A young noble paced his room, the floor worn from all the times he had paced in that very spot, a maid stood idly by and watched the young master continue to pace as her eyebrows continued to arc. Back and forth back and forth went his feet. Back and forth back and forth did her eyebrows arc, from worry to anger and then back to worry once more.
"Viktor please! The letter isn't going to open itself, if you failed then you failed" she finally exclaimed, her voice snapping Viktor Hellenski, heir of the Minor House of Hellenski out of his worrying pace, and he finally raised his head to look at her. "Nataska it's not just a simple matter, if I failed and everyone else got in then how can I show my face to them. ARG that stupid promise I made..." Viktor stressed and Nataska covered her mouth as she giggled at his childish worries. "I'm sure it was good news, from what I heard you did amazingly well command everyone, the second son of Hargrave no less."
"Mateus is an easy guy to be around, but it was still daunting that I got to work alongside him. The son of a Major House, even if he is the second, normally I wouldn't get a chance to even approach one of them."
"I don't know how you do it, I just can't stand those uppity major houses." Nataska scowled "If I was in your shoes, I'd avoid them like the plague."
"They're not that bad once you get to know them, though I ran into a Deu'Frey at the exam as well as the heir of the Ingers. She definitely had some choice words." Viktor talked about the attitude of the girl he briefly saw. Nataska shook her head in disbelief. "The Deu'Freys have always been at the forefront of the Noble's faction from what my father has explained to me they work closely with the Bergs and that's already bad news for us in the Royal faction.
Viktor focused on the girl before him, she was slightly older than him at the age of 22, expanding out of her father Morgrim De'Petal she came to the Hellenski estate to make connections, Afterall the Evans Province in which the Hellenski territory resides in is known for their neutrality and safe haven for meetings. It was also nice to know that their house was likeable among the minor nobles.
The two had become fast friends growing up due to the fact that she was the closest to his age in the house, and the fact that she was also assigned to be his personal maid, and they had grown a firm bond over the years. This bond allowed for him to understand her disdain toward the Major Houses and the Royal faction and Noble faction cold war that has been going on.
"Give me an update on the whole debacle, With the possibility that one of the Major Houses' kids being my classmate I could help bridge the gap." Viktor offered, looking into his friend's eyes as they narrowed. "It's not easy to settle decades of dissenting opinions but sure why not, as long as you can help it you won't leave a problem when you see one." Nataska sighed, shaking her head she herself now started to pace the room.
"The Thirteen Major houses are the houses that contributed the most during the founding of our empire, The Empire of Rames, The founding family the Major house of Rames, though known as Ramestenne since they've merged with their guardian house of Stenne, claims watch over the center of the empire where our capital Rione resides. The next houses are the Guardian Houses of Cobain, Inger, Dravis, and Vorelle. Each of them oversees a cardinal sector and make sure that there are no monster outbreaks or banditry. And then the 8 Major houses that oversees the provinces named after them: Evans, Mesda, Bergs, Iari, Khorris, Palor, Hargrave, and the Deu'Freys."
Pausing to catch her breathe she watched to see if Viktor caught any of that. He grinned at her, "Anything that can be found in the history books, but why is there a split in the first place?"
"The Ramesteene Royal Family leads the nation, they are the ones who decide the course of actions to take with the others being advisors to the reigning emperor or empress. It is thanks to our current emperor, Emperor Augustine, that you may be attending the school in the southeast. It was also thanks to him that the Iari territory has expanded as they did to claim the holy city of Iako-Mortalis. Some think that he is leading the nation in the right direction and that is who is in the Royal Faction. The Major houses in the Royal faction are the Ramesteenes for obvious reasons, but also the House of Vorelle, Mesda, Palor, Cobains, and Hargrave; the house which you're oh so graciously befriending their son." Nataska explained.
"Our Emperor has a tendency for war, I'm guessing that the Nobles faction dislikes it and that is why they are opposed to it?" Viktor concluded, with a shake of her head Nataska responded. "It is not so simple as to disliking war, if that were the case than half the houses wouldn't be in the Nobles faction. The leader of the Nobles is the House of Deu'Frey, notorious for their belief that Nobles are superior, they want for the Nobles to be on equal standing as the emperor, not simply be his advisors. Another reason is that they are opposing his attempts at ending their monopoly on certain trades. The Deu'Frey Provincial capital Meisire is a bustling tourist attraction that caters to Noble exclusively, Khorris houses the grand mines of the empire and sees little in competition to other mines within, and the Bergs..." Nataska falls silent at the mention of their name.
Viktor watched his close friend as she glowered. He knew from the past that she never liked the Bergs, Afterall they were the reason why she was here instead of being with her family at their estate in the Bergs Province. "Just name me the houses in the Nobles faction I know enough about your circumstances not to pry." Viktor reassured and his friend nodded her head.
"The Major houses in the Noble faction are led by the House of Deu'Frey, and supporting them are the Houses of Inger, Iari, Khorris, Dravis, and Bergs. Half of them want to keep their monopolies, half want to stop the emperor's policies, and few do it out of obligation and alliances."
"Keeping the monopolies keep the major houses happy and then there isn't a split." Viktor brought up and Nataska glared at him, her bright eyes growing colder the longer she looked at him. "And anyone below them would suffer, a different kind of split, not one between the Major Houses but between the Major Houses and the rest of the nation."
Viktor slumped his shoulders and fell onto his bed, staring at his wooden ceiling muttering. "Guess the current situation is better than the alternative." He stared at the ceiling a bit more before the brown wood was replaced by a white. He stared at the white square before registering that it was the letter that the college had sent to him. "I think it is time to open this young master." Nataska offered and with a hardened resolve he took it from her hands and tore the side open.
Scanning the top of the document for words he started to read:
Dear Mr. Viktor Hellenski,
We at Farhallow Royal College would like to invite you to attend our esteemed academy. Your placement in our entrance exams has been noted and we graciously granted an offer for you to be placed within a special curriculum class to teach and hone the skills and talents that you have. You will receive room and board within our academy via an assigned dorm room, vouchers to meals within our cafetorium as well as access to our facilities to train, study, socialize, and hone yourself within our halls. Now, please understand that our facility is still very recent so many accommodations that you may be familiar with may be lacking or missing thereof. You are also not allowed to bring any servants, butlers, or maids with you.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns we are happy to answer them in a timely manner, if you are thinking about attending then please send us confirmation that you will be attending and we will make the necessary preparations to welcome your arrival. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and we look forward to hearing back from you.
-Donovan Morales, Headmaster of Farhallow Royal College.
Setting the letter aside he got up, his face already splitting apart as he flashed bright white teeth toward his maid. Nataska nodded in understanding and started to prepare two glasses. The crimson, pink liquid of wine splashed into the thin glasses and after storing the bottle away she brought it over to the young master. "Congratulations on being accepted, make sure you send a reply lest you forget." Nataska handed the glass over, Viktor nursing it in his hand as he raises his glass up. "A toast to a new beginning."
Nataska politely held her glass up before they both took a sip. "Is it dinner time yet? I can hardly wait to share the news! Should I send a message to the others? No, we all agreed to meet up at the academy so I can tell them then." Viktor started to ramble, lost in thought now that he got over his anxiety, a multitude of plans coming together. Downing the rest of his glass he strode over to his desk and pulled out some paper and his pen and started to write.
Nataska took the empty glass, a short reply of "Dinner will be ready in an hour from now" and took it over to set it to the side, her master's voice audibly speaking his mind with little "Thank you for" and "It is an honor." Observing the young man before her, the heir of the Hellenski territory. she giggled to herself. "If the major houses were anything like you, then maybe this nation would be in a better place."
