Episode 20. Lucky Charm Nora
Enoch’s steps toward his family’s main estate felt just as heavy as Nora’s when she went back to her hometown.
All this time, Enoch had been staying at his mother’s Lilac Mansion in the capital, busy with the transfer work for his new territory.
Meanwhile, his younger brother Jake had stayed behind in the Cornel region, carefully handling the aftermath. Then, the reply Enoch had been waiting for arrived.
- Brother Enoch, the Cornel region is almost ready to welcome its new lord. I’ll report in detail once you return. —Jake
Enoch had been delaying the thing he least wanted to do, but he finally realized he couldn’t put it off anymore.
So, in the morning, he headed to the main house where Grand Duchess Osmont lived.
“Welcome back, my lord Duke!”
“It’s been so long since you came to the main house. We’ve all been waiting anxiously.”
The Osmont family’s loyal butler, Paul, and the head maid, Mary, greeted him warmly.
They had cared for him since childhood, when he endured his father’s neglect and his grandmother’s coldness in this very house.
“Nothing major happened while I was gone, right?”
“Well, you know how it is…”
The elderly head maid gave a bitter smile.
Even after thirty years of serving the Grand Duchess, keeping her temper satisfied was always exhausting.
“Have you eaten yet, my lord?”
“I ate something simple already. I’ll greet Grandmother, then get right to the piled-up work. Get the study ready.”
Enoch had decided that the unavoidable should be dealt with quickly, without wasting a moment.
Once I finish things here, I can go to Nora.
It had already been almost a month since they parted. Whenever things got tough, chanting Nora’s name had become his habit.
Taking a deep breath, Enoch stepped into the drawing room where the Grand Duchess awaited.
“I’ve come, Grandmother.”
The instant he entered, he felt less like a 24-year-old duke and more like the unwanted little boy he used to be.
The old lady, with her perfectly arranged white hair, raised her glasses and glared at him.
“As if it’s some grand event when you finally come. Why is the whole house in such a fuss this morning?”
The same cold disdain as always hit him.
Enoch swallowed dryly.
“His Majesty King Morios has granted me the Cornel region as a new fief.”
The Grand Duchess gave a sharp laugh.
“Ha! You must’ve flattered him well. Tsk, tsk… The king truly has no eye for people.”
Even under her contempt, Enoch didn’t argue back.
Instead, he gave only the official report.
“His Majesty ordered that the Osmont family move its main estate to the Cornel region.”
“What?”
Her brow immediately furrowed.
“You could just go back and forth between both lands. Why move the main seat?”
“His Majesty wants the Cornel region fully absorbed into the kingdom. As the first step, he commanded that everything of the ancient Osmont dukedom be relocated there.”
Enoch knew that his grandmother, who cherished tradition above all, would never let the heirlooms go and stay here alone.
As expected, though displeased, she couldn’t openly oppose a royal command.
“In Cornel, the abandoned royal palace will be turned into the Osmont mansion.”
“Oh, really?”
Her eyes gleamed with vanity.
“Jake is personally overseeing the renovations. He said it’s over four times bigger than this place.”
“Is that so…”
She smiled in satisfaction, and Enoch seized the chance.
“Mother, Jake, and Vivian will all be moving with us.”
“Who said so?”
Her voice thundered.
“As I said, the new house is four times larger. You’ll hardly ever need to see them.”
“Family? Who are you calling family?”
“Grandmother!”
“Especially that girl! Aside from her mother’s word, there’s no proof she’s Osmont blood. Even your father never accepted her.”
“Father never accepted me or Jake either.”
Enoch replied coldly.
“He was always that kind of man. His recognition means nothing.”
“Insolent brat!”
“As siblings of the current Duke Osmont, they are Jake Osmont and Vivian Osmont. And Mother deserves to be called Lady Osmont.”
“Ridiculous! Keep spouting nonsense and get out.”
She lowered her gaze to her book, dismissing him.
Enoch bit his lip hard, glaring bitterly.
Then he played his last card.
“Once the move is complete, I’ll go to the Cornel Marquisate to propose marriage.”
“Hmph, I heard the Brandon widow already went back to her family?”
Enoch frowned. Even his grandmother was pairing him with Irene.
“…The one I’ll propose to is Nora Cornel, Irene’s elder sister, the Marquis’ eldest daughter.”
“What?”
Her reaction was far more intense than he’d expected.
“Are you insane? Do you think the noble Cornel bloodline would give their precious daughter to you?”
“Nora has already accepted my proposal.”
“…Truly?”
Her suspicious eyes drilled into him, but he held her gaze firmly.
“I have the Cornel region, now part of my duchy. What better match could they find?”
“Hmmm…”
For the first time, her gaze toward him wasn’t entirely negative.
“Yes, for a fallen royal, becoming duchess of her homeland is a good deal.”
But soon her brow furrowed again.
“Still, don’t get ahead of yourself. I once met the Marchioness of Cornel long ago. Even as a young woman, she was full of grace, a true royal. Do you think someone like her would give her daughter to the likes of you? Tsk tsk…”
Her eyes held contempt again, and Enoch shrank back like the little boy he used to be.
He bit down on the inside of his cheek.
I’m not that powerless child anymore!
The sharp taste of blood jolted him awake.
“When I marry Nora and move to Cornel, you’ll come along with the rest of the family too.”
“To seize a princess, a palace, and drag in lowborns too… shameless!”
“With you there, Grandmother—the living spirit of Osmont—the ‘lowborn blood’ will be diluted, won’t it?”
“What?”
His cheeky comeback left her staring, speechless.
If she went to Cornel with them, it would mean acknowledging them all as Osmonts—something she hated worse than death.
“Then I’ll take that as your consent.”
“Not so fast! First, the proposal!”
As expected, she wasn’t easy to sway.
“Bring me her agreement and bring her before me. Then we’ll talk again.”
She returned to her book, and this time Enoch quietly left.
The more he thought about it, the clearer it became: Nora was his lucky charm.
It had already been a month since I came to the Cornel Marquisate.
A week later, they suddenly announced I’d have to take a test about the Cornel region. I panicked, but strangely, nothing happened afterward.
The 250-year history, traditions, culture, and customs of Cornel… boring to death, and of course none of it stuck in my head.
Why should I bother learning every detail about a kingdom that’s already gone?
I just glared at the thick books, annoyed.
At least one thing was kind of interesting—something Enoch once told me.
In Cornel, some monks replaced prayer with self-punishment. They whipped themselves with thorny branches or fasted for a hundred days.
I had no idea what they hoped to gain, but it made no sense to me.
Would their god really be pleased with such sacrifices? Wouldn’t helping the sick and poor be better?
Thinking back, Enoch once thought I was praying for Philip’s soul with that ten-thousand-step walk. The idea was so silly it was funny. Did I look that foolish?
Anyway, since the test kept being delayed, I gave up studying and focused on working out instead.
If I was stuck in this world for life, I wanted to stay healthy.
So I did push-ups and squats, while asking Cecil to summarize Cornel’s history for me.
Her family had served at the royal palace for generations, so she knew all about Cornel’s history, culture, and customs.
Turns out my old habit of using summary notes for exams still worked here too!
“My lady, did you really forget all of Cornel’s history?”
“No, no. I’m just checking what I know through you.”
“…Really?”
She tilted her head at my silly excuse, but still helped.
When I got tired of working out indoors, we took long walks while practicing questions and answers.
Thanks to that, I built up some abs and stronger arms and legs—and picked up a bit of Cornel knowledge too.
Then, without warning, the test day came.
“Lady Nora, are you ready? My lady is waiting in the study.”
The idea of Mother waiting in the study made her feel like the grim reaper.
“Cecil, what if we ask to delay the test by a week?”
“Um… I don’t think that’ll work.”
Her uneasy look made me give up right away.
I even thought of running away, but dropped that fast.
I had to hang on here until Enoch came.
Fine—if I fail, I’ll just take the punishment. One slap per wrong answer—say fifty slaps? I can take that.
With that thought, I headed to the study.
When the door opened, there was the Marchioness, sitting in the middle of the sofa.
Beside her were a thick switch and even a stool meant for whipping someone’s calves.
Seriously, she was dead serious about this test. To me, it looked like the gates of hell had opened.
