"When did this happen father?"
I asked with an anxious look. It would have surely taken a lot of time for the news to reach us here, so my informants obviously would have been faster. The fact that I didn't receive the news prior meant that something has happened in the front lines that disturbed even my network.
"It seems he was declared dead yesterday. Informants from the empire army were dispatched immediately to inform us since your brother had contributed a lot to the war," He said, clenching his teeth and I could notice that his fists were clenched as well.
I fell deep in thought after hearing this. Something had definitely gone wrong. My brother is- was, a very powerful Iktenis. He wouldn't have died so easily and even if had, I would have gotten the new immediately. Both the news were very suspicious.
'I have to investigate it, but how? If my informants at the front line have gotten into trouble I can't just send more people without knowing the full picture.'
'Hmm. Seems like I have to step in myself'
"Father, what do we do now?"
"We prepare for the funeral and announce the new heir. We shouldn't delay the proceedings any longer. I hope you'll behave, Elynora," He said, quickly gathering his composure.
"Yes father," I answered bored. The rumors about me being crazy were exaggerated, I never once misbehaved in an official setting, though it was probably because I had never been in one.
I was curious about one thing though.
"Father, who will you be announcing as the heir?" Surely it had to be one of my cousins but I wanted to know which.
He turned to me with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Of course it's you. How much longer are you going to avoid you responsibilities for. If you had stepped up in the first place-" He sighed and stopped talking. I flinched. I was only 16 with absolutely no idea about this world when I was about to be enlisted. I'd have died even sooner had I been sent to war.
"I didn't mean it that way, Nora. It's just, the past three years you have done nothing except being holed up in your room. I have been taking care of all your responsibilities, hoping that one day you would get better. Now we no longer have time for that. You need to step up."
He gave me one final look of desperation then left with a tired look on his face afte he saw that I had no intention of speaking more. This was the first time I had seen the lord, Enrich Crescente lose his cool.
The doors slammed shut with a loud noise.
I may have looked calm on the outside, but I was going absolutely crazy on the inside.
'Me? Heir? Who in their right minds would decide on that? The family council would definitely disagree to this decision so why is the lord making such a decision?'
My mind raced with all the possibilities that would ruin my plans. I had planned to get my revenge on those beings that put me here with my own power, and had decided to cut myself off from this family so that it wouldn't bring harm to them.
But this, this is one possibility I had never considered, even purposefully made sure it wouldn't happen by acting like a total loser. The Elders Council has also decided on Theodore, my second cousin as the second in line in case anything happened to Elias, my brother.
I sighed in frustration.
It seems another burden has added itself on my plate. The lord was a stubborn man from what I had gathered, there was no changing his mind and his words were final. Even the council could say nothing against him. It seems illybe facing those old geezers again today, just like when I first came here.
It was time to go attend the funeral
—-----------------
After getting all dressed up in black by my personal maids, I got ready to face the storm that awaited me. I didn't need to wait long before there was a knock on my dressing room.
"My Lady, the lord requests your presence."
"I'm coming," I said to Baron as I opened the door and walked past him. The dress I was wearing was simple indeed, but it was a bit too heavy to walk in. I managed well though due to all those lessons I had to go through when I came here.
I walked swiftly down the stairs to see the lord waiting there for me at the bottom, his right hand held out to escort me, which I decided to not ignore this time and held it. We walked out of the mansion with servants in tow towards the carriage which I assumed was headed to the family burial grounds.
I got in the same carriage as him for the first time, and it was to mourn the loss of a sibling I never knew. The carriage ride to burial grounds was extremely silent to the point where even I contemplated initating a conversation, but then told myself to shut up in case I said something stupid.
The due procedures for the funeral had already been set up by the time we arrived. Only a small close circle of the family were invited so it was a small event. The Royal Family had sent their condolences through an envoy the palace and expressed their grief for not being able to attend.
The Ducal family did attend though, only their head was present which was odd since these events were usually attended by the heirs. But I suppose that would not be possible since the heir was away at war.
The event came to a close after a few hours and me and the Marquis were instantly swarmed by the old geezers.
I guess it was time to put on a show.