Aristotle couldn't help himself but he stared at her slightly dumbfounded.
She couldn't actually be suggesting it. He had had a solution - it had involved humouring Calantha and his mother and then tactfully ignoring them after his visit home was over. He hadn't quite thought out where he was going next but he knew he wouldn't be around for long. Nothing tied him to the land as of yet.
What she suggested was indeed a tie though since he really couldn't go off by himself if he were to be married. She couldn't be that naive to think that would work. He didn't know her, and she certainly did not know him. There were so many problems with that plan.
He opened his mouth to speak, thought better of what he had been about the say and closed his mouth. He rubbed his lips together as he tried to put his thoughts into words.
"I see." He said to give himself more time, struggling with the several thoughts that were trying to grab his attention. It wasn't as if she were wrong. He didn't need love in a marriage, though that indeed would've been preferable. He was romantic enough to believe that there would be somebody out there that one day he could fall in love with an be so devoted to that nothing else and nobody else would matter but he had no idea when or where she was and as he got older the expectation for him to get married would only grow greater and there was no way for him to know where or when he find her and if he did he had no way of knowing they'd even need to get married and that he'd even want to be tied to such a restrictive life or title.
A marriage to another would be a good standing on paper however he'd be trading a significant portion of his freedom for it. If he wanted to be married he'd want to marry a woman who'd understand and value his freedom. A mature spinister more like of reputable family with her own life that did not have expectations of love, of him actually being around that he wouldn't feel any obligation to look after.
This woman in front of him, was barely more than a girl. He only called her a woman because she must've graduated and to call her a girl would've been an insult as she wasn't that much younger than he.
But she was. She was young. She couldn't have been graduated and out in the world for more than a year and yet here she was trying to dive into a married life with the romantic idea of trying to marry herself off, get that ticked off an imaginary life list and then get this percieved freedom that she could do whatever she wished she could. She was trying to leapfrog over life.
He knew women who at 25 as debutants had yet to find people to suit them. She was making a huge mistake and he had a horrible feeling that there were less reputable men who he knew of that if she had suggested the very idea would've taken advantage of her naivety, married her for her fertile youth and then not held up their end of the bargain because it wouldn't have mattered. Finally he collected his thoughts.
"You don't know me" He told her with a scoff. "And I don't know you, or your family. I understand the romantic idea of what you are suggesting but I think you misunderstand. Life isn't that easy. You can't find a random person being told to marry and suggest yourself because you wish to be free of familial nagging and practice whatever career you wish. If whatever you wish to do is so important you'd wish to offer yourself to a complete stranger in order to achieve your goals I suggest you have a long discussion with your family."
![[Image: age.png]](https://www.tickerfactory.com/ezt/d/2;14;5/st/19940703/dt/15/n/Aristotle+King/k/dcf6/age.png)
She couldn't actually be suggesting it. He had had a solution - it had involved humouring Calantha and his mother and then tactfully ignoring them after his visit home was over. He hadn't quite thought out where he was going next but he knew he wouldn't be around for long. Nothing tied him to the land as of yet.
What she suggested was indeed a tie though since he really couldn't go off by himself if he were to be married. She couldn't be that naive to think that would work. He didn't know her, and she certainly did not know him. There were so many problems with that plan.
He opened his mouth to speak, thought better of what he had been about the say and closed his mouth. He rubbed his lips together as he tried to put his thoughts into words.
"I see." He said to give himself more time, struggling with the several thoughts that were trying to grab his attention. It wasn't as if she were wrong. He didn't need love in a marriage, though that indeed would've been preferable. He was romantic enough to believe that there would be somebody out there that one day he could fall in love with an be so devoted to that nothing else and nobody else would matter but he had no idea when or where she was and as he got older the expectation for him to get married would only grow greater and there was no way for him to know where or when he find her and if he did he had no way of knowing they'd even need to get married and that he'd even want to be tied to such a restrictive life or title.
A marriage to another would be a good standing on paper however he'd be trading a significant portion of his freedom for it. If he wanted to be married he'd want to marry a woman who'd understand and value his freedom. A mature spinister more like of reputable family with her own life that did not have expectations of love, of him actually being around that he wouldn't feel any obligation to look after.
This woman in front of him, was barely more than a girl. He only called her a woman because she must've graduated and to call her a girl would've been an insult as she wasn't that much younger than he.
But she was. She was young. She couldn't have been graduated and out in the world for more than a year and yet here she was trying to dive into a married life with the romantic idea of trying to marry herself off, get that ticked off an imaginary life list and then get this percieved freedom that she could do whatever she wished she could. She was trying to leapfrog over life.
He knew women who at 25 as debutants had yet to find people to suit them. She was making a huge mistake and he had a horrible feeling that there were less reputable men who he knew of that if she had suggested the very idea would've taken advantage of her naivety, married her for her fertile youth and then not held up their end of the bargain because it wouldn't have mattered. Finally he collected his thoughts.
"You don't know me" He told her with a scoff. "And I don't know you, or your family. I understand the romantic idea of what you are suggesting but I think you misunderstand. Life isn't that easy. You can't find a random person being told to marry and suggest yourself because you wish to be free of familial nagging and practice whatever career you wish. If whatever you wish to do is so important you'd wish to offer yourself to a complete stranger in order to achieve your goals I suggest you have a long discussion with your family."