BXBX NOVEL Chapter 311 Her Tale (3)
"Could this be the reason why they would hold a grudge in the empire?" Lucia frowned her brows as she read the contents of the news.
A tragic sacrifice of the Duke of Vesala to save his only daughter…
It was such a sad story but none of the citizens felt empathized with the Vesala Family. They could only shake their heads with a heavy sigh for a father whose life was lost because of a foolish daughter.
It was already mercy that the Emperor did not retract their noble status, for the worst case would be, aside from killing the offender, they would still have to be banished from the Empire.
Lucia phased back and forth in her room, thinking about what Carolina and Maxim would do next. Would it be at this moment that they started to build their power to eventually usurp the throne?
A day after the execution of their father was the announcement of Carolina entering the temple to repent for her sins, and within a year the Empire did not hear anything from the Vesala Family.
To the citizens of the Empire, this was something that really incurred nods on their heads approving of the Vesala family's action. But to Lucia, this was a move that was inevitably threatening to their side.
To announce this kind of news was to attempt to let the people forget their disgrace. One year was just too short for Carolina to sacrifice, considering that on the dream, it probably took her years to accomplish everything,
And her entering the temple was just a prelude to what would be the journey to the Empire's downfall!!!
"I only have one year to prepare…" Lucia has finally decided.
She would take advantage of the fact that the Vesalas would lay low for a year and help her family to strengthen their power at all costs.
Thus, Lucia started to lay down her plans.
The first thing she worked on was the Astaze's military ability. As they were already renowned as a family of summoners, she sponsored a lot of talented lesser nobles and even commoners in their education to boost their family's prestige and reputation.
This way she would also help her brother raise up loyal and strong vassals when it was his time to inherit the throne.
She also started to attend a lot of social events for the ladies, making sure that her presence was known but not to the point of taking Carolina's title as the flower of the society. She knew that Carolina would definitely come back and take what was originally hers.
Her goal was just to build more influence and allies among the nobles of the high society to help his brother gain the power that he needed to strike the balance in the future.
With this, the Astaze March will have enough strength to go head to head with the Vesala March in the future. Her work has not failed to catch the attention of her parents and even her brother.
"Lucia, my little sister… you have been so busy these days… Tell me what's going on?" Jeremy asked her after seeing her working nonstop for three months, as he was genuinely worried about her being too immersed in making their family become stable.
"It's nothing brother…" Lucia just subtly smiled and shook her head, trying to convince her brother that nothing was wrong.
Jeremy frowned his head in suspicion and told her, "My heart was not at ease… Lucia, you act like someone… no something is chasing you from behind… Tell me, is there something that makes you feel anxious? Let your brother help, Mother and Father were also worried about you…"
"Brother… believe me, this is just doing my best to help you while I am still here in the estate. In a year, I would be an adult already, Father and Mother would have to look for me to get betrothed…"
Lucia looked at her brother with a bit of sadness in her eyes… Although she did not know if she would really be betrothed by her coming of age, she was certain that nothing would change if she wouldn't prepare for Carolina's comeback.
"Brother… by that time, I would not be around you, Mother and Father anymore to help you… no matter how much I wanted to… So please… allow me to do these things at least… it's just a matter of months anyway until my coming of age…"
"Sigh…" Jeremy looked at Lucia helplessly, with a heavy heart he still gave her the support but his worries did not disappear.
And so even when the Astaze Family was worried about her, they had no choice but to back her up until her coming of age.
Three months before her coming of age, however, there was surprising news circulating in the Empire… Emperor Valentin had chosen a commoner as his betrothed!
What's more, his betrothed was a bard that was known for her great talents in music and storytelling!
Her beauty is well known and even the daughters of the noble class could not compete with her beauty!!!
When Lucia heard the news, she immediately went out and went to the place where she could catch a glimpse of the bard, Tehila.
Upon seeing Tehila's face, Lucia was instantly terrified, for it had already started!
Everything was already falling into place, and Lucia immediately connected the dots, the woman that was first executed was none other than this bard, the Crown Prince's fiance.
"What to do…" Lucia became immediately worried, she only knew what would happen in the far future, so she did not know what would be the right move for her to do.
Should she warn the couple ahead of time? Or should she just watch and wait until the chaos would already implicated her family before she intervenes?
"In the future… Crown Prince Valentin will not choose Carolina at all… but if he doesn't Carolina will lead the empire into chaos…"
But no matter how she thinks, she couldn't find the right answer. She continued to observe the situation and strengthened her family until Carolina had successfully completed her stint in the Temple.
Lucia watched everything slowly unfold in front of her…
Threats of war started to spread… It even caused the second prince to almost die and become gravely injured in the process.
The Empress suddenly died…
The Emperor was forced to leave the Empire to the Crown Prince as the enemies in the war were too strong for the deployed troops.
After a few months, everything became busy for everyone in the Empire, as it was a sudden war, every noble family was forced to contribute something to support the Crown Prince, who was still not ready to take on the great responsibility of guarding the huge Empire.
When the news of the Emperor being dead in the battle broke out, Lucia finally decided that she could not take it anymore… and decided that she would put the Empire's fate in her hands.
And so in the middle of the night, she paid an experienced mercenary to sneak her into the palace and meet Tehila… she had to warn the lady of what was about to go down.
"Who are you? What brings you here?!" Much to Lucia's surprise, Tehila was with Valentin at that particular moment when they sneaked it.
"To be able to bypass the guards of the palace and even know exactly where we are… Who are you, and what is your purpose!" Crown Prince Valentin protectively pulled Tehila behind him as he stared vigilantly at Lucia and her paid mercenary.
"I mean no harm…" Lucia raised her hands immediately and showed her face… "Greetings, His Highness Crown Prince and Lady Tehila, I am Lucia Astaze, and I am just here to tell you something inevitably important."
"Lucia Astaze? Could you be the daughter of Astaze Marquiss?" Valentin was surprised by the noble identity of the trespasser; however, the vigilance in his eyes did not lessen.
"I am indeed…" Lucia bowed in the submission so as to really show that she does not intend to harm Tehila in the slightest.
Seeing that Valentin was staring intently at the mercenary that brought her inside, she immediately understood and ordered him to keep distant.
"Now state your case…" Valentin looked at Tehila assertively, which Lucia did not take to heart.
Whatever she would say from this point onwards would be hard to believe anyways…
"I was originally here to warn Lady Tehila… but since you are here Your Highness, I would just relay the same words to you…"
"The Vesalas are up to something… and I greatly believe that all of these troubles in the empire have been manipulated by them…"
Valentin's eyes flickered the moment he heard Lucia's words, "Lady Lucia… are you fully aware that what you are saying is considered slander and nonsense if not backed with evidence?"
"Replying to the Crown Prince, indeed I am aware…" Lucia calmly replied to Valentin.
"Then, I would like to ask you, Lady Lucia, what evidence have you brought for us to rely on your words?" Valentin asked.
"I have no evidence brought by black and white… But I came to you because of two reasons, first one is the obsession of Carolina towards your Highness.. An obsession that almost caused our Empire to break relations with an ally…"
"Next reason was that I saw the future… A future where I, my entire family, and even Lady Tehila dies…"