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                 Location: Castle, Aymar's Room                                                  Year: 1065 AD

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(POV: Chelecsia)

 

 

 

*Sweeping Sounds*

 

'Commoners will always be used when needed and discarded when we are used, he won't say the same thing he says to you now when he grows up, he'll forget eventually, hell he might even become like his brother!'

 

Swinging the broom while blankly staring at the wall, while my father's words were repeated in my head.

 

'What does he know about him? I was the one who spent the most time with him, he never treated me like how lord or lady treat their servants, he asks me nicely though' I convinced myself.

 

'Well it's not like I can be his personal maid without doing anything, at least I'll be useful to him' I turned my attention to the girls after the 'finishing touch' on the already cleaned floor of Aymar's room.

 

These were the orphan girls he assigned to me to help me on my chores who are waiting for my Call, they were clumsy at first but learned eventually and my workload has already reduced to nothing thanks to them splitting the tasks themselves, which Aymar used to call 'Divide and roll' I'm not sure why would you roll though, I shrugged on the last part as I threw myself on the bed.

 

"Oh No! Senior Maid Sia!" "what are you doing?" "what if someone sees that you are slacking in master's bed?!" the three maids started squawking complaints like hungry fowls.

 

This is what I hate about them, especially the 'Senior Sia' part, I know that my position is higher than theirs but that doesn't makes me 'Old',

 

"I've slept on this same bed with Aymar almost every night, so shut up your bickerings and make sure nobody comes this way while I'm sleeping and also keep your voices low" Yelled my order to them.

 

The panic-stricken maids' eyes widened they talked among themselves before complying my demand with "Yes Mistress" before they stationed themselves near the entrance. But still I can hear their low muttering amongst themselves,

 

'Wait, why are they acting well-behaved all of a sudden? and why are they calling me mistress? whatever' I reached my hands underneath the bed while dismissing my thoughts.

 

There was a crossed wooden pallet nailed to the side, so that a wooden box can be placed which even maids who clean the room can't discover easily.

 

Taking out the box which was at the size of a pillow with a tight leather skin in between the box and lid so that contents are 'airlocked', another term that Aymar uses.

 

Inside the box are the remains of lost hope,

the Last few Honey biscuits, salt biscuits(which I don't know why he calls it 'salt biscuit' while it was still sweet) also walnut, almond and raisin cookies,'Aymar said I could eat them when I miss Him'.

These are rare because Aymar completely stopped baking ever since he took in the orphans.

 

I started chomping them without regarding the bits falling all over my clothes, bed and floor.

 

This does bring back those memories, playing silly games while the oven was burning, I still don't understand how people not notice the smoke, I remember Tri-arcs of moons bright enough for people to barely see the smoke, I don't care since we aren't doing this nowadays anyway.

 

Even after eating all that, it kind of makes me want to eat more, 'Oh no! the place is splattered with biscuit crumbs, they had just cleaned the place, what should I say If they asked me what these bits are?' I looked at my maids making sure they're keeping their backs at me while I started picking up bits and putting them inside my mouth, some of them have small stone parts but its okay, after wiping my face and clothes off of tiny bits, I pushed remaining tiny pieces under the bed to hide the evidence and went back to hugging the pillow which is good to hug but smells bad since it had been soaked with Aymar's and some of my drools for years.

 

And just when I was about to fall into dreamland, I was halted, "Mistress Sia! Taylor has returned" one of them reported.

 

Jumping off the Bed instructed them "Keep a lookout for others",

 

The smell of sweat blasted inside before Taylor came in, she must be training with those boys again, I still can't believe that Aymar has let her work as a maid who is rough as those boys.

 

"Today's report" she gave a piece of firewood which she hidden under her clothes, firewood had carvings on flat side, mostly trivial matters which he for some reason don't want to stop listening, He even told them to write the reports in firewood,

 

"I'll take care of it, please take a bath for God's Sake, how did those guards even let you in?" She returned without replying,

'I'm so gonna complaint this to Aymar when he returns' inserted the firewood in one of his clothes in the closet, although it is meant to be hidden, the suspicious bulge on them kind of gives it away.

 

With that thing out of the way, I jumped back on his bed trying to bury myself in the middle, "You won't forget me as my Father said right Aymar? would you?" muttered with a low voice.

 

 

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(POV: Aymar)

 

 

"We're here" Coachman Shouted

 

*Thomp*

 

"My Ass!" I groaned 'I can't take it any longer' , I stood up rubbing my back. 'it feels like someone Ironed my ass' everyone was in a similar state but aren't groaning like me. Despite the seat of the carriage was covered with hay bags, it felt like a wooden plank,

 

This is Crague city, another one of those cities on our way to the Captal, we were riding and staying in Inns for some while. These days, we've been sleeping in Carts or prickly hay bed Inns as opposed to Wool stuffed soft bed.

 

There's nothing much about this City except that its bigger than our Barony, there's no form of Castle or fortifications of walls of any kind unlike previous ones that we've been through(maybe there's no monster threat this deep within the kingdom? I'm not sure), well it is a little more visitable city in terms of infrastructure since it depends on trade, it seems like it has harvests more than our barony and it also has more population than our territory since fewer crops die due to cold other than that it's just one of those cities ruled by the crown instead of some Noble.

 

Another fucking Inn Stay, although their food is average or maybe even better than commoner's food stalls, but still not at the level to what I used to eat at home, Plain vegetable stew and some bread, my family sure is stingy, but I understand since price being almost a silver for each person if we ate the same thing in our territory it would most cost half silver for all four D'kman members.

 

The Public Lavatory was the worst, I can smell a concoction of shits by everyone who had been here ever since it was built, I hope mum isn't facing a similar scenario on her side.

 

I cooped myself inside my room not wanting to go out in this town, Cause I've already seen the towns on the way, there's nothing much to see other than stinking townsmen, unlike the warm people that most fantasy stories have,

 

I gave some coins to Vastel to chill off in the tavern and also get to know about this stupid town since he could prod in places where I can't.

 

Opening up the map, I noticed that we weren't going straight to the capital we have been going a long zigzag Route, the map kinda looks like a snake similar to the Don't Starve game's map, This is not because of the geographical Landscape and all but probably due to not get into trouble with opposing Factions, We have been to few neutral towns like this and one of our faction member's territory, even though we are on the same side they just don't care about us due to being lower standing, 

 

In any case, we'll be at Capital Sable in few more days, the further west we reached temperature increases making agriculture more feasible, evidenced by increasing greenery along our way.

 

 

(Two Days Later)

 

 

It was the grey outline peeking from the green horizon that gave away the sign.

 

"Finally the Capital!" 'It's my brother who shouted this time'.

 

It still took quite a few hours to actually get close enough for me to see clearly, that's when I realized, 'They're really tall or should I say Stupidly tall, only idiots would think of sieging it'.

 

It's like a medieval city wall but multiplied by two, no three, it was that ridiculously high,

 

Unless the country is facing some form of civil war, no one can infiltrate these walls, period.

 

There were long line queues of people and carts entering and exiting, since we are nobles we got to enter without much hassle.

 

The inside of the Capital is overcrowded with people, stone buildings built without a gap, it already looks like a Bazaar, At the very center of this City a towering Castle with pointy towers that look cool, they can be seen from any corner within the Walls, this is the 'Grand Castle Waerham' which is also known as The King's Residence.

 

Once inside of the walls we were greeted by Royal knights who escorted us to where all nobles had been accommodated.

 

These Knights were clad in Plate mail armor from head to toe even their horses had some form of protection at the front, their helmet only had a horizontal slit, no one can make out of their facial reactions, They don't have any cape, they wear black cloth withing under their armour and few fabric pieces that can be seen in between armor joints near elbows. their shields were black and in the middle was a Scarlet red Raven on all fours screaming at me to fuck it silly. The symbol of the Crown, These Knight seems to be diverse in their choice of weapons, a few Carried Long swords, and shields, while some carried Dual swords and the last one was carrying spiky metal balls in a stick connected with chain thingy.

 

They lead our cart, our subsequent travel is smooth, Thankfully the roads from the Gates to the Grand Castle was wider paved path with less traffic, Our destination is not the Grand Castle but some other place midway, the Knights turned midway into a shorter road and to an isolated Building away from the busy atmosphere of Capital.

 

This is the Building where we would be hanging during our stay, It seemed like a huge Stone Palace which happens to be a place for minor nobles like us to stay, it was crowded since there were many minor noble cramped together with their men,

 

When we arrived there were a group of nobles watching commenting on people that enter there, once inside the gates, our carriage had led out some other place since this place can't house all those carriages and there aren't any underground parking lots.

 

Upon closer inspection, the stones seemed to be smoothly carved, windows and stone rails have detailed curved arch making them more aesthetically pleasing, I'm not knowledgeable about previous world structures so I can't find any proper references, to put it in perspective its a three-story stone apartment spanning at a large area with double football-sized courtyard in the middle.(or modern-day huge hospital with a lot of housing space)

 

It felt like we were part of a big family, but that lasted only for a moment, I can already feel a lot of stares towards us but not of the good kind. whatever the politicking shit is I don't care or give a fuck, the only thing I ever care about is Food and occasionally their daughter if they were hot enough.

 

I watched considerable nobles on the way to our allocated portion, my analysis was their attire was better or too lavish than us and as for their looks, some are handsome while some are ugly while the majority are average in the looks department, Other than that every single woman is a Beauty.

 

This is only considering Minor Nobles, Everyone below Count/Countess are stuffed in this single building, while higher Nobility have their own premises inside the Inner walls of Capital. A separate district only reserved for more people with higher status and power,

 

I expected being a Noble we would get a separate luxurious building near a beautiful lake or things of that sort, but the reality however is akin to getting a free Hotel with average standards,

 

As we entered our Accommodation, we can see that it had a spacious hall, decent master bedroom and a few more amenities and rooms which is nice for a temporary stay, I got my own room near the balcony, Here I was afraid I might be put in the same room with my brother due to space issue turns out it was servants facing the brunt, well I was generous as to let few female servants stay in my room telling my mom that I'm scared and don't wanna sleep alone and all.

 

That night I couldn't sleep Calm, "Big Sis Gracia, Harth could you please get close to me", the bed had the capacity of two adults but being servants they laid away from me which kept them awake since they were constantly maintaining the distance as not to disturb me, but after I said that they closed some distance but still few inches away, "closer!" I demanded with a childish tone. They moved in one inch as a response, but since this is going nowhere I just pulled their hands making them rolling towards me while their buns squash me in the middle, I feel like a Sausage of a Hotdog right now.

 

Only thing I miss now is a real Sausage, damn I wish I was old enough to do the smash smash.

 

I could only pout while somehow falling asleep between these warm pillows.

 

The next day I woke up all alone, 'I need to focus on other things since I'm in Capital I'll try to see what I can do' I decided.

 

After finishing morning duties, I headed to the hall where we happened to have a Few Guests.

 

"Aymar!, there he is, come on Aymar, This is our second Son Aymar. Aymar greet him, he is Mister Stanley Cadela famous merchant in Ravaeyn Kingdom and his son Boris" Even though this is a normal Parent's behavior, I felt like being showcased as an exotic monkey.

 

"One of them actually" he corrected, "Good Morning Mister Stanley". This Stanley Guy is a little fatter version of Jaime Lannister, a kid similar my age with blonde hair is present as well. "Hullo Boris" gave a more friendlier smile to that guy.

 

"Nice to, Ah.. Hullo" he tried to use etiquette but changed his mind at mid-sentence.

 

"I'm going for a walk towards the courtyard, can you join me?". He hesitated for a second and turned to his father for his consent for which he just told him to go with me verbally.

 

Why do I feel like asking a girl out?, Its clear as a day that he is a guy, 'get some balls on your own dude!', I advised him in mind but then again I'm no better, being a cry baby and throwing a fit over stupid stuff like some brat.

 

We came out to have a walk but he's so silent, is he expecting me to be the initiator?, "Boris is this your first time in Capital as well?", for which his eyes twitched before answering "I live in Capital" 'Ok, the wrong question but how am I supposed to know that he lives here?'.

 

"Do you know why our parents are meeting?" 'merchants won't go around asking people whether they are in good health, there must be something that they gain as well', "Well we got that golden Fur from your Family after all" he said as a 'matter-of-facty'.

 

"Wait that pig fur is still circulating?" 'that's news to me', "you don't know? in fact we have been receiving some every year, maybe you'd had more hoarded since it was a Direboar".

 

'I thought this guy was Ignorant but turns out I was the Ignorant, why haven't they told me anything about that to me?', "As merchants, which parts of the kingdom do you guys deal with?".

 

"From Capital of'Ravaeyn Kingdom' at North East to Port City of 'Sadrina Kingdom' at South West also few kingdoms in the middle".

 

"You said port City of Sadrina Kingdom right?", "Yes port is a place where Ships come and go, you see Sea is a huge lagoon and these ships are like bigger boats float on water"

 

"I've seen Boats before, don't treat me like a child!" retorted 'I shouldn't let this guy treat me as a bumpkin',

 

"No way!, there's no water body big enough in the East where someone requires an actual Boat to cross, most of them already have strong bridges built a century ago, From East the next immediate usage of Boat starts from the Holy Kingdom or for the Cold Sea to the Northern Clans" he denied resolutely while giving me a lot of information.

 

'Well what he said is true, there aren't any huge water bodies that require boat to cross and also some old king built a lot of bridges throughout the kingdom, it was centuries ago which are standing strong till this day, so most of the people born in the East would die without ever knowing or seeing ships or even boats, In my case, I remember boats from my otherworld memories but I can't say that to him'.

 

'It seems I can't fool this guy' sighing I changed the subject "Where do those Ships get goods from?", "Ofcourse they come from south" 'this guy's sure easy to manipulate, "South where?"  "The Sand Continent Memphia" we didn't talk for some moment while I digest the information, ''Sand continent Memphia', Is it like Africa?' I pondered. 

 

'why does nobody seems to know about it though?', "Why people don't talk about sand continent at all?", if other foreign kingdom existed, then at least it would have been used as a fable for children "I'm not sure why but from what Sailors said, Those in the South are stronger compared to our Western Kingdoms".

 

'That was a whole lot of unexpected Information' "If they are strong as you say, Why haven't they invaded us yet?" If they were that strong, then our western realm would have already turned into their Vassal".

 

"That... I do not know, now that you said that it really makes me wonder" before he drowned into deep thought I asked, "Is this information known to People?" "No, Only to Merchants and few Nobles, and even if they did know, they wouldn't believe it or keep it to themselves".

 

It seems that's how deep he knows, "Whatever, Since you live in Capital you must know some of the Best Places to eat or visit Right?", 'Time for some generic subjects'.

 

After some talks we decided to visit 'Callum Tavern' it is unique to the Capital, it serves fish from the North, Fruit Tarts from the South and even normal food tastes better than anything outside plus very costly so mostly Nobles and Merchants like him visit this place,

 

Once we returned, We asked our parents for permission and coins since we are kids we had to ask everytime, for which mom objected but Dad intervened and also gave me some heavy pouch of coins to spend, this sudden act of generosity means he either drank poison or he wants to do... I deleted the thought while leaving to get on the carriage.

 

On our way we came across actual Bazaar with people selling stuff with loud noises, it was overcrowded, pedlers and small-time merchants have set up stalls in corners shouting out for their merchandise.

 

It's Crazy, I can hardly hear what one guy says among the loud voices other than that, everything that's for sale is meant for commoners, so there's nothing that attracted our attention except for slave traders, who are selling grown men for labor jobs at cheap prices, luckily there are no girls among them, probably sold somewhere else, I asked Boris about this "The Church banned trading femal slaves long ago, so that only they could trade female slaves, they won't even let underground markets to have a hand on them" he informed me. I am unsure whether it is good or not that Church is the monopoly in this department,

 

We went to the so-called 'Callum tavern', unlike typical tavern in my mind it was a big luxurious building, it had a big hall for serving people and they seemed to serve only Wealthy Class of people, here you are judged by your clothes that you wear, the entire Hall seemed packed most probably people who are here for the event, Many nobles who are sipping wines along with their peers.

 

The food here is really better as he said, the Mutton Stew had the right amount of spices and veggies which was great, Fruit tart was good, and at the end sweet grape wine which really was perfect as a finale, There is no such thing as drinking age.

 

I now understand why people mostly drink wine here, cause it was good making me wanting to go for another Goblet, as for the price
they were costly, I don't have much understanding about the average economic cost of what I ate, but compared to everything that I've eaten so far, this is Costliest, around 40 Silver, which would have last me a few years of running expense for my Orphans Army.

 

Although it is in no way a big dent to the pouch that my father gave, it is still the largest spending that I made so far in my life.

 

"If you want sightseeing, other than Grand Castle and few Palaces inside the Inner walls, there's only one place worth mentioning, that is the Catherdal, Best Artisans were used in its construction and they have also used dazzling Emerald 'Crystals' as windows, every nobility and merchants tried to ask, even Royalties but Information on which is kept secret from everyone!" Boris said with hyped mind about the Church Crystal which reminds me of Glass.

 

'Finally some Glass reference',

 

Without a doubt, we visited the Cathedral, It had a large span of area similar to a size of a factory, once inside Catherdal grounds everyone had to walk instead of using carts to arrive at the main building, Even the King is no exception to this rule, I understand as to why such rule exists, As we were walking along with the crowd, We could enjoy the Flower Garden at the front, few stone buildings that fit perfectly in line as they were welcoming the passers to reach the main building, The cathedral, the triangular structured cathedral looked great with detailed stone architecture, it would have been even better if not for the green glass windows which seemed out of place, it shouldn't be there at all, Boris had a smirk like 'i told you so' Face while I frowned at the plain green glass, It would have been wonderful with color stained glass but alas they don't seem to have it yet.

 

It's not clear glass, probably discovered very recently but atleast the are improvising,

 

Inside the cathedral, the already big hall looked grander with a Vaulted ceiling, it had detailed pillars having carvings each of which depicts the story of Saint Theresa, the Misericords just enhanced the beauty of simple wooden structures,

 

 

Every single detail made this Cathedral look breathtaking, and then again the green light coming from the green glasses spoiled everything, honestly, this place would have been much better even without these green glasses. After looking at the structure and jesting for a while, we returned to our carriages.

 

We didn't stay for long, since we both have to attend the event, we separated our ways when we were back at the Main road.

 

 

 

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(Later that evening at Grand palace)

 

(POV: Payn D'kman - aka Father)

 

 

 

'That old Donkey better remember our Deal' headed to the Grand Ballroom with that thought.

 

I still can't get used to all etiquettes somehow, For the D'kman family became Nobles only in recent generations.

 

We were just Chief of a hunting Village, but sitting right at the backyard of Ferocious Beasts, one needs some strength otherwise we would have become snacks to them a long time ago.

 

It was during the Power struggle between Princes over the Throne that made us raise, the same thing as now but two generations before, things weren't as peaceful as it is now, at that time the prices were few and far stronger than today, Once the news of bedridden King's death was announced, the entire Ravaeyn Kingdom turned into a state of Anarchy, Cities being Pillaged, weaker Nobles extinguished and Chaos spread everywhere, at that time one of the Princes, weakest one among the peers whose faction was already crumbling that no other prince even wanted to waste a breath on him, he asked my grandfather to fight for his Cause, which he did whether due to fear or coercion or free will nobody knows or Cares because at the end, that Prince was the one who held the Scepter taking down all of his adversaries who underestimated him, But unlike other nobles who only think about themselves and not give a crap about commoners once they used them he actually recognised his contribution and honored him with a Noble title as well as helped him on building walls around village Perimeter to defend against the ferocious Beasts, this history had been passed on to every generation to remember the benevolent King's magnanimous heart,'king Fogler', 'Fogler van Raven'.

 

After that, the next king didn't care about us except when they wanted to give us a headache or get profited from us.

 

Suddenly felt a faint grip on my hands, it was Gale staring at me which made me realize, I must be grimacing again, only after calming my emotion did her stare went back to normal, 'after all, I can't afford to embarrass myself in front of my allies'.

 

We walked straight to a group of visibly Older Nobles, who looked amused by our approach.

 

 

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(POV: Me)

 

I thought, I would at least watch the adults from distance but it seems they put all of us kids in a small ballroom, there were newcomers just like me, who now awkwardly looking at each other.

 

Thankfully I had Boris to give me company, not that he was Noble but he's been here previously, so more experienced than me to stop me from offending any bigshots.

 

Every kid here is trying to gorge the platters placed on long Tables themselves, We were also trying few Items, those grilled meat may look crude but with the right amount of spices which was enough to salivate anyone just by its smell, and just when I was about to taste the mixed fruit Pie, I heard a annoyed voice,

 

"Hey Blue Hair come here!" I turned to look towards the direction of the bratty voice.

 

In the middle of the ballroom, there was a more luxurious round table, previously it was blocked by a group standing around there, They have now moved away for me to see the kids who are seated in the round table.

 

As for which brat called me, I have no clue, just when I was about to ask Boris, that guy who was one foot away from me is now conversing with a group of strangers as if they were old friends meeting after a long time, those kids not knowing what to do went with the flow, 'This Motherfucker' I'm simply flabbergasted,

 

It's just a petty matter but he's already treating me like this, It's a good thing I learned this sooner.

 

"I said Come here! are you dumb?" 'and this voice rang again, I have no idea where it comes, It felt like it came from that round table, but No one there seemed to be turning their heads to me except some chuckling among themselves and letting me peek the seated kids'.

 

'This is useless' crackling my knuckles I got close to the Table, only then did I notice a hand waving frantically among the group, 'so you're the fucker huh?'.

 

The person who was waving at me was standing next to an empty chair, well looking closer it was not empty, there was actually someone sitting in the chair, I didn't notice that person previously because her head was barely poking above the Round table.

 

It was a cute blonde girl with pigtails looking at me with furious blue eyes at the verge of tearing, but somehow stopped herself, her pouting face seems it's about to explode which looks funny coupled with her cuteness, no wonder the group hasn't stopped chuckling yet.

 

Other than the group of kids standing, there were also well equipped Knights, There were two of these Knights for every kid sitting at the table, the kids who were seated at the table had signature gold blonde hair and Aqua blue Eyes, same as those fourth prince group that I have seen years ago,

 

These kids sitting at the tables must be Princes/Princesses, it's a Royals only Table, and that pigtails must Royalty as well.

 

Turned my attention to the frantically waving dude "Listen yo..." before I started talking to him, he just handed me something before fleeing and joined another group.

 

Looking at the thing he gave me realized it had a shiny silver surface with another side detailed gold designs this was obviously a Mirror something that Royalties had in common, another Important detail did I noticed from the mirror's reflection was that 'I'm Hanschum',

 

I was considerably well-looking than anyone around here, even those princes, no wonder ladies, and girls kept their eyes on me.

 

'These Royalties may not have much power, but offending royalty is not a wise choice, I don't know why the guy handed over the thing to me but it must mean something'.

 

The pigtail girl finally lost it "Come here You Shtupish!", The same voice now desperately shouting that it sounds like crying, All that anger for interrupting me during my dinner was gone now replaced with knowing smile, "Of course your Highness", 'Stopping my goofiness, I closed in and stood at a moderate distance near the princess as per etiquette rules.

 

'This is getting interesting' I thought to myself.

 

 

 

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              [Social Management]
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Family List

- Annabelle D'kman (Mother)

- Payn D'kman (Father)

- Galeron D'kman (Brother)

 

Love Interests

- Annabelle D'kman

- Chelecsia

 

Personal Servants/Minions

- John

- Eddie

- Taylor

- See (25) Others

 

House Servants

- Sauze (House keeper)

- Valter (head Butler)

- See (34) more house Servants

 

Strangers List

- Wale (Stranger 1 : Priest)

- See (12) more Strangers

 

D'kman barony Townspeople

- See the List (874)

 

TRAITORS (you too Brutus?)

- Boris

 

 

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