Of course it is. [Claude grins mischievously.] Do you think I'm the sort of guy who'd scoff at foreign traditions just because they're not familiar to me? Although I guess people from your own country tease you about it, too...so maybe it's not just a cultural thing.
[Not that he gets any closer to the subject than he already has. Thoughts of Felix and Sylvain...they still ache. Better not to think about them too directly.
So instead, he smiles as Dimitri asks his question again, closing his eyes.] Well, I've already told you a number of the ways Almyra is a meritocracy, haven't I? If you can prove your strength, prove your worth, that tends to mean more than the circumstances of your birth. It's why, despite my being hated for only being half-Almyran, it's still possible that I can win my people over if I prove my skill as a king. It's why class and titles aren't as important as achievements in my country, compared to Fodlan where even people like Acheron or Count Gloucester are elevated and, to some degree, respected - not because they've earned their positions or proved worthy of them, but simply because they were born into them. It's why people tend not to care so much about what you do as how well you can do it.
"Proposals in Almyra are usually about showing your worth, as well. Generally, an Almyran looking to get engaged will go out and seek glory in some fashion - winning a competition or a tournament, earning distinction in a battle, bringing home some big trophy from a raid or a hunt, maybe even just creating something magnificent for their intended. Something that shows, usually in dramatic fashion, that they're someone capable, someone worthy of the love of the person they want to marry. Then, after they've made their demonstration, they propose. Sometimes after acceptance the person who's been proposed to will try to match their fiance's feat. There's various reasons people do it - showing how they're a match of equals, wanting to demonstrate that their fiance made the right choice because they're just as worthy themselves, forging a deeper bond through their shared experiences, pure bravado. It's kind of an optional part of the tradition, though. Whoever's getting proposed to...well, in Almyran society, it's kind of accepted that if another Almyran admires you enough to want to marry you, and is trying to prove themselves worthy of you, that in itself demonstrates that you're worthy of those feelings."
no subject
[Not that he gets any closer to the subject than he already has. Thoughts of Felix and Sylvain...they still ache. Better not to think about them too directly.
So instead, he smiles as Dimitri asks his question again, closing his eyes.] Well, I've already told you a number of the ways Almyra is a meritocracy, haven't I? If you can prove your strength, prove your worth, that tends to mean more than the circumstances of your birth. It's why, despite my being hated for only being half-Almyran, it's still possible that I can win my people over if I prove my skill as a king. It's why class and titles aren't as important as achievements in my country, compared to Fodlan where even people like Acheron or Count Gloucester are elevated and, to some degree, respected - not because they've earned their positions or proved worthy of them, but simply because they were born into them. It's why people tend not to care so much about what you do as how well you can do it.
"Proposals in Almyra are usually about showing your worth, as well. Generally, an Almyran looking to get engaged will go out and seek glory in some fashion - winning a competition or a tournament, earning distinction in a battle, bringing home some big trophy from a raid or a hunt, maybe even just creating something magnificent for their intended. Something that shows, usually in dramatic fashion, that they're someone capable, someone worthy of the love of the person they want to marry. Then, after they've made their demonstration, they propose. Sometimes after acceptance the person who's been proposed to will try to match their fiance's feat. There's various reasons people do it - showing how they're a match of equals, wanting to demonstrate that their fiance made the right choice because they're just as worthy themselves, forging a deeper bond through their shared experiences, pure bravado. It's kind of an optional part of the tradition, though. Whoever's getting proposed to...well, in Almyran society, it's kind of accepted that if another Almyran admires you enough to want to marry you, and is trying to prove themselves worthy of you, that in itself demonstrates that you're worthy of those feelings."