wed scandalously. She is supposed to be against any form of formality, but I somehow can’t picture it. It was apparently due to this trait that Zoenna could back out of the engagement.
Usually the children of nobility have no say in who they marry or not, but the queen did not have the same sense of duty each noble was brought up with to strengthen the house and form ties. To her, the happiness of her children were mere important.
“Oh come now, Stanny, you know I am not huge on this etiquette stuff. Will you be as kind as to spare me?” The queen replies. Huh, she really just said that. Stanny sounds a little cute, totally mismatched with the image I have of my father.
“As my queen wishes.”
“Oh, stop it! You are way too stiff! You have to learn to relax a little.” The lopsided conversation where one speaks as an old friend and another like a loyal retainer seems strange to me.
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“Oh and is this the young fellow? My, so handsome, I am almost jealous. Aren’t you happy, Zoe?” The princess retreats a little behind her mother. The queen spoke as if to me, so I have to respond, but I have no idea how. Should I follow father’s example or should I speak casually? I remember my mantra, be selfish and boorish!
“This loyal subject greets the queen.” I greet as I was taught to treat royalty.
“Geez, the kid too? Will no one here humor an old lady? Dolly?” Does everyone have a shortened name?
“Pleased to see you again, Sara.” My mother replies happily.
“Right. So, where do you wanna do this thing? Do we just start talking or what? It’s a first for me, after all.”
“I’ll guide us to a more suitable place.” My mother answers, before respectfully showing the way. As we were leaving, I think I heard my father sigh.
As soon as we are in the hallway, my mother gives the queen a hug.
“Oh, there she is! Really, why you insist to keep up appearances around your husband is beyond me!” The queen sounds happy.
“Ah, you know how he is. If it isn’t all proper and traditional, he can get real ornery!”
“How you put up with him is beyond me! You don’t even have the capital’s stores to push away your worries out here.”
“Oh, hush you, we have plenty of fancy places down here too. I might even say that some are better than anything you can find in the capital!”
“Show me around afterwards then! But I doubt it, they opened up this amazing store last year, where the confectionary is amazing!”
I am surprised at how my mother and the queen started talking like two old friends the moment we are out of my father’s sight. They gab on about sweets, clothes and their children.
All four of us are walking in a line, which there is room enough for in the wide corridors of the mansion. The mothers make out the middle, while the children walk on the edges. I look at Zoenna. She is very young, but frightfully pretty. I am a bit ashamed to think so, as she should only be 12 at the moment.
She looked at me and met my eyes, which caused her to quickly take cover behind her mother.
“Huhu, were you charmed by my beautiful daughter?” The queen directs the conversation towards me.
“Ah, I, this… erhmmm.” It took me by surprise. I was about to deny it but then it seemed to me like I would deny that she is beautiful and that would be a hefty faux pas, to insult the princess.
“Oh, look he is all flustered!”
“How cute. My Hannibal is usually so composed, so it is quite a treat to see him like this!” The mothers team up to tease me and I can’t help but feel embarrassed.
We eventually arrive at the room chosen for the talk. As my mother open it, it is revealed to be quite peculiar. It has a table with six chairs around it, but the unusual part is the view. Dozens and dozens of small windows, bound together by metal make for a clear view to the inner courtyard and the scenery is breathtaking. Trees cut into figures of dragons stand as if guiding our view to the massive fountain with a tall statue depicting a man holding a sword towards the sky.
It references the origin story of the Sterling house I had only come to learn from my classes here. Apparently the kingdom was founded by the ancestors of the royal house and the three ducal houses. Each played a crucial part in a group, that subjugated this island, that at the time was home to the dragons. And this man was the progenitor of the Sterling house, who is said to have been a magic swordsman without equal.
It made me think of Hannibal’s class in the game, “Dark Spellsword”. It was obtainable by the player by maxing out dark magic and swordsmanship, but I never really played with it. After my first playthrough, I was not a big fan of magic with two exceptions. The reason was that many people will have classes that are resistant to either to an element or magic in general, and I often found the wizard I created in my first playthrough to be utterly useless in important fights and doing poorly, having to reload constantly and relying on the recruited people in the second act.
The two magic types I like regardless are void magic and light magic. Light magic is heavily centered around healing and buffing, making it work well regardless of who you are facing, while void magic bypasses all resistances, but only deals 90% of the damage other magic deals. I remember my friend disparaging it, though. He thought it was more important to be able to exploit weaknesses of key bosses in the routes he was going for, but I hadn’t played the game many times over like him, and didn’t know what I was going to face, so I couldn’t play that way unless I was prepared to spoil myself about what opponents I would be fighting.
I learned about these two magic types from two of the companions I had in my first playthrough, and one of them was the girl sitting before me. Princess Zoenna’s class in the game was Holy Maiden and her buffs and heals practically carried me through most fights.
“Well then, I actually have confession to make.” The queen’s words pull me back out of my reminiscing.
“This whole noble thing, were children are bound to marry each other, I just can’t get behind it. It feels wrong, that they can’t choose who they love.” It came as a surprise. If I just agreed here, wouldn’t the problem solve itself without me having to play a selfish prude? And I don’t know if I can keep the act up with the queen, she seems very good at throwing curveballs.
“I agree”. I answered before my mother did. Both the queen and my mother turned to look at me.
“Even if you were so smitten with my little Zoe? Are you saying you are too good for her?” Though the words are harsh, the tone is light and it is clearly spoken in jest. Though it is the case, I can’t not respond and try to make an excuse.
“That is not so. The princess is very lovely. But I believe love should grow naturally from knowing the other person, not be cultured because the marriage was advantageous to the family.”
The mothers now look shocked.
“Wow! Such a sensitive soul at such a young age! Young Hanny might turn out to be quite the catch, huh, Zoe?” Huh? And the little girl is flush red? Did I mess up?