CH 17

“Stop memorizing the name of the person you’ll be marrying in three years.”

The Grand Duke didn’t respond and just threw away the papers. Ivan almost screamed.

“No, Your Highness! Those are important documents! Can’t you treat it with some respect?”

“If it’s important to you, take care of it.”

Even after getting married, they’d only see each other’s faces a few times a year.

Ivan grumbled, but he treasured the important certificate.

“When all is done, get ready to play.”

“Yes?”

Ivan raised his head.

“No, what do you mean by that? Are you saying that the decision to transfer to the northern front has already been made?”

“Yes.”

“What about the order? To get to this point, they should have sent it before the war even started, but how…”

“It hasn’t come yet.”

“Yes?”

Ivan made a strange sound and frowned.

“Did you eat something strange? We haven’t received the transfer order yet, why are you preparing for war…”

Damian thinly smiled with his purple eyes.

“It’s obvious that my brother will cheat. Without me, he thinks he can reach out to Matteo.”

Send Damian to the battlefield. And while the guardian was absent, get the crown prince.

“No, then.”

“Again, Claude won’t kill Matteo right away.”

He’s not that stupid.

Damian hit the desk with a thump.

“The succession is incomplete and the feudal lords are agitated, but in this situation, the late Emperor’s Crown Prince is killed? It’s like inciting a rebellion.”

And the man in the best position to raise that rebellion was right here, Damian Rupenwein.

“Claude will definitely bring Matteo to the court alive. And he’ll make the kid sign a memorandum renunciating his right of succession with his own hand.”

After about ten years, who would care if he killed that child?

His tone was monotonous and languid, as if he was describing someone else’s business.

“You sounds sure, Your Highness.”

“If it were me, I would have done that.”

Both brothers had a similar way of thinking even if they despised each other.

A knife-like smile crept across the Grand Duke’s lips, chilly and beautiful.

4. May Lily Sorority

Some time passed since then. The season was smoothly deepening.

Lilian’s teachers, which had been giving Cedric some troubles, were also properly chosen, and thanks to that, Lilian began to spend her busy days little by little.

“Young miss, are you awake?”

“Um…”

Maybe that’s why. Lately, Lilian’s wake-up time has been delayed. Not only that, but even when she woke up, she would doze off.

“If you’re not feeling well, how about taking a break from class today?”

“Uhm, it’s fine.”

Her eyes opened like a knife when asked if she wanted to rest. Lilian always showed that she’s Cedric’s younger sister in places like this.

‘Ugh, she resembles the parts I don’t want her to resemble.’

Laughing helplessly, Mrs. Hayworth carefully washed the sleepy little face of Lilian.

That wasn’t the only bad thing about Lilian and Cedric.

“Aren’t you going to eat more?”

Despite her gentle invitation, Lilian shook her head.

“This is enough.”

If you force a child with a small appetite to eat, the child would increasingly avoid food.

The head maid, who knew well from her experience of raising the demanding Cedric, didn’t encourage her and had the others clear the dishes.

After a while.

“…yes, very good, young miss Lily. You learn really quickly.”

Lilian, who showed off her conversation skills as she had learned, was greatly praised by her etiquette teacher, the Grandmother of Marquis Lannister.

The Grandmother of Marquis Lannister was someone recommended by the Great Feudal Lord Hemenlinna.

She was a relative of the Great Feudal Lord’s wife, so Lilian wasn’t originally worthy of having her as an etiquette teacher.

If it weren’t for the fact that she married off all her grown children and became a widow a little too early and was lonely, she would have rejected the invitation of the Great Feudal Lord.

‘I’m glad I didn’t.’

Lilian’s natural disposition itself was meek, and she readily followed even when taught rather severely, so she was able to win the heart of this staunch Grandmother right away.

“If you’re like this, I think you can attend the as planned.”

In the Empire, there was a custom of organizing small gatherings where young ladies of similar ages gathered before making their debut in the social world to make friends and practice conversation skills and etiquette.

Among them, was one of the small gatherings with a deep history and high reputation.

“I’m a little nervous.”

“Belonging to a good sorority is very important to young noble ladies.”

Once attached to a sorority, that bond lasted a lifetime. Even within the social world, a battleground without swords, the implicit rule of helping people from the same sorority was absolutely followed.

A certain noblewoman even declared that she would not accept a daughter-in-law unless she came from the same Sorority.

So the parents of daughters would frantically try to get their children into prestigious sororities by any means possible.

‘It’s not like I haven’t joined a Sorority before…’

Lilian hadn’t been a member of such a good Sorority before. No matter how noble her family or status was, it’s almost impossible to belong to a good sorority without any effort or connections.

She was able to join this time thanks to the Grandmother here.

“I don’t want to damage your reputation.”

Grandmother, also from May Lily Sorority, personally recommended Lilian to join as her guardian.

Lily’s mistakes would immediately be reflected on the Grandmother’s reputation.

Unlike Lilian, who was worried, the Grandmother only snorted.

“If you can do as much in front of me, you won’t have to worry about being embarrassed.”

The tone was stiff, but in the end, it was a compliment and a consolation to relieve her.

Although not as formal as a social debut, the sorority debut was an important event in the life of an aristocratic woman.

At their courtesy tea time, even Cedric asked this question.

“Are the preparations going well?”

“Mrs. Hayworth and Teacher are helping from one to ten.”

As always, the people around her were more excited than Lilian, the person involved.

‘Come to think of it, what was it like before?’

The miserable life she had read in the book was absorbed almost like a first-hand memory.

Her memory of that time was hazy. Because of her nanny’s intervention, she had never attended properly.

What she did remember was…

‘I wasn’t able to properly learn etiquette, and I was secretly ostracized because I didn’t have enough social skills to interact with people.’

I attended the first meeting. The day I returned, I remembered crying all night saying I never wanted to go again.

Lilian laughed bitterly.

It was then.

“My lord.”

It was Allen. He was holding a small box in his hand.

“What is it, Allen?”

“This is a present for the young miss. The Great Feudal Lord sent it.”

Cedric’s expression subtly turned cold.

After that knot incident, Lily had to struggle to sooth her older brother who was sore and pouting.

The knot was a practice piece. The other party said they’d give her land or jewels, so she had no choice but to talk around it that way.

Despite the valid excuse, Cedric couldn’t cheer up. In the end, it was only after receiving the knot that Lilian had made, that his heart knot was unraveled.

“…open it up, Lilian. I wonder what it is.”

She clearly felt the will to see what it was and to give a better gift than that.

‘It shouldn’t be a big deal…’

Lilian was embarrassed and accepted the box. When she opened it, there was…

“Oh my God.”

It felt like a flood of light.

It was a necklace that soaked in sunlight and shimmered with thousands of lights.

The first thing that caught her eye was five thick diamonds the size of a thumb.

However, if looked at slowly, even the small jewels that connect between the lines and workpieces were all diamonds.

It was such a monstrosity that the eyes were distracted because it emitted so much light in all directions.

“Oh my gosh…, it will look like you’re wearing an angel’s ring around your neck.”

Even Mrs. Hayworth, who had determined not to be surprised to please the master, admired it.

The enclosed card was decorated with elegant strokes.

“To commemorate the beginning of a luxury war and having the last laugh” it read.

“I think this is probably the most famous necklace among the ‘Tears of Light’ series that the late Grand Empress possessed.”

“Yes?”

At Allen’s words, Lilian almost dropped the box.

“Young miss!”

If Mrs. Hayworth hadn’t grabbed it quickly, she would have thrown the late Grand Empress’ necklace.

Lily looked at Cedric with a puzzled look.

“I don’t think it’s something I can receive.”

Cedric, who had been silent all along, sighed.

“I’m with you but it will be difficult to refuse a gift from the Great Feudal Lord.”

“But if I put this on me and debut in the Sorority…”

“It’ll get more attention than it needs to.”

Cedric was heartbroken at the thought that it’d be difficult to give anything grander than that.