"Hey Sophia, when are we going to reach Esvet?" asked James, as he had no idea about the duration of this journey. He expected the carriage to reach Esvet before evening, but it kept moving.

"Milord..." said Sophia in a confused tone. She couldn't understand how the man for whom the journey was made didn't know about the period of the journey himself.

Hearing no reply, James looked at Sophia who wore a confused expression and asked again.

"I asked, when are we going to reach?"

"Another 2 days..."

"Whaaaaaaaat....?" shouted James. He didn't expect that it would take that long. He clearly remembered the distance was not that lengthy when he saw in map. But wait, there was no mention of how many miles or km. This world also had no methods to calculate the distance between two places.

"Shit...". These people calculated distance by days and the mode of transportation was only carriage pulled by horses on land and ships in water, which were too slow compared to what he was used to.

On his trip to Japan, James had travelled from Tokyo to Kyoto on a high-speed Shinkansen (Bullet train) which covered 283 miles or 445 km in just 2 hours at an astounding speed of 320 km/h and now he was travelling at a maximum speed of 5 - 10 km/h. If they had to travel from London to New York, it would take them months by sea and by air was not a thing.

After 10-20 minutes of more bumpy ride, finally the carriage stopped and James breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't have to ride the bumpy carriage anymore for that day and would get to sleep somewhere nice. But his worries had some other plans in mind.

First one to get out was Sophia, who opened the door and gestures Leonhart to exit. As James exited the carriage, a very peculiar sight greeted him. Men wearing steel armor from head to toe, carrying the insignia of Esper Duchy, surrounded him, as if they were protecting him from something.

And they were protecting him from a large crowd who were gathered in front of the mansion of that local lord. It was entirely not their fault, cause seeing the Duke or the man who would become the duke in near future was impossible for commoners like them.

They were staring at James as if they were looking at a rare animal who would go extinct at any moment, and it made him a little too uncomfortable. From his childhood days, James hated attention, and despite achieving impossible feats in his job, he didn't take any credits.

Sometimes he was forced to take credit and James did what no one expected, gave a lengthy shuddering speech about how little work he did, and the actual hero was his team. After that, the company stopped forcing him to take credits.

But now he was Leonhart, a Duke's son, the future duke who held equal power to a prime minister of a country and was used to attention, but for James, it was suffocating. Soon the lord clearing his way through the people, showed up out of nowhere and greeted him. He was a man in his forties with a well-built body and a handsome face named Marquess Michael Von Abercron.

He guided James inside his mansion, which was not big as the castle of Duchy Esper but was somewhat big. He was a Marquess, a second rank nobility, who was below Leonhart's father. James had read about them in the library as how the empire was divided into pieces controlled by powerful lords. First, a duke controlled a vast area, and that area was divided into pieces controlled by Marquesses, then that area was again divided into pieces controlled by Earls and it went like this from Count to Viscount to the lowest rank nobility named Baron.

James was taken into a gigantic room, or what you might say, a guest house, which was prepared beforehand for the night where he rested for a bit and once again was dragged into the dinner table for dinner as it was time. He was not interested in eating with many people as he had cooked for himself for past 5 years, but now as the Duke's son he had to comply to some extravagant formalities.

In the dining hall, he was again greeted by 3 other people, excluding the Marquess. They were his family, his son who was at the same age as Leonhart, his daughter probably 17 or 18, and his wife the Marchioness. James was given the head seat of the table, as he held the most authority over them.

And Soon the lavish food was brought on to the table and after James started eating, everyone began their share of food. James hated the attention and was cursing inside as to why he was put in the spotlight, but the food elevated his experience a little. It was really delicious, the chef had to be praised for his work.

"Lord Leon, I hope you like our hospitality." said the Marquess in a courteous tone. He received the new from the Duchy this morning and had to prepare everything in a hurry but it was done nonetheless.

"Yes... Yes, it's good." said James. He had no experience in talking with these kinds of people, but tried at least.

"This is my son Karl, whom you have met many times in Elenor, and this is my daughter Lina." said the Marquess, pointing to both his children one by one. Michael knew Leonhart was not the duke, but him becoming the duke was set in stone, and gaining his trust and grace was a crucial part if his family had to stay in power.

"Yes, yes." James had no memories of seeing the man named Karl, but nodded with an awkward smile because he couldn't say he didn't meet him as he had no memories of Leonhart.

"I know the royal princess is better suited for a man like you, but my daughter is also the one among the best. And if you want, you can take her as your consort. I guarantee she will serve you with all her might." Michael knew getting the good grace of Leonhart was significant, but if he could somehow establish a relationship with the duke's family by marrying his daughter to him, then it would strengthen his and his family's position even more.

"..." James blinked a couple of time as to confirm what he heard just now. He looked at Lina, who was looking at him with a forced smile on her face. Droplets of sweats could be seen on her forehead, as if she was under some kind of pressure. She was strictly told by her parents to appear appealing before the infamous named Leonhart whom she greatly despised for his obnoxious attitude and behaviour which was known throughout the empire. But did what she was told to, did best in her capabilities to look appealing.

James knew nothing about her struggles, but was hit by the Marquess's words. He had already realised that the daughters of the nobility did not serve any major use for their families as they couldn't be heirs and thus were only used for political gain, and now he saw a live example. It all felt like a business speech, as if the Marquess was promoting some product from which he could gain profit.

"We will see about that in the future." said James with a polite smile on his face, trying his best to avoid the topic. All he felt was pity for the girl named Lina, who was getting sacrificed for her family without her choice.

"Yes, Lord Leon."

"So, why you are going to Esvet Lord Leon?" This time asked the young gentleman named Karl, who knew about his father's plan for sacrificing his younger sister, but didn't quite like it. He had met Leonhart many times in the city and every time would find him in some bar or in some casino betting on useless things. He neither stopped him nor encouraged him. Like his father, he only intervened when his family or power was in trouble. Other than that just minded his own business in seeing the shit show.

"Me... I am just... on a stroll to Esvet. Nothing important." said James, dodging the question. He had some faith in Leonhart's father that he wouldn't say out loud that his son was incompetent and was going to Esvet to learn management. Eventually, everyone would know about that, but the reaction would be less disastrous as compared to now.

"Yes." said Karl. He didn't believe Leonhart's words, but stayed silent without voicing his thoughts. He knew soon or later the truth would be exposed, so there was no point in pressing on the matter.

And this was the last conversation James had with the Marquess' family. As soon as he finished his food, he fled to his assigned room, as he was not in the mood to answer any unnecessary questions. But his troubles didn't end there.