Betrothal Discussions
Laura's promise was forgotten immediately she met Aaron Regis. He had very green eyes with red hair in a darker shade than the rest of his family, and his face looked like something out of a fairy tale. He was a little taller than her even though he was the younger one of the two of them.
If there was anything she noted that was not perfect about him, it was his attitude.
He had a very rude way of speaking and he never made any expression except a blank stare.
He had greeted her father with a slight nod of his head when they were introduced, before turning around to walk out on them...
...He had rudely stared at the ceiling throughout the discussion about his betrothal, and he had not even spared her a glance since she arrived at the Regis mansion. When asked if he willingly agreed to the betrothal, he had replied with a three worded sentence...
I. Don't. Care.
And now, he had just blatantly and rudely asked for permission to leave the discussion table to go back to his room for no particular reason.
Her father was known to have a terrible temper, everyone in the Hope family avoided him whenever he got angry. Even though he was controlling himself because he was in front of Duke Stephen, she knew that it was only a matter of time before her father's tolerance ran out.
"What sort of insolent child have you given birth to, Stephen?! Does he not know how to show respect to his elders?! Does he not know who I am?!"
Duke Elijah Hope roared out as he pounded his fist on the table. He was not one of the strongest twelve mages of Aldesty, but he was a recognized grade 1 mage and he was not to be taken lightly.
"Stop shouting Elijah, you'll attract the attention of the servants, and please sit back down, let's discuss like intelligent people. Aaron is particularly grouchy today. You see, I stripped him off his heir title yesterday, so he's most probably in a rebellious state of mind. I assure you that this is not his usual behavior..."
Stephen did not take his eyes of his steaming cup of tea as he spoke to Elijah. It was insulting to Elijah and he flinched visibly at the condescending reprimand he received from Stephen. They were both of the same societal rank so Stephen's words were a huge insult to his status.
Elijah swallowed his pride and nodded obediently before sitting back down.
"...You can leave Aaron. We're almost done with the discussion, so your presence is no longer needed" Stephen waved his son out of the room before facing his guests again as if he had not just insulted them.
"I apologize again for his rude behavior, Aaron is a rather...conflicted child. You must have probably heard about his lack of talent in controlling magic. In my family, strength is the yardstick used to ascertain one's position. So even a servant with basic control of mana is ranked higher than him within the walls of the Regis duchy"
Laura's eyes widened as his cold voice reached her ears.
'How cruel... Does he not feel anything for his own son? What sort of family is this?' She wondered if her family would have treated her the same way if she had turned out to be weak.
"So is it safe to assume that in the near future, your son will be married to our daughter, and our families will be bonded together?"
Duchess Marilyn Hope, her mother spoke up for the first time in the discussion. She was visibly older than her husband and had a good many wrinkles to prove it.
"Ah, Lady Marilyn. Do not be bothered, we will do nothing that might negatively affect Aaron's view of his betrothed," Stephen paused halfway through his sentence to send a cold and intimidating glare in Elijah's direction, "and if for any reason the Hope family ends up breaking off the engagement, then all ties between us will be cut and the Regis family will never have anything to do with any the Hope family again, do you understand?"
"Alright. We get you, Stephen. We'll be taking our leave now, please excuse us." The Hope family all closed off their plates before gracefully processing out of the dining hall.
"Hah... that was tiring. Elijah Hope... He's certainly an interesting person..." Stephen smiled mischievously as he adjusted his glasses.
"What do you mean Stephen?" Dorothy inquired, her curiosity piqued by her husband's odd behavior.
"The Duke of the Compton lands, my very good friend, David Compton, met me earlier this month to discuss a betrothal to his daughter, Jane Compton. But I turned down his offer immediately Elijah's proposal came knocking. You may not know dear, but Jane Compton is one of the few talented young mages I've ever had the opportunity to behold. She has been blessed with the rare and holy power of spiritual communication"
Stephen's eyes now had a mischievous glint to them, and his smile widened as Dorothy gasped in surprise.
"That means... she... she's a Spiritualist! Wait, if it's the Compton girl... She was born a few months or a year before Aaron, she shouldn't be more than eight years, how can she awaken her spiritual powers at such a young age. I thought spiritualists don't awaken until they are around twelve years?!"
Dorothy's surprise was justified, as the power of spiritual communion was a very rare mage type that granted one the power to commune with beings from other realms. No one knows why, but only females are able to awaken this power. The only mages rarer than the Spiritualists are the traffickers of the dead known as the Necromancers.
Unlike normal mages, Spiritualists are known to almost always reach the Special Grade stage of mage craft. They are generally stronger than mages of the same stage as them and have a very vast Mana pool.
Since normal spiritualists awaken their powers at the age of twelve, and Jane awakened hers at eight years, she was bound to reach the Special Grade stage or even surpass it.
"Why will you turn down an offer to be connected to a future special grade mage?!" Dorothy was alarmed now and her excitement was visible all over her face.
"Dorothy, you are so naive. Aaron is weak, anyone who agrees to marry him is doing it for the connections of the Regis family. But a special grade mage will have nothing to gain from marrying a weakling and the betrothal will most probably be ended immediately they realize this. That's just how things are done"
Stephen got up immediately he finished speaking and walked out of the room, leaving Dorothy alone to ponder on his words.
'If that's how things are, it's better for Aaron to marry the Hope family's daughter. It'll save him the pain of being dumped later on' Dorothy thought to herself as she unconsciously ran a finger over the table.
"Hah... Why does magic always have to complicate everything. What a fucked up world. Everything depends on someone's magical abilities. That's unfair to normal humans who can't use magic. I don't know why, but I keep getting the suspicion that the Hope family will disappoint us at the most unexpected moment... ...I hope that's all it is. A suspicion, and nothing more"