I definitely like the Guard Jovial nature. He’s certainly doing his best to ease concerns. Not an easy task for him. But so long as the people and his Royal Highnesses are happy, he is happy.

The one thing about him that is slightly worrying me is that if this was the kind of story that had a surprise traitor in it, he'd be it :P.

That Foreshadow would have to be very very subtle for me to Catch on to how evil that would be.

Or whit out the tells it be bit poor curve ball.

True.

Ah yes, the curse of competence.

Not gonna lie: I love this hippo! Cheerful and savy, some fine skills!
Btw, Zaphira almost made the kingdom collapse due bad papperwork? Eh, clumsy snake. But she's so gorgeous and kind everyone would forgive her everything!

let the people look strannge, lil sexy snake loves him anyway :)

The thing about coming into a rich family from a poor one, and the class mismatch that occurs, is you can't allow your loved one's family to underestimate you.

If it's a healthy relationship, the rich partner chose the poor one for their intrinsic worth, as it should be. It's the poor partner's right - maybe even responsibility - to remain true to that self that earned such trust.

You don't oversell yourself to "fit in", that's disingenuous.
You shouldn't criticize the family unless it's truly warranted, either, your partner came from them, one way or another.

The answer overall is, respect them on their own merits... and ensure they do so for you too.

You earned your partner's trust, that's the most important thing - don't let the family scare you!

This is my deeply personal first-hand experience talking, that's all I'll add.

Wise words, amigo! Couldn't agree more ^^

Speaking the truth right here :)

I have to agree that this hippo dude is lovely.

Why can I imagine HippoBro sounding a bit like Monterey Jack? xD

I'm imagining a bit more "Voice like a bag of gravel" than Monty's

"Maybe I should have pretended to be illiterate..."
Yeah, that's a mood - on the job sometimes when you show someone you can do a rare thing, they invariably ask you to do that thing every single time it's needed LOL

"The reward for a job well done is more work."

I had a coworker who was in the Navy before he came to this job. He told me about how he had a chief who kept giving him weekend duty "because I know I can count on you"

That reminds me of a quote attributed to Mother Theresa--"I know God will not give me more than I can handle...I just wish He wouldn't trust me so much!"

Been there xP dang overdependence should be discouraged more.

Slavery bad :(

Althought I like Zet's attitude here, being competent at any job can be annoying at times; poor of Shen by the way. XD

The joy of paperwork. Lol.

I do enjoy Zet's nature alongside the occasional jab; sort of reminds me of Posca from HBO's Rome =)

...and, very importantly, it will be a LOT harder to swindle the queen now...

I'm honestly interested in seeing how this
empire works as a structure, i mean... it's
implied to be very large, I'd love to see its
political structure unveiled. In history even
small kingdoms have always had a fairly well
structured government in charge of helping,
and sometimes limiting the authority of,
the monarch, actual absolute monarchies
are incredibly rare even in the ancient world
(simply because they don't really work, a
single person cannot physically manage
the necessities of an entire city, let alone a
kingdom or an empire, by themselves) and
most of the times, when it happened, they
devolved into tyrannies or cleptocracies
and fell to either an aristocratic coup or a
popular uprising. So yeah, please Zum drop
the Zaphira's kingdom political chart, or if you
prefer l'd be honoured to try and make one,
I'm already having some ideas in mind, have a
nice day and keep up the great work.

not sure why i find a hippo with a stach so funny but i do.

I love the hippo's adorable moustache.