Gregory found the Duke of Piretta without difficulty at his villa in the capital.
He never bothered to say things like his younger siblings' souls had changed.
Gregory looked around the sofa, where it was obvious that his father had been reading a newspaper all along.
He frowned as he saw the ashtray still lined with the remains of cigars he had quit smoking since his health deteriorated. His father used to pick up a cigar whenever he felt anxious or excited.
“Gregory, welcome. I heard the capital is running out of cigars, so go get some for me. What a bunch of stupid eastern country bumpkins struggling to get a single cigar.”
The servants standing guard at the entrance blushed. Gregory did not answer but looked at the newspaper the Duke was reading. It was an article arguing that the second Prince of Rhodnes should become the Crown Prince.
“What about Blie?”
“Aren’t you looking for Adrienne? Aren’t you worried?”
“My wife will take good care of her, as she always has. You can take her to the East and find her a new husband. What about Blie? How is it with the Second Prince?”
“Is Father doing this... because you are afraid that Blie will become your successor and take my place?”
The lips that had been chewing on a short, unlit cigar suddenly stopped.
The Duke's sharp gaze cut into Gregory's face. The Duke, who had been studying his beautiful son's face, narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
“Do you think I don’t know? I have eyes and ears too. Why should I, the successor of Piretta, learn half the history? Why should I not know that from time immemorial, successors with magical powers have inherited the family line through matrilineal succession?”
“It’s just a relic of an old era!”
“So you ordered to kill Blie? To break the matrilineal lineage? For me? I don’t know what method you used, but you felt some magic from her?”
The Duke quickly dismissed his attendants and lit a short cigar.
His hands, which were shaking due to the worsening of his chronic illness, looked dangerous.
Gregory gazed at the ring, shining strangely and brilliantly on the old Duke's hand.
The family ring that the mother gave to the father as a gift while entrusting him with running the family.
The ring must have shone brightly as soon as Blie was born, recognizing the new magic power. He had heard from the great sorcerer Rossi that most of Piretta's descendants had magic powers.
“A long time ago, there was a need for successors with magical powers. It wasn’t a time when magic was banned. However, Ronta, which became an empire, has banned magic up until now. Do you guess what that meant? The successors of Piretta hid their magical powers and stayed in the East, but how can they be considered nobles? I didn’t like your maternal grandmother who, despite having a vast territory, stayed in a remote corner of the country and refused to come out.”
“You didn’t want to hear them call you Piretta’s son-in-law, so you left your territory to me and ran away to the capital, did you?”
The Duke's eyebrows quickly furrowed.
“Even though my mother was weak, she was not so weak that she could not take care of the affairs of the estate. Someone who knows how much pregnancy and childbirth destroys a woman’s body...”
“I loved your mother. But I also loved Piretta. We must break away from these old evils! You are my successor! Just as I was able to lead Piretta without magic, you can do the same! You must lead Piretta!”
The conversation ended there. The Duke threw his last remaining cigar out the window nervously and straightened his clothes.
“You came to me to ask me to meet Blie? She made me a promise. She said she would make me the Crown Prince’s father-in-law.”
“...”
Gregory clenched his fists.
The Duke quickly approached his son and gripped his son's sturdy shoulder with his wrinkled hands.
“It is a shame to be born a man and not to hold power in one’s hands. My son, I am trying to teach you that.”
***
The reception room was crowded with unexpected guests.
I stood back for a moment with Ephero, who happened to be visiting, to observe the situation, while Blie, my father, and Gregory sat around the round table.
Ephero, who still only knew that we were twins, smiled awkwardly and kept his mouth shut when I greeted him in a friendly manner like before.
It was natural that he had never met the dead Grand Duchess Adrienne.
Those sitting around the round table were conversing more quietly than expected.
Given Blie's personality, I expected her to throw something at the Duke as soon as he arrived, so I was a little surprised.
Blie smiled quietly as she listened to her father say things like, "I missed you," "I didn't mean to tell them to kill you," and "I knew the nanny would take you."
Instead, she sat in a somewhat slovenly posture with both arms resting on the armrests, nodding her chin whenever her father spoke.
“I heard that the Second Prince is at the Grand Duke’s residence. Where is he? I wonder most about whether you can become the Crown Princess.”
Blie's smiling face twisted her eyebrows. Her father, who had been watching Blie's expression for a while, flinched and changed his words.
“So, I... I’m most curious about what you want to do. If you want to be a father, even if it’s late...”
“The Second Prince is finished. He likes Adrienne.”
Her father froze in place as Blie answered, picking at his ear with his little finger.
My father's gaze turned to me and then back again.
“As long as you are here, that can’t be. You have to be with His Highness the Second Prince!”
My father started to make excuses. Now, I also slowly gathered my eyebrows together. If he said anything strange, I was going to step in.
At that moment, Gregory, who had been listening quietly, turned red and blue, and when his father began to criticize Blie, he raised his voice.
“Father, stop it.”
“You stay still, Gregory!”
“I will step down from my position as a minor Duke.”
In an instant, the living room was enveloped in silence.
The father tilted his head as if he had misheard. Then, without saying anything else, he grabbed Gregory who was about to leave, and revealed his bare face.
“Don’t you know that if Adrienne becomes the Crown Princess and Blie comes to the East, you could lose your position?! Helene left this position to me because she wasn’t feeling well, but if she had known that her daughter was born with magical powers, she would have tried to give it to Blie instead of you, who was trained as the successor, you idiot!”
“I never once thought that position was mine. Even when my mother was pregnant with twins, she never once told me to step down from the position of petty Duke. My father said he was breaking the bad habits of Piretta, but my mother, regardless of the tradition, wanted to hand Piretta over to her most beloved successor.”
“Gregory!”
“So, father, you are not qualified.”
My father clutched the back of his neck as if he was in great shock. Then as if he suddenly remembered something, he turned to Blie.
“Blie! Try to stop your brother. If you want to become the Crown Princess, you need the strong support of your family! What would you do in the East, when you have neither education nor ability? To receive the love of His Highness the Second Prince and support your brother in the capital... Do you understand what I mean? Tell me what you want. I will give you the power to decide.”
My father spoke somewhat smugly as if he had expected Blie to say that she naturally wanted to become the Crown Princess.
Blie looked at her father for a long time without answering. Then she slowly got up and faced her father, and a color came back to his face.
“I want to be the Duke of Piretta.”
"...What?"
My father's face was distorted like that of a child who had something taken away from him.
“What is going on?”
“I only heard Olivia’s warning not to return to Piretta, but from what you’re saying now, it was mine?”
"You...!"
“What do I want?”
Blie laughed coldly and closed the window that had been wide open with magic power.
My father's eyes filled with fear as the small windows that had let in sunlight slammed shut, one after another.
“I don’t like the sight of an unworthy son-in-law occupying my mother’s land. Step aside, Your Excellency the Unworthy Duke.”
***
"This person...!"
“Back off, Duke.”
In an instant, all eyes in the reception room turned to the half-open door.
As the now-grown Rhodnes entered the drawing room, his blue cloak fluttering, the Duke held his breath without even being able to say anything.
Next to Rhodnes stood a solemn-faced Vincenzo, holding a bundle of documents tied together in a file.
“You have betrayed the principles of nature. We have even discovered circumstances in which the Piretta family’s assets have been transferred to a private person’s name. What can we do?”
"Your Highness!"
The Duke sighed as if screaming.
“Either you step aside quietly, or you stand trial alongside the Castagna clan in the West. I think you’d better choose one of the two.”
“Ah, Adrienne. Adrienne...!”
The Duke finally called Adrienne. Adrienne did not answer.
The Duke felt a chill down his spine. The presence of the second Prince, whom he had always thought of as a prodigal son, was more overwhelming than he had thought, and he could not even breathe under the pressure.
“Blie, Blie, didn’t you promise?”
If you want to become the Crown Prince's father-in-law, you must support the second Prince.
Adrienne nodded to Blie. Blie also knew the promise from Adrienne.
“I said I would make you the Crown Prince’s father-in-law, but I didn’t say it was me.”
The Duke collapsed at the harsh words. Gregory supported the Duke as he eventually collapsed.
“I apologize for interfering with family matters, Your Highness.”
Gregory bowed his head to Rhodnes with a complicated expression.
“If that’s what you think, Blie, I will take responsibility and have my father step down and give this position to you. My younger sister who just returned is more important to me than the position of the Duke.”
Gregory picked up the Duke and left the drawing room. Blie froze, mulling over the kind and firm words Gregory had left her.
And then she smiled wryly at Adrienne who was approaching her.
“That’s good. When Count Acacia returns, I won’t be Countess Acacia anymore. I’m sick of being the old man’s wife. I can’t live the life of a commoner after wearing nice clothes and eating delicious food.”
Blie relaxed her tense body and only then did she show a playful expression.
Adrienne advised that she could not become a Duke right away.
He even added that since she didn't know much about the territory and needed to receive training to become a successor, it would be a good idea to go east and receive training to become a successor from Gregory.
“...Do you mind if I become a Duke?”
“You too are worthy of being the successor, Blie Piretta.”
Blie was momentarily dumbfounded by Adrienne's answer, then chuckled.
“If I become the Duke of Piretta, will I be able to bring in two or three men?”
Adrienne's eyebrows furrowed slightly, while Ephero, who was standing far away, burst out laughing at those words.
As Blie's gaze turned towards him, Ephero quickly cleared his throat. However, he could not hide the face that was suppressing a smile.
Blie looked at the sight meaningfully and whispered to Adrienne.
“But who is that guy? Why haven’t you introduced me yet? He’s quite handsome. Should I try flirting with him?”
Adrienne looked at Ephero, listening to Blie's whispering voice.
Ephero's eyes, which were holding back laughter, were somehow reddened.
It was a red face with a different feeling from the surprised face when he heard, 'Rhodnes wants Adrienne, not Blie.'
***
The next day.
Another piece of news that shook Ronta, like the calm before a storm, was delivered through the Imperial Daily.
There was news that Blie Piretta would become the new Eastern Duke, continuing the tradition of matrilineal succession in the Eastern Piretta.
For the time being, her brother Gregory Piretta has stated that he will act as the Duke's representative and guide the little Duchess.
For those confused by the news, the newspaper added:
Grand Duchess Adrienne and Countess Blie Acacia are twin sisters and are the first sisters to be awarded the title of 'Saint' in the Empire.
[A Miracle! The First Ever Saint Sisters Given by the Lord! The Tearful Testimony of the High Priest Teln 'It Snowed That Day Too.']
Around that time, an article with that headline appeared, reporting that the marriage between Crown Prince Bardenaldo and Doris Castagna, who was about to be tried, was invalid.
Then there was an article that said that the real Crown Princess that Crown Prince Bardenaldo had chosen was Adrienne.
And the news that shook the capital reached Doris, who was awaiting trial in the dungeon.
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