BXBX NOVEL Chapter 115 Baron
Quaid waltzed in confidently, and as Xzavier closed the door behind him, he wondered what could be so important that could bring the governor all the way here to him. It turned out he didn\'t have to wait for long to find out.
Being an important man with very little time, and a ton of responsibilities, Quaid hadn\'t the privilege of dilly-dallying with small talk. Of course, there were times and situations where it was necessary to engage in a little harmless banter, but generally Quaid tried his best to avoid it. It was already established that Xzavier was man of equal intellect and understanding, so, Quaid knew he could skip all of that chattering and head right to the business at hand.
"Xzavier, I\'m sure you\'re busy making the necessary preparations, so won\'t bother you with the morbid details. But, for the sake of fulfilling all protocols, I am duty bound to remind you come to the office to receive your medal."
\'So this is what this is about?\' Xzavier, thought to himself as he fought to restrain himself from sighing out loud. In the previous weeks that led up to this moment, Xzavier was constantly reminded of the fact that he was about to receive an honor from the city. If it hadn\'t been for the instruction of the military system, Xzavier wouldn\'t have even had to come over here in the first place.
He wasn\'t in the least interested in receiving any kind of accolade in this Isekai. The ostentatiousness of the whole thing repulsed him. He made that abundantly clear to Adalia during their conversations. But alas, for the sake of proper etiquette, Xzavier had to comply. It would be considered rude for him to be anything short of enthusiastic about the whole charade. So, he put on a false pretext of being happy and answered the governor in the same vein;
"I deeply appreciate everything Governor. You have indeed been a most gracious host. Rest assured, I will be there as instructed. Many thanks once again."
"Excellent!" the governor beamed. "I will have a carriage ready for you tomorrow evening."
As he made to exit the room, he remembered he had some other details to iron out.
"Oh, and by the way, this is a formal occasion. Hence, you will need to dress accordingly…"
Xzavier looked down at his own regular clothing, and realized for the first time that he hadn\'t anything decent to wear! He had had weeks to prepare, and yet, it hadn\'t crossed his mind for once that a wardrobe change was in order! And now, with less than twenty four hours to spare, he had to perform a miracle or risk embarrassing his host.
\'Ah damn it! This is why I hate these things.\' He cursed inwardly.
Quaid seemed to sense his deliberation and quickly made to assuage his fears;
"Relax, you didn\'t let me finish. I was going to say that you shouldn\'t worry, a full Victorian military regalia will be made available to you by one of the servants tomorrow morning."
Xzavier didn\'t know when a sigh of relief escaped his airways. Quaid picked up on that but said nothing on it.
"Also, there\'s the issue of a speech…"
This time, Xzavier couldn\'t hide the despair that clouded his eyes. He absolutely hated speaking. And now, he had to get up in front of an audience filled with people he simply didn\'t care about, to speak on just how grateful he was to them for the honor bestowed on him. The mere thought of it made, him nauseous. It wasn\'t that he had some kind of phobia for public speaking, but Xzavier just wasn\'t the kind of guy who enjoyed speaking. In fact, more often than not, he often looked down on people who spoke too much.
And now, he had to resort to using the tricks of the rabble rouser to scale across this seemingly impassable hurdle. All for what? A dingy award? Xzavier had to bite down on his tongue, it was all he could do from contorting his face in disgust. With a forced smile, Xzavier assured the governor;
"I understand governor. I will not let you down."
"Delighted to hear that." The other man replied.
"I will take my leave now, so I don\'t disturb your preparation for tomorrow. I am sure you are very excited."
With a very fake smile on his face, Xzavier mumbled a three word reply;
"Yes, very excited…"
The governor shook Xzavier, and the two bade each other goodnight.
As soon as the door closed behind him, the smile on Quaid\'s face immediately melted into a puzzled expression. His ulterior motive for coming here in person was to gauge Xzavier\'s overall state of mind. This was to be another test in the series of tests that he was using to assess Xzavier\'s true character. But, for some odd reason, he didn\'t get what he had been hoping.
Naturally, since he himself was a shrewd politician, and as someone who was keen at discerning moods and subtle hints, Quaid had easily seen through Xzavier\'s micro-expressions that was supposed to show how \'thrilled\' he was about the whole award thing.
Xzavier excelled at a list of other commendable things, but lying wasn\'t one of them. The governor saw that very clearly. With what he had seen, Quaid deduced that the false front of gladness Xzavier had projected so unskillfully could only mean one thing: he wasn\'t interested at all in the pomp and splendor of receiving an honorary award. Quaid just didn\'t know what to make of all this. This particular anomaly was inconsistent with the supposed reaction of one who had been chosen for honor.
If Xzavier didn\'t consider this a big deal, then what possibly could make him giddy with joy? Quaid contemplated on that thought along with a plethora of other things. It didn\'t even cross his mind that it was possible that Xzavier simply wasn\'t interested.
As the governor trudged on towards his own bed chambers, he submerged himself in the sea of his own didn\'t understand. Of course, anyone who found themselves in Xzavier\'s shoes should be bursting with glee and unbridled excitement. To receive a medal like this was the highest honor anyone in the hunting or military profession could hope to attain.
The deeper he went into assessing the situation, the further down the rabbit hole he went. A second theory began to come into the light of the tunnel of deliberation he had mentally trapped himself in. Just as he was about to lay hold on it before it could escape his memory, a very nervous voice greeted him;
"Good evening Governor!"
Quaid\'s eyes flashed dangerously. If he had a stick in his hand, he would have smacked the young servant silly. He was in the middle of some very serious thinking, and just when he was on the brink of a breakthrough, the annoying pointless greeting had yanked him out of his train of thought. It was a bit dark in the poorly lit hallway, if not, the young servant would have seen the darkness in his employers eyes.
Quaid simply ignored the greeting and continued his short trek to his bed chamber.
"Ah yes…" he exclaimed inwardly as he remembered what he had been marinating on before the unintelligent interruption of the young servant.
"Does Xzavier\'s disillusionment from this ceremony mean he doesn\'t consider this honor to be a big deal?"
Quaid wondered.
The promotion Xzavier was about to receive wasn\'t just a mere stamp of honor, neither was it an ordinary badge that came with zero authority. This award was in essence, a bestowment of the title of Baron. This was no small feat. Any runt on the street, even those lesser families who had the tiniest trace of nobility would kill for this. Quaid wondered if Xzavier didn\'t realize this because he was a foreigner.
Objectively speaking, Xzavier\'s achievements weren\'t enough to get this award and title that came along with it. The title of second merit and Baron were Quaid\'s own additives. As the head honcho, and as the one who called the shots in these parts, it was his constitutional prerogative to execute his own mandate in situations like this. It was incontestable. No one dared to disagree with him in any way.
With these thoughts hovering over his head like an invisible cloud, Quaid decided to take a different approach.
The night quickly faded away, paving way for the golden day and it\'s lined up activities. Not so early in the morning, the incessant taps of Adalia\'s knocking came on Xzavier\'s door. At this point, she only knocked for the sake of etiquette. Without even waiting for Xzavier to answer or let her in, she pushed the door wide open and illuminated the room with her exuberance and enthusiasm.
"Okay okay! It\'s time! All hail the hero of the hour!"
She burst into the room with the fresh energy of one who couldn\'t wait to get started with the day.
"Here\'s your freshly laundered ceremonial wear! You better get to dressing, we have to be out of here in a couple of hours!"
Xzavier groaned in complaint.