Nobles, by definition, stood in contrast to commoners.
On Earth, rigid class divisions had long since been abolished, but on the Sains Continent, a world still caught in a partly feudal, partly slave-owning society, class distinctions remained extraordinarily clear, with enormous gaps between them.
At the very top stood the nobility.
Leaving aside slaves, who had no rights whatsoever and could even be beaten or killed at will, nobles enjoyed more than outward respect and higher standing than ordinary commoners. More concretely, they possessed a host of privileges.
For instance, nobles could hold public office, receive exemptions from certain business taxes, own private carriages, and remain standing when they met His Majesty the King. Nobles could...
In short, a whole host of privileges reserved exclusively for nobles drew a clear, unmistakable line between them and commoners. Noble status inherently placed a person a cut above commoners, allowing them to look down on commoners from a position of absolute superiority.
Although the nobility itself had an even stricter hierarchy, that was practically another world as far as commoners were concerned. Thus, whoever gained noble status would do everything possible to rise through its ranks, or at the very least strive to retain their title, so they could preserve the privileges it afforded.
Throughout the history of the Sains Continent, nobles had only ever lost their status by being forcibly stripped of it after violating certain taboos. Not a single noble had ever voluntarily asked to relinquish it.
Perhaps only in the fanciful romance novels young girls loved so much would noble heroes willingly abandon their status and defy their families just to be with the commoner women they loved.
In reality, however, if a noble did such a thing, even the girls who most enjoyed those novels would surely call him