Afterword - Book 2 - Chapter 31 (Patreon)

Chapter 31: Various Little Duties II

(Original Chapter Title: Various Little Duties)

A lot of his chapter was new, hence why I broke the OG chapter into two. I had just oversimplified Ranthia's social/party obligations and I wanted to give the reader a closer look.

Plus, there was no way the emperor's wife wasn't going to try to cozy up to Ranthia while she had the chance. Elaine was guileless to the woman's machinations, and I wanted to play with Ranthia's own reactions.

A lot of people expected there to be some major incident when Ranthia started to attend parties, but... I never really planned for there to be one. Ranthia may not have any social Skills, but she has social skills. She knows how to be polite and she can do charming, no matter what Tertia said—she just often doesn't want to.

It's like Ranthia said to herself during the chapter, it's fun in small doses. But overall she treats it as another facet of her duties.

When it came to her encounter with Sextia, this is probably one of the most noticeable moments where Ranthia is a bit too on-guard. She has numerous moments like these, but you're also reading her perception (often along with her explanations/justifications). Sextia is certainly a [Sinister Schemer], but she's also not lying—she truly has been behind some of Remus' societal improvements. She and Ranthia aren't entirely dissimilar in what they'd like to see out of society.

Too bad Ranthia will never trust her.

I'm glad I expanded the social sections. Sure they arguably don't add anything material to the story, but it's a (hopefully) fascinating look at a facet of Ranthia that we hadn't otherwise seen. And that was worth adding a chapter.