When he had received an invite to dinner that night from the Rydels, Yuliang had been pleasantly surprised.
He ignored the traitorous part of him that leaped at the thought of possibly running into Lorcan again and focused on the matter of Elys and his fate instead.
Unfortunately, as all the other dinners had been, there was not a single hint of the second son's presence. What they got instead was Seth and on a much brighter note, Elys, joining them for dinner this time.
Yuliang wasn't sure what exactly it meant for their negotiations, that Elys was being allowed to join them, but any progress was good progress.
In hindsight, Yuliang supposed, he should have resolved the situation with Seth earlier because it really made dinner at the Rydels a lot more uncomfortable than it had to be.
Even worse was the almost palpable tension between Yukio and Seth; the 'subtle' eye contact they made over the table and the game of 'footsie' they were playing under the table.
Yuliang was tempted to remind his brother of his status as a taken man, but he held himself back.
His brother was a grown man capable of making his own decisions.
And, they were currently in a public setting.
Not the best place to display any signs of weakness or conflict in their relationship.
So, Yuliang ignored them and focused on his conversation with Lord Rydel about the country's frankly abysmal healthcare system instead.
"I know they try to keep the Healing and Medical fields as distinct as possible, but it's so f…" Yuliang tried to hold back on swearing in front of the Second Lord, who always got a pinched expression on his face when he did, but it was a hard thing to do when he felt strongly about the topic. "It's so stupid. They should at least make, learning the basics of Healing compulsory for all healthcare workers. Saving as many lives as possible is our f… It's our duty and even having a little bit of skill in Healing could make the difference between life and death for someone."
Lord Rydel nodded, thoughtfully rubbing at his jaw, "You make a good point, Yuliang. I will try looking into this matter. If I can build a cause, I'll have it addressed at a Council meeting."
After the last dinner they had, Yuliang found Lord Rydel to have mellowed out significantly and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it had become to talk to him.
"Have you heard about the mine that your Governor is planning on building in your region?"
Yuliang scowled, chewing the delicious pasta and meat dish thoughtfully. He took a sip of wine to wash it down before speaking, "I did. Having an opinion on it won't make any difference so, I've ignored everything to do with it. So far it's only in talks, right?"
"It is still under discussion, yes."
Yuliang took a bigger sip of his wine. "Then I hope that no one will come to an agreement and the idea ends up scrapped. Far too much of our land has been taken away and destroyed by these mines being built already. Soon all our water supplies will be polluted and the entire region irreparably destroyed for corporate greed, just like what happened in the West." A dark look entered Yuliang's eyes.
The knock-on effect of mines had destroyed a lot more than just a region.
It had destroyed their family as well.