Your family has been bothering you lately. You have ripened to an old age of 54, though you have kept your appearance more youthful than it should have been, no thanks to the supply of supplements that you have been consuming of lately. And yet, being a former deserter, the trouble that your reputation brought you preceded your position. Nobles scoffed at the idea of marrying you, and commoners feared you lest they wanted to have their heads lopped off. You are the king's consultant, after all, even if your rank of nobility is absent.
"Haa..." You sigh, as you sift through the papers of upcoming imperial decrees. Approving the king's monetary management was also part of your tasks, though they mainly consisted of putting your stamp on them, not wanting to irritate his kingship too much. Still, you always had the opportunity to protest a tax increase on incoming merchant goods, being one yourself, and possibly even get it revoked.
"I need at least some nobility," You say, clicking your tongue. You had settled down with a young woman of a mayor of a local town, and had two children, a boy and a girl, yet you felt that this has all been superficial.
"I have made myself who I am! I have built my fortune - my way up! Yet why do I have to settle for some peasant wife?!" You exclaim, burying your face inside the trenches of your palms. Yes, despite being highly rich, thanks to your lost companion, and the right hand of the king, nobility evades you. Despite searching high and low for a noble wife, your goals seem to elude you. You strive to join the noble ranks - to leave your name in history - but it seems that fate had other plans for you. Just then, a knock is heard on your door.
"I permit you to come in and speak," Your voice resounds. You might not be a noble, but let all the gods in the world be damned if you don't act as one. The door creaks open as the stature of an old, yet sturdy and upright, man walks in, his military gait deceiving his age. This was your head butler, Rievus.
"Ah, it's you, my good butler," You slacken as you recognize the familiar face. "What brings you here? Do you have some news?"
The elderly man corrected his glasses on the bridge of his nose before speaking.
"Indeed, my lord. I have found her."
"What?" You furrow your eyebrows. What could he possibly be referring to?
"I have found her," He repeats. "A noble lady, desiring marriage."
Your eyebrows raise this time. Now this is interesting... You have spent over 20 years searching for the one to elevate your status to nobility, and now one has just fallen out of the blue?
"Go on."
"Yes, sir. Her name is Lady Casandra, a high-ranking noble from Versiland, who has arrived to this nation in search of suitors."
"Versiland...?" You scrunch your brows, deep in thought. "Does such a nation even exist?"
"I have looked up the documents for this occasion and have discovered that it is indeed a faraway nation. You have no need to worry. We even have an ambassadress in court. Beautiful thing."
Your shoulders relax. It is well known throughout the court that marrying a high ranking noble from a nation that has foreign relations with Tryzantium will yield a lesser noble title to the spouse as well. Not only that, the title was heritable as well. While you preferred a title of duke or maybe even earl, you could always work your way up from a baron. The hard part was actually getting one.
"And, is she...?" You ask, and Rievus nods his head. "Gorgeous."
You straighten out and cough briefly before addressing the butler, "Arrange a meeting for us as soon as possible. I would like to meet her."
Rievus only smiles in response. "I have thought that you would say that. She is already in the dining hall, being served the finest tea that we have. Now would be the time."
You groan as you roll your eyes, "Normally, I would have your head off for insubordination, but... I suppose you know me too well."
Rievus only mutters, "With pleasure" as you pass by him, trying to preserve your noble air. You wanted to laugh. You wanted to shout. You wanted to jump. Finally! After all this time, an opportunity had presented itself. Sure, she might have come from a distant land, but she was a noble! This was your chance to ascend to even higher realms of power!
You gracefully walk into the dining hall as you gasp from the appearance you see in front of you. A woman is sitting in front of you, slowly sipping tea from her cup, as a maid walks up and places another one on the opposing end of the table, no doubt for you. She is elegant, graceful, beautiful, and all manners of confident and noble. You have to force the muscles of your jaw to remain still so that you don't embarrass yourself as you gaze at her rich blonde hair.
You cough, alerting everyone of your presence, as you enter and take a seat by the table. The steaming hot tea sits in front of you. The tea was your pride and joy. You have specially culminated different herbs for the production of tea, and you have been hailed as the greatest tea entrepreneur in the nation. Right now, a tea of 'Capebleux' was positioned in front of you and the lady.
"This is quite nice," the lady suddenly begins to speak.
"Is that so? I'm quite please," You reply as you take a sip from your own cup. Ah, it really is a fine tea.
"I assume that you are the noble of this house," the lady spake, once more taking a sip.
"Ah, I am not a noble," you begin, and see that her face seems to darken. "But I am a man of great power. Why, I'm the king's right hand some would say!" Her mood seemed to instantly brighten.
"Yes," You continue, standing up and walking to the window. "Fame, wealth, power, I have it all! I just don't have one thing, and you possess it, my fair lady-" You turn around and slightly flinch. You rub your eyes as you look again. Did you see things? You thought you saw ______________________________.
You shake your head. What's wrong with you? Here come's an opportunity of a lifetime, and you are here dawdling in idle thoughts. Now is the chance to grasp true power. But then, did your eyes deceive you?
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