The meeting of the ministers and vice ministers have just ended, and Charlton was just about to leave when Marquis Christopher Cross, the vice minister of justice, invited him, along with other vice ministers their age (21-26) and from the peerage, to join him for afternoon tea which his mother hosted in their ducal mansion.

It was no secret, and the meaning of the invite was clear as the afternoon tea was hosted for debutantes. Attending would mean that one was interested to find a match this season.

Last year, Charlton was also invited by the Marquis to the same event, and he declined giving some excuse he could no longer remember. Now, since he knew that Serena was in attendance and he wanted to see her, he had decided to accept.

Aside from him, Leonard and 2 other vice ministers, Earl Hugo Cobalt the VM of defense, and Earl Dante Winston the VM of health, also agreed to attend. Of the current 8 Vice Ministers, they were the ones close in age and were bachelors.

As the 5 of them have their own cars, they all convoyed towards the Cross ducal mansion and arrived there in 15 minutes.

--

"So, the two golden bachelors now decided that it's time to find a match this season, eh?" Earl Dante Winston teased. The five of them were walking towards the mansion after parking their cars.

(AN: just in case you're wondering. Although Dante and Hugo's rank in the peerage as earls were lower than that of the marquis, they were also sons and heirs of dukes, and aside from that, they were of equal rank to the other 3 as vice ministers. So, they can joke with each other.)

Although duke Winston and duke Cobalt disliked grand duke Charles, their sons did not necessarily hate Charlton. Charlton was very easy to get along with, he was humble despite his achievements and besides, they all were working in ministries, and they frequently meet each other on meetings so some form of camaraderie did arise.

"I'm not thinking of finding a match just yet and am just here to see my sister." Leonard clarified.

Christopher chuckled then looked at Charlton, his father wanted to match his younger sister, Anna, with him after the negotiations for her match with the crown prince failed. He knew that combining their families through this match was asking for trouble, but his father was asking for trouble in the first place.

Although their family has a neutral position in court before, he has been offended by what the king did. They were halfway in the negotiations and then suddenly, his daughter was snubbed for the daughter of the Maxwell. This caused him to change gears and join the radical faction secretly. Of course, that has not been announced so that they can still switch sides later to whichever faction was winning.

Anyway, his parents hoped for the match and have waited for Charlton to graduate. There was no need for Anna to attend Windsor school for nobles as their age were 3 years apart. Anyway, they both debuted last year but Charlton didn't seem like he was ready. It was understandable as it was his first year as a vice minister, and that he was still young at 22. Usually, men like them marry at 26. He himself was already 24 and haven't even thought of getting one yet.

However, from the Charlotte's ball, Charlton chose to dance with Ms. Evans before the interlude. It seems that he was interested, and he can somewhat understand why. Ms. Emily Evans was a beauty with talent while his sister in comparison although was also a beauty was a little lacking. It doesn't matter though. What was important was that Charlton seems like he was ready for a match now. Ms. Evans was just a mere baron's daughter and insignificant.

"How about you Charlton? Are you here for one? I saw how you danced with Ms. Evans at the Charlotte's ball. Was it her that you're here for?" Hugo asked, his two eyebrows wiggling.

Charlton shook his head while smiling. "Definitely not her, but it is true that I'm hoping for a match this year." He answered. Might as well let that piece out, he was intending to propose to Serena by the end of the season. He has decided to talk to his mother and let her talk to the king. Everyone knew that he would be awarded the medal of Valor come October anyway. A war against Geoffrey be damned.

The current king favors him, and Geoffrey was still just a crown prince. If he dares lay a hand on him and Serena in the future, then he will fight him tooth and nail. The only reason why he's still keeping his distance from Serena was so that people would not talk and so that Geoffrey would not get wind of it prematurely.

Leonard furrowed his brows with Charlton's words. Was he going to make the move soon? His father was under Geoffrey's faction, and he knew that Geoffrey's influence in the court now was not to be trifled with. However, he knew that so was Charlton's.

Leonard has already worked in the court himself for a year now. His world views and understanding has already changed from being a mere student to that of a vice minister. The king was above all, but he still needed his vassals. There was a chance that the king would allow it to happen as Charlton has proved himself valuable. The only problem was Geoffrey, but Geoffrey was not the king yet.

Anyway, if worse comes to worst, he could become a turncoat. The charter change that the radicals have been pushing for seems attractive to him anyway.

"Ha! All the ladies would surely have a field day if they heard you say that. Then again, you're here now, so I guess all of them would be rejoicing soon." Hugo said while laughing.

Christopher took note of what Charlton said. A confirmation was better than just mere assumptions.

--

TBC