Chapter 23: Audience (2)

"You didn't hear wrong," Alan coughed. He had been planning to convey the news on to his daughter soon.

On an impulse, he blurted it out since he felt like it was a decent timing.

"By that, you mean..." Estelle covered her mouth with her palms, gasping.

"Little star, your younger sibling is on the way.." Sheila interjected.

The news made Estelle's heartbeat fasten.

With both delight and anger.

Delight at her expected sibling, anger at the current situation that was unfolding.

What should have been a happy occasion was going to be ruined by the humans' greed and the silly farce born from it.

Her father did nothing wrong! He lived his life properly and didn't engage in much collusion with other nobles. He never wanted to associate himself with a set faction.

The only one that resounded to him was the Neutral faction, as he wished for nothing but peace to his family and people. Even then, he only maintained a distant relationship with the other Neutral nobles.

However, her mother who was now pregnant had to bear the risk of being charged of treason. Something they didn't do.

A pregnant woman who had to bear the curses and loathing from hundreds of thousands of citizens, who would not crumble under the stress?

"..How many months?" Estelle took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Should be around five," Alan replied, giving an estimation since there wasn't a scientific method to provide a definite answer.

"Five.. Just great," Being five months into a pregnancy placed her snugly into the second trimester, where her emotional levels would fluctuate in an irregular pace.

There goes another worry added to her list.

"I'll.. be fine. I'm not that weak, guys," Sheila smiled.

Worries were worries. Even though it might not be true, it would still cloud your mind. Even though someone reassured you a hundred times over and over that your worries were not viable, it would still stay there, unmoving.

Not to mention, Sheila was weaker than a normal person. Her constitution hadn't been well ever since she gave birth to Estelle. It only worsened from there, and since it wasn't a sickness, they didn't know how to improve her condition.

The only thing they could do is prevent her from getting serious complications and alleviating any discomfort.

"That aside, you two are so cruel! Why did you hide everything from me?" Estelle fake pouted.

It was the moments before they had to face a dire situation, being tense and unsettled would only bring detrimental effects.

In fact, Estelle thought that if her position was switched with either side of her parents, she would've done the same thing.

Telling your child these matters weren't easy.

"Little star..." Sheila received a warm hug from Estelle. She then placed a kiss on the child and stroked the beautiful silver strands. The action was very calming for both parties.

"But.. I didn't come here for that," Estelle further hugged Sheila, snuggling up to her stomach.

"Bring me there," Estelle turned to look at her father. Her gaze was filled with security and a burning spirit, no traces of falter could be sensed. Her golden eyes shined with complex emotions that shouldn't be possessed by a mere child.

Alan knew what she meant. The summons. Estelle wanted to go. No, she had to go.

"Estelle, my dear, you know that there are some matters that I can't acquiesce to, even if it's you," Alan shook his head in disapproval.

"Father, you know that there are some matters that I am completely hard - headed on. If you don't bring me, I'll ask Minerva to get me inside somehow," Estelle frowned.

They bickered for some time. The clock was ticking, time passed without a care.

Not long after, there was only an hour before the designated time from the original two hours when Estelle first arrived.

The distance between the Dukedom and the royal castle needed at least thirty minutes to cross it without disturbances. The main character of this event, Duke Alan had to set off right now in order to prevent any tardiness.

"Father, you are bringing me with you,"

"Estelle!" Alan raised his voice.

"I know you are worried about all of us, but there's no need to bear the weight alone! As a member of the Clareste family, can't I tag along?" Estelle pleaded.

Alan was someone who would shoulder all the blame when a disaster hit. Estelle would usually approve of that character, but it was different when it concerned her father.

"Alan, little star knows her limits, bringing her-" Sheila wanted to assert her opinion, but was met with an outlash from Alan.

"Sheila, have you gone nuts?! Those guys, no, they don't deserve to be classified as humans. Those animals, they won't let any of us be! Not even a child, not even a pregnant woman!" Alan's words sounded quite harsh, but it was his real thoughts.

Sheila flinched as her emotions spiked up in response.

"So what?! Do you really believe that I don't want to butcher every single one of those bastards? My blood rises when I think of their disgusting behavior!" Sheila bellowed in rage. "What you are doing is alienating us from the real situation, something we are involved in! Even if we pass this turmoil, they still won't let us go!"

After Sheila finished channeling her frustrations, a crisp clap sounded out.

Clap!

"Fight, fight, fight all you want, but the carriage has arrived. You have three minutes to decide... Whether you want to bring her into your entourage, or let her sneak illegally with me. Either way, she won't give up," Minerva sounded bored, incredibly bored.

She looked at the two parental figures as if they were foolish.

It wasn't as if they didn't know Estelle.

The girl was abnormal, to say the least. Much more abnormal than anybody else.

"..Crimson Witch. While I have accepted your offer of becoming Estelle's mentor, I would appreciate it if you don't involve yourself in our family's matters," Alan acknowledged the other's presence, but barred her off without a care.

His stance as a parental figure was rigid. Estelle wouldn't get involved in messy matters like this.

He wanted her to live an unfettered life, even after her absurd power was revealed.

"Oh, so you know that it's FAMILY matters and not PERSONAL matters?" Minerva rolled her eyes. "Then why the heck are you trying to block off your family from all of this? Come on, make it make sense,"

"Father, she's right. This predicament, it sourced from me. Even though they had been planned this for years, the incident that incited the news happened because of me,"

"Please, for the sake of God, just give in. She's going there no matter what, and if you don't get into the damn carriage right now, you're going to be late," Minerva tilted her head.

Weighing out the choices, the better circumstances laid in the one where he would relent and board the royal carriage right now.

Even Sheila tried to persuade him.

Below the sweet whispers of the three ladies, the silver - haired Duke finally made up his choice.

The time was trickling down anyway. He had to make a decision.

"Fine! Fine, I get it!" Alan thrashed his hair as he sighed, pinching his temples.

"Great! Little star, we are going on a trip. You can't look like that. Lylia, you heard me?" Sheila exclaimed.

Estelle usually didn't like to dress up, so in truth, Sheila felt quite disappointed at this. The summons was a great opportunity for her to show off her precious daughter's beauty.

Estelle really didn't like it, but she acquiesced since she had asked a lot out of her parents. She thought that she had to compromise on her part as well.

Sheila broke into a large smile. Clapping her hands twice, the aforementioned purple - haired maid, Lylia, appeared out of nowhere.

"Yes, madam," As a Duke's daughter's personal maid, she had a considerable amount of experience in close combat and scouting techniques. "Young lady, please,"

Gently pushing Estelle by her shoulders, she led her into the dressing room to change into a suitable outfit.

Estelle was just in the training grounds, she couldn't possibly wear the conventional noble girl dresses.

With the frills and flowy skirts, it was only a matter of time before the intricate dresses gets ruined. Burned, stained, torn, everything was possible in Estelle's experiments.

Although she was quite reluctant to follow, Estelle knew that pushing her desires more than this was not a good thing and decided to tag along.

Not long after, the family of three was standing in front of the carriage prepared for them in formal dresses.

Following behind them was Derrick and Minerva, who was disguised as a guard. It was a rare sight that she would change out of her loose Witch robes, but it had to be done.

Her hair was masked with illusion magic, turning the crimson locks into golden ones tied up in a high ponytail.

"Oh, aren't you so cool," Estelle smile was sickeningly sweet as she glanced up and down at Minerva's attire. Her current status was the same as Derrick, a personal guard.

She opted for a flexible chain mail to wear. Even though the metal plates' weight could be relieved by magic, Minerva claimed that dyeing her hair blonde was already tarnishing her dignity, and wearing a bulky metal plate would only desecrate it even more.

"My precious lady, you're cuter than this humble one," Minerva stared at Estelle's silver dress in mockery.

"I'm firing you," Estelle's dress was only down to her knees, so she had no difficulty hopping into the carriage by herself.

"Oh, that can't do!" Minerva faked a shocked and distraught expression.

The carriage was quite wide. Although a maximum of four people was recommended for comfort, the clause would not apply to the quartet since one of them was a child.

Boarding the carriage were Estelle, who was situated between Alan and Sheila, facing Minerva and Derrick on the other side.

The ride lasted for forty minutes, ten minutes longer than the minimum allotted time.

They ended up arriving around fifteen minutes early, and stepped inside the castle with no fear.

They were informed that the audience was already in progress, which elicited some frowns and curses from the party.

If they went with the schedule, they should've been earlier than expected, but the fact that the audience had already started meant that they were duped.

"They would actually stoop this low to trick us?" Sheila pursed her lips, indignant on progressing further into the battlegrounds.

"Bastards will always be bastards," Alan commented, not showing a shred of facial expression. He knew that every action he made will be scrutinized to the highest degree.

Escorted by one of the royal adjutants, they walked down the hallway. Arriving in front of the gigantic golden door, the two guards that were standing next to it immediately went into formation, grabbing the door handle and opening it for them.

Announcing their arrival, one of the guards said in a large voice.

"Duke Alan Clareste and company have arrived--"