I would have liked to have had a chance to spend more time with Juana, but sadly a few minutes after her arrival others the other young nobles began to arrive. I was lucky to have a surprisingly effective set of servants, guards, and, uncomfortably, a number of skilled slaves, who were able to do as I had asked.
A few hours after meeting Juana I found my home to be surprisingly popular. I was seated in the same room as before, and around me, women the same age as Juana were currently filling out their tests. The tests were on paper made of some substance that had no real earthly equivalent and the women were filling them out with roughly made quills and ink.
I was currently sitting down but even now I was studying the women, particularly this group. Fourteen women sat around the large table, all diligently working on the tests, and I subtlety read their thoughts on the questions they were responding to.
The questions I was asking them were logic questions, literacy skills, and basic mathematic questions. It was designed to allow me to see how they understood language, how they handled mathematics, and also how comfortable they were with written language. None of the questions were particularly complex, but they would allow me to size up my potential brides.
Juana was seated next to me, but she completed her test quite rapidly and was now studying the women as intently as I was. She wasn't the only woman seated next to me either, another woman in her early twenties was also sitting on the other side of me.
This woman, Adora, had white-blonde hair and her eyes were the exact same color as her hair. She gazed at me, adoringly, and was openly fascinated by my eyes which were apparently the first set of eyes she had ever seen that were like hers. She was curvy in all the ways that I would otherwise find at least a bit distracting but each of the women in this room were uniquely attractive so it was hard to be overly fascinated by any single one of them.
Adora and Juana were both also solidly intelligent women which was something I was grateful for. Juana didn't appear to be a genius, but she was certainly intelligent and had not struggled in the slightest with the tests she had been given. Adora also had no problems with the test and as a result of that was the second person to finish the test.
The other women in the room were diligently working to complete their tests. I prevented myself from staring at Adora, and thus encouraging her odd behaviors, by focusing on the thoughts of those around me.
In this room, the women were mostly focused on the test they were taking. Juana's thoughts, were mostly focused on studying Adora and silently relaying to me any observations she had about the strange girl, including rumors.
"Her eyes remind me of a story I once heard about a woman who was devoted to gods of the sky and stars. That was actually what I immediately thought of when I first met you..."
"I can't remember for sure but I think her family is made up of magic-users of different sorts."
"She's staring at you so openly... It's unsettling."
Adora on the other hand was thinking about other things.
"His eyes are like mine! How strange. How attractive."
"Is he... glowing? There seems to be some strange, ethereal light coming off of him"
"He's strong and large. Like a true god. But I always thought that the returned would be spirits, not full deities..."
Her thoughts were filled with juicy tidbits of knowledge that I wanted to collect and act on, but for now, I restrained myself. I knew that if I acted too hastily I would run the risk of overplaying my hand. I quieted the insatiable curious side of myself and focused so that the events of the next few minutes could play out naturally.
The other women were all largely focused on their tests, but more than a few mentally opined about myself or about the other women in the room. I had spent time studying the girls who were also taking the exam, in two other rooms, and found largely the same trends there as I did here. It was a fascinating trend.
So far I had only displayed my abilities to Juana though a not small part of me was curious as to what would happen if I showed my abilities to Adora. I was tempted to do so psychically, but I resisted that temptation.
I fully planned to show my strange abilities to other friends and allies, such as Juniper and Miguel, but they had not yet arrived. It was still very early in the morning, only eight-thirty, and so I would need to wait a bit longer before they would arrive. If nothing else I could respect the nobles, women and girls alike, who had come to my home so early in the morning. They had begun arriving, in the case of Juana, at a quarter past six, and had been arriving irregularly ever since.
The next two and a half hours would pass without incident, as the last of the women and girls arrived and took their tests. When they were done a number of my servants appeared and brought the women and girls alike to the top floor, and served a delicious meal that amounted to a localized version of brunch.
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I found myself seated at the head of a vast table. It was one that simply hadn't existed yesterday, and I suspected that it only existed now because of the adventure I had gone on last night, and the powers and followers I had gained while completing that adventure.
I had a small plate in front of me and it was lined with a number of exotic vegetables which I would lift to my mouth and eat when the time came. That was in spite of the fact that I didn't need to eat and would soon stop eating entirely, thanks to the number of powers I possessed that allowed me to exist as a truly immortal type of being who could only die if slain in battle, not because of mundane "threats" like age, water, food, or a lack of sleep.
The daughters of various noble houses were politely eating and putting on airs to act dignified in front of both myself and my servants. It was honestly somewhat amusing to watch them do that, while they ate the food that had been prepared for them.
Once a few minutes had passed and all of us had had some time to speak to each other I tried something. I reached out with my mind and linked to the minds of each of the nobles present in my home at once. I hissed, inwardly, when I felt an immense amount of pressure in my head, but it came and went instantly, and when the pressure was gone I knew that I had successfully connected with each of the minds of the women and girls in my presence.
I then tried to transmit a mental image instead of a thought. The image was a simple one, it consisted of every other person in the room busy talking to each other, and myself looking at the person who was receiving the thought.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was much easier to send all at once than I had anticipated, and all at once, every single noble in my home stopped talking, if they had been, and turned to look at me curiously. With one move the top floor of my home went from being a loud place filled with surprisingly chatting nobles to a nearly silent place where all eyes were on me.
I smiled pleasantly at the women and girls in the room and took a moment to mentally celebrate the relative ease with which I was able to do that. It was an exciting challenge, and this ability meant that I could use my mental powers in a truly stunning variety of ways if I was creative about it. I didn't stay quiet, physically, for long though as I wanted to take advantage of the moment I had created.
"Hello everyone. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the time you've already taken here at my home today." I began, smiling gently as I spoke.
"I know that you have come here hoping to get to know me and I am so grateful to have the chance to get to you know as well. I understand that you come from some of the most prestigious families in the empire and I am so happy that I have been able to show you all my hospitality and generosity." I remarked, continuing to speak without skipping a beat.
"I know that it was strange to begin today by asking you all to take a test, especially since you all were taking the exact same test, despite a not insignificant gap in the ages between the oldest of you and the youngest of you. The purpose of the test was to learn about what you knew and what your tutors might have struggled with teaching you." I revealed, which was met with surprised whispers and murmurs.
"I understand that that surprise might be unpleasant to some of you. This is not something that you should take as some sort of slight against you or your families, this is me preparing for the future." I said, before beginning to allow myself to radiate light again as a way to shock everyone back into focusing on me when I noticed multiple people beginning to whisper and murmur to their friends.
The light that radiated out of my skin was brilliant and intense and upon noticing it all eyes began to make their way back to me, awe-struck and shocked into silence. As it happened I began to smirk and wait for everyone else to be looking at me before continuing.
"I suppose I should explain... that before I continue huh? The myths and legends that surround me, and presumably surround the other ancient heroes and heroines only recount some aspects of ourselves. In my case, one tidbit about me that was forgotten was that I am a sun-soul, a type of spirit of the sun. As a consequence of that, I possess a number of powers over light and fire." I explained, speaking somewhat frankly at the end. There was a mirthful smile on my face as I looked out at the women seated before me.
"As a member of 'the returned', and perhaps the first of us to return, I have come back differently from both how I was remembered and also how I actually was. That is partially because your needs, as an empire and as a society have changed." I declared, speaking gently.
"Knowledge and education are the keys to the future. One of my goals, the first of them beyond merely saving Sol from immediate failure, is to make the province of Sol a deeply educated place." I declared, and also decided at the same time as I made my proclamation.
"Whoever I marry, be it someone at this table or even someone not here with us, will be a highly educated person... Or they will at least become a highly educated person." I told the gathered nobles. My remarks divided my audience, with plenty of women and girls liking my comments and an almost equal number of women and girls finding my comments concerning.
"Education and knowledge confer freedom and power. I know exactly how many of you secretly crave freedom, power, to be viewed as equals to your brothers, to your future husbands, and as more than just the mothers of your sons. I intend to give you all exactly as much freedom and power as you would like. And to begin to do that I needed to learn what you already knew." I explained, smiling as I spoke to the assorted nobles who had come to me. Some of them looked at me hesitantly and skeptically and it was to them that I spoke next.
"I understand feeling hesitation right now. I understand skepticism towards me, towards my remarks. That said, you all have seen the steady decline you've been enduring since you arrived here. The Tando, the hostile natives that have been attacking us, have worn us down through countless skirmishes and assassinations. And defeating them is only one challenge we need to overcome. We have lost knowledge due to the assassinations we've endured. Knowledge which we need to begin to recover." I began, ready and able to speak confidently.
"I am going to be upfront with you all. My immediate priority, and indeed what I hope is everyone's immediate priority, is saving Sol. I do not have an intention to take on a wife until after Sol is safe and stable. But, if you are interested in becoming my wife, eventually, I do hope that you'll at least consider spending part of your day with me, learning from me." I declared, smiling as I spoke to the gathered women.
To their credit, regardless of how they felt about the prospect of learning from me I knew that none of them intended to "drop out" of the "competition" they were in for my heart. I sensed their resolution and their reactions to my words without any difficulty, which made me chuckle.
"To save not only Sol, but the Verdad Empire, from a larger cultural decline changes are necessary. And some of the biggest needed changes are to education. I hope to show you all that in the days to come." I stated, bluntly.
"Now... I've spoken a fair deal, and I believe we all deserve a chance to sit down and truly enjoy this delicious food. Before we return to our meals I would like you to know that once we are done eating I think it wise for you to return to your fathers and mothers and tell them of what happened here today and of my desire to teach you all." I told the women and girls.
"I do not want to mislead your families. I want all people to know of my honesty and trustworthiness. I will not mislead you, nor allow your families to be misled even if it were done to benefit me in some way. The House of Mondragon is a house of honesty, honor, and trust." I explained, ending my remarks in a way that I knew would appeal to the high-minded nature of the people of the Verdad Empire. My last remarks were well met and caused many of the people in the room to look at me in a new light.
I looked at Juana and Adora and noticed that both of them in particular were looking at me in amazement. Even their minds were filled with a comical amount of praise. It seemed that even without meaning too I had spoken their language, which was helpful.
Within the next fifteen minutes, my home would be temporarily cleared of strange noble girls and women, just in time for Miguel and for Juniper to arrive, which suited my needs perfectly. I called for some servants to gather the tests and bring them down to room where the oldest of the women had been tested and then went there myself to greet my friends and to begin on more public-facing matters related to the public needs of the colony.