Elliot leaned toward the porthole and looked outside.
Only a handful of people waited on the airship dock. The Third Prince had not brought many attendants.
The Old Butler Conrad's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. "This-this is utterly improper-"
"What's wrong?" Elliot frowned.
"A serious breach of etiquette!" Conrad kept his voice extremely low, his anger suppressed. "You have yet to formally inherit the title, yet His Highness the Third Prince is personally waiting here to welcome you. This-this is simply-" He darted a glance at Holly nearby and swallowed the harsher words.
Elliot paused slightly, then understood-the Seven Holy Bloodlines were the conservatives among the nobility, placing the greatest importance on rules and propriety.
Just as when he had driven away the Troy Society's salesman, even though the Trenchard Family had wanted to mend relations, they had merely sent their second son, Garrett, to call on the pretext of "dropping by on the way."
That was how the old nobility operated: restrained, reserved, and measured in every advance and retreat, leaving both sides room to maneuver regardless of Elliot's response.
The Third Prince's personally waiting at the airship dock to welcome him not only appeared overeager and undignified, lacking any of the bearing expected of someone in his position, but also placed Elliot in an awkward situation, as though the Sterling Family's heir had already sided entirely with the prince.
Still, from what the Old Butler had said earlier, this prince had always gone his own way. In private, the nobles called him "the eccentric Third Highness" and "eccentric Sidney."
Were it not for his status as a prince, those names probably would not have been so tactful.
The Old Butler's expression turned somewhat bitter. "There is no time to send a telegram to seek His Grace's instructions now-young