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Éliane was no stranger to familial tension. Not after being intimately involved with the comings and goings of so many distinguished families back in the capital… and after her own time of working for two of them. For things like this, she wisely stayed neutral and didn’t pipe up. Even if Lord Caradoc ignoring her deliberate provocations grated on her slightly. How was a girl to have a little bit of fun if her shameless (non-familial) shit-stirring went ignored!?

Well, she supposed it wasn’t too becoming of a member of the Household Guards and a girl representing Skael, but still. 
Thankfully, the good lord’s wife was a far nicer person. Dinner? Why of course, that would be great, ma’am! Thank you very much, ma’am!

Without any protest, Éliane followed them along to dinner. Formality was not an issue for Éliane, as unlikely as it seemed. Once again, she’d gotten used to enough state dinners back home. It just meant that food would be decent—and in a place like this, the coffee would be amazing!

Enjoying a delicious roast, she tilted her head at Caradoc’s question as she carefully set her silverware down on the clearly expensive porcelain. 

[b]“Pragmatism,”[/b] she answered seriously. [b]“I have no need or want of gold. Maybe a little fame, as that advances my country’s goals, truly. But in the end, the Blight spares no man, and it has come to Skael. I don’t want to see my countrymen, family, and friends devastated as much as any other here in Edren.”
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