We showed Lady Charlotte the room of the Grand Duchess and to say that she was excited would be an understatent. She looked through every nook and cranny and even I went ahead and observed the room that was supposedly off limits.
Well, if it were my mother’s room I wouldn’t let anyone in as well so, I knew I had done sothing that would piss Davian off.
My eyes drifted over to the large portrait that was on the wall and I saw the woman whose beauty couldn’t even compare to humans as she sat there looking ahead with the look of confidence. Her straight crimson red hair cascaded down her shoulders and her sharp green eyes seed as if they were ready to impale her enemies. She sat with the gait that even in her portrait made her power shine.
"So... beautiful." I mumbled.
I had seen my mother’s portraits back ho while her portrait show her inner strength, Lady Dahlia’s portrait showed her outer strength.
Speaking of my mother, I wished she was around then I wouldn’t have to worry about the Duchy. With Silas’s constant taunts to my father I had been also learning that my mother was an excellent person when it ca to managing a territory. No wonder Marquis was furious when she fell in love and got married to my father who was brutally speaking, incompetent.
Serene Aurelius was a very smart woman and also a prodigious Mage who had looked after the Duchy and even brought us to a good financial stand but after she fell sick she wasn’t able to do much. It was as if sothing had sucked the life out of her, I was too young to know so, it was Silas who had told everything of her. It almost made feel salty that I had no recollection of her.
"This room isn’t that good but I’ll adjust." I heard Charlotte and turned to her.
It was a good thing that she was facing away from or she might have caught the look that I was sending her. I hated haughty people regardless of their age.
Still, I had a plan for her and I would make sure she and her father knew their place before spouting nonsense before Davian.
Charlotte decided to stay there and I and Ethan stepped out of the room.
After walking a little distance Ethan turned to with a bewildered expression.
"Sir Ocean, what have you done?!" He shouted.
"His Grace has kept everything in that room intact because it’s his mother’s room! How could you be so insensitive and let soone like... Soone like Lady Charlotte stay in that place?! Do you even know how much His Grace would be hurt to see this?!"
I stared at him and then sighed, "I know... I did sothing really insensitive there but trust , it is for the better future."
"Better future? Do you even know what Lady Charlotte does to the room she stays in? She will completely ruin everything that holds the mory of Lady Dahlia in there and sorry to say this Sir Ocean, but none else but you will be blad."
Ethan’s eyes had gone red as he ranted to angrily.
"It will be your fault if His Grace loses a precious mory of his mother, Sir Ocean."
With that, Ethan turned and stomped away, possibly to report Davian that I had wagered his mother’s room to a spoilt brat.
I ran my hand through my head as I walked back to the reception room. I had to find out why Davian was tolerating these people.
The reception room was empty when I got there so I walked over to Davian’s study, he was there alone.
I walked inside and he glared at .
"Why did you stay back?"
"Lord Ethan asked for my help."
"Does that help include you giving off my mother’s room of your own accord?!"
I was quiet as I noticed Davian’s eyes glinting violet before he clenched his fists and demanded, "Why are you quiet tell ?!"
"She is the future Grand Duchess, isn’t she? Then what was the harm in giving her that room?"
Davian’s glare intensified, "She is not the future Grand Duchess and you have no right to give off my mother’s room to anyone!"
"You say that but Marquis and Lady Charlotte are so sure that you will be marrying her, why is that?"
"That’s because-" he halted mid-sentence and I observed the way his anger slowly started turning to sorrow.
"Because?" I prompted and Davian closed his eyes massaging his temples.
"Why do you do things so impulsively, Sir Ocean?"
"I didn’t do anything impulsively, Your Grace. You don’t like Lady Charlotte so, I have a way to throw them out of your life but I won’t be able to if you don’t tell what they hold over you."
Davian looked at with a surprised gaze, "Pardon?"
"I am capable of driving every problem away from your path, Your Grace. All you need to do is trust and tell what hurts you."
Davian’s eyes stayed fixed on as if searching for sothing, a flaw or a hint of lie or deception perhaps, regardless he sighed and shook his head.
"It is not sothing that you could do anything about, Sir Ocean."
"You won’t know unless you test , Your Grace."
Davian sighed again, his eyes looking as if they were staring at a distant view.
"Even if you say that, the deal with Marquis and isn’t sothing that you could do anything about."
I stepped ahead and placed my hands on the table as I leaned ahead to look at him.
"Trust this once, if I couldn’t do anything then I will stop ddling in your affairs and do my work quietly."
His eyes stayed fixed on for a mont before he turned and from the pile of the books nearby picked out a bundle and placed it before .
He didn’t say anything and I picked up the papers and read the contents which made my eyebrows jump.
"Oh... No wonder you were so tensed." I humd as I saw the reports of the nobles gathering against the succession of Davian being the Grand Duke despite him being the rightful heir and the reason:
"Not suitable."
"Too young."
"Not engaged to any powerful family."
"No achievents."
And henceforth.
For a mont, I wondered if this was a farce. Davian was the rightful heir to the Grand Duchy, he was the present King’s nephew yet, the relatives that were branched out in North didn’t acknowledge it.
Davian had beco the Grand Duke but his position wasn’t solidified yet, he was simply there on the seat which would be toppled over easily by the influence of the other families.
What makes a King a King? I wondered to myself.
Was it just because he was born to a King or because he had a palace or because he had soldiers?
None.
It was because he had subjects to rule over, if there was no one to rule over the position of King was useless.
Likewise, Davian was a nasake Grand Duke unless he was acknowledged by the nobles.
Marquis Thompson had influence not only in the social circles but also in politics that was why he was able to stand tall and demand Davian to marry his daughter.
Davian couldn’t say no because he needed a strong support.
"Absurd." I muttered and Davian sighed.
"I’m nothing without my father." He mumbled and I looked at him.
"I wish I were like you," he added and I frowned.
"Pardon?"
His eyes found mine again, "When you said that you did whatever you liked... I felt envious of you."
"I wanted to be like you. I wanted to be soone who could do whatever they wanted without any care of what others thought."
I could see him trying to hold back his tears, "Soone once told that I could be strong if I tried hard, that’s why I’ve been trying my best. I had worked hard and managed to beco the Grand Duke but... I couldn’t keep this position... I..."
Davian clenched his fists as his arms trembled and for once I saw a helpless thirteeth year old child in front of , a vulnerable kid who needed help.
I walked over and sat down on my knee beside his chair.
"Then be like that."
His eyes drifted to .
"You-You don’t understand, Sir Ocean. I don’t have the power-"
"You have . I will be your strength. Don’t think of anything else and do what your heart says. I will take away every problem that becos a hurdle for you."
His eyes gazed unto mine for a long mont with the doubt swirling in his eyes.
"Your Grace, you are the ruler of this place, your word is the law, no one would dare to defy you if you trust yourself more. You are strong."
"I’m not!"
I smiled as I waved the papers in my hands, "These nobles may try to harm your position, Your Grace but they won’t be able to harm the strength that you are born with. Trust , Your Grace. You don’t see it now but you will with little ti that these people are dirt in front of you."
"You are powerful, Your Grace. You are the best suited person here without the need of your father’s influence. You have the strength of your own."
Davian stared at with the rims of his eyes gone red and cheeks flushed.
"Trust this once and do what your heart says, Your Grace."
Davian kept staring at without a word before he turned away.
I squeezed his hand a little and he sighed.
"You... really think I can do it?"
I smiled, "I know you can do it."
"Then... what about these?" He pointed at the papers in my hand and chuckled.
"You don’t need to worry about them, I will blow their wigs off."
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