The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 34

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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 34

Lindsey continued her explanation in a confident tone.

“The Former Emperor who was a second son, the Former Empress from humble origins, followed by a Crown Prince with the blood of a commoner maid who couldn’t even be elevated to Empress. In contrast, the previous Duke Adickl married a foreign princess, and the current Duke Adickl welcomed the daughter of House Duilerebog as his duchess—the only other ducal house in the empire alongside Raskail. Can you guess what this means?”

“…The Duke Adickl’s son born from them has nobler blood than the current Crown Prince, if we’re talking purely about lineage? And House Duilerebog is that prince’s maternal family.”

“Exactly. And in the empire, only Raskail can match House Duilerebog.”

“Duke Adickl has sufficient motive.”

Rita pressed her throbbing head.

In the world Rita Pascal had lived in, there was no royal family, let alone nobility, but she had seen enough of humans playing politics at headquarters right before extinction.

She knew well how dangerous power could be.

Even at the last line of defense that could collapse at any moment, there were plenty of bastards blinded by power. She had lost comrades and faced life-and-death situations because of getting caught up in their schemes.

And having gone through such years to become twenty, Lillieta felt the weight of her position as a duke’s daughter more keenly than the young and naive Lili had.

‘To think my disappearance could be related to such political issues.’

If they revealed the mastermind like this, could the Raskail family get caught up in the dark struggle for the throne? Wouldn’t that put her family in danger?

Then would it be better to bury it? Or conversely, should they dig deeper to clearly identify the enemy and then deal with them?

‘If this Duke Adickl bastard is really the main culprit, wouldn’t it be cleaner to just kill him with a long-range sniper shot? The people here don’t even know magic guns exist, so I probably wouldn’t get caught.’

Which would be safer for her family—pretending ignorance and covering it up, or investigating and quietly disposing of the threat?

Just as she was about to fall into anguish, Lindsey clapped her hands to get her attention.

“But Master, this is actually almost all finished business.”

“What? What’s finished?”

“The issue about His Highness the Crown Prince and the Duke’s son’s bloodlines. Until four years ago, it was really no joke. The current Emperor is incompe— ahem, has little interest in state affairs, and His Highness the Crown Prince, who was originally clever, became an idiot after an accident a few years ago, so Duke Adickl was riding high for a while…”

Lindsey shrugged and continued.

“Four years ago, His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly regained his wits. And as soon as he came to his senses, he dealt with all the bastards who had been climbing up during that time. Duke Adickl especially got properly screwed over.”

“Screwed over?”

“Ahem, sorry for the crude expression. Anyway, there’s no one left who can openly bring up bloodline talk. His Highness the Crown Prince has established such a solid position. House Duilerebog shut their mouths too, and Duke Adickl can’t even squeak—he got kicked out of the capital and is stuck in his own territory, so who would dare challenge that?”

She smiled brightly at Lillieta.

“So Master, you can investigate the mastermind behind your kidnapping as much as you want. Even if it turns out to be Duke Adickl, as long as the evidence is solid, Duke Raskail will be able to punish him.”

Rita stared at Lindsey’s refreshingly bright face for a moment, then chuckled.

“Because Prince Gideon would actively support punishing Duke Adickl?”

“That’s right.”

“I understand. You’re competent, Lindsey.”

“It’s all thanks to my generous master accepting everything.”

“You’re not wrong, so why wouldn’t I accept it.”

Rita replied lightly and added.

“Still, let’s not dig deeper into Hanna’s Father’s case for now. I’ll discuss it with my parents later.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Then back to studying… no, I should stop for today.”

She checked the time and got up from her seat.

“It’s time for the Etiquette Teacher to arrive.”

* * *

And so the days flew by like arrows.

Lillieta learned about the current political situation of the Royal Family and nobles through her amethyst’s frank expressions, while rapidly acquiring noble etiquette and refinement through the invited etiquette teacher. In the process, she abandoned the confidence she had initially held without knowing anything.

‘I’d rather fight magical beasts.’

From how to sit in a chair to the shape of fingers when drinking tea, greeting methods that changed according to the other person’s status, conversation techniques, how to arrange hair and adjust clothes, how to handle a fan and how to smile, even how to go to the bathroom.

There were etiquette rules for every single movement from head to toe.

These were habits that would have naturally developed if she had grown up as a noble from childhood, but trying to learn them in a short period made her hands and feet clumsy and her tongue twisted. Having lived so roughly, her movements and speech were coarse, making ladylike behavior even more difficult.

Moreover, Lillieta’s body was weak and lacked muscle, making it hard to move as she willed. The shoes and dresses were also unbearably uncomfortable.

‘It was damn difficult…’

She managed to pull through with sheer determination.

In the end, Rita became able to act reasonably like a noble lady on the surface. Though her old habits would slip out if she let her guard down, and maintaining the ‘noble lady’ act for long periods made her tired and frustrated.

Still, it was enough progress to surprise the etiquette teacher, who had been half-giving up after learning about the target deadline and current state. After all, she had mastered all the basic etiquette and refinement before April when they would depart for the capital.

Only dancing remained. There were some issues with that, so they decided to learn it again at the town house in the capital.

March 27th, 1770, four days before departure for Imperial Capital Lambard.

Lillieta’s new room, which had been cleanly remodeled from pink and yellow to white and gold, with a small study for learning and a revolver display case replacing the rabbits and toys that had filled the space.

Though everything else had been cleared away, one large rabbit doll that she had cherished so much as a child that she slept with it every night remained, sitting on a chair next to the revolver display case with a fancy ribbon.

A music box placed on the side table next to that doll.

Rita, who had opened her eyes at dawn, got up from bed and approached the music box that had been playing all night.

A gentle melody flowed from the gorgeous music box decorated with gems and gold on white ivory. It was music similar to the old music box she had found with Gid.

This music box had been created by craftsmen and musicians summoned by the Countess, who listened to the tune Rita hummed while recalling her memories and made it into a similar piece. It was also a gift she had requested from her mother, who was desperate to give her something.

She looked down for a moment at the jeweled butterfly dancing inside the music box and the golden flowers spinning round and round.

Though it was incomparably more gorgeous and beautiful than that old music box, she kept thinking of the broken mirror and the faded angel doll. Perhaps because of the person she had listened to it with.

Rita gently closed the music box lid.

Perhaps because the sudden peaceful life felt unfamiliar, she experienced hallucinations and nightmares more frequently than when she lived on battlefields. Thanks to that, she often relied on this music box.

She didn’t show it because her family would worry, but it had happened again just last night.

‘It’s probably stress from the major environmental change, so it should gradually get better.’

It might also be because she hadn’t fought a single battle in nearly a month. She had never experienced anything like this in her life.

She felt her anxiety deepening as the peace prolonged. The restless feeling that this couldn’t be right, that something should explode soon, was an instinct she couldn’t control with her will or mind.

She felt like she needed to hunt down some non-existent magical beasts to feel relieved. That’s why Rita was secretly looking forward to today’s schedule.

It was the day she had promised to go hunting with her father.

‘Maybe I’ll feel better after shooting a wild boar or something?’

* * *

While Leonhardt and Richard often joined the Duke’s hunts, young Lili had never been allowed to go hunting because it was considered dangerous. This was despite noble hunts being conducted with knights and adequate safety preparations.

Part of it was because Lili had been so weak she could barely even run. Compared to those days, the current Lillieta had become remarkably healthier. Though she still fell far short of Rita’s standards.

Today’s hunt was both the Duke’s hobby and his duty as Raskail Lordship.

The work of exterminating harmful animals with the knight order: deer that ruined crops, foxes that killed livestock, wild boars and bears that attacked villages and mines, and overly proliferated pigeons and rabbits.

Raskail City, where Birch Tree Castle was located, bordered the Hinder River to the east—the largest river in the empire’s north—and the Cornu Plains, the northern region’s greatest granary, spread to the south.

North of Raskail City was a highland area connected to the White Mountains, the continent’s most rugged mountain range, and to the west lay vast forests that seemed to flow down from those mountains.

Deep into that forest toward the White Mountains was an area called the ‘Black Forest’ with many monsters, but the side closer to the city, the ‘Amethyst Forest,’ had almost no monsters and many animals including predators.

The Amethyst Forest contained the continent’s largest amethyst mine and various other gem mines discovered throughout, forming the foundation for Raskail’s gem-related industry development.

With so many people going in and out of the forest and mining villages, plus the granary area adjacent to the Amethyst Forest, damage was inevitable when harmful animals increased. This was why the lord of Raskail’s hunting here became part of his duties.

“Though Father often goes hunting even when it’s not work. He really enjoys it.”

Leonhardt, who was riding while carrying Rita, said with a laugh. He usually didn’t enjoy hunting and rarely joined the Duke’s hunts, but today he had specially come along since it was Lillieta’s first time participating in a hunt.

Richard, who was riding alongside them, suddenly glanced at Rita and frowned.

“But brother, Rita’s expression looks really off. Hey, are you sick somewhere? Or are you in a bad mood?”

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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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