So it is done

What is a good man?

Jonathan made his way to his seat, one placed in a very honored one, right next to the birthday girl's family, at the edge of the table. A position that enabled him to look around at everyone present at the party, Kali herself, Ghira, Blake, and across from him, Sienna. Menagerie's Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of Menagerie's armed forces.

She is loyal to Menagerie, but not to Ghira. If given the right arguments, and incentives, she is capable of following another leader, or even claiming that throne herself. Not out of a scheming desire for power, but out of her own ideas about the future of Menagerie and the faunus. Quite intelligent and even ambitious, but not greedy.

Next to Sienna, sat the Albain couple. They are influential magnates of Menagerie, if not the informal leaders of all of Menagerie's largest capital holdings.

And they don't need to be persuaded, they're already Glenn's staunchest allies. The Albains know where the money is, and they follow the call of the gold. And there's always something to be had in Glenn.

A little further away sat Professor Ozpin, calm, seemingly almost immovable. If it weren't for the attentive gaze from behind his glasses and the palms of his hands resting neatly on the table, slightly crossed in front of him, you'd think he was a statue.

Judging by how far away he sits, Ghira decided not to show his friendship and alliance with him... Not too overtly, at least. Either to avoid provoking Glenn, or because he has no friendship with Ozpin at all. Unlikely, it would be as if Jonathan invited Ironwood to any 'private' celebration in Glenn.

Jonathan sat considerably closer to Kali than Ozpin, and at the corner of the table, actually sitting next to him, was Ghira himself. A gesture of trust and friendship.

Friendship, huh?

Jonathan looked at the salad laid out before him, the appetizer, sumptuously arranged and placed on a large white plate. It was a small work of culinary art created by the hands of Menagerie's most distinguished chefs, as one would expect at a high society banquet, a splendid example of Menagerie cuisine. And not so exotic as to make any of the distinguished guests completely refuse to at least sample it.

In other circumstances, Jonathan would have been happy to sample such a delicacy...

But now Jonathan could only look away, and then carefully pick up the champagne glass, taking a sip, with little or no recollection of how many glasses he had already drunk at this 'celebration'. He sadly had found that he had lost any and all appetite. In other circumstances, perhaps Jonathan would have been concerned about his image.

After all, his appearances in public were not a daily or even weekly thing. Yes, he often appeared in classes at the Academy, but it was not like the Academy is open to the public. There were very few chances for the open public to meet and greet with Glenn's King. And so, there were not many sources of information about his private life... For the understandable reason that Jonathan preferred his private life to remain private.

Besides, some moments of his private life required... A certain amount of 'preparing' the ground in society. Using Rats to silence simple journalists or paparazzi is a waste of their time, after all.

That's why the few reporters allowed in to film Kali's birthday party, only in brief moments, had the golden opportunity to snapshots of Jonathan drinking his fifth, or was it sixth? Glass of champagne. And Jonathan certainly wasn't keen on being labelled an alcoholic, especially considering he wasn't one.

At the moment, however, Jonathan didn't care about possible future scandals or articles. There was an unpleasant, bile-flavored lump in his throat that had destroyed his appetite, and it was alcohol that Jonathan was trying to wash it away with.