Chapter 99: Steam Train

"It's time to begin, Callister." A woman dressed in a plain black-and white lace dress held a dark-brown leather briefcase in her hand, smiling softly. A veil obscured her piercing blue gaze, her stark-black hair tied up underneath it in order to conceal it properly. 

A man beside her wore the same sort of attire. However, the dress he wore bore green and white colours, matching his emerald gaze and his fiery-orange locks that spilled down his shoulders. With makeup properly applied to the contours of his face, sharpening his eyelids and accentuating his lashes, he resembled a proper woman. 

This was not because Pandora Callister fully considered himself a woman. This was just the result of a long life of tragedy. He thought that maybe he could avoid the ruthlessness of others if he were to resemble more a woman than a man. Besides, it wasn't as if his older brother didn't heavily support his way of living. Pandora knew that Orion would do anything for him.

Still, that was why Pandora had to try and do everything to stop Orion from ruining himself. This game that he was playing, this made sense of thrillseeking was too dangerous. He just wanted to see his older brother safe. He didn't want to see Orion hurting any longer.

Because of Orion's recent game, Pandora was able to successfully convince the princess of the Faulkner Branch Family in intervening in this matter. Orion had already gathered suspicions that there was some strange sense of interaction between Lumière Croft and Artis Faulkner. So, Pandora was able to leverage this relationship between the two in order to seek interference in his older brother's plans.

He didn't know exactly what Orion had planned for Lumière Croft, but he knew it would end in one of their deaths. That was always how his older brother's games ended. 

"Yes, it's time. It's a shame that the High Conference ran for so long this year. I can't see how my brother is able to sit through the entire thing without complaint."

"That's just what we must do as Nobles. Don't forget that you're allowed far more amenities than a normal person because of your birth. You can at least sit through a few hours of conferences per day." Artis replied casually, readjusting the brooch pinned at the edge of her lapels.

The two boarded a large iron-black steam train that cut through the middle stratums of Lindgram, disguised properly in order to alleviate any attempts on their lives. After all, they remained of Noble birth. Even the middle stratums remained fraught with crime and opportunity-seekers free of most morals.

Still, even disguised, they purchased tickets suited for their status. They sat in a private seating room obscured by a sliding oak door, saving them their own privacy. Once they were adequately concealed, they were able to dismantle their disguises a slight amount, relaxing. It would be a long ride to Leiden, so comfort was a necessity. 

 There was a small wooden table in the center of the seating room, meant for high-class dining. When an attendant of the train came by, Artis took the liberties to order several common staples of Lindgram. Because of her status, it wasn't often that she was able to eat some of the foods that people of a lower status would enjoy on a daily basis. Lindgram and Leiden were the two main cities in the Forger Empire, and they were surrounded by rich farmland. This meant that the staple foods of these two cities were abundant with fresh fruit and vegetables, but also rich sauces and savoury salted meat.

The first dish brought before the two nobles was a large cut of beef that had been blackened and braised, before being glazed with a reduction of apricots and plums. This would cause the reduction to caramelise against the meat, a sticky outer coating binding the finish of thyme, rosemary, and sage to it. 

The second dish was a plate of roasted potatoes, beets, and parsnips that had been similarly glazed with a fruit reduction and an herb finish. While it was meant to mimick similar flavours to the meat, it was truly meant as an accoutrement to the meat, meant to showcase the fruit reduction itself. In the case of the meat, the beef itself was the showcased flavour, taking the forefront spotlight on one's palate, with the fruit reduction serving as a highlight to the rich flavour. 

In the case of the root vegetables, the flavour was very mild and bare. This 'blank canvas' served to highlight the fruit reduction itself, allowing one to taste the glaze on its own. 

To finish off the meal, Artis had requested a basil tart filled with a mixture of figs and peaches. After it had been baked until it was a light-golden colour, it was faintly drizzled with honey, causing it to glisten underneath the faint lamplight overhead. 

Seeing the assortment of dishes, Artis's mouth began to water. While many working class people might consider such an arrangement to be fanciful, it was out of the ordinary for a princess of a direct branch family. Especially for the Faulkner family, at times women were expected to temper themselves. This often resulted in striving for the bare minimum of human survival, ridding oneself of external pleasures in most aspects of life. She often went without eating in order to maintain her form, or eat in very small portions, or otherwise eat bland, filling foods. This was just the life she had to live to present herself socially. 

Still, in times like these, she tended to be gluttonous, seizing the opportunity to eat at its fullest.

Artis looked towards the female attendant that had brought their meal over, thanking her graciously.

"That will be one lune, kind young miss." The female attendant bowed slightly, showing deference to her obviously-noble customer. 

This caused Artis to redden slightly, not only because she had an aversion to praise due to her status, but also because she had never grown accustomed to carrying coins with her. Most of the things that could be purchased in the upper stratums of Lindgram cost far more than most things in the middle or lower stratums, usually paid for with paper notes, Len. 

She rummaged through her wallet in the leather briefcase before retrieving a single Len of a denomination of one, handing it to the attendant. She handed it to the attendant. "Ah, keep the change."

As the attendant accepted the bank note, her eyes widened with a mixture of apprehension to accept such a large sum at once, as well as a deep gratefulness that Artis couldn't completely understand. As soon as the attendant had left, leaving behind their meal, she turned towards Pandora with her eyebrow raised inquisitively. 

The Callister family was a lower nobility family, so it was the case that he was a bit closer to middle society than she was. She had spent much time in the middle borough of Leiden, but that was only to attend shows and swordpractice at the Fencer's Association. Artis thought he might have some broader insight into her reaction. 

Of course, this was true. Pandora and Orion had to manage their household from a young age due to the death of both their parents. They had conversed and entertained those of lower social classes often, trying to expand their business endeavours and maintain the relationships forged by their predecessors. 

Pandora suppressed a laugh. "Attendants of steam trains like her usually make around fifty lune a week. This was equivalent to paying her two-week's salary just for bringing you a bit of food."

Artis smiled in an embarrassed fashion. She placed a hand to her head, rubbing her temples. "Right… of course. Recently it's been… hard to remember things like this. Sometimes there's just too much to remember… and to think I just admonished you for this same thing. I apologise."

'Of course, I'm just playing the facade of an immature noblewoman. There truly is too much for me to remember, but things like these are almost second nature...'

"It's our job to remember many things, isn't it? There's no worry. Besides, the only thing we need to remember right now is the task at hand."

Artis nodded her head. "Right. So, how are we going to go about this first task?"

Pandora sighed, leaning his head on his hand. "I'd first like to make contact with this Lumière Croft."

"Why is that?" While Artis wasn't necessarily averse to the idea, she didn't particularly understand why this could be the case. If it was Pandora's intention to help his brother, why would he choose to seek out his brother's enemy? This was something that Artis could accomplish easily. She had spent years alongside this magician, to the extent that she would call him a friend. But she just couldn't grasp Pandora's motive. This man who resembled a woman was as cunning and plotting as his older brother, so there must have been something deeper behind it.

"My brother is… someone who wants to win. He has a desperate desire to be on top. This is something that will drive him to be intensely competitive. However, when he loses, he becomes quite shut down. He just can't handle losing. I believe that if we support Lumière Croft in this game between the two of them, he couldn't handle the loss, and it would become easier for me to bring him home."

"But this game, as you said, isn't it supposed to end in death? You said this is what he tends to do, so why would losing be beneficial to him? Wouldn't a loss mean he dies?"

Pandora shook his head. "Not necessarily. While the goal of his games is to kill himself or his enemy, this doesn't demonstrate the only 'loss' that can occur. You know that one phrase- 'lost the battle but won the war'? It's something equivalent to that. If my brother suffers many small losses during this game equivalent to small 'battles' that don't end in his death, he will definitely consider it a loss, and he will be crushed. In this moment, I'm sure it will be easy to convince him to give it up and go home."

'This family is too twisted and cruel, for a brother to speak about destroying his older brother so coldly like this. He doesn't show a hint of emotion when he speaks like this. I know what had happened to them in the past… almost every member of Nobility should know about the tragedy of the Callister family… but for it to warp these two brothers to this extent… all they have is each other, and Pandora is bound to honour that idea even if it means tearing his only family apart to keep him close…' 

Artis leaned forward slightly, questioning the idea. "But if your brother is a competitive person, why do you assume that a loss will end his nature? Why would he be crushed, as opposed to further driven to try and seek victory?"

"My brother is competitive and a thrill-seeker, but he isn't a fool. Of all things, he definitely won't allow himself to be killed. If he loses, he will flee before this can happen. He's violent, but not suicidal. Bringing him to lose will definitely crush his spirit and cause him to return home, saving the life of your precious magician."