A Conspiracy

In the master study room, the knight commander and Lord Orephia sat and talked. Faenia sat beside her father and only listened while eating desserts.

"Since Lady Faenia isn't afraid of the knights anymore, we should let them come out and protect her openly, my lord."

Lord Orephia nodded in agreement. "Yes. We can't let Faenia be harmed in the slightest, perhaps four knights as her bodyguards should be good, the rest can work in the shadows."

The last sentence from her father made Faenia almost choke from eating the desserts. Knights were gifted and capable, there shouldn't be a reason for her to have so many by her side. Her father was being overprotective—

"That's a splendid idea, my lord."

Faenia instantly eyed weirdly at the knight commander who quickly agreed with her father. Why in the world did she need to be so heavily guarded?

Lord Orephia glanced sideways at his little daughter and patted her on the head gently. "I only hope this is more than enough. Yesterday, we weren't allowed to have guards with us and I wasn't worried that something would happen in the palace. But, I didn't think she would leave the room and get lost. That was a misstep. Fortunately, nothing happened. I fear that outside... "

Commander Rocco said, "It's the calm before the storm, we shouldn't let our guard down. Lady Faenia grows older each passing day with more freedom and someday, we must prepare ourselves for whatever will happen."

Faenia shifted her gaze between her father and the knight commander with full of questions. She felt like there was a conspiracy going on but with just this context, she couldn't decipher it.

Her father sighed. "I want the best for her, no restricted freedom. For that to happen, it seems like we need to end the feud as soon as possible."

"So it seems. I will work on it and…"

Suddenly, Faenia, who wanted to grab as much information as she could, was hit by drowsiness and she felt her eyes involuntarily close. Eventually, her consciousness drifted away and her little body fell to the side, leaning against her father.

"She must have been tired," Lord Orephia said, and smoothly placed her head on his lap.

The commander smiled slightly, "Well, of course, she had so much fun playing with the knights and maids today. She even said I was fun."

"The scary and strict knight commander, is fun?" Lord Orephia raised his eyebrow. "What did you do to make her think you're funny?"

Hearing this, the commander scratched his cheek awkwardly. "That… I may have thrown her up in the air a couple of times. But—in my defence, my lord, that child loved it."

Speechless, Lord Orephia didn't know what to say, "…"

By the time Faenia woke up, she was already in her room. Considering how the sun wasn't up and it was dark outside behind the closed curtains, it should be in the middle of the night. Leaning against her pillow as she sat in bed, Faenia took a deep breath to collect herself. This was a time for her to be alone to assemble all the information in her mind and study her situation.

From the conversation between the knight commander and her father, there was a conspiracy going on. A feud between the Roscius family and another noble family. Or, it didn't have to be the case— a noble family wasn't necessary, it could just be anyone who had ulterior motives towards them. Faenia didn't think it was strange; the Roscius family were powerful, they were bound to have enemies. Even though she didn't know the identity of the opponent, her parents did but she couldn't ask them.

All in all, she wasn't too worried about being killed, as her death would come later in the future. Until then, she would be alive. But currently, the biggest question in her mind was whether the feud was consequential or a small feat for the Roscius family. If it was the first one, she might need to have an excessive amount of bodyguards for a very long period—which she doubted, because she remembered the original Faenia in the novel only had one by her side. So, it was most likely the latter.

Naturally, Faenia wasn't naive to believe that she would be thoroughly safe until the time of the original Faenia's death came. For all she knew, she might almost experience being at death's door. The novel was completely useless for her at the moment, it didn't mention Faenia's past nor her family's enemies, as well as their business.

The novel was mostly all about the female lead and her male love interests that there was some background space for the important supporting characters, but not enough for the less significant supporting characters. Although the novel did portray Faenia Lutatia Roscius as the female lead's closest friend, in truth, she was simply one of the less significant supporting characters. With barely any information about her, she was just there to add some radiance to the female lead to make her stand out more.

Faenia made up her mind to write down everything she knew so far, in case she might forget something in the future. Thus, as soon as the morning arrived, she immediately asked the maids for pen and paper. The maids weren't suspicious, as they thought she wanted to scribble.

For the first time in this world, Faenia was disappointed to the core. The moment she began to move the pen across the paper, she found out that she couldn't write a letter at all. Because she was still only five years old, she had yet taken control and strength over her fingers. It was an overlook she hadn't thought out. She cursed her small body. This made it hard for her to keep track of the things going on in her life.

After some struggles happening in her mind, she stormed into her father's study room with a face that was supposed to look frustrated, but with a childish face, it only made her look funny. Her father was pleasantly surprised to see his daughter coming to see him so early in the morning.

"Good morning, little Fae. Did you sleep well?"

Rushing to her father, Faenia quickly greeted, "Good morning, Father. I slept well," and when she stood in front of him, she said straightforwardly, "I want to learn how to write."

His daughter was showing such resolute eyes, he became curious. He lifted her and carried her to the sofa.

Placing her down, he sat beside her and asked, "Why is little Fae so interested in learning how to write now?"

"I want to become smarter!"

Taken aback, he inquired, "Isn't little Fae already smart for her age? You are already ahead with the manners and etiquette classes. "

Faenia instantly shook her head. "Not smart enough. I want to become smarter so I can help Father and Mother quicker! That way, Father and Mother don't need to be stressed and busy."

At his daughter's words, his stern face cracked and his eyes became wet. Before tears could leak out of his eyes, he composed himself. "Little Fae is so attentive, thinking about her parents. But, are you sure you want to do it? Wanting to learn how to write, you will also have to learn how to read. You already have manners and etiquette, and dance lessons. Adding more will only decrease your free time to have fun. You can always wait until you are a bit older. There's no rush."

From what she knew and witnessed, her father was very thoughtful to her. She was a little jealous over the original Faenia. Such kind of parent wasn't easy to get.

Faenia curled her lips into a smile and reassured, "It's okay, father, I am fine with it. Nothing to worry about! If it gets too much for me, I can always quit and start again when I grow older!"

Sighing, her father approved her request. "Okay, Father will assign a private tutor for you. Will one lesson every seven days work for you?"

Faenia nodded her head happily. "Yes!"

Her father patted her head and said, "Aren't you an ambitious little one?"

The private tutor her father picked came to the estate of Orephia after three days of arrangement. It was Fabian Osborn Hale, an esteemed professor from the Imperial Academy. When Faenia found out her private tutor's identity, she was shocked. She had no idea how her father could pull it out, for such a highly ranked professor to tutor a child like her, and so quickly too. Her father, Lord Orephia, was incredible.

"Greetings to Lady Faenia Lutatia Roscius. It is the first time we have met, I hope to teach you well."

Faenia gave him a curtsy. "Greetings to Professor Hale. I can't wait to learn a lot from the professor."

Professor Hale slightly nodded in satisfaction, his good impression of the esteemed daughter of the Roscius family had elevated.

"Take a seat, Lady Faenia." The professor gestured his hand.

Faenia bowed and sat down, meanwhile, the professor took a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

"Today's class will be no teaching but just a greeting between teacher and student. As your tutor, it's good for me to start knowing where you stand before I start teaching you." He took a pause and then continued, "Lady Faenia, would you like to tell me about yourself?"

Faenia nodded and began to talk, "Yes, professor. I have no previous experience of writing and reading, this is my first step. However, I will try to study my hardest and do my utmost best to learn how to write and read. For that, I will have to trouble Professor Hale."

Professor Hale was surprised, he let out a chuckle. "Lady Faenia is very well-mannered and eloquent at such a young age. I am honoured to tutor you, but that does not mean I will hold back."

Faenia smiled. "Please don't hold back. I should be the one to be honoured to have you, Professor Hale, as a tutor."

The class ended with good feelings on both sides, and Faenia was relieved to know that her tutor was sophisticated and not abusive. Other than speaking the language of Viterra, she knew nothing about it; she would be learning a new language. Since she had to train her hand, she might as well learn the language. It was hitting two birds with one stone. Moreover, she would have to learn it sooner or later, but as she grew older, she couldn't afford to be busy with classes. She had to focus on surviving.