Wugarians

The trip to the capital would take them two days.

And in that two days, Rosalind already planned to be as close to Victoria as possible.

And that meant crying her hearts out every single time that they were close to each other. How could she not? Her mother left her in this wilderness for five years?

Because of this, Victoria insisted she slept in the carriage instead of sleeping in a tent with Rosalind and Milith. Obviously, Rosalind got teary-eyed, but this time, Victoria pretended not to notice it. She told Rosalind that she was feeling ill and that she needed to stay inside her carriage to avoid infecting someone else.

Again, Rosalind responded by crying.

What would annoy someone who learned etiquette since they were a child?

It's a snotty lady crying all the time!

The thing is, Victoria couldn't just reprimand her for crying. How could she reprimand someone that pitiful?

Obviously, Rosalind did this on purpose.

She wanted to be away from Victoria and she knew that the best way to do that is to act close and childish around her. The thing is, Rosalind knew Victoria was already fuming, yet she said nothing and maintained a cordial attitude. Victoria had not choice but to force her anger down her throat.

Oh. Victoria…

Rosalind had to hide the smile on her face as she watched the woman saunter towards her carriage.

"Miss…" Milith handed her a handkerchief so she could wipe her fake tears away. Rosalind thank her maid and went inside the tent. She had told Victoria to please take a break every now and then because she cannot endure traveling for so long. Two days of being on a horse are enough to make her uncomfortable.

She did this to delay their trip.

At first, she thought Victoria would decline, but the woman actually agreed. This only made her conclude that Victoria was forcing herself because she needed something from her.

With this in mind, Rosalind took some time to examine her memories.

In the past, Victoria and Dorothy came here to bring her back to the mansion. Dorothy was acting really sweet, but Victoria was just as cold as ever. It looked like Victoria didn't want her to come, but because Dorothy wanted to be with her sister, Victoria had no choice but to bring Rosalind back to the capital.

This made Rosalind very grateful to her older sister.

At that time, she didn't even sense that something was wrong.

Now that she thought about it, she felt pathetic to say the least.

It was pretty obvious. Why would they treat her like that if they didn't want something? By now, she had a little idea about what they wanted, but she couldn't prove it.

These were merely some assumptions.

She was able to come up with two probable reasons based on the timeline.

First is the sudden visit from a Duke of the Wugary Kingdom up north.

The thought of it made her frown. The man that she met on the river was clearly a Wugarian. He was tall and sturdy body that could survive in the snow even if they were naked. That and the fact he managed to survive that long after being stabbed by a cursed object was enough proof that he came from that remote Kingdom.

But that man… didn't look as pale as what they usually said about Wugarians.

She shook the thought out of her head.

Around this time, a Duke from the Wugary Kingdom would visit the Aster Empire and ask for a bride. She didn't know the exact details of this meeting, but she heard that the Duke actually dared to ask for a Bride from the Lux Family. Around that time, she accidentally revealed to Dorothy that she had received the Blessing of the Goddess.

Because of this, Dorothy gave her the idea of seducing the baron whom she liked since she was a kid.

Baron Jeames Sencler.

Once people found out about the affair, they would be too embarrassed to send out a woman like Rosalind to the Duke.

However, this created another problem. Now that Rosalind was no longer eligible to be the Duke's Bride, everyone started looking at Dorothy.

Dorothy hadn't receive the Blessing when she turned eighteen and the Kingdom stopped treating her as if she was special.

Because of this, many noble families suggested they send Dorothy instead. After all, she was the firstborn and was beautiful with her blond hair and small, heart-shaped face.

This made Rosalind devastated.

How could she let them take her sister?

Seeing how sad Dorothy was, Rosalind agreed to her sister's suggestion.

And that was to become Dorothy's shadow.

Dorothy would pretend that she suddenly received the Blessing out of nowhere. If this happened, the Empire would never agree to send her to another Kingdom. After all, one of the major reasons why they became an empire is because they had someone who received the Blessing of the Goddess.

So the first reason that she could think of right now is that… they wanted her to become that Duke's bride.

Now for the second reason.

She didn't even know if this was possible, but she suspected her grandfather wanted her to undergo the Awakening. Obviously, this didn't make sense, as her grandfather, the previous patriarch of the Lux Family, had never said a word to her since she was born.

However, the rule of the family stated that all children would undergo the Awakening once they turn eighteen. Perhaps they thought nothing about her because everyone thought that Dorothy would inherit the Blessing. However, when Dorothy failed to get it, they started thinking about the rest of the members of Dorothy's generation.

Rosalind thought about everyone in her generation, her cousins and second cousins. Most of them had been ignored because of Dorothy, but this changed when Dorothy failed to get the Blessing.

Everyone was invited back to the estate and was encouraged to spend some time with each other.

For now, those were the only two reasons that she could think of.

"Madam! Madam!"

Rosalind frowned when she heard the head knight's voice. He seems to be in a hurried state.

She got up and walked out of the tent.

"What is going on?" she asked Milith, who was running towards her.

"Miss… Wugarians."

"Huuh?"

"It was the Wugarians. They are here."

"What?"

"The Wugarians are traveling to the Capital and — and they have brought heads with them?"

Rosalind looked behind Milith and, just as the small maid stated, she spotted a black carriage and horses coming their way.

"Hm?" she lifted an eyebrow when her gaze landed on the man on a horse who seemed to lead the carriage. He was wearing black. A smug smile was apparent on his face, but what attracted her attention was not the man's arrogant face, but his red… eyes.

Wasn't this the man who actually pointed a knife at her throat?