Chapter 4
One week later, life at the inn was going along quite busily for the ten former concubines of Natonito. Both through word-of-mouth advertising and those attractive posters, handsome and wealthy noblemen were lining up outside the door for the chance to woo the most eligible bachelorettes in West Fenia. The cleric was sitting and admiring the scene as well.
As the men would come one by one to try to show their credentials and woo the ladies, they would have some definite responses and questions to the noblemen in order to pare down the interested nobles into the ones that were the best fits for future consideration.
"Would you be committed to a monogamous relationship with me without consorting with mistresses and prostitutes?" they would ask.
"Yes, of course," the noblemen would reply.
"Do you promise to give up half of your wealth and property in a divorce settlement if you break that oath?" the women would respond.
"Um," most would stammer in response, though a few noble ones said, "Yes, I would give half of my wealth because I never plan on cheating on someone as beautiful as you." Those who said that, were, by and large, pretty honest about it.
"What sort of husband do you think you would be for me," they would also ask.
Some, who had previous relationships, said "I would be loving and kind, and respectful of you." To which the women would reply, "Why did your other relationships fail? Were you too concerned with yourself?"
Some, including the nicest among the noblemen, said, "I have never been in a relationship before, but I would cherish and love you and let you know how glad I would be to have you by my side." To which the girls replied, "And I would respect you and let you know how glad I would be to be by your side."
This sort of interaction went on throughout the entire day. After the day was done, the young women each had about five to ten guys among the whole group that were, in their opinions, worth further consideration. They considered it flattering that so much attention had been brought to them. Perhaps the men of the Empire were more desperate for good women then they thought, though most of them men who were not married they thought were creepy. Some of them were poor and intelligent, which was not a problem for some of them, and some of them were nice young nobles just beginning their search for wealth and power and love. The young women all agreed that the nicer young men close to their age were their favorites.
Humorously enough, the young ladies were not alone in finding a chance for love. While the men spoke and questioned and sometimes hemmed and hawed, the graduate student in theology was writing an article on dating customs, as well as working on his thesis some, and the bartender came up to speak with him, her shift being done.
"Are you busy there?" she asked him shyly.
"Well, I am just working on a little writing. Are you on the job?" he replied.
"My shift is over, and my relief just came," she said.
"Then come and sit down, it is a relief to talk to a human being. That is why I do my writing here, so that I can hopefully find someone to talk to, because I get so lonely just doing research all of the time," the cleric responded.
"I get lonely here a lot myself," she said, "The guys here mostly want to make lewd comments at me or try to grope at me. At least you order your food and drinks and are polite with me."
"I always try to be polite with people," he responded, "Everyone deserves respect for doing their jobs, even with a weary smile on their beautiful faces."
"You think I am beautiful?" she asked.
"Yes, I think you are beautiful. Your eyes have a bright twinkle when you smile, and there is a graceful form in your walk. If I were more comfortable around young women I am sure I would have told you this long before," he said with a shy smile.
"You're the first person to ever tell me I was beautiful," she said, "At least you're the first person that ever told me I was beautiful without then telling me to take off my clothes or show some skin or have sex with them."
"I am just a poor cleric, who has never had anyone interested in me, nor has ever had a relationship. Even though clerics are not forbidden to have relationships, I have never found myself wanted anyway," he replied.
"I am interested in dating you, and I would certainly like to find out more about you, if you are not bored with a poor bar keep like myself," she said.
"I am not bored with you at all. I would love to find out about your life, and tell you about mine. My name is Wilfred Smith. What is yours?"
"My name is Beth Houser," she replied.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, and hopefully more," he replied.
"I am glad as well. Would you like to come with me to a performance of "Land Of The Brave" at the Imperial Theater? Some of my friends are in the show and I got two free tickets," she said, blushing.
"I would love to take a break from my thesis and enjoy an evening with you," he said, smiling, as he collected his books together, put them into his bag, and walked with her out of the bar.
The girls were completely ignorant of the cleric and bartender, lost as they were in their own thoughts of potential love and in conversations of the days past. They knew they had left the harem behind for good, and were about to embark on a path of becoming a wife, which was something that they never intended on, though they were glad to have the chance.
From their conversations today, they knew it was a lot different judging someone for a night, or for a short term relationship than judging someone for a lifelong commitment. But for these ten young women, there was a bright future ahead of them, because it was they who were in demand, not the ones asking the favors. It was always better in life to be asked than to ask, for if you ask, you can be rejected, while if you are asked, you can accept or reject freely. For these former harem girls, there would come a time for them to start families and be wives, and they looked forward to the chance of being in respectable society. Within a year, all of them had found wonderful young noblemen and were off to their own marital bliss.
[ Chapter 3 ]
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