Chapter 54: The beginning of change (2) (unedited)

Sitting on a chair in the hall where the meeting was held was Duke Ernest with an unpleasant expression on his face. He felt annoyed because of Abel Heilon. That Abel man was his most hated person. That hatred even increased more than ever as that guy brought a new prince. 

Originally, among the five families, the people who took a side in the battle of succession were the Ernest and Erez family. They supported Crown Prince Enoch. The other remained neutral. But suddenly, the Heilon brought a new prince. That Abel guy did not say explicitly declaring an all-out war against the side supporting the Crown Prince, but it was still a declaration. 

Well, of course, Prince Sigren had a more disadvantageous situation. But, the people behind him. He was not even the descendant of the legal wife, but Abel and the Heilon family supported him. 

However, Duke Ernest did not like the idea of confronting them very much. 

‘How dare you support another prince when you have a strong majestic Crown Prince standing still. How cocky.’

In the case of the Crown Prince, Duke Ernest was well aware. He knew the Crown Prince was not perfect either. Sometimes the Crown Prince had accidents. He was fully aware because he often got complaints due to the crown prince touching a woman from other families. Well, in fact, there have been quite a few cases where such a thing happened and it was arranged by himself. 

‘The Crown Prince is just a young boy. He will surely become wiser when he gets a little older.’

That was what Duke Ernest thought. He bent his arm inwards, and used threats and money to soothe the Crown Prince’s accident. 

“The Duke of Heilon has arrived.”

Duke Ernest’s thoughts were dispersed by the voice of the servants. 

At the same time, Abel Heilon entered the room while wearing an arrogant smile as if breathing, and beside him was a noble girl who had just become an adult. 

Abel glanced around, then sat down. “Looks like I’m the last.”

Duke Ernest looked at Abel for a moment with his displeased face. The people who could attend the five families meeting were only the head of the family members. Unless special circumstances occurred, such as they could not attend so the heir came as the substitute, or when the head of the family introduced the heir of the family. Seeing Abel had expressed his intention to introduce a new heir to the family, it looked like the young lady who came with him was the heir to the Heilon family. However, no matter how much Duke Ernest looked at her, it was just a pretty face. A beautiful girl who had raised up well enough so that she couldn’t even kill an ant. 

‘What is the Duke thinking? Is this some kind of trap for us?’

Duke Ernest smirked. He guessed everything already. “I wonder who the young girl next to you is, Duke Heilon. This is a place that only the head of the family and our heir can attend.”

Abel shrugged lightly. “I was about to introduce her to you. This child is FIona Heilon. She is my successor.”

“Does Duke Abel Heilon have a biological daughter?” The Marquis of Erez, who was sitting next to Abel, said with a smile on his face. 

“No. She’s an adopted daughter.” 

Duke Ernest and Marquis Erez quickly exchanged their eyes. A girl as a successor was never heard of before, and even more, not a real daughter. What did he mean?

“Well, then, which family did you adopt her from?”

Abel looked at Fiona, asking her to speak. 

Fiona nodded her head slightly. 

‘Anyway, they could find out about this with a little research.’

It was information that would eventually be known even if it was hidden. 

“The Green Family.’ Fiona answered bluntly.

“Green family? I know that all members of the family are being investigated for drug-related business.” Duke Ernest raised an eyebrow. He has definitely heard of it. The Green family was a suitable family. Their authority was neither particularly high nor low. But in any case, that noble family, which had been in a good condition before, was now on the path of collapse in an instant, so there was a murmur in the noble social circle for a while.

“I heard that there was one daughter who escaped punishment because she was already married, but….”

Of course, the married daughter was not Fiona, but her half-sister Jane. 

At that moment, the Marquis Arrendt Clovis, who had been watching the situation, suddenly opened his mouth.

“No, they had another daughter.” Arrendt looked very interested in the situation.”I know the Green family well because I was in charge of it.”

Attend was in charge of the Treasury, so of course, he was directly involved in Green’s affairs.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t be polite if I said it.”

Arrendt looked at Fiona once with a calm face. 

Likewise, Fiona grinned while looking at him softly.

“I’m the illegitimate child of the Green family. The reason I was not punished is because my name disappeared from the family register before that happened.”

At once, the eyes of Duke Ernest were filled with contempt. What was with this an illegitimate child of a fallen noble family? A young adult girl even. In noble societies, titles were usually inherited by the eldest son. Even if a daughter inherited a family, they seldom received a title. Although, that fact was more an implicit rule than a fact specified by law. But still. This was a joke in the eyes of Duke Ernest. For him, who was known for being savvy and hard-headed even in noble society, this was totally absurd. It was unprecedented for such a high-ranking family to pass on the title to a child who did not even have their blood. In addition, the kid was also of low origin. Even hearing the honorific “Young lady” to call her was weird and too much of dreaming.

“Are you testing us, Duke of Heilon?”

“No way.”

“I couldn’t accept it. I couldn’t believe an illegitimate child of a fallen noble family inherited the title of Duke Heilon.”

Abel chuckled. “It’s a hundred times better to give it to a competent adopted daughter than to give it to an incopeten man.”

“Do you think that kid is capable now?” 

Duke Ernest had the opposite mindset of Abel. he believed that the abilities of a duke were from their origin. If a duke’s origin was noble, their abilities would be superior accordingly. 

“What in the world are you talking about? This has to be discussed more!”

Abel pretended to yawn. “That’s what I really want to say. Besides, there is no reason for the Ernest family to meddle in the matter of the Heilon family’s successor.”

That was correct. 

Duke Ernest coughed lightly. “Hmmm. Even so, the Heilon is one of the main families of the Empire. What would happen to the discipline of a noble society if you act like this! You are the head of a family, you have to think about the external influence you would have!”

“I wonder what will happen… So I must pass the title to my daughter.”

“….” 

Duke Ernest looked at Abel quietly. He had to move the noble society quietly, and inform HIs Majesty the Emperor of this nonsense together. No matter how arrogant Duke Heilon was, if the emperor ordered himself, the duke would not be able to act.

‘An illegitimate child must remain an illegitimate child. It should be like that.’