Chapter 99: [Status: Cursed...]
Jack returned to the courtyard. The marriage frenzy had begun in earnest.
A flood of nobles and their daughters approached like a well-dressed tide.
He fielded layered conversations. Compliments wrapped in coy proposals, subtle negotiations disguised as casual chat, and parents who managed to make innocent questions sound like dowry negotiations.
"Lord Kaiser," said a matron whose jewelry could fund a small war, "you must meet my daughter. Such a cultured girl. She speaks four languages and plays the harp divinely."
The daughter in question stepped forward with a curtsy so precise it could have been measured with calipers. "My lord, I’ve heard such wonderful things about your... innovations."
Jack inclined his head graciously. "Innovation requires curiosity. What interests you most?"
"The bathhouse, naturally," she said, then blushed prettily. "Though I confess I’m more interested in the mind that conceived it."
’Subtle,’ Jack thought, filing away another compliment.
"Do you read?" he asked, which startled her not because she couldn’t but because men didn’t usually ask.
"Poetry, mostly," she admitted. "And philosophy."
"Philosophy’s rarely quiet for long," Jack said. "We’ll need advisors who think beyond the next harvest."
He had the system file her information for later. Every sharp mind that served Sorne honestly made the city stronger than a dozen wedding contracts.
"Lady Marcella," her mother interjected with a practiced smile, "also embroiders beautifully. She created the altar cloth for our family chapel."
"Practical skill," Jack acknowledged. "Beauty that serves a purpose lasts longer than decoration."
Another young woman approached, this one with diplomat’s training written in her perfect posture.
"Lord Kaiser, my aunt says your roads would benefit from artistic embellishment. Beauty matters."
"Food matters more," Jack said, not unkindly. "But if your artists can create joy that survives winters, I’ll invest in joy."
"Joy," she repeated, clearly startled by his inclusion.
"Cheap investment with remarkable returns," Jack said. "People fight less when they like their lives."
A third girl, barely out of childhood, was pushed forward by an ambitious father. "Lord Kaiser, my daughter is most accomplished at mathematics and accounting."
The girl looked mortified. "Father, please..."
"No, that’s genuinely useful," Jack said gently, addressing her directly rather than her father. "What’s your favorite type of problem to solve?"
"Resource allocation," she said quietly, then grew bolder. "I’ve been helping manage our estate’s crop rotations. Father thinks it’s beneath me, but I like making the numbers work."
"The numbers are what keep people fed," Jack said firmly, shooting a pointed look at the father. "Mathematics applied to agriculture is what will keep your people fed for winters to come."
The girl’s face lit up like the sunrise. Her father looked surprised but pleased.
[Ding!]
[Marriage/Alliance Possibilities: 10]
[Public Sentiment: High]
’Ten marriage prospects,’ Jack mused internally. ’I’m not running a collectible relationship game here.’
[Quality over quantity remains the optimal strategy]
A merchant’s daughter with calculating eyes studied him like a particularly promising ledger. "My lord, Father says you’ve revolutionized trade logistics. I’d love to discuss things more."
Now that was interesting. "What’s your experience with inventory management?"
"I’ve been running our family’s warehouses since I was sixteen," she said with pride. "Reduced waste by thirty percent and improved delivery times by coordinating with river transport schedules."
Jack’s attention sharpened. Here was someone who understood that romance built on shared competence lasted longer than romance built on shared poetry.
"Would you be interested in consulting on our grain storage?" he asked. "We’re always looking for ways to improve efficiency."
Her smile became genuine rather than diplomatic. "I’d be honored. I have some ideas about moisture control that might interest you. If you want to talk in private."
The conversations multiplied like spring flowers. A weaver’s daughter who’d invented a new loom design. A vintner’s niece who’d improved wine storage. A silversmith’s child who’d found a way to prevent tarnish. Each had been pushed forward by ambitious parents, but several had genuine skills worth cultivating.
A cluster of foreign visitors pressed closer, drawn by the spectacle of Sorne’s eligible young lord being diplomatically besieged by marriageable nobility.
Jack caught fragments of their conversations in various tongues, speculation about dowries, trade agreements, and political changes that could happen.
The crowd swirled around them, parents hovering like weather systems, daughters performing various degrees of charm and competence. Some genuine, some calculated, all part of the elaborate dance of noble courtship and alliance-building.
---
Seraphina materialized at his elbow when the crowd finally thinned. "Report," she murmured, her voice barely audible above the music.
"The scribe is downstairs. Father Caelen is keeping him quiet."
"Quiet," Jack repeated, hearing what it meant. "Is he hurt?"
"Breathing," Seraphina said. "Unharmed enough to keep talking when properly motivated."
"Second," she continued, "House Veyra is testing how many contracts we’re willing to give out."
"Of course they are, they have their hand in everything."
"Third: that marriage interest surge? It’s not accidental. Someone’s been spreading very specific rumors about your... availability and prospects."
Jack felt his jaw tighten. "Political or economic motivation?"
"Both. Several houses are coordinating approaches. They want to lock you down before you become too powerful to court and too dangerous to ignore."
"And," Seraphina added quietly, "Father Caelen requests your presence below when you can be spared. He thinks our talkative scribe’s tongue is tied to a much larger throat."
"Soon," Jack said. "When the sun no longer looms on the estate I’ll be there."
She nodded and dissolved back into the crowd, already becoming someone else for someone else’s benefit.
---
The herald’s bass rolled across the marble: "House Sunblade."
Even before the herald finished, Jack felt the courtyard’s curiosity tilt like a field before wind.
Conversations paused mid-syllable. Fans snapped shut. Even the servants stopped pretending not to eavesdrop.
The ivory-and-gold banner turned at the gate. The carriage door opened.
Aurora Sunblade emerged with her father Cassius and her little sister Violet.
She was always eye-catching. She would turn heads just by walking somewhere.
The Sunblade’s were blessed with good genes, every single one of them was beautiful.
But it was her silence that commanded attention. In a courtyard full of chatter and performance, she simply didn’t speak.
She walked directly to a room with few people and an easel.
He reined it in. A different man might have interpreted this moment as fate whispering destiny.
Jack Kaiser didn’t believe in ghostwritten romance.
But still... he watched and followed her.
Aurora lifted a stick of charcoal and began to draw, the quiet around her settling like snowfall.
’Analyze,’ Jack thought, almost without meaning to.
The blue script opened like frost on glass.
[Name: Aurora Sunblade]
[Class: ]
[Affinity: Light, Water]
[Level: 34]
[Status: Cursed.]
The final word pulsed once, stark and cold as winter moonlight.
Aurora looked up as if she felt the invisible touch of his analysis. Her gaze found him across the room.
She gave a small, courteous nod. Nothing more. No smile, no flutter of fan, no performance of availability.
Then she returned to her painting, silent as moonlight on water, leaving Jack with a thousand questions and the echo of that single, ominous word.
[Status: Cursed.]
’Cursed! What do you mean she’s Cursed! Explain this right now system!’
[Analyzing....]