146 New visitors p.1

Aminui remained silent for a long time after Emp said he needed to take the place of the emperor. With the cat out of the bag, Celtine stopped harassing Emp and took back her place at his side with a mix of regretful disappointment and worry for what would come next.

The silence felt heavy while Aminui processed what he just heard. His eyebrows were raised in a rare display of surprise and Emp just waited anxiously for what he'd do next. Aminui valued family and honor over mostly everything else but the two now clashed with each other. The Muraciers were sworn to protect the Grandbois, Emp had just admitted in front of the elder that he intended to take over everything. Emp did not know how the old man would react at all.

He was conscious that this might be the most dangerous thing he ever did. Even if Aminui really felt like he was part of his family, he was betraying everything they stood for. His reaction could end up being anything at all or at least, that was how he felt.

After what felt like a terribly long time, Emp opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted right away by Aminui's raised finger. Emp shut his mouth again and waited for at least an equal amount of time to what he already had. The old man took a breath and started voicing his thoughts.

"When we first met, you said that your name had been given to you by your mother rather than my son. I guess I should have realized what it meant when I met her the other day.

I'm not sure what to say now. Did the emperor do something that would anger even the gods? What's the end goal?"

"Not that I know of. My true objective is to take down the emperor of a faraway empire but I need this one to improve my chances. I cannot let this opportunity pass me by, either I take this or I go all the way there on my own. I'm sure you understand how hard it would be to beat an emperor without an empire of my own to back me. I can't just ask the emperor to trust me and do as I say, my goal will never be achieved. Considering my name, the blood they used to make me and how strangely this empire has worked since its inception, I truly feel this is what I'm meant to do."

"You think this is an opportunity? You think that the emperor won't see it come because of the old promise? Chinui already betrayed it with his insane stunt, Billow Grandbois is on edge already. He might not be a tactical genius but he's far from an idiot, his family ran the empire for hundreds of years. He won't let it go without a fight and our faction will be torn apart.

How do you think people will react to that sort of betrayal? Not anyone but a Muracier, of all people, decided to rise against the emperor, against the family they were sworn to protect, how do you think people will take it? You might not be forced to respect your or our words, forced to speak the truth always but that doesn't mean you should destroy the honor and reputation we accumulated over the generations our family lived. You need to reconsider your path carefully, do not do this."

At the end, it almost sounded as if he was begging.

"Does that mean you still consider me part of your house?"

Aminui didn't answer but Emp could read his thoughts through his frozen face, he did. Emp was unsure whether this was a good thing or if he should feel even more guilty for it.

"What if I do not want to reconsider? My friends and family needs to be protected properly and I don't trust the emperor to do it, splitting the power in two was crazy from the start. The emperor knows there are problems but can't deal with them properly because he has to go through the Muraciers to fix anything while you... we, have our hands tied because we need his approval for anything. The only reason our empire survived this long is because we were there to stand in the way of invaders and we had the ancestors to protect us all."

"At least you started saying 'we'." Aminui commented with a cynical tone.

"Should I stop?"

"Of course not, how many times do I have to say that you're one of us for you to actually acknowledge it."

"Even if that was the case, I'd be a traitor. I shouldn't wear that name."

"You are a Muracier, that's why I'm telling you to change your mind. How stubborn can you possibly be?"

"I guess that's another thing I stole from the Muracier."

"I'll show you stubborn. I'm not moving from here until you admit you are one of us and change your mind on removing the Grandbois from the throne."

"You will be there for a long time, I will not change my mind on this, it has to be done."

"It doesn't have to be done, you just haven't thought of a realistic plan yet. I can't let you do something so stupid."

"There's an easy way to stop me. You could just kill me."

As usual, Emp and Aminui shared a similar way of thinking. Since it was a very logical and efficient way to fix every problems, Emp believed he must have thought about it, however...

"I'm not willing to consider that as an option."

"Why not?" Emp asked in confusion. Even though he obviously didn't want that to happen because he felt like he'd have no chance of escaping, it truly was the most logical path for him. "You would save the name and honor the will of the ancestors. Almost no one knows the name on my hunting card so my death wouldn't have a lasting impact on the house. Love might get angry but I do not think that it would be catastrophic."

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"I'd really like it if you listened to what I'm teaching you. Our acts can't be taken back, exactly like our words. I will not do something I know I will regret immediately. I can't lie and I'm saying you're my grandson, isn't that clear enough for you? What do I need to do to engrave that in your thick skull? I would need to be insane to consider killing you as a possibility. This is also why I want you to reconsider, think about the consequences, how do you even plan on stealing the throne in the first place?"

The old man had repeated a lot that they were both family and as he said, he couldn't lie. It was obvious that he really thought of Emp as a member of his family but it didn't mean it was right. It didn't mean that he wasn't an impostor.

He was about to say so aloud when Celtine grabbed one of his hand and bit into it. He was taken by surprise and made a startled yelp.

"Ow! What was that for?"

He retrieved his hand and rubbed the two bloody holes on its back with the thumb of his other hand. He looked right at Celtine's face and saw that she was exasperated. She was looking at him like he had done something bad and was about to scold him but seemed somewhat pained that she even had to do such a thing. Her brows were furrowed in a show of anger but it was sadness that he saw in her pretty colorful eyes. She made a show of bringing her writing tablet up and wrote in that angry manner she rarely used.

Emp read it all carefully and took a moment to digest the whole thing. She had brought up a number of things that had not crossed his mind before, the impact was even greater on him with her being the one to say it all to him. She was one of the persons he cared about the most in the world so her words weighted much more for him. Her own situation couldn't really be compared to his own but it did give him a new perspective on everything. He reached out for her and brought her into his arms.

"Thank you Celtine for always catching me when I do something wrong. I had not seen things from this angle before. I was wrong, I'm sorry that I have upset you. It wasn't my intention to betray anyone related to me."

After hugging her as a form of thanks she patted his shoulder to let him know she wanted to be released and once he had done so, turned back towards Aminui. His grandfather had remained silent when he exchanged some words with Celtine. He wasn't that offended to have been interrupted, perhaps because he was busy thinking about how to stop him.

"Grandfather, I apologize. Celtine made me understand that what I was doing was unfair. I am still unsure of whether I deserve the Muracier name or not but she made me realize that this is not for me to decide. Feeling unworthy or like an outsider does not make me one of those things.

She said I cannot just use it when it's convenient and then ditch it when it is not. She is right about that, even if I am not the name, the name is part of me like an arm, I have to live with it and if I feel unworthy of it then the best I can do is be better.

What you both want me to do is to stop wondering if It is okay to accept your support but instead, accept it wholeheartedly to make myself into someone that is worthy of it.

I was never born, I was created, I came from no one. Everyone else seems to agree that I am a Muracier however, you, her, the duke, those that recognize Chinui in me, even my own hunting card. Not agreeing doesn't make it less true, maybe you are right and I was blinding myself away from the truth? I am unsure, it would be easier for me if I could point and say this is my father and this is my mother so this is my name. I have neither, I did not feel like I should just selfishly add myself to the greatest house of the empire, it is cheating, a trickery, it is unforgivable to do such a thing.

I kept thinking that and yet, everyone kept pushing the name closer and closer to me, I told you, I felt so bad about it. I guess it is true however, even if I am the worst embarrassment that the Muracier house will ever know, its blood does run inside my veins."

Aminui exhaled strongly and swiped his hand over the table as he readjusted his seating. His face had returned to its expressionless state.

"I'm glad that the girl knows how to talk to you and that you're finally starting to understand all that. I've been trying to convey it to you but you wouldn't listen, I can't strip you of your name and I don't want to either. That's why I need you to think again and don't do something so ridiculously foolish."

"But I have to." Insisted Emp. "I do not care about the mean, I would like to find a peaceful way to get that seat but I do not expect to find one and I need it for what comes after."

The two of them argued about this for a long time still afterwards, a whole day in fact. Aminui really wanted him to find some sort of alternative solution but Emp kept explaining what it was that he needed to do afterwards, how it would be impossible without the throne, how this throne in particular was the easiest to get in his situation.

From another angle, Emp couldn't come up with any realistic plan on how to get said throne without breaking everything apart. He had not expected to speak about this aloud to anyone else than Celtine and Harriett for a long time if ever. It felt rather strange to talk to the elder of the Muracier family of all people, the guy responsible to make sure that what he was talking about would not happen.

Emp was pretty sure his grandfather felt horrible holding that sort of conversation but he still kept putting out sound arguments against everything Emp said instead of just shutting him down or getting angry. His knowledge of the empire and its many noble houses was extensive and so Emp learned a great deal in his discussion with him. Every time he came up with an idea, Aminui was able to easily find a large amount of problems with it, pointing out how it would damage the empire as a whole as well as the Muracier.

In the end, they couldn't agree to anything. Emp couldn't give up even though he understood that everything he came up with was absolutely unrealistic while his grandfather couldn't approve of anything alluding to replacing the emperor.

As they left, Aminui stopped in front of Celtine and said something unexpected.

"Thank you for watching over him, I appreciate what you do. You seem to have a good influence on him so keep driving some sense into that thick head of his. Thanks to you he finally acknowledged his own name. Here."

He presented his hand for the tiny girl to take. It was not often that a Muracier wanted to shake hands with a cursed-blood. At first Celtine hesitated, mostly because she didn't understand right away what the meaning behind the gesture was. It had been so unexpected to her that it took her unnaturally long to respond to his gesture and extend hesitantly her own hand. She only did so after Emp shook her to wake her from her surprise. She couldn't be certain that it was really what Aminui wanted from her but still raised her hand.

The old man grabbed her small hand into his own, burying it in his large palm completely. Emp found it funny that her hand literally disappeared into his own as he shook it slowly. They did not feel quite the same on a lot of things but today, they had come to an understanding.

"Please, stop him from committing some terrible mistake in the future too."

She answered with a nod and a confident smile. She was conscious that she might not always take the right decisions but she knew that if Emp made a misstep, she would be able to stop him just like how he had stopped her crossbow at the gate.

The conversation would continue for many days over and spread all over their training from now on. Aminui would tell him to reconsider and think of something else, never relenting. Emp wondered if the old men would ever get tired of that game and try something more radical if he didn't convince him by the end of his time in school.

While he was thinking that however, the old man had already started planning on how to make everything work out in his favor. There was no way that Aminui would ever let the future of his house into the hands of Luck. Knowing the full story of Emp, he was now able to truly start planning for the future.

He would let nothing go, he knew exactly what he needed to do in order to reach the best outcome. He had after all been the great general for a long time, with the complete picture in his hands, it was easy for him to see the path to victory. All his problems could be fixed in the same simple manner, all he needed to do was stall Emp for as much time as possible.

*-*-*-*

Calla was cutting down some leaks and turnips for a meal she wanted to prepare later in the afternoon. She was inspired by the rich taste of the berries Leo and Erin brought back from the woods and wanted to do something special with them along with some vegetables she had and some bird meat. She wanted to prepare a sauce with the berries and let it cool to add a colorful touch to the herb preparation she made for the slow cooking of the bird.

Hopefully, the whole thing would be refreshing for this hot afternoon. She knew Emp was currently working hard in Marcy's forge so he'd be burning hot when he came back after and he would be starved. The thought made her smile, she couldn't help but feel great when he worked so hard for everyone and looked at her with eyes filled with gratitude when she brought him some food afterwards. The more he worked, the more he ate and seeing him appreciate her cooking so much made her feel especially good.

This was her strength, food. She couldn't really help with complicated things the nobles did and she didn't know a thing about forge work but at least, she could fill the stomach of everyone with delicious things that would lift their spirits and relieve them of their fatigue.

Doing all the cooking was fun in itself but it was the reward at the end she liked best. She'd watch over everyone through the day to see what they felt like and what they did and prepared a fitting meal that would please the whole house. Sometimes, she would praise the girls with something that felt more upbeat and other times, when the rain and wind was heavy, she'd make something warm and comforting for everyone. When she watched them overwork themselves on training, she'd cook some fat piece of meat that would give them their strength back and then watch their smiles warmly as they devoured it eagerly.

This is what she liked to see the most, the elated faces of everyone sitting around the table with the things she cooked. She felt so relaxed and uplifted when she watched everyone savor her work.

Of course, she didn't just cook all the time. Even if it was her favorite thing to do, she also did many other things. She couldn't spend her whole life in the kitchen after all, she had a whole lot of other things to do. In particular, she was supposed to learn a bunch of things about nobles.

With Emp, Kaisla and Galana's help, she learned a lot of complicated things she feared that she would forget right away. What she did learn properly was to read and write in the noble tongue. She had a hard time of it and found it all very tiring but once she got better, she first helped Emp with all the invitation and refusal letters and after that, she started exchanging letters with Mable and Celtine.

She would tell them all about what she and Emp were doing in the village while they would tell her what was happening on their side. Thanks to Emp's magic bag, it didn't take more than a day for a letter to reach the other side so they could talk easily and quite freely. After just a few of those letters, Calla started to really like reading and writing them. This way was so much less stressful then actually speaking to someone. She could take all the time she needed to think of her answer and write them in a calm and peaceful environment, sometimes sitting just beside Emp and sometimes alone in their room.

She would sit comfortably with something to drink and a pillow to rest onto and write whatever she felt like talking about. It was very pleasing, this way she could enjoy a conversation like anyone else without all the worrisome parts and she got to learn about her faraway friends.

She had a lot of trouble getting along with people even if she wanted to, they were just too scary for her. It took her so long to get used to anyone at all, she couldn't help it. She really liked the company of a variety of people but she still had trouble finding the strength in herself to speak to them. That was why she enjoyed the presence of many people in the house.

While they talked to each other, she could listen in to their conversation and learn to know them better all while not having to go through the stress of it. It was perfect. It brought life to that huge house too which was good. She was used to live in a smaller house with so many more people living in it than here so she had feared that it would be lonely but it wasn't.

Emp understood how much she wanted life to flow and prosper in that house, he kept inviting more people in for her so that she wouldn't be lonely. He understood that this wasn't exactly what she wanted but she was very happy with the people he invited to the house. They were not truly family but they spent so much time here together that they might as well be. She wanted them to be family, a family she chose like Emp. In fact, for Emp, it was pretty much always like that, he only had family that he chose and she was happy with his choices. Of course she would be since he accepted to be her husband.

They invited the sisters in because they made her laugh, they reminded her of her own sisters with all their mischief. Thanks to them, there was always something happening in the house and everything felt lively.

Then they invited Svae, because she was the sisters' family, she was more than happy to let the three of them reunite and stay together. Thanks to her, she wasn't the only one doing the chores anymore so she felt thankful for her presence. She was a very helpful girl.

Galana had been brought in next and Emp hadn't consulted her about it first. She was intimidating and always complained about everything but Calla knew it was just a face she wore. The truth was that she respected Emp and herself a great deal and when she was alone with her, she was always gentle. She put up a strong front for the others and mocked Emp a lot but Calla could see her feelings as obviously as the moon and stars in the night sky. She was a stubborn person who hated to admit her wrongs and was eager to point the flaws of everyone else but Calla could "see" her love somehow.

She didn't quite know how to explain it but it was sort of like seeing a smell. She could distinguish the feelings of love coming from others just by looking at them. She wasn't quite sure when it all started but she did notice that this way of perceiving things slowly grew stronger over time. It all started with Emp, she could see him overflowing with love for her, it was like a thick mist, then she was able to see a similar thing when he was with Galana, then she saw it between the two sisters and so on.

She kept on looking at it and it became somewhat clearer. She didn't know how or why, she just knew that she saw the love flowing between people. She wouldn't say that she was good at it or that it was obvious but if she really tried her best, she could always tell the pure feelings of everyone including even Galana who often shone whenever Emp held some serious conversation with her.

Kaisla was the opposite however. She was charming and respectful with everyone but she didn't have any feelings of love for anyone here. She came in with that large group of huntresses and stayed behind after they all left again. They all said they were willing to work for Emp some more but he didn't have anything left for them to do so they all left the village. Kaisla remained behind for duty rather than feelings but that was normal since she didn't really know any of them.

Calla was fine with the presence of the knight, she was helpful and taught her a lot of things about nobles and more precisely, things about the Muraciers.

One day, Calla would be addressed as lady Muracier because of Emp which was rather scary but that was precisely the reason why he had Kaisla come here and why he still invited more. Emp wanted her to have some friends in the nobility so that she wouldn't feel alone and pushed around by all those people born with a higher standing than her.

Kaisla and the rest were tasked to teach and protect her as well as to be her friend. The last part was the most awkward, she didn't quite know what to think about people who were ordered to be her friend. The knight Kaisla for example felt a bit more like she was evaluating her instead of simply trying to get along with her which made her nervous. Was she doing something wrong? Did she think she wasn't good enough? Then one day, just like that, the knight's attitude changed and became genuinely friendly, apparently, she was done evaluating. Instead, she started trying to improve her courage and posture which didn't go very well.

Calla really wasn't cut out for this but Kaisla didn't give up and taught her patiently. She split her time between trying to get along with Calla and helping the sisters in their quest for strength.

Calla was happy that they wanted to repay Emp and help him as best as they could but she hoped they wouldn't push themselves too hard. Erin and Leonni were kindhearted but clumsy and very protective of the few things they had. Since the new year festivities, Erin started watching over the house very seriously. She had given herself the mission to protect it and everyone inside as if she was a dragon and it all belonged to her.

Calla believed it was because her and her sister didn't have so much before and really didn't want to lose what they now had. Like Calla thought earlier, it was the family they chose and the more time they spent with it, the more they wanted to hang on to it. Whenever Emp was outside of the house, they'd turn into guard dogs and run around to keep an eye over everything.

Calla believed it was excessive and would like it better if they would just come into the main room and play like before. It seemed that their favorite game now was to follow Emp and Kaisla around and mimic them all the time. They had overreacted the day Kaisla first came to the house but instead of learning to be less suspicious of everyone, they just retained the feeling that they weren't good enough and it seemed to have upset them. Now they were obsessed with getting stronger but Calla hoped they would eventually come back from it and return to normal.

At least they didn't attack more visitors anymore. They had been filled in on who Emp sent letters to and who they should expect to come knocking at the door so things wouldn't get out of hands anymore. The sisters didn't make any excessive things anymore and when it was someone they expected, and Emp was outside, they just sent Svae to get him and waited patiently.

Emp was often outside for a big chunk of the day because he worked on a big project with his mother. He had showed her and told her a lot about what he was working on and Calla had to admit that she was rather curious to see the end result even though it was just an armor. He would show her the pieces and explain what they were for by pointing at some of the drawings he made. She could see that it would be very pretty once it was finished, but it was so complex.

The whole thing was filled of moving parts and layers of protective ornamented steel. Emp told her all about the special alloys he had Nessa provide him for it but she forgot about them right away. All she could see was that it looked like a great knight's armor but with some fierce steel skirt added on top. Emp had explained to her that this strange metal skirt would open up like a giant flower if Nessa spun on herself and reveal it was made out of large amount of blades all tied together. It sounded very special but Calla wasn't sure she understood what the use of that was and felt more impressed by all the tiny hinges holding the whole thing together. The only thing she was certain of was that it would be very pretty for an armor and that Nessa would love it. She didn't know her well but how could someone dislike something made with so much effort and time?

Calla thought that Emp was pretty cute when he worked on something earnestly like that, she often felt like sitting down close by when he was working and watch him for a while. Emp wasn't bothered by being watched as long as the observers didn't interrupt him so she was sometimes accompanied by Erin, Galana or Kaisla and they all watched the interesting show.

Those moments were peaceful and lovely but since she enjoyed her days so much, they all flew by quickly. She felt that in no time at all, the invitation letters reached their destinations and all too soon, many women started showing up at her door.

That was a terrible ordeal for her, she didn't have enough energy to receive all nine of them in a single year. She didn't have what it took to evaluate if they were good people or not either. She didn't even have enough room in the house to keep all of them lodged properly, they were all nobles after all, she couldn't possibly suggest to have them share rooms.

Thankfully Emp knew how to handle all of that and had cleverly worded his letters to them. He asked them to come meet him in Bêtéclair but also told them to spend a night on the way in a certain house in Dark-glint. He said the house was filled with people he trusted and people he employed. The plan was to have them spend a night here and learn to know how they were with people, without the presence of the Muracier heir and his wife. That way, he intended to see the true them before telling them to either stay or leave.

The plan was well thought out but unfortunately for him, he had not taken into account how indecisive she could be.