"Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits." [Song of Solomon 4:16]
The city of Treviso is not one of the oldest in Potenza, but it is one of the most historical within the Grand Duchy. It was here that the Reformed Church of Potenza was started, where the great Reformer Paolo Vergerio dwelt and translated the Christian scriptures into Potenzan Tiburan, and where the Twenty Years' War was started. Among the many artifacts of history that still existed within the city limits was the University of Treviso. The elaborate college, squeezed in among many museums and art houses, was founded hundreds of years ago by Duke Frederico the Wise, the patron of Vergerio and many architects and scholars of his time. As Potenza moved further into the 21st century, the University pressed on: the older buildings had long ago been refurnished to hide the signs of aging, and to accommodate for electricity, plumbing and - most recently - internet and phone connection. There were a handful of newer buildings - many of them dorms or centers for the newer majors. The pantaloons and frills of long ago had been replaced by t-shirts, short shorts and jeans, and the sounds of horse-drawn carriages replaced with the honks of horns and the roars of engines.
Many famous names had gone through these halls and obtained degrees from the University, many of them from the royal House of Cornaro, the ruling family for the Duchy of Treviso. In fact, there currently was one such name in the hall: the Count Plinio di Cornaro, son to Duke Prospero and Duchess Lia, and the current heir to both the House of Cornaro and the Duchy of Treviso. The young count was approaching the age of 25, and bore the looks of a northern Potenzan: dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a paler complexion. Because of the intermingling with those to the north of Potenza, those in the Duchy of Treviso had, over time, become less and less "Potenzan" in look than those to the south. It had gotten to the point where if a Potenzan saw someone with light skin and blonde or light brown hair, they assumed they were either a foreigner or a "northerner." These typical Trevisan features made Plinio blend in well in a crowd, for he did not dress as royalty normally did. The Cornaro House had long ago forgone the military-like uniforms held by the other houses, and the most fancy outfit they could be asked to wear was a white-tie tuxedo. At the university Plinio preferred to wear collared or polo shirts with khaki pants or jeans, wearing khaki shorts during the summer. He kept himself groomed and his clothes were definitely the best available, but otherwise he had a humble and what one might say "common" demeanor.
At the University, he was currently going for a double major in Political Science and Christian Studies. At an early age he had been intrigued by many of the historical dukes who kept one foot in government and one foot in church, and yet never permitting one to rule the other. As a Cornaro, he would be expected to defend the Reformed Church of Potenza from any influence or danger from the Catholic royal families, or from the Catholic officials down in San Salvo. He would also be expected to have complete preparation to take over from his father, if that need should ever arise.
On this day, Plinio found himself sitting in the back of the World Political Institutions class. That's pretty broad, Plinio had thought to himself, why not just call it comparative government? He was secretly worried about this class, though not because he would find the topic altogether difficult - it was because of a certain classmate. A friend had told Plinio that Princess Sophia, daughter to the King of Arendaal himself, was attending this class. Why she was in Treviso rather than Emyn Arnen university Plinio himself could not gather, but the possibility of her being in the class was already making life a hell for him. The commoners always believed that if you stuck two royals in a room, they would instantly fall in love or feel some attraction, and Plinio had received plenty of jabbing from fellow students about such a prospect. For certain Plinio was aware of who she was and had seen her at perhaps one or two Aren-Cornaro events, long ago when he was a child, but he had already set his mind long ago to focus on his studies at the university and not worry about love. Some had even reminded Plinio of the story of Valentino, the famous Cornaro duke from the 17th century, and his romance with Adela, the daughter of the Emperor of the North. Sometimes the count hated history. The Aren royalty and Cornaro house still held historical ties, but it didn't mean their sons and daughters had to procreate on command!
Plinio sighed and crossed his arms across his broad chest, scratching his neck just above the collar of his polo shirt. His mother was always bothering him about finding a wife, and things had only become more embarrassing when a few select Potenzan magazines listed him as one of the most attractive male celebrities in the country. Some of the girls at the university had openly flirted with him - some of the bolder ones even made passes at him - but Plinio had spurned most of them. His father had often warned him about his duties, both before God and before the duchy. Duke Silvestro di Grimaldi, below Treviso in the Duchy of Turin, was a fine example of why a royal should avoid any possibility of scandal. Even all this aside, Plinio was well aware that most of those women had been after favors, or to make a name for themselves among friends. He had little interest in fulfilling such desires.
Plinio looked at his watch, wishing he hadn't gotten here so early. Now there was literally nothing to do.