Chapter 49: Setting Boundaries
To Kir, finding himself in a relationship completely changed his mood.
He didn't brood as much, and the first week of school passed in a haze of sincere conversation and private little kisses.
His duel with Daisy had the desired effect, so far, of keeping away challenges... though Daisy had seemed a bit weird ever since. She'd delivered his gold to him via messenger, along with an insulting message that promised all sorts of bad - but oddly not overly harmful - things she would do to him once she graduated. It ended with an invitation to "See who gets spanked next time in a real duel!"
Kir wound up burning the note when Stella started sniffing around, not wanting her to make any lewd declarations.
It had astounded him that Rainier and Kordia would move so fast, but later he learned that they were both under contractual obligation to marry.
Kordia was to marry a rich and powerful beastkin merchant to restore her family's name to wealth. She felt ambivalent about the arrangement, wanting to honor her family but disliking that the merchant in question was almost twice her age and bore suspicious of arranging the death of his first wife.
Money was the sole issue of note with her family, and Kir saw how it weighed heavily on her psyche. Even after giving her enough gold for three semesters, she bought only the cheapest meals unless Rainier prompted her.
Around Rainier, she was confident and cool, but away from him, she could easily be flustered and stammered a lot like when they first met. Kir found as the week progressed that she was growing close to him in a similar way.
Rainier was set to marry into a middling house in the land of Lydovan. They were elves wanting a bit of a divine magic kick to the genes - as Kir thought of it - and Rainier was disposable enough to benefit his family with an alliance by marriage.
Marrying into House Klyresh would give his family a means to establish influence and trade with the notably isolationist city-state, as Lydovan was run almost entirely by an alliance of powerful houses that preferred to keep things in the family.
Basically, Rainier was also the solution to their problem of inbreeding. No doubt they thought that his angel blood would cure all... Kir didn't say this though. He didn't want to interfere with their prospects until he was absolutely sure they wanted different.