The Simulacrum

~Chapter 146~ Part 3

"You know, I didn't expect that we would be having Italian," I noted a touch absently, and my host flashed an amused smirk.

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. In retrospect, it makes sense that you wouldn't want to eat Chinese food all the time, but… I guess it's just the environment. Don't mind me."

Naoren let out a smiling hum and resumed to elegantly take a bite of his ravioli. I had the same on a tiny plate; judging by the dozen or so different dishes on the table, we were supposed to sample them instead of just eating our fill with a single plate. Or so I gathered, at the very least. I got a bit too immersed in horsing around with the childhood friend duo, so I ended up late for my meeting with the young Feilong patriarch, and I didn't get any memo about the table etiquette of the occasion.

In my defence, I said I would come by 'around lunch-o-clock', but I didn't mean that I would come for lunch. Since it was Sunday, and so the council of the Draconic Federation wasn't in session, our meeting place wasn't in the Dracis mansion, but the pagoda-style hotel in Critias's small but vibrant Chinatown. Naoren and his clan members had been staying here since they first arrived on the island (from what I could gather, the Feilong family literally owned the place), and once I turned up a bit late, I was quickly ushered into the penthouse at the top floor and seated in front of the bespectacled patriarch.

But speaking of him, despite the fact that Mountain Girl claimed our meeting was urgent, and he had to tell me something important in person, he wasn't in any hurry to do so. If anything, the slow and methodical way he ate his pasta made me think he was dragging his feet about something. I contemplated whether or not I should just cut to the chase, but since I was the guest, it would've been rude to hurry him like that.

For the time being, I just enjoyed the food and the small talk that came with it.

"I'm glad to see that you're in better spirits than the last time we met," Naoren noted and took a sip from the fancy wine glass next to his plate. As usual, I refrained from any alcoholic beverages, but I didn't mind him drinking in moderation.

"I finally managed to catch my breath a bit," I noted absently, trying not to sound over-dramatic. "The past week was rather tiring."

"Especially for you," he said with a knowing look, and added, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Don't mention it, though it's not like you've been sitting on your laurels either," I pointed out, and he let out a soft chuckle.

"True, but it's mainly due to your relentless efforts that we could avoid a three-way diplomatic disaster between us, the Assembly, and the Celestials. It was no mean feat."

"Oh, stop it. You're making me blush," I jested and finished up my plate. The moment I ate the last of my pasta, a young woman in a traditional Chinese silk dress showed up, seemingly waiting for the opportunity, and she immediately switched my plate out for one with a slice of lasagne on it. "Erm… Thanks?"

She smiled politely and then disappeared as swiftly as she came. She wasn't the only one; since we started eating, I've been seeing similarly dressed servants (or at least I figured they were servants) moving in and out of the room the same way, though they were only catering to Naoren until now.

"I've heard Lenore put in considerable effort to have you relax, so I wonder if it's appropriate to discuss political matters right now."

"Nah, I don't mind," I said with a shrug and cut into my food. "I'm fine, and as for Elly's efforts, it was more about trying to find me a suitable hobby."

"Oh? Did you?"

"Eh? Sort of." I shrugged again and tasted the lasagne before amending, "I decided to accompany Sebastian on his bowling practice, but I'm not sure I would call that a 'hobby' yet."

"I've heard the Esteemed Elder enjoys the sport. Do you believe he would mind if I also joined the next time you engage in it?"

Was he trying to get closer to Sebastian, I wondered. In any case, I had no horse in that race, so I told him, "You can ask him, but I don't think he'd mind."

"That's good to hear." After that, we remained silent for a minute or two as we ate, until Naoren suddenly posed an unexpected question to me. "If you're looking for a hobby, have you considered learning an instrument?"

"… Where did that come from?"

Before responding, he gracefully wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and levelled a good-natured gaze at me.

"I believe Lenore remains rather interested in music, does she not? Wouldn't learning a musical instrument complement your interests?"

"It would in theory, but to be honest with you, I'm musically illiterate," I admitted between bites, and the bespectacled patriarch rubbed his chin in response, as if I just posed a challenging trick question to him.

"In my opinion, it's never too late to start learning. If you so wish, I can introduce you to my family's guzheng instructor. If nothing else, she could teach you about music theory."

"Excuse me, but what instructor was that again?"

"Guzheng," he repeated, and before I could ask for clarification, a pair of nearly identical-looking servant women entered the room, as if triggered by the word.

One of them was carrying a foldable stool, while the other had a wide wooden board in her hands. After the first woman set the stool near our table, the other one kneeled down and set the board (which appeared to be a stringed instrument) upon it. It was some kind of zither, from what I could see, but again, I wasn't exactly well-versed in this topic, so I could be wrong.

It was only when she started plucking a mellow melody on the strings that I realized she was wearing fingerpicks on most of her fingers. They were made of some white material, and while my first guess said 'plastic', seeing how this was some kind of traditional instrument, I would've bet on it being something fancier, like ivory. In any case, I figured this was the 'guzheng' Naoren mentioned just then, and after listening to her playing, I shook my head.

"Sounds pleasant, but I don't think I'm cut out for something like this."

"I understand. If you ever change your mind, my offer still stands." Naoren sounded genuine, so I didn't have the heart to tell him that if I ever wanted to learn an instrument, it would've been something more applicable to the princess's tastes, like an electric guitar or something. In any case, he shrugged off my refusal and asked, "What were we discussing beforehand?"

"You mentioned something about politics."

"Ah, indeed." He stopped to take another sip from his wine, his gaze unfocused and listening to the melody in the background. It didn't last long, and after shaking it off, he levelled a serious pair of eyes at me. "As I mentioned, I personally do not wish to burden you any further, but as the patriarch of Clan Feilong and the Second Seat of the Draconic Council, I feel obliged to inquire you about something."

For the record, those 'Seats' he just mentioned were just honorary titles. Abram was the First Seat, mostly because the council was meeting on his turf, Naoren was the Second, I was the Third, while the representative of the Albion family was the Fourth, and so on. They didn't mean anything (other than literal seating order around the pulpit), and whenever I wasn't around, Arnwald or Roland would fill in for the Third Seat. Yet, Draconians were sticklers for hierarchies and titles like that, be they from the East or the West, so these 'seats' were slowly getting enshrined into the organization's pecking order. But I digress.

"Shoot," I prompted him, and he put his utensils down and linked his fingers on the table.

"You have been rather evasive about this question in public, but I must ask, and I hope you can answer me truthfully: what are your plans with the Celestials?"

That was refreshingly direct, and after some consideration, I decided to be straightforward with him.

"Things are still a bit muddied over in the Elysium, but once the new government is in place, I'm planning to open diplomatic channels to both the Draconic Federation and the Assembly."

"I… expected as much," he noted a touch hesitantly. He probably wanted to ask how 'opening diplomatic relations' made sense when I was already sitting on the Draconic Council, but decided against it. It was a good call, because if he did, the best answer I could've given him was a shrug. "But speaking of governments, what exactly are you planning?"

"I'm still working on it, but I'm probably going to bring back the office of the three Archons, and reform the Directorate into a parliamentary body with some separation of powers and related theory. Think of something along the lines of a constitutional monarchy."

"… Wouldn't that mean you're giving up some of your authority over the Celestial state? Is that wise?"

"Don't worry. It's probably the safest and most sensible option."

In retrospect, omitting that 'probably' from my sentence would've been more convincing, but there was no point crying over spilt milk. I did have my reasons for this course of action though, even if their Doylist nature made it hard to explain them to Naoren.

Put simply, merging with other-me gave me some insight into the workings of the Simulacrum's lore, as well as its mechanics. In easy-to-understand terms, the Simulacrum preferred thematic variety in all matters. It was kind of like one of those writing conventions turned into universal rules, such as that no two people would have the same last name, lest it would confuse the audience.

In that sense, the Simulacrum wanted variety, and that applied to the various factions as well. Pulling the Directorate under the control of the Draconic Federation was probably a bad idea, both on the Doylist and Watsonian sense, meaning I had to rebuild them into something different and unique for the sake of… well, maybe not 'drama', but 'diversity'?

We already had a slew of government systems for the supernatural folks; the direct meritocracy of the Assembly, where the strongest arch-mages became the leaders, the feudal aristocracy of the Abyss, the Draconic Federation was shaping up to be some kind of nepotistic plutocracy (which didn't sound too flattering, but it was the truth), while the Ordo Draconis was a tiny absolute monarchy with me at the helm.

On a side-note, yes, I've been reading Angie's political theory books. What gave it away?

Now, the issue was that the Celestial Directorate used to be something of a minoritarian oligarchy, and trying to change that was tricky. Considering the circumstances, there were only three real options: lean into the military's support, and turn the place into akin to a military dictatorship, leverage the religious reverence of the public to establish some kind of despotic theocracy, or take a step back and try to find a balance between the authority of the Archons and the rest of the government in something resembling a constitutional monarchy.

Needless to say, the first two options were right out. Not only because they were way too much hassle (I couldn't be expected to do all the governing myself while I had all of this meta-nonsense to take care of), but they were also a bit tasteless. I mean, I was already a bit iffy about being a 'King of Knights', even if it was mostly something in name only, so trying to become a despot was something I wanted to avoid like a plague, if only for my own peace of mind.

Ideally, I would've fully shifted the Elysium's government into a representative democracy and called it a day, but because of the theocratic angle (and the Simulacrum's expectations), I was pretty sure it wouldn't have worked out without some zany and wholly unnecessary shenanigans. Maybe in the distant future, once the Celestials mellowed out a bit. For now, the plan was to stabilize the realm, put reasonable people in charge, and then have Angie/Deus take the helm of then as soon as she was ready. Only after that would I retire and wash my hands of the whole affair. But again, that was for way later, and I had much more important things to worry about right now. Like Naoren's next question.

"What's going to happen to the Celestial Intelligence Network and its operations?"

That was a tough one, and I took a gulp from the glass in front of me to buy myself some time to think things through before responding.

"They're… or I suppose we are going to continue operations as before."

"Is that so?" He looked skeptical, almost disappointed. Maybe he was expecting that I would say they would get integrated with the Draconic Federation, I wondered. "Does that also include their suppression and sabotage activities?"

"Yes for the former, maybe for the latter." That made him readjust his glasses, clearly stumped by my answer, so I resolved myself to elaborate. "There was a big conspiracy amongst the mystic folks to assassinate Angie because they were worried that once the CIN no longer maintained the masquerade, it would upset the status quo and cause chaos all over the world, right?"

"Yes, so I've been told."

"Then the solution is simple," I spoke confidently, and just as I finished up my lasagne, another maidservant appeared to switch out my plates. I waited for her to leave, and then theatrically raised a fork into the air. "As the first official act of the new Celestial government, I'll have them declare that they will continue to uphold the rules and maintain the masquerade. Better yet, we can have a treaty involving the Federation and Assembly. If we all agree on this, it should keep tempers in check."

"I mean… it sounds reasonable, but…" Naoren was looking for the right words for a few seconds, but then he finally gave up and concluded with, "I believe it would be best if we informed the Assembly and started drafting up the relevant legislation as soon as possible."

"I already told Lord Endymonion about this, so the two of you should be on the same page. You can try contacting him if you'd like."

Sighing, he shook his head and absent-mindedly poked his pasta with his fork.

"I shouldn't have asked. I should have known you would somehow find new ways to increase our workload."

"Hey, don't look at me as if I'm some kind of workaholic," I objected with just a hint of righteous indignation. "I would like to leave all of this behind me as much as you do and have a fun beach episode with my girlfriends, but it's something that has to be done."

"What was that? Beach episode?"

"It's a long story, and not entirely relevant. You'll see." He accepted my words at face value and finished up his dish. I waited until another servant switched out his plate for a small pile of neatly arranged spaghetti, and then asked, "Was this the 'urgent reason' why we needed to talk today?"

"No, actually. It's…"

He fell silent, and after some fiddling, he took out a small, octagonal wooden box from one of his pockets. It reminded me of a music box, and it was faintly glowing with colourless light, telling me it was an enchanted object. He placed it onto the middle of the table, and when he opened it, there was a small, white stone carving inside depicting some kind of horned animal. I figured it was made of jade, but before I could take a closer look, I was startled by a wave of magic light washing over the table and forming a bubble around us.

I had no idea what it was, yet I stilled my phantom limbs, lest I interrupt its activation. In a few seconds, I was shocked by how quiet everything became. In particular, I could see the woman plucking at her zither just a couple of steps away from us, yet it made no sound.

"Why the sudden secrecy?" I asked with squinted eyes, and my suspicions grew tenfold when the young patriarch awkwardly pulled on his collar.

"It's a topic I… do not wish to leave this table. Regardless of your response."

"Oookay, you are building this up quite a bit. What's this about?"

He took a deep breath and looked me in the eye.

"Leonard… No, Brother. You might not know this, but I have been spending a considerable amount of time in the company of Lady Rinne."

"Yes, I noticed."

"You have?" He looked genuinely surprised by my answer, but if anything, it only served to make him more confident. "That makes this conversation considerably simpler. She is a fascinating woman, and after getting to know her better, I wish to deepen our relationship." He was looking at me expectantly, but when I didn't react in any way, he amended, "In a… romantical sense of the word."

"Yes, I figured. So?"

"I'm asking for your permission," he uttered a touch awkwardly, making me feel self-conscious in the process, because it almost felt like I was the one acting weird.

"Why would you need my permission? She's an adult."

"She's also your chief retainer," he pointed out, sounding like he thought it was a trick question. "It is common sense to inform you of my intent and ask for your blessing to avoid any potential… misunderstandings between us."

Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? Was he under the impression that I was romantically interested in Rinne? Nah, that couldn't be it. But then what? Maybe it was one of those cultural difference things, I figured. Or he might've genuinely thought that if he tried to pursue Mountain Girl without my consent, it would be considered a breach of trust. Like trying to poach her from my employment or something. I wasn't sure, and the situation was weird enough as is, so I didn't want to make it worse by directly asking him about his motives.

"It's all right. Go right ahead," I told him, and his face lit up like I just lifted a huge weight off his shoulders.

"Are you certain?" When I nodded, he let out a relieved sigh and wiped his forehead. "This went much smoother than expected."

I had no idea what he was expecting, but in any case, he hastily closed the lid on the unusual privacy artifact and pocketed it, effectively ending this line of conversation, and we soon returned to inconsequential small talk instead.

At this time, this exchange didn't seem particularly extraordinary. The UST between Naoren and Mountain Girl was so obvious that I even considered it one of the more obvious sub-plots of the Simulacrum, so him openly coming out and telling me about it wasn't that significant. Or so I thought. I should've known better, but that's a story for another day.