Chapter 46
Von’s appearance was striking.
His father, who carried the blood of the Duchy of Partine, had a distinguished look.
And his mother was no different. Von’s mother, Madam Maden of the Asté Viscounty, was a renowned beauty in high society.
So naturally, Von had inherited his looks.
Von himself was proud of his appearance, but his mother, Madam Asté, was even more obsessed with it.
That was because Von had inherited her hair color and facial features exactly.
Madam Asté, who had an obsessive fixation on appearances, was seeing her pride broken for the first time—by Isabella.
And now, Elysia, who resembled Isabella, gave Madam Asté her second taste of defeat.
“Is the Duke still neglecting the household?”
Madam Asté opened her fan with a loud snap.
Her shimmering green hair looked as fresh as the grass lining the streets. Elysia thought it was just her rotten luck to run into her first thing in the morning.
She hadn’t expected to see her just by stepping out for a moment.
It had been three days since Von Asté and Madam Maden arrived at the Duchy of Partine.
During that time, Elysia had to endure laughable mind games with Von.
The only relief was that she hadn’t yet encountered Madam Asté.
But that, too, was part of the power play.
Madam Asté believed Elysia should be the one to approach her first and offer a warm welcome. So she stubbornly waited.
Elysia, on the other hand, simply didn’t want to see her and avoided her.
Though their intentions differed, neither was willing to concede.
In the end, it was Madam Asté who came looking for Elysia first.
Elysia was well aware that running into her near her room was no coincidence.
“Yes, well… It can’t be helped.”
The Duke of Partine was that kind of man to begin with. And with the war ongoing, it wasn’t like a duke could just stay at home.
Elysia, unwilling to prolong the conversation, gave a short answer that still conveyed much.
Von, who persistently followed her around, was annoying and bothersome, but shutting him up wasn’t all that hard.
Madam Asté, however, was different.
“That’s why I said he should take a new wife.”
Her fan snapped shut with a crisp sound.
Now with her arms crossed, Madam Asté looked Elysia up and down.
Elysia had to forcibly keep herself from sneering.
“A new wife, seriously?”
Despite being obsessed with mages carrying the Partine bloodline, the Duke had never remarried after Isabella’s death.
Perhaps it was because of the political mess and headaches that would come with a new wife, or maybe it was the subtly disapproving attitude from the Asté Viscounty that had some influence.
Not that the Duke seemed like the type to care much about the opinions of a branch family.
The Asté family, after all, had hopes that their son Von would become the next heir to the Duchy of Partine. So they weren’t too keen on the Duke remarrying.
“Are you going to keep your guest standing like this?”
Madam Asté’s red lips curved into a graceful arc.
They were still standing in the corridor near Elysia’s room.
Maden was the first to give Elysia a nudge.
“Please, come to my room.”
Elysia finally smiled and responded, following Madam Asté.
It was a flawless, polished smile.
“You show up uninvited and still expect to be treated like an honored guest—just like your son.”
Elysia was more annoyed by the maid behind Madam Asté.
More specifically, the stack of papers in the maid’s hands.
As soon as they sat down in Elysia’s room, Madam Asté got straight to the point.
“Choose someone you like.”
She waved her fan while speaking.
Elysia looked down at the neatly stacked bundle of papers in front of her but didn’t reach out.
“If Pia were here, I might not feel so suffocated.”
Pia had stepped out shortly after bringing her water that morning and hadn’t returned since.
Suppressing a sigh, Elysia pushed aside the top blank sheet.
And then, she saw a photograph of a man.
“This is…”
“Well, you’re at that age now. I thought it might be time to get engaged.”
Madam Asté smiled with an imitation of maternal affection.
Elysia’s face stiffened unnaturally.
“I’m still only fourteen.”
She deliberately emphasized her age, but Madam Asté feigned shock.
“Still? Elysia, fourteen is considered late.”
“……”
“I was engaged at twelve.”
“Still, I—”
“It may seem early to you. No one ever taught you about these things.”
Elysia, who had been trying to be polite out of respect for the older woman, abruptly stopped speaking.
“You haven’t even debuted in society yet, so of course you wouldn’t know.”
“Madam.”
“I feel guilty for not taking care of this sooner, honestly.”
“Ha…”
Elysia’s expression crumbled.
She was growing increasingly uncomfortable with how Madam Asté kept acting like her mother.
“Don’t pretend to be my mother for your son’s sake.”
As she rubbed her face with one hand, her crimson eyes gleamed sharply through her fingers.
“There’s a line of men who want to marry you. Look at this pile.”
“I don’t even know who these people are.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Madam Asté refuted her immediately. In noble marriages, familiarity was irrelevant.
“What matters is… Well, you’ll get to know them.”
She spread out the stack of papers into a fan shape.
The fan of documents was so large it covered the table entirely.
Elysia lowered her hand and gazed at the papers with a weary, clouded expression.
A headache was creeping in.
“And if you pave the way properly, Ariel will have it easier in the future.”
Now she was bringing up Ariel after Isabella.
Elysia let out a bitter smile. It was the kind of fleeting, vulnerable smile Isabella used to wear.
Madam Asté’s expression cracked ever so slightly.
Daughter of a near-bankrupt baron family.
While she had married into a branch family, Isabella—barely a noble by standard—had become the duchess.
It was nothing short of humiliating.
Even though the Asté Viscounty was technically part of the Duke’s extended family, marrying into the Partine line was a decent outcome. Madam Asté had been content with that.
If only Isabella hadn’t existed.
Thankfully, she hadn’t lasted long after the marriage.
And left behind only two daughters.
It was a godsend.
A chance for her son Von to become the head of the Partine family. That would allow her to walk into the duchy with pride.
Power and status—those were a noble’s favorite things.
Madam Asté, Maden, was no exception.
“What a miserable excuse for a household.”
Elysia, who saw right through her thoughts, muttered inwardly.
What was so desirable about becoming the head of a family that was doomed to disappear?
“At least glance through them.”
There’s a saying—you can’t spit on a smiling face. Elysia was experiencing that truth firsthand.
This was why Maden was even more difficult to deal with than Von.
Though she loathed the woman pretending to be her mother, Elysia was still weak against the concept of “mother.”
“I’m sorry, Madam.”
Elysia knew that if she accepted an engagement now, they would immediately push the same onto Ariel.
There was no way she would ever agree to that nonsense.
To get engaged would mean to give up her position as head of the family.
It would be an implicit declaration that she was relinquishing her power.
“Paving the way for Ariel? What a joke.”
Suddenly, Eden came to mind.
She imagined that small, fragile child growing up to be strong and confident.
Her heart ached with emotion.
There was a different path she needed to pave.
“I like this position.”
Her words came out stronger than intended.
A strange tension filled the space between Elysia and Madam Asté.
“Much more than living as someone’s wife.”
“That position…”
“I should inherit it. The title of Duke. Isn’t that right?”
Maden tapped her fan against her thigh, not too hard. Her stiffened eyes revealed her swirling thoughts.
Elysia smiled, feigning ignorance.
Eventually, Madam Asté sighed and shook her head.
“If you become the head, the prestige of the Partine family will hit rock bottom. Do you even understand what you’re saying?”
There has never been a female head of the Partine family.
Her words now came with a sharper edge.
“Just like there’s never been an heir from a branch family.”
There was no more need for pretense.
To Elysia, who already knew the future, Madam Asté’s words were laughable.
That the family’s reputation would plummet?
She didn’t care.
It wasn’t her concern.
Besides, the fall of the Duchy’s reputation wouldn’t be because of her.
The Partine family was an odd one.
They were descendants of Meldion, the continent’s enemy, yet still hailed as heroes.
They were both children of Meldion and the ones who killed her. On top of that, they offered her legacy to the imperial family—how could they not be revered?
Well, one sibling had been furious at the donation of the legacy without any consultation and left to found the Kingdom of Saymon.
Despite their accomplishments, the Partine family would eventually be executed—every last one of them.
Because they kidnapped a prince. A prince from another country. The prince of Saymon, who was also a descendant of Meldion.
It was enough of a crime to destroy the entire family.
And Elysia already knew—the person who would bring down the Duchy of Partine was none other than the current Duke… who kidnapped Eden.
