I had sent a familiar in advance, so I didn’t expect I would have to wait long to meet with my father. However, he was apparently unavailable when I arrived, so I waited in the royal chamber and sipped tea as I waited, surrounded by men well-dressed yet foul.
As if they’d caught wind of my arrival somehow, nobles I didn’t even know converged upon me. Don’t you all have jobs? Is this what you do in your spare time? Well, you’re better off than me, I suppose, since I spend my days buried in paperwork.
“So, Lord Caroling, as your development plan is the key to expanding our country, I would like you to—”
“Thus, of course, this plan would benefit both territories greatly. I would like you to—”
“Actually, Lord Caroling, there are many who would benefit from your aid. I would like you to—”
I’d dared to hope they might have something useful to discuss, but it was clearly a mistake for me to grant these dullards an audience. Noble after noble barged into my room, practically falling over each other, all to talk at me about the same thing over and over, as though I had already stamped my approval. Was it on purpose? Did they all plan to ask for the same thing? Did they rehearse their one-line request, too? If only I had that much free time!
“Arrange a meeting between my daughter and the hero!”
Incredibly, in spite of all starting at different times and saying different things, they harmonized perfectly at the end. But seriously, how did they expect me to understand them when they were all talking over each other? I only have one brain!
“Well, my lords, here’s the rub. Sir Chris is actually very close to his wife, Olivia, so you’ll have to talk it over with her before it’s even worth talking about a concubinage.”
Because I didn’t give a family name, they must have not realized just who Olivia was. The response they gave was just, “Oh, some commoner girl?”
Once it was announced that Olivia was the hero’s newlywed, and that she’d been blessed directly by the goddess, the general public fell in love with her. Portraits of her flew off of store shelves, as though she herself were divine. But since she was a commoner, most willfully ignorant nobles treated her as if she didn’t even exist.
Legally, yes, she was a commoner, but they did realize she was originally a duke’s daughter, did they not? She hadn’t lost any of the education or conduct earned in her former position, and they dismissed her at their peril.
And perhaps more importantly, were they really so foolish as to not appreciate the importance her special relation to the goddess brought her?
The church was both powerful and popular.
Some at least did realize that she was a member of Duke Heltor’s family, and others understood just how unheard-of the rank of her wedding blessing was. But regardless, to a man they insisted on pushing some obligation on me to make their daughters concubines to the hero, which was a right royal pain in the ass. Admittedly, yes, Count Meitia’s daughter, Diane, had also married the hero’s. But I saw no reason to get these fools’ hopes up about their chances, so I kept that to myself.
While I sat bored with my persistent audience of noble buffoons, another visitor arrived. It was a man dressed reasonably well in extravagant clothing, but short of stature and with a thuggish face. I would recognize Count Meitia anywhere. Rich as he was, his power belied his lowly title. You know how it is; no matter what circles you travel in, the wealthy are the powerful. When he entered the room, the other nobles rushed to clear a path for him. They weren’t actually in his way, but rather, they shuffled themselves in a pathetic
attempt to get as close as possible and overhear what he was saying.
“I’ve been informed about the matter with the business district. Would it be acceptable for me to inspect the area myself?”
Offering little in the way of a greeting, the count got right down to business. The nobles around him probably thought he was angling to have his daughter marry the hero, too. After all, Diane was a famous beauty, and everyone knew about her annulled engagement.
He’d heard about the business district arrangement, which must have meant he had received a bird familiar with the message. The man likely saw an opportunity to expand his already impressive holdings in the coming battle for concessions that would inevitably accompany the development plan, and intended to use these familiars to his advantage. The birds wouldn’t just help him move information quickly; they would also allow him to spread the word far and wide that he was the hero’s father-in-law, instantly putting nearly everyone in my territory on his side.
“Of course. My territory has only taken the very first step in its development. Because of that, we would be very fortunate to have your ample experience on our side, Lord Meitia.”
“If you find yourself dealing with, ah, rowdy adventurers or mercenaries due to the development, my family would be glad to provide our services in soothing them. We’re willing to prepare whatever you may need.”
The Meitia family was known for administering the country’s brothels.
Such establishments were essential in rough business such as land reclamation, so the nobles around us must have thought we were talking normal business.
My territory was generally aligned with the Goddess of Law, so brothels and similar entertainment facilities were few and far between. And as busy as I was—even before the most recent issue with Sir Chris—I would have been coming to Count Meitia for aid either way. So I decided for the moment to discuss land allocation and taxation with the count in broad terms. I promised to discuss the finer details at the scene itself later, and the count departed.
In the end, I successfully avoided dropping any hints about the topic of Diane and spoke only about business. As I’d hoped, Sir Chris did indeed delegate the whole issue to Count Meitia. Admittedly, I had made the grant to him, but it was a vast parcel of land in a crucial commercial area, and having an amateur managing it would have presented issues.
Once Count Meitia left, the Imperial Guard arrived to inform me that my father was now prepared to meet with me. Disregarding the nobles, who seemed to think we should continue our conversation regarding their requests for me to marry off their daughters, I headed to the king’s office.