Calm Before the Storm

Most of the other nobles, hearing the commotion, turned to look at Lucien and Athen. Vernhadt sighed, seeing his sons actions, while his wife seemed very pleased.

"I'm terribly sorry, Lord Lucien." Athen responded, trying not to say anything more that could offend Lucien or turned against him.

But unfortunately he was a bit too naive.

"Sorry? I didn't ask if you were sorry. If you were truly sorry you wouldn't have come today." Lucien added, getting progressively more upset.

Malric was about to interject and diffuse the situation when Elena stopped him. She seemed to understand that intervening here would worsen the situation, appearing 'disgraceful'.

"Forgive me, Lord Lucien. But I was under the impression that your father, Lord Baron Vernhardt, extended the invitation. Not you." Athen quipped..

Sorry, Father. But I'm afraid I'm not emotionally mature enough to handle this properly.

Lucien and the other children seemed rattled by this response.

'Did this no life just talk back to me?' Lucien thought to himself.

He was about to raise his hand and hit Athen, when Baron Vernhardt caught his hand.

"Lucien, do not make trouble for our guests. I personally invited them today, and if that was an issue I'd expect you to bring that to me. Do not disgrace me further." Vernhardt said sternly.

Athen, from the corner of his eye, noticed that his wife seemed shocked by Venhardt's actions.

This man is smarter than I thought, he noticed his wife's plans to embarrass me and instead gave me an opportunity to prove myself. It was a win win situation, either I respond poorly and his family gains face, or I respond in a way that would knock his arrogant son and wife down a peg.

He also intervened at a perfect moment, if this went any further Lucien might embarrass himself completely. Now we can both escape this situation unscathed.

Lucien seemed a bit fearful towards his Father, and immediately backed down.

"Yes, Father." He said softly before walking away with his cohort.

Athen sighed in relief and bowed to Vernhardt.

"Thank you, Lord Baron. I would like to apologize for my distasteful words, unbefitting of todays celebration." Athen took this moment to try and remedy any possible negativity that could've arisen from this, although he doubted there was any.

"No need, young Athen. Please, continue to enjoy yourselves further. I personally guarantee that you are just as welcome as everyone else to be in attendance."

Malric and Elena quickly stood up and bowed as well, they all stayed that way until Vernhardt walked away.

Athen then turned to his parents and apologized.

"No need, Athen. You did good. If you had simply taken that without responding, others would view you as a pushover. Consider it your first successful political interaction." 

The rest of the party continued with no further disputes, and eventually everyone began to leave.

As the Vars family rode back to their territory, Athen took this opportunity to reflect on the conflict.

Luckily I was able to get out of that, but this feels very similar to my memories of Earth. The more power someone has, the more they demand of others all while appearing to share the majority of the burden.

...

A few days had passed since Athen's birthday, and he was currently in the town discussing how everyone's crops were progressing and any issues they would like to bring forward.

"I appreciate your hard work, Lord Athen. Everything has been smooth sailing thanks to your family lower taxes for us." A burley man responded, he spoke with great enthusiasm and seemed genuinely appreciative.

"Sir, you are the ones doing the hard work. We rely on you all, so we must pay that back in turn." 

"Hahaha! Such modesty! It's okay to accept our compliments, Lord Athen. Being too humble isn't any better than being arrogant." Despite the difference in status, in the eyes of most of the townspeople, they found it important to teach him as they would any other child.

"In that case, thank you for your compliments and guidance. Please continue to work hard!" Athen responded, before leaving to report to his Father.

"Athen!!!!"

He heard the voice of a young girl calling to him from behind, and when he turned around he saw two young girls running towards him.

In the front, was a girl dressed in nice, clean clothes. She was Martha, the daughter of the only merchant family in the town. She was a very extroverted and outspoken person, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Despite that, she was loved by everyone due to her extremely caring nature.

Following behind her was a girl in glasses and holding a book. This was Aubrey, the daughter of one of the farmers in town. She had a weak body, unable to help around the farm, but showed great talent in academics. 

Unlike most rural towns in the Empire, the Vars family would test the academic or fighting abilities of the many children in their territory once they turned 10. Anyone who showed extra promise would be granted extra resources to hopefully foster talents to aid their family.

"Hey Martha, Aubrey. How are you guys doing today?" Athen said to them, although he had only met them a couple days ago, he quickly grew to care about them. They could be said to be his first friends entirely.

Unlike their parents, most of the children in town seemed hesitant to talk to Athen, afraid that they might offend him. Martha and Aubrey were different, they didn't seem to care about his status whatsoever. 

"Hey, if you are done with your rounds today you should come hang out with us! I think I'll finally be able to beat you at that weird war game you taught us!" Martha quickly said, to which Aubrey nodded aggressively.

"I'm sorry, I have to go report to my Father today and learn more about paperwork. How about we play tomorrow after my rounds?"

I'm glad they like it, but aren't they being too enthusiastic? 

When they had first met, Martha had asked if nobles had any cool games they played. Athen didn't have any knowledge of what children his age would do in their free time, but he recalled the game 'Chess' back from Earth.

He asked Aubrey's father if he could make the set when he had the chance, and to his surprise it was completed that same day. Since then, the two girls had been playing every chance they got together and pestered Athen to play more with them.

"Boooo~ fine. It's a promise though!" Martha said and then pulled Aubrey away to go venture around town and listen to gossip.

As the girls ran away, Athen thought to himself

It seems I'm more childlike than I would otherwise assume, hanging out with them just feels right.

Thanks to them, I feel a part of this world. I hope this can last forever...

Athen began walking back to his house, a small smile appearing on his face.

...

"How is everyone doing?" Malric asked while sorting through a pile of paperwork.

"The crops are growing as planned, and the town people are very happy currently. They have been expressing their thanks to our family for the lower taxes and support." Athen responded professionally.

"That's good to hear, but it seems to Empire wishes for us to export more food than we have planned. They've been pushing me to work our people harder..." Malric sighed.

Balancing the happiness of the Empire and their people was a very difficult task. 

"Is there room to negotiate? Maybe we could offer a small increase in this harvest, and promise a larger one in the next?" Athen tried to find a way around the Empires demands, but every path appeared like a dead-end. Either they upset the Empire, or their people.

"Unfortunately that will not be possible, so tomorrow I'll head into town to explain it personally. Luckily this won't affect the rest of our territory."

I can't understand the Empires position no matter how I think about it. This will only cause more resentment among the common person, and they are already thinning the ice after enlisting so many people to fight in the war.

"Thank you for the report, Athen. Now, why don't you give me a hand with all this paperwork?"

For the next few hours, Athen helped his Father organize the paperwork and then learned more about the mundane side of controlling land, signing off on that paperwork.

Back in his room, Athen took a bath and then sunk into his bed.

I wonder if there's anything in my memories that could help the people, but I'm not having any luck. This town already has a very developed system and the only improvements I could think of would require electricity.

Disappointed by his powerlessness, Athen laid in bed for another hour before finally falling into a deep sleep.

The Eclipse is upon thee.