IDHGA 11

Chapter 11

In the Libre Empire, it was not common for a woman to inherit the family headship, but it did happen from time to time.

When there was no son among the direct descendants, or when a daughter was judged to be more capable than a son, or when a son had a serious disqualification such as a health issue or a mental problem, a daughter would sometimes succeed the family.

Of course, to achieve that, one had to break through the stubborn perceptions of the father’s generation, and it was no easy task, as one had to manage not only family affairs but also social circles, earning recognition both inside and outside.

However, it was not impossible either, and there had been occasional female family heads who revitalized their houses.

And yet, to think that my aunt had once been selected as the next heir. I had known she was extraordinary, but she was even more remarkable than I had thought.

I stared at my aunt with wide eyes.

“Then, Aunt, did you give up the position of family head to marry Uncle?”

If what my aunt said was true, the current head of House Mason should have been her.

…But the Margrave of Mason was now the title that referred to my father, and my aunt remained in the capital as a marchioness.

Given my aunt’s always forthright and cool-headed nature, I didn’t think she would have been ousted from the position by my father, but I also didn’t think she was the romantic type to give up the headship for love.

When I asked with puzzlement, my aunt curled her lips into a crooked smile.

“That’s right, yes… People think I came to the capital because I got married.”

My aunt said meaningfully, casting her gaze into the distance.

Could it be that she didn’t come to the capital for love, but was forced to come because she was stripped of the headship?

And if that were true… how did my father become the family head?

When I stared at my aunt with a questioning look, she turned her gaze back to me and chuckled.

“Don’t look at me like that. Even though I could clearly see my brother’s intentions, the reason I didn’t say anything to you all this time is partly because you bear some responsibility too.”

“Pardon…? My responsibility…?”

What nonsense was this all of a sudden?

When I asked with a bewildered face, my aunt smiled and nodded.

“Yes. When you first came here, you were always watching your father’s every move. I could see you desperately trying to get his attention, but with his intentions so blatantly obvious, how could I tell you to be careful and not be swayed by him?”

“…Did I really do that?”

Hearing my aunt’s words, my thoughts suddenly came to a halt.

So was that why, in my past life, my aunt had remained silent and tight-lipped with me?

“Yes. Anyone could see it. And if I had said something, you would have just avoided me and listened to your father anyway, wouldn’t you? So I was going to stay quiet, but I heard you properly stood up to him yesterday. I thought that now you wouldn’t just run away, so I decided it was alright to speak.”

Young people always want to do what they’re told not to do, don’t they?

My aunt shrugged lightly, a smile playing on her lips.

It was a somewhat different smile from the way she had looked at me before.

As I stared blankly at that expression, my aunt reached out and gently patted my shoulder.

“The story is too long to tell here, so let’s go see the men first. I don’t know what your father will do next, so you’ll need a bit of a network yourself.”

In that sense, the Duke of Fontaine would be the perfect card.

My aunt added lightly and took the lead.

Although she had said that, my mind was suddenly filled with so much to think about that I felt a headache coming on.

Stories of my father usurping my aunt’s position, and the fact that even if I didn’t marry the Crown Prince, he wouldn’t let me inherit the family.

And now, she said I’d need connections?

It had just been a small excuse to avoid seeing Asherd, but I felt like I had heard too much.

“Are you coming?”

When I stood still, lost in thought, my aunt called out to me again.

I stared blankly at her standing ahead, then snapped back to my senses.

*’Anyway, the important thing is that my aunt has decided to help me, right?’*

Since she was a person recognized for her abilities enough to be considered the next heir, I would be able to learn much more from her than from my father, who had been neglecting me.

With that thought, I finally moved my feet, which had been nailed to the spot.

“I’m coming, Aunt.”

“Good. A wise choice.”

Seeing me approach slowly, my aunt grinned.

And then, side by side, we began walking towards our destination.

“You said you only knew the basic rules!”

“Haha, you flatter me. Facing a master player made me more nervous than usual. I was just lucky.”

“Duke. Games are like life. You have to think meticulously, concentrate, and yet keep a smile on your face as if nothing is wrong. You already have the demeanor down. Well, it seems I’ve been had.”

Despite the cheerful laughter on his face, Asherd was growing quite anxious inside.

He had gone through great lengths to learn Othello, which he’d heard was the only hobby of the Marquis of Wellington, but his skills were starting to show their limits. And Eloise, whom he was waiting for, was nowhere to be seen.

He had come believing the rumors that the Marquis and Marchioness were close and usually received guests together.

Had he miscalculated that Eloise, who was fond of her uncle, would naturally appear?

Asherd erased the faint smile he had worn while conversing with the Marquis and once again cast his gaze towards the door.

*’Please, if only she would open that door and appear.’*

Then he would be able to sleep peacefully tonight as well.

“You seem worried about Eloise.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve been staring at the door the whole time. Hoho.”

“Ah. Was I? Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Not at all. It’s only natural for your eyes to be drawn to a blooming flower like my niece rather than an old man like me. I understand.”

The Marquis of Wellington smiled kindly.

He was always such a good-natured and refined man.

Asherd smiled faintly as he looked at the middle-aged man laughing heartily.

He had wanted to see this person again.

The one who always encouraged and consoled Eloise, who rarely mixed in social circles.

The one always described as ‘kind,’ the epitome of a good husband and a good man.

Having grown up under the strict hand of his grandfather without a father, he was certainly someone Asherd had wanted to emulate.

But the look in this man’s eyes, whom he had always thought of as so kind, changed in an instant.

“However, Your Grace. Winning that child’s heart won’t be easy… and persuading her father won’t be a simple matter either.”

Eloise’s father.

Meeting the Marquis of Wellington’s gentle eyes and sharp gaze as he looked at him, Asherd smiled faintly.

“…That sounds more like a warning… Am I mistaken?”

“Well, I wonder. Would you indulge an old man’s concern? Since I have no children of my own, my niece I meet after so long feels like my own child.”

Hoho, the Marquis of Wellington laughed again, his earlier sharpness gone, replaced by his good-natured smile.

It wasn’t typical to warn someone about a child’s parents while claiming to care for the child like one’s own.

But since Asherd was already thinking of several possibilities without such a warning, he simply nodded without further questions.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Thank you. It’s also because it seems we’ll be seeing each other more often than I thought, so please understand.”

“Of course. Your sincere advice, given out of concern, I will be sure to remember.”

“Hoho, when you say it like that, I feel embarrassed myself.”

Even as he said it was fine, the Marquis’s gaze, like Asherd’s, turned towards the door.

Was he also waiting for his wife, who hadn’t arrived yet?

Seeing that wistful gaze, Asherd thought the Marquis and Eloise were very much alike.

Eloise would sometimes wear that same wistful expression.

Whom was that longing, which appeared constantly, so constantly during their brief conversations, directed towards?

A question he hadn’t been able to ask then, buried deep inside, surfaced again, but now there was no one to ask.

A dull ache stirred in his chest, but he suppressed his feelings once more.

Asherd looked at the Marquis staring at the door and spoke.

“This might be a little presumptuous, Marquis.”

“Please, speak freely, Your Grace.”

It was a sudden thought.

What if, just what if, Eloise hadn’t been a Mason.

What if her parents had been the endlessly kind and warm Marquis of Wellington and the upright yet supportive Marchioness.

Asherd smiled softly and carefully continued.

“It occurred to me that… you and the young lady seem very much alike.”

“…Me and Eloise?”

At his words, the Marquis’s eyes widened.

With a look of complete surprise, Asherd was actually the one more taken aback.

Eloise’s kind and gentle nature was something only the Marquis of Wellington possessed among the people around her.

Since they hadn’t seen each other often, they couldn’t have had much influence on each other, yet she strikingly resembled the Marquis’s temperament.

Given how affectionately he treated his only niece, Asherd had thought the Marquis must have felt a similar connection.

The Marquis was so surprised he seemed frozen for a moment, then burst into laughter, “Hahaha!”

It was a laugh that sounded joyful and still surprised.

“Have you never thought about it?”

“Hmm… well, of course, I cherish her as if she were my own daughter, but it’s also true that I’ve only seen her once or twice since her marriage… So, I don’t actually know that much about her.”

The Marquis smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I see.”

“At the very least, I’ve been trying my best to make sure she can stay comfortably while she’s here, but I never expected to hear something like that.”

The Marquis seemed inwardly pleased, letting out a hearty laugh.

“My, I thought His Grace was merely skilled at games, but it seems he’s quite good with flowery words as well.”

“Flowery words? I simply spoke what I saw and felt.”

“Hoho, my word. Here I was warning you to be careful of the Earl of Mason, but I feel like you’re working your charms on me instead.”

“You’re mistaken, Marquis.”

Hahaha, joyful laughter erupted.

Even if nothing else, it was clear that the Marquis of Wellington held Asherd in high favor; his gaze was full of goodwill.

After all, the Earl of Mason was never part of Asherd’s calculations.

He was, in any case, the Crown Prince’s man, and what mattered to Eloise wasn’t Bern Mason, but the person right in front of her.

Among the many adults in her life, the only ones Eloise had been favorably disposed towards were her late nanny, her mother, and her uncle, the Marquis of Wellington.

So, he only needed to firmly win the hearts of those important to her.

As for the others, well.

*’That’s none of my concern.’*

Asherd looked at the good-naturedly smiling Marquis of Wellington and smiled contentedly.

And as he was basking in that satisfaction alone.

“Isn’t the game over yet?”

The door opened, and the face he had been so desperately waiting for appeared.

“I feel like we might be intruding.”

“Indeed. It seems we’ve ended up wedged between young people.”

My aunt and uncle exchanged glances, pretending to whisper as they eyed me and Asherd.

Making the listeners uncomfortable.

I averted my gaze, pretending not to notice, and peered at the Othello board that my uncle and Asherd had just finished.

“How do you play this, Uncle?”

I tried to change the subject.

“Ask the Duke of Fontaine. He’s better than me.”

“Oh, but, Uncle.”

“He keeps looking at you, you know.”

My uncle winked, gesturing with his eyes towards Asherd beside me.

Asherd, who had been sending me desperate looks all along.

*’Why on earth is he doing this so openly?’*

I suppressed the urge to snap at him and gave my uncle an awkward smile.

When he sent such blatant looks, even a fool would quickly catch on.

To what he felt for me.

“Ah. I apologize, my lady. I was lost in thought for a moment…”

Even his reaction was slow.

As if he were truly captivated by me.

*’…He’s not the type to wear his emotions so plainly.’*

I turned my burning face away, trying to escape his gaze.

But even when I turned my head, I could feel his persistent gaze following me, so it was useless.

Seeing my discomfort, my uncle started talking a bit about Othello, but even as Asherd responded, he never took his eyes off me.

As if he were determined to make it clear, right in front of my aunt and uncle, that he was interested in me.

Making people uncomfortable.