Throughout the rest of the stay in Ponceau, Solis got to know more about his parents and what they did during their lives. He, also, learned some culture as well as took his test that determined the subjects he would need to start learning.
Solis will follow us around throughout the rest of the time and start his duties once he has graduated from his courses at the end of the year, since he is already of age. The same applies to Radley.
Luckily, I still have till I am eighteen to get through the rest of my courses.
Once that is decided, I sent a letter to Duke Ceril and let him know that their child will not be coming to stay with us, rather a trusted guard will take care of the child throughout their life as a big message had been sent to those trying to kill noble children and the consequences of such.
Helios was cleared of charges along with his mother and since they are heirs then they would take the place of the current Marquess once he died. Apollo is in prison alongside his father while Helios is under strict watch until further notice.
On the 26th of February, we leave Ponceau with everyone and travel alongside the beach. We travel past the homes of the entire noble family and by the third day we are over the border of Ponceau and near the noble homes of Feldgrau. Finally, on the fourth day, we arrive at Feldgrau's Duke's home which is the 2nd of March.
Once I exit the carriage, my eyes widen at the number of smiling, young faces staring back at me.
The Duke comes towards me and says, "Welcome Your Highness. I am Duke Loyd. It is an honor to meet you." I smile and thank him then he moves on as a group comes forward to talk to me.
"Your Highness," the Marquess along with his wife and children curtsy and bow, "this is my wife. This is my oldest son Garrison, my daughter Clover and my current heir, Winston." I smile and greet them all, "It is nice to meet you all and nice to see so many young faces." "Soon, our siblings will be old enough to join," Clover says kindly. "Oh," I say in surprise, "how many others are there?" She says with a laugh, "My sisters are too young to come. There are only two that are at home. Posey will come next year." I thank them for telling me about themselves and they move on to the next people.
The Countess greets me politely and makes small talk until it is time to move on.
The Viscountess comes forward, "Your Highness it is such an honor to meet you. This is my husband and these are my children. Blake is my oldest son, then Dorian, the current heir, and lastly, Michael." "That is a lot of boys," I say with a laugh and she nods in agreement. "Oh, yeah," she says with a laugh, "there are more boys at home and a girl as well. There are a lot of children in this region."
I feel at peace knowing that some families have protected themselves as best they could and have not allowed bad things to change what they feel they want to do in their lives. I wish I could be like them.
Once everyone is done greeting the entire noble family of Feldgrau, we make our way to the rooms reserved for our stay here. Radley collapses on the bed and I follow.
"Have you noticed how different this island is?" he asks me and I laugh. "Yeah," I say honestly, "it is very diverse culturally and linguistically."
After talking for some time about the diversity of the country, we head to bed so we can be up early for the ball.
Once we wake up, the normal routines start as I try to control my pregnancy woes.
As soon as that is over, we head outside to the gardens and find huge tent-like structure sitting in the gardens. When we enter, it is beautifully white and filled with space for eating as well as dancing.
Duke Loyd comes forward and welcomes everyone, especially the ones being introduced to society. Then he starts to say, "Now, what we do here is very different from other areas of the country. When you come to visit you will be giving of yourself and your time by visting the poor communities, feeding them and making clothes for them as the poor community needs to support to get out of where they are now." Everyone claps so we copy and then everyone dances about for some time.
I sit on the sidelines after having one dances. I watch as Tobin, Lantana and Aster dance with Clover. Even some of the boys dance with Magnolia like almost all of them. Radley dances with random lonely women and they have a good time. I smile as I watch them all.
Soon, dinner is served so everyone makes their way to sit on these pillow-like items placed on the floor. We eat with our hands and with cutlery. No one seems to judge anyone even if they choose to sit on a chair at a nearby table, but I enjoy the culture of this area of my country as do members of my family.
As soon as everyone is finished, some get up and move about while others sit to chat with each other or go somewhere else.
I watch everyone just to observe my people and then I notice Clover leaving everyone as she runs to the gardens in tears it seems. I slowly get up and make my way over to the gardens along with my guards just to find her crying silently as she sits by a beautiful fountain.
I walk over without trying to be quiet and I see her hurriedly wipe her tears away as she notices me. She gets up and curtsies, "Your Highness."
I sit where she was once sitting and she sits down beside me.
"Are you going to tell me what is bothering you?" I ask her kindly. She sighs after some time and says, "You know that we have to get married at the very least by the time we reach eighteen?" I shake my head, "No, but I had a feeling that was the case." "Do you know that if you don't then your parents will just choose someone for you?" she asks me and I sigh. "To be honest, I had a feeling," I say with a smile, "I feel like it is a given when the whole country depends on whether there are heirs for a certain role or not." She nods, "There is just a lot of pressure to choose and it gets overwhelming."
"Well," I say curiously, "what is your concern?" "Well....we have all been trained to be nobles, but the score we are given really determines whether we are considered smart and I am quite low on the bar. The lowest score you can get is 5 and 10, which is a total of 15. I am a 16. That is a level 2. That sucks," she says with sadness in her eyes.
I sigh, "Maybe you can view it that way, but I think people have it all wrong. Honestly, people don't only look at the level or the number, but they look at the quality of who you are, your personality and what you have taken as your specifics." She laughs as I say the last one, "So it is important." I nod, "That is what they looked at to question my qualifications. My score is 22, but I don't have much to show for it according to them." "But I look at both," she says with a sigh, "and I am just average."
"Well let's look at the guys you have as options," I say enthusiastically, but after some time I start to realise that she cares too much about the score, "look, you have a lot in common with Tobin. Yes, you may have the same score as Lantana and he is a Duke but personality matters too. Have you learnt anything about them?" "Tobin is nice and carefree like a child really," she says thoughtfully, "but Lantana is more mature then him. He does have a rough personality but he is kind just misunderstood I believe. He is not as bad you think. I know you have a biased view but you should keep in mind that Tobin has a few options because of his score while Lantana doesn't." I furrow my brows as I think about that, "What do you mean?" "No one in society will marry anyone who is smarter then them if they are to be the leader," she says honestly, "you cannot be thought to be undeserving and have your spouse take over operations." I sigh, "Oh that. I have heard of that. Well, it is your choice in the end, but who else are options for Tobin?"
"He has Allegra, Ivory, Autumn and Spirit," she says honestly. "And why do you know all this?" I ask with a chuckle. "Cause, like you said, heirs are important and it is a part of our life so it is important to know who you can choose and who you are competing with," she says kindly, "and I will tell you honestly, there are a lot of people who have me on their list because of my level. Sadly, a lot are left without a wife or husband so they turn to those in the community, but sometimes people make a selfish choice. For example, I know Princess Magnolia likes Duke Gael, but they both will get ranks so they should choose people who will be left without. Will that really happen?"
She just gives me a look and I laugh. "I mean," I say honestly, "rules are meant to be broken, but would that really mess things up." "Yes," she says honestly, "because it means that their is no order to choosing and it's not like she won't find someone else to be happy with, Your Highness. Look at you, you chose someone you barely knew. Was it really for your benefit?" I smile at her and nod, "You are smarter than you think. You would make an amazing adviser."
She laughs as she thinks about it, "Maybe." "We will have to see," I say suggestively as we get up to start walking back to the ball.
When we walk in, Queen Hesperia comes up to us and we both curtsy.
She smiles at us, "You guys sneaking away from the party?" We shake our head and then laugh.
"Your Majesty," Clover says kindly, "how did you find a guy you love so much?" She laughs but her eyes darken, "It was arranged, but it was the best decision my father ever made." Clover sighs, "Maybe an arranged marriage would be best for me." My eyes widen, "Just because it worked for us doesn't mean it will work for you. Also, your mother will choose someone she likes and the qualities she prefers which may not be the things you like."
Clover sighs and excuses herself so she can talk to her mother.
Queen Hesperia looks at me and sighs, "She has no idea." I groan silently, "We have been through a lot haven't we?" She nods, "I haven't talked to anyone about it and you?" I shake my head, "No, I haven't told anyone the full story. No one knows." "Maybe one day we can at least tell each other," she says with a hopeful look, "maybe when my father has disappeared off the face of this earth." The hate in her eyes is fierce and I want to hug her, but I know how it feels to be touched when so many have abused it so I let her be.
"Yeah, one day," I say with a smile and she nods strongly.