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Goodness, someone has been neglecting your care! Worry not, fair mare—I shall have your coat glistening in no time.
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Hm?
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Hmm. Someone is doing a rather slapdash job of maintaining this equipment. Best take care of it.
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I wasn't aware you were responsible for cleaning the training gear, Ferdinand.
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I am not. Still, I cannot just leave it like this—and all will benefit if our equipment has a longer life.
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In that case, let me lend a hand. I actually enjoy this kind of thing.
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You have my thanks. Perhaps you might be so good as to start with that piece there?
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Say, Ferdinand?
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Are you really a noble?
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I beg your pardon? What a horrid question.
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If I am not considered noble, then who is?
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After all, I am Ferdinand von Aegir!
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Yes, you've made that quite clear on many occasions.
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Then are you attempting to remind me that the succession of House Aegir's peerage is on hold?
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It is unkind to prod at a man's sore spot like that— though I will not hesitate to add it does not mean my rank has been seized entirely.
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That's not what I mean either.
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I understand you hold a noble's rank. It's just... Well, something about you as a person reminds me of a commoner.
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Such cheek! How can I remind you of base rabble when I strive without end to be the noblest of them all?
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Because you take the initiative to muck out stables and clean filthy training gear?
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Most nobles I know wouldn't dream of doing such things—they'd just have the "rabble" do it.
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It is my belief that nobility must serve as a model— nay, a beacon—for the commonfolk.
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Doubly so in places like this, where people of different social status live alongside one another.
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It is precisely because of who I am that I must take the initiative. Such actions make a noble.
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A praiseworthy mindset. But do any nobles besides you actually put it into practice?
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I don't know about the Empire, but I'm dang sure Leicester nobles don't think that way.
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Just seeing commoners makes the bile rise in their throats. I'd say they treat us like animals, except they actually seem to appreciate their animals.
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Lorenz also draws stark lines between nobles and commoners, but he's a little better than the others.
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Well, he is one of the nobles I find to be of merit.
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Regardless, your suspicion is correct—the Empire does have its fair share of nobles who bring shame to the appellation.
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I fear the Empire also has its share of nobles who bring shame to the appellation.
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But I will not allow them to set the standard for Imperial nobility.
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Huh. Maybe there's some kinda cultural difference.