Editing Tytania:Volume 1 Chapter 5 (section)

=== III ===
On the 10th of July, Duke Jouslain Tytania led his fleet to planet Kafir.

It wasn’t military occupation but a port call that had been agreed upon by both sides. Tytania would pay the fees, send their sick and wounded to the hospitals, replenish their food and energy supplies, and carry out ship maintenance and repairs. The crews were granted 48 hours of free time distributed in shifts. The ladies of the night applied their make-up with care as they waited for soldiers to pour into the streets.

As the commander, Jouslain himself didn’t have much time to rest. Hundreds of people sought an audience with him as a head figure of the Tytania clan. While he politely turned away businessmen with purely commercial motives, he couldn’t avoid meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kafir, the President of the Assembly, and the Chief of Police. As haughty as Tytania was, they understood that such formalities were sometimes important.

And then, there was the leader of the Interstellar City League’s kontor. The Interstellar City League was, of course, an enemy of Tytania, both open and covert. Two centuries of the history of space travel was the history of Tytania and its conflict with the Interstellar City League.

Should Tytania be destroyed, the executives of the Interstellar City League would be moved to tears and raise a toast to celebrate the occasion. Should the Interstellar City League meet its downfall, the Tytanian leaders would have their orchestras play funeral dirges with exaggerated solemnity. There was no pretence in the hatred either side felt for the other.

But it was precisely because they were enemies that they couldn’t afford to miss an opportunity at diplomacy. On that aspect, both Tytania and the Interstellar City League had mature political sensibilities, and neither had been foolish enough to narrow their scope of intelligence gathering and strategic planning by espousing dogmatic principles. Jouslain Tytania in particular was regarded as mild-mannered and discerning, and even the anti-Tytania factions saw him with some degree of goodwill.

''“I am once again being overestimated,”'' is surely what Jouslain would have said with a wry smile had Francia been here.

Jouslain wasn’t always moderate, and at times he could take decisions so draconian that they would shock even Zarlisch and Idris. If one were to put it bluntly, the reason he was regarded as mild-mannered was simply because he conducted himself properly during ceremonies and would greet others with gentle manners.

The fact that Balamy remained constantly by Jouslain’s side during this expedition was a given considering his position as senior ''aide-de-camp'', but the psychological relationship between them was by no means straightforward.

During the welcome party hosted by the Prime Minister, Balamy stood by Jouslain’s left rear, and yet the gazes of the ladies attending the event tended to drift more towards the senior aide-de-camp rather than the Tytanian leader. The proud Tytanian youth ignored the women’s glances and remained still with a cold expression. Jouslain cast a glance in his direction with his eyes resembling a wry smile.

The part that was lacking in Balamy’s intellect compared to Jouslain was clear. It was his sense of history and perspective on the position of Tytania’s existence within historical currents from past to future. For Balamy, Tytania was everything. Everything in time, everything in space, everything in the world of thought. That was the origin of Balamy’s desire to control Tytania using his father as a proxy. It was quite literally about having the entire cosmos in his hands.

As for Jouslain, he had the qualities of a teacher. He had a keen eye for Balamy’s strengths and weaknesses and felt an odd passion in him as he sought to nurture these talents. That was something he had never felt for Idris. Maybe their difference in age, Idris being 24 and Balamy 18, played a role in it. Furthermore, his awareness of Balamy being in a weaker position than Idris may have been a factor.

''“Isn’t Tytania a small thing?”'' is what Jouslain felt like saying to his cousin, who looked strikingly young. ''“What is even Tytania!''” would exclaim the opposing faction. Whether they themselves were large or not, Tytania itself was certainly small. It wielded power, basked in glory, roamed in the vast expanse of the stars and planets, fought, conquered, and ruled. The successive Clanners had dominated the politics of entire nations, patronised the culture and the arts, furthered the colonisation of the outer worlds, and held in the palm of their hand every part of space inhabited by mankind.

Jouslain didn’t believe that their journey and achievements were meaningless. But he didn’t believe, either, that Tytania’s power was so vast compared to those below it that it could afford to be arrogant. Nothing in the human world lasts forever. The day of destruction would surely come. Would Tytania turn to ashes carried away by the winds? Would it shatter to pieces in a roar and a flash of light?

While it was unbecoming of a Tytanian leading figure, Jouslain felt a nightmarish craving to witness such events. That desire was quite different from the qualities of a Clanner described by Ajman the Landless Clanner. But running in parallel, his reason and sense of responsibility were exceptionally lucid and profound, and the coexistence of these two qualities and his awareness of them gave to Duke Jouslain Tytania a depth and complexity that could not be found in the rest of the clan.

At the party of the Prime Minister of Kafir, after conversing with a few VIPs, Jouslain was greeted by a certain lady. After paying her respects to Duke Jouslain, she turned her attention to Balamy, but the youngster’s attitude remained cold.

“Would you happen to be Lord Jouslain’s subordinate?”

“I am his senior ''aide-de-camp''.”

“What does this occupation involve? What kind of things do you do?”

“In civilian terms, I guess you could call it being a secretary, but going into detail would breach military secrecy, so I cannot say more.”

Holding a glass of whisky in his hand, Jouslain almost chuckled.

“It might be so. But unless you reveal specific details about your duties, it shouldn’t be an issue. Tytania is small. No need to put on such a bold front.”

Jouslain smiled again, and upon seeing it, Balamy suddenly blushed. Compared to his cousin’s magnanimity, he felt truly like an insignificant creature.

As the lady walked away looking somewhat disappointed, Balamy stepped out on the balcony to breathe the night air after obtaining Jouslain’s permission.

“Tytania is small, huh?…” muttered Balamy as he bathed in a shower of blue starlight, suddenly bearing a bitter expression. “No, she isn’t small. She is too big. Far too big for my hands to handle…”