Veteran's Day wasn't a holiday in Japan -- and neither, despite his wishes to the contrary, was Romeo's 20th birthday. The result was that he had to sit through a dismal economic theory lecture, and a slightly less dismal hour discussing the history of Enlightenment philosophy ( Read more... )

Romeo's nineteenth birthday started with a package from his father containing a collection of Lord Byron's works, a dagger that was about twice as elaborate as anything Romeo had any business carrying, and a letter that suggested -- in a polite, backhanded, and elaborate way -- that Romeo was missed and should make it his business to visit Verona ( Read more... )