The annual hunting competition wasn't worth the effort that was put into it. Some men might be willing to take part and hunt some innocent rabbits, but most of them stayed back at the venue. The women treated the competition like any other tea party, which was why Fiona wondered whether they couldn't just have held one more of those.

During tea parties, you could at least chat with others without staying too far away from your original place. During this event, Fiona almost felt like she had to split herself in two to be able to speak to the people she needed to see. Since the families' tents were so far apart, she couldn't even keep an eye on her father while moving around. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. After all, Duke Lamont was a polite and well-behaved man. He could easily take care of all kinds of social conversations.

But even then, Albert Lamont was an unmarried duke. He was the most influential bachelor in the capital, at least if you didn't count the second prince, who didn't even appear in public at the moment, and Duke Vasquez's son. Of all of those options, the Duke of Lamont was the only one who seemed approachable and attended events regularly. Clearly, he was a prime target to many unmarried ladies.

It wasn't like Albert intended to take in a new duchess. In fact, he had no interest in marrying again. After all, he still grieved the death of his former wife, whom he might not have loved but had seen as his closest friend. But he could only do so much when it came to people surrounding him and practically pressuring him to get married again.

So many people demanded a ‘proper’ heir for the family. After all, the current heir was the son of Albert's sister, a foolish boy who favored drinking and gambling instead of learning how to be a duke.

Fiona would rather drop dead than leave the family name to him. She had already decided that she would become the reigning duchess when she had been a child, and her conviction had only grown with each year. No one seemed to trust that she could do it or even saw her as a viable choice. No one but her own father, who promised to support her.

But even then, outsiders still demanded that Albert should take in a new wife and have a son with her. Then they might be fine with Fiona taking over the family until the new heir was of age. But that was also ridiculous. Fiona had studied law and economics for years to be able to compete with all the powerful dukes in this nation. With her intelligence, she could easily become a minister, which was once again only impossible because she happened to be a daughter and not a son. It was infuriating.

And so, Fiona constantly had countless tasks to take care of. She needed to watch her father and intervene whenever unmarried ladies circled him too much while also speaking to powerful allies to make her name known. She sometimes even used those events to make business deals, even though she had heard countless people mock her for being greedy because of that. At the same time, she desperately tried to get a chance to speak to the emperor himself, the only person in this nation that could grant her a minister title. If she won his support and was allowed to join the council, everyone would have to accept her as the heir of the Lamont family. So, that was of the highest priority.

But at the same time, Fiona couldn't neglect her personal connections.

Within noble society, she only had a few real friends. The most important one was without a doubt Lucille Valerian. In contrast to Fiona, Lucille hated public events. She hated them so much that she would rather hide in some tent and cover her head with a blanket in the meantime. It was partly because Lucille was quite introverted and disliked socializing, but that wasn't what had terrified her so much.

The reason Lucille despised public events was her father, Viscount Valerian.

Raymond was a rich man with a sense of good business opportunities. He was a great ally when it came to making money and worked for the Lamonts often. But when it came to his personality, he was nothing more than a waste of space. Fiona despised him with all of her heart. She had often wished that he would just drop dead. After all, Raymond was used to being in control and didn't seem to be able to live without that. He ordered everyone around, including his daughter, and acted like he was the most intelligent being in this entire world. That was why he used Lucille for his foolish schemes, not caring for the fact that she was often the one being punished because he had misjudged the situation. He also didn't understand that Lucille was terrified of the business partners he brought home and that she hated flattering them so much when he asked it of her because those old men wanted to get much too close for comfort. Whenever Lucille spoke up about her concerns or called Raymond out on his wrong decisions, he hit her. That had only happened two or three times until now, and it had sufficed. Now Lucille never dared to talk back, hung her head low and was miserable whenever she attended events.

But Raymond wasn't always cruel. That might be what made Fiona hate him so much more.

Raymond seemed to think that he was taking good care of his daughter. He bought her many gifts, gave her a lot of free time and let her see Fiona whenever she wanted. He didn't seem to see himself as the abusive and neglectful father he was. Once, before Lucille's mother had divorced him and disappeared overnight, Raymond had been kind to his daughter. But ever since then, he hadn't been able to speak to her with any warmth nor had he ever accepted her own decisions. He seemed to think that controlling her every action would help her set foot in the capital, but he actually just traumatized his daughter.

Lucille was convinced that both her mother, who had left her suddenly, and her father, who coldly looked at her and criticized every single one of her steps, hated her. This made her so lonely and vulnerable at the same time. It had left far too deep marks. Lucille felt like every person who looked at her judged her and barely dared to speak to others when she was alone. She was terrified of being called to her father, even when he often gifted her dresses or jewelry. Despite all of that, she seemed like she wanted to believe in the fact that her father cared a little bit, even if it was just because he wished to protect the family name.

After all, the family name was most important to Raymond. That was why he had once again punished Lucille for his failure.

Fiona had understood as soon as Lucille had returned with a thick layer of powder on one of her cheeks. Her father had hurt her again. Fiona was sure of that. But of course, she hadn't been able to address that in front of Lady Blanche. She had needed to wait until she could be alone with her friend. Then she immediately dragged Lucille away from the center of the venue toward the forest, where it was much emptier.

By the time they arrived at their destination, Fiona was already shaking with rage. She couldn't believe that this bastard had ruined yet another event for Lucille. As she whirled around to her friend, she could barely keep herself from yelling. “Did he hit you again?”

Lucille didn't meet her gaze. As she whispered back, her voice sounded so broken. She halfhearted tried to defend her father, but her tone held no certainty. “Father doesn't hit me too often. It was just...”

Fiona furrowed her brows. “Once is too much already. That embarrassment has no right to harm you in any way.” She could already guess, but she still asked. “What happened?”

Lucille only shrank in herself. “Well...” As she thought back, she seemed to sink in her own shame, gritting her teeth while squeezing her eyes shut. She only pressed out her response as Fiona gently grabbed her shoulders. “He obviously noticed the commotion from before.” The commotion, which had developed because Lucille had provoked the emperor's lover. But naturally, she hadn't been happy about doing that.

Fiona's voice was full of nothing but rage now. “Yes. But that commotion was his fault. He was the one to tell you to pick a fight with Lady Blanche.”

Lucille weakly nodded, already sniffling as she tried to respond. “I told him that too. He got mad because I didn't do it more subtly. But I did exactly what he said.” Her voice began shaking, and a moment later, her voice broke. It sounded like she had a lump in her throat. Now she couldn't keep herself from crying anymore, and when the first tears rolled down her cheeks, her thoughts came out. “I began a fight and made them mad. His Majesty appeared too. But why would His Majesty apologize to our family and be willing to speak to my father about business when I just insulted his lover? He'd never simply assume that Lady Blanche was at fault. It made no sense from the very beginning. I told Father that, but...”

Raymond never took it well when his daughter talked back.

Fiona wished the worst upon that horrible man, but she couldn't do anything. By law, she wasn't permitted to meddle in another household's matters when they didn't relate to her directly. Parents were allowed to raise their children, and even if no one could seriously believe that abusing children would educate them properly, they would simply claim that this had been their intention. Fiona was powerless. She felt horrible just telling Lucille that it would get better and that Raymond was the one in the wrong each time this happened. Her words didn't help, so how could she just stop here?

Frustration rose in Fiona too as she hurriedly hugged her friend. She rarely showed her true emotions openly in public, but right now, fury outweighed her desire to keep a straight expression. She was happy that Lucille couldn't see her face. “I'm sorry, Luci. I'm so sorry. This isn't your fault. Please remember that. It was his gamble, not yours.”

That barely made it better. As Lucille hugged the other woman back, she was already crying more, her sobs getting louder even as she tried to hold back.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Fiona couldn't do anything more than hold her and whisper that everything would be fine. It was more than unsatisfying that she couldn't act. It was devastating. Fiona wanted nothing else but to run over to Raymond and slap him so hard that he fell and could still hear the ringing in his ears for hours. But of course, she couldn't do that. So, she just stayed with Lucille and tried to make it better.

It took a while for Lucille to stop sobbing. Even then, her tears kept falling, and she could barely calm herself. As her grief and fear washed away slowly, a hint of rage remained. She never showed this emotion too openly, but right now, she couldn't help but vent her feelings a bit. “Why do I have to do all of that for him? I don't want to provoke powerful people. I don't want to flatter his allies until they start saying strange things. I just want to...” It seemed like Lucille didn't even know what she herself wished to do. She had no specific goals aside from surviving her father's cold nature.

It hurt to see her like this. Lucille should have many more dreams and hopes for the future. Right now, she only seemed to think about avoiding her father's anger and possibly getting engaged to a man who wouldn't hit her though. This wasn't anything she could enjoy.

Fiona was pained each time she remembered that she couldn't help. So, she wanted to offer her support, even when she knew that there wasn't much she could do. She just had one single thing she could give, and she had repeated this often enough. Fiona knew that this wasn't a real choice, but she wanted to say it again. “My offer still stands. If you want to, you can move in with our family at any time. My father wouldn't mind at all. We have countless rooms and space and-”

Lucille had heard those words often enough. Without a doubt, she would like to stay close to her best friend too, but in the end, she was realistic. Her reply came in a defeated whisper. “I'm still not an adult, Fiona. I can't decide where I want to live. I wish I could, but...” For now, she was stuck at home no matter how much she might hate that.

But Fiona didn't want to give up. Didn't want to send Lucille back to that horrible father. She tightened her hold on her friend. “We can still find a way. If we get special permission from His Majesty, it would be possible. He just has to give a few words and-”

Again, Lucille didn't seem to have the hope that this would work. As she slowly pulled back, she weakly rubbed over her eyes, even though she didn't make it better and just wiped away her powder. Her gaze was glued to the floor as she just whispered quietly. “Why would he help us? I insulted his lover today.” That was true. And it was also clear that the emperor wouldn't take it too kindly if someone offended Lady Blanche.

Fiona didn't want to believe that something like that would ruin their chances though. “But he knows that you're still far too young. And you can tell him about how horrible your father is. His Majesty has a horrible relationship with his mother too, so I think he would understand and help you if you asked him to just get involved this once. I heard a lot about him being troubled in the palace in his youth. Surely, he would help if you wish for a chance to leave the home you are being treated so horribly at.”

It was worth an attempt. They couldn't make things worse after all.

But Lucille didn't seem to trust this. She didn't even lift her head while replying. “It's not that bad. Father ignores me most of the time. He just talks to me when he wants something.” That wasn't any better.

Fiona had gritted her teeth for a moment and now forced herself to reply. “That isn't what a father should do either. You deserve to live in a calm home you can relax in, not in a house where you feel like you have to run and hide in the annex to be left alone. Luci, I know that you are scared, but let us at least try. What if it works?”

“What if it doesn't?” Lucille only lifted her head now, her expression as grim as before while she balled her fists. “What if Father finds out what we're doing and I still can't leave that house? He will hate me if he knows that I want to leave. He'd...” Her voice broke here, so she stopped herself. As she became tenser and tenser, her gaze wandered down again.

Fiona wished that she could just talk back and say that it would be fine, but at that moment, her voice got stuck in her throat. Lucille was right. What if they failed? As soon as Raymond heard about the fact that his daughter wanted to leave the family, he would lose his mind. That man was someone who put his public reputation above almost anything. How could he let his daughter move out without even getting married? He would surely cause problems. And once that man got angry, it was questionable whether he would act nice. It was dangerous for Lucille to be stuck in that situation.

Fiona wished she could just flick her fingers and create a chance to pull Lucille away. Once again, she considered introducing her second cousin, a normal but calm and kind man just two years younger than her, to her friend. Lucille would have to get married at some point. And judging by how her father acted, he would pick someone influential and rich without confirming whether that man was even a good match for Lucille. Fiona would rather insert someone kind into the equation. Lucille desperately needed a nice fiancé to protect her, so maybe this would be the best option. But wouldn't that just push Lucille into a corner even more? Fiona didn't wish to take the choice from her nor did she wish to trap Lucille in a marriage with someone she might not even get along with. But what else was she supposed to do? She couldn't just stand by.

But in the end, Lucille wouldn't leave her home.

That was something Fiona didn't want to accept, but it was a fact. Even after all that had happened, Lucille still felt like she owed her father something. Maybe she even felt a small bond because they had both been left by their mother and wife all those years ago. She would probably feel guilty leaving her father behind. Whenever Lucille talked about Raymond, she just swore that he hadn't been like this before her mother had run away without considering that her mother might have disappeared because of this behavior precisely.

But Fiona wouldn't say it. She knew that her friend didn't want to hear that, so she just stood there and hugged her again. She wished that she could do more, but even with her high-ranking family and all of her money, she couldn't go against what the law dictated. Fiona would try if Lucille asked it of her, but her friend was too focused on old memories for that. It was painful for Fiona to see that, but she couldn't change it.

And so, Fiona once again swore that she would protect Lucille with all she had. She didn't just think it, she also said it out loud. “If you ever want to try, tell me. I will always be behind you and do all I can to protect you. I will take over my family as the head of the household, and then you will have the support of a duchess. No matter what happens, you can rely on me.”

Those words finally made Lucille look up again. As she made eye contact, she seemed far more unsure than she should be. “You always wanted to be the duchess. But... By national law...”

Fiona had studied those stupid laws for long enough. She knew very well. “I know. It's not explicitly permitted. After all, we do have a male heir and technically aren't forced to give the family to me.” She met her friend's gaze and tried to show all of her determination. “But it's not forbidden either. As long as my father approves of it, and His Majesty gives his written permission, I might be able to do it though.”

Lucille hesitated for a short moment before she whispered back. “Your cousin will trouble you a lot.”

It wasn't like Fiona wasn't aware. That arrogant and foolish boy who called himself the heir of the family would never sit back while she took over everything. Though, she didn't doubt that she could overcome him easily. “I know. But I can't let that incapable brat ruin our family name. I will win for sure.”

That finally made Lucille move again. As she leaned her chin on Fiona's shoulder, she whispered back. “I can't do much, but I will help you as much as I can. You can do it.”

“Thank you. I'll do my best.” Just as Fiona felt a small smile grow on her lips, she was reminded that even withdrawing to get some peace wouldn't protect them.

A voice broke through the silence. “Young Lady, the master is searching for you.”

As Fiona looked up, she made eye contact with Lucille's maid, who was certainly here because Raymond had ordered her. For a split second, Fiona glared at her a bit too openly, showing her disdain for the person who told Raymond about every single thing his daughter did. But as the maid flinched, Fiona tried to hide it again and just focused on Lucille, who had tensed again. “Everything will be fine. I promise you that. I'll come with you.” A viscount couldn't send away a duke's daughter, so Fiona would just attach herself to that family with so much clinginess that Lucille couldn't be scolded at all.

But then Raymond would just do it when he was at home with Lucille, where no one would intervene since all servants just obeyed the head of the house.

The thought upset Fiona far too much, especially when Lucille didn't even give her a response. She could tell how scared Lucille was, so she hurriedly linked their arms. She might not be able to make everything better since it was quite obvious that they would face Raymond now, but she could at least stay close to her friend in the meantime.

Still, Lucille barely wished to move forward. In fact, she just stood still for another moment until she forced herself to progress. While walking, she moved as close to Fiona as possible, almost pressing herself against her just to gain some confidence. It said a lot that she acted like this while needing to meet her father.

Fiona was only filled with more rage, but she forced herself to smile like usual. She focused on their path from then on, just staring right ahead while the maid led them forward.

The horns that suddenly sounded pulled her right out of her trance.

Lucille tensed as she looked around nervously. “Did you hear that horn too? What does that mean?” It made sense for her to be confused. After all, the horn was only sounded at the beginning and the end of the hunt. But barely any time had progressed since the start.

Fiona furrowed her brows. “That wasn't the emergency horn. It was the normal one. This should mean that the competition is over.”

Lucille just seemed more worried. “Already? Isn't this a bit...too early?” Right. Hunters could finish whenever they wanted, but why would they give up on half of their time when they still had a chance to gain more points?

Fiona had a bad feeling about this. “Let us confirm who came back.” She pulled her friend toward the other side of the venue, where the hunters should return. As they arrived, they mixed into the crowd and took a moment to see who was approaching. When Fiona recognized the person, she understood why everyone was muttering so loudly.

The emperor had returned. That alone was reason enough for everyone to be excited. But there was a bigger problem. The emperor's shoulder was covered in blood. It looked like he was soaked in it. But still, a bright remained on his lips as if he couldn't care less.

Fiona hadn't been mistaken when she had thought that something was off about the emperor today. Apparently, there really was something going on in the background. Was it another power struggle within the royal family? If so, the capital would see a few exhausting years. Fiona could only hope that the nation would stay stable in the meantime.