“What do you stand to gain from this?”
After everyone had departed, the dining hall was deafeningly quiet. A cloud of serene dignity fell on the Countess’s cheeks. Cassio Brahamdorff cracked a smile.
“Aunt.”
“You must recognize that your family’s name is not as light as you believe. His Majesty the King is rumored to be in poor health lately.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing, aunt.”
“So, in other words, it’s not an exceptionally good thing either, is it?”
Countess McGinty has always been a fearsome lady. Similarly, it was believed that she was better than her famed aura in certain areas. She had married early and avoided the succession battles since she was not brave enough to upset the established sequence of succession and ruin her family.
And she firmly seized control of that family and rose to prominence. She was one of the social heavyweights, constantly carefully watching the situation and calculating every move.
“Do you really want to gamble knowing that this social season is going to be the eye of the storm? Prince Alexis is still in his infancy. Princess Alosia is well-known for being insufficient. Grand Duke Franz may not be able to abandon his dreams of being the crown prince.”
The present king was in his early fifties. Although he was past his prime, everyone assumed that because the queen had a legitimate successor, there was no need to worry about succession. However, the king’s health began to deteriorate abruptly approximately 5 years ago. The king and queen tried hard from an early age to produce a child, but only had Princess Alosia, who turned twenty this year.
Primogeniture is the basis of inheritance law that gives priority to males. Because the country was blessed by a goddess in the origin myth, the royal family would have been justified in preferring females. However, because the goddess was extremely unpredictable and terrible, the royal family secretly abandoned her devotion in favor of serving the mighty god Blitz. Although that was an insufficient justification to renounce the deity who had blessed the first royal dynasty, the populace had no other explanation.
Regardless, despite the fact that the inheritance law was such, exceptions were allowed if there were unavoidable circumstances. As a result, the queen gritted her teeth and educated Princess Alosia to be her heir. Meanwhile, the king’s brother, Grand Duke Franz, waited for a chance. Because the queen came from the Duchy of Aldrich, she had limited domestic influence.
However, an 8-year-old miracle occurred when the queen gave birth to Prince Alexis, and all was resolved. Everyone believed it.
“Even though you are settled in the townhouse, you are well-informed about court matters. I constantly see my flaws in front of you, aunt.”
“Spare me the flattery.”
The Countess reacted angrily.
“Your marriage was also a good hand of cards. You could have been the princess’ cavalier if you wished.”
“The princess?”
Cassio Brahamdorfff’s face was tinged with contempt.
“Are you referring to that shy lady who makes everyone wonder if she can even fulfill her role as a person? The bird in a cage, secreted away by Her Majesty the Queen for fear of impeding her younger brother, despite having undergone succession training for a time?”
“That makes her a lot easier to manipulate.”
“This year, the Marchioness Windrose is set to return to the social scene.”
The Countess remained mute.
“I heard she was away from the social scene for over two years, grieving the loss of her daughter?”
“You are absolutely correct, aunt.”
“How astute. So, is that slick Marquis, who has frantically preserved neutrality under the pretext of his daughter, going to break it now?”
“How could we understand the pain of a parent who has lost a child?”
Cassio Brahamdorff appeared to grin sweetly. It was a lovely grin that might have made any lady blush uncontrollably. The Countess, on the other hand, got colder and more steely in her look.
“I know you had your heart set on the Marquis Windrose family’s favor.”
The man’s jaw clenched.
“…”
“You weren’t the only one. Every move of a young girl who hadn’t yet formally passed the barrier into high society had the social circles in a frenzy. Goodness! I took myself in having seen every up and down this field had to offer, but there was a sight even I had never witnessed. She must have been a goddess born in a human body, destined to be lauded,” she joked.
“…”
“It’s not a bad thing to become engrossed in what others are engrossed in. Both your father and I are well aware that you are not the kind to listen to an elderly like me. Furthermore, due to her condition, there was no hope of marriage, and having a strong connection with the Windrose family would have been useful to us. However.”
With her fingertips, the Countess smashed a grape.
“Why on earth did you bring that young lady here?”
Cassio Brahamdorff laughed. It was an incessantly fake chuckle, almost like a mask. The man cocked his head, as if he were a gambler inspecting the hand of cards on the table.
“…Since I was a child, there had been whispers of a hidden treasure in the Windrose family.”
Cassio Brahamdorff’s voice sounded repetitive, as if he were retelling an old story.
“Her hair is silver, her eyes are emeralds, and her skin is frosty in the winter. Her posture is goddess-like, her voice is melody, and her moves are dance-like.”
It was the most objective recognition and the most objective praise. The gray eyes of the man who took pleasure in possessing an artistic sensibility for all the wonderful things in the world were as stone.
“They say that a tragic fate is proof of being a favored child of the gods, and that one would become the happiest person in the world if they could win the love of Ophelia Windrose.”
A fruit rolled across the table after the guy playfully touched it. Fruit juice looked like blood on the white tablecloth. The pulp gave way as his soft fingertips pressed forcefully on the purple skin.
“Don’t you think it’s an interesting story, aunt?”
The man chuckled.
I laid in bed after returning, removing my makeup and changing my clothing, as endless things flooded my head. I was just attempting to push myself to sleep on a creaking bed two days ago.
Kitty’s hands were swift. I was able to sprawl easily on bed with a lighter physique in less than an hour. Every time our gazes met, I was struck by her sincere grin. Even though I was a visitor, it was traditional for an aristocratic home to have two or three maids to care for a lady’s personal requirements. Kitty, on the other hand, was the only one following me about and taking care of everything today. Had she considered my dislike of being around a lot of people?
“Miss.”
I blinked my eyes shut. Kitty’s eyes sparkled, as if she was expecting something.
“What exactly is it, Kitty?”
“Will you make your debut this season?”
“Most likely.”
“Will you be staying here for that?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Can I then… that is…”
She curled her fingers and moved her gaze back and forth. I chuckled because I had a sense I knew what she was looking for.
“Of course, you should come and help me, then.”
Kitty’s eyes glowed with excitement. It’s impossible for a girl her age not to wish to be a member of high society. Especially for servants who live right next to the nobles, looking over their shoulders at the magnificence.
The reason Ophelia was once elevated as a deity by people who had never seen her face was similar. Her beauty, tragedy, past, and even her cynical attitude toward others all became the topic of gossip.
It reached a climax when she was on the verge of death. A portrait of her and me, painted in the style of a princess and her maid, was even featured in a weekly magazine. Her name was once more renowned than that of the princess who was formerly treated as a royal heir. Servants who sold morsels of information about her were removed in droves from the Marquis’s mansion. For several years, her shadow was reported to have dominated the social scene.
They said that there was a period when everyone desired to make their skin pale by using white powder that didn’t match their skin, wearing magnificent white garments of thin fabric, and decorating their ears with lily petals. There were reports of young ladies who liked silver hair and green eyes buying bogus medicines that promised to change their hair and eye color and suffering for it in a society that regarded golden blond the peak.
Of course, when these tales were analyzed, they were ridiculous. Ophelia and I played in the yard a lot since that was the only place she could get some relief from her suffocation because she couldn’t go outdoors properly. She also despised constricting clothing, so she dressed informally in modest one-piece dresses that were as comfy as possible.
She would have looked nice in any hue, but she avoided wearing eye-straining colors. She appeared to be a flower cut from a single piece of translucent crystal, dressed in basic and repetitive attire. Perhaps it was for this reason that she received so many white flowers as gifts.
The lily was one of the most prevalent. She, ironically, did not like lilies. She complained that their aroma was too strong for her taste.
“What do you stand to gain from this?”
After everyone had departed, the dining hall was deafeningly quiet. A cloud of serene dignity fell on the Countess’s cheeks. Cassio Brahamdorff cracked a smile.
“Aunt.”
“You must recognize that your family’s name is not as light as you believe. His Majesty the King is rumored to be in poor health lately.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing, aunt.”
“So, in other words, it’s not an exceptionally good thing either, is it?”
Countess McGinty has always been a fearsome lady. Similarly, it was believed that she was better than her famed aura in certain areas. She had married early and avoided the succession battles since she was not brave enough to upset the established sequence of succession and ruin her family.
And she firmly seized control of that family and rose to prominence. She was one of the social heavyweights, constantly carefully watching the situation and calculating every move.
“Do you really want to gamble knowing that this social season is going to be the eye of the storm? Prince Alexis is still in his infancy. Princess Alosia is well-known for being insufficient. Grand Duke Franz may not be able to abandon his dreams of being the crown prince.”
The present king was in his early fifties. Although he was past his prime, everyone assumed that because the queen had a legitimate successor, there was no need to worry about succession. However, the king’s health began to deteriorate abruptly approximately 5 years ago. The king and queen tried hard from an early age to produce a child, but only had Princess Alosia, who turned twenty this year.
Primogeniture is the basis of inheritance law that gives priority to males. Because the country was blessed by a goddess in the origin myth, the royal family would have been justified in preferring females. However, because the goddess was extremely unpredictable and terrible, the royal family secretly abandoned her devotion in favor of serving the mighty god Blitz. Although that was an insufficient justification to renounce the deity who had blessed the first royal dynasty, the populace had no other explanation.
Regardless, despite the fact that the inheritance law was such, exceptions were allowed if there were unavoidable circumstances. As a result, the queen gritted her teeth and educated Princess Alosia to be her heir. Meanwhile, the king’s brother, Grand Duke Franz, waited for a chance. Because the queen came from the Duchy of Aldrich, she had limited domestic influence.
However, an 8-year-old miracle occurred when the queen gave birth to Prince Alexis, and all was resolved. Everyone believed it.
“Even though you are settled in the townhouse, you are well-informed about court matters. I constantly see my flaws in front of you, aunt.”
“Spare me the flattery.”
The Countess reacted angrily.
“Your marriage was also a good hand of cards. You could have been the princess’ cavalier if you wished.”
“The princess?”
Cassio Brahamdorfff’s face was tinged with contempt.
“Are you referring to that shy lady who makes everyone wonder if she can even fulfill her role as a person? The bird in a cage, secreted away by Her Majesty the Queen for fear of impeding her younger brother, despite having undergone succession training for a time?”
“That makes her a lot easier to manipulate.”
“This year, the Marchioness Windrose is set to return to the social scene.”
The Countess remained mute.
“I heard she was away from the social scene for over two years, grieving the loss of her daughter?”
“You are absolutely correct, aunt.”
“How astute. So, is that slick Marquis, who has frantically preserved neutrality under the pretext of his daughter, going to break it now?”
“How could we understand the pain of a parent who has lost a child?”
Cassio Brahamdorff appeared to grin sweetly. It was a lovely grin that might have made any lady blush uncontrollably. The Countess, on the other hand, got colder and more steely in her look.
“I know you had your heart set on the Marquis Windrose family’s favor.”
The man’s jaw clenched.
“…”
“You weren’t the only one. Every move of a young girl who hadn’t yet formally passed the barrier into high society had the social circles in a frenzy. Goodness! I took myself in having seen every up and down this field had to offer, but there was a sight even I had never witnessed. She must have been a goddess born in a human body, destined to be lauded,” she joked.
“…”
“It’s not a bad thing to become engrossed in what others are engrossed in. Both your father and I are well aware that you are not the kind to listen to an elderly like me. Furthermore, due to her condition, there was no hope of marriage, and having a strong connection with the Windrose family would have been useful to us. However.”
With her fingertips, the Countess smashed a grape.
“Why on earth did you bring that young lady here?”
Cassio Brahamdorff laughed. It was an incessantly fake chuckle, almost like a mask. The man cocked his head, as if he were a gambler inspecting the hand of cards on the table.
“…Since I was a child, there had been whispers of a hidden treasure in the Windrose family.”
Cassio Brahamdorff’s voice sounded repetitive, as if he were retelling an old story.
“Her hair is silver, her eyes are emeralds, and her skin is frosty in the winter. Her posture is goddess-like, her voice is melody, and her moves are dance-like.”
It was the most objective recognition and the most objective praise. The gray eyes of the man who took pleasure in possessing an artistic sensibility for all the wonderful things in the world were as stone.
“They say that a tragic fate is proof of being a favored child of the gods, and that one would become the happiest person in the world if they could win the love of Ophelia Windrose.”
A fruit rolled across the table after the guy playfully touched it. Fruit juice looked like blood on the white tablecloth. The pulp gave way as his soft fingertips pressed forcefully on the purple skin.
“Don’t you think it’s an interesting story, aunt?”
The man chuckled.
I laid in bed after returning, removing my makeup and changing my clothing, as endless things flooded my head. I was just attempting to push myself to sleep on a creaking bed two days ago.
Kitty’s hands were swift. I was able to sprawl easily on bed with a lighter physique in less than an hour. Every time our gazes met, I was struck by her sincere grin. Even though I was a visitor, it was traditional for an aristocratic home to have two or three maids to care for a lady’s personal requirements. Kitty, on the other hand, was the only one following me about and taking care of everything today. Had she considered my dislike of being around a lot of people?
“Miss.”
I blinked my eyes shut. Kitty’s eyes sparkled, as if she was expecting something.
“What exactly is it, Kitty?”
“Will you make your debut this season?”
“Most likely.”
“Will you be staying here for that?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Can I then… that is…”
She curled her fingers and moved her gaze back and forth. I chuckled because I had a sense I knew what she was looking for.
“Of course, you should come and help me, then.”
Kitty’s eyes glowed with excitement. It’s impossible for a girl her age not to wish to be a member of high society. Especially for servants who live right next to the nobles, looking over their shoulders at the magnificence.
The reason Ophelia was once elevated as a deity by people who had never seen her face was similar. Her beauty, tragedy, past, and even her cynical attitude toward others all became the topic of gossip.
It reached a climax when she was on the verge of death. A portrait of her and me, painted in the style of a princess and her maid, was even featured in a weekly magazine. Her name was once more renowned than that of the princess who was formerly treated as a royal heir. Servants who sold morsels of information about her were removed in droves from the Marquis’s mansion. For several years, her shadow was reported to have dominated the social scene.
They said that there was a period when everyone desired to make their skin pale by using white powder that didn’t match their skin, wearing magnificent white garments of thin fabric, and decorating their ears with lily petals. There were reports of young ladies who liked silver hair and green eyes buying bogus medicines that promised to change their hair and eye color and suffering for it in a society that regarded golden blond the peak.
Of course, when these tales were analyzed, they were ridiculous. Ophelia and I played in the yard a lot since that was the only place she could get some relief from her suffocation because she couldn’t go outdoors properly. She also despised constricting clothing, so she dressed informally in modest one-piece dresses that were as comfy as possible.
She would have looked nice in any hue, but she avoided wearing eye-straining colors. She appeared to be a flower cut from a single piece of translucent crystal, dressed in basic and repetitive attire. Perhaps it was for this reason that she received so many white flowers as gifts.
The lily was one of the most prevalent. She, ironically, did not like lilies. She complained that their aroma was too strong for her taste.
