“One thing any soldier or mercenary always learns early on is to never turn down free food when there’s no strings attached.” - Vidar Ongale, retired veteran mercenary from Posuin.

“Welcome, welcome,” said the former Duchess of Dvergarder as Reinhardt brought his family to their mansion on the former Duke’s invitation. For a woman almost in her sixties the former Duchess still looked hale and hearty, which was perhaps to be expected for someone in her station. “Glad you could join us tonight with your family, Captain Edelstein.”

The former Duchess then went over and pestered Elfriede and the girls instead, as she was particularly close with Erycea and Alycea during the time when the Free Lances worked in Dvergarder before. That left Reinhardt and the former Duke to converse with each other as they walked deeper into the mansion together.

It was not far to the mansion’s main dining room, where the group found Andrea, the current Duchess, awaiting them with the rest of her family present. Her younger brother, Reth, was also present. Unlike his warrior of a sister, he was rather thin and looked bookish, especially with the pair of spectacles perched atop his nose.

He pursued scholarly knowledge and served as the Duchy’s main civil officer in training, a role often taken by younger siblings of the heir. While the Utghwes family prided themselves on being warriors first and foremost, they never neglected civil affairs either, and in every generation, there was always someone to take up the role in order to support the Duke or Duchess at the time.

A nursemaid was also present by the side, gently cradling a baby of about six months old in her hands, likely the second child of the Duchess mentioned by the former Duke the day before. Her older daughter that Reinhardt already met before, Kiya, was presently bouncing around on the lap of a man seated next to the Duchess, which Reinhardt intuited was likely her husband, Chaka.

Chaka was a large man, one large enough to make the already tall Duchess – Andrea Utghwes was about as tall as Erycea, which was very tall for a human woman – look small. He was also broad at the shoulders to the point that Reinhardt wondered if the man didn’t have some dwarven blood in him, given his imposing bulk.

Yet at the same time, the easy smile that reached the man’s eyes and the playful demeanor with which he teased the little girl on his lap spoke of a gentle soul that likely haven’t harmed as much as a fly in his life. It was a rather stark juxtaposition with the Duchess, who was a warrior that led the charge and braved the battlefield, but sometimes opposites do attract.

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In a way, it was also fitting, because what was better for a warrior to fight for than a home and warm hearth to return to?

Reinhardt ended up sitting next to Chaka as the little girl on his lap made a fuss about wanting to play with the “Fluffy man”, which elicited some laughter from the room. He extended his tail over to satisfy the little girl while her father gave him an apologetic look, clearly somewhat embarrassed by his daughter’s willfulness.

Fortunately, the former Duke had not bragged unrighteously about his son-in-law’s baking skills. The food served for dinner was sumptuous and tasty, for certain, as the Duke’s mansion employed good cooks, but it was the desserts that Chaka personally made prior to the dinner that wowed everyone. Even Erycea and Alycea, despite both being blooded and experienced mercenaries by now, devoured them with gusto as if they were little children once more.

“I completely understand how this man won your heart now, Your Grace,” said Reinhardt with a serious look as he turned to face the Duchess seated near him. They were only separated by Chaka, the Duchess’ husband, seated between them. “If I didn’t know you had your fangs sunk deep into him already I would have spent a fortune to poach him to work for me.”

“High praise, coming from you, Captain Edelstein,” said the Duchess with thorough amusement and not a little pride at her husband. “I thought you weren’t one for sweets, though?”

“That is correct to some extent. My breed can’t really taste sweetness, but we taste the other flavors more sharply,” replied Reinhardt with a nod. “Ery has the best of both worlds, as she can taste sweet and also has a sharper tongue regardless, but I’m not as lucky. Despite that, even for me these sweets made by the Duke Consort are definitely some of the very best I have ever tasted.”

“It’s just old recipes from my gramma,” said Chaka bashfully at the praise. The sight of a large and imposing man whose thick beard gave him a ferocious look acting bashful was an odd one, and definitely not what most expected when they saw a man of his frame. “I just followed them and added a few bits to make things go better, is all.”

“Whatever you added definitely did the trick,” said Elfriede around a mouthful of pudding. “When we were last here I don’t recall any bakery in town selling anything this good. When did you take over your place?”

“That was around six years ago, Ma’am,” replied the man.

“That’s when we were in Algenverr, then. No wonder we never knew about him,” said Erycea with a nod while shoveling a few more of the confections into her mouth with gusto. “These are really good. You really got a good one for yourself, Your Grace.”

“I do consider myself lucky, yes,” said Andrea with an amused laugh. She was pretty well acquainted with Reinhardt’s family since she fought together with them on the battlefield multiple times. Back then Erycea was still new to the business and Alycea had yet to join, but the Duchess was familiar with them too. “When I was younger I always thought I’d find a man from amongst the knights, but who’d have guessed?”