Ch.1 - A party none was waiting for

''Announcing the arrival of Christopher Arden, son of Marquis Willhelm Arden'' shouted the announcer as the big double doors in front of me opened gently.

The big hall in front of me was neatly decorated, even with the multitude of sets of tables hosting the most disparate refreshments there was still an impressive amount of space to walk.

The tables were clearly organized to naturally form occasions to talk with other guests, while the space formed between each set while massive can appear short to the senses, it was all an effort to promote talking and social groups, and it worked quite well.

It wouldn't be a noble party without a dance and the raised stage in front of the orchestra at the end of the hall served just that purpose.

Realizing all eyes were on me, after a brief audacious scan of the present directly looking into their eyes, I moved towards my fiancè as was customary

to do so.

With Alfred right behind me we moved towards my fiancè who was looking at me with belated disgust, near her was her brother Remus (age 20) and the hero Noah without a surname since his family was not of noble title, normally only Nobles, wealthy, or arrogant families could have the benefit of having a surname, commoners mostly referred each other with Nicknames like ''The Drunk'' if he drunk a lot, those would then slowly become their surnames with time but would never introduce each other as such especially to nobles.

By now the stares were mostly gone ''Quinta, you look beautiful tonight, have you been well?'' I ask her remaining completely impassive with my tone

''Thank you, Chris, you look dashing yourself, indeed I have been most delightful'' she answers in an effort to sound as refined as possible

''Good to hear, Remus it is good to see you again and-'' I stopped trying to recognize the face, or at least pretending to do so

''Noah, it is a pleasure'' says the guy with a smile as he extends his hand, at that I mentally facepalmed.

''Are you serious?'' I blurted out naturally, only realizing what I said after the deed was done.

'Oh come on!' now I understand why the original was so angry with this guy! You have to know that a commoner without a recognized surname introducing himself with such boldness and without even hinting at a slight bow as etiquette dictated could be seen as a direct insult to the other party if they were a noble, the insult would be legally defined as "acting as if the two parties were on the same level of importance" and could be legally penalized with private lashing or even death in some cases.

''Chris I'm sorry for that, could you please come with me for a small chat?'' Remus saved himself from the awkward situation-

''You can't even shake a hand? Are you that arrogant?''

-or tried to, Quinta had to call me out, what a disappointment, did she skip etiquette classes? Why the hell is everybody skipping etiquette?! I was just about to answer her in kind when her brother stepped in again ''Quinta. Please return to your conversation'' she huffed and puffed before moving away with ''Her hero''

''Did she run away from etiquette classes again?'' I asked the only one left and he sighed clearly exhausted.

''I hope you will forgive her, she never attended once''

''Not like I have a choice do I?'' her brother was a good person, he never judged me from the rumors, he is the type |to only judge what he sees, not for show will this duchy become the richest in the whole Five Kingdoms under his reign, completely seizing control of the best merchant routes, and by being the first to have the vision to trade with the defeated demon army for precious metals and resources. Truly a guy worth respecting.

He winced ''So, have you heard of the movements from the Morai Kingdom? They seem to be arming the border adjacent to the Chillhowl Duchy in the north''

''Naturally, the Morai King has always wanted to control the mountains and after the rumors of a breakthrough in his forging technology, it was natural he would turn his attention to the minerals hidden in the snow up north''

''Do you think this breakthrough will help them be a more frightening military force?''

''Definitely, however, they still have the resource problem, few nations would actually ally themselves with them or form any kind of trading alliance; the demons might, however''

At that, his eyes started glowing, and he was now completely focused on me.

Not knowing why he was asking these questions and wanting to know what he was getting at I responded in kind, after a while I let myself sink into the conversation, the first good one in a long time. It was only after an hour that I found out the reason behind it all.

''You are faking it aren't you?'' at that I stopped drinking

''Pardon?''

''I checked with the gambling house you go to, and lo and behold, after abusing my powers a bit do you know what I found out? That a good part of their earnings goes to you!''

Knowing that he got me I just lightly smiled and nodded to let him continue

''Basically, every time you went there you made a lot of noise, especially with your astronomical winnings and losses, every time that happened more and more people flocked to that specific gambling house. Of course, those winnings never made it out of the casino. After a while the earnings of the den multiplied by so much that they were able to build another expensive floor to attract wealthy customers, with you as the official protector, both financially and physically thanks to the deployment of your own personal guards, neighboring nobles can now safely go there without having to fear for their identities being exposed, or having their money stolen.''

He paused for a while, and since I was not making any move he decided to continue

''Just today my men told me that the earnings were quadrupled since two years ago.''

''That is an incredible information network you got there, congratulations I guess, you found me out, want a prize?''

That apparently irritated him ''Why then! Why do you keep pretending to be a slob, if you just about tried you could have had a splendid relationship with my sister and you wouldn't have people insulting you behind your back left and right!''

My smile disappeared from my face as I answered him seriously looking slightly up because of the height difference ''Maybe because I never wanted to have a splendid relationship with your sister in the first place, ever thought about that?''

''I understand but... but why'' he asked confused, at that, I chuckled and simply pointed directly in front of me

Confused he turned around before widening his eyes in shock ''Fuck'' he blurted out and I chuckled even more

''According to the law, and taking my fiancee inviting another man, who is a commoner, to a public dance in front of me as a public slight and offense against my honor, my House honor, and the honor of the pact between our sacred Houses I am allowed, and I do as such, to ask for the dissolution of the engagement and for a meeting with the other party, The Duke of House Reinhardt''

Looking back at me and losing all the colors in his face I decided to add one more thing ''You asked why I act like a slob. It is because it attracts smart people'' I then look back at the dance floor and continue ''and keeps the idiots away.''

1372 words according to Grammarly