Chương 70: Chapter 69: Discussions of Marriage

++One thing I have learned in my second life is that there are a great many more avenues for success under Garamon's society than most women are led, or permitted, to believe. By the time I was well into my teenaged years, I had begun locating them. ++ - From the writings of Isabel Vornholt, 'The Great Lich'. 1, 891 A. E. The Duke of Wolsingham was an important man, and I had fully expected to be kept waiting a long time after sending my letter requesting his presence for a meeting.

To my surprise, I received an answer fast. Near-impossibly fast, in fact; judging by the speed with which it arrived, I could only conclude he was using some means of magic to convey it. Certainly not his own, he was a warrior of unmatched fame. More likely he had a magician on staff for such things, which was itself also odd for men of his standing. Magicians were not commonly tolerated in a proper gentleman's service.

Generally speaking, being timely about accepting an invitation from a woman several classes below one's own social station was not tolerated for a proper gentleman either. Something innate to Garamon higher society was always treating those beneath you like dirt. I was somewhat disappointed to see that my potential husband had shirked one of the few things I actually liked about this new nation. Nonetheless, it was good for me. I loathe to have my time wasted.

We were to meet privately rather than publicly, at his own home. He informed me this in the same letter that he told me I would receive private and discreet transportation, clearly to avoid any of the rumours that would fly if I were to be seen entering a young bachelor's home by myself. Oddly considerate. The ride was comfortable as well, and fortunately not so long. I arrived just past evening and was ushered into the vast manor waiting for me outside the vehicle.

It reminded me somewhat of the Vornholt estate, though it was actually smaller despite the Duke's status. That much was probably a feature of its location in Laugrey, where space came at a premium. Another testament to that was it boasting a far more modern construction, reaching higher and built with far more brick than stone. The doors were antiques however, heavy ebon things that barely produced a sound when knocked upon.

I was past them fast, then deeper into the mansion where I moved through halls that would best be described as 'gilded'. Plenty of old war trophies decorated the foyer, but as I went farther in they gave way to more ordinary adornments. This, I thought, was the home of a family who knew their reputation and how to make the most of it. This was a family who knew it was in their best interests to show visitors the warriors they were expecting as soon as they set foot through the door.

But I was not here for the full family, only the Duke himself, and I found him in the building's living room. He was seated by a fireplace, a pipe in his mouth and a roaring flame crackling just a few feet beside him. Opposite his seat, a large armchair that looked older than gunpowder, was a matching chair, which he gestured me towards with a smile.

"Isabel Vornholt," he remarked as I took my seat.

"May I say you look as beautiful as I've heard."

"Thank you," I replied, because it was the expected thing to do.

"You look handsome." It actually was true, sort of. I had little interest in anything sexual, but this new organic body had brought with it certain physical responses to certain stimuli. The Duke of Wolsingham produced those responses, which I had come to define as 'handsomeness'. He smiled, but in the disinterested way of a man who was used to hearing a compliment and did not much care about it. I got the impression he had complimented me for much the same reason I had complimented him. Politeness.

"I was surprised to receive your letter," he noted.

"Usually it's a girl's father who writes to arrange a meeting like this."

"I like to do things myself," I replied, testing the waters. I would not marry myself to a man I could not control, or who would care too much about controlling me. The Duke passed this test with a smile and a puff on his pipe.

"I gathered. Most have said that much about you, a habit from your father? Lots of colonial men are the same, you know, after the army."

"A habit from wanting things to be done properly," I replied. He chuckled.

"Quick with a remark too." I felt a stab of irritation.

"I was under the impression it was impolite to so openly assess a prospective spouse's value like some prized horse," I shot.

"Well, you're doing much the same, and I would rather we have an honest conversation," he fired back, just as fast. I paused.

"Okay then. Be honest with me," I made my words a challenge, figuring he would be receptive to that. I was right.

"Alright," he kept smiling, though had an edge to it now.

"Your father told me impossible lies about your talent. I don't believe any of them." I raised a hand and pushed out mana, wove it into physical form. A butterfly, oscillating between every colour I knew. It flew three laps around the room before bursting apart into shards of aether, all of which glowed and hummed before disintegrating. The air was left smelling faintly of cloves. Some magicians could have done any one of those tricks, but not many could manage all in quick succession.

Not even after a lifetime of training. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The Duke stared, swallowed, and took a good few moments to replace his smile this time.

"... Fourteen years old," he croaked.

"Not lies then…?"

"I was mistaken for a Demigod twice during my childhood on the basis of raw talent alone," I told him honestly. There was a fire behind his eyes now that I found rather promising.

"Okay, well that's more or less settled then isn't it?" he grinned.

"You'd be one hell of an asset to my family, is that what you wanted to hear? I daresay you're an even more talented magician than I am a warrior." He was being ridiculously generous to himself even by bothering to make that comparison at all, but people did not like having things like that pointed out to them.

"You are understating things correctly, I think," I replied diplomatically.

"And you're willing to contradict me, that's not bad either," he seemed to be thinking out loud.

"Not a lot of women will do that to a man they've just met, let alone me."

"Most women are idiots who have been trained at birth to resemble a wall decoration and become quite good at it," I pointed out. He laughed out loud at that, slapping his knee and ending with a tapering chuckle and a broad grin.

"And you're funny," he sighed.

"You know Isabel, I will be honest; I only arranged this meeting as a formality. I was expecting some bratty little girl to waltz in, hike up her dress at me and leave disappointed. You're far more mature than I would have expected." He winced, even as he said that.

"Still, fourteen. You are fourteen, right? It's not just some scam by your father to make people overestimate your talent?"

"I am fourteen, you can have it verified either magically or legally if you wish," I assured him. He waved a hand.

"Oh I already did both just in case, it's amazing how private medical records aren't when the one asking for them is a Duke." He had absolutely no respect for other people's personal boundaries.

"I am becoming more enthusiastic about this marriage, too," I told him honestly.

"But you seem to have an issue with my age?"

"No," he barked. Then paused.

"... Well, okay, yes. Mature or not, you are still a little young for me. I like women who are... you know, women. But mostly…well, you're a magician. A female magician." The elephant in the room had been surprisingly sneaky, given its size. It let out a trumpet now to draw both our attention onto it.

"You of all people cannot be worried about social stigma," a touch of annoyance made its way into my voice as I spoke.

"I especially am," the Duke snapped.

"You're a Baroness' daughter in, not to cause offence, something of a backwater. I'm inheriting the name and titles of one of the greatest war-heroes in Garamon history. Think about the pressure you feel to uphold your family's legacy, now consider how much greater it is for me." I had not, in fact, ever felt much pressure in that regard, personally. As far as I was concerned my family were all idiots, and publicly humiliating them could do nothing except cause other idiots to ineffectually sneer at them.

But I had to admit that there were tangible consequences to unpopularity in Garamon. How many of them had I taken pains to avoid just in setting up this very meeting?

"My talent would all but guarantee your family another generation of combat prodigies," I noted. It would also go to waste unless he agreed to have at least some of our children trained in magic, but I was growing more confident I could bully him into that much. He shook his head though, denying me again.

"I'm sorry. I really am. You're by far the most interesting woman I've discussed marriage with, but the things being said about the Vornholt family in Parliament…"

"You are having this discussion, though," I noted.

"Not just for politeness, you seemed to be eager to learn more about me. So your mind can be changed." He smiled.

"Gods, I wish you were older," he told me. I did not smile back at that and he hastily moved on.

"Yes, you're right. Of course you're right, you're the greatest prize of our generation and any man would be tempted by that alone. If your family's position, or even just how it's regarded, improves enough, I'll marry you the day you're twenty one, even if it cost me a fifty thousand crown payment to your father." My ears pricked up at that.

"You think the war with Irucci will be coming soon?" I prodded. He cursed under his breath.

"I'm not normally so loose-lipped, you know," the Duke sighed.

"Yes. Probably."

"When?" I asked him.

"I don't go around sharing my secrets I'm afraid," he said sternly.

"No more than you do."

"If I learn this particular secret, it will give me the opportunity to improve my family's station enough that you can marry me without any detriment to yourself." I was getting good at convincing people, despite how hard it had been adjusting to no longer being able to dismember them when they refused me.

"Alright. Fine. It's happening soon, weeks from now there'll be a field army put together and embarking for the northern coastline. We're going to start with an invasion into Estia." That was interesting. Estia was where my father had been stationed for his own military service, many decades ago now, and much of the land had been colonised by Garamon for more than a generation, but the whole of it had never quite been taken.

Hostile environment, climate, pathogens and magicians had made the stretch of land difficult. There were many records of military disasters emerging when armies too confident in the modern technologies of Imperial warfare marched their way into it.

"Do you know the size of this force?"

"Yes, but telling you that would be actual treason," the Duke replied cheerfully.

"The least you could do is let me take you to dinner before that." I could not help but smile. He was funny. I had met funny humans over the millennia, I generally enjoyed them. In small doses.

"Then I will take my leave now, and we can speak once I have risen to greater prominence." I got to my feet and he got to his, gently reaching out to take my arm.

"Please, let me escort you out," he offered. I accepted, only because it was the expected thing and I still needed this man to like me. To my pleasant surprise, he did not even grope me as we made our way out, nor even did he stare unduly at my backside while I left. Rather than any sexual misconduct, I was left only to ponder my next move. I halted just outside his mansion, thinking of it right before the door closed on me.

"Wait," I sharply blurted out.

"I want you to do something for me. There will be battlemages needed soon, yes? I want to be among them." The man bristled instantly, opening the door and ushering me back in, apparently wanting to discuss this somewhere more private than his doorstep.

"Do you know what you're asking me?" he demanded, less friendly and more stern now.

"I know how female battlemages are regarded," I told him.

"But I also know how people who are useful are regarded." There were examples of women who had come to prominence in war, using magic. And I knew I was more than any of their equals. Apparently, the Duke knew it too.

"... Fine," he said with a sigh.

"I'll consider this an investment. Don't disappoint me, Isabel." I did not bother to respond to that, just turned and left. Disappoint him? It was amusing. He could not even begin to fathom what I planned to achieve. And he had just given me seven whole years to achieve it.