Chapter 54: The Beginning of The Change (2)
Sitting in a chair in the hall where the meeting was held was Duke Ernest, his face set in an unpleasant expression. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. He was irritated by Abel Heilon, who was his most hated person. His resentment had only grown stronger with Abel’s introduction of a new prince.
Originally, among the five families, the Ernest and Erez families had taken sides in the succession battle, supporting Crown Prince Enoch. The others remained neutral. But suddenly, Heilon had brought forth a new prince. Abel hadn’t explicitly declared an all-out war against the supporters of the Crown Prince, but it was still a declaration of opposition.
Prince Sigren was at a disadvantage, but the situation was compounded by the fact that he wasn’t even a descendant of the legal wife, yet Abel and the Heilon family supported him.
However, Duke Ernest wasn’t thrilled about the idea of confronting them directly.
‘How dare you support another prince when we have a strong, majestic Crown Prince already in place. How arrogant.’
Duke Ernest was well aware of the Crown Prince’s flaws. He knew the Crown Prince wasn’t perfect. Occasionally, the Crown Prince made mistakes, and Duke Ernest frequently had to deal with complaints about the Crown Prince’s inappropriate behavior towards women from other families. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. In fact, there had been quite a few such incidents that Duke Ernest himself had had to arrange.
‘The Crown Prince is just a young boy. He will surely become wiser as he gets older,’ Duke Ernest thought. He bent his arm inward and used threats and money to manage the Crown Prince’s incidents.
“The Duke of Heilon has arrived.”
Duke Ernest’s thoughts were interrupted by the announcement.
At that moment, Abel Heilon entered the room with an arrogant smile, as if it were his natural state. Beside him was a noble girl who had just come of age. Abel glanced around and then sat down. “Looks like I’m the last one here.”
Duke Ernest looked at Abel with a displeased expression. The five families meeting was attended only by the heads of the families, except in special circumstances where an heir would come as a substitute or when the head introduced the heir. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. Seeing that Abel intended to introduce a new heir, it seemed the young lady accompanying him was the new heir to the Heilon family. However, no matter how much Duke Ernest looked at her, she appeared to be just a pretty face—an attractive girl who seemed incapable of doing anything of substance, not even killing an ant.
‘What is the Duke thinking? Is this some kind of trap for us?’
Duke Ernest smirked, having already guessed the situation. “I wonder who the young girl next to you is, Duke Heilon. This is a place where only the heads of the families and their heirs are supposed to attend.”
Abel shrugged lightly. “I was about to introduce her. This is Fiona Heilon. She is my successor.”
“Does Duke Abel Heilon have a biological daughter?” Marquis Erez, who was sitting next to Abel, asked with a smile.
“No. She’s an adopted daughter.”
Duke Ernest and Marquis Erez exchanged glances. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. A girl as a successor was unheard of, and even more so when she wasn’t a biological daughter. What could this mean?
“Well, then, which family did you adopt her from?” Duke Ernest asked.
Abel looked at Fiona, prompting her to speak.
Fiona nodded slightly.
‘Anyway, they could find this out with a little research.’
It was information that would eventually become known, even if it were hidden.
“The Green Family,” Fiona answered bluntly.
“Green Family? I know that all members of the family are under investigation for drug-related activities.” Duke Ernest raised an eyebrow. He had definitely heard of it. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. The Green family, with its moderate authority, had been on the path to collapse almost overnight, causing a stir in the noble social circle.
“I heard that one daughter escaped punishment because she was already married, but….”
Of course, the married daughter was not Fiona, but her half-sister Jane.
At that moment, the Marquis Arrendt Clovis, who had been observing the situation, suddenly spoke up.
“No, they had another daughter.” Arrendt looked very interested. “I know the Green family well because I was in charge of their affairs.”
Arrendt was responsible for the Treasury, so he was directly involved in the Green family’s matters. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, but it wouldn’t be polite of me to elaborate,” Arrendt said, glancing at Fiona with a calm expression.
Fiona responded with a soft grin.
“I’m the illegitimate child of the Green family. The reason I wasn’t punished is that my name was removed from the family register before any consequences could occur.”
At once, Duke Ernest’s eyes filled with contempt. An illegitimate child of a fallen noble family, and a young adult girl at that. In noble societies, titles were usually inherited by the eldest son, and even if a daughter inherited a family, she rarely received a title. Although this was more of an implicit rule than a legal fact, it was still considered absurd. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. For someone like Duke Ernest, known for his shrewdness and hard-headedness, this was entirely ridiculous. It was unprecedented for such a high-ranking family to pass on a title to a child who was not even of their blood. Furthermore, the fact that she came from a lowly background made it even more unbelievable. It was almost a joke to address her as “Young Lady.”
“Are you testing us, Duke Heilon?”
“Not at all.”
“I cannot accept this. I cannot believe that an illegitimate child of a fallen noble family has inherited the title of Duke Heilon.”
Abel chuckled. “It’s a hundred times better to give the title to a competent adopted daughter than to an incompetent man.”
“Do you think that girl is capable now?” Duke Ernest had a different perspective from Abel. He believed that a duke’s abilities were tied to their lineage. If a duke’s origin was noble, their abilities would be correspondingly superior.
“What on earth are you talking about? This needs further discussion!”
Abel pretended to yawn. “That’s exactly what I wanted to say. Besides, there is no reason for the Ernest family to meddle in the matter of the Heilon family’s successor.”
That was a valid point. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
Duke Ernest coughed lightly. “Hmm. Even so, the Heilon family is one of the main families of the Empire. What would happen to the discipline of noble society if you act like this? As the head of a family, you need to consider the external impact of your actions!”
“I wonder what will happen… So I must pass the title to my daughter.”
“….” Duke Ernest looked at Abel quietly. He needed to navigate noble society carefully and report this absurdity to His Majesty the Emperor. No matter how arrogant Duke Heilon was, if the Emperor gave a direct order, Duke Heilon would have no choice but to comply. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
‘An illegitimate child must remain an illegitimate child. It should be that way.’
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