[His perfectly arranged drawers... no, don't.]

Well, maybe... [But, god, okay, there is apparently no time to be quietly relieved that they made it here together because they really have to work this out as soon as possible!! His shoulders slump some, but then he straightens back up and puts his hands on Zelos' shoulders. Plan time.]

Well... "sir," for now. I'm sure he'll be able to see the merit in it, if I explain it to him properly.

[Which might actually require him telling Duke Barma literally everything, but he's an eccentric, sick old man who no one likes and Reim trusts to the ends of the earth, so if anyone's told it might as well be him. He'll probably even see the romance in it, after he's a jerk with dad jokes about it.]

Master Rufus has no wife, and as such, has no heir... You must have noticed this manor is very sparsely staffed, as he is the entire family all on his own. That said, circumstances dictate that having a distant relative from his own country wouldn't be... impossible.

[.....okay, but entirely honestly,] It's a scheme, and he's very fond of that kind of thing.