Not to mention, this was an outdoor party held outside her lovely manor in Divinity’s Reach. It was always harder to keep the riffraff out when it was an outdoor event, so it was practically inevitable that some stranger would get in.
And yet… she recalled his crisp white pinstripe suit and the gold droplet earring dangling from his right ear. It was an eccentric look for sure but not one you could get without good money—he didn’t seem like riffraff. Who was he then?!
“Oh he’s one of those new money types from Lion’s Arch, you know the kind.” She heard someone say.
“I hear he works with the banks there,” said someone else.
“I bet he’s related to pirates!”
He certainly had the manners of one. She’d caught him flirting with Lord Adonis’s fiancé; dancing with both her mother and father; making off-color dirty jokes to a Minister; drinking wine straight from the bottle on three different occasions; dancing and singing on the tables (and getting others to join him?!); and generally just doing whatever he pleased. It was maddening! The man was either oblivious or purposefully defiant towards what was socially acceptable, and Lady Mina highly suspected the latter. He was simply too good at pushing boundaries and stopping just before he truly offended anyone.
…She could still feel his lips on her hand.
“If he bothers you so much, just kick him out!” Her friend, Lady Philline, laughed.
“Oh no, don’t!” Lord Lenard giggled like a school boy. “He’s quite fun! Did you know he’s wrestled a bear once?!”
She’d never seen Lord Lenard giggle like that.
“I’m not kicking him out!” Lady Mina huffed impatiently. “I just want to know who he is and how he got into my party.”
“Oh Minny no! You mustn’t!” Philline squealed mischievously. “He’s certainly charming, I’ll give him that, but he’s so… unconventional. I hear he’s in a motorbike gang!”
“I—!” A mess of fury and embarrassment raged across Mina’s face. “How dare you imply—?!”
“Well it can’t hurt to play with him a little, can it?” Lenard offered and both he and Philline broke into fits of giddy laughter.
“You are both terrible! It’s my birthday and I think I have the right to know who is attending it!” Mina stomped her foot. “He hasn’t even given me a proper name!”
He really hadn’t given anyone a proper name. The strange banker from Lion’s Arch had been going around telling people to call him whatever they fancied.
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