A certain young nobleman had had his chest wounds treated and rebandaged by a certain physician, accompanied with many exclamations of surprise and bewilderment on the nobleman's quick recovery and his miraculous regained eyesight, enough to claim it was a certain deity's act of blessing.
Surely, the young nobleman was Anneliese's elder brother and the aforementioned physician was the famed Mr. Kesteron she had invited from a few days prior.
She couldn't agree more to the physician's claim though, her beloved brother had truly had a miraculous recovery.
Then, the day of the arranged city-excursion trip with her elder brother finally arrived - she had planned and prepared the weekend autumn date arduously for the past two nights, so nothing should go wrong at this juncture.
The familiar horse carriage bearing the Vilheim's trundled past the Crested Sword streets and made its way down to the traffic-congested Coinsward, the commercial heart of Austeirgard and the second busiest district in the capital city, where coppers and silvers traded places with goods and labours.
Anneliese was already in the horse-carriage, sitting beside her usual, acquiescent brother, while her handmaiden, sat across the two.
And every now and then, Anneliese would pull on her brother's arm to point him sceneries outside the window, excitedly explaining to him, which was which, where was where and what was what.
Her brother's regained eyesight was really the Dawn's blessings.
"...and that's the Beauvallets' bakery where our kitchen sourced tourte and pandemain loaves daily. They have another bakery at Lower Bauersburg if I'm not mistaken; they have their main residence there after all—"
She was breathless in her excitement and did not notice her brother's indulging look.
"—oh, right after this corner and onwards would be the Inner Coinsward and this is the main street...that over there would be the Fabres' tailorshop where the evening gown I'd be wearing for the academy's upcoming banquet was cut and sewn. The Merchant Guild would be just beside the marketplace..."
Anneliese suddenly felt her elder brother's arm she linked with tautened.
Looking up to his handsome side profile, the iris of his right eye seemingly to shimmer in golden hue; she noticed his unusual gaze which was thrown...
...upwards?
"Brother, what is it?"
"..."
She looked out of the window again, following his line of sight only to see the usual clear blue sky, littered with streaks of white fluffs.
The horse-carriage had now hobbled down to plodding slowly through the sticky swamp of waddling humans, moving along and across the stone-paved street.
"...brother, what you're looking— "
Her words were lodged at the back of her throat when she felt her brother's palm patting the top of her head.
"Annie, we're already at the Merchant Guild. Should we go down now?"
"Ah? Uh yes, brother. We should make our way."
She followed her brother's suit disembarking the coach, her brother holding out his hand for her as she climbed down.
Anneliese saw that the street was packed with people—considering it was in front of the Merchant Guild building and that it was a Vyskur'ya—the traditional public rest day of the week—it was no surprise.
The building stood before them at three-storey high and was made entirely of ironwoods; its dark, metallic sheen contrasting against the wood-and-clay buildings surrounding it.
She had been here a few times before, and she had came as the Haasenmarck's heir each time, obviously to deal with the heavy debts piled onto the march after the fall of her house.
It was displeasing to be reminded of that memory, but she stowed away any creasing from forming on her face—she did not want to upset today's mood after all, not after she had set up a perfect date with her elder brother.
There were five guardsmen by its front door, and probably more within, each wearing leather armours and the guild's signature dark-green paulet on their left shoulder each.
They also bore similarly-designed maces or arming swords at their waists, alluding the heft of the Merchant Guild's political sway on the nobles to obtain the special privilege to carry arms within Austeirgard's walls - only Imperial Officers and Knightguards as well as the Solareian church's few crusade orders were allowed to bear weapons of any sort within the capital city.
Anneliese simply took a cursory glance at them when she passed them by.
She and her brother and their two servants behind them proceeded to step through the doorway and into the building's parlour, her hands circled around her brother's left arm.
The parlour, was anything but ordinary; the floor was tiled with polished blue marble squares, and its 16-feet high ceiling was adorned with crisscrossing golden and silvern chains, from which hung scintillating quartz and sharp-edged onyx crystals.
Sutherian tapestries and paintings from the temperate south and Esmerian-realism sculptures of the arid west fully decorated the tall walls, up and below.
There were even some bronze and silver trinkets and accessories bearing cultural traits from and beyond the Empire's eastern borders; all displayed pompously behind clear glass panels.
Anneliese was as astounded as she had been on her previous visit, she could not stop her eyes from wandering and marveling, her mouth slightly ajar.
The Merchant Guild is truly a braggart of a financial powerhouse, their immense riches extend well beyond the Empire.
Then a familiar but astute, baritone voice was heard from beside her, disparate to the hushed voices in the not-so-vacant parlour, bringing her attention back onto her brother's handsome side profile.
"Miss Maria."
Her handmaiden, stepped forward and made her way to the counter.
She who had been following behind them from the horse carriage, began talking to the receptionist man there. It was audible from their distance but nothing was worth listening to.
It was a matter of fact that her visit as a noble lady, a countess, even from a fallen aristocratic house, would warrant her the privileges she was entitled to; her Noble's Right as enshrined in His Majesty's first few Imperial Edicts upon founding the Empire one hundred years ago. That was what differentiated the nobles from the common folks.
The 'receptionist' was a big burly man with bristle-beard wearing embroidered tunic of myrtle green—one might even mistake him for one of the guardsmen.
Only the guild's symbol—a pentagon with a circular hole in the middle—emblazoned on the copper ring he wore visibly on his right hand's middle finger indicated that he was a Custodian of Rounds, reminiscent of the copper coinage largest denomination, the copper round.
He was either the head of this Merchant's Guild branch or he was a high-ranked officer sent by the Merchant Guild Headquarters.
In either way, Anneliese had not met the person before.
"Ah! To be graced in person by her ladyship, the Right Honourable Countess of Norhurst, heir to the Western March of the Haas, a Primarium honour student of the Imperial Academy and the applauded Fourth Flower of the Empire, the Sapphiric Orchid. What an honour!"
His voice was loud enough to turn heads in the parlour.
Irked, Anneliese calmed down with her brother patting the back of her hands still around his arm.
Contrary to the fierce way he looked, the man smiled greasily with his hands clasped together as he went past her handmaiden Maria and walked towards her, his waist bent in exaggerated subservience.
"I am a Custodian of Rounds, Estney Bast. Also Head of Austeirgard's Branch Merchant Guild. Hallowed be in the Radiance of the Holy Sun."
He raised his palms to the air before he bowed to Anneliese in curtsy.
She simply replied,
"...The Goddess gathers us in Her Dawn."
"And this should be the blind young lord of Haas, who died and came back from death's door—tsk, tsk. Look at this pale face and frail shoulder!"
Anneliese stiffened but she managed to halt herself from doing anything; not admonishing the man's insolent behavior and send him to the waterprison of the Imperial Knightguards, nor turning her face to her brother to protect his dignity and pride.
She—
"It is indeed so, Mr. Bast. I somehow survived such ordeal and even regained which I had lost, it's simply the Goddess' miracle and mercy answering to the prayers of people dear to me—"
Her brother extended his right hand for a moment or two before it was received firmly by the rude, barbaric Custodian.
"—Cervan, Cervan Vilheim von Haas. It's great pleasure to meeting you, Custodian Bast."
Anneliese's eyes lighted up as she chuckled in her heart to her brother's words. He didn't share his first name and threw in the 'Vilheim' and 'Haas' names instead.
Her brother's veiled chastening was really the best!
She melded her small joy into her diplomatic smile she had been wearing the whole time.
"...Puhaha, I see, I see. Indeed, rumors may be many-legged but they're still blind, gossips may be honey-sweet but they're still poisons, hahaha. Come, shall we move to a private chamber after all? It's away from unwanted eyes and ears and I'm guessing the Countess and milord is here for a discussion or another?"
"Then we shall trouble Mr. Bast for his generosity. Lead the way."