Problems

There was seemingly no good solution to Richard’s predicament. He wasn’t a particularly eloquent orator, and even if he was there wouldn’t be any real way to argue for a dukedom right now. The person who brought up the topic had caught the perfect timing; in only a few more months, the Archeron armies would be marching around Norland to expand the family’s territory.

Even after a long period of thought, the only reason Richard could come up with for the motion was to block him from getting a dukedom in the near future. As per tradition, it would be another year before he could call upon another vote to give himself a title, but that couldn’t be the end goal in and of itself. There was some reason for his title to be barred at this moment, but he couldn’t figure out what tangible benefits that would bring to anyone.

Dukes were the pinnacle of regular nobility in any of the three empires. The next higher status was that of a prince, although both titles were actually more on equal terms depending on the empire. Being a prince required...