"What is it? Please tell ," Edmund said.
"It is about my friend, Aurora Sinistra," Antonio replied. "She is being married."
"Married?" Edmund asked.
"Yes," Antonio nodded. "Against her wish."
Thereafter, he narrated the entire sequence of events to Edmund. Even so, he deliberately left out the part where Aurora had attempted to seduce him under her family pressure.
He did not want to tarnish her image by bringing up such matters. Antonio had been understanding enough of her circumstances, but he doubted others would be equally sympathetic. Therefore, he thought it better not to bring such topics.
"Hmm…" Edmund mumbled thoughtfully after hearing the full story. Alia's face, anwhile, carried a deep frown, perhaps even a flicker of anger.
"How could they do it?" she demanded. "Forcing their daughter into such an arrangent for a little bit of material benefit? This is just inhumane. Unbelievable."
"You may feel so, my daughter, because our family is different from most of the magical pure blood families," Edmund sighed. "But it is a very common practice. Although most families treat their daughters with care and respect, they still see them as little more than soone to be married into another household to strengthen alliances and build connections."
"It is not very surprising, to be honest," he sighed.
"But," Alia tried to argue but Edmund cut her off.
"No ifs and buts, Alia," he said. "We are not here to argue whether it is right or wrong. And besides, it is not who is perpetrating this. What use is there in arguing against ? I was only stating the facts whether you like it or not."
"Lord Olario is here so that we can think of a solution for this problem and help his friend," he added.
It looked like Alia wanted to say sothing more, but ultimately kept quiet. Her father was right. There was no point in arguing with him.
"And do you have a solution, Lord Bones?" Antonio questioned.
"I have a couple of solutions in mind," Edmund replied. "But I doubt whether they would work, or how practical they are."
"What are they?" Antonio asked with curiosity.
"The first is obvious. She could disown her family na and leave them permanently," Edmund suggested. "Miss Sinistra or rather, Miss Aurora would have to give up her family na and all the benefits and privileges associated with it, including the family magic."
"And this is not an easy thing," he added, though it hardly needed to be said. Antonio and Alia both clearly understood the consequences of abandoning one's family na including the severing of ties to their family magic.
Almost every powerful pure blood family had their own family magic. And any child born into that family practiced their magic dependent on their family magic. A unique connection was established between that individual and the family magic. And when that family magic was suddenly severed, it resulted in a huge backlash often causing harm to the individual. And this was not a scenario Antonio wanted to put Aurora into.
[This not need to be said but the concept of family magic would be explained in upcoming chapters when Antonio Olario will establish his own family magic.]
"Does a girl herself have no right to decide whether she wants to marry soone or not?" Antonio questioned.
"She has all the rights, Lord Olario," Edmund replied. "She can marry anyone she wishes. She only needs to say the magical vows, and the marriage would be completed without impedint."
"Suppose Miss. Sinistra marries soone now, there is nothing her grandfather or father would be able to do afterwards," he said.
"But she has no real way to deny a marriage her family arranges for her either," Edmund clarified. "Yes, she could be stubborn and refuse to speak the vows during the ceremony, but that is not truly practical. Doing so would be as good as denouncing her family na."
"Witches are as good as second class humans in Wizarding Britain," Alia remarked from the side.
"You can say so," Edmund nodded. "But then even a male, a wizard also does not have any right to refuse the marriage being set up by his family. He will also have to face the sa consequence as a witch."
Alia was left speechless.
"But it is true that wizards are generally not forced into a marriage they do not desire," Edmund said. "It is the witches who suffer the most."
"What of the second solution, Lord Bones?" Antonio questioned bringing the discussion back to the main issue.
"To force Alex Timirius away from the marriage," Edmund said. "And how you described that it was he who approached the Sinistra family, it is a difficult task."
"He is a death eater," Antonio replied. "I could kill him."
Both Edmund and Alia felt a little chill down their spine with how casually Antonio was willing to kill soone.
"You could," Edmund nodded after a mont of hesitation, "but you need perfect circumstances to pull this off."
"And with how all the death eaters have crawled into their hole, I doubt he is going to give you an opportunity," Edmund said. "No one is going to erge dressed as a death eater and commit so cri for the next few days."
Antonio wanted to say that he did not an to kill Alex while committing so cri. He ant to just kill him. Knowing that Alex was a death eater was enough of a reason to kill him. Even so, he held his tongue. This was an option he could always use. Maybe, Lord Bones might be able to co with sothing else.
"Do you not have any other option?" Antonio asked wondering if he would have to take one of the extre actions.
Edmund remained thoughtful for the next few monts until sothing snapped within him.
"Wait!" He said in almost an excited tone. "You said that Miss. Sinistra's father too is opposed to this marriage?"
"Yes," Antonio nodded. "It was him who gave all this information hoping that I might be able to save his daughter."
"Great," Edmund laughed. "I have a solution but you will need Drafel Sinistra's help. And oh! You too will have to play a part in it."
"What is it?" Antonio questioned and Edmund leaned in to reply to his question with a wide grin.
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