Ferdinand & Mercedes B+

Ferdinand
You know, stepping in to prevent extortion, that was quite brave of you.

Mercedes
What? Oh, you're talking about that time in town. I wouldn't say I did anything brave, really. I just asked what was going on.

Ferdinand
No need to be humble. Helping the weak is precisely what a virtuous noble does.

Mercedes
I...I don't think what I did is quite the same thing.

Ferdinand
What do you mean by that?

Mercedes
The point I was trying to make is that some things in this world can't be bought or sold with money.

Mercedes
I think I let myself get a little too worked up though.

Mercedes
It's just... When I saw it happening, it reminded me of my own past...

Ferdinand
Your past. Hm.

Ferdinand
You were originally a daughter of House Bartels, a minor noble family, I heard.

Ferdinand
You abandoned your title, and now you live as a commoner.

Ferdinand
Is there more to the story? Pray tell.

Mercedes
Life was becoming...difficult for us, so my mother and I fled from House Bartels.

Mercedes
We found refuge in a small church in Faerghus and lived there for a few years.

Mercedes
A man appeared one day and said that he wanted to adopt me.

Mercedes
It was obvious that he only cared about my bloodline and Crest.

Mercedes
The priest refused to let me go, but the man used his money to overwhelm the church. In the end, I had no choice but to leave with him.

Mercedes
That soldier we saw... I guess he just reminded me of my adoptive father.

Ferdinand
The man who exploited you so that he could join the nobility. Yes, I understand.

Ferdinand
But I must confess, that part of the story confuses me. There is nothing to gain from having a noble title.

Mercedes
Hehe.

Ferdinand
What's so funny?

Mercedes
I never thought I'd hear you question the value of nobility, Ferdinand.

Ferdinand
Oh, well... That is not quite what I meant.

Ferdinand
Using someone else to obtain high status, with no effort and no accomplishment...

Ferdinand
Certainly, you can obtain a title like that, but it hardly makes you a noble.

Mercedes
I completely agree.

Ferdinand
By the same token, although you are legally a commoner, in your heart you are a proud and virtuous noble!

Ferdinand
That is what I think, at any rate.