17. Wrecking a wedding and nobility

I left a letter in the nano-mail box. For Aster, Josephine and Cécile, that I was waiting for them around there, in a remote mountain.

I found a nice high valley, between some of the northern peaks, with a little stream flowing there. No monsters, and no roads, so they’ll have to climb.

I was taking impromptu holidays there!

Living simply, with the minimum.

Or so I thought at first...

Before I knew it, as the days went by, I built a house more than a tent, with a good chimney since the nights were cold up here.

A bath house followed... And an Olympic pool...

Okay, I had a little too much fun digging it and crafting the greenhouse glass ceiling above it! Not my fault if the nanites were making magic too easy for me!

Before I knew it, this was a five stars hotel resort that appeared up here.

I even built a tower to put a light house, so they’d find the place easily when they reach the surrounding peaks... It was just in case!

I didn’t count the days, but I had so much fun playing the sandbox game, waiting eagerly for their visit and our reunion.

As I was relaxing in the bath one snowy evening, I saw Cécile barging in, covered in snow and freezing.

S - Oh hello Cécile! You made it at last!

Before saying hello, the first thing she did, and repeated was to whack me on the head with her staff, again and again.

C - Do you know how long I’ve been lost out there! I don’t have your portals magic! I had to sleep outside and had nothing to eat for days! All while you’re leisurely relaxing here! Why didn’t you check the mail! I begged for help!

S - Ah... I forgot about all of that while building all this to welcome you...

I got a few more whacks, heard a long sigh, and then got a hug.

C - Well... It is a nice place...

S - Why don’t you relax while I cook you something good?

Cécile agreed, but gave me a last knock on the head for good measure.

~

Then Josephine arrived.

She looked like an angry ghost, ready to curse me over fifteen generations. There were crystals of ice and snow in her hair.

But I had learnt from Cécile and led her to an opulent dining table, perfectly set just for her.

Josephine sighed and I showed her the bath house too. It was directly on the side of this wide cabin main room.

Josephine whispered to me we’ll have a serious talk later, sending shivers down my spine. Then she ate like she had nothing to eat for days, and fell asleep in the bath...

I thought I’d have to do a few dogeza to them all when Aster arrives...

~

Oddly, Josephine didn’t punish me, she seemed happy I was alright. Since I forgot to check my e.mails for a while.

J - What good is your idea if you forget to use it?

S - Sowy...

J - Well... Aster too seems to have forgotten about it. I hope it’s nothing serious.

Cécile let out a scream that morning, after checking another room of the empty hotel.

C - Wha... What are those!

S - Ah, I forgot to tell you. I was also doing some research about something I had in mind.

In the laboratory room, there were a series of sleeping Robot-Silvias, of various aspects.

J - Is this your dark secret Siline? You’re really a necromancer? Did you kill and replace that poor countess Silvia you claimed to be?

S - No! Nothing like that! They’re robots! robots!

I had to begin explaining to them what they were meant for. They had heard of the replicant, but that was their first time really encountering it.

RS0003 - Hello!

C - Yikes! It’s just like you! It’s creepy! One Siline is unsettling enough! Two is creepy!

S - How rude! They’re as charming as I am! But as I told you that’s not why I made them.

J - It does have your charm though... Interesting.

S - Eh?

Was Josephine considering to buy one? Or worst, to sell one?

S - What do you want to do with me!

J - Ah, no, nothing. I was just thinking it could fool even us... Wait... Silviiia?

Oh no, it was that smiling face that’s not smiling... I was sweating badly.

S - Eh... Ah ah ah... Okay I might have used one to fool you all too... Maybe once? Or twice?

C - WHAT!

And here I got clubbed on the head again. Cécile, that staff was not meant for that! Or was it... Sometimes I wondered...

S - Sorry guys...

J - Geez... And we never noticed. So it can talk, move, act... Even use magic... That one wrecked your county.

RS0003 - Everything lady Silvia can do, I can do!

C - It’s terrifying...

S - Come on, don’t say that. Robot-Silvia, activate sleep mode!

The Robot-Silvia returned to her spot and stopped moving there, closing her eyes.

Josephine was pinching her skin between her eyebrows, annoyed.

J - So to give yourself a make-over and a disguise, you created golems... That are as strong as yourself... You can multiply like these dangerous bugs!

S - Vi... Viruses? No! It’s not meant like that... I don’t think I could... Or could I?

I asked the nanites.

N - Replicants number would be limited to 9999 units at a given time. Otherwise, there won’t be enough nanomachines left to properly oversee the world. Going beyond would require manager authorisation level to increase our number.

S - 9999!? That’s a lot!

Cécile and Josephine were having a bead of cold sweat over their forehead.

C - Well, at least you’re using that insane power just for... whatever it is you’re doing. Ten thousand Silvias...

I think Cécile pictured an army of Robot-Silvias marching in good order upon the world to conquer it, smashing any opposition with so much ease it would be as being unopposed.

It made her feel faint, because she almost fainted in Josephine’s arms.

S - I wouldn’t do that! I’m no demon-king!

J - But you could...

I shrugged.

S - You know I want nothing like that... All I want is a carefree happy...

C - Why is there a cute boy here among them as well?

We heard the door open, and went to greet Aster, leaving these thoughts aside for now.

Aster was frozen as the other two before her, but didn’t seem angry at me.

Funny she was the last one to arrive though. I guess I overdid things slightly again.

Aster shook her head, like a wagging dog, to scatter the snow in her hair. It looked kind of cool when it was her doing that. How boyish... I bet her brothers and father would cry though.

Instead of giving angry vibes, she gave very sorrowful ones. She teared up and went to hug all three of us, soon sobbing loudly.

J - My my, Aster, what happened?

C - We’re there for you, whatever it is.

A - Silvia...

S - Yes?

A - I need you to marry me!

C - What?

J - She’s lost it...

~

That made no sense, but Aster wasn’t in shape to give a better explanation right away. We sat and fed her, giving her time to return to herself.

We did some chit-chat around her meanwhile.

J - Maou-Silvia was explaining to us how she plans to conquer the world. It includes cute boys copies of herself.

S - I told you it’s nothing like thaaaat!

A - Changing the world? Could you do that?

Aster was pleading.

S - What happened Aster? You know I’ll help if I can.

Aster looked sorrowful again.

A - They’re planning to marry me again... The prince... I can’t refuse...

Aster explanation sounded like a fairy tale, but she was crying over it.

Becoming a princess in wedding, that was not her wish.

But that wasn’t something she could just refuse without throwing dirt over her name, her family, and the king...

Had the king offered her the role of realm marshal or commander of the royal guard, that would have been a different story. But King Albert VII of Denmark and Aster’s father had reactionary views of what women should be.

In panic, Aster had thought I was the only one who could make the impossible turn possible.

We were now debating to find a good solution together, but nothing wise came to mind.

Aster still wanted to be an honourable knight, even if that meant something unclear at this time.

Though marrying her or another way to solve her immediate issue, Aster wanted me to change something she couldn’t bear anymore.

C - Well, there’s an easy way to cancel any nobble wedding...

A - Really?

C - You just need to be visibly pregnant before the day.

A - That’s why I thought... Only you could force a wedding with me before it’s too late!

S - We can’t marry each other, we’re both girls!

It was true that a noble girl, would she happen to have a child long before it’s all concluded, it was reasonably fine. The child might live under another name and everyone could pretend nothing happened. In the best scenarios, the husband could even recognise later that the child was his own.

But a lady showing signs... You can’t hide very well she had an affair, no one could pretend. But it would bring so much shame to the family, she had fair chances to be disowned.

As her father’s daughter, it would be catastrophic to her family and honour. The wedding would be cancelled, and she would never be seen in nobility again.

Even her family, brothers and parents, would suffer a severe blow to their prestige.

As her own independent nobility now that she was a hero, Aster could somewhat survive that shame. It would help if she were then to marry the father of the child instead... But that was rough.

It would still bring a very bad picture to her family name and domain. She would be banned from ever growing into higher nobility or knighthood, in any way or form. But she could keep some contact with her family probably. Not because it was in the rules, but because she was a legendary hero with a reputation hard to stain, and even the king would think twice before disowning her. But he would stop all relations, and she would be on her own basically.

At the cost of a great shame upon her name, she could win that serenity.

It was a difficult choice.

But if she were to appear pregnant, even the royalty, especially the royalty, would cancel the plan of wedding. With a lesser hit to their reputation than if she were to refuse it directly.

And it was achievable in time, where changing the society’s perspective of women in this country or the world would take a bit more time. The same went for same sex marriage. That wasn’t going to happen again anytime soon in any of our countries.

For her to be already married would bring kind of similar advantages and issues.

However the main problem was there was no one she would accept marrying today but... me.

Because Aster knew I would completely guarantee her freedom like no one else could. But we couldn’t...

All of this came from what this backward feudal society and their reactionary rules were.

J - Then... Can we change these rules? Would you know how to do it Silvia?

S - Change the society... Hmm... I’ll need to think about it...

How to change the world from feudalism into modern democratic nations with more freedom and liberties? That was a tough one...

But... I had some knowledge of the past, and I had the power of the nanites.

C - If anyone can change the world for the better, or at least lead the way, it’s you Silvia...

All three of them were giving me puppy eyes look...

Oh no...

Don’t you all look at me like that!

~