Chapter 50
Olivia
"……"
"So, Senior Lilith, that was what happened."
After returning to the camp, Lucy immediately sought out Lilith, the peak apprentice who had just come back from the castle, and reported truthfully that the princess was an awakened witch.
Lilith, who had seemed a little absent-minded at first, suddenly changed her expression upon hearing this, and her gaze turned grave.
On the continent of witches, witches were an extremely rare and special existence.
They were women who suddenly awakened one or more innate abilities upon reaching adulthood, naturally possessing an extraordinary affinity for magical energy, and whose mental strength grew at several times, even dozens of times, the rate of ordinary people.
Every tower would spare no effort to compete for such geniuses because every witch was an embodiment of the rules of the plane.
But precisely because of this, they were also easily targeted by heretics.
Once a witch fell into the hands of heretics, she could become an anchor point for summoning quasi-divine or higher beings.
After a brief silence, Lilith suddenly scrutinized Lucy's face.
"You must be Lucy, the new disciple recently taken in by Wizard Fernando, right? Apologies, I haven’t had the chance to greet you along the way."
Lucy gave a slight bow.
"Senior Lilith, you are too kind. I should be the one to greet you."
She no longer used honorifics. Even though there was a great gap in their strength, as official disciples of formal wizards, they now represented the positions of their respective mentors.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lilith straightened her expression and said:
"My original purpose in coming this time was only to escort you all here for the enfeoffment ceremony, and to bring back a new batch of supplies."
"But now, priorities must be adjusted."
"The Tower of the Four Sages must not let any witch appearing in the Principality of Kolo slip away."
"What do you need me to do?" Lucy asked directly.
"The identity of the princess must be kept strictly confidential, especially to guard against the heretics."
Lilith leaned in and whispered, "Although the Grand Duke has agreed for her to join the Tower, we must not let our guard down until she truly steps through the gates of the Tower of the Four Sages."
"I will send the iron crow to deliver the intelligence and request reinforcements, while also monitoring the movements of the peak apprentices of other wizard factions and nearby heretics."
"Your task is to find a way to approach the princess and ensure that she no longer uses her witch abilities. If the situation becomes critical..."
Sensing the chilling killing intent in Lilith's eyes, Lucy solemnly nodded. "Yes, Senior Lilith."
After leaving the room, Lucy found herself hesitating.
Although she had accepted the task, how should she approach the princess?
Perhaps tomorrow's enfeoffment banquet would be a good opportunity.
...
Ducal Castle
The gilded door inlaid with gemstones slowly closed behind her.
A young girl wearing a ceremonial dress of pale blue and white stepped out.
She first took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled, releasing the frustration in her heart along with the breath.
Upon seeing the girl appear, a middle-aged noblewoman holding a lace folding fan lifted her skirt and quickly approached from the end of the corridor.
"Livy, what did the Duke say?"
The black-haired girl called Livy shrugged, causing the snowy peaks of her chest, squeezed tightly by the dress, to tremble slightly.
"What else could he say? He gave me a good scolding, rebuking me for having a conflict with Kaelde in public, bringing disgrace to the face of nobility."
She walked forward nonchalantly, and the noblewoman hurried to keep up.
"But it was that fool Kaelde who violated the kingdom's law first and allowed his subordinates to vandalize citizens' property. I simply stopped him according to the law... Isn’t that right, Aunt Gwynnie?"
The noblewoman gave a noncommittal hum.
Although she also loathed Prince Kaelde’s conduct, as the head of one of the cornerstone families of the principality, she did not believe such behavior among nobles was worth making a major fuss over.
"Your Highness Livy, compared to Kaelde’s foolish actions today, perhaps you are the one who should reflect more. If anything had happened because you left the castle alone without guards, then the Principality of Kolo would have no choice but to be inherited by that fool Kaelde."
The current king of the Kingdom of Cordova had long been dissatisfied with Grand Duke Felix’s high degree of autonomy, and for the past few years had been trying to reclaim Kolo’s land and population back under the kingdom’s control.
If that ignorant fool Kaelde inherited the ducal title, the Principality of Kolo might not survive past the second generation of Grand Dukes.
Seeing the unease and worry on the noblewoman’s face, Olivia smiled and said, "He is already the first in line for succession anyway, and I’m about to go study at the Wizard Tower. The inheritance of the title has little to do with me."
Gwynnie Watts’s expression darkened slightly.
"Your Highness, is this really the time for jokes? With the groundwork you’ve laid in the principality, even after entering the Tower, you could still fully control the political direction of the principality. You only need to wait until you advance to official apprentice to return…"
Seeing that her aunt was truly getting anxious, Olivia finally withdrew her smile, realizing she had gone too far with the joke.
She understood better than anyone the consequences of Kaelde’s rule.
The loss of territory, the revocation of legislative and taxation rights would be one thing, but most likely, the entire Beckett family would face a complete purge.
Back when Grand Duke Phoenix divided the territories, he had seized plenty of land from surrounding lords.
What’s more, even if her father recovered from his old injuries and regained power, the principality was already beyond salvation.
Though skilled in warfare, her father was truly inept at governance. His diplomacy created enemies, his internal affairs spiraled out of control, and rebellions were breaking out everywhere.
Had Princess Olivia not allied with the Watts family to reorganize the military during her father’s illness and seized control of Kolo’s key legions, the Beckett family would have collapsed long ago.
"Aunt, Kaelde has never been the real threat." The princess gently touched her nose reddened from the cold. "The problem lies with the Grand Duchess."
When Grand Duke Phoenix was young, he had married two wives, who respectively bore Princess Olivia and Prince Kaelde.
Olivia’s mother passed away early, while Kaelde’s mother firmly held the position of Grand Duchess and had rallied a large faction of nobles to support Kaelde.
"My informant beside Father reports that woman is trying to persuade him to arrange a marriage for me with some prince from the Kingdom of Cordova."
If she really married into the royal family of the kingdom, Olivia’s chance of becoming the Grand Duchess would be completely severed.
"That bitch! How could she do this!"
Gwynnie, who had already led her entire family to fully side with the princess, couldn’t help but curse.
Her hand, which was clutching the princess’s sleeve, trembled with anger. "Your Highness, you must not agree."
"Of course I know." Olivia's gaze was deep. "It may appear that I have taken control of the principality's affairs over these past six months, but in reality, of the Upper and Lower Chambers and the military, only the military is truly under my command."
The latter two needed no elaboration, but speaking of the chambers:
The Upper Chamber was the legislative body, composed of the nobility.
The Lower Chamber was the proposal body, which was supposedly made up of commoners, but in practice, was controlled by the major merchant guilds.
And these people happened to be the strongest opponents of Olivia’s ascension as Grand Duchess.
Because from the moment this princess set foot into politics, she had been committed to administrative reform.
And such reforms would undoubtedly affect their interests and privileges.
"Moreover, if Father’s old injuries had not relapsed, he would never have allowed me to hold so much authority. The power of pillow talk sways decisions far more than a daughter’s actual achievements."
She paused for a moment, then suddenly curled her lips into a smile. "But actually, there is a way to avoid being married off."
Gwynnie asked anxiously, "What way?"
"Marry ahead of time." The princess blinked. "As long as I marry before the kingdom’s marriage agreement is finalized, the problem will naturally be resolved."
The noblewoman was momentarily speechless.
Though marrying into a domestic noble family could preserve political power, what happiness could there be in a political marriage?
Thinking of the princess she had watched grow up having to sacrifice herself for this, she couldn’t help but feel bitterness in her throat.
Sensing her aunt’s concern, Olivia suddenly leaned in playfully.
"Don’t frown like that~ Who knows, maybe Kaelde will do something stupid again one day and Father will simply pass the title directly to me? Then this Grand Duchess could not only refuse marriage, but also marry a few husbands of her own..."
"Shameless."
Gwynnie lightly spat while covering her face with the lace folding fan, but the tension on her face finally eased.