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Starting at the start of 18 years old, Clotted would need to be trained in military. In the Roman Republic, 10 years of military service was required before you could run:

Of course the Creme Republic and the Roman Republic do not have to be 1:1 on requirements but this provides us a general range to start with. During some set amount of military years, Clotted would need to become a a high-ranking member of the military since Consuls are meant to have the highest military command in times of war and act as commanders-in-chief in general.

Using the range of 7-10 years (just to add another minimum to form a range for the Creme Republic), this puts Clotted Cream at around 25-28 years old once he reaches a commander level. This level of leadership and high-ranking is referenced by his design where both him and his father have a diagonal belt/sash. The Custard Guards do not have this as they are lower ranking:

Between the starting ages of 25-28 years old, he begins his politician years to eventually be elected as Consul. Espresso notes this phase of Clotted's life and states that the last time he saw him he was just a novice politician and it was surprising to see him rise as Consul so quickly.

It's unclear just how quickly he was able to prove himself capable of the highest position in the Republic but Elder Custard states that were (and still are) doubts about him and how young he is. It may have taken him 2+ years as a placeholder.

Let's say 3 years just to throw a number out there. That puts him around 28-31 years old. Consuls during the Roman Republic were aged 42 y/o minimum before it was changed to 32 y/o in the empire. 32 years seems like a reasonable number to guess his age around.

Which also makes sense on how people react to his age if that's close to the minimum. He's still very young at 32 if that's the literal minimum age AND he's very young relative to others in office (who are literally called "The Elders").

The key points of determining how old he is are 1) the years needed for military work 2) the years needed for military leadership and 3) the years needed as a politician to campaign and eventually be elected as Consul in present day. He is likely early 30s with these in mind

I'm so glad she has Kouign and Madeleine as buddies so they can help her have fun. She is so restrictive about herself and what she can "enjoy". Of course, she does enjoy being a paladin and finds a lot of joy in her strict duties. But she is also curious and likes treats

She would never allow herself to act upon that though and always acts as a role model even when nobody is watching. She is disciplined and takes pride in that (cake order on the left). Kouign and Madeleine like to treat themselves for their hardwork (Kouign's order on the right)

Financier would not agree with that line of thinking for herself because to her, it's her duty and she doesn't need a "reward". This is why she criticizes how Madeleine indulges in the fame and popularity. To her, the only reward is serving the Light and the Republic.

This makes sense considering her upbringing and her finding a lot of happiness and identity in being a paladin. She is an exceptional role model and is happy to be one. But sometimes you need a littleeee fun and that's where Kouign and Madeleine come in as buddies to her

They are fun people and know how to enjoy themselves. They're happy to loop her in and include her. They're quite on the opposite scale of her strictness though and they're fellow paladins so she can't help but criticize them at times. Nonetheless, them dragging her around is beneficial to her enjoyment.

Clotted, however, is not as high energy as the other two and is also very strict about his job. Unlike Financier, he does know how to enjoy himself. Idk why fanon has latched onto the idea that he doesn't know how to have fun and relax when he has multiple instances of self care.

Clotted is a very high ranking official so Financier inherently takes his lead. This is different from her typical role model approach for herself and to everyone else.

When he offers her a picnic or food or any invitation, it's less about being dragged around but rather doing something safely together. In Financier's eyes, Clotted is also very serious about his position and the Republic and rarely does things for himself so him inviting her creates a familiar environment. If he, a fellow workaholic, is enjoying himself then she feels more open to do so. She lets herself enjoy the scenery with Clotted (bare minimum of what she "allows" herself to do) and declines on the picnic until Clotted says they should do it. But when she accepts she has fun. She likes having fun.

It's just a matter of having people around her either giving her a little push or creating an environment where she sees people similar to her doing the same thing and following their lead. That's why she's so open to Clotted because she knows this is rare for him too.

She knows Kouign and Madeleine are fun and whimsical. Clotted is not. And neither is she. So when he does it, she finds herself "allowing" it to happen to her too. That's why I find her relationship to Clotted very different to the paladins, romantic or not.

She does not have to be a role model around him and he knows what's it's like to maintain an image at all times. He is the most watched person in the Republic. So if he's okay with doing it, she is too. They can put their images aside for a few minutes and have fun together.

Clotted is a very "safe" figure to her. She knows he is similar to her. She knows he knows the feeling of the weight and overwhelming love they have for the Republic. He understands her and in turn she loosens up a little around him. It's very sweet to me. Clottcier blast

Maybe a Custard Guard followed him around prior to the events of Odyssey. However, the way he reacted to Financier's initial assignment to him was so negative I believe he didn't have anyone following him. Which makes sense considering he has 4 guns attached to him on top of his self worth issues plus his Custard image (i.e. not looking "weak").

He seemed to be fine on his own but because he wanted Financier to stay with him even after her assignment he dug himself in a hole. Now everyone assigns him temporary protection and he can't explain that he wants Financier specifically and doesn't actually need protection. That sounds bad and is also embarrassing.

In one fic Financier joked about Madeleine taking her place and honestly I want to see it I want to see this interaction. Clotted hearing he's being assigned one of his bum Custard Guards and mentally lets out a sigh. And then Vanilla Sugar speaking up and saying he was under Divine protection before so it should be another high-ranking paladin so they give him Madeleine and he lets out another sigh