Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“How do you know so much about Stein, Miss Bella?” Annie asked, looking at her with awe.
“Ah, my cousin is married to a young lord there.”
Wait.
Bella’s family were all commoners. How did her cousin marry nobility?
“A lord?” I asked. “What’s the societal structure there?”
“I never thought my useless knowledge about the place would come in so handy, my lady.” Bella giggled. “It’s quite simple. Despite officially being a part of the empire, the province is self-governing with its own knightage, so the Grand Duke and Duchess are essentially the King and Queen in all but name. Because of it, the Grand Duke has the power to grant a selection of noble titles to residents of Stein.”
Right. It’d been a self-governing duchy before the Great War, and that was one of the reasons it’d been granted to Kalon in the first place. The Empress thought it might deter him and his supporters from challenging Torin for the throne if he had what was essentially his own kingdom.
The residents of Stein had surrendered after the then-duke attempted to run away, and Kalon had shown them all mercy, especially since several nobles had turned to the empire’s side beforehand and helped his army get to the castle. The residents hadn’t been too upset to be swallowed into the empire as long as they maintained their autonomy, and I’d heard that the previous duke and his nobles had almost driven the province to ruin with high taxation—something Kalon had immediately changed upon assuming his role.
“It’s a larger place than you think, so the Grand Duke formed a council to manage it and gave each member either a barony or a simple lordship assigned to an area for them to watch over. For example, there’s extremely fertile land to the southeast on the river, so there are now two young lords who manage the farmland either side of it. Their families have been working that land for years, so it wasn’t a great change.”
He’d essentially granted a whole bunch of fiefdoms.
“And your cousin married one of these lords?”
“Yes, my lady. The Grand Duke didn’t surround himself only with born nobles, but also commoners who have lived and worked there all their lives. My cousin was already in love with Lord Idris when he received his barony, and the Grand Duke allowed them to marry. I believe it was also the case for many others.”
“Can the titles be inherited by their children?”
“Only if the child continues the position of their father,” she answered. “But they aren’t obligated to do so.”
“So, the title is tied to the position, not the family.”
“I suppose you can put it that way, my lady.” Bella helped me get out of the tub and wrapped a towel around me. “That is why I don’t hold much faith in the rumours we hear here in the capital, you see. I haven’t seen my cousin since her wedding, but we do exchange letters, and she says the Grand Duke is a fair and just lord of the land. Reforms are slow, but they’re meaningful.”
“Hm. Thank you for sharing all that with me.” I clutched the towel to my chest.
I knew that last part, of course. Even in the book, Kalon had been portrayed as a strong, capable ruler who was respected by his people in Stein, whether those people be his knights or the farmers ploughing the fields.
I hadn’t known about the rest, though.
The more I lived this life, the more I realised how fleshed out this world was compared to what I knew from the book. Which made sense—it was told through one point of view, and that was of a naive countryside noble. Of course I didn’t know everything there was to know.
Would the knowledge I possessed be enough to save my life in the end? Or would the missing gaps be my downfall?
More importantly, my fate was seeming to play out exactly like Alicia’s had in the book. It seemed as though there was no way to avoid my engagement to Kalon, so perhaps I had no choice but to leave for Stein.
I really thought I’d changed the story enough to veer my path off its predetermined course. I’d stood up to my stepmother and sister, something that had resulted in making my father aware of their scheming. Thanks to whatever he’d said to them, they’d largely left me alone since Lady Georgina’s tea party, and now, they didn’t dare touch me since Kalon’s proposal became known within the household.
They still huffed and puffed and screamed and shouted, of course, but words were all they had. They couldn’t do a thing to me. Father was no longer blind to their mistreatment of me, and to mistreat me could be interpreted as going against the Imperial Family.
I also had friends. Friends that were destined to be Lillia’s, strengthening my position even more.