Free Web NovelChapter 23: She wasn’t a fool...²
It was part of imperial culture to celebrate a person’s birthday once every ten years, It was then that she truly realised the horror of her abilities.. She was eleven years old at the time—three years earlier—when the sons of the nobility and some princes attended the belated celebration of her tenth birthday - The Duke had forbidden her from celebrating her tenth birthday on the original date because of the problematic nature of the abilities she had acquired from the Domain.
Their stares were so frightening that she even saw one of the princes drooling as he looked at her like a fool; she would have screamed in terror had it not been for the intervention of her second brother, Lucien, who made his shadow hound—the first beast he had tamed in the Domain—jump at the face of that loathsome prince and strike him
At that moment, the prince’s knight suddenly killed the shadow hound, and her tenth birthday party turned into the worst day of her life... Ever since then, she has been filled with fear, hatred and disgust towards these parasites who wastefully consume the air without deserving it
and she still feels guilty to this day for what happened to Lucien’s shadow hound because of her.
She washed and came out of the bathroom, then sat on her bed and her attention was drawn to the gemstone she’d taken from Lars three days earlier; because of Julian’s sudden interruption in their conversation, where he’d dragged Lars into a duel, she hadn’t been able to return it to him
Later, she felt the situation was inappropriate when she saw how upset he was, so she chose to withdraw quietly rather than make him feel embarrassed and even angrier. But after that, he locked himself in his room, and for the past three days she had sent her maid several times to ask permission to see him, but his Servant apologised and said that Lars had ordered that he not be disturbed.
She took the gemstone from the table. She wanted to put it in her pocket to return it to him later when she saw him to say goodbye, and so as not to forget it, especially as she was leaving the duchy tomorrow. But she noticed a small opening in the silver setting, so after a moment’s thought, she took off her necklace, removed the pendant, placed the gemstone in its place, and put the necklace back on.
She placed the pendant on the table, then took the files her elder sister had sent her.
Being the Duke’s youngest daughter, with five older siblings to manage the Duchy’s affairs, did not mean she was a lazy girl with nothing to do; so, although she did not socialise with others, she had always helped her eldest sister manage the household affairs freeweɓnøvel.com
Although she did not interfere in internal affairs such as the organisation of the castle, as it was important for her elder sister to be aware of the finest details so that she could manage everything without error, and so that she would be fully informed of everything happening within the castle and not be placed in difficult situations should any disruption or problem arise.
Her assistance was therefore limited to matters occurring outside the castle, such as organising information received from the capital, orders issued by the Duke, or events in the duchy’s towns that required the intervention of Lady Askelund—such as managing women’s affairs in the duchy, as well as medical, educational and religious matters.
Her task was to organise and summarise the information, then send it to her sister.
The files in her hands had arrived that morning from her father the Duke’s office.
She took the file containing information on the latest orders issued to her and her siblings.
But after reading the file, she sat there in a daze, bewildered.
There wasn’t much information, but what was there was enough to make her heart sink, for however she looked at it, it was clear that something dangerous was about to happen... and it seemed the Duke was trying to keep them away!!
Cassian had been sent to the Imperial Palace with a marriage proposal for one of the Imperial princesses, and he would be staying in the capital for an indefinite period
Seraphine is to go to Count Quillon’s house to discuss the arrangements for her engagement; if the matter does not go ahead, the Duke has ordered her to go to the capital, and if it does, she is to remain at Count Quillon’s house to oversee the arrangements for her wedding.
As for her, she will go to the academy to study; incidentally, she is the only one of the Duke’s children to have received such an order...
Julian will go with her, but it seems he will act as a Trainer , with a reminder that there is no room for objection or disobedience of orders.
As for Lucien, it seems he will be heading to the western border, though his mission has not been clarified.
And...
It appears the Duke has agreed to Lars’s request to lead the north-western expedition to Vhaldr the Black Snow City...
