"Good afternoon, Young Master."
An elderly man with a monocle came to my room shortly after I finished lunch. If I was to describe how he was dressed, then the right words would be 'posh'. Long coat, refined vest and all–like someone that came straight out of the Victorian Era.
"You might not remember, but my name is Aldini Steissen. I was employed as your private tutor a long time ago by the Duke."
The elderly man bowed elegantly. It felt so wrong having someone way older than me bowed like that. And did he just say 'the Duke'?
"Now that you're in such a peculiar situation, the Duchess asked me to tutor you once again—to refresh your lost knowledge of noble society."
"Umm…Mr. Steissen.." I called out to him.
"Young Master, just 'Aldini' is fine."
"B-But that sounds rude." I excused meekly.
Mr. Steissen smiled softly then explained, "While I appreciate your gesture, Young Master, in noble society, noble's respect is reserved for their equal and those who are higher than them in rank. Bow your head to your inferior, you will become a laughingstock."
Apparently, this was feudalism based society, with nobles or some sort. And Edelweiss was one of such nobles. Bloodline over everything. You were allowed to disrespect–or even straight up abused those who are lower than you in social strata. I doubt I'd ever get used to it.
"But you're my teacher, right? Shouldn't students pay more respect to their teacher?"
The value that you held for the entirety of your life couldn't be discarded on call just like that. In my case, there was no way I could call my elderly teacher by their name like that. Rude, very rude, even.
Mr.Steissen chuckled, "Well, I guess that's not wrong."
"Fine then. But outside our session, you have to remember your own position in society and address me properly according to the nobility custom, understood?"
"Yes, Mr. Steissen." I nodded in approval.
At least I didn't have to act 'bossy' to my private tutor. That just felt so wrong in many different ways.
"Now then…" Mr. Steissen brought up a thick book with a leather cover. "...Should we begin?"
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Dustcria, The Empire of Dustcria–that was the name of the nation we were on. Monarchy thorough and thorough, it was led by hereditary chosen monarchs. Pretty easy to grasp. We had a few monarchy countries back home on Earth like the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and so on.
As far as my knowledge served me, there were two forms of monarchy : absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy.
Absolute monarchy meant that the monarch held absolute and unlimited power. Their authority and power wasn't limited by written laws, legislatures, courts, or the will of the people, making them virtually dictators on the modern Earth standard.
Meanwhile in constitutional monarchy, monarch's power was limited and restricted by the national constitution. Power was shared between the monarch and a constitutionally organized government, often a parliament. The system was democratic, where monarch's role oftentime was limited to the symbolic purpose.
So, which type of monarchy the Empire adopted?
The answer was a tad bit complicated. In a literal sense, absolute monarchy, yes. In practice though, I wasn't sure.
You see, the nobles were granted some degree of autonomy on how they managed their land. They possessed their own military, social, political and economic power. One noble house rebelled was not a problem for the monarch, but what if multiple families banded together for the said rebellion? It was about numbers. No matter how powerful the royal family, if the vast majority of nobility opposed them, they stood no chance. Whether they like it or not, the monarch and royal family had to play 'nice' with the nobles.
Did the monarch possess unrestricted ability to exercise their will? Yes, they did. Could they do that? Yes, they could. But should they? I didn't think so.
Next, the political faction.
Even with an absolute ruler on top, the Empire wasn't monolithic. The like minded people banded together, opposing their rival–who also banded together. You know, the usual. This was also the reason I wasn't really sure to call it 'absolute monarchy'. The faction would have a hard time accessing resources that lie under territory of the opposing faction's members—even for the monarch.
We have three factions currently : Loyalist, nobility, and the old Emperor faction.
To put it in a simpler way, Loyalists stick with the Royal Family, and nobility fought for the interest of the nobles.
"But what about the Old Emperor's Faction, Mr. Steissen?" I asked.
Read lot of fantasy medieval novels, the terms 'Loyalists' and 'Nobility' faction were easy enough to understand. The problem was the last one. It was awfully specific. Why was it separated from the Loyalists faction?
"The Old Emperor Faction was following the late Emperor." Mr. Steissen explained, "You see, the previous Emperor was quite eccentric. He garnered many followers for his cause, but alas, the current Emperor and Royal Family didn't support his vision."
"So what happened to the faction? Who are they supporting now?"
"They kept fighting to achieve the previous Emperor's ideal."
Even after their backer died? That was odd. If you asked me, you couldn't just create a faction. You needed a believable cause and a powerful figure to rally around. Losing one would be a catastrophic blow to the said faction. So why? Why wasn't it crumbling down already? Why were the members so stupid and not realized the faction was over?
"By the way, the Duchy of Edelweiss was the leader of the Old Empire's faction." Mr. Steissen explained with a smile.
Really now?