"Proud? Of course," Elroy responded, still smiling, "I'm not even sure if our parents could be more proud of Velvetica."

This, too, gave Velvetica pause. Her inspiration to pursue swordplay, to pursue her path as the Steel Princess, had been because of her elder brother. To hear those words come out of the mouth of the man she almost idolized momentarily stole her ability to speak.

It took her a few moments to clear her through and speak again, unconsciously holding the knightly frog plush against her chest as she did.

"Well, I am quite pleased to hear your profession of loyalty," she began, swiftly dodging every other topic that had been discussed to avoid any further awkward pauses, "It is only suitable, though you are not among the military forces of the Lions, that you have committed yourself to our cause. I'm glad to know that I can count upon you for the sake of Velt and its people."

Of course, internally, she was hardly unaware of who she was speaking to. She did not assume Lirrah to be a boldfaced liar, but she was a merchant. And a merchant wanted to build a relationship with their clients to maximize profits. It wasn't something she begrudged the nem for, far from it. Rather, it was something to be aware of. To understand that Lirrah's commitment was to the option that would earn her more librans rather then simply loyalty to the Hraesleg name.

Still, the nem's conduct had thus far suited her fine, and there was little reason to reject it.

"So, my little sister resembled the Lady of the Sun, hm?" Elroy commented, "I suppose that does suit her, doesn't it?"

While she idolized her elder brother, that didn't stop her from questioning that comment. Normally she would gladly take such praise as to be compared to the Goddess of the Sun, for whom justice was paramount, but his tone struck her as somewhat playful.

"Exactly what do you mean by that, elder brother?" Velvetica asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh? Can't you figure it out?"

[@Octo]

[hr]

"Hm?"

Ah, so this was the viewpoint of an assassin. She didn't have explicit knowledge of exactly what the Crownsblades had been party to prior to their near total destruction, but it was plenty reasonable to assume that their operations had been rather less forward in nature. Focused on striking at quieter, more internal enemies then those without. Provided that they were enemies of Velt, and its people, Velvetica had little issue with such objectives.

Those who threatened Velt's stability and the peace of its citizens were not those who garnered her sympathies.

However...

"Well, my enemies are far more open, and far more straightforward, then you are perhaps accustomed to," she responded, leaning forward in her seat, "My opponents are of a military nature, rather then those who work in the shadows."

Her elbows rested on her desk.

"But that doesn't mean I won't require your skills as an assassin," she continued, "Pinpointing an enemy commander ahead of time gives me quite an opportunity, after all, to shatter the enemy's morale and remove their leadership. A troublesome mage makes for the perfect target, as well."

Using an assassin to remove problematic or high-value targets made perfect sense to her, and she had little attention of using Kayliss's skills for any other purpose.

[@Psyker Landshark]

[hr]

"Architecture?" asked Liletta, incredulously, "I'm the Hraesleg family's mage, do I look like I have particular experience in architecture?"

It was clear she hadn't the faintest idea of why that question had come up in the first place. Why would she know how to build a cottage? On top of that, she'd already been in a bad mood because of the do-

Anisette's tongue was sticking out as Gisela patted her head.

"... Tch..."

Liletta's glare sharpened.

"Fine, if you want to be a bratty little child," she glared at the doll, who folded her arms and looked away, "All I was [i]trying[/i] to do was learn more about you. That doll is completely impossible to work with. She came from a Witch? I'm not surprised in the slightest."

[@Raineh Daze][@Eisenhorn]