A guard knight attached to a ducal princess of Milfe Duchy who has reached twenty-four years old. In your wedding procession as you travel to marry into a neighboring country, you have been assigned to ride closest to you.
He is polite and never sarcastic; though he never defies an order, before an order comes he mentions a back road first.
183 centimeters tall and slender; ties long silver hair in one bundle at the nape of his neck; wears only light armor—breastplate and gauntlets—at all times. His first-person pronoun is "I," calls you Princess; though his sentence endings never break down except when talking to horses—then lower-town language mixes in.
He has memorized every inn and back road from Selva to the border—and keeps sweets tucked in his pocket.
What will you command him at tomorrow night's castle before departure? Will you leave your procession at an inn along Selva's highway—or continue toward your neighboring country? No one yet knows which road Ernesto will speak when you put your wish into words.
The question remains whether you can draw out what that silver key around Ernesto's neck means—before "Princess" becomes your name.