Side Story 9

Hello, Great Grandfather. It’s Seraphina. We met last time, and since Mother told me to write you a letter, here I am. My days are currently very busy.

Since the Duchy of Lyon is all mine, they say it is very important for me to study how to manage it. Mother speaks sternly, saying she won’t accept a child who knows nothing as her successor. However, according to my tutor’s description, I seem to be a “genius,” so everything in this Duchy belongs to me. I have no intention of giving anything to my foolish younger twin brothers.

The brothers’ names have been decided as “Julian” and “Sieg.”* When Mother was pregnant with the twins, she asked both grandfathers to choose names, and each of them provided one. They weren’t given early; the names came out quite a while after the twins were born, so they must have agonized over them for a long time.

[T/N: The names are 줄리앙 for Julian and 지크 for Sieg so they both start with ㅈ]

Upon receiving the names, Mother and Father were troubled because the initials of both names were the same. They are twins who look exactly alike; wouldn’t it be confusing if even their initials were identical? Though, personally, I couldn’t care less.

However, since both grandfathers had put so much thought into the names, neither would back down. They fought, each telling the other to change the name they chose.

When the issue remained unresolved for over two years, Father tried to change Grandfather’s mind, but he couldn’t because Grandfather felt very hurt by the suggestion. It was the same for Maternal Grandfather. Mother stepped in and said other names would be fine, even suggesting they use a name following Uncle Cesare’s, but she said Maternal Grandfather made a face so sorrowful that her heart weakened. I became very curious about what kind of expression someone as strong as Maternal Grandfather could have made to cause that.

Anyway, after much deliberation, the two of them eventually decided to use those names. I don’t think the twins’ names are important. They are wicked little things who pretend to be stupid—and they actually are stupid in some ways—so I sometimes wish they hadn’t been born.

When I said that, Uncle Sebastian asked, “Then can I take them with me?” He probably thought I’d get scared and tell him not to take them. Not a chance. Since Uncle Sebastian is already creating bad karma with his mouth anyway, it would be fine for him to take the twins. He could even take them and make one of them the successor to his Viscountcy, right? Our family doesn’t need them anyway, since I am here.

The other day, I was invited to the Imperial Palace. The newly crowned Emperor showed me three princes and asked, “Who will you have your first dance with?” To this, Uncle Cesare, who was with me, said, “Seraphina’s first dance has already been decided to be with me, so Your Majesty need not worry about it.”

The Emperor laughed and teased Uncle Cesare even more by joking that he intended to make whichever prince became my fiancé the Crown Prince. I looked over the princes, but I couldn’t pick one. Two were older than me and one was a year younger, but it felt chilling to have all three of them staring at me so intently.

When His Majesty asked repeatedly, I told him that since I have to become the Duchess of Lyon, it would be difficult to form a connection with the Imperial Family. At that, his eyes went wide, and he rejoiced, saying I seemed truly intelligent. Uncle Cesare looked relieved, too.

Uncle Cesare told me on the way back not to pay mind to the Emperor’s words, but while the adults were away for a moment, I did receive one gift from each of the three princes. There was a ribbon with a jewel, a bracelet, and a necklace, but it’s still a secret from my uncles and grandfathers. Even from Father. I think they would be angry.

Lately, the twins have become much more active, and it’s a nuisance. Every time I see Uncle Sebastian, I tell him to take them away, but he doesn’t, which is truly upsetting. Once, they touched a dress I received as a gift with soup-stained hands and ruined it, then pretended not to understand even when I scolded them. There’s no way they didn’t know.

These days, they’ve taken an interest in following me around and breaking my things. Mother and Father just say they are still young and apologize on their behalf, and the maids only try to soothe me, which is annoying. I could bet my hand that those rascals understand my words—

***

“Lady Seraphina! Bet your hand? Where on earth did you learn such language?!”

Nancy, the governess who was reading Seraphina’s letter to check for spelling errors, asked with wide eyes. Seraphina was a little girl of only six years old. Perhaps she also thought she shouldn’t have written that phrase, as her eyes darted around.

“Um… well, somewhere?”

“Somewhere, where? I can’t let this slide; I must speak to the Young Duchess!”

As Nancy stood up with a determined face, Seraphina jumped in surprise and grabbed Nancy’s skirt. Nancy chuckled inwardly, thinking that despite being called a genius, Seraphina was still very much a child in these moments. Seraphina adored her parents and wanted to appear as an outstanding child to them—even though the two parents seemed wary of placing too much of a burden on her.

“U-Uncle Sebastian.”

‘It’s you again!’

Nancy felt a surge of anger inside but maintained a calm expression. Seraphina was brilliant and easy to teach in every way, but her uncle Sebastian’s influence would occasionally crop up like a hidden reef.

“…Does your maternal uncle play with you in a fun way?”

“Yes! I thought it would be nice to learn magic, too! But Mother said no, because if I increase my subjects any more, my playtime will decrease…”

It was said that Seraphina even had some talent for magic. However, it wasn’t to the point of being raised professionally, and Seraphina herself had no intention of becoming a mage.

“I’m going to be someone like Mother or Grandfather!”

While Young Duke Lyon would inherit the title, the practical operator of the Duchy’s businesses was Carlyle de Lyon and his daughter-in-law, Leticia de Lyon. The Young Duke was interested in managing the estate and the family affairs but had little interest in business beyond a moderate involvement. Given the massive scale of the Lyon family’s enterprises, a few vassals had been worried, but Leticia had taken charge.

Thanks to her, the family’s businesses were still thriving. She had introduced several innovative methods, ensuring the Lyon family would likely possess the continent’s top corporations for decades to come. Because of this, the Imperial Family’s interest was immense; rumors already claimed that the prince who married Seraphina would be the one to ascend the throne.

“Ugh.”

Seraphina’s brow furrowed as the study door opened and the two young lords entered with their nannies. Nancy smiled to herself. Contrary to what Seraphina wrote in her letter, Nancy and the other servants knew she actually found her younger brothers quite cute. It just seemed that Seraphina thought being strict—the way her parents treated her—was the proper way to show love.

“I am studying right now!”

“Your study time has already passed. The two young lords said they wanted to see the Young Lady.”

“Hmph… Even if you say that, I won’t forgive them for getting spit on my rabbit doll!”

However, Julian and Sieg, who had already entered the room, were toddling toward Seraphina. Seraphina held her letter and started backing away slowly.

“Big Sister.”

“Si…wter…”

One could speak fairly well, while the other called for her slowly with slurred pronunciation. Seraphina narrowed her eyes and quickly handed the letter to Nancy.

“Nancy, seal this and send it to Great Grandfather!”

“I shall do so, My Lady.”

Though there were some coarse expressions, Nancy was certain the Old Marquis, her great grandfather, would find it amusing. As Nancy withdrew with the letter, Seraphina looked at her two brothers with a face pondering what to do with them. Since spit was dripping from Julian’s babbling mouth, Seraphina seemed to decide to run for it first.

***

Leticia put down her pen and handed the documents to a staff member. Recently, she had sold off a business she judged to have a poor outlook and had begun investing in a new venture.

‘It’s a relief this world doesn’t have a tax system like the modern one.’

The Lyon family was raking in money at a terrifying pace. Leticia poured this money into the Lyon Duchy to improve its conditions, while also using it to maintain their power. Making a lot of money without power would only result in it being seized by the Imperial Family. It was vital to maintain the current state by checking the Imperial Family so their power wouldn’t grow too great.

‘The Emperor is far too interested in Seraphina…’

Edward had eventually married the princess of a neighboring country as the Empress desired. It was an unhappy marriage, so he separated from her after having a child. Afterward, he had a political marriage with a noblewoman of the Empire, but she died while giving birth. His most recent marriage was to a lady he actually liked, but she was of commoner origin and required her status to be laundered. She was currently a concubine, having been disguised as coming from a Viscount family under the Tesseia House. Since some high-ranking nobles had figured out her true commoner roots, it would be difficult for her to become Empress unless her son became the Crown Prince.

‘I don’t want to get Seraphina caught up in such a chaotic Imperial Family.’

The child was far too brilliant to wither away there. Leticia thought of the three gifts Seraphina had received. The first prince gave a pendant, the second a bracelet, and the third a ribbon studded with jewels. Since all three were Imperial heirlooms, Leticia found herself in a difficult position.

‘When I tried to return them… they said they hope the items return to the Imperial Family in a different way.’

Emperor Edward’s dark intentions were plain to see, but Leticia wasn’t overly worried. Her father-in-law Carlyle and her biological father Aaron were still going strong, and Cesare, who had become the Chancellor, was opposing it with a fierce countenance. Above all, she and Terdis were there. To be honest, seeing how much Terdis adored Seraphina, she felt he might not want to marry her off at all…

“My daughter is indeed exceptionally talented.”

‘But why try to marry her into the Imperial Family? No matter who she marries, it won’t be easy for the husband.’

Leticia had the thought, but then decided it wasn’t a worry for her to have. If Seraphina took a liking to someone, she would be the one to protect them.

‘But really, not the Imperial Family. Not the Imperial Family, my daughter…’

Leticia thought to herself, worrying about a future that had yet to arrive.