The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 158

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 158

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Lillieta officially accepted the Coronator proposal through proper channels.

News that the Raskail Princess had been selected as this year’s Coronator spread instantly.

Since Crown Prince Gideon took charge of the succession ceremony, this was the first time someone other than the Empress became Coronator, causing all of high society to buzz with excitement.

Rumors circulated that Duke Adickl was furious, saying it was absolutely ridiculous.

People who knew that Lillieta had received the Duke’s marriage proposal at the debutante ball, publicly humiliated him during the boat outing, then conversely offered him her handkerchief at the Frontier Festival, gossiped endlessly about it all.

While it wasn’t anything truly scandalous, it was certainly enough material for gossip.

There was also heated debate about exactly when the Crown Prince and the Raskail Princess became involved.

The prevailing opinion was that it must have been when she was treated at the Imperial Palace after the boat outing, along with speculation that the Crown Prince’s recruitment offer actually had a different meaning.

Meanwhile, some interpreted this entire process as a tug-of-war between Duke Adickl and the Crown Prince over gaining the support of House Raskail, which had broken its seclusion.

They said the Crown Prince’s faction had won in the competition to recruit Raskail.

The Raskail Princess was merely a chess piece, and Duke Raskail had used his daughter to weigh the Duke against the Crown Prince before finally choosing the Crown Prince.

The Princess becoming Coronator was a political symbol resulting from that choice, not mere gossip material.

In fact, that interpretation seemed more reasonable and natural on the surface, as it was truly befitting of a great noble house.

The Duke, who had already been feeling depressed wondering if he was failing as a parent, was startled when he heard that interpretation, but decided to keep quiet after the Countess whispered that it would be better for him to pretend to be a cold and ruthless great noble than to let Lillieta become gossip material.

Regardless of what people were saying, with the Founding Festival approaching, the Imperial Palace urgently scheduled succession ceremony rehearsals, with the Empress herself stepping forward to teach the Raskail Princess the Coronator role.

In the midst of all this, an enormous scandal broke out that buried even the Coronator topic in an instant.

June 11th, 1770.

It was the day the Imperial Palace distributed invitations to nobles who would attend the succession ceremony.

This too was a long-standing custom, originating from the story of the founding Emperor sending invitations to influential people who would become nobles of the new empire when he declared the nation’s founding.

It was a ceremony where a family’s prestige and the Emperor’s favor could be measured by whether they received a succession ceremony invitation and in what order they received it.

Even in the current situation where the Emperor was holed up in Nina’s cottage neglecting his duties, this event held significance because he always ordered that the first invitation be delivered to Adickl.

This was unlike the Previous Emperor, who had kept Adickl in check and always placed him after Raskail and Duirebourg despite his Duke title.

It was one of the few ways Emperor Lawrence stepped forward to reveal his intentions.

For him, it was probably also appealing because it was a simple ceremony where he only needed to verbally set the order of letters, rather than a troublesome event requiring direct participation from the Emperor and nobles.

The founding Emperor personally wrote invitations and sent servants to each family, but nowadays with the Imperial Palace’s position firmly established, servants sent by each family gather at the Imperial Palace at a designated time to receive invitations written by court scribes from the chamberlain.

Naturally, the invitations were written on special paper that only reacted to people from specific families.

On that day, in the place where servants sent by all the notable noble families had gathered, the chamberlain called House Adickl first.

Adickl’s butler came forward to receive the invitation, but quite coincidentally, a strong wind suddenly blew.

The blown invitation fell where the butler and maid from House Raskail were standing, and the maid absentmindedly picked it up.

And the invitation glowed softly, reacting to the family bloodline.

The place erupted in chaos.

A court mage personally inspected whether there was a problem with the invitation, and the chamberlain stepped forward to collect a sample of the maid’s hair, since Adickl was a branch of the Imperial family and could be verified through the Imperial family tree.

Soon the Kairam Imperial family announced that the maid was indeed of Duke Adickl’s bloodline, along with a bloodline verification certificate.

It became a situation Adickl had no choice but to acknowledge.

June 18th, 1770.

Exactly one week later, Duke Adickl accepted Maid Hanna as his daughter and registered her in the ducal family.

Citing that the name Hanna was mainly used by commoners, he had her renamed to ‘Hannelina del Naparloa Adickl.’

Unlike Joseph who had the surname Duirebourg, it was a name that inherited only the Duke’s surname since there was no maternal family line.

Since anyone could immediately tell that one parent’s bloodline was lowborn upon hearing it, loving parents would avoid such naming even if it meant buying a family tree or paying the Imperial Palace to create a hollow family name.

Therefore, such a surname meant not only that lowborn blood was mixed in, but also that the parent who gave the surname had no particular interest or affection for that child.

It had the exact same meaning as Emperor Lawrence giving only his surname to Gideon.

Nevertheless, it was an undeniable fact that Raskail’s maid had been recognized as Adickl’s Princess. As long as she used the Adickl surname, respect and treatment toward the Princess would reflect on Adickl’s dignity.

Hannelina, who had temporarily stayed at the Imperial Palace for a week, entered the ducal residence on the day of her registration.

The tremendous rise in status, her background as a maid from Raskail which had become political enemies with Adickl while supporting the Crown Prince, and the sensational element of being a hidden illegitimate child unknown even to Duke Adickl himself – high society went wild with excitement.

That Princess Hannelina’s official debut in high society was also scheduled to be at the upcoming laurel crown succession ceremony, as it was the nearest official banquet that all nobles had to attend.

A banquet where both the Raskail Princess who became the Crown Prince’s first Coronator (excluding the Empress) and the former Raskail maid who became a Princess would both make their appearance.

Much more attention than usual was focused on the Founding Festival, not only from nobles but even from ordinary citizens of the Empire.

On June 20th, just one week before such a succession ceremony.

Lillieta headed to the Imperial Palace for Coronator practice.

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Rita saw the Empress for the first time that day.

Previously, she had presided over most events, but after Gideon properly began his role as Crown Prince, she had completely withdrawn and no longer stepped forward, making it difficult to see the Empress in official settings.

“During the time when Crown Prince was an idiot, she presided over all events, hosted all kinds of parties, and was a formidable woman who commanded the attention of everyone present. But from four years ago, she stopped all activities as if by magic. Some say it was to focus attention on Crown Prince, others say she’s being as careful as possible because she’s afraid Crown Prince might keep her in check.”

Hearing the story Lindsey had told her, Lillieta thought the latter was absolutely not the case.

‘Looking at Gid’s face and attitude when he mentions the Empress, it can’t be that.’

His attitude was friendly yet cautious, affectionate yet strangely distant and respectful. She could also sense responsibility and guilt in it.

He had been the same way when telling her that the Empress would help with her Coronator practice.

“There’s nothing much to worry about, Rita. The Empress will definitely like you.”

“The fact that she insisted on personally handling the Coronator preparations that could have been left to the protocol officer is probably because she wanted to meet you separately.”

“Um, but she might misunderstand our relationship… I did explain it well, but don’t be too surprised.”

“She’s someone who protected me during my idiot period, but I don’t remember those times. And when I was younger than that… well, anyway, that’s why it’s a bit difficult for me to face the Empress.”

Empress Ophelia welcomed Lillieta not in an official setting, but in the garden of the Empress’s palace with tea and refreshments prepared. It was a private meeting with no maids or close associates around, having dismissed them all.

The Empress, sitting in the white garden house of the garden that had become fresh with approaching summer, looked younger than her age and wore a comfortable dress that felt dignified but not flashy.

“Welcome, Princess Raskail.”

From her seat and attire to her greeting tone and expression, there was a strong sense that she didn’t want to burden her.

However, regardless of the Empress’s intentions, Lillieta wasn’t particularly nervous to begin with.

‘She looks incredibly similar to Oli.’

Gid had said that the Empress resembled Oli so much that you’d believe she was Oli’s mother rather than aunt, and it was true.

Seeing a face that looked exactly like her close friend naturally relaxed her tension. It felt like meeting a friend’s mother.

Contrary to the Empress who was quite nervous about meeting someone who might become her son’s wife for the first time, Lillieta was hardly conscious of the private meaning contained in this meeting.

Having just realized her feelings, it was too early for her to imagine or feel real about marriage with Gideon. Her head was also complicated because of the things Gid was hiding and Pascal who had attacked the Creme Dome.

So she ended up dropping the teacup she had just lifted at the Empress’s first question.

“Princess Raskail, do you have any intention of marrying the Crown Prince?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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