“First things first.” Rosalyn began. “The reason why everyone wants to be an archduke is fairly obvious… it’s for influence and power!”

“I’m sure your parents have told you some of how being tied to the land through a ritual increases your power, right?” She asked. “If not, let me explain further…”

“Let's say you own some land… by doing a ritual to tie yourself to that land, you become stronger when on it. Because of this, even a few farmers, if they have enough land, can become strong enough to fight off well-trained knights with decades of experience, something most commonly found in the nation of Asser. And even if you're off your land, you still get a portion of your power from it.”

“With access to your land, you can manage your duchy from anywhere inside it, set up laws, designate areas where it’s okay to build or areas where people are allowed to cut wood or mine. You can do it all from something similar to a top-down view, not only that, those who are directly under you, you can also have access to, maybe even see through their eyes or send quests or orders to direct them in doing things you want them to do. And much, much more!”

“Hmm…” Van thought about this. “This kinda sounds like something I can do with my soul realm and its inhabitants… Also kind of like a rts game that Ren plays…”

“Of course, there are some limitations to it. You can’t just spy on anyone you want at any time… or forcibly order anyone to do what they don’t want… and it’s not like having this power and influence over your land completely gets rid of the criminal elements inside your domain. Though you can use those you bind to yourself to help you weed them out, or direct others to do tasks on your behalf, to be your eyes, ears, and voice, in a manner of speaking.” Rosalyn continued.

“But for example, even I can only manage about a few hundred people, and I use those people to help direct others. I also have investigators that allow me to see through their eyes or can send me images of what they see if they believe I need to see it. All that information then somehow gets routed to me and usually around the mornings and evenings, I take an hour to meditate and view all the mental images and information sent my way. Again, there are limitations to this, which is why I still use letters and the pulse network to help get my orders and messages across to everyone within my domain.”

“Now, not only can I do all of the above, but I can also in some ways influence my domain. I am the domain, and the domain is me, there is some give and take, and managing it all is tiresome, so I sometimes regulate some of my duties to my ministers and aides. But should it become necessary for me to directly intervene, I can say… increase the growth of a particular crop for a few years, or use my connection to my land to find nearby deposits of rare minerals and much more. But that all costs me greatly! You gain some power from your land to spend on yourself or reinvest into the land itself. Increasing the growth rate of a few acres of land can set me back for years! But I can also use that power to grow my own strength or the strength of my most trusted people, it’s a balancing act you see…”

“Finally, the greater the title, the more power you gain from all those under you as well. I have a few counts and barons, even the rare marquess or two. I also get a portion of their power plus a portion of their land's power, plus just owning the title on its own greatly increases my own overall strength, as dictated by the higher gods… apparently, even if you somehow lose everything… if you can keep the title, you still will have some of the strength from said title alone. And then there's the matter that your title can influence those of a lower rank than you.”

“So as you can see, having the title of archduchess is no small thing… it also explains why it’s so hard to get it in the first place, as it requires a lot of power and influence to begin with… though there are rare cases in the past where people were so powerful, that they gained the noble titles, even without owning any land or having any followers, and they also gained some of the power from their title. An example would be the slayer guild in Fandor. Slayers train for years to become a specific slayer, a vampire slayer, which would deal far more damage to a vampire, even when technically being evenly matched or weaker with said vampire. It doesn’t make much sense, but the theory is that titles are similar to evolutions or rank-ups, and that’s why titles are just as important as what rank or evolution you are.”

“And that’s why Karmila wants to become an archduchess. Not only is she close to evolving from a high vampire to an arch vampire, if she also gets the title of archduchess on top of that, her power would also increase by at least fifty to seventy percent. The title alone would increase a vampire's power by a large margin, and increase their influence on all vampire society. Which is also a reason why I want to make sure, and so many others wanting the same, that she doesn't get that title. Or as some call it, noble rank, or authority rank. As even the rank of village mayor to town mayor to city mayor gives power the higher the rank of authority you are over others. Some think the gods made it this way so that they would have greater power over their creations, while others think it's a way to even the playing field. Mostly because there's a difference between an expert swordswoman, and a swordmaster that shows signs of similarity to rank-ups, meaning if you achieve the level of a swordmaster, you also become a little stronger, the same with the slayers, if you can become a wolf slayer, the power will make you far stronger at dealing with wolves then normal slayers. Do you understand?” Rosalyn asked, finally finishing her long explanation.

Van and Luna nodded. Their minds whirling with the newfound knowledge they now had and all its implications.

“But what about now?” Van asked. “After what Karmila had done, wouldn’t this affect her influence somewhat?” referring to ordering Karmine to kidnap them.

Rosalyn shook her head. “Not entirely… I’m sad to say… once Karmila gets her hooks into you, it becomes very difficult if not downright impossible to get out of her clutches… and what she does to those who cross her isn’t pretty. You either tow the line, or suffer the consequences… sure there will be an inquiry, and she will be stepping on eggshells for a few years. Maybe it will make things a little more difficult for her in the short run, but she will bounce back eventually… and throw her daughter Karmine under the wagon while she’s at it, maybe even demand Karmine back so she could use her as an example of those who betray her, while acting like she’s simply bringing justice and cleaning her house up.”

“But… that’s… wrong…” Luna said, looking a little sick at how it sounded like Karmila was simply going to get away with everything despite everything she’s done to them.

“Indeed… and if you think this is bad… just imagine what would happen if she actually became an archduchess… She could, and get away with, much worse…” Rosalyn said severely, also looking like she wasn’t happy about such a thing happening.

“But… What about you?” Van asked Rosalyn. “Why do you want to become an archduchess? And what role do I have to play in this?” Now asking the pointed questions, the questions he wanted to ask ever since he heard that Rosalyn wanted to marry him.

Silence descended on the table, and after a while Rosalyn gave a tired sigh, her eyes looking a little sad. “I want to become an archduchess because I've seen how most people abuse their power… and I want to set things right… If I become an archduchess, I can improve the lives of everyone… and more importantly… I can put a stop or at least curb… people like Karmila from abusing their power or ever gaining the title of archduchess themselves.” A resolute look now in her eyes.

“Okay… but why me?” Van asked.

“Because Van, you are the only one that has the ability to inherit both the house of Vran and the branch house of Moonshadow.” Then gave a quick look of apology to Luna. “Sorry dear, don’t mean anything by it.” referring to calling Luna’s house a branch house.

Luna gave a small nod.

Rosalyn turned back to Van. “with an entire county and a barony, alongside all your vassals, that gets me close to being able to proclaim myself as an archduchess. Of course I won’t make this one-sided for you.” Her gaze now encompassing both Luna and Van. “I’ll make it so the children you two have will be the heirs of my title… so long as any of my children are allowed to keep the title of duchess of course… what do you say?”

Van and Luna looked wide-eyed at her. That was an exceptionally good, if not very odd, deal. The two of them wondered if there was any catch to it, after all, it was just essentially trading the title of the archduke for the next generation for this one’s, favoring Van’s and Luna’s bloodline.

“And… will you be holding onto the title of archduke indefinitely until you die? Or…” Van tried to ask, unsure of how to word his question.

“We can come to some sort of agreement about the transfer of the title later… I just want to know what you think of my offer first…” Rosalyn clasped her hands in front of her. “Are you willing to become my husband? I assure you I will not get in the way of your love life… though I will expect at least a few kids… other than that, I’ll take care of both of you to the best of my abilities. I’ll even swear on my name, on my life! That I’ll do my best for you two.”

Van and Luna looked at each other, and immediately a mental conversation began.

“What do you think?” Van asked Luna.

“I don’t know… we hardly know her… though I already like her more than Karmila… though that’s not saying much…” She responded.

“Should we ask for more time?” he asked.

“...no… let’s not…”

“Van looked at her surprised. “Why not?”

“Because… if Karmila really is getting close to ranking up… and getting the title of archduchess… then… well… I don’t want to be anywhere near Alcray if such a thing happens…” Luna replied a little fearfully.

Van thought about it and couldn’t help but agree. “We don’t know her that well… but… what if we agree but have a, let's say… a trial period of sorts? Maybe we spend this time before we go to school to better know her, and after we come back from school we do the same. We agree for now… but pull out should it turn out she’s no good. What do you think?”

Luna silently thought about it, but nodded. “Yes… let’s do that.”

Van and Luna then turned their attention back to Rosalyn. Duvessa was looking at them like they did something incredibly rude. Which in a manner of speaking they probably did by having an entire silent conversation right in front of them, though Rosalyn didn’t seem to mind it as much.

“We agree,” Van said. “On one condition.” he quickly added.

Rosalyn looked hopeful and now paid close attention to what Van was going to say next.

“Me and Luna want a sort of… trial period… technically we will be engaged, but we can pull out of the engagement should we find out that you are no better than Karmila. What do you say?” Van asked a little nervously, now realizing he technically proposed to duchess Rosalyn.

Rosalyn gave a look of deep thought as she weighed Van’s words… but after a while, she nodded and gave him and Luna a beaming smile. “Yes… I think I can work with this. I would be glad to prove to the both of you how awesome I can be!” she finished with a little giggle, her happiness sounding barely constrained.

Only for it to completely disappear from her face as she gave a more serious look, though her shoulders seemed to relax like a great deal of weight has been lifted off them. There was now something new in her eyes that made it look like she had something to say to get off of her impressive chest.

“But now that we have that out of the way and are in agreement for an engagement between our two houses… I must confess to you that there is another reason as to why I desired your hand in marriage… you specifically Van…” Looking at him now in almost a desperate manner, though Van couldn’t figure out why… “You see… I have thoroughly investigated you… and I know your soul awakened…”

Van and Luna stiffened up. Being soul awakened was an extremely rare thing, so she must have had eyes on them for a long time… it would in fact make some sense considering everything she had said to them before and the way she acted. Almost as if she knew about things they never even discussed before…

For a second, Van thought this was going to be an issue… but then he remembered she literally just said that she wanted to marry him because of it… which got him on the defensive and a little worried about what her actual plans were for him…

Rosalyn saw this and tried to calm them down. “You don’t have to look so worried, the reason why I’m interested in Van being a soul awakened isn’t for anything nefarious! I swear! It’s just that…” her eyes tightened… “I’ve been sending spies and agents throughout all of Alcray to gather information on those who are soul awakened… and sadly… unlike places such as Istra or Malor, we don’t have a well-rounded program to take care of those who become soul awakened… and…” her voice seemed to choke up for some reason and she stopped talking.

“Van… you are sane… right?” Asking an odd question that threw Van for a loop.

At first, Van was going to say something like he obviously was… but then when he thought about it… he realized that wasn’t entirely the case… and gave it a few minutes of hard thinking before he would answer. Also wondering if he could trust her with the truth.

Rosalyn wrung her hands nervously as she waited for Van to reply.

After a while, Van decided to tell her the truth, that he was… mostly sane… as far as he was aware…

Rosalyn again looked like a great wave of relief washed over her. “Thank goodness…” She whispered to herself, then turned to him with hopeful eyes. “Van… Can you help me with something? Something only you may be able to help me with… any insight… or suggestion… even if it turns out you actually can’t help me, I would appreciate it if you at least tried, I-!” she stopped herself, realizing she was probably not making any sense anymore.

“It’s probably best if you just follow me…” she then got up and off her seat and turned to him. “Please… follow me…”

Van and Luna were now very weirded out by this sudden change in personality, and reluctantly, followed Rosalyn out of the dining room and into the hall where she began to talk about something completely different than what they were discussing before…

“My father…” Rosalyn began. “Was a kind and very loving man… he loved my mother deeply… despite being a second generation Ingrid… his wife… wasn’t completely approving… but she loved her husband and wanted to see him happy, so she allowed him to take my mother as his lover…”

She continued down the hall with her story, almost as if she was in a trance.

“I don’t very much remember the name of my father’s legal wife… I wasn’t allowed to be near her because she didn’t want to see me… I had an older sister on my father’s side, she was to be the heir of this duchy… but… one day… Assassins… we still don’t know where they had come from… but they killed my father’s wife… my older sister… and by accident… my mother…”

Something tickled the back of Van’s brain as he remembered something… wasn’t the house that ruled this duchy called darkrose? That’s why the guards had a dark rose on most of their attire… but Rosalyn didn’t have the name Darkrose as a last name…

“Father, Thomas Darkrose, was technically supposed to be the reagent until something was figured out about who will take over House Darkrose.” Rosalyn continued. “But… the loss of his loved ones… did something to him… it made him… regress… to a happier point in his life… but so far… to the point it… it wasn’t even his life anymore…” she stopped at a large wooden door with a bolt on the outside, and undid it. Turning to him, giving him a desperately hopeful look.

“Please… go inside… and tell me if you can’t do something to make him… sane again… do that… but if you can fix him… I’ll give you everything you could ever wish…” now opening to doors to allow him inside. “Please… I beg of you…

Van felt very much put on the spot and like a mountain of pressure and responsibility was now weighing on his shoulders. This was not what he was expecting to happen… like at all…

But looking into Rosalyn’s desperate eyes… he couldn’t help but at least try and see what might be going on inside her father’s head… what’s the worst that could happen… right?

“Ren…” Van thought inwardly.

“I’m here… just go inside, I'll see what I can do,” Ren replied.

And with that. Van with a bit more confidence, took a step inside to see what he could do. Wondering still how in the world it came to this… but also… not being able to help the curiosity he had about finally meeting a person, who actually went insane from being soul awakened…