Noblesse Oblige [Znt/SI]

[shadenight123]

Prologue

Noblesse Oblige. Nobility Obliges.

Silk, satin sheets, golden embroidery, pearls and jewels all cast glints of various forms and shapes in the creeping darkness of the night, interrupted only by the flicker of candles that briefly swatted the dark away in order to allow a young girl to read from a thick tome filled with runes and carvings.

Just outside the doors, the guards stood watch in their gambesons, the thick leather embroidered with the fleur de lis surrounded by twin black lines that encased it in a diamond-shaped square. Small lanterns illuminated the hallway, the silence of the castle interrupted only by the loud voices coming a scant few doors away that were unintelligible to the guards. The flames flickered, a gust of wind passing them by due to an open window at the end of the corridor.

"Boy or girl?" one of the two guards whispered to the other, his eyes without really much of a focus -a wall could only be 'that' much entertaining, and even then, just for 'that' many nights, before one started to ponder how to break the monotony of the night guard.

"They say it's going to be a girl," the other replied dutifully in a whisper of his own. It wouldn't do to wake the princess up, not that she'd be capable of hearing them anyway if she was asleep, since her bed was on the far side of the room. "It's taking her time though. How long has it been? Five hours?"

"Guess she really doesn't want to be born," the first guard snorted. "I wonder why. I wouldn't wait a second."

The second shook his head, the wide metal hat on his head shifting slightly as his hand gripped a bit more loosely on the wooden shaft of his spear. "Maybe Brimir's telling her what to do as his descendant?" he chuckled.

"If it's a boy though-is he going to inherit the title of Duke?" the first guard asked.

"Uh, no," the second said. "You know how Queen Marianne's the one with the crown-though King Henry's practically the one ruling so...unless the king passes a law or something about the noble having to be male to inherit-it's the firstborn that gets the title of 'Duke'. It would be 'Duchess' though...dunno how it works with more than one. Do they all become Dukes?"

The first guard shrugged lightly, and then exhaled. "You've been to the capital recently? Scarron's changed the menu again."

"No, I haven't had the time. Someone here is a family man," the second said, jabbing his thumb against his gambeson, "He just turned five-already trudging around in the forest with his friends and winning fights just like his dad did," the guard had stars in his eyes.

"Last I remember, you always lost your fights, Serrah Mud-Face the First," the first guard whispered with a dry chuckle.

The two guards abruptly straightened up and stopped talking the moment a door opened up from the far end of the hallway, where two of their fellow colleagues stood guard, but looked quite tenser and outright jumped out of the way as a maid made her way towards the room they were tasked with guarding.

The maid entered carefully into the room, and as the young child on the bed lifted her head, her blond hair shone against the candlelight. "Young lady...your mother knew you wouldn't be asleep," the maid said with her lips slightly thinned. She was one of the older maids, and honestly, she had changed more nappies than any of the others put together.

It didn't help that the Duke and the Duchess were probably planning on putting up an army of children since this was, apparently, their second and third child all in one. She knew her future meant double the number of nappies of the firstborn girl right in front of her-and no matter how cute she looked now, she had done her fair share of...well, that would be uncouth to even think inside her head.

"Is it a girl?" the child asked, closing the thick book she wasn't supposed to be reading in bed, but that she read all the same because she was the eldest daughter, and she really wanted to see if someone dared to challenge her over it. The thought that her mother might disapprove never crossed her mind.

"Come see for yourself, young lady," the old maid said, and the child did not need to be told twice. As she hurried in her nightgown to her parents' rooms, to her mother's side, her eyes widened briefly at her sight. Her mother had always been pristine and flawless, but this had apparently taken a toll out of her too. There, nestled in her mother's arms, where two lumps of cloth. One of them seemed to be crying, the other not so much.

"Twins," the wet maid spoke to her father, who was pensively looking at them both. "There's a healthy baby boy and baby girl for you to name, my Lord."

"Cattleya...and-" the Duke pondered, "Your father or mine?" he asked to his wife, who in turn looked down at the face of the sleeping boy, and sighed.

"He has my father's nose," the Duchess said in a whisper, "And his lungs," she added with a wry smile. "I suppose 'Henry' would be a good fit?"

The crying, if possible, intensified. The blond haired child settled on the side of the bed, her hands on the mattress as she pulled herself up to gaze into the clean face of her sleeping baby sister, and into the red-faced one of her baby brother who didn't really seem interested in stopping his cries any time soon.

"Why is he crying so much?" she asked.

"That's something babies do, Eleonore," her mother answered. "It's because they want something-that is why they cry."

The crying, abruptly, ceased. It was so fast it took a moment for Eleonore to understand that it had, indeed, happened. The newborn had grown quiet, a sudden change that was perhaps something babies did, but that still puzzled the young girl to no end. Then, the child's eyes slowly opened up and they stared, firmly, determinedly, quite poignantly too, at his older sister.

"This, Eleonore, are your little sister and brother," she said softly, "Cattleya Yvette and Henry Philippe De La Valliere."

As if on cue, it was now Cattleya's turn to start crying, and a few seconds later, Henry joined in the chorus of tears.

Thankfully, it would soon be the maids' problem to deal with.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter One

I vaguely remembered opening my eyes and thinking 'this is wrong'. The rest was a confused blur. No, more than a confused blur, it was a sort of 'not going to think about this, not going to remember this, no, no, no' followed by screaming. Much to my dismay, I didn't stop screaming for a long, long time.

When the screaming did end, it was simply because not only I had grown tired of it, but I had begun learning how to vocalize. Vocalization was important, and my lungs were pretty much set to make me an opera singer. Some things were net positives. For example, I had a lot of time to think. Thinking was really important, see, because it kept me sane. At the same time, there were some honestly funny moments going around, one of which was the dawning realization that Karin the 'Heavy Wind' and the future-yet-to-be-born Louise had the same character.

Whenever 'mother' had some free time, she would 'take care' of both myself and Cattleya without the help of a wet nurse, and the reason for that was because...well-

"Peek-a-boo!" Karin the Heavy Wind wasn't just 'Tsun'. She was the epitome definition of 'Tsun'. The hard lines, the harsh outer layer-she was an onion, and beneath the incredible amount of layers, there was also the one that made her do funny faces to her children when she was sure no one was looking. It put things in perspective, honestly. The moment nobody was looking at her, she transformed into just any other 'mother', or so I guessed.

"You're a cutie-who's a cutie? You're a cutie!" She made giggling sounds, fiddled her fingers over our faces, and pretty much acted so much out of character that I had to wonder what, exactly, was wrong with her head.

Cattleya laughed, cried, fiddled around with her baby arms that made me wonder why she couldn't just stick them somewhere they wouldn't hit me, but I took it all in stride. Well, mostly. There were some things that I would never speak of, nor now, nor ever.

"Aw...grumpy Henry is grumpy?" Karin's voice was a mixture of cooing and care, "You don't like mommy ignoring you?" No, by all that is holy, don't you dare tickle me-I'm-I'm ticklish-that's-

All in all, the sooner I forgot about my 'early years' the better. There was enough trauma associated with how things went that, honestly, I couldn't wait for time to pass faster than it already did.

Eleonore was another handful. Differently from 'mother', she didn't change much -then again, there always was a wet nurse with her, and a few maids too. On the plus side, she'd read stories with a delightfully childish voice, which would have made me coo at her, if only the positions had been reversed.

"And Founder Brimir said to the big bad elf, 'No, you cannot have this land, for it belongs to the chosen race-'," she recited dutifully and carefully, fumbling every now and then a word, but mostly allowing the sense of the story to push through. All in all, she was adorable. All in all, it was an 'adorable' situation.

At least, until the day Cattleya began to cough.

By the time I was six, I had seen my fair share of 'birthdays', of 'stuff' and Eleonore was already nine and rummaging about with bigger-looking books. Cattleya was mostly bed-ridden, which in turn made Eleonore spend her time reading to her. Since I was Cattleya's twin, it was obvious I'd spend my time attached to her. Well, for a certain definition of 'Obvious'. One thing I disliked, but still happened, was 'getting help getting dressed'.

Nobility or not, young age or not, nobody dressed me but myself. Still, I had to smile all the same and did my best to make the job easy on the servants. The poor maids didn't remark on how little I fussed, but it was the small things that counted -at least, in my modest opinion.

So most of my childhood, I spent it inside Cattleya's room. It was a spacious room, filled with carpets of soft fur and plush furniture, the wide windows letting the sun inside, with one open to allow for fresh air to seep in. While Eleonore read to her younger sister, I sat down on the floor nearby playing with toy soldiers. There were no computers to play games on, and if the choice was between listening for the umpteenth time to 'The Tale of the Holy Knight' or 'Joffrey the Dragon Slayer', or playing with toy soldiers, then I'd pick the second option.

The reason I hadn't a book in my hands like Eleonore was that, the absolute gibberish of Halkeginia's writing system aside, I wasn't a prodigy in learning such a different grammar like Eleonore had been. She had learned how to read at five, and had gone progressing further with time. I was simply glad I had managed to understand how these guys spoke and quickly caught up to the verbal part of it. Having proper conversations rather than nonsensical cooing on one side and baby-talk on the other is bliss after years of practically one-sided conversations with oneself inside one's own head in order to maintain a facade of sanity.

Unfortunately, boredom could only be staved off for so long before it finally broke my patience, and much of my self-control.

"Big sister Eleonore," I once said with a puzzled frown, "Can't you read us something new?" as soon as I asked that, Eleonore shook her head with the firm poise of a noble lady-in-training.

"Mother says these are fine," Eleonore said, her lips thinning already. Eleonore had somehow managed to get most of the 'Tsun' out of Karin, but mixed with her own form of 'Kuu' and very little 'dere'. Whatever mother said, or ordered, was to be done. Whatever mother said was 'not to do' then she would absolutely not do. Also, I couldn't ask her for books to read that would teach me how to read, because it didn't work that way.

There was the Holy Founder's Bible. There were myths and stories books, and there were military and magical themed books hanging around the library, but each of them was written in such a difficult form of writing that trying to make sense of them took the better part of the day -and that was just to get the first word right. I was stuck with a tutor who taught me the letters, their pronunciation, the way they merged together to form words-it was like learning a mixture of Latin and Greek, if Latin and Greek had Norse runes in them.

Runic alphabet, why are you so...emblematic?

"But they're boring," I mumbled.

"I like them!" Cattleya said with a chipper tone, her smile already on its way to become the 'elder sister kind and warm' type of smile. Cattleya sort of radiated kindness even in her six year form, if such a thing was possible. She was pale, and spent most of the time either resting in bed or sitting down on the floor by my side. We didn't even play, because lifting blocks and moving them along, or 'playing house' with dolls outright fatigued her beyond belief.

Honestly, she was like a porcelain doll. She still kept this sort of firm calm to herself, this 'mature-like' poise which, in a six year old, was truly out of place.

I sighed, knowing that my defeat was inevitable, especially with Cattleya-beaming-warm-smile on the opposite camp, but I still could make a last valiant attempt. "Can I try to read?" I pleaded. If I had to suffer another tale of Joffrey the dragon slayer, then at the very least I would put sentiment and emotions into it. Eleonore read the fairy tale as if it was a clinical examination, and she barely altered the tone of her voice -if she actually had a 'tone' in her voice when she read.

It was clear she was trying her hardest, but her 'hardest' was going in the wrong direction.

Eleonore took my suggestion as an affront of her skills, and thus, unfortunately, I was forced to retreat under the flurry of a resolute set of 'no' that echoed with such strength that it felt like a slap in the face.

"No," she said, "you can't read it, because I'm the one reading it. Mother said I was the one who had to read it so you're going to sit there and-"

I swear to God, by the time she left for other 'lady like' stuff to do, I exhaled in relief and slumped my back against the Cattleya's bed side with the firm decision to just ignore her the next time she came by to read us a story.

"I could tell the story better," I grumbled, "She could at least try to make it nice."

"Really?" Cattleya said from the top of the bed, the noise I heard a clear indication that she had shifted a pillow by the side and was looking down at me from the side of the bed, a grin on her face. "Why don't you?" she asked next, the hopeful tone in her voice pretty noticeable.

I hummed thoughtfully, and then nodded to myself.

"Well-it was a dark and stormy night," I said in a hushed tone, my fingers twiddling in the air, "And the rain fell down from the skies-thunder and lightning streaking across the clouds-"

"What does 'streaking' mean?" Cattleya asked, scrunching her eyebrows up.

"Like running, but more...slithering, like-a snake," I said.

"What's a snake?" Cattleya asked, "Is it like mother's manticore?"

"The tail of mother's manticore," I said, "A snake is covered in scales-" I dutifully began to explain, my hands moving in the gestures of a snake's normal movement, and by the time I returned to the story, Cattleya's face had already dropped against the pillow, a smile on her lips even as she breathed slower still, probably asleep.

And once more, I was down to my lonely self.

My bored, lonely self.

If I had known what awaited me once I was finished learning how to read and write though...

I would have rather remained an illiterate for the rest of my life.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Two

A Noble's life isn't all fun and games. It's mostly books. He who has the title has responsibilities, and he who has responsibilities must bear them with pride and dignity. I was a male, and thus my duty was that of Knightly Duties. I would become a Knight, be it in the Manticore Knight order after my mother, be it in the royal Griffin Knights, be it in the proud and stalwart Dragon Knights, or something simpler like one of the minor orders of knights. Though being the only male son of the Duke de la Valliere, nothing short than one of the 'famous trio' of orders would suffice.

Thus, in order to be prepared for any circumstance, I had to first prepare my mind for my body wasn't yet ready. It was clear on which part of the 'trio' my mother veered me, if nothing else due to the fact that she once decided I would 'enjoy' a ride on a Manticore, and thus decided to bring her familiar out of his well-earned retirement just to make me experience first-hand what it was like to fly in the sky.

Liberating? Perhaps.

Scary? Oh, you have no idea.

I kept my eyes closed throughout the entire ordeal, gritting my teeth and hoping it would be over soon. If man was meant to fly, then they'd be given wings rather than feet!

"Young lord," the tutor said gently, thought with a strictness not unlike that of Karin's steel-clad voice. "Are you still proven from your ride?" The man was a polished-looking servant by the name of Claude. To his name, he had a minor title like 'Vidame'. Nothing much, nothing that would get him into court, or earn him more than a plot of land that could be comparable to a small villa in modern times, but it was enough to make him a respectable teacher of the young, priceless sons and daughters of rich nobles.

He was strict, but he was fair, and he had no need for boot-licking. Honestly, if I could drop the title of 'Future-Duke' and get myself a position like his, I'd enjoy it immensely more.

"Yes," I said.

"Founder Brimir teaches us nobles to endure, and the more one is noble, and endures, the more he is in his eyes graced by-" and this was another thing. I'll make no qualms about it, I did not have a particular opinion on religion. My grandmother was a devout catholic, a good old grandparent who did not care the slightest about anything. Hell, she didn't have a problem with people being homosexuals or not, because in her opinion, it was up to God, and God alone, to judge.

My mother, by contrast, simply decided to give both my brother and I the baptism as a sort of 'just in case' contingency, and then pretty much said 'depending on circumstances, try to make a sound case to whatever God's up there or make your own decision'.

I shrugged back when I was told it all, and decided that since it's a matter for the near-dead, I'd decide once I was near the end of my life. All things said though, I'll probably rest my case in front of whatever God there is, if there is one, or enjoy reincarnation, or perhaps nothingness.

Still, I never understood how much it grated me to learn theology until this precise moment in time.

By contrast 'religion' courses in middle school were honestly gratifying experiences -four time champion of the local middle school classroom-wide poker championship, because yes, Religion teachers are there to let you sleep or play for whole hours.

"And what does Founder Brimir say should be done in order to improve one's endurance?" Claude asked pointedly, his wand in his right hand gently tapping against the open palm of his left.

"That...we should test ourselves by submitting to the Church's teachings and trials?" I hazarded, only to receive a slow nod from my tutor, which heralded that indeed, I had answered correctly and wouldn't be on the receiving end of the 'wand'.

It wasn't that corporal punishment was...harsh. It was that I didn't want to risk finding out. Call me whatever you wish to, but if I'm seeing a whip in front of me, I'm not going to play the 'sassy' part unless I'm deadly sure I can avoid it. Perhaps all the man did was swing his wand and emit tiny whip-like sounds, or perhaps he had a form of water-sprinkler spell. I didn't want to find out, I didn't want to risk finding out, and thus I kept my best, straight-faced and honest poker-face on while I answered questions that honestly made me die inside a little bit at the time.

"If I have two carts of apples, and one is lost in a flood, one cart remains," I said. I didn't show off. I knew that if I did, he might just increase the difficulty to see at what point I'd crash, so I simply didn't. I did the homework -perhaps in the same day as he gave it out- and studied the verses -why, Gods, why did you have to write a bible that was eight hundred pages without even considering the additions tackled on by your future 'popes'?

Cattleya's tutors were nice ladies, young women who taught her a lot of interesting stuff like knitting, embroidery, stitching together silk to form symbols on handkerchiefs, stuff like that. She also had to memorize the Founder's Holy Book, but at least she was excused from the other part of the 'deal' with being a noble. As I quietly entered her rooms during one of her 'free' periods, I was surprised to find mother in there too.

My back stiffened abruptly and my entire face snapped into a marble-like semblance of absolute stiffness and precision. Nothing less would suffice with 'mother'. The hidden 'Dere' side wasn't just hidden, it was suicidal to even as much call it forward. Mother expected frank rigor, stern acting, and no revelation of inward turmoil or emotions. A noble had to always be composed -as much as it was hypocrite for a Tsundere of such magnitude to ever say that- and as such, any show of 'affection', be it hugs, grins or smiles were absolutely prohibited in front of servants.

The 'holier than thou' attitude could be broken lightly when in private, but even then there were limitations. The act of hugging someone, for example, could not be done. A smile however was actually allowed.

Draconian and perhaps silly, but tell that to the face of Karin the Heavy Wind, I dare you.

"Mother," I said with my brows lightly furrowed, "Has Cattleya had another attack?"

What Cattleya had could better be understood as some form of 'fatigue' mixed with asthma, which made her breathing shallow and insufficient for much. She could move around a bit now that she was older, but even then, most of her day was spent in her room.

"No," Karin replied curtly. It wasn't really 'curt' as much as 'stern'. It was like talking to a block of ice. I knew she didn't really mean to come across like that, but she took her duties very seriously, which meant she wanted us to take them seriously too. Between a happy, but unfair noble, or a fair but stern one-she definitely preferred us to grow up as the latter type. If I ever ended up like one of the Gramont children, she'd give me a taste of her Heavy Wind. She didn't say it, but it was clearly underlined thrice in the way she acted whenever father mentioned them and their 'escapades'.

"Should I come back later?" I asked, my eyes moving from mother to Cattleya.

"No, no!" Cattleya shook her head. "I mean, I was telling mother about your stories." My eyes widened at the candor in Cattleya's words, which kind of made my feelings known. Unashamedly, I knew this would end horribly. Undoubtedly, Karin knew this would end badly too, mostly because her eyes on me where fixed like those of a snake ready to pounce. No, to be honest, I already knew how this would end.

"Henry," Karin said with a quiet voice, not really a 'displeased' tone, because mother never made 'displeasure' known -it just was there. "You have been reading from the library, have you not?"

And this was the problem. We weren't allowed to read from the library yet. At least, I wasn't. It was a righteous concern. It's one thing to give a kid a book that can be easily reprinted in a matter of minutes, but in this 'time period', a book costed a pretty penny -or ecu, it was 'ecus' and it ranged easily in the hundreds. Books were costly stuff, handwritten for the most part, even though a few had been 'magically' printed, some form of magic process to recreate the words on parchment from one side to the other.

So imagine giving them in the hands of a kid who might paint over them, or rip at their pages.

"Without asking for your or father's permission, mother, I would never do such a thing," I said resolutely, calmly hinging my future punishment on the act of utter denial.

Karin didn't answer at first, her eyes narrow enough that I was sure she was reading my mind. "Is that so, Henry?" she asked once more, firmly.

"Find me a servant, any servant, that can claim the opposite and I will gladly allow their words to be my sentence," I said with a hand against my chest, "Otherwise, on Founder Brimir's holy word-as one of his descendants upon this land, then I assure you, mother, I have not set foot in the library without supervision yet." I looked up at her, biting my lower lip. "This does not stop me from peeking from over Eleonore's shoulder while she reads a book however," I added in a quiet whisper, "But you never said I couldn't do that."

Karin nodded once, very curtly, and then spoke crisply, "That will do. I will tell Eleonore she will be considered responsible for any books you damage," she then stood up, much to Cattleya's dismay, and made to leave, "However, Henry-you should concentrate on your studies. If I hear you have been fantasizing about dragons instead of properly studying-" she left the 'threat' hang in the air. To me, it was no different from a mother saying she'd hang me by my ears out on the clothesline, though in this case, I should have been afraid since she was the 'Heavy Wind' and her 'punishment' would have probably amounted to a hurricane-like blast of magic, if toned down to be non-lethal.

When the door closed, I exhaled in relief and slumped down on the bedside, Cattleya shifting a pillow by my side to drop her head on it. "I'm sorry about that, brother," Cattleya said in her childish tone that made her look utterly adorable, especially with how wide her eyes could become. "It's just-mother asked what we were doing and-"

"It's all right, sister," I said with a sigh. "I feel sorry for big sister though-but...let's talk about which new story you want to hear. I had time to think a few...tell me, how does the tale of a snake that devours the world sound?" Cattleya's eyes widened, and then she grabbed one of her dolls to hug tightly, shaking her head imperceptibly in a 'nod'.

"It was on a day like any other that the White Knight met a Lancer," I spoke offhandedly, "The lancer, without reason, attacked the white knight in a much uncouth form-for it, the man gave no explanation, but as the sides of the knight were pierced, and blood copiously poured out, the white knight made his escape back home-"

It was cheesy, but Cattleya needed a bit of cheesiness in her life.

I, on the other hand, would soon be all out of cheese.

For when the bell struck 'seven years old' for Cattleya and I, and Eleonore's age reached 'ten', Henrietta was born into this world.

And this meant a simple thing.

The nobles had to gather in the capital to welcome their new princess.

Thankfully, Cattleya was excused due to her sickness, but on the other hand...

Eleonore and I were not.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Three

The carriage traveled all the way to Tristain on the double. I wore clothes that were definitely with more gold than silk, and as my eyes tried to settle on a point over the horizon, I ended up instead returning my sight to father's pensive face. His mustaches were carefully aligned, and his fingers twitched as if he wanted nothing more than to stroke at least one side of them. His hand did rise for a split second, but mother's glare simply shifted over him, and he calmly brought his hand back down to clench his staff.

Eleonore remained silent, her mind lost in whatever thoughts she would usually have.

I would have loved to hum something, but the moment I started was the moment Karin's glare centered on me, and thus made me grow eerily quiet. One day, mother, I'll be a Square Mage and I'll beat your hurricanes off, and then I'll sing the raunchiest songs I can find at the loudest possible volume, with an electric guitar too!

I sighed at the daydream that had me holding on to a guitar while executing a flawless heavy metal concert in the gardens of the La Valliere mansion. Chances were good I'd be able to do that only on Karin's deathbed, and even then, I'd probably need to dodge her last 'Heavy Wind' spell.

"Mother," I said, already swallowing half of my tongue as apparently 'speaking while on a carriage' was against the rules, or at the very least, extremely frowned upon. "What is her majesty like?"

"She is the Queen," Karin answered without particular inflections in her voice. Seriously woman, wind down a little bit or you're going to explode with all of that heavy air inside of you -I am not sorry for the pun, by the way. No, I am absolutely, unashamedly, definitely 'not sorry' about it. "By will of God your ruler-fair and just-"

I seriously wanted to say something akin to 'I heard she likes to masquerade as a man and go around the capital', but that would have been kind of troublesome, so I kept it to myself as Karin went on a spiel that seemed to have been memorized by heart and recited more often than not.

"I understand, mother," I said in the end as mother's gaze once more settled on me as if expecting me to be in awe of the various accomplishment of 'Her Majesty'. They should have taken a room, the two of them -and I was sure they hadn't just because of Karin's firm hand, not certainly for a lack of trying on the queen's side. "Are you two friends?" I asked, trying to keep my tone as neutral as possible.

Karin did not answer at first. "There can be no outward show of friendship between the ruler of a country and one of its lords or ladies, for it would be not only unbecoming, but would also lead to troubles for the lord, or the lady, themselves," she said in the end, maintaining her strict expression.

"That is...not a 'no', mother," I said. "Was it when you were the captain of the manticore knights?"

"If you have the time to ask me questions, Henry, you have the time to repeat the etiquette lessons I painstakingly had a tutor teach you. Start reciting them," I blinked, blearily half-closed my eyes, and then stiffened my back as I began to repeat the tedious, boring, who-the-hell-would-ever-remember-them-all rules about bowing, not bowing, drinking, not drinking, eating and not, talking and not-all the way down to how to present oneself.

When I was done, Karin had a slight scowl on her face because I had probably forgotten one or two of them, but she couldn't punish me while on the carriage -it would ruin the clothes, but I had no doubt in my mind that I'd be suffering from far more extensive tutoring the moment I set foot back home.

Nobles had to lead the commoners by example, and the Duke and Duchess de la Valliere had to be the nobles' example. Strictness wasn't just a key part of Karin's education, it was essential. Scandals had to be dealt with ruthlessly, opposition had to be squashed-you either bowed your head to Herr Karin, or you got it ripped off. Well, not really, but it was something akin to that.

Father, by contrast, was quite mellow. Whether he was 'Centurion' or not, he was still way, way chiller than Karin. If caught in a good mood, he'd even smile and laugh! Also, if I pleaded with him, and he was in a 'great' mood, he'd even allow me to drink some non-watered wine 'like real nobles do, Henry'. He was the best father ever-if one ignored the wife that accompanied him most of the time.

Thus, in order to stave off the remaining time, I decided to turn to safer vectors of approach and query.

"Father," I said as neutrally as possible, "Did you meet mother at the palace too?"

And as I asked that, for a brief instant I saw a flash of something through father's eyes, a flash of insight that came from a keenly developed sixth sense that only someone married to Karin the Heavy Wind could ever possess.

"Henry," he said quite sympathetically, "be quiet."

I obeyed.

The trip to the capital came to an end after days of carriage, the carriage stopped only briefly to allow for the horses to be changed, but otherwise kept pressing on. And nobody dared to remark this to 'mother'. Asking to leave briefly for a moment in the woods was met with a simple 'no'. I was glad I had opted against drinking something before stepping in the carriage, because otherwise I wouldn't have lasted long enough to reach for the loo, or what passed for it around these 'royal' parts.

It was a funny bit of water magic -there actually were pipes, and they did pretty much the job one might imagine, carrying the 'liquids' into the sewers deep below. As Valliere, we were guest of honors, and would likely go 'first'. It didn't feel me with courage. It was just like going to face an exam for the first time in one's life, and this one would be in front of the king and queen of Tristain. The type of power that could give an 'off with your head' order.

As I nervously paced back and forth, I could hear Eleonore mumble the etiquette's lessons one after the other. We shared the same room, and our parents had another. Perhaps, considering the 'timetable' of events...could it be that Louise would be conceived within the royal palace? Oh my, how scandalous! On the other hand, after the gruesome mean of 'travel' we had faced, I was pretty much ready to make an absolute fool out of myself and remark with a 'sucks to be you' right in front of baby-Henrietta and the rest of the court, just to see how many colors of pink Karin could turn to.

I didn't though, because I was above petty revenges, and I was sure I'd get my head on a pike, child or not.

"Hey," I said softly. "I'm sure you'll do fine." Eleonore stopped repeating her lines and sharply turned to look at me. "You've had years to prepare, so you'll do fine." I fidgeted with my fingers, "Maybe I could make a run for the hills?"

Eleonore shook her head, "Mother would hunt you down with her manticore and drag you inside by force." She spoke earnestly, but also grabbed both of my hands with hers and smiled. "Let's revise. I'm the Queen, and I'll be sitting on this big, wide throne," she puffed her cheeks up and raised her head a bit, "And next to me, there will be the King-and between them, there will be the princess inside her crib. You just need to bow really deep, like this-" she made me bent, "And then you'll let father do the talking. Then, you just have to stay behind father or mother-and nod your head slightly. That's all you need to do. I am sure mother can say you are too shy to speak-" she bit her lips, no, she knew this would never work. "I am sure father will say you are too shy to speak," she amended her previous sentence, and I nodded to that too.

"What about the other children?" I mumbled, "I can't stay quiet if they ask me something-it would be rude."

"I'll take care of it," Eleonore said, "If we're brought in a different room to mingle, you just stick close to me."

I nodded, and inwardly exhaled in relief. Eleonore could be 'Tsun' and 'Strict', but right now she was a ten years old big sister tasked with the overseeing of her seven years old younger brother.

Go Eleonore, go. You're the best sister ever.

You can deal with all of the politics, the etiquette, and the 'stuff'. I'll just hang in the background. No, I will become the background.

I am the bone of my background.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Four

Eleonore had not been wrong in her assessment of the situation. Leaving it all to father and mother was for the best. As the rest of the nobles gathered, and one after the other presented themselves to the royals, taking glances at the newly born princess while remarking in the utmost polite tone how beautiful and radiant she was, and how fortunate the crown of Tristain was for having such a boon. There was no Cardinal Mazarin yet, but an old and polished to the tip of his shining bald head man wearing somber priest clothes, perhaps the Archcardinal, or perhaps a cardinal of sorts.

Definitely not the pope though -the current one couldn't come with such a short notice, and actually the royals would be the ones moving to Romalia to have young Henrietta 'baptized' by the Pope. Such was the way of royalty apparently -the Pope had to be the one to do the act of baptism.

Henrietta was nothing more than a newborn babe, her eyes were closed and she seemed to be peacefully asleep. Whether it was because she had a really heavy sleep, or because she had been magically put to sleep in order to prevent unneeded cries, baby-Henrietta was surprisingly quiet. After 'meeting' the baby, and bowing to the Queen and King, Eleonore and I were gently told with enough formalism to make a bureaucrat stammer in shame that there would be 'refreshments' adequate for children in a nearby room, and since that was the cue to accept and leave the 'big boys room', I mimicked word by word Eleonore's behavior.

The servant that led us to the nearby room had enough silk and satin on him that he probably could outweigh in gold any minor noble present at court. As we stepped inside the assigned room, my eyes immediately zeroed in on the buffet. There were servants standing at attention near the walls, quietly looking at a non-specified point ahead of them, and that common courtesy dictated I should politely ignore in their existence.

Even saying something trifling like 'thank you' was out of question. They were the ones who should thank us nobles for the mere act of our existence, or so it went. If it weren't for Eleonore and how sure I was she'd tattle, I'd be thanking them all the same. So, as I found myself a nice corner to make my own, I waited. Common courtesy dictated that the higher ranking noble would be the 'center' of the circle, and the rest of them would 'flock' first to him, and then engage in polite conversation until such a time where they'd be excused, and allowed to go speak to someone else.

This, of course, only applied to the grown up, but the toned down version for kids was basically the same, if with less pomp, and more 'try to be polite even to those below you'.

There was a certain sense of foreboding doom as the first of the children stepped in. He wasn't immediately 'below' in terms of nobility, since it wasn't like everyone had children, but this one was a Count's son, and he presented himself as such. He also was visibly older than Eleonore. He must have been perhaps twelve, or thirteen. Old enough to be nearly an adult, but not yet old enough to get into the 'big kids' room.

He had blond, curly hair and light blue eyes, and the way he smiled made him look like one of those bucolic angels that churches really liked to commission and put on display. His skin was so fair, he could pass off as a lady if he wore makeup, or put on a dress.

"I am the eldest daughter of the Duke de La Valliere, Eleonore Albertine," Eleonore said crisply, her hands twitching slightly as she did a really tiny curtsy. "This is my younger brother, Henry Philippe," she said next, giving me a look that told me it was my cue to make a little bow. I would have clapped his hand and gone 'Yo, bro! How's it going.' But I didn't, because I wasn't stupid, and I didn't want to get a Heavy Wind treatment any time soon.

"It is a honor to make your acquaintance and that of your brother, young Miss, I am Guy Armand de Gramont, second born son of Count Anthoine The Third de Gramont. You do not have to worry about formalities, as long as you are not rude-" he spoke kindly, which, while not a mistake in any other circumstance, was one in front of Eleonore. Unfortunately, 'show no emotion' was the pretty big 'Do or don't'. He had perhaps thought she'd be nervous, and had tried to be gentle.

He shouldn't have, for Eleonore was one of those 'Pinscher' breeds, the kind that even when small, still believes itself to be a dangerous and bigger dog than they truly are. "Formalities are what make us nobles, Lord Guy de Gramont," she replied flatly, "Without formalities, nobility would descend into chaos."

I winced and gave a tiny, imperceptible shrug towards Guy by staying right behind Eleonore -as if to say I had nothing to do with this harshness, but couldn't really do anything against it either.

Guy kept his smile up, even though his lips twitched in a sort of 'for once, my Bishounen charms aren't working?! Heresy! Heresy!' -or at least, that was what I thought he had to be thinking. Considering how Eleonore was looking at him with narrowed eyes, he was perhaps expecting to be sent off to cradle his broken pride in a corner of the room, but he had been 'playing' the game far longer than my sister, if such a 'game' it could be called.

"You are right, young Miss Valliere," he said with a small smile. "His grace the Duke must have taught you well."

I hoped Eleonore would play nice, but she simply replied with a monotone and hollow voice that made her feel similar to mother, if without any of the sharpness associated with it. It was no wonders 'hysteria' was a key sickness in the young women of the time period. They were so tightly wound-up, cutting a single string would make them explode. The arrival of more sons and daughters of nobility allowed Guy the chance to make a run for the hills, as Eleonore graciously allowed him to 'present' her to the others.

The reason the Count de Gramont had gone before a lot of other nobles was because he was also the 'Marshal' of Tristain, and he was the son of a Duke. The Duke de Gramont, to be more precise, hadn't yet croaked but was no longer capable of attending courts. He'd live a good decade or so more, but definitely wouldn't be present for the following years. So, until he died, the 'Comte' de Gramont remained just that, a Count. Not that anyone had something to say about it, or dared to.

The man was the General of the entire Tristainian army, and his sons -even the second born- were prime marriage material.

It was a good thing that Guy de Gramont was there, because as I soon found out, he was the perfect bonfire to keep me in the shadows. The young ladies were every bit as 'teenager' as I would have expected, while still keeping up with a sort of larping convention and enough dazzling jewels -some of them, at least- to show off their wealth and thus, the size of their dowries.

At the same time, something was wrong with the situation, but I couldn't put my finger on it. My eyes once more moved to the buffet. I had been following Eleonore around, but it remained there, largely untouched. If we had to wait for everyone to enter before starting to eat, then it was obvious that would be the case, but no new children had come in since the youngest daughter of a certain Baronet 'Something-Something-Can't-Remember'.

It was as I kept my sight on the buffet for a bit longer that Eleonore was swept away, leaving me alone in the corner of the room. It was long enough for a young grey-haired boy to draw near. I glanced at him with the corner of my eyes, and then smiled. I could do this.

"I am-" "I am-"

We both stopped. I raised an eyebrow, and then furrowed my brows. I looked around, ensuring Eleonore wasn't looking, or hearing, and then said, "Second born son of a Duke here," I whispered. "Shouldn't I go first?"

"Uh...I'm actually the Viscount-should real nobility go before courtesy titles?" the other kid asked in turn, thoughtfully.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "How about we shrug it off and go with our surnames? Valliere."

"Seems fine by me," the other kid smiled brightly, "Wardes."

Of course you are, Wardes. Of course you are. Now forgive me while I waste ten seconds thinking on how to best murder you and make it look like an accident, you bastard. No, no, let's be polite. This is kid-Wardes, he's what, ten? Nine? He can't have the soul of an evil bastard already.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Wardes," I said softly.

"The same can be said for me, your Grace," Wardes replied. "I am honestly happy I have found you so quickly. I apologize for being so bold, but..."

And here it was, the start of a great plan to worm his way into the Valliere's family good grace, and then-

"Could you please eat or drink something?" he whispered, "I'm famished-and unless you start...nobody else is going to."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. So, you wish for me to be a hero?

"My elder sister should-"

"She is refusing offers for drinks," Wardes whispered, "If the Gramont failed, then-well, we have been looking for the younger brother to substitute for her."

Wardes, you are somehow managing to get on my good side even without trying to get on my good side. You are telling me that I should aid these nobles' children? Betray my own family for the succulent turkey and gloriously fruity wine that-

All right Wardes, all right, I think I like child-you.

"I shall make this sacrifice," I said most humorously, "Noblesse Oblige."

And with that, I neared the buffet and walked away with a glass of watered down wine, and a set of tiny 'appropriate for a noble' pieces of food.

The next moment, the charge of the Valkyrie could be heard as the most ruthless, famished and utterly uncaring about norms went first, starting to order the servants around who began to flawlessly hand off plates filled with roast and tiny golden forks and glasses filled with wines.

Quite calmly, I neared Wardes once more, and handed him off a plate.

"Your Grace-you shouldn't have-"

"Wardes," I said quite calmly, interrupting him, "if anybody asks, I have eaten with decorum and noble grace. Now, do me the favor of being my shield and eat something, you're scrawny."

"Uh?" Wardes asked, but then understood implicitly as I began to eat using him to cover myself from Eleonore's inquisitorial gaze. She had understood what had gone on-how could she not? But she couldn't say anything without first finding me. And if I had to face my sister, then I would do so on a full stomach.

The wise man chooses his battles.

The wiser one does not fight to begin with.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Five

Eleonore and I ended up sharing a room. With all the nobles that had come to visit the princess, we were among the selected few who had been given guest rooms in the palace itself rather than having been sent packing back home after the formalities were over. Although Karin had been of the opinion of leaving, apparently, the Queen had insisted on the grounds that 'children' shouldn't be moved around too much.

If it weren't that I was sure she simply wanted to talk to Karin alone, I would have believed her wholeheartedly. Not that she told us, of course. This was all father's opinion, and obviously, he simply did not tell us everything, but I was good at filling in the blanks. On the other hand, the Duke, also known as 'Pierre Laurent', was going to be in a meeting with the King and the Marshal, and a few other big shots that had sent their families back home and had remained there, perhaps to drink, have fun, and otherwise act like big boys filled with alcohol with their wives far away.

Again, this was me filling in the blanks.

At the end of the day, once the servants had finished changing both myself and Eleonore into our night clothes -I surrendered to the inevitability of having servants change my clothes- we both slipped beneath the bed sheets, she taking a side and I taking the other. I was looking forward to entering the military Dragon Knights just so I would be able to avoid having servants left and right, but considering the time period-perhaps they lived inside the barracks and dressed up the sons of nobility too?

No, no, no. I wanted the boot camp experience of 'not having any servants lingering around'. I swear-if I'll ever get into the military, I will have the raunchy, disgusting, all-alone experience where I get to wipe my own ass and nobody tries to interfere.

As the last candlelight was blown off, leaving the room in a comfortable silence, Eleonore shifted on the opposite side of the bed. "Do you think mother will be proud?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

"She'd better be," I muttered. "You were so good, they nearly all starved to death. Weren't you hungry too?"

"It is improper for a lady to near the refreshments unless a lord offers," Eleonore whispered back, "But the Gramont-he kept asking me if I wanted wine, and mother forbade us from drinking it if it wasn't watered down, and not accepting to take at least a sip of an offered-"

"I get it," I said. "Well, I broke the stalemate, and everyone was happy. Or so I think, I don't know about that pudgy one though-"

"That girl of the Du Tremelle family?" Eleonore muttered, "I'd think she'd love being allowed to hound the buffet."

"She was too slow," I pointed out. "By the time she got to it, most of the good stuff had already been taken."

Eleonore did not comment at first, but then she snickered lightly. "That serves her right-she was an absolute annoyance. Every second she was repeating what I was saying-as if I'd be pleased with a parrot on my shoulder. What about you?"

"Oh, nothing much. I did what I do best and found myself a nice little corner to hide away from everything and everyone with a few others who shared my own desires. We spoke largely of what subject we hate studying the most. At present, I am alone in my hatred for geography. But one day, sister, I will find myself an army of like-minded lords, and will have it banned from being taught all around Halkeginia," I said most resolutely, glancing at Eleonore's snickering expression.

"That's silly," she mumbled. "Geography's important-how else would you know when you're trespassing? Which noble has which fiefs, lands, if a Count is perhaps with less land than a Baronet, or viceversa-those are important things to know."

"Meh, that's what other people are there for. If I need to plot a course, I'll hire a navigator. If I need to draw a map, I'll hire a cartographer. If I need to reach Albion, I'll hire a guide. There are always other people-the beauty of teamwork is that they can have their leader, me, who encourages them as they do the rest," I was mostly joking, and Eleonore knew that.

"Mother would punish you if she heard that," Eleonore murmured, "Nobles must lead by example, Henry."

"I know, I know," I said with a sigh. "At the same time though...it's an offence punishable only if mother finds out. If the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't ache."

"Uh-uh," Eleonore muttered, and as I understood that she was already falling asleep, I turned to the side and closed my eyes. The room we were in was large and spacious, a royal guestroom that probably connected to all sorts of secret passages that, in turn, could lead someone outside. I was already dead tired by myself, so I didn't even bother thinking about the 'Wardes' situation.

When I woke up, I had hair in my mouth. Eleonore, true to her half-asleep representation from Canon, liked to hug things in her sleep. I had a mouthful of blond hair on my face, a pair of arms squeezing the life out of my poor sides, and the firm and deep desire not to allow for rumors of the 'Lannister' sort to repeat themselves. Thus, even though it was five in the morning -an ungodly hour, if I can say so myself- I slithered my way out of the bed while spitting out blond locks everywhere.

I just had to wait an hour or so for the servants to come wake us up, though there was always a guard stationed outside that could be called in order for the servants to arrive by simply letting a small bell ring by the side of the bed desk. Unfortunately, doing something like that would wake up Eleonore, and it was best to keep the dragon asleep as much as possible.

So, while Eleonore slept, I neared the windows and looked outside. Somehow, I hadn't expected there to be someone out so early in the morning, but as my eyes centered on a few armed men walking the grounds, I was surprised. I had expected the Griffin and Manticore knights, but I hadn't recalled the 'Hippogriff' knights being a part of the royal retinue. The main difference was that Griffin were magical beasts, the union of lion and eagle. The Hippogriff were the 'friendly' union of a Griffin and a Horse.

I had a joke in the back of my head that was really bad taste. It had something to do with 'playing with your food' in regards to the siring of Hippogriffs, but I kept it to myself for I was sure the Griffin Knights wouldn't approve, and the Hippogriffs looked quite-different. The Griffin were serious beasts, their eagle-eyes sharp and narrow, in search of any problem. The Hippogriffs instead waddled about like turkeys, or perhaps ducks, and while they had the same ferociousness due to their wicked claws and beaks, their eyes were wide open, and they seemed to be in a perpetual state of 'friendship is magic', or something of the sorts.

Griffin were serious business, Hippogriff were happy campers.

Somehow, I wanted a Hippogriff.

They looked cuddly.

"Henry?" Eleonore mumbled from the bed, "You woke up?"

"Big sister Eleonore," I said as I turned to look at her with wide, pleading eyes. Eleonore froze as her eyes widened in turn. "Can I have a Hippogriff please?"

It took a moment for my request to filter through Eleonore's half-asleep brain, and once it did, she clicked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head. "Mother is more likely to allow a Manticore on the grounds rather than a Hippogriff."

"But Manticores are pointy and hard-Hippogriff, they look so-so-so happy and fluffy and cuddly and-"

"Henry Philippe," Eleonore said sharply. "I am going to call the servants to get us dressed. Contain yourself or I will tell mother about how much you ignored etiquette yesterday."

I pouted, and then most resolutely remained quiet henceforth.

One day...one day I would have my own piece of land, with my own mansion, and my own rules.

And on that day, I would make myself a noble without servants, with blackjack, and with Hippogriffs!

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Six

As much as the Queen wished to speak with Karin, and as much as father seemed to enjoy his newly found 'libertine' inspirations with the King, and as much as I would have enjoyed disappearing to hunt down a hippogriff, life is unfair, and nobody gets what they truly want. Well, no. The queen did speak with Karin, Pierre did get his alcohol, but I was the only one without a hippogriff by the end of it.

Life's unfair. It has always been unfair, and it will always be unfair. Those who seek fairness should seek not life, but a videogame. There are people who enjoy the unfairness of it all though, and the more unfair it is, the more they laugh in the face of it and swim in the mud of unfairness to the point where they become happy pigs. While I enjoyed challenges, there was a point where 'Hard Mode' became 'Unfair Mode', and in that case, I called it quits too.

The return home happened without much fanfare, but with haste. I reckon mother was secretly worried about Cattleya, or perhaps she was escaping the advances of the Queen in whatever way she preferred. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortuitously as I would later realize, there is just so much speed you can put into a carriage before it abruptly decides to 'fuck it' and break an axle.

Thus there we were, stuck on the side of the road. Mother could, of course, fly ahead with her wand and perhaps even reach home in time, but doing so openly would be uncouth. She was a noble, and nobles did not 'walk' or 'fly' when they had a carriage just waiting to be repaired. Honestly, the only reason we had all descended from the carriage was because it would be unnecessarily cruel to have the peasant fix the carriage with us aboard -father was helping him with magic to keep the carriage lifted while he worked beneath it, using tiny columns of water that kept it up.

Apparently, the 'Permanency' spell set on the carriage itself to keep it repaired had worn off somewhere down the line, and nobody had bothered replacing it.

"Do not stray too far," Karin said sharply. "There are orcs in the forest."

I raised an eyebrow, but then aptly did not comment on it. It made sense that she didn't want us trudging across the forest due to wolves and orcs, but she was kind of tense in her own personal way. I had an inkling of what had transpired. When you put a drunken father with a hot and bothered mother, you get a baby sister somewhere down the line. Or maybe Karin actually wanted to go back home to show 'Pierre' her appreciation.

I regretted nothing of my shameful thoughts.

"When are we going to learn magic?" I asked instead.

"When I deem you will be responsible enough not to misuse it," Karin answered.

"So why isn't Eleonore already learning?" I asked offhandedly, "She's the most responsible person I know. She did great yesterday-really something worthy of praise."

Eleonore turned her head away from the sight of the carriage being repaired to glance in mine and mother's direction. Mother's lips twitched slightly. "Oh?" she said. "I have a feeling, Henry, that you want something from your sister."

"Not really, mother," I answered honestly. "I would be a poor noble if I used such an underhanded mean to obtain something-nobility must be direct, stern, and swift." I brought my chin up and half-closed my eyes.

"Eleonore," Karin said calmly, "What did you do that your brother's so keen on praising you?"

I looked towards Eleonore. She wouldn't betray me now, would she? She would say something like 'I helped him a bit yesterday', right? She would say that, and everything would be fine-

"N-Nothing, mother," Eleonore said with a slight stammer at the beginning of her answer. This, in turn, made Karin suspicious. I did not come to her aid, because if I did, she'd simply grew more suspicious and press the issue. I hoped she'd rest the inquisition with that, but unfortunately, what Karin did was simpler.

She kept staring at Eleonore firmly in the eyes, until the poor girl had no choice but to crack under the stare.

"He...He wants a hippogriff," Eleonore said in the end. "He saw them from the windows of the palace, and-" Et tu, Eleonore? I will remember this. If this were a Telltale game, in the upper right corner of the screen, a 'Henry will remember this' would have most definitely appeared by now.

"Out of the question," Karin said, bringing to an end the argument before it could even be born.

"Is this a 'no' for the moment, or a 'no' forever, mother?" I asked hesitantly.

"A no is a no," Karin said firmly. Explaining why it was a no would have gone great lengths, you know, 'mother'? Saying because it's a dangerous animal, because you don't want it to eat your roses, or something like that- "Also, you won't be needing a Hippogriff in the Manticore corps."

"Mother-I do not like manticores," I said quite calmly, only to receive an equally calm reply that left me shivering in fear.

"That is something that I will endeavor to fix, like your newly found habit of answering back to me, Henry. My word is final," she said firmly, ending all possible discussions. I could insist, but I was sure I'd end up with an even harsher punishment than what already awaited me once we were back home. Make no mistake, mother wasn't as harsh as fanon might have portrayed her, but she wasn't a piece of butter either.

Case in point, once the carriage was fixed, and once the travel came to an end a day later than mother would have liked, I wasn't allowed to enter the mansion immediately, differently from Eleonore who didn't even stop to consider what was about to happen but simply walked inside -casting just a glance back to realize I wasn't going anywhere yet. Father sort of worriedly hung back as Karin guided me with a hand on my shoulder to a corner of the gardens of the la Valliere estate, and as I realized we were in a patch of land where the grass didn't grow, it forebode pretty well what my punishment was going to be.

Karin let go of my shoulder, and then walked a short distance away, and as she pulled out her wand, I knew what was about to happen. I had had days to think about it, so I was pretty sure she would use the 'Heavy Wind' attack at minimum power. It was going to suck, but it wasn't going to be anything inherently hurtful. It was Karin's way of 'throttling' someone, I reckoned, and it was heaps better than using a whip, a stick, or something similar.

"Karin, dear," Pierre said from the sidelines, easily holding on to the title of 'best father of the century' by mere act of trying to persuade his wife not to go through with her idea of punishment, "Perhaps you could leave him without dinner?"

"He is a growing boy. He needs food. Punishment is simply food for his discipline, Pierre," Karin replied flatly, her wand already in her hand. It was nice to know she valued my eating habits more than she valued my skin, you have quite straight priorities, mother dearest. "This will be just and fair. Also, it won't even draw blood." I would sincerely hope so, Karin! Like-are you really going to do it? I mean-yes, I answered back, but it was just a little thing! You could have easily glossed over it, be the bigger person! It was the first time I actually asked for something, well, no, not even 'asked' since I never got around to it, but-come on! I don't deserve to be thrown into a tornado because of this!

"Now, Henry," Karin said. "There are rules that must be respected. These are the rules you need to be a successful noble. These rules, they are unquestionable-firm as steel, and are important. Now, which rules did you break?"

I swallowed, and then looked ahead with my back straightened. If this was to be my execution pillar, then I would 'die' fully aware of the reasons. At least, I could think that was 'mother's' thought. I would not give her the satisfaction of seeing me plead for mercy though.

"A noble must always obey the crown, and respect those who are superior to him. He will not disobey orders from his betters, and he will endeavor never to want for things that are beyond his status to have. What he has, he has by grace of the Gods, the Royalty and his parents-and he shall not disobey them when they ask for that which they have freely given upon him, nor will he ask them for more than what he is due-"

"You are repeating yourself," Karin said. "The first two sentences would have sufficed." She held her wand in front of her, and then concentrated. I snapped to attention, my eyes firmly fixed on the tip of the wand.

Be it as it may be, I have lived a happy childhood.

The small gust of wind that left the tip of her wand hit me in the face, making me close my eyes as it ruffled my hair and slightly crumpled my clothes. It was-it was perhaps-that was all?

"There," Karin said. She had practically done the equivalent of 'spraying water' on the face of a dog, only it hadn't been water, but air, and it hadn't been a dog, but me. "Now what do we say?"

"T-Thank you, mother, for disciplining me?" I hazarded, honestly shocked I hadn't been sent through the wringer of a hurricane, receiving a nod in reply from the woman. By the sides, Pierre exhaled in relief.

Unfortunately, my woes had yet to come to an end.

How was I supposed to know Cattleya wanted a gift when we came back from the capital?

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Seven

Eleonore was deemed fit to learn 'magic' when she turned twelve. I, by comparison, had to begrudgingly concede the point that I wasn't a special snowflake capable of casting magic without a wand or a focus of sorts -and honestly, the mere fact that I did have magic to throw was already more than enough for me- so it was largely useless to peer over Eleonore's shoulder for what concerned magic.

The theory behind magic was simple. Everyone had a 'Willpower' pool, which was used to impose the will of the Noble upon the world. By doing so, fundamental laws could be altered, truths could be denied, and basically, bullshit could happen. Be it in the form of 'I want a hurricane right here and right now' to 'I want a fire snake to burn my foes'. The Mage used his Willpower pool to 'buy off' the spell, and in order to select the spell, the Mage had to concentrate on it and chant.

The 'magic system' however, was ruthless. Karin was the king of hacks, and she promptly deserved her status as such. You needed a wand you grew accustomed to, and you needed to concentrate on it. Sure, you could grow accustomed to a pitchfork, or to a harp, or to a large war hammer, but you also needed to train throwing spells with them. Your pool regenerated after resting and sleeping, which meant that you couldn't just keep on training throughout the day, and the 'amount' you were born with didn't change.

If someone was born with the ability to throw only a single Dot Spell, then if he became a Line mage, he might be capable of throwing two Dot spells, but it didn't automatically mean he could throw a Line one if he lacked the Willpower for it.

Louise was one of those 'lucky' kids. She had enough Willpower to do pretty much the same 'hacks' as Karin, if only she weren't an adorable one year old baby who currently giggled and moved her arms back and forth from the crib.

Her room was as spacious as all the others, and the tuft of strawberry blond hair on her head was already starting to grow out a bit more. She seemed like a happy kid, and Cattleya did not need to be told twice before deciding that she would care for the little girl as if she were just the most precious thing in existence.

"Little Louise, little Louise, now you see me, now you don't. Where is big sister? Oh my, where is she?" Cattleya giggled as she played with her, while I simply watched with a book in my hands. Being nine, I could finally bring books out of the library. It didn't help me since the books in question weren't about magic, but if I had to wait three years for it, then it would better be worth it.

Also, Henrietta's first birthday had seen us invited to the capital once more. I was pretty sure this would happen for all the birthdays of the royal heir in the future, and while many nobles came to celebrate, many more politely declined. There were no hard feelings -being nobles meant having responsibilities, as Eleonore soon discovered after been given the fief of 'Le Blanc'.

So Eleonore was now Eleonore Albertine Le Blanc de la Valliere, and in addition to her mastery of common subjects, she was both learning how to handle the finances of a fief and being taught by a tutor in magic, and was currently trying to make her wand emit water as a form of 'training' exercise.

Affinity was something like in Naruto, where one was born in it, but it didn't make learning other spells harder. It simply made the ones tied to the affinity in question easier to learn -unless one got the short end of the stick and had so much affinity in one element, that they'd end up precluded another. Fire denied water, and wind denied earth and vice-versa. Void, probably, denied them all.

It was usually considered 'proper' for a Mage to reach Line level by the time they were in their third years of magic academy, and if they took on a military career, then they would either reach Triangle if they kept training hard or, in rare circumstances, Square. There were exceptions, and there were obviously people capable of ignoring said 'default average'. Largely, though, the status quo was kept as such.

"Sprinkling water emerging from the Founder's faith," Eleonore chanted, her wand in front of her as she pointed at the vase by her feet. "Let the holy will of Brimir and the Gods carry you into this world-" and the more she spoke, the more tiny droplets of water began to come out from the tip of her wand.

Meanwhile, while Eleonore unlocked the mysteries of magic, I ended receiving more lessons. Geography, history, religion and etiquette were soon replaced with more 'worldly' needs, like economics, politics, and what I could describe only as a mixture between 'logic' and arithmetic -and also, 'leisure activities'. They apparently expected me to be capable of playing the piano and dancing.

As much as I found it utterly moronic, the piano and the dance lessons were to be done, and thus, I would do them.

And yet, even though this 'education' was quite draconian in and by itself, there were certain moments that made this sort of things worth it.

"The Princess' second birthday is coming around," my eyes twinkled. My eyes outright twinkled. I was sure they would out-twinkle the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore with their twinkling twinkle power. "And this means one thing." I giggled. "I get to see the Hippogriffs again!"

"Your fascination with Hippogriffs aside," Eleonore grumbled, "Are you sure you will be fine alone?" somehow, the fact that she raised her chin up with a bit of smug pride made me blink in turn. "Mother told me I will be spending that time next to her, together with the other adults," she grinned, "Just so you can get ready to feeling lonely with the other kids."

I smiled in turn. My smile was the sort of smile that actually made Eleonore shudder slightly. "When the cat's not around the mice dance," I said cheerfully. "This means-well, this means I'll just have to be the one to open the dances."

Cattleya looked from Eleonore to me, and then viceversa. "Do you think...do you think mother will allow me to come this year?" she asked, Louise held in her arms.

"Your health has improved," Eleonore said, furrowing her brows. "But mother didn't mention it. Maybe I should broach the argument next time I see her?"

"You would?" Cattleya asked, a smile on her face.

"I am still waiting for my Hippogriff," I said with a bit of a sulk, "Or at least a hen. It's nearly the same thing."

"Mother would rather have all coops destroyed rather than let you keep a pet hen, Henry. 'Less dangerous' aside, it would make you the jester of the entire nobility," Eleonore said, slumping her shoulders as she put her wand away, the vase completely filled with water.

In the end, Eleonore did not manage to convince mother to bring Cattleya along.

Cattleya, however, made such astonishing doe eyes that Karin had to concede on another point of contention.

Thus, my 'twin' sister got herself a puppy.

My accusing eyes of 'Where is my Hippogriff?' were, of course, ignored by Karin as she delivered the puppy to Cattleya, much to the girl's delightful smile.

She was playing favorites, wasn't she? Was it because of the hair, the doe eyes, the smile, or because she was the kindest girl in the family?

Hypocrite, my 'mother' was truly a hypocrite.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Eight

This time, presentations went by far more smoothly than before. Kid-Wardes had grown up to be a normal looking eleven years old, even if he had this penchant for looking scandalized whenever I suggested something. I waited just a tiny bit to allow for the majority of children to be present, and then 'opened' the night with dinner.

"Wardes," I said, a glass of wine in one hand, a plate of food in the other. "Do you perhaps know where they keep the Hippogriffs?"

"The Hippogriffs?" Wardes replied with his eyebrows scrunching up in thought. "I think they would be in the stables. Unless they are out patrolling the gardens?" as soon as he said that, I would have slapped myself on the forehead. Of course they would have them patrol the premises of the castle. "Though we aren't allowed to leave this room, your Grace," Wardes continued, ruthlessly squashing my dreams.

"Wardes," I said gently, "Please call me 'Valliere'. As my right-handed man in the battles to assault the buffet, I'll allow you this. No, rather than allow, feel free to call me 'Valliere'."

Wardes hesitated only slightly, and then nodded. "Very well, Valliere," he smiled. "You are most definitely easier to talk with than your elder sister."

"What can I say?" I replied with a sigh. "She's the heir, I'll just be the lazy second born."

"You are the eldest male though, right?" Wardes said, "Aren't you being groomed to take over your family's surname?"

I thoughtfully tapped my chin. "I guess so, but I don't let that bother me," I said. "Carpe Diem-catch the day," I grinned. "That's-"

A blond-haired, blue-eyed boy neared us with a look that definitely meant that he wanted to speak with me, and considering the way he waited politely for me to finish my sentence, this had to be the Gramont number three of four. I gave him a tiny nod of acknowledgement, "I am Henry Philippe de la Valliere, eldest son of Duke de la Valliere," I smiled as I watched the kid stammer a bit. "And this is the Viscount de Wardes," I presented Wardes myself, because as the highest ranked noble in the conversation, it was up to me to decide who was included, and who was not.

Wardes could stay exactly where I knew I could keep an eye on him.

"I'm-I am Anthoine Charles the-the Fourth," the kid said. Was he seven? Eight? Guiche had to be 'one' just like Louise, so this was his older brother. Seriously, the Gramont head of the house must have been on fire-not that my parents weren't either. "Son of Antoine The Third-de Gramont," he finished.

"You forgot your father's title," I whispered, which made him widen his eyes a bit.

"Count," Anthoine said hastily. "It's Count." He sheepishly looked downwards. I hummed. This was the kind of 'wounded young boy' that older ladies loved to pamper. I reckoned that there had to be a son of Gramont for every possible 'ideal male'. Was the firstborn a sort of Adonis with muscled pectorals and bright blinding white teeth?

"So, Lord Gramont," I said. "I did not see you here last year."

"Mother did not think I was ready to interact with my peers, your Grace," he sheepishly said, bringing a hand behind his neck and looking downcast. "I have always been of weak health-prone to sickness-fumbling with everything-struck with misfortune-"

"A bit of advice," I said quite calmly, "Remarking on a set of unfortunate events in order to pamper to the desire of motherhood of females is fine, but do try to keep in mind that as much as they work on the females, they also tend to backfire on the males," I blinked once, very calmly, and then smiled. "Let us try again, shall we?"

Anthoine The Third briefly opened and closed his eyes in surprise, and then nodded, massaging the side of his temples with a dreadful sigh. "You're right," he said, his voice slightly less whiny. "Mother did tell me that. I'm an idiot for forgetting-that's why she didn't want me to come this year too, but I pleaded-could you please keep this a secret?" he whispered, "I'm the third born son -mother says it's just what I should be doing."

I smiled serenely. "Lord Gramont, you know what? I think I'll like you just as much as I like Wardes here. Just tell me this..." I said in a whisper of conspiracy-like tone. "What do you think about Hippogriffs?"

A few minutes later, and I excused Lord Gramont for he had 'most important' things to do with an older girl that had caught his eyes. I remained with Wardes, and smiled. "I do wonder if the next Gramont I'll meet will be as interesting as this one."

"If I may be so bold-what he is doing amounts to taking advantage of other young ladies, your Grace," Wardes said. "It isn't something I would expect you to condone."

"Wardes," I said gently, "he is young, and highly impressionable. Whether I find it distasteful or not, it does not matter to me. Should he aim his charms on one of my sisters, I would, of course, murder him in his sleep and hide his corpse somewhere they wouldn't be able to find him," I whispered with the smile still on my lips, much to Wardes' surprise. "But I have no intention of admonishing him out of some misguided attempt at playing the White Knight of fairy tale stories. Especially because this way, I earn myself a friend, rather than make myself an enemy...and of this 'friend', I know his sins."

"That is...quite shrewd," Wardes said. "Is that something taught commonly?" he asked next.

"No," I replied with a lazy shrug of my shoulders, breaching enough 'etiquette' rules about shrugging that if my mother had see me, she would have whipped me with the etiquette book on my ass, but she didn't, so nothing happened. "It is just that some people can make enemies, but I cannot afford that-or my mother will punish me most severely." I shuddered slightly. "Noblesse Oblige, Wardes. Noblesse Oblige."

"I have been wondering for a while-what does it mean?" Wardes asked. "Is it Gallian?"

"It is, I guess," I replied offhandedly. "It means 'Nobility Obliges'. Nobles have obligations towards those they command, and those that are below them. If you wish to know the true nature of a man, then see how he treats those that are below him -usually, it is the most telling piece of their character."

"Your mother must have hired you some extraordinary tutors, your Grace," Wardes said in the end, quite awed. I shook my head.

"Wardes-if there is one thing I learned from an early age is that to disappoint my mother is to earn the wrath of hell. I cannot be allowed to disappoint her," I smiled briefly. "Which is why I have spent my fair amount of time in the library back at home studying by myself. This 'free time' that so many speak of, I haven't experienced it. Think about it-my dream is to enter a Knight corps that isn't the Manticore Knights just so I can escape mother's shadow." I sighed. "I cannot wait to be sent to a magic academy-away from it all."

"If you say so, your Grace," Wardes said, a grimace on his face quite visible.

"I apologize if my words opened your wounds," I said softly, "Though I think you would not like my pity, is that correct?"

Wardes' eyes glanced aside, and then he forced a smile of his own. "I am the one who should be apologizing, your Grace. My concerns shouldn't be yours-and you definitely should not concern yourself with my problems."

"Well, if you insist on calling me 'Your Grace' rather than 'Valliere', then perhaps I should. I was thinking-would it be all right if we set up a correspondence?" as I asked that, Wardes blinked in surprise, and the smiled a bit, perhaps honestly, perhaps not.

"I-I would like that, your-" I made a 'tut-tut' sound, "Valliere."

I smiled. "There we go," I hummed. "You thinking on what magic academy to attend when you are of age, Wardes?"

"The Tristain Magic Academy is the closest and the most renowned," Wardes said. "I will attend it in four years of time-"

"Then keep me a seat in six years," I replied, "I do doubt mother would allow me to skip ahead of my peers."

"Valliere-just to ask," Wardes blinked, "You are-nine?"

"Yes?" I replied.

"But...ah," he acquiesced. "Perhaps having none is sometimes better than not?" he murmured, and to that, I simply smiled awkwardly without saying much else. Mother's 'reputation' was useful in making people think that the reason behind my 'wisdom' was tied to the harsh, severe, draconian teachings that she would subject me to. Sometimes, having a 'reputation' helped.

And I would milk it.

I would milk that reputation for all of its worth.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Nine

When I was ten, enough space stood within my schedule to allow for my father's own personal brand of tutoring. This meant, of course, horse riding. In a world where fantastical beasts lurked the corner, where six-legged horses, Manticores, Griffin, Unicorns, Dragons and the fluffy Hippogriffs could be mounted, the old, reliable horse was also a key part of the system. Commoners walked, while nobles either rode on a mount or took a carriage.

"And this is the start of the La Blanc fiefdom, currently managed by Eleonore," Pierre was, for lack of better words, an easy-going noble. He still was a noble, make no mistake, and he still expected to be respected as such, but there was a certain air of 'nonchalance' that made him far more approachable than Karin -as evidenced by how the commoners simply flocked to us whenever we neared a village. Sure, most of them could simply be doing it out of politeness and the desire to keep their heads on their shoulders, but there was a neat contrast with how they went about it.

"Is your back all right, old lady?" Pierre asked an old lady with wrinkles on her face, who smiled and blushed, waving away my 'father's' concerns. He was quite honestly 'beloved' by the servants and the commoners of the land. If he snapped his fingers, a mob of torches and pitchforks would be at the ready within seconds. While mother took care of the household finances, father spent most of his days going around dealing with the common folks. He could stay in the mansion and drink wine all day long, but he didn't want to do that, and from a certain point of view, I understood and appreciated this 'method'.

The more land we explored, the more I realized just how big the entire thing actually was. "One day, you'll have to make sure everything is managed properly," father said as we made our way back towards the mansion. "While I trust your sisters to do their best, if I think about how a good for nothing husband might ruin them-it makes my heart cry," he muttered the last part darkly, to which I answered with a nod.

"Most certainly, father," I said with a small smile. "If someone were to lay a hand on my sisters-and his heart were wicked, then I would bring down justice. By that token...I would not trust a Gramont. Especially not the second to last," I shook my head.

"Indeed," Pierre nodded. "Glad to know we think alike, son," he smiled. "Anthoine is a good friend, but he has his...likes. His wife though-she's the real piece of work," he bristled slightly, "Don't tell your mother I said that."

"My lips, father, are sealed," I said most wisely. "Though a Hippogriff might-"

"Henry, it's not going to happen," Pierre said with a sigh. "No matter how much you insist, no Valliere will ever ride upon a glorified poultry."

"But you do allow Cattleya to keep pets," I honestly whined. "She got herself a dog, and then a cat-why can't I have a hen? A duck? Ducks are feathered war dogs, father-"

"I keep wondering where you took that passion for poultry from," Pierre muttered. "You certainly did not get it from my parents. It must be on Karin's side then-"

Truth be told, the answer was quite simpler. My mother -my 'real' mother- had a pet hen when she was little, and lived in a farm for a while. When she grew up and married, she moved off to the countryside for a bit, and so the first few years of my life, I spent them with a pet hen.

A pet hen that a couple of years later would end up as a meal for Christmas, roasted with potatoes, but, well, I was a kid back then, and knew not the end of 'Bianchina' until much, much later.

But the hen was quite fluffy, and soft. And I wanted another.

"If I do end up summoning a Hippogriff as my familiar, father," I said quite firmly, "I will be keeping it."

"I am sure you will end up summoning one," Pierre sighed, "Which is perhaps why your mother is so disheartened." I raised both brows at father's words.

"Mother...disheartened? Are we speaking of the same person, father?"

"Let me tell you something, but keep it as a secret between us men," Pierre spoke in a hushed tone, looking right and left before continuing. "She can't wait to find out if either you or Cattleya inherited her 'peculiar' Wind Affinity, so that she can train you personally." A cold shower would have had a better effect, 'father'. Know this: even if my Affinity turns out to be 'Wind', I will lie so hard about it that I'll rather start learning Earth, or Fire. Heck, I'll cross the border and ask the Zerbst for help concerning that if it means not having to train with mother.

The thought of crossing the border just to meet with the fabled 'Zerbst harlots' was quite tantalizing, all things said. Great Uncle François had apparently fallen for their wiles, and nobody spoke of him ever again on that side of the family.

"Father," I said softly, "Is that supposed to be a good thing, or a bad thing?" I asked warily, only for Pierre to sigh and shake his head.

"Karin's your mother, Henry. She won't willfully hurt you," Pierre said, stressing the 'willfully'.

I sighed. "She's also the Heavy Wind," I said. "Her 'Rule of Steel', it's really non-negotiable."

"Nobles have responsibilities," Pierre said. "And there are consequences to a noble's faux-pas. Your mother is certainly stern, but not as much as you might think. Why, I ran away from my responsibilities as a noble because the whip and the stick were the first instruments I learned the sound of on my skin," he chuckled gently, "for all of her faults, Karin's not that heavy handed."

"She's still scary," I pointed out. "More like," I continued, "I'm afraid of disappointing her, I guess."

"Oh?" Pierre broke out in a chuckle, and shook his head. "That is not something you should be afraid of. She's really proud of all of you-'my Eleonore was flawless at the last ball', 'my Cattleya's so good at sewing', 'my Henry's such a charming young lord'." I blushed and coughed at the awkward praise, looking away. "She might not make a show of it, but she's not someone to be scared of-unless you did something you don't want her to know, uh?"

"No, nothing of the sort," I shook my head, biting the lower part of my lips. "It's just that-I'd like to start learning magic, father. But-"

"Uhm...if your mother were to know of this, she'd have my hide," Pierre said, stopping his horse and mine in turn -since he was practically guiding them both, holding on to the reins in order not to let mine 'rush off' into the unknown. He dismounted nimbly, and as I did the same -if with slightly more ground to cover before my feet touched the ground- he tied both horses to a nearby tree stump.

He then turned towards me, and with his 'noble staff' that was anything but a walking stick in his right hand, he pulled out from one of his pockets a small, polished wand.

"Now," he said as neared me and made to hand over the wand. "We will not speak of this to your mother," his eyes twinkled. "We will not mention it, make subtle words of it, or otherwise let her understand what is going on."

I nodded most resolutely, my mouth salivating at the thought of holding on to the wand, of learning magic, of-as the wand exchanged hands, and I clutched it, I could feel the warmth in my chest spread from sheer excitement. I was going to quake the ground, rip the land-destroy the trees, or perhaps what? Create wonders? Use Alchemy to brew poisons, or miraculous healing potions?

"We begin with the very basic," Pierre said, pointing at a tree with his staff. "Magic is based on one's mind. Though the chanting may be largely the same, it can change depending on the noble. The effect might be the same, for example the conjuring of water, but while some nobles might use the same chant, others might have variations. You might think about a rain to fill a goblet, or use a spoon to do the same job. In the end, the goblet is filled with water, but the means to achieve it vary."

I nodded, clutching the wand.

"Remember that you need to use your will. We are Nobles, it is us who rule the world, not the world that rules us," Pierre continued firmly, and then extended his staff. A jet of highly pressurized water left the tip of his staff and hit the bark of the nearby tree. "As you may have noticed, I did so without chanting. This-well, it means the spell came out really weak, but it's best we don't leave any signs of our passage," he grinned. "Though in my youth, why-I was renowned for being the fastest water whip user of all of Tristain."

As he spoke, I nodded and then extended my arm towards the tree. "Now, something like 'Sprinkling water that comes from the depths of my faith, the Founder's will grants me strength in this trying day-'," as Pierre spoke, I clenched the staff a bit tighter, my eyes half-narrow as I felt my brain churn softly, concentrating on the tree in front of me.

"Water," I began, "sprinkling from within, the Founder's will is absolute in its command, so-" water began to spray out of the tip of the wand in a thin mist-like quality. It wasn't even enough to be called 'water', but mostly, 'haze'. Still, it worked.

It worked.

Oh shit, it worked.