47. Bad News

"I'm surprised you wanted to talk to me alone." Arganan remarked. He sat on one of the couches in Arthur's office; a seating area where guests often gathered to have tea with Arthur. From business clients to Frey herself, Arganan knew that Arthur had tea with them here.

Arthur poured a cup of tea for him, giving it to him. "I've already spoken to Frey about all of what I'm about to tell you, but I thought it best that I speak with you myself about what I'll tell you."

"And that is?"

Arthur put the teapot down, sitting down opposite Arganan, before taking out a pair of glasses. "You know that I collect glasses, right? These glasses…" Arthur looked down at the pair, and then up at Arganan, putting them on the coffee table, "These were my mother's glasses."

"What?"

"I can't recall her giving me a hug, even once. No happy glance, or words of praise. I believe she hated me as much as I hate her. They're the last thing she ever gave me, before she left. I told you that she was a mistress, right?"

"Yes." Arganan nodded. "I recall that."

The younger man swallowed. "Every time, she looked at me as if the sight of me pained her. It took many years before I realized why that was. Mother was just as mistress. Palace life was painful for her. I hear that she often muttered to herself that there was no life for her here, while I was well adjusted. At that point, she and I were in two different worlds. That was the distance, between us."

"When I was young, Father often told me that my mother truly loved me. But before long…I learned, with painful clarity, my mother's true opinion of me. It was a snowy day, and my mother came to see me. We looked at each other, and she said she could barely see. She touched my face and I saw she had no glasses. She glared at me with a pained look, too."

"The whole castle was abuzz that she simply hated me, and then one day, she vanished entirely. Her last words to me were that "People are not to be trusted."

"That's the picture I have of my mother in my mind. Do you think such a person would truly love me? Do you think I could truly love such a person?" He shook his head. "Of course not."

"Yet…despite all of that, I can't throw away the one thing of my mother's that I have. My interest in trading, and hobby of collecting glasses, I found only because of the search for my mother. And it's for her, now, that I'm thinking about returning to the capital. Even if it means leaving Frey behind."

Wait, what? Arthur was…leaving? Arganan stared back at the younger man, before shaking his head. "What? You can't just leave!" The words came out harsher than he intended, but he didn't care. "You said that the royal capital didn't know of you and Frey swapping places. So why bring it up? You just came here, because of your mother?"

Arthur swallowed. "I'm not the Prince here."

"You've helped her adjust to being a Princess…"

"Which Frey is doing splendidly without me, now." The former Prince pointed out.

"There's still a lot for her to learn." Arganan argued. "Like dealing with nobles outside of Lazulis and Selphia, for instance. And what about the royal capital itself?"

"I trust that with you being an ambassadorial position, you might be able to help guide her as needed, once I'm gone." Arthur managed, looking him in the eye. "I know the two of us haven't had the best of relations, and that's mainly my fault, but I know that you have experience ruling a whole area. Frey doesn't have that same idea."

"But what if the capital just forces you to rule Selphia instead of Frey?"

"I doubt that will happen. She's been ruling Selphia for about a year, now. She's saved Lady Ventuswill, and this town. I don't think the capital will let her step down, knowing of how well she's protected this place." A sigh left Arthur, and he shook his head. "OF course, we can assume right now that the royal capital still doesn't know of the switch. But we should still anticipate that, in case it comes to pass."

Arganan swallowed. Arthur had a point. If Frey's current ruling of Selphia wasn't doing anything bad, and given Arthur's status as being the son of a mistress in the first place, the royal capital might just let things continue as is.

As Arganan left Arthur's office, he had a lot to think about. Arthur, potentially leaving Selphia? It made sense, given that Frey was ruling for so long at this point, as well as Arthur's true status, but...why did he have a feeling that there was something missing?

He couldn't ponder on that well, though. As he turned the corner, he noticed Vishnal sitting on a bench, frowning. He seemed down, and the former Count moved to approach him, curious.

"Vishnal?" He carefully sat down beside the younger man, trying to gauge his somber expression. "Are you okay?"

Vishnal shook his head, looking Arganan in the eye. "Frey broke up with me."

"What?" That just seemed sudden. "Why?"

"Remember how you warned me about the Butler Judge knowing about me and Frey being together? He already knew." Vishnal's head sank a bit. "Mr. Beyer, the Butler Judge, told me that as long as I'm dating Frey, who I'm serving, I can't get a title or star rating regardless of my skills. Frey overheard, and…" He swallowed, wiping a tear from his eye, "She broke up with me. She ended things."

"What!?" Arganan's jaw almost dropped at that. "Why? You and her are happy together. You both get along. I can understand that Beyer might have an issue with it given your social stations, as I mentioned during our previous conversation, but…"

"That's exactly the point." Vishnal managed, looking up at him. "I talked with Frey about the conversation I had with Beyer. I don't want to quit being a butler, but I don't want to lose her either. But then I also don't want to give butlers a bad name all over the world because of me!"

"Trust me, there are worse people than you that would give butlers a bad name." Arganan managed, grimacing. Hell, he even knew nobles and knights that would give all the other nobles and knights in the world a bad name! "A lot worse. Also, did Beyer tell you that last bit? That you'd give all butlers a bad name?" How seriously did they take the duties of butlers here in Norad? They seemed to take their positions more seriously than the knights did in Lazulis!

"Yes." The other relented, sighing. "When I told Frey about this, she broke up with me because she cares about my dream. She said she didn't want to get in the way of what I wanted, so…" He fell into silence, closing his eyes briefly, before his head hung. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize." Arganan offered the younger man a pat on the shoulder. "This is complicated, and I know whatever decision she made probably wasn't easy for her." He imagined that Frey was probably crying her eyes out right now. It must be a lot for her, he realized. Vishnal was one of the first people that she got close to, other than Arganan and the others at the castle. To break up with him after courting him so seriously to the point of considering marriage must be…hard.

"She knows I have the talent to be a great butler someday. So…" He hung his head, swallowing. "I should've said something. But I was so stunned that…I just let her do as she requested."

"Well," Arganan managed, "What are you going to do about it? She broke up with you so you could pursue your butler-related dream, but it seems to me that you don't really want to lose her, do you?"

"I don't." Vishnal admitted with a sigh. "I don't want to lose her. But I've already lost her."

Arganan paused, thinking. It was clear Vishnal cared deeply for Frey. Even if he wasn't romantic with her, Arganan was sure that Vishnal would still be devoted to caring for her, given his position as a butler.

"You said that you dreamt of caring for others, right? That you wanted to make others shine? Is that something you feel like you can do, being by Frey's side as her lover, just as much as you are as her butler?"

"Er…yes." Vishnal blinked, staring up at him. "That's true. I do want to see her smile. I want her to be happy."

"I think the two of you ending things with each other is only going to hurt more than do any good for either of you, then. Sure, if you remain broken up, you'd still be her butler. But you both really love each other. I can see that. You take caring for her so seriously, Vishnal, and…in a way, you remind me of my nephew-in-law, and how he cares for Calista."

"I do?"

"Yes." Arganan nodded. "He had dreams like you. Dreams of being a knight, to protect the people. He eventually became one. But the journey to that wasn't without risk, especially with my manipulation of him and Calista."

"What did he do?"

"He rejected the knighthood. Not because he loved Calista, but because he knew better about what the worst of the Lazulis knights were like at the time. They were corrupt. Hell, I even ordered them to massacre innocent civilians, simply because they were from the enemy's side at the time." A sigh left Arganan at that. "And…Zael's ideal of a knight, and what it meant to him, didn't match with how they treated their positions. I think you're in a similar situation."

"I love Frey and care for her." Vishnal noted. "But I also care for others as a butler."

"But being a butler is more complex than that." Arganan pointed out. "At least, it seems so here in Selphia and all of Norad. Beyer told you that you couldn't have any title because you were in a romantic relationship with the one you serve. That in order to advance, you have to deny being able to care for your master to the full extent you desire to care for. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah." Vishnal's eyes widened, and he took a deep breath as he shook his head. "Ohmygod. What have I done? I…" He looked up at Arganan, swallowing. "Are you saying…that I should pass up on having a title? To continue being with Frey?"

"That seems to be an option." Arganan managed, frowning slightly. "Or, you could stay separate from Frey and forgo your romantic relationship entirely, thus granting you status. But status isn't what you want, is it? You just want to do your job in the way you believe it's best."

Vishnal went silent, swallowing. He averted his gaze from Arganan, and then looked towards him with a sigh. "I…think I need some time to think about this. The Butler Judge's results won't be until tomorrow, anyway, so…"

"Just think about it." Arganan encouraged. He watched the younger man nod, before bidding Arganan farewell and leaving to go think on his own. As Vishnal left, he heard an unexpected voice speak up.

"I'm surprised you're encouraging him." Arganan turned to see Zael approach. Surprise seemed etched into his face, given his widened eyes.

"I'm surprised, too." Arganan admitted, turning to face his nephew-in-law. He frowned, observing the younger man. "Let me guess: You watched me and Vishnal the entire time, didn't you? It's rude to overhear such personal conversations, Zael, even if you are the new Count of Lazulis."

"Guilty as charged." A soft chuckle left Zael at that as he nodded. "Thankfully, you can't lock me in a jail cell, even if Calista hopes to make you an ambassador."

"I'm surprised you didn't object to her idea." He managed, raising a brow. "Nor have you suggested throwing him in a cell."

"Actually, she thought about imprisoning you when we first wondered how to deal with you, after the war ended."

"What?" That hadn't crossed Arganan's mind. "But exiling me to Selphia was what you both ended up deciding."

"Because I suggested exiling you in the first place."

Zael had been the one that suggested exiling him? Zael? Arganan wasn't sure what else he could do but stare at his nephew-in-law,

Zael sighed, shaking his head. "Well, we honestly thought you wouldn't survive what happened with Mitra, back when you angered Lazulis' half of the Outsider. Even when we got you to safety in time, you were weak. We thought you wouldn't survive past an hour or two, after we handed you over to healing mages to take care of you. When we found out you still lived, after the war, we thought you wouldn't wake up from unconsciousness. And then you woke up. That's when we realized we had to do something. Putting you to death would've been cruel, and would do nothing to help support Calista for ruling Lazulis. But keeping you in the castle didn't…didn't feel like an option, either."

"So exiling me was the best-case scenario." Arganan managed. "You get me out of your lives, physically, without having to kill me, and made the excuse of me requiring to be in Selphia to recover from the war to save face with the public."

"And that was all we planned to do with that. But after Calista discovered the Prince and Princess Points System that Selphia uses, she insisted that you be put in the system. She wanted to see if you could change. If you could…be better. She realized that you and her never really talked, over the past years, and…well." Zael could only shrug at the end. "The rest is history."

"I see." That made a lot more sense now. Arganan nodded once, looking his nephew in the eye. "I suppose I have to thank you, then. If it wasn't for your suggestion, Selphia might be in a lot more trouble. Your exiling me led to me meeting Frey, which led to me discovering my power of the Outsider while helping her, and thus using that power to help Frey in her endeavours to protect and govern Selphia."

"I…suppose I did, when you put it that way." Zael nodded in agreement. He looked in the direction where Vishnal went, and then looked up at his uncle-in-law. "I will say, though, I'm still surprised at everything you've done. From illegally driving an airship to constantly throwing yourself into battle…"

Arganan could only sigh. "At least I have a license now. There won't be any more illegal driving incidents, I promise."

"As long as you don't crash any more airships," Zael laughed, "I think we'll be fine."

Arganan could only hope things would be fine in that case. He really could only hope at this point.