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It wasn’t just because her father was born second only to the heir that they got so little property to their name. The grand duke is capable of giving both his sons generous pieces of land and money without detriment to himself.

However, the duke and the rest of the family didn’t think the second son deserved any. Except only as to keep appearances thereby giving him a piece of land and a suitable house to live in, he was deprived of the majority of the properties he could have inherited.

The main reason for all this is because he married a peasant with no good family name to boast about and much more a penny to her name. Since then, the whole of the dukedom and the rest of the nobles had looked down unkindly upon them.

Hence, being called upon so suddenly by the grand matriarch and asked to meet with her was as foreign to her as a snow during drought.

She entered the library with no anticipation to see the woman who had long abandoned her and her parents. Still, she made a curtsy even as her eyes traveled from the grand duchess to her cousin, whose presence shocked her to the core.

If the grand duchess is someone who cannot be bothered by her presence, the perfect cousin of hers is someone who always made her feel unworthy even more so than the whole world already did.

Both never visited her or asked for her presence. Even when her parents both died, they have not even spent a day to console her, leaving her as soon as the burial rights were over.

“It is about time you came,” the glare of the duchess forced her into silence, unable to voice out the questions she had after having been informed of her guest.

.....

“Come, enter and sit here. Or do you want to waste our time even more now?” the deep hatred in the grand matriarch’s voice cannot be mistaken.

She stumbled forward, her clumsiness earning a raise in the duchess’s eyebrow followed by a disappointed sigh, “Don’t you really have any grace in you? Did that woman’s blood really destroy every inch of nobility in you? What a disgrace! The monkeys behave even more refined than the lady of the house.”

“I- I’m sorry, grandmother,” she casts down her eyes and felt herself tear up.

“Wipe your crocodile tears on your cheeks. Unless you are that desperate to seek undeserved sympathy to put up an act like that,” the duchess’s words made her tremble.

“Grandma, please don’t let yourself become so angry. You know what the doctor said about your heart. Calm down, I am sure my cousin wasn’t trying to test your patience. It is just simply how she is. Genes of a peasant having been mixed dastardly with our blood, there is nothing she could do about it,” she wouldn’t even dare look at Cinderella whose voice was filled with fake pity towards her.

It made her want to tear up even more. She wondered if it was mockery or pity Cinderella holds towards her. But this has always been the way her cousin has spoken with regard to her.

“If I die, the cause will be that thing, and you know it, Cindy. Now you, take your sit for goodness’ sake! I can’t spend a minute more of my time here,” the grand matriarch continued propelling her to do what she wanted.

She sat with her shoulders slumped forward and her lips trembling as she tried to gather her thoughts. What was it again that she was called for?

“The palace declared that the crown prince is going to choose a bride by the end of the month. Two eligible young ladies from every noble family will be asked to join the selection process. They will be housed within the palace. At the end of the month, the prince will propose marriage to his chosen crown princess. Of course, it is highly plausible and all nobles are pushing for it, for the prince to also get concubines from this selection to create stronger alliances between the crown and the nobility,” the old lady explained, her face ever so serious as she adjusted her glasses.

“Grandmother, what does it have to do with me?” when she can’t bear the suspense any longer, she had to ask.

“Are you really this stupid? Didn’t you hear yet what I said? The house of Kane has only two unmarried young ladies, yourself including,” the duchess looked like she would collapse any minute.

“Do- do you expect me to compete for the position of the crown princess?” she felt like she couldn’t even hear herself because of the loud thumping of her heart.

“My goodness, no!” the old lady laughed, almost as if mocking her.

“You think you will have a chance in making the crown prince fall in love with you? You who absolutely pale in comparison to a full-blood nobility. Tainted by your mother’s peasant blood, you will never amount to anything of importance. Don’t you ever forget that,” the old lady belittled her once again.

Though she should have been used to it by now, she still couldn’t help feeling deeply hurt by her grandmother’s tirades. Perhaps she is still not as immune as she thought she was.

“The reason why I want you there is so you can help your cousin to be at her best. She is the only one with a real chance to compete between the two of you. Take care of her clothes, and her appearance, and do what it takes to support the true young lady of this house. And perhaps if you do that right, perhaps then you can pay a bit for your parents’ indiscretion which resulted in ruining our good name,” the duchess smiled as the young lady nodded her head in assent.

No matter how the young lady felt about the situation and the words she wanted to speak, she has been trained into submission a long time ago.

She tried to steady herself, but just the thought of seeing him again made her tremble in both fear and excitement. She smiled a bit, maybe it won’t be so bad to meet him once again.