"Yes... Darius" Vivian confirmed.
"You mean that-"
"Yes, that asshole Darius" Vivian reconfirmed.
"It looks like his family had owed your grandfather quite the sum... Then" Vivian paused as she couldn't believe the next letter addressed to the Molaires, Darius' family.
"Then what???" The anticipation killed Duke.
"Gwaine forgave the debt..."
"GRAAAH!" Duke shouted as he angrily swung down the wooden sword he was holding.
"I can't believe what she just said" Duke frustratedly murmured.
"She'd ask that a-hole Darius for money?!" Duke decided to swing his sword to blow off some steam.
["This is the last chance we got at getting our finances back! Can't you let go of your little pride?!" Duke remembered Vivian huff as she couldn't believe he let his pride win over him.
"I... I'll never be in that guy's debt! I don't know what grandpa thought when he forgave the bastard's debt, but a forgiven debt is that! A forgiven debt!" Duke shouted as he ran away]
After Duke cooled down a bit from doing his sword routine he sat down on the floor contemplating his actions...
[Vivian's... right] Duke sighed as he began to copy the moves the blonde boy taught him. Duke decided to routinely do the blonde boy's exercises as he felt they made him stronger.
Duke sweated profusely while doing the Yoga-like exercise the blonde boy he met in the Imperial Palace taught him.
[I wonder why such simple positions could be so tiring] Duke wondered as the sweat on his body steadily dried into smoke.
Duke liked the smoking effects the training had on his body, he felt like he was the cool Hero of one of the novels he read.
"CRAVIIING!!!" Duke shouted as he made a heroic pose while copying a skill the Hero in the novel had.
"...huh, of course it won't work, it's just fiction anyway" Duke sighed.
The skill he tried to copy didn't work.
In the novel Duke read, the Hero could instantly turn thing by converting the extra calories he ate using the skill "Craving", sadly as Duke found out, Fantasy didn't really translate well into reality.
After finishing his training, Duke slapped his cheeks and resolved himself.
"I can't let Vivian do all the work anymore, time to let go of this useless pride..."
"Heyyy, Vivian..." Duke tapped on Vivian's shoulder which was currently writing on a piece of document.
"Hmph! I'm not talking to you, with your 'precious pride' " Vivian pouted.
"A-About that... I'm sorry... I'll ask that scumbag for a loan"
"E-eh?" Vivian stuttered, embarrassed as all her resolve went down the drain. She thought Duke would be too prideful to admit his wrongs, but surprisingly Duke was quite the logical individual and so she felt embarrassed by the thoughts she had.
["Hmph! I can't believe that man! Sure Darius is an asshole but that guy's the last chance we have of getting out of the red! I can't believe he'll throw that chance away by letting his dumb pride get in the way... Maybe if I don't cook for a week?... Or maybe I should give him the silent treatment! Always worked on me... stupid sisters..."]
Vivian made plans to get Duke to agree to the loan, sadly for her newborn plans, they never came to fruition as Duke asked for her forgiveness first.
Vivian stared at Duke and he stared back thinking to himself [Is she still angry???]
"You still mad?" Duke gently asked.
"...No, I'm actually surprised"
"Surprised?"
"Yeah, you..." Vivian was about to tell him about the good reasoning behind the loan, but instead, she said:
"I'm proud that you didn't let your ego block your thinking" and praised Duke instead of telling him her points in the argument.
"I-I see" Duke felt very happy from the compliment.
"I'll go write that bastard a letter right now..." Duke said to Vivian.
"I'll help you write it" Vivian cheerfully smiled at Duke as the hope of escaping bankruptcy was insight once more.
[My pride can never compare to that...] Duke thought as he stared at Vivian's cute smile.
Some days later, Darius's reply letter came.
It read:
"Dear Duke, it is a shame you aren't available during the party I will hold as I received a denial letter from your wife, stating that you two are too busy on the day I proposed. But do not fret as the party will be delayed by two days! Just in time for you to make it, isn't that wonderful? We can talk about other matters in the evening after the party as that time might be the only time I'm available"
The letter was basically a threat telling Duke to either go to the party or he won't get the loan. Darius doesn't normally hide his profane mockery of Duke, but he pretended to be courteous inside letters. In fact, every Noble does this as they know letters were a great source for scandals if they were leaked, especially if you acted or talked vulgarly inside the letter. And they also knew that after they die those letters might be unearthed one day and could result in them having a bad reputation in the future and in history books if it was read by other people. These were the reasons Nobles tend to have more civilized exchanges of mail.
"Madam Sylvia, a letter has arrived for you" An old maid respectfully handed a letter to a beautiful girl with pale blonde hair.
"Thank you, you can put it here" Sylvia calmly addressed the maid. She was Sylvia, Duke's somewhat disastrous first love.
"A party? From Darius... and Duke's coming..." Sylvia was surprised when she read the contents of the letter, it was weird that he specifically included Duke's name. But what really surprised her was that Duke willingly came to the party.
Sylvia had just one thought:
[I can't miss this one]
"Tell my brother, I'm going to a party" Sylvia told the old maid in front of her.
"Tell me yourself"
But as she was about to get up she was interrupted by someone.
"Brother... I'm going to a party hosted by Darius" Sylvia told her brother.
"I'm going too" Hugh, Sylvia's brother insisted.
Hugh was only a year older than Sylvia, making them almost peers as there were no Grade-Levels in the boarding schools in Brune, therefore Hugh was also an acquaintance of Darius, thus he also got a letter of invitation.
"My, well that's rare..." Sylvia was surprised her brother had the time to attend a party.
"I'm sure that no-good Darius is up to something bad..." Hugh replied to Sylvia's inquiries.
"Defender of the Weak, are we now? You should focus on your Paladin training" Sylvia sarcastically responded to her brother's words. Hugh was still just a Junior Paladin-in-training despite being the heir to the prestigious Charlamagne Duchy. Thus, Sylvia always teased her brother about this fact.
"You read what was in that letter. I couldn't care less what would happen to that chubby guy, it's just Darius goes overboard sometimes. And besides, we came from a family of Heroes, shouldn't we act heroically?"
"Huh, whatever" Sylvia sighed as she replied apathetically.
*Pffftt!* "Puwahahaha, how did Darius make that fatass go to his party! This going to be one fun party! I can't wait" Deacon, one of Duke's past bullies laughed his ass off.
"You're still not going?" Deacon smirked at a man next to him who had black hair and sly looking eyes with a narrow face that made him look like a sniveling merchant.
"Of course not, and miss a chance to have a poke at that fatass. I missed the last party he was in... Maybe one of my life's regrets was not seeing Duke piss himself" The man next to Deacon lamented sarcastically. The last time Duke went to one of Darius' parties he was utterly humiliated by the people there, he even pissed himself as he ran away from everyone at the party. It was a goldmine of humor for the bored Noble youths and so overnight, Duke's position as weak and fat was instantly degraded into the greatest laughing stock of Brune.
"As expected of the Medicis. Anyone with a huge sack of gold sure does know how to make a lot of fun" Deacon smiled, buttering up to the Ducal heir in front of him.
"Hehe, maybe this time it would be my spear to make him piss! Hahahaha!" The young merchant-looking man showed off his golden spear.
Deacon's eyes shone when he saw the beautiful and elegant spear in front of him. It was the Medici's family heirloom, the very same spear Satrius De Medici, Hero of Brune, and the Golden Spear of The East himself used.