"Not often, you know, Amelia. I'm not as smooth-tongued as Laine." The Emperor shrugged with a touch of humor, and shifted his gaze to Laine, who was chatting with Boris, Vamil and the others in the distance. "He's very popular with women, am I right?"
"You are too, Carl." Amelia sounded a little resentful as she brought it up; after all, she had never gotten a marriage. The Empire Countess said casually, "But you're too weak, Carl. Let me think… if you weren't using the Divine Hammer Gail-Malaz, and not wearing that Silver Seal plate armor blessed by all the Deities of the Old World, would you be any match for Laine?"
