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