Lilianne felt conflicted.

’She isn’t wrong.’

Everything Lady Seraphina had spoken was true. Since the distance between the territories was so great, whatever kind of help House Ravenshade sent would take time to arrive. So if a strong noble house attacked without any warning, then they would be crushed long before any help could arrive.

So it was very reasonable for her to ask them to stay within this territory.

But Lilianne couldn’t just leave the Florivelle territory for such a long time. She couldn’t just leave her daughter with the Ravenshades either, since that would be too irresponsible of her as the girl’s mother.

She let out an internal sigh.

’Do I have no choice but to negotiate?’

It wasn’t that she was at a dead end; she could still see a path forward. It was just that she didn’t want to take that path. After all, she wasn’t all that good at negotiations and politics, while her opponent was Duchess Seraphina—the woman who was renowned for those things.

She wiped the sweat off her chin.

"Lady Seraphina, you mentioned that it would be tedious for you to protect us from such a long distance. But you didn’t say that it would be impossible. Even if you find it tedious, you are still capable of it, isn’t that right?"

The Duchess tilted her head.

"We are indeed capable of it; in fact, it would be hard for you to think of something that House Ravenshade is not capable of doing. But answer me this: why should I go through all that trouble?"

Lady Seraphina’s sharp words dug into her, stirring her inner doubts. But she did her best to remain firm as she replied.

"Because that would earn you my daughter’s loyalty. When she witnesses the effort your House puts in to protect her, she would come to respect and admire you for that. She could even develop a sense of debt to House Ravenshade. Wouldn’t that benefit you greatly when she grows old enough and marries into your house?"

She added after a slight pause.

"...Wouldn’t she become much more useful to you this way?"

But the moment she finished speaking, Lilianne felt the invisible pressure pressing down on her increase significantly, as the Duchess narrowed her eyes. Lilianne’s back was hunched slightly as she struggled under the increased pressure.

"Lady Lilianne," the Duchess’s voice was sharp. "I am afraid you are thinking too highly of your daughter. I am not as desperate to have her as the others. It’s good to have her, but I wouldn’t have cared too much if we didn’t have her."

She leaned in, pushing her face closer toward Lilianne.

"The primary reason I moved was to prevent that girl from falling into someone else’s hands. I absolutely can’t allow that to happen. I care not if I can’t have her on my side, but I wouldn’t allow someone else to bring her to their side."

Lilianne felt goosebumps rise on her back as she heard Lady Seraphina’s sharp words. Her heart felt cold because she could understand the hidden meaning behind those words.

’She’s saying that she would’ve gotten rid of us had we tried to align ourselves with someone aside from Ravenshade.’

Besides that, since the Ravenshades didn’t value her daughter all that much, they wouldn’t go through too much trouble to protect her.

Lilianne had lost all leverage in the negotiation; she had no choice but to comply with their demands now and move to the mansion they were being provided.

For the sake of her daughter’s safety.

She spoke weakly.

"I... will talk to my husband and inform him about the arrangements you have made for us."

A soft smile filled with satisfaction stretched across the Duchess’s face.

***

Evangeline stared out of the window as she sat lethargically on the sofa, lost in thought.

The engagement had ended not long after they exchanged rings. Apparently, there wasn’t much to it, unlike what she had expected.

She and that boy, Adrian, were approached by a few nobles, too, but he walked away, ignoring them as if they didn’t exist. She could still remember the faces those nobles made after they were humiliated like that by a child.

It was as if they were doing their best to hold back their anger while fuming.

’I wonder where he gets that confidence from.’

She and her father were now resting in the guest room, where they had been before. Her mother had been called by the Duchess for some sort of discussion.

As Evangeline sat motionless, there was only one thing on her mind.

’Adrian Caelis Ravenshade.’

He had left too strong an impression on her mind; she simply couldn’t stop thinking about him, even if she tried.

’He’s different.’

She didn’t quite know how, but he seemed fundamentally different from everyone else. She had met other noble children, too, but even they couldn’t compare to him.

That expressionless face, that detached demeanor, and that... complete lack of presence.

Her instincts were telling her that he was somehow different, somehow more significant than others.

’But how?’

If this were a story, then she felt that he would be the protagonist. But this was reality, and she couldn’t just write him off like that.

She needed specifics to understand it better. What were her instincts trying to tell her? In what way was he significant?

And to know the answer to that, she needed to do one thing.

’Research, I have to do research about him.’

At this moment, all Evangeline knew about him was that he was some kind of unreachable genius of this generation. She knew nothing about him besides that.

If she could gather more information about him, then perhaps that would lead her to the answer to her questions. And thankfully, she wouldn’t need to put in too much effort for that.

Evangeline stood up and walked to the sofa close to the door, where her father sat quietly. She sat on a sofa across from him and waved her hands to get his attention.

"Papa, I have something to ask you. It’s about that boy, Adrian Caelis Ravenshade."

He turned to her, curiosity clear on his face.

"Curious about your fiancé, are you? Sure, go ahead and ask."

She instantly replied.

"I want to know more about him. Tell me any information related to him that you know."

Her father’s expression turned amused. Though he hid that amused expression moments later.

’What’s the point of hiding it when I’ve already seen your expression? What’s so amusing, anyway?’

"Hmm... setting aside the things you know, there’s actually little information about him circulating in the noble society. All we know is that he reached Phase One when he was only three, has intelligence rivaling adults, and possesses the rare Space element."

He paused, as if pondering.

"It’s actually quite strange now that I think about it. That boy has never appeared in public before today; no one, including us, had seen him before today."

Evangeline tilted her head.

"Is it really that strange? After all, I have never appeared in public either, right?"

This was also her first time attending a public event. She had never attended something like that before, either.

"It’s not that simple," her father shook his head. "You may not have attended a public gathering, but you have interacted with other nobles; they have seen you and talked to you. But that’s not the case for him. House Ravenshade didn’t allow anyone outside their mansion to even look at him."

Then he muttered something under his breath, something she couldn’t quite make out.

"Maybe what they were saying during the ceremony was true, maybe the one we saw was actually a fake puppet instead. After all, he didn’t have a presence. And his expression..."

She waved in front of his face, trying to pull him out of his spiral of thoughts.

"Papa, please don’t mutter like that. Mama’s muttering is scary enough as it is, so not you too, please."

It seemed to have worked as he stopped muttering to himself and turned to her in confusion.

"What is it, Evangel?"

"You stopped midway instead of telling me more." She pouted angrily.

"Uh, well, where was I?" He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Oh, I remember now. It’s actually more suspicious if I pair it with Ravenshade’s actions right after he was born. Most noble families prepare a feast on their newborn’s first birthday."

He paused, making her gulp from the suspense.

"But House Ravenshade didn’t do so for their first son. It was even stranger considering that they held a feast for their other two children. The news about him only started spreading after he turned three and reached Phase One."

’So... what does all this mean, exactly?’

Did it mean they were trying to hide him from the world? But why? What could be the reason—

Suddenly, all the knowledge she had accumulated in her previous life from reading novels surged up. All the patterns and plot devices unfolded in her head, allowing her to reach the ultimate conclusion.

’He’s... an illegitimate child—’

She smacked her own forehead.

’Idiot, what am I even thinking. Is this the curse of reading too many stories?’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Setting aside the idiotic conclusion she had reached, she couldn’t conclude anything more from this knowledge. She needed more information.

"Is there anything more? It doesn’t have to be directly about him; something related to him will also do."

Her father began rubbing his chin as he pondered.

"Hmm... Oh! This should do. Evangel, you must know that his name is Adrian Caelis Ravenshade, correct? Adrian is his own name, and Ravenshade is the name of the house he belongs to. But do you perhaps know what the ’Caelis’ in his name means?"