At the Silford estate in the royal capital, Cain was being fitted for his debut party outfit. He was surrounded by members of the trading company, plus Sarah, Reine, and Sylvia were in attendance.
Cain felt it was a bit of a waste to go to such lengths for a single event, but the ten-year-old capital debut was apparently an important event for aristocrats. Not only did it mean having an audience with the king, but the parents would often use the opportunity for networking purposes. They would attempt to connect their children with the progeny of influential aristocrats, or scout for candidates for political marriages. The event offered insight into how factions would develop in the future.
The Kingdom recognized polygyny, and it was normal for aristocrats to have multiple concubines. Garm had two wives, but that number was considered few amongst aristocrats. On top of that, Sarah was a former adventurer, so she wasn’t nobility. There were many situations in the past where the daughters of other aristocrats were practically forced upon him, and Garm had shared several of those stories with Cain back when they were traveling together to Lamesta.
Margraves were considered high-rank aristocrats, so Garm had no way of avoiding this form of targeting. If any of his suitors were to succeed, gaining his favor and the status of concubine, that would allow a lesser noble to form a connection with a margrave.
Factions tended to marry amongst each other, but as a margrave, Garm was a centrist. Garm had complained to Cain in the past about how, since his territory bordered a foreign nation, he didn’t have the luxury to worry about political factions. War could break out at any moment, after all.
As Garm’s son, Cain was considered to be a centrist too. However, as soon as it was made public that Cain was betrothed to Telestia and Silk, he would inevitably be considered a member of the royal faction. Cain couldn’t help but smile bitterly as he imagined the laughing faces of the king and Duke Eric.
Although he had memories from his previous life, he only had the life experience of a high schooler and a ten-year-old. Even putting together how many years he had lived in total it still wouldn’t amount to much. Cain felt he didn’t stand a chance against the politically experienced king and duke. As Cain indulged in his idle thoughts, Reine called out to him.
“Cain! Are you listening?”
“Sorry, elder sister. I was thinking about something.”
“Jeez! Cain, since you have silver hair, I was saying that this deep blue fabric would look good on you!”
Cain took another look at the fabric. Rather than deep blue, it would be more accurate to call it azure. It did look quite good.
“Elder sister, the color you picked out for me is quite good!”
Reine smiled brightly in response, and she began to start selecting the design of the outfit.
Elder sister is such a pushover… As Cain harbored slightly wicked thoughts, the fabric matching proceeded.
After everyone had settled on the details, Sarah asked the merchant, “Can you use this fabric as a base and create the design we decided upon?”
“Understood. We would be honored to make this outfit for Master Cain.”
The merchants started packing up their wares, before bowing and energetically leaving the room.
A few days later, the outfit they had ordered arrived. Since the merchants had put in extra effort, it was finished earlier than planned. Cain tried it on and had them adjust it a little. It was extremely well made.
“I would be proud to present you anywhere, Cain,” Reine said as she nodded multiple times in affirmation. Cain recalled that Reine had participated in a debut party at the capital two years ago as well. He had asked whether any of the boys her age were any good, but apparently none of them were.
Apparently Reine’s condition for a potential suitor was they didn’t seem inferior when compared to Cain. Uncertain whether comparing to her younger brother was an appropriate way to judge a suitor, Cain could only offer a wry smile.
Time passed, and the time of the debut party arrived.