LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 111 – Ambitions beyond One’s Abilities
"To have ambitions is normal, healthy even. On the other hand, those whose ambitions went far beyond their abilities and doggedly pursued it often just finds themselves ending up face down in a ditch somewhere." - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
"And that did not go well, I would assume?" Aideen asked with a wince as she listened to Artair's tale. She also helped herself to the snacks on the plate as she did so, though her attention was more on the therian man's story. "Though even if it did… I guess the civil war fucked things up either way…"
"Well, even if her ambitions were definitely along the lines of biting off more than she could chew, mother didn't go about it the stupid way at least," said Artair with a self-depreciating chuckle, which from his throat sounded closer to a bassy roar instead, though a rarher quiet one. "Had she went to the senate somehow and claimed her heritage that's just get her kicked out or worse."
"Could imagine that yeah," agreed Aideen with a chuckle of her own. "Doubt the snobs there would put much validity in just words anyway, unless you had something more… tangible as proof?"
"Nope! Great grandma and grandpa had escaped with pretty much just the clothes on their backs back then," replied Artair in a slightly more jovial mood. From how he reacted, Aideen could tell that he didn't seem to have fond memories of those times. Probably why he took up a more quiet life here in Ptolodecca as a scholar and researcher, since otherwise with Myrddin helping him he could have better positions most likely. "Oh no, what mother did was attempt to ingratiate herself to a noble lady in west Elmaiya, where the therian nobility were concentrated, and from then on, she made use of that position of a lady's friend to attend balls and parties."
"Attending balls and parties huh?" Aideen queried with a raised eyebrow. She was familiar with such activities, even if it wasn't a thing in either Ptolodecca or Vitalica, since she had seen and heard of it during the times she worked with the Death's Hand and infiltrated the Elmaiya Empire. "Must've cost a pretty penny."
"Mother was apparently good at it since her patrons were the ones who spent for her clothes, she said. Makes sense to be honest, since she didn't exactly leave here with that much money on her," explained Artair further as he took a long gulp from his mug and refilled it - and Aideen's - from the pitcher again. "What mother aimed for when attending those balls was to actually ingratiate herself to younger noble men, in hopes of eventual marriage. She probably planned to piggyback on their status to make her claim later, or if she could wrap them around her little finger, have me declared their heir or something."
"Since you're here now, I imagine at least some part of that plan went well," noted Aideen with some amusement. "No offense, but your mother's plan just reminded me of how people acted in plays and stories I've seen and heard."
"None taken. In hindsight, it reminded me of those too, yeah," replied Artair with a more open chuckle. "But yes, mother did successfully catch the attention of a young noble, the head of his house even, and they had me together. That was about all that went well for her though."
"Was your father… abusive? If so, my condolences," said Aideen with a more serious look on her face, having heard of such stories all too often in her times undercover.
"Oh no, father was a gentleman that I respect, but he was also a ruthless and cunning man, so mother's plans all just crumbled to pieces against him," answered Artair with obvious amusement as he recollected the past. "Mother was a concubine to him, and stayed that way despite her efforts to climb higher. For what it's worth, he did care for her decently, and we lived comfortably for those years."
"You see, father is a mongrel much like me, what we call it when people of different breeds had a child together. Mongrels like us were generally looked down upon in the therian society of the empire," Artair explained further as he took another long pull from his mug of ale. "For him, a bastard mongrel son to be the head of his house, father had removed all his half-siblings, leaving himself as the only possible heir by the time his father passed on. He was still somewhat ostracized for being a mongrel, but a nobility title goes a long way to cut through that."
"So I guess your mom ran into someone more adept at scheming and far more ruthless than herself huh?" Aideen queried with some curiosity. "Did that make her realize how unfeasible her ambitions were?"
"Unfortunately not. Instead mother seemed to have placed her hopes on me carrying those ambitions instead, though those hopes too were soon dashed," replied Artair with some annoyance at the remembrance. "Until the day the plague took her, she was still trying to think up a way to realize her ambitions, I think. She was always a rather single-minded woman."
"Oh. I am sorry to hear that," said Aideen, a slight pang of guilt in her heart every time she heard of someone dying from the plague she had indirectly caused. By now the guilt no longer bothered her as badly as back then, but it still disturbed her somewhat. "Did the rest of your family there…?"
"Oh no, father was of life affinity, and I was of mortality, so we weathered the plague all right. So did my half siblings for that matter," said Artair with a wave of his hand. "If it was just the plague, I would probably still be living in the empire now, but no, it was when the civil war struck that our family split up."
"How so? I heard the west of the empire was more stable so far?" Aideen asked with genuine curiosity at Artair's words. The second Elmaiya Empire was a mixed race nation, and while humans dominated the eastern half, the western half was more heavily therian, and the same split was exhibited amongst their nobility, other than the imperial family which has been human all this time. "Did the war reach there early on?"
"Not quite, but father was quite unnerved and unsure of the future after the war broke out, since we had no way to tell who would emerge as the final victor out of it," explained Artair with some fondness in his voice. "So instead, he had us separate. Two of my half siblings left for the western isles, where they had relatives in two different tribes from their mothers. My eldest half brother stayed with father, while our youngest sister was sent to the Gulski Jarldom to the east, where her mother was from. I came to Ptolodecca instead since grandpa Myrddin still lived back then. Father thought this way there would be some of the family left no matter what happened, and we were not to attempt to reconvene until the war was truly over."
"That… is a pretty far sighted plan. I see why you respected your father," said Aideen with a nod. "I hope you get to see him again one day."
"I too wish for the same, young lady."
