-The First Chapter-

An Announcement

"Oh, a party for the town's success next week? That's… interesting," Anton said rather sarcastically after hearing his father's decision, though trying to hide his feelings.

He never enjoyed parties, since they always went the same every single time: entertain guests, talk to them, dance with them, and then finally the party ends. What's worse is that he had to deal with a lot of attendees that were eerily polite to him… Really, really polite, to the point that they're obviously putting up a show in front of the young blond duke. His favorite part of the party? The conclusion, for the madness to stop at once, at least at the time.

The most unpleasant experience he had was with the young ladies; from their actions, words and gestures, no wonder they're trying so hard to impress Anton to make him like them! These ambitious ladies would usually tell him about his assets, what they liked about him, how he made the girls fall for him and they flood him with praises, almost treating the young duke like a god…

Truth is, this made him dislike them even more. He despised such unnatural behavior… This is why he didn't like to become an aristocrat. He couldn't do much about it anyway, since this is part of his current status in the society. Anton just gave a sigh, and returned his focus to his father.

Duke Herzen raised an eyebrow, noticing the tone of Anton's voice, but disregarded it afterwards. "I know you are probably tired after all the fencing lessons you had today, so I shall permit you to take a rest. You can now rest for the night, Anton." The turquoise-eyed man then grabbed the door handles and exited the room, leaving his father and Fredrich, who were about to have a talk about the party too.

Anton had almost closed the door when his father followed up a few words. "...And, son, take this celebration seriously for once, you understand?" And then he finally left the room.

Upon sitting on the majestic red chair inside his quarters, Anton couldn't help but blurt out his thoughts to himself. "Oh good, it's probably time to get used with these people again. I hope less of these fawning ladies would come to the event… Just the thought of it gets me so stressed." He had a few moments of silence and thought about it for a bit. And then, his father's last words came to his mind.

"...And, son, take this celebration seriously for once, you understand?"

"What were these words supposed to mean? As if I ever refused to follow Father's orders... I did everything I had to do every time there was a party. Is it something about how I find those taxing events?" While looking outside his window, anxiety, worry and stress were in Anton's expression as he talked in his mind. Was there something else behind those words?

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He turned his sight on the source of the sound, and acknowledged the person outside. "You may come in." It was Nigel, the family's kind and responsible butler, and also Anton's good friend. Nigel noticed Anton sitting on his chair, making him stop for a bit before speaking. "Oh, Master, am I disturbing you here? If I do, then I must leave at once," the butler said, taking a small step backward.

"No, no, Nigel, please come in. What's the matter?"

"I was supposed to offer you something to drink, Master. Would you like a glass of water or anything of the sort to refresh yourself?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I'm just sitting here pondering over Father's words earlier..."

With a look of concern, Nigel went near to the young duke and stood beside the red chair. "I assume that... it is something related to the duke's plans?" Anton just gave a nod in reply and fixed his eyes on the ground, his hands placed on the armrests. "Nigel, what could have Father meant when he said that I should take the upcoming celebration seriously? Am I not doing my part well, or am I not being a good son to him? Could he mean that I'm not acting like a duke he wants me to be?", Anton asked in quite an uneasy tone.

The butler was surprised by how Anton reacted to the matter at hand, since this is the first time he has ever seen his master so worried over such simple words from Duke Herzen. He would usually just follow what the duke wanted him to do, as he thought it was mostly for the good of Folsense and his future role in town. Nigel had known Anton as the type of person who was humble and confident of his own abilities at the same time. This time, he seemed to be disturbed by the duke's rather straightforward statement, and he was doubting himself because of this. Nigel realized this was not to be taken lightly.

With a smile, Nigel voiced out his thoughts in a way that changed the heavy atmosphere to a light one. "Master, I think otherwise. I sense that the duke has something in mind for you and your future. Perhaps there is something in that occasion that you will benefit from? Things might be different this time around, so you would not get bored of the same events over and over again. That is only what I think will happen." Anton went silent for a while for the second time, but looked up to his butler afterwards and returned the smile.

"Frankly, I didn't think of that at all... Maybe he does know how I feel about these events. I'm sorry if I dragged you into this, Nigel. I'll be sure to think that way when the time comes. Thank you very much."

"I should have been the one to say that, Master. I didn't want to meddle with your personal issues, but I am glad I was of help to you. With that, should I leave you now, Master?"

"Yes, feel free to take your break. We're all tired from today's activities, so you should regain your energy for tomorrow. Good night to you."

As Nigel left the room, Anton stood up and turned around to the direction of the window. While he was processing what Nigel thought of his father's words, his heart calmed down and his mind cleared up. However, a faint sound of a glass being placed on a saucer startled him. Anton assumed it was just caused by mice running around, bumping into random objects in the room, until he saw an actual glass filled with water placed on the little table near the door. The smile on his lips returned after seeing this scene.

"You never fail to amaze me, Nigel. You're such a good friend."

Phew! I really enjoyed typing this chapter. Most of my ideas here were just thought and implemented on-the-spot... I had to improvise to connect the parts of the story shown in the game. Anyway, you guys might have a hunch on what Duke Herzen meant, or you might not, but just stay tuned for the next chapter, alright? XD

I'm not the most descriptive writer, but I hope I conveyed what I meant to show! Next chapter coming soon :)