That One Endures [Adalwolfa, Illya]

When her father had sent word that he was providing her a bodyguard for her trip to China, Ada wasn't entirely surprised to hear it, even if she felt it was a reminder of exactly how out of practice she was nowadays. Not that she regretted any of that, of course. She had lived her life as she saw fit, and so now she was simply living with the natural outcome.

For now, however, she simply waited at the airport, a magazine open in her lap as she kept an eye on the arrivals for the man that had been described to her. As far as her father's words, this Illya man sounded hard to miss. Whether or not that was as true as she was imagining was another matter, but Ada couldn't make such a judgement until he left the plane, one way or another.

At least she, by contrast, was a bit easier to pick out in a crowd.

He was not a fan of these flying boats. The means of travel did not bother him but getting onto it and all of their demands were incredibly bothersome compared to wandering as he pleased. Perhaps he ought to try and tame one of the monstrosities of the steppe that might be his own useful form of transport. No matter, he arrived in one piece.

Once he had acquired all of his gear which had unceremoniously been shoved into a large sack for transport. The clang of metal jangled as the giant man roamed through the sea of faces that he could look over with ease. He was looking for a tall, blonde woman. She must be reminiscent of Erchanhardt if she was sired by him.

The benefit to the crowd was that few looked outlandish and his decision came down to one of two options in his vision. He was facing one who fit the profile but there was another tall feminine profile with blonde hair in the distance. The moment of weighing his options told him that it must be the woman he was looking at, since the other one looked around and he saw a mask fragment. Maybe being tall wasn't outlandish for those spirits.

Ah, that was definitely him. Even if she may have already been a particularly standout presence, it hardly changed that the man she was looking for was, in a word, moreso. Closing her magazine, Ada uncrossed her legs and stood to approach, her confidence apparent even without a word. When she reached the man, she extended a hand, almost a touch surprised that she even needed to look slightly upward. Few men required she do that, after all.

"Illya Novak, I take it? A pleasure to meet you. Adalwolfa Burgstaller. Father has spoken highly of you. I admit, when he said you were an imposing man, I'd underestimated just how much he meant that."

She could certainly tell just from the way he was carrying himself, the way he carried his belongings, for that matter, that this wasn't the usual sorts she'd found herself in the presence of lately. That was good, she thought. This seemed a bit more straightforward. More earnest.

"That's me."

He was glad that this was easy enough, now that the one he was supposed to play bodyguard for was in his sight he took a quick glance around his surroundings. Crowds were annoying to keep track of and he, no they, were large enough that they were exposed in this place.

"You don't need to worry about that. Whoever might want to hurt you should. The old man said you had business here, right?"

Erchanhardt did give him an idea as to the situation but Adalwolfa was here, she had been here first, even if it wasn't for long. It meant she would have a better lay of the land than either of them. He might be assuming here but he trusted that any child of Erchanhardt would be more than meets the eye. As fine as she looked, Illya could see her navigating the steppes, not a feeble princess. Looks had been deceiving in the past though.

"That's reassuring to hear. I'll explain while we walk. I've already arranged for transport and accommodations for our stay here."

Gesturing for him to follow, Ada led the way out of the airport, her own awareness just as finely tuned to her surroundings. Though she didn't imagine she would be seeing too much trouble, it was hardly an impossibilty that she might end up being noticed by a fan. That wasn't so terrible, given her trip here was 'public knowledge' in the most literal sense, but she'd rather travel quietly.

"As princess, it's natural that I would want to extend the Empire's hand of diplomacy to the new regime here in China. It wouldn't do to stay unaware of bright new leadership in the world, wouldn't you agree?"

Despite her words being straightforwardly supportive, Ada hardly made much effort to disguise the fact that she wasn't here for friendly reasons. As they made it outside, the bustling cityscape still astounding even to her, she spoke again in a moderately more hushed tone, moving at the same confident, even pace toward the armored car she'd arranged for them to travel in.

"Regardless of their methods of taking charge, building international relations requires an understanding of their government. I of course intend to build that understanding."

Whether or not it was an understanding that the Chinese government would be particularly fond of, however, was another matter.

While the urban sprawl of a metropolis was not the place he was most comfortable in, his time during the war gave him plenty of experience scouting and sieging the positions of Shadow Fall occupied towns and cities. The largest being the city that his moniker he loathed came from.

"I suppose so but I'm not the best to ask what a princess ought to do and not to do, Adalwolfa."

He didn't really need to keep track of who owned what in the way that he lived, usually the outdoors kept him company and the small villages or towns had their own politics. They didn't care about who sat on what throne or what government did what. They just meant to get by on their day to day and support themselves.

"Regardless, how exactly do you intend to do that."

Having an idea as to what she intended to do would make this whole protecting her business a bit easier. He knocked the sack of armour and other things that made such a fuss with security off his shoulder to place it in their transport. He'd be getting used to all this fancy living one way or another.

"I prefer to look at my station through a more varied lens. Most who think they know what a princess 'ought to do' have their own designs, and I think many of them would be, at best, simply 'unsavory.'"

Ada was hardly unused to having people think of her in ways most would call unpleasant, though. It didn't bother her one iota, for mere thoughts had no impact on her being. As she entereed the armored car, waiting for her guard to follow after, she took a moment to more fully take in the sight. He certainly was the sort of man she should have expected her father to send for her protection, wasn't he?

"We'll be spending our time at high society affairs, those parties and galas that are kept away from everyone but the upper crust. At least, at first. What we do after that will depend on what information we hear there, but ultimately, I don't know if it's in our best interests to interfere in things. Just poke around in things we might not be welcome in, enough to get a disapproving look."

Right, well, he liked to think he probably wasn't the guy to ask about any high society stuff. Her plans to attend these events were a bit of a drag but he supposed there was nothing to be done about it. Hopefully he could get away with being quiet and not having to be too involved, at best he'd be boring company and at worst he imagined that he would loathe the company.

"Can't say I've ever been to them but if you want to attract attention, I can't imagine that would be too difficult. I'd prefer it if you did it while I was around though."

Whether it was from her status, her looks, her size, any number of things could've drew attention to her. If need be he'd just have to steal the spotlight from the unsavoury types.

"Just as well, Illya. You haven't been missing out. The majority are just a waste of time, but when the rich and influential like to discuss serious matters, there are few places they become more open to discussion than at a party filled with alcohol and company."

It would certainly require she be at her most charming, but Ada wasn't one to feel ashamed of that manner of approach. She understood she was a good looking woman, of course. She knew that people would be willing to open up if she was just a bit more friendly than usual. Actually...

"I'll of course be saying that you're my date to these little outings. That said, if any of the female guests seem interested in my dashing bodyguard, would it be permissible to tell them that he's available? These sorts like being told things are in their grasp, fleeting as they are."

Though she was willing to play these sorts of games, she wasn't going to go throwing other people into them. There was an undoubted sort of distaste in her voice as she talked about those other high society types, despite her own fame. Ada had found, over time, that she didn't quite fit in with their views on the world. Too shallow, too short-sighted.

"I do not like childish women, Adalwolfa. I will be there for your protection only."

If he had a say in it then he would be sincere about it. Feeble women that could not take care of themselves were not reliable. No different than a child and he wasn't a babysitter for children that still suckled at the teat of convenience well past what was permissible. Whatever antics she needed to do to achieve her objective was her choice but he had no interest in partaking any more than was necessary.

"I will however refrain from sabotaging your efforts as best I can by watching my tongue."