[color=A0A0A0][h2]Fleuri Jodeau[/h2][/color]

[color=A0A0A0]"I am indeed familiar with your people's courtship customs, Lady Cteline,"[/color] Fleuri gave his reply to Lein.  [color=A0A0A0]"Perhaps this duel will help Sir Renar and Sir Felix obtain some mutual familial love, although I fear their enmity goes deeper than skepticism for each other's martial skill."[/color]

[color=A0A0A0]"Truly, it is a shame,"[/color] he said as he watched the duel be announced.  [color=A0A0A0]"They are both prestigious knights in service to the same crown.  On the same side, as it were.  The bonds of friendly rivalry are one thing, but it is rather tragic that they cannot feel joy at their brother's success."[/color]

Fleuri didn't mean to judge Renar for his anger at Felix.  Given what he knew of the Bastard of Brias, it wasn't surprising.  To be denied a noble title, to be raised alongside siblings who were afforded that privilege, to have such an unequal social dynamic through no fault of his own, it was no wonder that Renar clearly had a chip on his shoulder.  And if Felix took after his father, a man who refused to grant a title to his own son simply because that son was the result of his own philandering, Fleuri wouldn't be surprised if the Crown Knight harbored a grudge against Renar for obtaining noble status through other means.

Fleuri liked a good duel, but he found nothing uplifting about watching two brothers seeking to spill one another's blood.

[color=A0A0A0]"Of course, Lady Cteline,"[/color] Fleuri answered Lein's request. [color=A0A0A0] "I always have time to have a dance with an elegant stranger."[/color]  To the rest of the ball, it'd appear to be the Flower of the North dancing with an exotic newcomer.  To those who knew what was going on, it was two knights playing a silly, harmless game under a façade of courtly elegance.  As for Fleuri's own part in it, just because he had rediscovered his faith in Reon and sought to move away from his irresponsible, selfish past didn't mean he had to be a stuffy stick in the mud.

[@PigeonOfAstora]