“I have to say, Lani, I did not expect to see you taking part.” Braydon said as he welcomed her into lord’s mansion in Mapjess. He knew that she would likely try to help him in some regard due to their friendship, but actively take part?

“I am full of surprises.” She smiled in response, looking as laid back as he remembered her to be. It had truly surprised Braydon when she had sent word stating her intention to take part in the fighting. She had long maintained a careful balance between the neighbouring factions, while keeping her neutrality. It would not have been odd for her to sit out the civil war too as everyone else beat each other up around her. At least it would be the least risky thing for her to do.

“I am starting to wonder if I have any normal friends.” Braydon remarked as they walked through the hallways. Although she had arrived later, he had made sure that there was a room for her in the lord’s mansion. He could reasonably state that it was because she was of a high rank and a lady, thus the treatment. And while that was partly true, it was more because she was a friend and he was in charge.

“You wouldn’t be friends with them if they were.” Lani made a quip almost as immediate as Gerald would do, causing Braydon to let out a laugh. Lani had a good sense of humour, he knew that, but she was not often one to make quick and witty remarks.

“Fair enough, though is that really something that one of my friends wants to be admitting?” Braydon’s response also got a small laugh from the woman walking by his side.

“I gave up on being normal long ago.” And it was true, someone who could maintain her position and marry a common man was never going to be seen as normal in noble circles. Lani had learnt to embrace it.

“On a more serious note, I thought that you did not really have much of an army. At least from what I have heard you purposefully kept a small one.” Braydon was curious where Lani had gotten so many men from. As a part of staying neutral between two strong factions, she had purposefully not kept a large standing army. And her land was not much more than the city that she presided over, which was mainly a merchant hub. It was not easy to raise an army in such short notice in her conditions, let alone one that could rival those of a similar rank to her. And yet she had managed it.

“Do you think that you are the only one with a lot of money to throw away and men who are willing to fight for it?” Lani said it as if it was an obvious choice, and to an extent it was. Owning a relatively rich trading city meant that she was almost never strapped for cash, and mercenaries were never in short supply. Especially not when there were a lot of rich merchants like there were in southern Fiveria.

“That’s got to have left a dent in your coffers.” Braydon felt horrified at the amount of denars it would have taken to hire enough mercenaries to fill an earl’s entire army. Even with the money that he made from his mine, he would have gone bankrupt several times over just trying to do that.

“I can live frugally for a few months.” Lani brushed it off like it was not a big deal, almost making Braydon want to check if he was not dreaming. She was definitely showing off and he knew it but he still could not help but be awed by the sheer wealth that sitting on a rich trading hub would bring. Even his brother’s lands never brought in so much money, and he knew it since he grew up there. Even if his father had never told him how much revenue Fiton brought in, he still had a rough guess. And it was definitely not as much as Lani seemed to claim she made.

“Please stop, you are going to make us poor people jealous.” Braydon said somewhat playfully, even if she was far richer than him, he was by no means poor. There were many nobles who would die to have the wealth that he made from his mines, let alone common folk.

“Hah, your crocodile tears won’t work on me.” Lani was not fooled, she had seen how much money he had brought on his return from Narabun. Even if she could bring out several times as much, she knew that it was no small amount.

“I should pay closer attention to how my chamberlain does it, noted.” Braydon nodded as if he were thinking seriously about it, getting more laughs from Lani. It seemed that she also had somebody who did not like spending money by her side.

“He sounds like my husband.” Lani clearly didn’t mind that her husband was like that by the smile on her face.

“And I am guessing that your husband has some hand in managing your expenditures.” Braydon nodded, only someone who paid attention to how much was being spent all the time would care that much.

“Maybe.” Lani smiled not denying or confirming but it was obvious what the answer was.

“Well, your room is down that way, and the study that myself and the King spend too much time in is that way. Rather than taking up your time standing here, which would you rather see first?” At some point in their conversation, they had stopped in the hallway. Braydon only realised at that moment that they had actually stopped, quickly trying to make up for his mistake.

“I think I will greet the King quickly before I retire to my chambers for the day. Leading an army is more tiring than my normal activity.” Lani said that as if she actually looked tired but if she had not mentioned it, Braydon would not have guessed that she was in any way fatigued at all.

“Then I do not want to hold you up from your rest longer than necessary.” Braydon said as he started leading the way down the hall towards the study.