TNBTW | Episode 10

Edith couldn’t help but chuckle at the voice she heard. It was so monotone that it made him sound as though he was genuinely curious about why she was laughing.

Her senior had been like that too—more interested in understanding ‘why’ something happened rather than engaging in idle chatter.

In truth, she hadn’t been a particularly sociable senior. Most of their peers found her rather uncomfortable to be around, but Edith had oddly liked her.

“Ah, speaking with you, Your Grace, reminds me of someone I once knew. Someone from my past.”

“In what way am I similar to that person?”

“Well… in the way you ask me questions just like that,” 

Edith responded playfully. Recalling a cherished old friend lifted her mood, and as she smiled continuously, the Duke, who had been watching her, spoke.

“You appear to be in a good mood.”

“We were very close. In fact, I’d say we were the closest.”

Indeed, she believed it was true. No doubt about it. Edith felt a surge of confidence in that thought.

However, she noticed a faintly strange expression on the Duke’s face as he listened. Though his face was emotionless, she sensed a hint of a frown, which puzzled her. Then, the Duke asked quietly:

“…Did you mean you were close to someone similar to me?”

“Yes, absolutely! I liked them so much. We couldn’t meet often after living far apart, though.”

Before her senior had gone abroad for her studies, they had been inseparable. Even afterward, they’d stayed in touch over messaging. To her, who had grown up as an eldest daughter, she felt like gaining an older sister she never had.

“Do you still keep in touch with this person?”

“No, unfortunately. Circumstances make it difficult.”

After all, they no longer lived in the same world… Edith held back from adding this.

Perhaps because the conversation was so pleasant, the time spent walking down the long corridor didn’t feel tedious.

Their seats were in a second-floor balcony that overlooked both the audience and the stage below. Edith could easily recognize this spot as one of the best in the theater.

Once again, reality hit her—this young, handsome Duke Devion was indeed a duke. It was almost laughable to consider, but she really felt it now.

A duke! As an ordinary woman who had never imagined herself as a duchess, Edith found all of this surreal.

“Then it seems there’s no pressing issue for now.”

“Pardon?”

At that moment, as Edith looked at him in surprise, a commotion reached her ears.

“What is this absurdity? You’re telling me there’s no seat?”

“M-My apologies, Duchess of Valesia, but the highest-tier seats have already been fully booked…”

The loud, high-pitched voice reverberated through the grand hall, drawing everyone’s attention in that direction. Edith, glancing down, spotted an indignant noblewoman standing with a young girl at her side.

“So? You’re suggesting that my Vivi and I should watch the play from one of these lowly seats? Are you mocking the House of Valesia?”

“No, that’s not it at all…”

Though the exact issue wasn’t clear, it seemed they were in a dispute over seating.

Edith, her gaze fixed on the irritable noblewoman, suddenly froze. It was the young lady standing beside the noblewoman that caught her attention.

 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

[❤️ Golden Child Treasure Chest ❤️]

NEW!

Name: ???
Age: ??

Affection: 0/100
Stress: 100/100 [Danger]
Focus: 99/100 [Warning]
Sensitivity: 110/100 [Danger]
Sadness: 100/100 [Danger]
Desire Satisfaction: 5/100 [Warning]

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

 

Ding! A translucent skill window appeared before Edith’s eyes. Staring at the array of red warning markers, she found herself at a loss for words.

Oh, dear gods.

Confronted with the young girl’s status screen, Edith felt an urge to pray to a deity she didn’t even believe in.

To think her sensitivity, stress, and sadness levels were nearly maxed out—or even beyond!

‘This is severe… way too severe!’

Edith felt herself flinch in shock. It had been over a decade since she’d acquired this ability, but she’d never seen a child in such a grave condition.

“Do you happen to know the Duchess of Valesia?”

Lost in astonishment at the troubling numbers, Edith was startled back to reality, turning her head quickly. Duke Devion was looking at her closely.

“No! This is our first encounter. I was merely curious about the commotion below,” she said hastily.

“I see.”

Though the disruption was hard to ignore, the Duke seemed uninterested. He likely wouldn’t have bothered looking if Edith hadn’t shown interest.

“Your Grace, do you perhaps know the young lady beside the Duchess? I wondered if she might be her daughter.”

“Are you referring to the Duke’s daughter? She’s Vivianne Valesia, the sole daughter of the Duke of Valesia and His Highness the Emperor’s niece. I believe she is eleven years old this year.”

The Duke’s gaze followed Edith’s to the young girl. His response was concise and almost clinical, and Edith fell silent at his meticulous recollection.

Something told her that, with Duke Devion, she would always receive a precise answer to any question she posed.

“Then… being the Emperor’s niece, she is of royal blood?”

Judging by her demeanor, Edith had already guessed her status wasn’t ordinary. The noblewoman’s behavior reminded her of wealthy elites she’d seen in the news.

‘Whether here or in my world, some things really are universal.’

Watching the poor employee suffer under the Duchess’s ire brought back memories of her own part-time jobs.

Nothing was more grueling than dealing with difficult patrons. Edith offered a moment of silent sympathy for the beleaguered staff member.

“Yes, the young lady is of royal blood,” the Duke confirmed.

“Pardon?”

“The young lady is royalty, while the Duchess is not.”

Edith blinked in surprise at the unexpected remark. Surely, if the Duchess had given birth to the Duke’s daughter, she would belong to the royal family? Wasn’t it typical for one to join the royal lineage upon marriage?

“The Duchess was born into a count’s family and married into the dukedom—a marriage between nobility and royalty. From what I understand, their union met with significant resistance. Had this not been the Duke’s second marriage, it likely wouldn’t have been possible.”

Noticing her bewilderment, the Duke elaborated, and Edith finally grasped his explanation.

There was an inherent social divide between royalty and the nobility. For this reason, the Empire’s royals typically married foreign royalty.

In cases where they wed within the Empire, they would generally consider noble families that had royal lineage, usually those holding titles of Marquis or above.

But the Duchess of Valesia came from a count’s lineage—a noble through and through, yet never within the bounds of royalty.

“The young lady is both the Duke’s daughter and the daughter of the Duchess, who descends from nobility. Therefore, she cannot inherit his title or privileges.”

Even if the couple had managed to marry, it seemed their relationship faced many limitations, particularly concerning succession—one of the issues Duke Devion had just pointed out.

Edith fixed her gaze on the Duchess and her daughter. She vaguely recalled learning something similar in history class, but witnessing it firsthand felt surreal.

“It is said that the Duke dotes on his daughter and wishes to pass down his title to her, but it’s unlikely. There’s little precedent.”

“Then does that mean you, too, are dismissing me?” 

Just as Edith was listening to the explanation, the duchess, who had been growing more and more irritable, finally snapped and shouted.

Now, Edith finally understood what had prompted the Duchess’s indignant reaction to being ‘ignored’. She seemed to harbor a deep-seated inferiority complex regarding her status.

 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Name: Vivianne Valesia
Age: 11
Stress: 130/100 [!!Danger!!]

[The young lady urgently needs appropriate intervention.]

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

 

At that moment, the skill window refreshed with additional information.

With a foreboding crimson warning flashing like an impending game-over screen, Edith abruptly rose from her seat.

“Mother, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

For the first time, the young lady, who had been standing quietly like a doll by her mother’s side, finally spoke up, attempting to pacify the furious Duchess.