Chapter 4: Replacement

To Olaf’s surprise, the duke invited him and Colonel Crenshaw to have lunch with him, at a separate table in the dining room. Olaf didn’t even have a chance to find a seat or feel out of place. He could only shrug and go along with events when Becker gave him a subtle teasing smirk and softly addressed him as ‘Lord Olaf’ as he held Olaf’s chair after doing the same for the duke.

“Both young Olaf and I have a lot to learn over the next months,” Duke Wilbur said to the colonel as they ate. “I grew up as the son of a duke, and grew old as the brother of another duke, but I never even dreamed of events such as what is happening now. I can only guess at the bewilderment you must feel,” he said to Olaf.

“What exactly is your background. Lord Olaf?” Colonel Crenshaw asked. Olaf nearly cringed at the Imperial Marine Corps Colonel calling him a lord. He knew he was going to have to get used to it but it still felt weird.

“I grew up on a small island off the coast of New Oslo, Colonel,” Olaf explained. “At least I never considered joining the fishing fleet, which is what all men on the island do. My mother died six years ago and since then another widow has been taking care of me. It seems somebody had decided to sponsor me to attend a prep school in New Oslo, preparing me for going to university. I was grabbed off the beach just after I finished my junior year in high school.”

“Since your grandmother knew about you, it seems she had plans for you all along,” the duke said. “You would never have been allowed to become a fisherman,”

Olaf noticed that the other youngsters, especially the girls, kept shooting him looks during lunch. As usual, Herman was stuffing his face, happy and seemingly ignorant. When Olaf caught Lady Lucia’s eye, she actually smiled at him.

“Olaf, come walk with us,” Duchess Victoria demanded after lunch. She didn’t even wait and just put her hand in Olaf’s elbow as she led him and Lucia out of the villa.

The duchess led them across the paving in front of the villa past the flagpole where the flag of the duke of Ceres was hanging at half-staff. Beyond the flagpole was a paved walking path towards the cliffs. The path ended up just before the gravel hiking path that Olaf found that morning, but the paved path ended at a seating area overlooking the sea. The duchess pulled her grandchildren down on the stone bench on either side of her.

“Olaf, your cousins all seem to insist on shunning you for being a commoner, except for Lucia,” the duchess said. “Tell us, Lucia, why are you treating him differently?”

“I don’t really know,” she said. “When he walked into the library last night, it was obvious he was not one of us, but at the same time, I just got this idea that while he seemed very shy, he was not intimidated by us, not like a real commoner would be when he finds himself in the presence of the rulers of the system.”

“The family of the rulers of the system,” the duchess corrected her with a smile. “I would have loved to observe him when he first walked in there, but I was a bit distraught.”

“He is quite handsome as well,” Lucia muttered softly as she peeked past the duchess and then blushed as the duchess giggled.

“Well, Olaf, you are definitely not a commoner, and never really were,” the duchess said as she patted his thigh. “I guess we had better start educating you on the proper behavior of a nobleman. I have not noticed any obvious behavioral shortcomings in you; you know how to use the proper cutlery, you know how to react to a lady, you have a firm and commanding posture, not to mention the looks of a nobleman.”

“I would like some background information,” Olaf said. “My mother told me, before she died, that the cottage I grew up in was specially built for her. She also received regular funds on a quarterly basis, so she didn’t need to work in the fish processing plant on the island. Those funds kept coming after her death, allowing the widow who had become her friend to continue looking after me, and even saved up some of it so I could go to the mainland school, which turned out to be not necessary since I was sponsored anyway.”

“And then you used those savings to sponsor that little girl,” the duchess remarked.

“You know about Aster?” Olaf asked.

“I told you; I met your mother when she was pregnant with you.” The duchess said. “Your father accepted his duty to provide for your mother once he realized he was the father of her baby even after Duke Eric prohibited him from claiming her even as his concubine. Your father had that cottage built for her and then set up the funds to support her and you. I kept track of what your father did and arranged to have the payments continue when your father was not able to do it anymore.”

“Why was grandfather so against Olaf’s mother?” Lucia asked.

“Look at how your cousins and even their commoner husbands, even your father, reacts when they think they are not being treated as nobility,” the duchess said. “Every one of my daughters, and their commoner husbands, as well as each of my grandchildren, except for Olaf, are members of the nobility only because they happened to be related to a duke. Your father and uncles are all knights, which makes them honorary nobility but not lords. They should be addressed as ‘Sir’, not ‘lord’, but their imitation status has gone to their heads. Your father, Carl, suffered from the same swollen head thing. He was too embarrassed to introduce a girl from the fisher-folk to his family. Unfortunately your grandfather also suffered from that sense of self-importance. I would not be surprised if Carl was only too happy to not claim Olaf’s mother when he was told to abandon her. This fake superiority might be part of what caused your grandfather to be killed. It is time we stop looking down on the regular people.”