Nie was glad he was not still eating, or he certainly would have choked. That was most definitely a question only posed to potential spouses. Not even necessarily to put an end to prior relationships—mainly just to be aware of them and discuss what suited both parties planning to enter into a marriage best prior to a request.

Was he attempting to be polite with all that… odd way of asking? Nie wondered, and found himself replying, “I do not.”

“Mn,” Abuin acknowledged.

Is he really planning to request to marry me? Nie thought, then shook his head—no, that was absurd. Abuin had not even been married once yet. There was no earthly reason why a grand duke should make Nie his prime spouse.

Maybe ‘tis a joke…?

It was not as if Nie was unfamiliar with the cruel ‘jokes’ Rabahni nobility could play on each other; feigning interest in marriage was fairly tame. Yet, it felt… out of character for Abuin to waste his time on such a thing. And his usually sparing amount of words.

“Excuse me, Abuin?” another noble approached them. By the use of the Grand Duke’s first name, likely another one of the three ducal ranks.

“Mn?” Abuin turned his attention to the man.

The other noble flinched. “Ah, I was just wondering where Shasol has gone?” he asked.

“Downstairs,” Abuin replied.

The man nodded with a smile, and turned his gaze over to Nie.

Nie felt strangely relieved to finally have an answer for someone, “The Greater Marquis offered to escort my sister at the lower noble debut ball in my stead.”

“Ah!” the man nodded with a genuine smile, “Yes, of course, thank you, ah…?”

“Nie Wahnera,” the human replied, feeling odd introducing himself.

The man nodded again, then watched Abuin as he risked slowly sitting across from them.

Abuin hardly seemed to care; his only acknowledgment was the flick of an ear.

“I am escorting a brother debuting today as well,” the man added, then inclined his head very slightly, “I am Duke Hahsen.”

“Your Grace,” Nie replied, stopped from bowing by Abuin. The Grand Duke reached out with the arm that had been slung behind Nie, tugging the human back gently by the collar.

“If you do not mind my asking,” Hahsen continued, not remarking on the gesture, “how did you meet Abuin?”

Nie frowned. His role as Abuin’s masseur had always been a discretionary one, so he was not entirely sure how to answer that question.

Hahsen must have read the hesitation in his face, so held up two hands, “Never mind. Is your sister excited to debut to the court?”

“Yes,” Nie replied, grateful for a bit of expected conversation, “She and her friends have been having their play salons, teas, and parties twice a week for the past three months—they all must be ready to experience the real ones.”

Hahsen chuckled, “Is she part of any secret societies?”

“She would not tell me the name of it, but I am mostly certain they arrange flowers,” Nie snorted.

“She is better at keeping a secret than my brother, then,” Hahsen said, waving a hand, “He’s part of seven secret societies, and he cannot even keep them all straight.”

“Sounds like he is going to be quite a socialite,” Nie replied.

“If he has any say in it, certainly,” Hahsen agreed with a laugh.

A few more nobles hesitantly ventured over as they continued speaking, joining in the conversation. It was surreal—this was exactly the kind of conversation escorts should be having while their younger siblings and other members of the court mingled for the first time, but Nie was at the entirely wrong party. That, and the high nobility seemed to enjoy his presence among them far more than the lower nobility did. He could guess it was because of Abuin, but the Grand Duke was not participating in the conversation at all.

He is remarkably calm, though, Nie thought, observing the man from the corner of his eye. The only times the human could recall Abuin being this calm were at the end of their massage sessions, so it was yet another mystery to add to the night’s list.

“Nie,” Marquis Derha called out, only making their way over when there was already a sizable crowd.

Abuin did not seem to react to Derha any more than he had to the other nobles, despite his earlier question.

“Derha,” Nie replied. Everyone had been insisting on Nie using their first names rather than an address, though with their shared club, Nie usually addressed the marquis as such.

“How is Gahne getting along?” Derha, the only high noble that looked as confused as Nie, asked politely. “I was going to make my way downstairs to catch up with you and Vehra and Dahm later since I do not have a sibling debuting tonight, but…”

Nie nodded, “Greater Marquis Shasol took my place as her escort. I am sure things are going very well for all of them.”

“Ah, yes, I agree,” Derha said with a strained smile.

Before they could speak more, one of the other nobles in their group half-dragged the marquis aside. Nie watched as several more joined in, all clearly interrogating poor Derha. Nie felt badly for all parties—there really was not any special secret about him they were going to pry from the marquis that would explain Abuin’s behavior.

At least, not by tonight. He was certain some of them would follow up with the Massagist Guild and could find the right palms to grease to make some accurate inferences, at the very least. Not that it would make much difference—many nobles used massage therapy during times of stress. It was only the frequency of their sessions that required discretion. Even then, the worst that could happen was a blow to Abuin’s reputation that would recover with time. Otherwise, there was no way they would have gone directly through the Guild.

“What is it the Wahnera family does, Nie?” one of the nobles asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“We make peach wine,” Nie replied, “We have an orchard on the estate for small batches and more at the countryside estate for commercial production. We usually summer there to oversee the harvest, but the flooding this year prevented us from going. Fortunately, it was just the road, not the orchards themselves.”

Flooding on the path to the orchards had caused the unfortunate death of Gahne’s parents and twin brother. While some minor flooding happened every year due to the spring thaw, Bahr would no longer allow travel if the reported floods were at all unusual. It was also in one of those orchards that Bahr had found Nie, but this was hardly the place for that story.

One of the noble ladies giggled, “Peach wine! I do not think I have ever had its like!”

Nie was not surprised—their customers were mainly commoners since peach wine aged quickly compared to the higher-regarded grape vintages. As such, they sold it for much less alongside extra produce.

“’Tis good,” Abuin said.

Nie flinched and found he was far from the only one to stare at the Grand Duke at the statement.

Abuin offered them no more, contentedly staring up at the ceiling. Only his twitching tail belied some form of tension.

After a few moments, someone ventured, “Perhaps the kitchens have some…?”

Two bottles of peach wine—Wahnera wine, specifically—were produced in surprisingly short order. While he always enjoyed his family’s wine, Nie was starting to feel a bit bad. Tonight was supposed to be about young nobles officially entering court society, but Abuin dragging Nie into the ball seemed to have stolen the show. The young adults did not seem to have the courage to approach the mostly older crowd—or, perhaps, the courage to approach Abuin. He did still have a reputation.

“It is getting late,” Nie said as the night started drawing to a close. It was mostly an idle observation, but he was not sure how best to excuse himself.

“Mn,” Abuin acknowledged, getting to his feet immediately. He reached back and pulled Nie up after him.

“It was lovely meeting you,” a lady named Sohma said, and the sentiment was echoed by others as Abuin walked away without a word.

Does he usually just get up and leave abruptly like this, then? Nie wondered, though he had been trying to get that sentiment across.

Abuin led the way to the lift again, escorting Nie back to the lower nobility debut ball. Shasol appeared before Abuin had hardly stepped foot in the room, pushing both of them and Gahne toward the exit.

“Honestly, what a mess,” Shasol muttered, “The lower debut ball flooded with high nobility? Really…”

Abuin huffed, lifting Nie off the ground with one arm to match his valet’s fast pace.

“Of course there is an issue with it!” Shasol huffed back, “Do you think anyone was prepared for this turn of events?”

They ended up at the entrance to the castle in no time at all, and Nie and Gahne were loaded into the Nehma coach before either had a chance to protest.

“Take them to the Wahnera estate,” Shasol called up to the coachman, shutting the door behind them.

“Of course, Your Grace,” the man replied as if this were a typical occurrence. The coach took off at once, leaving no room for either Wahnera sibling to question Abuin or Shasol further.

“Nie,” Gahne whined, “What just happened?”

Nie groaned, bending over as he put his head in his hands, “I wish I knew.”

“Do you know the grand duke?” his sister asked.

Nie sighed, but he saw no reason to hide it from his sister. “You recall my mystery client?” he asked in reply.

“The one that fired you for getting in a state?” she huffed, “Of course! If I ever meet them, I should…!”

Nie did not say anything as she trailed off.

It was but a moment or so before Gahne asked, “... the grand duke?”

Her brother nodded, head still in his hands.

There was a thud as the young woman sat back, “Oh. Wow.”

“Yes,” Nie agreed - then forced himself to sit up, “Sorry, how was the ball?”

“You want to talk about the ball?” Gahne scoffed.

“Tonight was supposed to be your night,” Nie sighed, slumping back in his seat as well.

“Well, ‘tis hardly your fault the grand duke whisked you away,” his sister whined again, “What was his purpose?”

Nie scoffed, “I have no idea - we never even spoke while I was in his service.”

“Really?” Gahne huffed, “What an odd man…”

“How was your time with the Greater Marquis?” the human asked.

“I mean, he was as gentlemanly as befits his station,” his sister sighed, “But whenever it was just the two of us, he would get agitated—not that I blame him. It cannot be easy working for the grand duke…”

“Agreed,” Nie sighed.

“And then all the high nobles started trickling into the ball, and they all wished to talk to me,” Gahne whined, “I have no interest in high nobility; I want to be the requester!”

Her brother chuckled, “Yes, t’would be a rare high noble willing to become a baron…”

In Rabahni noble culture, one gained the rank and family name of the person requesting their hand. As the only heir to the Wahnera family capable of having heirs of her own, Gahne fully intended to remain a Wahnera. As such, she had no interest in trying to climb the social ladder; she would rather cultivate relationships with other baronies to find a prime spouse who was another noble. After all, if a noble family took too many consecutive prime commoner spouses, they would lose standing—being at the very bottom of the aristocratic ladder, the Wahnera family could lose their rank entirely.

Gahne was proud of their lineage, but her father had been a commoner. To keep the Wahnera name alive and continue residing in their family’s estate, her first spouse at least had to be another noble.

“Still, it might be a help with your standing amongst your peers,” Nie shrugged.

“True,” Gahne agreed, huffing again, then sat up with determination, “I should snap up a spouse soon before the attention dies.”

“Well, you may have more time than you believe…” her brother sighed, considering Abuin’s apparent intent to marry him. With such a connection, Gahne might be able to attract the interest of one of the count ranks, or even the lower tier earl. If she were lucky enough to marry one of the latter, the Wahnera family may be bumped up to a viscounty. With the support from one of those houses, they could expand trade to further regions of Rabahn and even start new orchards.

“What do you mean?” Gahne asked.

Nie shook his head, dispelling his daydreaming of a more prosperous Wahnera household, “Nothing, I simply… do not wish you to be rash. You should be able to pick someone you get on with, at the least.”

“Right,” Gahne sighed, though it was evident by her expression she did not entirely believe him.

Nie looked away. Really, the very idea of Abuin requesting his hand was still unbelievable. He did not want to get her hopes up for something that probably would not come to pass, and she was correct that now was the opportune time to take advantage of Abuin’s odd behavior. Even if he did make a request, it could be weeks from now. Nie was sure Shasol would try to talk him out of it, at least.

“Well, anyway,” Gahne said, “If you truly desire to hear about the ball, there is plenty to tell—the greater marquis is a terrible dancer, by the way.”

Nie chuckled, “Really?”

The human was happy to spend the rest of the coach ride speaking of the more mundane drama of the debut ball. He was especially glad that his sister had been able to enjoy herself in his absence. At the siblings’ request, the coach stopped out of sight of the Wahnera gate. They were both ready for sleep, but if the servants saw the Nehma family coach, they would no doubt rouse Grandfather Bahr, who would be full of questions.

Lying on his mattress, staring up at the unadorned wooden ceiling in the dark, Nie found sleep was a long time coming.