"It's a pleasure to meet you in person, I'm Vlad, mayor of this magistrate. Please, have a seat."

The city could be privately owned by a noble like it was a case for Pilzno or even Tarnow, but all cities and towns like that were required to house a magistrate and royal mayor. Strictly according to the law, mayor of private cities wasn't in charge of the city, but of the magistrate located within its borders, and tasked with maintaining the status quo between the citizens and nobility.

At least, that's how it was supposed to work in the first place, but like everywhere, with the passage of time, this function evolved from a royal servant to a quasi-governor, with whom the nobles owning the place had to maintain a good relationship. After all, while they held the power over the magistrate and could in theory request to the King to change the mayor… In most of the cases, the crown would investigate what caused the strife instead!

"Likewise."

Sitting down as per Mayor's invitation, I noticed with content that despite out positions as a noble and royal servant were considered to be the same, Vlad still remained standing for the time it took all of us to take a rest on the comfy chairs stacked around the room. If this guy were to look like I expected him to, I would insist on him taking the seat first due to his respectable age… But to my own surprise, this guy turned to be only a few years older than me!

"Would you like to have some tea? Or maybe you would fancy a coffee?"

Most likely in an attempt to flaunt his wealth, this guy actually proposed us a coffee! I didn't miss it only because so far, I didn't have the chance to realise how I longed for it! Being an everyday commodity in the future, in my current reality, it's worth was akin to its weight in a damned gold!

"If it's not too much trouble, I would love to have a cup of coffee. With two spoons of honey and a tad of milk if you would be so kind."

While for everyone gathered in the office, this kind of request would be akin to a heresy… The big kind one, when one instead of arguing about some minor detail would preach that God wasn't a divine being and pope was nothing more than just another secular ruler!

With how expensive every single bean of the coffee was, people tend to va[lue it to no end, often classifying the blend as first brewing, second brewing, even up to a seventh brewing, where the remaining pasta would struggle to even colour the water dark! Asking to dilute the coffee with milk, and hide its perfect, strong taste with honey?

But what could I do? I never liked black coffee! While it was only a part of my childhood misconception, whenever I wanted to drink something, I wanted to do it fast to sate my thirst. With my parents drinking said black coffee only in the traditional way, I grew up to associate the blackness of the coffee with the annoying grounds mixed evenly into the drink!

"Ugh… Okay then. Marie, would you be so kind?"

Shouting lightly while trying to cover the look of extreme annoyance on his face, Vlad even used the chance to move his head and cover his face with his hand in order to take that bothered-to-no-end expression out.

On the other hand, the rest of my company didn't bother to hide the disgust from their faces, most likely trying to bank on the fact that only Elia was sitting beside me, with our retainers taking the back seat in the room!

"Anyway, what brings you here in our humble abode, sir Mike and lady Elia?"

While everyone was still waiting for the drinks to be served, Vlad finally asked about our reason for being here while proving that he was at least competent enough to recognise his lawful lord.

Instead of explaining myself or the point of our mission here, I simply reached to the side, grabbed Elia's hand and raised it above the desk that the mayor was sitting behind, showing him the ring on her finger.

"Oh, that's a beautiful ring you have, young lady! Is that by any… chance…."

Midway through his sentence, Vlad connected the points and stood up energetically, as if with the intention of snatching the ring from Elia's hand, only to redirect his face and look at me with a weird look on his face.

"Yes, it is. I hope you understand what it means for this city."

Since I agreed with Elia to let her keep the rights and ownership of the city, I couldn't just plainly explain it to the mayor. He had to make his own assumptions, basing on what little information I was going to fed him, while still making the choice I needed him to make.

"Yes… Yes… I understand I'm just worried about what it means for this place."

In the end, the rightful heir of this city was now marrying a local powerhouse. How would the step-family that so far governed it be able to stay there? Right now, Vlad could either support Elia's family for the sake of keeping things how they used to be, but he would risk not only me pushing my claims forward anyway but also a serious punishment from the crown, as an official who betrayed his duty. On the other hand, supporting my side of this incoming conflict would put the city he ruled at risk of unrest!

No matter which way he turned, there was someone ready to fuck him up!

"Excuse me!"

Just as I was about to explain what sort of countermeasures I prepared for the sake of Elia's family trying to stop me from taking over the city, Vlad's secretary pushed the small side-doors with her butt, careful to not spill any drop from the multiple cups she was carrying on a silver platter.

Diffusing the tension with her slightly clumsy behaviour, she didn't care about the papers stacked on mayor's desk, placing the platter right on top of them, before proceeding to pass the cups around the room.

"Would you be so kind as to bring me some hot water?"