This was a minor problem.

I honestly, just didn't want to go to the capital, don't get me wrong, I was thrilled.

When Claire explained the perks of being a Duke, well I couldn't help but get excited. And since the Count granted me the land north of here where our Inn was located. Life wouldn't really become very different, other than maybe some paperwork i would have to do from time to time.

If anything my life will probably get easier.

Susan would surely suffer less headache building the canal. As long as I properly made a proposal to the king, it should be no problem.

If he is a half intelligent king he should understand the benefits of cheap naval transportation between the Kingdom's provinces. And it would also benefit his ocean faring capital as well.

I should be able to accomplish it without too much trouble. I can be pretty persuasive if i need to be.

It was actually Claire who came up with the plan as we headed towards the Inn.

I was grumbling, really, to leave for the capital so soon after I had returned from my flight, it was completely unfair.

That's when she asked to go to the capital alone.

It alarmed me, had I upset her?

I didn't think so.

I'm pretty sure we were actually getting along better than ever.

But it wasn't what i thought..

She wanted to travel to the capital, and then prepare a place for a teleportation void.

In that time I would return to the Bay to investigate.

It was an appealing offer but it also worried me.

I cared deeply for the girl. And it

be dangerous on the road.

When I mentioned those things she blushed and then created a half dozen voids in an instant.

Yeah, I suppose she will be alright.

If she can open that many it wouldn't matter how many opponents, or who they were, they would all fall.

Likely in a gruesome manner. At least the first few.

"Fear and confusion incite escape." That was what Claire claimed, it was likely something she heard from Joseph or her instructor.

Speaking of Joseph he approached me once we reached the Inn, he was looking rather sheepish, I was sure I had mention my forgiving him the night before but it seemed he needed to hear it again.

He seemed equally confused about the King's Decision, but overall celebrated it., I wondered if perhaps he would resign from the Count's Counsel position and jump ship. He chuckled when I brought up the thought.

"You really are just like you're father, a hot head before, and cool and collected after."

"Yo… you knew my father before his Ceremony?"

"Oh, yeah, I grew up in a village near

father's camp. I was quick friends with the boy." He said with a smile as he took a sip of wine. "A bit of a hot head when he was a boy, as I said, a big ego. Much like you were before I hear.

But when I met him again guiding traders to Colgate, he was a totally different man, he aided me in fighting the Demon and shared with me this."

He pulled the blade from its pouch, it was indeed an exact copy of the sword I carried at my belt.

"I should have died that day, I had no right to receive the blade in the first place. It was about to kill me when the hero showed up. He seemingly jumped a dozen feet and stopped its arms with his bare hand. Then with a careful move he ended its life. He said, 'You should have the blades, because all I did was clean up the mess, you were the one who fought.'"

He turned his blade over slowly in his hand. Gazing at it with sadness, Claire could hear the conversation. He glanced at her and bowed his head for a moment.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and told him to right his head.

It seems they held this discussed before, the man once again offered the sword to Claire.

He had apparently done this ever since he first time met her in the Havas training barracks. I chuckled at the action but then the attention quickly turned to me. I was afraid for a moment.

Then the sword was thrust at me, well no, not like that.

It was handed carefully towards me.

Claire and Joseph both looked at me seemingly curious if I would take it.

Honestly the thought of having the set pair was enticing. Extremely enticing.

How could I say no?

Joseph insisted Claire have it, and Claire insisted I should have it. Did I have any right to insist otherwise?

I took the blade thankfully and the moment I touched it I could feel a burst of power.

It felt like the mana of a thousand souls suddenly collided with my body.

A weaker man would have surely died.

Hell, I would have likely died if a few months prior.

I knew there could only be one cause for the surge. It was because I now held both swords. But where had the mana come from? I didn't get a chance to check it out with mana vision first so i didn’t see, had it really been stored in the blade?

The blades seemed to have an attraction, they didn't psychically pull towards each other but when I took a peek via mana vision I could see a thick band of mana flowing between the blades.

As I swirled the twin blades around the band of mana would stretch and tighten, but the blades remained weightless.

They were incredible. They, while once possessing a light shimmer now embered a deep red under the black steel. I noticed a pattern in the pulses of mana and tested something.

The moment I released a carefully aimed pulse of mana the swords ignited with red light.

“Cool.” I blankly said as i held the glowing blades in front of the Inn, a few tribes people looked at me, noticing the commotion when the initial mana burst occurred

It would surely be an intimidating sight, I would have to keep this blade aura in mind in my next fight. Not that i particularly needed another card in my deck but, well…

Anyways, how exactly was this made?

I'm theoretically the most intelligent person in the world, not to brag.

So how could I not understand these blades?

Damn magic.

Making this world confusing around every turn.

I asked about the origin of the blade but neither Claire nor Joseph had ever seen anything like them before.

My mother was actually the one with the most information, she said they were likely an item made by ‘lower gods’.

I quickly brushed off the church talk and began experimenting with pulses of mana inside the blade. It seemed to be able to store a high amount. It was beyond my understanding. Can metal typically hold mana? Because this sword clearly could.

Perhaps it's made from something other than metal.

All these thoughts swirled in my head.

On the other hand, the tribes-people around me just watched me pulse mana with wide eyes.

They all could handle a large pulse without much trouble. Even some of the younger kids in the tribe would have no trouble with what I considered a 'deadly pulse'.

I wondered how our tribes bloodline could possess such high amounts of mana. I then mentally scolded the men and women for not mastering higher levels of magical training.

They were wasting that mana inside them. My mother even, was only 'so' skilled with water magic. But with her endless flows of mana she could likely become an unparalleled master if she only applied herself a bit more. I really felt like scolding her.

Whoa. Which of us is the parent again? I should forget this line of thought, for my health.

I think my earth-self's mother had said a similar thing often. "If you only applied yourself."

I had actually been activating more of ‘

person's personal memories lately.

Typically they were all memories of jobs or interesting museums and TV programs. But now I would find memories of eating breakfast, and family vacations and love.

They were clearly pointless memories, but I enjoyed them almost more than the others.

They were so simple and relaxing. I don't think the boy grew up in a particularly amazing family, but it was a happy, kind home nonetheless. I wonder which of us had a better childhood? Is the grass only greener?

His parents cared for his future, spoiled him, and of course kept things from him.

It reminded me of my current life. It seemed everyone would face these things, but it was interesting how much the two of us had in common, despite the worlds apart.

It had begun to get late. The dynamic duo were again plastered.

The two had talked at length about how worried they were about us. so Claire and I reluctantly forgave the drunks. We again carried the two to their rooms and retired to our own.

As it was my last night home for awhile I enjoyed the night to the fullest, and the hangover I had when I awoke reinforced that notion.

The cinnamon rolls, and yes I would now go so far as to call them 'cinnamon rolls' were delicious.

My mother was in tears when I told her they were perfect. I showed her a basic recipe for frosting and she told me it would be the next thing she mastered.

She had a very determined look on her face when she said that. I accepted the strength but mentally noted that sugar doesn't exist in this world, we would either be forced to use honey or find some source of sugar.

I will have to send out feelers in the Craftsmen Guild. There must be a similar plant to sugarcane in this world.

Most plants here were like Earth’s, I had seen turnips, clovers, oak trees, cinnamon obviously, and various other Earth plants. Since this was the case I assumed other edible Earth plants must be around too. Perhaps they just haven't been discovered yet, or maybe just not popularized yet.

The potato was one in particular i really wanted to find, i had carefully drawn its shape and told Susan to spread the image and a one hundred gold bounty.

Oh, perhaps Count Augustine could help me find earth delicacies. I had heard at length about his various food vacations.

He seemed to perk up yesterday when I told him about the mysterious spice I had discovered. He made a promise to come visit the Inn and try. I doubted it would actually happen though.

Claire and I would leave simultaneously, it would be hard to say goodbye but this plan was surely the best one. I would be able to investigate, and possibly help out the villages in what was now my land, while Claire established a base for teleportation, Claire would then pick me up in two months in Colgate's mage tower.

It was a simple plan, I really didn't see any issue's with it. But still I was worried.

Since Claire would be traveling alone she could move at a much faster pace.

Whenever her horse grew tired she would simply buy a new one.

I was also worried about money but Degin pulled me aside. He said he must show me something he’d been ‘meaning to for awhile’.

I’d heard of the cave we walked towards before, my dad had told me strictly never to approach the entrance. He warned that it could collapse and I would fall to my death below.

I of course listened to him and never drew within a hundred feet of the cave.

Degin walked directly towards the chasm in the ground.

With a graceful hop he disappeared from view.

What?

"You coming?" He asked peeking his head over the lip for a moment.

I inched closer and then looked into the hole, it was dark but Degin was surely standing on stable ground. I took a careful step into the hole and my feet clicked loudly against the floor.

"What is thi…" I began

"The Vault."

He ignited a flame in the palm of his hand with a sharp snap.

Right, I'd forgotten about his fire magic.

Sparkles shone for what seemed like miles. The cave was indeed as vast as my father had claimed, but it wasn't nearly as deep. Likely because the ground was stacked with gold, gems and other precious metals.

Beneath our feet sat goblets, coins, bricks and all variety of valuable objects. It was surely worth millions on earth. I dug through the pile slightly.

Six inches.

A foot.

Three feet.

Perhaps more than millions, this was fort Knox level. Sans security.

There was truly no floor in sight. How much was really here? And how had it gotten here?

"We, for generations kept a small camp here to guard the cave, It was when your father was visiting the cave like, you are now, that he first met your mother, decided to break tradition, and propose on the spot. It surprised everyone, except for Joye."

I see, I had wondered why, and how, my father had decided to move here. I guess he wanted to be nearby that which was most important to him.

I will leave it up for interpretation.

But i was never aware him and Joye were close.

Oh, well i suppose they would have had to be close.

She was intended to be his bride, and they went through the ‘long walk up the mountain’ together as was tradition.

After collecting a few sacks of gold and silver with Degin permission, we exited the cave.

"You know you don't have to ask for it. It's your money, Hawk."

"Ah, no this is my ancestors money. Don't attribute this paltry sum to me." I say with a smile thumbing towards the cave.

"Truly the Hawk's child." He says chuckling at my words.

I was of course joking, this was a substantial sum of money, but when you possess vast quantities of money like that, they are impossible to spend, If I began to spend the gold the market would quickly become overwhelmed by the newly circulating gold.

It was unfortunate that gold wasn't as useful as copper technologically, yet.

If it had been I'd use it as a raw material instead of as money, that way it stays out of circulation and the economy doesn't collapse. I was happy when I'd seen the copper in the vault, it would become a lot of wire, but not nearly enough yet.

Would gold wire work? It would be target for thieves if the information got out surely. I will think on this carefully.

There was no doubt it was almost all unspendable though. Best case we trade it for materials we needed, but 'real best case' we never need materials.

So far iron ore and coal are acquired from a town to the west but if I wanted to move the craftsmen into my Duchy then I would need my own sources, on my own land.

Unless of course i was okay with toppling the economy, but I wasn't thrilled on that prospect so I would add the gold slowly, and only import what i needed.

Two of the bags went to Susan, she would be using it for purchasing materials and paying the Canal builders wages.

They had actually already established a large Guild.

The 'Earth Mages Guild'. It had once been a guild that taught young mages, but after the recent hard times in the district the building had all but been abandoned.

It seemed the excitement for the well paying work was spreading quickly. We already had nearly four hundred people in Havas alone enrolled in the guild. All were preparing for work and learning safety measures. Susan was the right choice as leader for this endeavor. I’m glad we met.

The other bag, of silver, would be for purchasing copper. And again I don't mean the legal way. I had told her to go around and exchange the silver for copper. I also told her the current actual exchange rate of the coins.

She was astounded by what I said.

"Twenty copper for a single silver?! That's far too little."

"Trust me it's not, it's fair. However, once the remaining silver coins are half gone you should assume the rate has gone up to around forty."

"Why?"

"Because of the drain on copper coins. They themselves will become in high demand. Especially once word spreads that someone is selling silver at twenty ¢ a piece."

She seemed to swallow this concept after little time.

The final bag went to Claire, It was slightly smaller so that she wouldn't attract too much attention. It should still have more than enough to buy the dozen horses she would need to make the trip in good time.

Also with enough left over for her to enjoy her time once she arrived. She did seem slightly excited about visiting the Capital.

I had asked if she didn't just want to leave later, or for me to come with her, but she claimed if she went early she could establish her base and teleport back if she truly wanted.

She was also adamant that I help the people in the Bay. I couldn't deny her so I relented.

I think i was just nervous about leaving her side.

We had been together this whole past month. It was hard to even imagine traveling back into the bay without her.

I would have said alone, but I wasn't actually going to be alone.

I'm honestly embarrassed to say I have completely forgotten the names of the couple, but a young family and their son approached me before i received the sword from Joseph last night.

They wanted me to take their son Den with me on my journey.

It seemed he was an earth mage, he had actually grown up with me, I recognized him faintly but didn't know the boy by name. He mostly kept to himself. He was a nice enough kid though so I had no real issue with him going with me.

He had just turned sixteen, so as was tradition he would also take his 'first flight'.

The family was worried about the taciturn boy they assumed he would run into danger. They wanted me to take him into the bay, so he could experience adventure under the guidance of someone strong.

Honestly it sounded like a hassle. But under the terrified glances of the mother and father, I had no choice but to agree. I don't want to be feared, so if doing a few nice gestures now dissuades those thoughts then that will help me.

They thanked me and asked that i not allow him to enter any danger, i assured them of the case.

I waved the boy over and after a few minutes prep we began down the road to Godrick.

The boy’s parents had told it was even alright to just drop him in a town somewhere along the way, they said as long as he could experience life outside the tribe in some fashion the ‘flight’ could be considered a success.

It actually relaxed me slightly that I wouldn't be completely alone on the journey though.

Sure I had the Earthling who was in my head, but he was quiet.

Well silent rather.

He wasn't exactly great company.

I, now that the road was repaired, was permitted to bring Horsey.

It was another aspect that relaxed me about the journey.

But saying goodbye to Claire as she turned towards the bridge was hard.

We prolonged the goodbye for a moment and then both continued towards our destinations. It would be two months before we would see eachother again. And likely much would change in that time.

One thing sure to change was the seasonal lock in the Bay, I would surely end it

So I have two months.

Should be more than enough time to investigate and eliminate the curse, if it truly even is a curse.

My money, if i were a betting man, would be on some kind of barrier.

It was a theory I first had while exiting the Bay days prior.

It was when i first spotted my home in the distance.

I had mana vision ‘on’ at the time.

I was watching the floodlight-looking Inn in the typical cloudy darkness of mana vision, then the next thing I knew the clouds and darkness lifted, as if they had been a heavy blanket.

The beaconous inn still shone bright from my mother’s heavenly aura but the noise surrounding, the clouds and blackness between had vanished.

I could even relatively make out my surroundings while outside the barrier, as opposed to the blackness it had been while inside. I could probably walk with mana vision now without tripping, this could be useful i thought to myself.

The trees had seemingly less mana outside i noticed. The also ground emitted only fractions of the dull cloudy mana. While in the bay the ground seemed to steam with the mana while viewing with mana vision.

When I turned to my back it looked like a large black bubble sat amongst the mountains, resting over the bay.

That's the sight I looked towards now, Den couldn't understand why I had a twinge of fear in my eye.

It was hard not to.

It was an ominously large barrier from the looks of it. It’s likely one similar to what held my mana for 16 years.

But here it was holding back all the mana that every living creature in the massive forest leaked.

As it had for likely the past two hundred years.

There was an incomprehensible amount of mana packed within.

So that explains the ents. They likely are just normal tree's who have ingested too much mana.

I wonder if me destroying the barrier will kill them?

Perhaps.

Well, no. Actually since they already possess the mana they probably won't be stripped, especially since they seemed to generate it in the same way animals and humans do.

So they

be safe when the forest eventually pulses.

Oh, wow. But what about everyone else, I mean like the whole rest of the world outside the barrier. Wouldn’t they all die?

The mana inside this forest barrier was billions of times more than mine. A pulse of that size could do untold damage.

That would be regrettable.

I must avoid that of course.

Maybe I can focus the pulse upwards or downwards.

Well, so far I don't even know if this is all even true yet. I would first need to get to Godrick and get a place for Den to stay, then I would talk with the witch.

A mining town seems the perfect place for an earth spec’d mage right?

The witch should know a way of releasing the barrier, and she might even know the purpose of said barrier. I also want to know any possible reason the barrier could cause the season phenomenon, i was sure they were linked. They both seemed to have the same point of origin.

If not the witch doesn’t know, then i will ask professor mage.

If not him then the Ents, or the Elders.

Then I will take a vacation day in Spider city.

Because I deserve it.

But then I would go to the source!

It seemed to be on the base of the furthest rear mountain, the mouth of the legendary coil. I had probably gotten three quarters of the way there last time without knowing it.

When i was in winter village the mountains cast a great shadow over the town, adding to the chill in the air.

The elders claimed that all that was up river were some tribal ruins and few various structures.

From basic geometry it seemed it must be the place.

And the term ‘various structures’ was kind of a dead giveaway.

But I couldn't imagine what ruins could maintain such a powerful barrier. My life force had maintained my barrier. So what was maintaining this one?

And to maintain a barrier for so long, perhaps it really was some cursed item or something I would have to destroy. Well surely i have to destroy whatever it is. It’s wreaking havoc on this place.

These fantastical thoughts floated in my head unbeknownst to the boy, soon man, who rode a wide donkey beside me.

His mount forced us to slow our pace some, but Horsey didn't seem to mind.

Horsey was a lazy beast, but it's what I loved about him. He was a creature who took after my own heart.

But even at our pace we still arrived at Godrick in record time. These roads were truly something.

I first noticed when the craftsmen guilds flatbed was carrying stone tiles for the road work in the grove.

It had become priority since I owned the area.

I noticed the carts at the time were able to go nearly twice as fast, due to the lack of stones and divots to avoid, and the smooth surface of the tiled road made the wheels roll much easier.

This would surely be one of the technologies that changes this world.

I instructed the craftsmen guild to apply a strict one year embargo on all inventions i gave them, some small things like the plow had already slipped through the cracks but it wasn't exactly a loss. We would still become the main producers of the item once they went up for sale in the coming weeks.

On the contrary I actually wanted competition for the plow, that’s why we leaked the document.

We would sell the items at cost, making nothing. So any craftsmen who tried to copy the item would need some major ingenuity to make it for cheaper. And unless you could make it cheaper or better you couldn't sell it for long. This was especially true in this world.

I expect they will likely connect the blades directly to the device instead of using replaceable blades like ours.

This was surely an option, but the farmers would get sick of repairing them each time they struck a stone, and they will either switch to ours, or complain to the builder.

Godrick should be renamed Goldrick.

At this point they even had the stuff adorning their homes. It was a bit excessive.

But, as they had hired some of my tribe members to guard the place, they felt no worries showing off their newfound wealth.

It made me happy, my people are already prosperous. And they didn't even know they were my people yet.

I would enjoy this peaceful time while I could.

I wasn't sure of the extent, but i was sure I would have much to do as a Duke.

We enter the brand new Inn and marvel at the construction. It was a new technique i had introduced, but i have never seen it before.

Rammed earth.

Large sheets of metal were placed on either side of where a wall was to be built. The miners or farmers would then scoop dirt into the form and compress it with magic, or manual labor. Then the forms were taken away to reveal a thick insulated earthen wall. The forms were handy for people like miners and farmers, who had the ability to dig and compress dirt, but had no way to shape it and form it like the highly trained craftsmen.

I suppose the ability to build a house isn't worth a few extra years of training.

Lazy, I will nip that in the bud.

Required schooling.

Ah, although I say that, I haven't actually attended school myself, maybe I should before I require attendance.

After Den ran his hands over the surface of the compressed wall for a few moments, marveling at the building we sat down for a meal, and drink.

The whole time we traveled Den hadn't said a word, and still he sat mouth shut.

While i enjoyed the time to think, it made me slightly uncomfortable, maybe it was best if he was left here for the time being.

"So, Den was it? I know we grew up together but I don't know you well, tell me about yourself."

"Ah, Uhm, Well… There's not much to say Mr.Hawk sir."

"Just Drew is fine. Were the same age after all."

"Ah, but… But i'm…"

"Doesn't matter, I'm fine. The title of Hawk is not really my style anyways. But really? There's nothing about yourself you feel you could talk about at length? I feel like everyone has something like that."

"Mh, I enjoy taking care of the animals. But that's not much to talk about that."

"Ohho? I hope Horsey doesn't cause you any trouble."

"Hors… " The boy said clenching his lips tightly.

"Mm, that's the name I've given the horse I rode here."

The boy erupts, I had figured it would happen, he had been stifling a grin a moment ago. Not to mention the fact that after my strong persisting he had accepted a cup of wine.

"You… you name them too?" He pants through laughter.

"Oh, you too?"

He calms himself and wipes his eyes regaining himself. "I named the goats. Eustace, Eugene, Euphy, and Eunise. You know I really have to say Drew, you are more different than I thought."

"Hold that thought, why 'Eu' names?"

"Well because goats go, 'EUUUUUUUUUUU!'" He suddenly bleats loudly, surprising a nearby craftsmen.

"No, No No, you are wrong it's definitely 'BEEEEEEEEEEE!'" I return after slapping down my cup.

The two of us compare impressions for a moment before being shut up by the craftsmen and laughing wildly to ourselves.

This guy, was a good guy.

He was quiet but he surely had something he could talk about at length.

My father had once told me to judge a person by weather they can speak with passion about a subject. It doesn't matter the subject, if someone can talk with fire in their eyes they could be trusted.

This man could be trusted.

"So what did you expect me to be like, you say I'm different."

"Well I thought you were lazy when you suddenly slept for awhile, and it was over your birthday too, something i was so looking forward to myself,yet you had just slept through yours like it was nothing. I was sure you would get in trouble and not be allowed on your first flight, maybe even lose your position as Hawk. But instead when you finally got off your butt you were suddenly a different person, you seemed, smarter, and more ambition. Before that you were, not exactly a bully but, you would be upset by the smallest issues. But after, none of the previous fire inside you burned, it was like you had been doused in water. You turned from a raging bonfire to slow safe burning charcoal.But that's not to say you lost your heat, in fact it's probably more concentrated and dangerous now. You are the difference now between a blunt axe and a razor-edged dagger. You can very likely spot you’re actually targets now instead of just blaming the world when you saw injustice."

This man is articulate in the common language as well, he must read often at the library in Havas. And what do you think i am, a superhero? I know you’re parents are tribe fanatics but cool your jets.

I am relieved he has opened up though. I supposed there was no harm in telling him, I'm sure it had been left up to my discretion.

"You're parents told you nothing about what happened to me in those days?"

"They told me if I was seen as worthy the Hawk may tell me."

Oh god what have these parents indoctrinated this kid with.

"Remember, calm; not the hawk, Drew."

"Ah, yes, I know I just was repeating what they said, they see you and your father with great reverence. It is hard for me not to as well, I'm aware these innovations are your doing" He says pointing to the rapidly assembled building we were staying in.

"Right, well what i'm about to tell you, I would prefer others not…" I began to say before slapping my forehead with a grin.

I was thinking too hard, i just had to explain it to him via an ‘intent message’. Then no one could eavesdrop on the conversation.

How had I forgotten. Silly, silly me.

I need to figure out how to explain it to Den, it was such a long explanation that I really should start at the beginning with the meaning of our tribe.

"Does it have something to do with the 'education era's'" He asked moving in and whispering.

"Oh well if you know the gist of the story that makes things easier." I said before finishing the story via intent. I explained about the ceremony, the witch, everything.

While I sent the message to Den, he just looked at me with a glazed look, he seemed amazed that i had just spoken with his consciousness.

Well spoken

, and it was his mana, not his consciousness, but he doesn't need to know all that yet.

I had to be careful or he would begin to think I'm some sort of god. I must not show him my ability to resuscitate people.

I explained to him that basically the voice was a form of magic and he seemed very interested, it seems he trains magic a lot in his spare time, he had even neared earth-forming level magic. He could probably build a building like this without forms after a little more training.

A little more work and he could begin training to replace Susan.

I realize now i should introduce him to professor mage instead of the mine boss. I lightly smack myself for planning on sending this kid to work in a mine for his ‘first flight’, that was really dumb, even if it is an opportunity to make lots of money it's still dangerous, exhausting work, not something a smaller bookworm like Den would enjoy.

No, the professor mage's tower was the place for him. He could read from among the seemingly endless books the mage had on magic.

He is also probably around the same level, magically as the young mage assistant girl that we rescued. Perhaps they would become classmates.

Ah that would be wonderful.

That is a much better plan for a first flight, he will surely come back stronger.

"I know where we will go!" I exclaimed lifting from my seat suddenly.

The wine disagreed with my decision and promptly forced me to slump back down. I received a few odd glances from the workers.

Someone mumbled something about ‘learn to handle your liquor’

If these people knew I was their Duke perhaps they would be embarrassed by me.

Oh well. They will get over it.