Chapter 79 Cute.

  “Never mind what problems Lenna and I are dealing with on the side, Esmerelda, tell us about yourself.” Lenna cut her and Isaac’s conversation off and directed it back towards the couple whose date they had accidentally crashed.

  “Ah, well, my name is Esmerelda Gnosis, as you know, and I am the daughter of Flemma and Hiro Gnosis. The gift of Foresight has been passed down from mother to daughter through our line for over a thousand years. As such we have been grandfathered into the nobility of every nation that we have resided in and have always held a position in the royal courts as Farseers.” Lucius’ date went on. “My elder sister will most likely become the new Royal Farseer when my mother passes or retires. If for some reason she is unable, then it will fall to me. Ours is a family of Countesses and Viscountesses. We have a few manors given to us by the crown in each of the major surface cities but no citizenry to call our own.”

  “Noble titles without the noble responsibility.” Isaac commented. “It is a good place to be if you are not looking for power but I imagine the higher nobles in the court talk over your parents whenever possible.”

  “As you say.” Esmerelda confirmed. “Unless it was seen in a vision, their opinions are often given less weight than those of the grandukes and granduchesses. But that is not something that matters to me. I am a free woman. I can marry who I please, whether up or down, and aside from having to inform the crown of my current state of affairs once per year, they could not care less what I am up to. I have plenty of money from my mother and I may stay in any of our distant manors until I find a husband or die of old age. That is our way so I will most likely never want for anything.”

  “What you’re trying to say is that you are not attempting to court Lucius because you want to move up in the world and you don’t need money.” Isaac summarized.

  “As you say.” Esmerelda said with a bow. “I have been classically trained in all manners of court etiquette and all of the common court duties. I am also one gifted with the Eyes of Foresight and am a decently talented mage, not quite as gifted as the Academy’s Genius but I have a good chance at being within the top three of our class of fifty.”

  “Useful, smart, and learned.” It was Lenna’s turn to comment. “All good traits.” She said with raised eyebrows towards Lucius.

  Esmerelda cleared her throat to help get back on topic and to try to power through her blushing cheeks. “I have trouble seeing into Safeharbor, and cannot see the future of the Lord of Darkness, but even so, I can still be of use, if not as a farseer but as a mage. I also fancy you, Lucius Arbencroft.” Her face had turned cherry red at that final proclamation. “I have made my case as a suitress, to the same degree that I would have to the Duke and Duchess Von Arbencroft. I will not beg, however, as I still maintain my noble dignity. So, what say you, Lucius Arbencroft?”

  Isaac was somewhat amused at the hint of a blush that Lucius had gained as Esmerelda finished making her case. Despite his blush, Lucius carried on with a clear head and steady voice. “I would be happy to see where a relationship with you will lead, Esmerelda Gnosis, as long as you do not forget the warnings I have given you about the duchy that we would one day inherit.”

  “Naturally.” Esmerelda replied. “To forget such things would be unnoble of me.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “They’re cute.” Lenna stage whispered to Isaac which only made the two of them blush even more.

  “Agreed.” Isaac confirmed. The entire time Esmerelda had been making her case and Lucius had been replying, Isaac and Lenna had been eating their food. Soon enough it was time for dessert and the barista brought a tiny chocolate cake for each of the four, Lucius and Esmerelda had already eaten breakfast. The rest of the morning passed with less important conversations. They spoke mostly of Isaac and Lenna’s adventures in and around Safeharbor, as well as the duo’s wedding that had been witnessed by Duke and Duchess Von Arbencroft. They also spoke about Esmerelda’s school life as purely a mage.

  Apparently, school life for mages was filled with only twenty percent lecture time with the rest of the time set aside for training, self study, and homework like essays on famous mages of the past and what made them famous. Even though the percentage time split stayed the same throughout the years as a student in the college, the difficulty of simply keeping up with what was expected of them doubled with each passing year. Few young mages actually succeeded in graduating and it wasn’t uncommon for the mages who didn’t to simply repeat the year that they failed until they could pass it. That was how there were thirty year old graduates. Part of what made Alexander so special was the fact that he hadn’t failed a single grade even once from start to finish and had managed to keep top marks the entire time.

  Eventually it was time for Esmerelda and Lucius to continue their date elsewhere. They left with Lucius leaving a promise to meet Isaac and Lenna at the gate to the noble side of the academy at two after noon. “Actually,” Isaac stopped Lucius before they left. “As much as I would love to see the college, I am more in need of someone who can teleport to Safeharbor and back to retrieve something for me.”

  “Oh, my grand uncle is a teacher at the college and can probably help you.” Esmerelda jumped in. “Is it because of the loss of your gear you mentioned?”

  “Yes.” Isaac lied so perfectly that the young mage didn’t catch it. She had long stopped using her truthseeing spell so only her non-magical senses had the opportunity to pick up on his lie and they were not up to the task. “There are some things that we need and the staff at our manor will have it ready for whoever arrives to get it, but unfortunately my retainer, who can cast a spell to cause the sky to fall, does not know how to teleport.”

  “I think I can arrange a meeting with him.” Esmerelda said thought she looked a bit nervous. “He might ask for something strange as payment however.”

  “Strange how?” Isaac wondered.

  “Usually artefacts of ancient battles or people. He is a huge fan of having his own exhibits to bring to class.” She explained.

  “I think that can be arranged." Isaac agreed. “What time?”

  “What if I were to meet you along with Lucius and we stopped by my grand uncle’s office during the tour?” Esmerelda offered.

  “What if the rest of your date doesn’t go well?” Isaac questioned with a smirk.

  “Even if it suddenly went catastrophically bad, I am mature enough to see how cultivating a potential relationship with the two of you would be worth dealing with an hour of awkwardness.” Esmerelda replied with a bow.

  “Good.” Isaac said with a nod. “Then we will see you in a few hours.”

  “See you.” Lucius bid them farewell with a wave.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you.” Esmerelda told Isaac and Lenna with a deep curtsey.

  “Likewise.” Isaac agreed and Lenna just smiled as she tipped her head to the young mage and potential future duchess of Safeharbor.

  Now all Isaac and Lenna had to do was find something to do for the next three hours that didn’t involve accidentally messing up Lenna’s dress.

  As it turned out, that ‘something to do’ happened to be a short but pleasant stay at the Library of Altesia near the city square. The library was the largest one the duo had been in by far and had exclusively copies of original works of every kind one could think of. The librarians and scribes cared little for the topic as long as it was something actually worth reading. This meant that they permanently had a backlog of books that they hadn’t gotten to yet but it also meant that things like ‘A survey of each region’s accents’ was available to read for free. Some of the topics were even more out there but there were still plenty of important works like complete five to ten volume romance novels that were Lenna’s preferred time passing device. There were also combat manuals for just about any melee weapon one could think of. Isaac skimmed a few of them but just as many of them were as useless as they were useful. It didn’t take the hours long to pass as the duo enjoyed the library and before they knew it, it was time to meet Lucius and Esmerelda at the college.