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"Well, I am pleased to please," said William.

Hector smiled but also cocked an eyebrow at the man.

"Heh." The King's expression was briefly distant with memory. "My father used to say that all the time. He greatly enjoyed making other people happy." After a moment, the nostalgia in his eyes passed. "But I suppose we are getting sidetracked again. Where am I in Charles' story?"

"He's meeting revolutionaries around the Empire," said Hector.

"That's right. It is at this time that the Atreyan independence movement begins to gain popularity--in large part, I think, because the idea of achieving it peacefully is put forth by a young and vibrant Domitrus Lumenbel. The news of all the inhuman violence taking place elsewhere in the world has likely soured the general public to any and all notions of war. Charles, meanwhile, returns home after another long journey abroad, and this is where his story becomes... questionable."

Hector just tilted his head and waited.

"As far as I have been able to tell, up until this point in his life, Charles Belgrant has had no direct contact with any members of the aristocracy. He has built up quite a network of friends and associates all across the Empire--and perhaps even beyond it--but no Atreyan nobles have ever been among them. Until, that is, his long-time involvement in the independence movement propels him to the forefront of discussion between the aristocracy and the lower classes.

"Why he is chosen as one of the mediators between these clashing groups... is unclear. Perhaps it is merely his charisma, but it still seems strange to me, given the rather oppressive era in which this took place, that someone without even a drop of noble blood would have been picked for such a task. Every other mediator mentioned is someone of this type. A distant cousin's fifth son. An eccentric lord's stepchild. Lower nobles, yet nobles nonetheless. But not Charles."