Jacob Lithellain's Story

Rosemary stood, leaning against a house. She had her arms crossed, and her lips pursed as she scanned the crowd passing by her, looking for a 'victim'. She drummed her fingers, impatient, mostly because she was tired of hearing her stomach growl. She was starving; and was looking for someone to 'borrow' some coins from. She wore a pair of tight, black jeans, that were tucked into tall, jet black boots. She also had on a zipped up leather jacket, with plenty of pockets, for storing items, such as cash, and small knives, of which she claimed were for emergencies. Beneath the jacket was a black t-shirt, of which almost no one has ever seen; mostly because she wore the jacket so often. On her shoulder, (Which was covered by the jacket) was a tattoo of a black feather, which symbolized she was a rebel; against the kingdom itself, really. The tattoo means a lot to her. Her hair was up in a high pony tail, which was anything but neat.

Rosemary growls silently. She didn't see anyone worthy of robbing. Either they were too cautious, or weren't carrying anything in their pockets. It wasn't like she could take their bags or anything; it would be much too obvious. She'd get caught. Rosemary looked up at the sky, and frowned. The sun was setting, and that meant night was setting in. She had to find someone soon, or she'd have to spend the night starving...just like last night. Even though the darkness helped her, it still didn't mean she was not immune to the cold. Late at night, it would get freezing in the kingdom; so freezing, that if you were outside for long enough you would get frostbite. No one ever stayed out at night. That was also another con; there was no one to rob at night. No person would be idiotic enough to stay out at night; in the freezing cold, and not to mention, the dark. In fact, the chill was already starting to set in. Rosemary shivered, and kept searching the crowd.

(OOC: Sorry it's not very long; there's nothing to talk about.)

While he enjoyed but every single delicacy known to his kingdom in the royal castle, as well as partaking in various balls, meetings and events that the lower classes could only dream of, Jacob loved escaping the confines of his own home and walking the streets of the common man. He stuck out like a sore thumb, sure, but due to his lack of public appearances, only a select few people below the high class could recognize him. So, on the rare occasion that he was questioned for looking so different, he simply lied and feigned to be a duke or other individual of high class.

He told not the people that he was indeed their prince.

By now, the men and woman who walked the streets he was on could recognize him as 'that higher class man', and they offered their own theories as to why he bothered down her. Was it to look at the less fortunate and laugh? Did he have important and illegal meetings down here? Or maybe a mistress he wouldn't want his family to know about? He occasionally heard the gossip about himself and would often chuckle. The poorest of people always happened to be the most fun. They were not stuck-up or spoiled, like the people in the castle, and nobody expected him to do something. He always did have to look forward to getting yelled at as he returned, but to him it was most certainly worth the ear he paid.

So he walked along with the crowd, people seperating themselves but a bit because they probably felt uncomfortable being so close to a high-class individual. He knew that the spoiled higher class often punished poor for any simple mistake, and though he despised it, he hadn't the ability to change such things yet. He was but a prince, and that's all he'd be for quite a while. He never had the responsibilities he wished he did, but he did have some. Maybe that is why he enjoyed taking a break and walking with the people - his people who he'd come to lead one day.

Rosemary continued to scan the crowd, her stomach growling once more. She stood for a bit more, before finally deciding on someone. It was a male- who looked as if he were an upperclassman; meaning he had money. He didn’t seem too cautious, like most of the others around this part of town. Upperclassmen always tended to be less cautious, maybe because they felt they were too rich to be robbed, or perhaps they were so unused to it, that they never even thought of the chance of them getting robbed. The reason, Rosemary would never know, but upperclassmen have proven to be the easiest- and most rare targets. Which made them just as exciting to rob. Yes, it wasn’t only the money that motivated Rosemary to ‘borrow’ from people, but also the thrill of robbing them, and the hilarity of the thought of when they find out later on. It’s even better when you’re there to witness it- but she tries to avoid people she has robbed. It never ends well.

Rosemary emerges from the protective shadows of the house, and twists through the crowd, slowly making her way over to this upperclassman. As she made her way over, she was contemplating whether she was going to swing by him, and swipe some coins from his pocket without even making eye contact, or if she was going to catch his attention by asking him a question of some sort, so she could take something from him while she talked, then just walk away with her prize. This was always a downside with upperclassmen, usually people keep their distance from them, so they get suspicious when you walk so close to them. Yet, they also get suspicious when you actually talk to them…So, both ways, they get suspicious, which was a problem. She decides to actually talk to him, since just walking by would bring the chance of him noticing her hand actually in his pocket.

“What is an upperclassman like you doing in this part of town?” Rosemary asks, as she finally reaches him. Her voice had a dark ring to it, and it was rather sly.

Something quite odd occured for the first time since he began sneaking away from the castle to walk around the commoner's area. He was rather surprised to see that someone who did not appear to be an authority actually did come to speak to him, him being so much better dressed and cleaned than anyone else in his immediate vicinity. But this was not to say he did not want to be approached. He turned to face the feminine voice addressing him and was gifted with a pretty face, contrary to one's expectations when dealing with the lower-class.

"I am but walking through the other half of the town I happen to live in. Is there something the matter with that?" he replied, giving himself but a small time to think of a more appropriate answer, if she chose to press on. "The smell of fellow nobles does not sit well with myself. I simply wished for a break." he hoped that explanation would provide enough believable information to satisfy her. Not that he was worried she'd manage to figure out he was the people's prince. He just preferred not to be bugged with personal questions. He never was able to make small talk anywhere he went. People mostly bowed when they saw him at the castle and the ones who did not were always busy with many different things that he was unable to assist with.

Jacob did not hide his eyes as he took a long look up and down her figure, noting the worn clothing. She looked poor, even for the lower class. "I am amazed that someone so unfortunate as yourself would approach me. I shall admit you are the first to do so since I've begun taking walks down here." he stated. "Simply curious or?"

Rosemary watched as he turned around, slightly surprised to see a stunning face. She could tell his surprise, and she wasn't gladdened by it. He may have thought of her as brave, she wasn't sure, all she knew was he was surprised. Surprised could be seen as a pro and a con. It depended what kind of surprise it was- a delightful surprise, or a rather unsatisfactory surprise. Everything had a good side, and a bad side...Well, mostly everything.

"I am but walking through the other half of the town I happen to live in. Is there something the matter with that?" He had replied. Rosemary raised her eyebrow in the slightest. His answer was anything but satisfactory, which just welcomed more questions. Most people didn't take a liking to questions; especially from people in the poor part of town. Most took it as a challenge, due to reasons unknown by Rosemary. The gentlemen had then added to his response, most likely to stop her from asking more questions. "The smell of fellow nobles does not sit well with myself. I simply wished for a break." She tilted her head to the side, pondering what he meant by 'the smell'. It never occurred to hr that nobles all had a similar smell. Perhaps one day she could see for herself...though, she didn't see how she would even get there, to begin with.

Rosemary watched as he looked her over, hiding a smile, as she waited for the right moment to snag something from him. "I am amazed that someone so unfortunate as yourself would approach me. I shall admit you are the first to do so since I've begun taking walks down here."He remarked. She frowned, offended if anything by the comment. She pushed away her feelings, though. She'd only make the process longer if she talked back. "Simply curious or?" He continued. She smirked slightly at that remark. Would curious be the word? Perhaps. "You could say I'm curious," Rosemary announced.

He thought her choice of words to be quite a bit interesting so he fell for the bait willingly. "Curious - if I may ask - of what exactly?" Jacob asked as his interest in her grew by the second. He briefly wondered what this woman would look like in a fine dress. Poor or not, she wasn't ugly. Quite far from it. Maybe it was just because she seemed, from his initial impression, that she differed greatly from all the other woman who had come from a high-class family. In appearance, and probably personality too. If you used 'fish' to describe woman, then all the fish in the higher-class sea were essentially the same. This, of course, was boring. Jacob disliked boring.

Now that he thought about it, this was the longest he had held a conversation with anybody of the lower class since beginning this walking routine. It was, however, not the first time he had spoken to lower-class like he had previously stated. That was a little white lie for a certain purpose. He'd see if it was worth it or not, though he did prefer lying had some use as he wasn't one to lie often, save for his explanations about his whereabouts to his father and servants when he returned from these walks - which were now useless as they had discovered a bit ago.

Nevertheless, that did not keep him from leaving the castle.

Jacob then awaited her response.

Rosemary looked thoughtfully at the man, as he asked what she meant by curious. Something about him intrigued her- not only was he quite stunning, but he was different from all the other people she'd meant. Usually, they were stuck up and obsessed with themselves, quiet, or just didn't want to deal with other people, period. Also, it never occurred to her there were actually nice rich men. It seemed too good to be true- impossible, really. She doesn't usually go along with stereotypes, but from her experience, the stereotype seemed to be true- until now.

Rosemary then realized she hadn't answered his question yet. She didn't quite know how to answer, though. The truthful answer would probably be that she was curious as to how much money she could smuggle from him...Well, that was half of the truth. She was also starting to become curious as to why he was acting so nice...

"I'm curious as to why you're acting so nice," She finally replies. Rosemary sighs quietly, to the point where she can only hear her sigh. That probably wasn't going to be enough to fulfill his wonders. "And why you're walking around in these parts, but obviously, you've already answered that wonder." She adds.

Rosemary is then quick to realize she'd almost forgotten to rob this man...But he was so nice- was she actually going to? She shakes her head slightly, of course she was. She'd starve if she didn't....But then again, it would be a shame to lose his trust. She presumed he walked these streets almost daily, and to be honest, talking to him was rather fascinating, and she'd like to do so again. But would he agree if she robbed him? Not many trust the people who steal from them....But alas, if she didn't she wouldn't be able to talk to him again because she'd most likely starve. It was a shame, though. Rosemary enjoyed his company.

"Well..." he began. He was acting nice? Was this just not simply courteousness that everybody was supposed to show? Then it finally hit him: His manners were all towards other nobles. Until recently, when he began traveling out to the lower-class part of town, he had never once interacted with someone who had lived there. So, he simply assumed that he was to speak to everyone with the same amount of respect. "... do I have some reason to act any other way?" he questioned.

It might be quite possible that his confinement to the castle until recently may have backfired if the King expected him to have similar views towards the peasants. That, and Jacob interprets some things quite differently. Whereas one person may have become even more spoiled being confined to a life of nothing but luxury, Jacob ended up feeling upset for those who did not know even the most basic (his opinion of basic is a bit messed up due to his confinement) luxuries. Maybe anybody else would be even more prejudiced against the less fortunate because they experienced absolutely NOTHING about them, Jacob simply tried imagined living without everything he had and it scared him. This is what led him to believe he needed to become a king who ASSISTED the people, not USE them.

"Though I do believe most of my fellow upper-classmen have the idea that being born into a wealthy family gives you the right to flaunt coin you have not earned by your own hard work. I can understand if you were expecting me to have such an arrogant viewpoint, but I am glad to say that I do not."

"It is pleasing to hear that not all rich men have such a condescending view." Rosemary smirked. She then tilted her head, still pondering about one of his earlier remarks. "I know this question may seem a bit, late, but if I may- you stated the nobles have a certain odor. Would you be so nice to describe it to me?" She asks.

Not only did she ask the question out of curiosity, but also in the hopes that the question would take enough thought to distract him, maybe in a chance he wouldn't notice her trying to pickpocket him. If it didn't open up a window for her, she'd simply have to try again. The 'art' of stealing was much more than shouting out randomly to look east, so this person could swing by and swipe someone's purse. In fact, it was much more than that. Stealing involves stealth, surprises, deliberate plans- that you have 99% faith in. Without any of these skills, or techniques...one would be ashamed to call himself a thief.

Rosemary pushed away the subject, and crossed her arms, as she waited for his response- which would hopefully lead to some kind of cash.

"Their smell? Well..." he pondered the thought. How would he explain how the other nobles smelt? They did not literally smell... well, not all of them, so how would he sum up what he thought them to like? Taking too much time to decide would be odd. Jacob chose what he was going to say and then he said it, as all people tend to do.

"I may be hypocritical in suggesting such, but I think the vast majority of my fellow nobles smell like prideful arrogance." he said, well aware that he might be blind to his own smell. "I'm prone to overhearing talks about how the poor are filth, how they believe that people who break laws by stealing, by murdering, by speaking against an officer or nobility should all be executed because they're not worth the upkeep to contain them in a prison. To be hoenest, it's a stench more than anything, and I do need a breath of fresh air every once in a while. To calm the nerves and what have you."

Jacob glanced back to where the woman was. "Forgive myself if I went on for too long." he spoke. "But... did that answer your question to your satisfaction?"