Chapter 85: Emma Rosset (1)
They had finally arrived at the coast of the Castellon Continent of the Tarragona Empire after two weeks of relatively smooth sailing. The ship they were on slowly docked at the port. He and Edgar were standing on the dock with their luggage nestled by their feet.
Lior ran his hands over his outer wear as he readjusted the gold chains around his collar. His hands were steady while his mind was not. He would be meeting his fiancée and her family soon. This was a meeting he absolutely could not mess up. But did he learn enough about this empire’s culture and language to not make a complete and utter fool of himself?
With a deep and calming breath to steady himself, he walked down the gangplank to be greeted by a small platoon of soldiers wearing House Rosset’s insignia: a silver deer with two arrows behind it. The commander of the group bowed respectively as soon as Lior’s feet touched the solid ground. "Greetings, your highness, Prince Lior Velron, third prince of the Velron Kingdom."
Lior raised a hand and allowed for the commander to stand, accepting his long-winded greeting. "You may stand. May I have the honor of knowing who is escorting me?"
"I am Alejandro Guerrero, Commander of the Free Wind Knights who serve directly under Duke Rosset. I’ve been asked to escort you to the Rosset Duchy," commander Alejandro said, a surprisingly spry man. Lior nodded to show that he understood the dark-haired man.
Lior followed the man to an awaiting carriage, feeling stunned over his name. If he remembered correctly, his name literally meant warrior. Was that the name he had been born with or had he been granted that name by the Duke?
Edgar, who had been behind them the entire time, carried his and Lior’s luggage to the carriage and loaded it with the help of one of the knights. It wasn’t long before they were heading off. Rolling mountains and vast forests filled with towering trees soon came into view as the seaside town faded into the distance behind them.
The carriage drive was long and unfortunately bumpy. Lior stayed in his seat, watching the passing scenery with open fascination. Edgar sat near him, his arms braced against the walls for support, his face slightly pale.
When they arrived at their destination, they found a sprawling castle-like manor located on vast open fields with wooden fences surrounding them. Inside the fences were bulls, cows, and horses. There were even pigs and chickens further down in their own enclosure.
Commander Guerrero held the carriage door open for Lior and Edgar. Heathen led them to where a large assembly of servants stood. In front of them was a beautiful woman with her black hair wrapped up around the top of her head and a large skirted black dress with gold thread running in thick rivulets down the front. Standing beside her was a taller man dressed in similar clothing.
The clothing was similar to what was seen in the Velron Kingdom but slightly different. The skirt seemed stiffer and more widespread, and the colors of their clothes seemed muted and dark unlike the vibrant colors that most nobles in the Velron Kingdom wore.
"Prince Lior, it is an honor to have you here," the man greeted with a friendly smile, speaking in Lior’s language.
"It is an honor to be here, Duke Rosset." Lior returned the greeting. Duke Rosset’s eyes lit up with an approving light when Lior spoke in the Tarragona Empire’s language. And it appeared he hadn’t made any mistakes if the proud and approving look in Duke Rosset’s eyes were anything to go by. Even Duchess Rosset held a small, approving smile.
Lior scanned the crowd behind the Duke and Duchess but found no sign of his fiancée among the waiting staff. Nor did he see any hint of a female shadow peeking out from any of the windows in the castle-like manor behind everyone.
Is something keeping her away, or did she purposely not come? If she chose to not come willingly, then does that mean that she doesn’t want this marriage?
Duke Rosset released a long sigh when he noticed what Lior was doing. "Your highness, please excuse me, but I must apologize for my daughter. She is a bit headstrong and stubborn."
Duke Rosset didn’t need to finish his words for Lior to understand. His fiancée, Emma Rosset, was against this marriage. For the first time since agreeing to this arranged marriage, Lior finally felt a small, nagging doubt sprout in his chest. Will he be able to do this? Should he even go through with this if Emma was so against it? I’ll give it some time, but if Lady Rosset truly doesn’t want this marriage, then I’ll have to figure something else out. There might be another way to secure this alliance while also not harming my eldest brother.
After a brief introduction among the staff, the Duchess had one of the maids escort Lior to his new room. It was decided that he was to unpack and rest, and then after dinner, he would be given a tour around the inside of the manor.
Edgar held his luggage inside the large and brightly colored room which was anything but muted like the clothes they had seen so far. He unpacked Lior’s belongings and settled everything into its new home. When he was done, Edgar was guided to his own room.
Once he was alone, Lior changed out of his clothes and into something that was clean and more dinner appropriate. He then looked around at the brightly colored motifs on the wall and saw utter freedom within them. Which made sense since most of them were outdoor scenes featuring horses.
Lior grabbed the language book he had been studying during his two week trip and made his way over to the small tea table that was positioned on the balcony. He sat outside and allowed the warm Tarragona sun to bathe him in its orange glow.
A maid knocked and asked if he wanted any tea or snacks while he waited until dinner. Lior didn’t hesitate to ask for tea since he had mainly survived on orange juice and wine. . .and the wine was a limited drink he could get ahold of since he was still under seventeen.
A little over thirty minutes had passed by while Lior was sitting on the balcony, a book in one hand, a tea cup with gently cooling tea in it in front of him, and the sun’s rays bathing him in their warm, golden light. The foliage wrapped around the stone railings gave off a soft and gentle scent that was both pleasant and relaxing. The neighing of the horses in the fields below caught Lior’s attention as the sound seemed to grow louder with excitement.
Lior looked from over the balcony ledge without rising from his seat. A black horse with a long, silk black mane, jumped over the outer fence and into the field where the other horses were. Riding on top of the horse was a woman wearing a low-cut white blouse and pants that were as black as the horse. Her long black hair was worn up high, but somehow looking more free than if it had been worn loose. Even from this distance, Lior could see the deep tan of her sun-kissed skin.
Lior watched as the woman brought the horse to a slow trot. He watched as servants, both male and female, ran up to the horse and rider. The female servants ran over while bunching their billowy gray skirts in their hands, trying to keep up with the male servants. The rider looked down at them, but she was too far for Lior to see what kind of expression she was wearing.