The three Grand Dukes of the Yulgran Empire regularly gathered to hold meetings in the presence of the emperor. One was the Duke of Yulnova to the north, whose territory held abundant resources such as ore; the next was the Duke of Yulsein to the south, whose coast boomed with foreign trade; and the last was the Duke of Yulmagna to the east, whose large territory brimmed with vast plains and lakes. The three Grand Dukes referred to each other by the shortened form of their respective names: Nova, Sein, and Magna. Founded by the younger brothers of Pyotr the Great, father of the Yulgran Empire, these renowned dukes were the pillars of the Empire.
Alexei let one of his servants, Ivan, take his coat away and sat down in his leather chair.
“He spent the entire meeting ranting about how he’s always been disadvantaged,” the young duke continued. “He wants shares in our mines or Sein’s ports and won’t back down. So shameless. I can’t fathom why he has so much land but won’t develop it. I wish he’d answer that first. Why should we foot the bill for the outdated, oversized chivalric order he keeps?”
“That sounds like the usual,” Novak said, “so what’s really made you so sour?”
Alexei’s face twitched. “He dared to insult Ekaterina.”
“The lady from House Nova is so frail that she hasn’t had a true education, nor has she accepted any requests to socialize. My daughter, Elizaveta, feels for her and would love to invite her over. She’s a kind girl, see.”
The current Duke of Yulmagna, Georgi, was thirty-eight years old. The imposing man, who’d trained his body relentlessly, barely bothered to conceal his ambitions. He was hellbent on having his daughter become the next empress and would not hesitate to insult Ekaterina—and the entire House Yulnova in the process—if it brought him closer to his goal. He often mocked Alexei for his youth. While Alexei had always let such comments slide, Magna turning his tongue against Ekaterina had outraged him.
“I ended up chilling the room,” Alexei confessed.
“My, my.”
Alexei carried a strong affinity for ice, which tended to run wild when he couldn’t control his feelings. Still, he usually kept a tight grip on such things and, ever since he’d come of age, such incidents had been rare. The stoic Alexei losing control in front of the emperor showed how badly Yulmagna’s words had affected him.
“Luckily, Duke Sein drew everyone’s attention, so it didn’t cause a stir. He still maintains his neutral stance and won’t take part in a conflict over the succession.”
At forty-five, Duke Dmitri of House Yulsein was the oldest of the three Grand Dukes. His children were older than the crown prince and had already married. Furthermore, the current empress, Magdalena, was his younger sister. It was therefore impossible for the next empress to come from his family. While Dmitri was refined and gentle, he was also smart and business-savvy, having made a fortune from his ports. Alexei respected him.
“Lady Ekaterina’s tutors submitted their last report on her progress,” Novak said.
“Oh, yes?” Alexei’s face relaxed as he accepted the document Novak had offered for him.
“She should be able to follow her classes without issue at the academy. She did well,” he said after reading through the page.
“I expected no less from your sister, Your Grace. She’d never studied history or geography before, but she’s shown promise already. The same goes for mana control. She’s achieved more than enough. It would appear she grasped some of the subjects before her teachers even started their lessons. For instance, I’m told she excels at mathematics.”
In her past life as Rina, she had studied complex science extensively. As a result, high-school-level math had been a walk in the park for her. The overall level of mathematics had been far higher in her past world, and the material she’d been given here paled in comparison to her old high school curriculum.
On top of that, Ekaterina had learned more than she’d initially expected from her mother and the books she’d read over and over again during her days in confinement. Her knowledge of literature had a solid foundation.
“It would appear she was taught by your mother. Lady Ekaterina is a bright young lady, just as your mother was.”
“I’m sure she was,” Alexei said quietly.
Memories and the pain that went along with them burdened Alexei’s heart. The servant he’d sent to bring his mother home had caused her death. In her last moments, she’d called him by his father’s name. Never once had she recognized him as her son.
“Your Grace... No one could go against the matriarch’s orders. She bade that your mother be killed if she ever stepped foot inside the main mansion. I never expected that, even after her and your father’s deaths, there’d be those ready to carry out her orders. I let my guard down. None of this was your fault, Your Grace.”
“It was my fault, and the weight of my sin won’t lift until I breathe my last. Yet, Ekaterina forgave me.”
“I know you’ve suffered most of all, brother. The ones to blame are grandmother, for her choices, and father, for defending and enabling her. I’m sure that mother must have missed you so much. She would have wanted to hold you like this,” Ekaterina had said, hugging him close in place of their mother.
For the first time since their mother’s passing, tears had welled up in Alexei’s eyes. He’d been utterly unable to stop them.
“She’s the kindest soul I know.”
Alexei had been pulled apart from his mother by his grandmother. Despite that, and even though she’d raised him, she had never shown him any love.
His father, Aleksandr, had been a charming man who attracted the love and adoration of others. His mother had adored him and doted on him so much that he’d grown into a lazy man-child who wasted his time with gambling and mistresses. His father—Alexei and Ekaterina’s grandfather, Sergei—had passed away at the young age of fifty-eight. While he’d inherited the title, Aleksandr had never bothered to manage the estate, leaving everything to Novak. Needless to say, he’d never shown any interest in his son.