Princess Henriette's Birthday Ball IC

[Kwatemalija]

It was only after the arrival of the second pair, that Henriette noticed all the new comers and promptly excused herself to greet them. Seeing her mother was already speaking with the rulers of Draycora, she approached the delegation from Kwatemalija. "Welcome, welcome. We are just getting started, please grab a drink and join us. How was your trip?"

"Our trip was good," Laurien explained, "But, you know, better late than never," she then pulled off a grin.

"Anyways, we'll be making our way," Florentijn chimed in, "And hey, happy birthday," he then winked.

The pair made their way into the party, this time letting go of their arms. There, they made themselves get drinks as the Princess suggested before immersing themselves into the crowd.

[Parina]

The Grand Duke detected a hint of curiosity in the Margrave's question so he decided to elaborate on the program in his response. "Yes, she has just started. As you may know it is traditional in our family for the men to train for military service, but these are modern times and she wanted to follow this tradition. Of course, in my time I trained directly at a military academy, but because we have such a small military, we train most of our officers in a joint education program with the university, we were inspired from other nations that use a similar program to train officers for their reserve. We decided this program is best for Princess Henriette, because there is more women on campus and she will be able to get a university degree thus prepare her better for an unpredictable future. That is with a broader education, she will have more options."

The Grand Duke was obviously proud as he talked about his daughter. "What about Lady Minerva? Does she already have plans to study?" he inquired.

“Both of my sons entered the service,” the Margrave said proudly. “I am glad our nations share an understanding of the benefits of having the young men in families of nobility serve in the military. Perhaps sometime in the future we might discuss establishing some sort of exchange program to allow our officers to learn from one another? Not now – I wouldn’t want to distract from the Princess’ celebration.” The offer was earnest, though if someone had asked the Margrave in confidence John Cloves would have told them that he expected that the officers from Vals Hyrserd would have much more to learn from their Parinan counterparts than vice versa. Especially officers trained on normal university campuses, with women running around distracting them.

“I agree that a broad education is a good approach,” he opined to the Grand Duke. “The world seems to speed up with every passing year. Best to be as prepared as one can be. Minerva has expressed an interest in going into medicine – Danarum University has an excellent program in that field.”

Holding the trim of her dress in her hands as she moved about the floor, Carpathia took time to admire the museum exhibits on display. Honestly this probably was one of the best venues to hold a party in, odd as it was, it sure did make things entertaining. Another woman approached her, introducing herself and where she was from.

"Pleasure to meet you, Minerva, I'm Carpathia from Kuronami. As a matter of fact I was just taking time to admire some of what the museum shows. Pretty nice stuff so far if I must say so. What about you, anything interesting you've seen that maybe I've missed?"

“It’s all very interesting,” Minerva replied. “I haven’t seen the history part of the museum yet. We have a lot of this kind of thing in our own science museums back home,” she said as she gestured to the fish hanging from the ceiling. “But I don’t know anything really about the history of this place.”

[Kuronami]

"Yeah it is. Should we go check on your sister?" He asked.

"I think that'd be a wise idea. If you don't mind, you're welcome to come along with me to track her down."

“It’s all very interesting,” Minerva replied. “I haven’t seen the history part of the museum yet. We have a lot of this kind of thing in our own science museums back home,” she said as she gestured to the fish hanging from the ceiling. “But I don’t know anything really about the history of this place.”

She looked up at the fish hanging as Minerva gestured to it then returned her eyes with her "I don't know anything either. Honestly I'm mostly tagging along here with my older sister. "

[Aurreliae]

"I think that'd be a wise idea. If you don't mind, you're welcome to come along with me to track her down."

He smiled and looked at her. "I don't mind at all. I'm glad to help."

[Draycora]

Grand Duchy of Vals Hyrserd. At the National Museum.
-- The Häkkinen Couple

Victoria was confused at how a place could be gallant, but she took it as a compliment. "Thank you" she said with a smile. "The Grand Duke is in perfect health, as am I" Then she reassured the Princess, "No we have just started, you are hardly late at all, we haven't even started dancing yet."

The prince noticed the slight confusion of the Grand Duchess before her answer, and it amused him. He was known to play with the words, that was probably something typical Elvish.
"That's wonderful," the lady began, even if the question of the delay was also conventional. "We want to enjoy the celebration in all parts and not disappoint the princess".

[Parina]

“It’s all very interesting,” Minerva replied. “I haven’t seen the history part of the museum yet. We have a lot of this kind of thing in our own science museums back home,” she said as she gestured to the fish hanging from the ceiling. “But I don’t know anything really about the history of this place.”

She looked up at the fish hanging as Minerva gestured to it then returned her eyes with her "I don't know anything either. Honestly I'm mostly tagging along here with my older sister. "

Minerva knew what it felt like to be a young child of someone with important but horribly boring duties. She had attended her share of balls, receptions, and other events as the daughter of a Margrave. "It seems like everyone here has sisters," Minerva joked. "We must have gotten an incomplete invitation, or my father might have asked someone with more than one daughter to attend instead."

Minerva wondered how important this ball was. It seemed to have brought people from very far away for such a small nation. "Kuronami - I don't think I've heard of that country before. Is it far away?"

[Vals Hyrserd]

Grand Duchy of Vals Hyrserd. At the National Museum.
-- The Häkkinen Couple
[spoiler]

Victoria was confused at how a place could be gallant, but she took it as a compliment. "Thank you" she said with a smile. "The Grand Duke is in perfect health, as am I" Then she reassured the Princess, "No we have just started, you are hardly late at all, we haven't even started dancing yet."

The prince noticed the slight confusion of the Grand Duchess before her answer, and it amused him. He was known to play with the words, that was probably something typical Elvish.
"That's wonderful," the lady began, even if the question of the delay was also conventional. "We want to enjoy the celebration in all parts and not disappoint the princess".

[/spoiler]

Victoria smiled as if the idea that her guests could disappoint her daughter could only be a joke. "Of course you do, no one is disappointed, so don't worry about anything. Have some drinks and relax."

The Grand Duke detected a hint of curiosity in the Margrave's question so he decided to elaborate on the program in his response. "Yes, she has just started. As you may know it is traditional in our family for the men to train for military service, but these are modern times and she wanted to follow this tradition. Of course, in my time I trained directly at a military academy, but because we have such a small military, we train most of our officers in a joint education program with the university, we were inspired from other nations that use a similar program to train officers for their reserve. We decided this program is best for Princess Henriette, because there is more women on campus and she will be able to get a university degree thus prepare her better for an unpredictable future. That is with a broader education, she will have more options."

The Grand Duke was obviously proud as he talked about his daughter. "What about Lady Minerva? Does she already have plans to study?" he inquired.

“Both of my sons entered the service,” the Margrave said proudly. “I am glad our nations share an understanding of the benefits of having the young men in families of nobility serve in the military. Perhaps sometime in the future we might discuss establishing some sort of exchange program to allow our officers to learn from one another? Not now – I wouldn’t want to distract from the Princess’ celebration.” The offer was earnest, though if someone had asked the Margrave in confidence John Cloves would have told them that he expected that the officers from Vals Hyrserd would have much more to learn from their Parinan counterparts than vice versa. Especially officers trained on normal university campuses, with women running around distracting them.

“I agree that a broad education is a good approach,” he opined to the Grand Duke. “The world seems to speed up with every passing year. Best to be as prepared as one can be. Minerva has expressed an interest in going into medicine – Danarum University has an excellent program in that field.”

Holding the trim of her dress in her hands as she moved about the floor, Carpathia took time to admire the museum exhibits on display. Honestly this probably was one of the best venues to hold a party in, odd as it was, it sure did make things entertaining. Another woman approached her, introducing herself and where she was from.

"Pleasure to meet you, Minerva, I'm Carpathia from Kuronami. As a matter of fact I was just taking time to admire some of what the museum shows. Pretty nice stuff so far if I must say so. What about you, anything interesting you've seen that maybe I've missed?"

“It’s all very interesting,” Minerva replied. “I haven’t seen the history part of the museum yet. We have a lot of this kind of thing in our own science museums back home,” she said as she gestured to the fish hanging from the ceiling. “But I don’t know anything really about the history of this place.”

"That is a fine idea, but you are right, it will have to be discussed later, and in a more official capacity. I don't want my ministers to feel snubbed."

"I have heard of Danarum University. You must be very proud."

[Kuronami]

Minerva knew what it felt like to be a young child of someone with important but horribly boring duties. She had attended her share of balls, receptions, and other events as the daughter of a Margrave. "It seems like everyone here has sisters," Minerva joked. "We must have gotten an incomplete invitation, or my father might have asked someone with more than one daughter to attend instead."

Minerva wondered how important this ball was. It seemed to have brought people from very far away for such a small nation. "Kuronami - I don't think I've heard of that country before. Is it far away?"

Carpathia chuckled "Well they say when it comes to nobility just about everybody is related somehow. Well I'll admit it's kind of my own doing, I insisted I spend time with her, anytime. She's a real social butterfly, she likes to come to these events herself more than just sending her ministers to do the job. Oh well, dull as it can be it's not as though we didn't have plenty of time together before the party. She's terribly affraid of heights you see, she refuses to fly ever so she has a very highly advanced yacht, built by The Selkie people from The Freelands. So we have a voyage in coming here. Oh far away? I'd say it's a decent pace from here, we're pretty far south in the Greater Dienstand region. But we have a land border to our north so it's not like we're all by our lonesome either."

[Draycora]

Grand Duchy of Vals Hyrserd. At the National Museum.
-- The Häkkinen Couple

Victoria smiled as if the idea that her guests could disappoint her daughter could only be a joke. "Of course you do, no one is disappointed, so don't worry about anything. Have some drinks and relax."

"Well, then," said the prince. "This is an offer that you are reluctant to refuse". The couple looked around where the drinks were and, politely, waited for them and the Grand Duchess to sit down.

[Parina]

"I have heard of Danarum University. You must be very proud."

“Quite proud,” the Margrave replied, the pride obvious in his tone of voice. “She could be a fine physician. But of course she’s just started, so she may yet decide to pursue some other line of study.”

Carpathia chuckled "Well they say when it comes to nobility just about everybody is related somehow. Well I'll admit it's kind of my own doing, I insisted I spend time with her, anytime. She's a real social butterfly, she likes to come to these events herself more than just sending her ministers to do the job. Oh well, dull as it can be it's not as though we didn't have plenty of time together before the party. She's terribly affraid of heights you see, she refuses to fly ever so she has a very highly advanced yacht, built by The Selkie people from The Freelands. So we have a voyage in coming here. Oh far away? I'd say it's a decent pace from here, we're pretty far south in the Greater Dienstand region. But we have a land border to our north so it's not like we're all by our lonesome either."

“I know a little about Dienstad,” Minerva mentioned. “Some of the big shipping barons in Port Royale talk about it when they come and visit my father.” Port Royale was a large trading center, and it fell under the Margave of Brittingham’s jurisdiction.

“I haven’t been to sea much – we went sailing on the coast last year, but we never left sight of the shore. I can’t imagine being out with nothing but water all around. I’d rather be on a horse,” she said with a laugh.

[Kuronami]

“I know a little about Dienstad,” Minerva mentioned. “Some of the big shipping barons in Port Royale talk about it when they come and visit my father.” Port Royale was a large trading center, and it fell under the Margave of Brittingham’s jurisdiction.

“I haven’t been to sea much – we went sailing on the coast last year, but we never left sight of the shore. I can’t imagine being out with nothing but water all around. I’d rather be on a horse,” she said with a laugh.

She nodded "That's what i've heard too, very much a maritime region. With so much open sea I guess it's no surprise. Well it can be rather intimidating to be with just long empty horizon ahead but water but honestly after a while I forgot about it myself."