"You know, I didn't expect that we would be having Italian," I noted a touch absently, and my host flashed an amused smirk.
"Why's that?"
"I don't know. In retrospect, it makes sense that you wouldn't want to eat Chinese food all the ti, but… I guess it's just the environnt. Don't mind ."
Naoren let out a smiling hum and resud to elegantly take a bite of his ravioli. I had the sa on a tiny plate; judging by the dozen or so different dishes on the table, we were supposed to sample them instead of just eating our fill with a single plate. Or so I gathered, at the very least. I got a bit too imrsed in horsing around with the childhood friend duo, so I ended up late for my eting with the young Feilong patriarch, and I didn't get any mo about the table etiquette of the occasion.
In my defence, I said I would co by 'around lunch-o-clock', but I didn't an that I would co for lunch. Since it was Sunday, and so the council of the Draconic Federation wasn't in session, our eting place wasn't in the Dracis mansion, but the pagoda-style hotel in Critias's small but vibrant Chinatown. Naoren and his clan mbers had been staying here since they first arrived on the island (from what I could gather, the Feilong family literally owned the place), and once I turned up a bit late, I was quickly ushered into the penthouse at the top floor and seated in front of the bespectacled patriarch.
But speaking of him, despite the fact that Mountain Girl claid our eting was urgent, and he had to tell sothing important in person, he wasn't in any hurry to do so. If anything, the slow and thodical way he ate his pasta made think he was dragging his feet about sothing. I contemplated whether or not I should just cut to the chase, but since I was the guest, it would've been rude to hurry him like that.
For the ti being, I just enjoyed the food and the small talk that ca with it.
"I'm glad to see that you're in better spirits than the last ti we t," Naoren noted and took a sip from the fancy wine glass next to his plate. As usual, I refrained from any alcoholic beverages, but I didn't mind him drinking in moderation.
"I finally managed to catch my breath a bit," I noted absently, trying not to sound over-dramatic. "The past week was rather tiring."
"Especially for you," he said with a knowing look, and added, "Thank you for your hard work."
"Don't ntion it, though it's not like you've been sitting on your laurels either," I pointed out, and he let out a soft chuckle.
"True, but it's mainly due to your relentless efforts that we could avoid a three-way diplomatic disaster between us, the Assembly, and the Celestials. It was no an feat."
"Oh, stop it. You're making blush," I jested and finished up my plate. The mont I ate the last of my pasta, a young woman in a traditional Chinese silk dress showed up, seemingly waiting for the opportunity, and she imdiately switched my plate out for one with a slice of lasagne on it. "Erm… Thanks?"
She smiled politely and then disappeared as swiftly as she ca. She wasn't the only one; since we started eating, I've been seeing similarly dressed servants (or at least I figured they were servants) moving in and out of the room the sa way, though they were only catering to Naoren until now.
"I've heard Lenore put in considerable effort to have you relax, so I wonder if it's appropriate to discuss political matters right now."
"Nah, I don't mind," I said with a shrug and cut into my food. "I'm fine, and as for Elly's efforts, it was more about trying to find a suitable hobby."
"Oh? Did you?"
"Eh? Sort of." I shrugged again and tasted the lasagne before anding, "I decided to accompany Sebastian on his bowling practice, but I'm not sure I would call that a 'hobby' yet."
"I've heard the Esteed Elder enjoys the sport. Do you believe he would mind if I also joined the next ti you engage in it?"
Was he trying to get closer to Sebastian, I wondered. In any case, I had no horse in that race, so I told him, "You can ask him, but I don't think he'd mind."
"That's good to hear." After that, we remained silent for a minute or two as we ate, until Naoren suddenly posed an unexpected question to . "If you're looking for a hobby, have you considered learning an instrunt?"
"… Where did that co from?"
Before responding, he gracefully wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and levelled a good-natured gaze at .
"I believe Lenore remains rather interested in music, does she not? Wouldn't learning a musical instrunt complent your interests?"
"It would in theory, but to be honest with you, I'm musically illiterate," I admitted between bites, and the bespectacled patriarch rubbed his chin in response, as if I just posed a challenging trick question to him.
"In my opinion, it's never too late to start learning. If you so wish, I can introduce you to my family's guzheng instructor. If nothing else, she could teach you about music theory."
"Excuse , but what instructor was that again?"
"Guzheng," he repeated, and before I could ask for clarification, a pair of nearly identical-looking servant won entered the room, as if triggered by the word.
One of them was carrying a foldable stool, while the other had a wide wooden board in her hands. After the first woman set the stool near our table, the other one kneeled down and set the board (which appeared to be a stringed instrunt) upon it. It was so kind of zither, from what I could see, but again, I wasn't exactly well-versed in this topic, so I could be wrong.
It was only when she started plucking a llow lody on the strings that I realized she was wearing fingerpicks on most of her fingers. They were made of so white material, and while my first guess said 'plastic', seeing how this was so kind of traditional instrunt, I would've bet on it being sothing fancier, like ivory. In any case, I figured this was the 'guzheng' Naoren ntioned just then, and after listening to her playing, I shook my head.
"Sounds pleasant, but I don't think I'm cut out for sothing like this."
"I understand. If you ever change your mind, my offer still stands." Naoren sounded genuine, so I didn't have the heart to tell him that if I ever wanted to learn an instrunt, it would've been sothing more applicable to the princess's tastes, like an electric guitar or sothing. In any case, he shrugged off my refusal and asked, "What were we discussing beforehand?"
"You ntioned sothing about politics."
"Ah, indeed." He stopped to take another sip from his wine, his gaze unfocused and listening to the lody in the background. It didn't last long, and after shaking it off, he levelled a serious pair of eyes at . "As I ntioned, I personally do not wish to burden you any further, but as the patriarch of Clan Feilong and the Second Seat of the Draconic Council, I feel obliged to inquire you about sothing."
For the record, those 'Seats' he just ntioned were just honorary titles. Abram was the First Seat, mostly because the council was eting on his turf, Naoren was the Second, I was the Third, while the representative of the Albion family was the Fourth, and so on. They didn't an anything (other than literal seating order around the pulpit), and whenever I wasn't around, Arnwald or Roland would fill in for the Third Seat. Yet, Draconians were sticklers for hierarchies and titles like that, be they from the East or the West, so these 'seats' were slowly getting enshrined into the organization's pecking order. But I digress.
"Shoot," I prompted him, and he put his utensils down and linked his fingers on the table.
"You have been rather evasive about this question in public, but I must ask, and I hope you can answer truthfully: what are your plans with the Celestials?"
That was refreshingly direct, and after so consideration, I decided to be straightforward with him.
"Things are still a bit muddied over in the Elysium, but once the new governnt is in place, I'm planning to open diplomatic channels to both the Draconic Federation and the Assembly."
"I… expected as much," he noted a touch hesitantly. He probably wanted to ask how 'opening diplomatic relations' made sense when I was already sitting on the Draconic Council, but decided against it. It was a good call, because if he did, the best answer I could've given him was a shrug. "But speaking of governnts, what exactly are you planning?"
"I'm still working on it, but I'm probably going to bring back the office of the three Archons, and reform the Directorate into a parliantary body with so separation of powers and related theory. Think of sothing along the lines of a constitutional monarchy."
"… Wouldn't that an you're giving up so of your authority over the Celestial state? Is that wise?"
"Don't worry. It's probably the safest and most sensible option."
In retrospect, omitting that 'probably' from my sentence would've been more convincing, but there was no point crying over spilt milk. I did have my reasons for this course of action though, even if their Doylist nature made it hard to explain them to Naoren.
Put simply, rging with other- gave so insight into the workings of the Simulacrum's lore, as well as its chanics. In easy-to-understand terms, the Simulacrum preferred thematic variety in all matters. It was kind of like one of those writing conventions turned into universal rules, such as that no two people would have the sa last na, lest it would confuse the audience.
In that sense, the Simulacrum wanted variety, and that applied to the various factions as well. Pulling the Directorate under the control of the Draconic Federation was probably a bad idea, both on the Doylist and Watsonian sense, aning I had to rebuild them into sothing different and unique for the sake of… well, maybe not 'drama', but 'diversity'?
We already had a slew of governnt systems for the supernatural folks; the direct ritocracy of the Assembly, where the strongest arch-mages beca the leaders, the feudal aristocracy of the Abyss, the Draconic Federation was shaping up to be so kind of nepotistic plutocracy (which didn't sound too flattering, but it was the truth), while the Ordo Draconis was a tiny absolute monarchy with at the helm.
On a side-note, yes, I've been reading Angie's political theory books. What gave it away?
Now, the issue was that the Celestial Directorate used to be sothing of a minoritarian oligarchy, and trying to change that was tricky. Considering the circumstances, there were only three real options: lean into the military's support, and turn the place into akin to a military dictatorship, leverage the religious reverence of the public to establish so kind of despotic theocracy, or take a step back and try to find a balance between the authority of the Archons and the rest of the governnt in sothing resembling a constitutional monarchy.
Needless to say, the first two options were right out. Not only because they were way too much hassle (I couldn't be expected to do all the governing myself while I had all of this ta-nonsense to take care of), but they were also a bit tasteless. I an, I was already a bit iffy about being a 'King of Knights', even if it was mostly sothing in na only, so trying to beco a despot was sothing I wanted to avoid like a plague, if only for my own peace of mind.
Ideally, I would've fully shifted the Elysium's governnt into a representative democracy and called it a day, but because of the theocratic angle (and the Simulacrum's expectations), I was pretty sure it wouldn't have worked out without so zany and wholly unnecessary shenanigans. Maybe in the distant future, once the Celestials llowed out a bit. For now, the plan was to stabilize the realm, put reasonable people in charge, and then have Angie/Deus take the helm of then as soon as she was ready. Only after that would I retire and wash my hands of the whole affair. But again, that was for way later, and I had much more important things to worry about right now. Like Naoren's next question.
"What's going to happen to the Celestial Intelligence Network and its operations?"
That was a tough one, and I took a gulp from the glass in front of to buy myself so ti to think things through before responding.
"They're… or I suppose we are going to continue operations as before."
"Is that so?" He looked skeptical, almost disappointed. Maybe he was expecting that I would say they would get integrated with the Draconic Federation, I wondered. "Does that also include their suppression and sabotage activities?"
"Yes for the forr, maybe for the latter." That made him readjust his glasses, clearly stumped by my answer, so I resolved myself to elaborate. "There was a big conspiracy amongst the mystic folks to assassinate Angie because they were worried that once the CIN no longer maintained the masquerade, it would upset the status quo and cause chaos all over the world, right?"
"Yes, so I've been told."
"Then the solution is simple," I spoke confidently, and just as I finished up my lasagne, another maidservant appeared to switch out my plates. I waited for her to leave, and then theatrically raised a fork into the air. "As the first official act of the new Celestial governnt, I'll have them declare that they will continue to uphold the rules and maintain the masquerade. Better yet, we can have a treaty involving the Federation and Assembly. If we all agree on this, it should keep tempers in check."
"I an… it sounds reasonable, but…" Naoren was looking for the right words for a few seconds, but then he finally gave up and concluded with, "I believe it would be best if we inford the Assembly and started drafting up the relevant legislation as soon as possible."
"I already told Lord Endymonion about this, so the two of you should be on the sa page. You can try contacting him if you'd like."
Sighing, he shook his head and absent-mindedly poked his pasta with his fork.
"I shouldn't have asked. I should have known you would sohow find new ways to increase our workload."
"Hey, don't look at as if I'm so kind of workaholic," I objected with just a hint of righteous indignation. "I would like to leave all of this behind as much as you do and have a fun beach episode with my girlfriends, but it's sothing that has to be done."
"What was that? Beach episode?"
"It's a long story, and not entirely relevant. You'll see." He accepted my words at face value and finished up his dish. I waited until another servant switched out his plate for a small pile of neatly arranged spaghetti, and then asked, "Was this the 'urgent reason' why we needed to talk today?"
"No, actually. It's…"
He fell silent, and after so fiddling, he took out a small, octagonal wooden box from one of his pockets. It reminded of a music box, and it was faintly glowing with colourless light, telling it was an enchanted object. He placed it onto the middle of the table, and when he opened it, there was a small, white stone carving inside depicting so kind of horned animal. I figured it was made of jade, but before I could take a closer look, I was startled by a wave of magic light washing over the table and forming a bubble around us.
I had no idea what it was, yet I stilled my phantom limbs, lest I interrupt its activation. In a few seconds, I was shocked by how quiet everything beca. In particular, I could see the woman plucking at her zither just a couple of steps away from us, yet it made no sound.
"Why the sudden secrecy?" I asked with squinted eyes, and my suspicions grew tenfold when the young patriarch awkwardly pulled on his collar.
"It's a topic I… do not wish to leave this table. Regardless of your response."
"Oookay, you are building this up quite a bit. What's this about?"
He took a deep breath and looked in the eye.
"Leonard… No, Brother. You might not know this, but I have been spending a considerable amount of ti in the company of Lady Rinne."
"Yes, I noticed."
"You have?" He looked genuinely surprised by my answer, but if anything, it only served to make him more confident. "That makes this conversation considerably simpler. She is a fascinating woman, and after getting to know her better, I wish to deepen our relationship." He was looking at expectantly, but when I didn't react in any way, he anded, "In a… romantical sense of the word."
"Yes, I figured. So?"
"I'm asking for your permission," he uttered a touch awkwardly, making feel self-conscious in the process, because it almost felt like I was the one acting weird.
"Why would you need my permission? She's an adult."
"She's also your chief retainer," he pointed out, sounding like he thought it was a trick question. "It is common sense to inform you of my intent and ask for your blessing to avoid any potential… misunderstandings between us."
Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? Was he under the impression that I was romantically interested in Rinne? Nah, that couldn't be it. But then what? Maybe it was one of those cultural difference things, I figured. Or he might've genuinely thought that if he tried to pursue Mountain Girl without my consent, it would be considered a breach of trust. Like trying to poach her from my employnt or sothing. I wasn't sure, and the situation was weird enough as is, so I didn't want to make it worse by directly asking him about his motives.
"It's all right. Go right ahead," I told him, and his face lit up like I just lifted a huge weight off his shoulders.
"Are you certain?" When I nodded, he let out a relieved sigh and wiped his forehead. "This went much smoother than expected."
I had no idea what he was expecting, but in any case, he hastily closed the lid on the unusual privacy artifact and pocketed it, effectively ending this line of conversation, and we soon returned to inconsequential small talk instead.
At this ti, this exchange didn't seem particularly extraordinary. The UST between Naoren and Mountain Girl was so obvious that I even considered it one of the more obvious sub-plots of the Simulacrum, so him openly coming out and telling about it wasn't that significant. Or so I thought. I should've known better, but that's a story for another day.
User Comments
0 comments from readers