Viscount

Viscount (female Viscountess) was a title of nobility in the Golden Empire.

Awarded only by the Sovereign, the title was granted for "unparalleled contributions to the defense or society of the Golden Empire". All Viscounties were life peerages, expiring with the death of the recipient. However, Viscounts were granted land estates by the Sovereign which could be passed to descendants or other family members. Viscounts were taxed at a lower rate than other private citizens and were treated as Royal emissaries in diplomatic contexts.

In formal settings, Viscounts wore ornately embroidered as a clear symbol of their status. They were also given from the Sovereign as an alternative, less ostentatious badge of office. Unlike members of the Royal Family and recipients of the Crown of Deliverance, however, Viscounts did not wear coronets or crowns of any type.

Rin Sakaros created the rank of Viscount to parallel the similar established in the. However, continuing her attempts to dissociate herself from that Empire begun by her use of the title "Queen" instead of "Empress", she adopted "Viscount" instead of "Baron". She also felt it left open the possibility of later establishing "Count" as an even higher degree of nobility.