Albion Rules the Wind 3 (Patreon)

Albion Rules the Wind 3 - or ‘No, this is not a copycat of Noblesse Oblige’ (Zero no Tsukaima, Wales' Twin!SI)

I would dare to say I stunned people at the royal party in Tristain from the very moment I arrived.

Where many would expect nobles of my rank to be coming along with an extensive escort and a chariot, none of those at the stalls was expecting me to turn up while riding my own dragon. Yes, you heard me right, I have a dragon, I have tamed it from the very day I received his Egg when I was five and nurtured it into becoming my ‘familiar’ to some extent.

George the Dragon was quite the calm beast. Not necessarily the smartest, but able to understand cues and also know I was ‘daddy/master’. Quite tame, and very accustomed to be around many people.

So, when I helped the Winged Lizard to the pen with the other beasts, most were intimidated by the size of it, while George was just… chill. It was quite late, so he wasn’t exactly in the mood to do anything silly as he tended to get quirky when in a playful mindset.

Since it was the late hour it was, the beast happily went to nap as soon as his pod was secured. And after I was done with that, I got to the party itself. First, I approached the announcer- the guy that, in all important balls, tended to call out who was entering the room by their title. I wasn’t sure how he was ordered to call me as I entered, but I told him how I wanted to be addressed.

“Duke Scottish of Tudor-Walpole!”

Some perked at the mention of Tudor, but none truly checked as I moved fast to dodge attention. I wasn’t going to get pelted by people’s gazes if I could avoid it. I rushed to one of those free seats near the buffet, happily resting for a moment as I looked around for Henrietta.

The best thing to do was to find the girl and just get through with the introductions. It was going to feel like ripping a bandaid, but it wasn’t something I could exactly avoid. I had to get this sorted out fast and… just disappear.

That’s all.

I was going to spend some time there to not leave any bitter aftertaste as if I considered this event an obligation, but I was not going to engage with any troublesome people.

So, as soon as I spotted Henrietta chatting with some people. I moved to talk with her, get some greetings going and then go back to my seat and look like a brooding moron that can’t be approached- the best kind of mask to dodge unwarranted encounters.

Henrietta was wearing a nice-looking pink dress, and she didn’t notice me until I got close enough to speak to her.

“Princess Henrietta,” I hummed calmly, my voice barely vibrating with a hint of unease as I grabbed her attention. The girl turned, a small smile that widened for a moment- then she realized that I wasn’t Wales.

“I presume you are Scottish.”

“Yes, I am aware you are quite acquainted with my brother, Wales.”

“Truly,” She admitted curtly, knowing that a one-word response was more than enough without getting into scandalous suggestions. “Yet, I am surprised you have decided to finally accept an invitation.”

Do I hear a hint of hurt? I was quick to solve this misunderstanding at once.

“Had I received notifications of such events, I would have welcomed those just like I did with this one. Yet, my father is quite forgetful as he decided just now to point this out for me as something I should go on and explore. My apologies if my previous ‘missed’ presence on your birthday may have sounded as a ‘planned’ insult or anything like that.”

She appeared intrigued by my response, but overall pleased with the genuine apologetic tone it was contained with. Her smile was back.

“I understand.”

“Happy birthday, cousin. I hope this year will be a good one for you and your mother.”

Her smile faltered a bit, I had been told already that the Queen was struggling with the royal chores as King Henri had died with many things unfinished. Cardinal Mazarin was working hard to help her with this, but it wasn’t an easy task for a man, much less for two individuals that hardly had either the drive or the experience to properly rule a kingdom of this size.

Once I excused myself with this comment, I proceeded to find the furthest seat possible by the buffet tables, dodging any potential dance partners and deftly sitting on one of the free chairs at destination.

My perch was perfect as I could see that both King James and Wales arrived roughly ten minutes later to greet Henrietta. I saw her look around, perhaps trying to direct them to me but… I am an elusive fellow.

I could see my father giving rare glances around, the ‘brutish fellow’ described by late Lord Walpole showing for those moments, while Wales looked genuinely curious to find me. I suppose the boy had been given lots to think about and was interested to make a genuine first contact with me.

Sadly, that would invite James into that meeting, and I wasn’t looking forward to it just yet. And as I waited, I distractedly allowed a lady to sit beside me. Part of me worried it may have been a mistake, especially when the dancing properly started. Most of the guests joined others for that sort of event- except me and the girl sitting beside me.

She was squirming a bit, I could perceive it even as I was still staring with uttermost vigilance to where James left, the King of Albion speaking strongly with both Queen Marianne and Cardinal Mazarin about something.

“Y-You’re not going to dance?” The girl blurted, and I blinked at her question.

“Not really. I am not a good dancer,” I curtly answered. “You?”

“I am not good either.”

That’s fair.

“S-Still, why are you staring at the queen?” The girl pressed, quite nervous but trying to make some conversation.

“While the queen is indeed at the end of my gaze, she is not the one I am focused on. I was staring at my father,” I remarked quietly.

She seemingly accepted the answer, and, for two minutes, I was blessed with silence. Then, she spoke up again.

“W-Wait, that’s King James. You’re… Prince Wales?”

“I am Duke Scottish of Tudor-Walpole, twin brother to Prince,” I sharply corrected, eyes slowly turning. “And you?”

“L-Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, sir.”

What a surprise. Really.

“‘Sir’? I am what? A year older than you? Maybe two?”

The pinkette had her head bowing when I turned to finally look at her. Louise looked quite pretty with her current dress. Truly pretty.

“A-Am I wrong?”

“If I had been an arrogant jerk, I would have said no. Yet, you may call me Scott, fellow non-enjoyer of dance.”

She raised a perplexed brow.

“Or Scotty, Scottinator, He who Scotts a lot.”

Louise’s lips twitched, the amusement slowly rising up.

“Those are silly names.”

“Truly, truly! After all, I am the one that thought of those on the spot- you see, Lady de La Vallière, I can tell when someone is nervous so I try to mellow the situation. Which is, truth be told, a fine reaction to be sitting beside someone of my rank.”

“Is it?”

“Well, I was quite nervous about finally meeting my cousin. The difference between our ranks may not seem much, yet it is quite relevant. She will inherit the throne one day, and I will not.”

“But you two are… cousins, right?” The pinkette argued and I hummed.

“I wouldn’t say blood ties make for a good excuse for being quick to connect. This is, in fact, the first time ever I met her in any event.”

“I was told Prince Wales tends to visit many times.”

“That’s his prerogative and our father’s interest. After all, Albion and Tristain are allies- it would be weird if family bonds are not sharpened somehow,” I argued with a firm tone. “So… how come you are dodging your family?”

She looked nervously at her shoes. “I-I am not dodging them.”

I didn’t speak after that and-

“I am only trying to… mingle.”

“Understood, you’re avoiding them by mingling with others.”

She pouted. “S-Stop twisting my words. It’s not like that.”

Ah yes, that hint of tsun finally manifesting.

“There’s no need to be fussy, Louise. I am just curious. I told you a bit of my family, but it sure feels one-sided if I am the only one chatting about such topics.”

A fair assessment ignoring that I had been openly discussing that. Louise didn’t spot that little mistake I made and rather contemplated the idea for a few seconds.

“I am not good with Magic.”

“Hm? How so?”

She huffed, looking absolutely awkward. “I fail to cast spells- all of those results in… explosions.”

I saw the girl bracing for any rebuttal that may be too offensive for her to hear. She was slightly younger to her canon start age, so this was a very surprising way to address this issue.

Which is why I decided to fuck with canon some more.

“Explosions you say? Then how is that a full failure?”

Her eyes frowned at me. “T-Those spells should not result in explosions!”

I nodded in agreement, “Well, if it had been a complete failure, no effect should have manifested, yes?”

“I… What?”

“I mean, if you didn’t have a talent in magic, you would be outright magicless. Yet, you can clearly use magic. And how many explosions could technically be cast without tiring yourself out?”

Louise appeared slightly overwhelmed by those questions. And then she… frowned. “A lot. I have experimented with many spells, but I barely feel winded by the experience. W-Why?”

“Well, considering your spells create explosions, then the energy output has to be densely impressive. For you to go through numerous spells of those should technically mean you have a lot of mana in your body. So, maybe the issue is not the fact that you are ‘bad’ at magic, but rather you have an issue in handling the control of so much dense mana in your body.”

The rest of the conversation was just that. Louise wasn’t exactly convinced early on due to how much demeaned she had been feeling about not only lacking the family’s focus on either Wind or Water magic, but because she couldn’t conjure proper magic at all. As I broached the Void Magic thing, she was extremely skeptical since it wasn’t the kind of subject that one would be so hopeful about but…

“You’re a rare occurrence, Louise. Let’s be honest to both of us. There have been ‘failures’ among nobles meant to use magic, but they wouldn’t cast explosions. They wouldn’t just be able to muster any magic at all. You can, and any common elemental spell seems to react strongly to your attempts. So, that may be the case.”

“But that’s silly. There’s no known void magic user-”

“There are,” I interrupted, ignoring that the dancing was over for a while and many guests had started to leave. “The Romalian Kingdom has one from my understanding, and I am quite sure each country has one. Tristain hadn’t one for a while so, who knows, maybe you are the one.”

“I-I am just a Zero,” She rebuked my words with that self-insult, dismissing what I had just said.

sighed, standing up as I heard this and… turned to look at her. Louise’s pink eyes were now lacking most of that unease that had restrained her. I smiled, leaving her perplexed for a moment.

Her eyes still widened as I landed a palm on top of her head.

“Now, you’re being too self-disrespectful, Louise. You got the mind and the guts, what’s left to do is find out the solution so… I want to hear more of you through letters.”

While her mind had been conjuring an appropriate response to being forced to endure headpats, she recoiled in surprised at my request.

“Y-You want me to write letters?”

“Well, why wouldn’t I want to know how my first friend is doing once in a while, Louise?”

Her mouth opened in shock, then suddenly closed as she realized she was gawking.

“F-First friend? Su-Surely you have others.”

“Not really. I have allies and subordinates where I live, that’s all. Well, and I got my Dragon, but that’s a bit of a master-servant kind of situation.”

“I see… so… you think I can do it?” She said, sounding the most fragile I heard her through the entire conversation as I pulled my hand away from her pretty pink hair.

“Think? No. I know you can do it. After all, you are no ‘little lady’. So, give it a shot with the void magic thingy and show yourself you are not a zero.”

“The others-”

“Forget them. You are your own enemy right now as you are afraid of disappointing- drop it, you are first Louise and then all those titles you have. Got it?”

A tiny smile adorned her face, and then she nodded happily. “Y-Yes… Scotty.”

“And that’s your unique nickname for me, Lou.”

Her cheeks flared at my nickname for her. “L-Lou?”

“Yup. Still, I have to go since it’s getting late. You should also get back to your family- I bet your sister… Cattleya? Yeah, she would be worried about you.”

A nod and then we saluted each other. I left shortly after with George. The Dragon had gotten an hour of sleep, and while he was cranky about having to fly at this late hour, he was more content with the bribe I offered him once we got back to my fief.

The elder servant that was assigned to keep an eye on the manor’s business was a bit tired but overall amused when he found us in the beast’s stall, with me resting belly upon on the dragon’s stomach while the winged lizard purred as he knew ‘daddy was sleep-cuddling with him’.

It wasn’t the first time it happened, it wasn’t going to be the last time considering I loved my winged lizard of a cat. The warmth his belly produced was enough to warm a human body nicely during cold nights, and the scales on his belly were quite soft.

So yeah, all in all, this had been a fun party. And it would become the prelude for an escalation in the White Kingdom- one that would lead to some interesting developments in the long run.