Chapter 142: A Precarious Position
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 142: A Precarious Position
“I had quite forgotten about that connection.”
Encouraged by Loik’s noticeably softened expression, Zoren finally broached the main subject.
“To be honest, the Baroness was very concerned about how Her Highness the Grand Duchess was faring. She considered sending a letter several times, but…”
The knight trailed off.
Loik understood immediately. Given that they were families of sworn enemies, the Baroness likely feared that sending a letter might inadvertently harm Annette, unsure of how the Grand Duke treated his wife.
“The Grand Duchess has been very busy adjusting to the North. She simply hasn't had the chance to send word,” Loik said magnanimously. “I’m sure she would be delighted to receive a letter from the Baroness. I shall pass the word along to her.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Relieved by the favorable response, Zoren bowed and withdrew with a much lighter expression.
For Annette to have someone to rely on in the North meant one more reason for her to find it difficult to leave this place. With a satisfied heart, Loik turned back toward the castle with his knights.
*
The head of the Frais family and his kin gathered in the dining room.
It was the first formal banquet held in months, yet the family members looked less like they were attending a meal and more like cattle summoned to a slaughterhouse.
“And despite that, you left the maid behind?”
The Marquis raised his voice at his wife.
“What was I supposed to do? She refused to come back,” the Marchioness replied petulantly, just as she was about to take a spoonful of her pre-dinner soup.
The moment the Marchioness had returned, the Marquis had asked for the maid first. Upon hearing that Janet had decided to stay at the Grand Duke’s Castle, he was now on his fifth outburst of rage.
“You should have dragged her back by her hair if you had to!”
“Hair? I didn’t even see her face before I left.”
The Marchioness muttered under her breath, but she pointedly did not mention that Janet had been locked in a dungeon. It was her own small, petty revenge against her husband.
“And what about Annette?” the Marquis asked, struggling to maintain his patience. He had strictly warned his wife to go and fix Annette’s attitude.
The Marchioness twisted her face in a grimace of disbelief. “That girl, Annette… she doesn’t even pretend to listen to me anymore. Besides, the maids and knights there—every time I opened my mouth, they looked at me like they wanted to tear me apart!”
“Pathetic! Does that girl actually think she’s become a real Grand Duchess?”
“…She married the Grand Duke of Blenheim, so if she’s not the Grand Duchess, what is she?”
At the Marchioness’s quiet grumbling, the veins in the Marquis’s neck bulged.
“That man loathes our family! Is it even plausible that someone like Annette would be recognized as the mistress of that house?”
The second daughter, Ladriel, sneered at the Marchioness.
“Forget being the mistress; I bet she’s barely treated better than a beggar. If that weren't the case, what kind of son-in-law would send his wife’s mother away without even meeting her?”
“Exactly! You hit the nail on the head!”
The Marquis threw his napkin down on the table. “That stupid girl is just putting on an act, pretending she’s actually someone important!”
“No one there calls Sister stupid.”
Raphael, who had been burying his nose in his soup, spoke up in a small but clear voice.
“Everyone said Sister was incredibly smart and amazing.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“The servants and the knights were all so respectful to her. And the Grand Duke treats her so well…”
“Ha!”
The Marquis let out a cynical snort at his youngest son’s words. “I suppose even a beast like him wants to play at being a gentleman since he’s a noble?”
The young boy, his neck flushing red, clenched his small fists. “At the very least, he’s much more of a gentleman than you are to Mother, Father.”
“What? You little brat, I’ve spoiled you too much—!”
“Calm yourself.”
The eldest son, Ferdin, cut off the Marquis’s outburst. “Why get so worked up over a child’s words?”
He then turned his gaze toward Raphael. “And you. Is that any way to speak to the head of the family?”
At those words, the boy flinched and lowered his head again.
The Marquis found none of this to his liking. Since when did that boy start acting like he’s the head of the house?
Ever since Annette left, the discipline of the household had been falling apart. Annette, who had always been submissive, now openly ignored him. His obedient wife, perhaps inspired by Annette, had begun to defy him. Ferdin, the heir, was subtly raising his voice more often, and the youngest, Raphael, feared his older brother more than his own father.
The Marquis looked at Ladriel, the only one who hadn't betrayed his expectations yet. Her pouting face was still quite pretty.
I must marry her off to the Third Prince within the year, no matter what.
The marriage between Ladriel and the Third Prince, the son of the current Empress, was something the Empress herself had first proposed. Back then, the Empress had no solid foundation, and most families were lining up behind the Crown Princess, the daughter of the former Empress.
At that time, the Marquis was in a bind because Annette had failed to manifest holy power for a long time. Taking a gamble, the Marquis had supported the Empress with everything he had to secure a spot as the family of the future Empress. Thanks to him, the Empress’s power had grown enough to threaten the Crown Princess’s position.
Naturally, the marriage between Ladriel and the Third Prince should have been the next step, but every time the topic of an engagement arose, the Empress waved it away with the absurd excuse that the Third Prince was still too young.
The situation had reached a point where the Marquis was becoming anxious. Even if the Empress broke her promise now, he couldn't exactly go and hold the Crown Princess’s hand.
Furthermore, he had heard that Ferdin maintained a decent friendship with the Crown Princess, whom he had met at the Academy. If the Crown Princess were to ascend the throne, the Marquis might have to hand over his position to Ferdin sooner than expected.
I shouldn't have appointed him as the heir so early…
Ferdin, now fully grown, exuded an overwhelming presence. The Marquis felt more fear than pride in that fact.
Tomorrow was the day he was scheduled to have an audience with the Empress. The Marquis vowed that he would settle the matter one way or another this time.
I certainly vowed that, but…
Of all days, the Empress seemed to be in a foul mood today.
The Marquis sat across from her, awkwardly wetting his throat with lukewarm tea.
“How is your daughter faring?”
Surprisingly, the Empress was the first to ask after his daughter.
As I thought, the Empress is finally starting to think about the marriage.
“Ladriel is doing well, thanks to Your Majesty’s constant grace—!”
The Marquis was rambling excitedly when she cut him off.
“Not that one,” the Empress said, her tone laced with irritation. “I mean the daughter who went to the North.”
“…You mean Annette.”
The Marquis forced a smile. “That girl? She is performing her duties faithfully.”
“And is her 'duty' to expand the Grand Duke of Blenheim’s influence?”
“Pardon? I’m not sure what you mean…”
“The head of the Merion Trading Company told me yesterday. He said the Grand Duchess built a shopping district in Blenheim that astonished the Rondoris delegation.”
Seeing the Marquis’s clueless expression, the Empress’s eyes sharpened.
“Don't tell me you knew nothing about this?”
Despite his confusion, the Marquis scrambled to make excuses, claiming the rumors must be exaggerated.
“It was your idea to marry your third daughter to the Grand Duke,” the Empress said, narrowing her eyes.
Initially, the Empress had opposed marrying Annette to the Grand Duke. She suspected the Marquis was trying to secretly build a bridge to the North.
— “You want to make your second daughter the future Empress and your third the Grand Duchess? Marquis Frais, aren't you being a bit too greedy?”
At the time, the Marquis had emphasized how stupid and worthless the illegitimate Annette was, stressing that she was a disposable pawn.
— “Wouldn't it be better to bind the Grand Duke to a worthless illegitimate child rather than a Princess of Rondoris?”
The Empress had eventually been swayed by those words and had even gone so far as to persuade the Emperor to finalize the marriage.
“I hear the Grand Duchess is quite clever and capable. Isn't that very different from what you told me?”
The Empress made no effort to hide her displeasure. “If I had known it would be like this, I would have matched her with the Third Prince instead…”
What nonsense!
He couldn't let Annette, who wasn't even his real daughter, become the Empress. Besides, hadn't the Empress herself thrown a fit when Annette was revealed to be a ‘fake saint,’ claiming she couldn't marry the Third Prince into a disgraced family?
The Marquis tried to smooth over the situation with a forced laugh. “How can you say such a thing? The girl cannot even be compared to Ladriel.”
The Empress waved her hand dismissively, her face still sour, indicating that wasn't why she had summoned him today.
“You are aware that the gem auction is opening soon, yes?”
Only then did the Marquis realize the true reason for his summons.
The ‘Blenheim Gem Auction.’
The Blenheim family owned most of the mountain ranges in the North. When the previous Emperor had granted those vast mountains to his younger brother, his intentions were less than kind—he wanted to dump the dangerous border onto him while pushing a rival out of the capital.
However, after the monsters were driven out, massive gem mines were discovered in the Northern mountains. Furthermore, the gems found there were of the highest quality, incomparable in purity to those from any other mine.
The previous Emperor had been furious upon learning this, but he lacked the courage to demand the mines back. Fortunately, the previous Grand Duke, who had no interest in managing mines, did not monopolize the gems. Instead, he signed a consignment contract with the Lumit Trading Company, famous for its jewelry craftsmanship.
Lumit would mine the gems on behalf of the Blenheim family, process them into jewelry, and hold an auction, taking thirty percent of the profits as a commission.
That was how the famous ‘Blenheim Gem Auction’ came to be.
In particular, the final piece presented at the summer auction was known as the ‘Finale.’ For a noblewoman, appearing at the autumn ball season wearing the Finale was considered the greatest possible honor. Because of this, the Imperial family, the nobility, and even those from neighboring countries participated in the summer auction every year to get their hands on it.
“What happened last year must absolutely not happen again. Do you understand?”
The Empress’s eyes flashed with a sharp, dangerous light.