“His Grace will give it to you just before the ceremony.”
Ilyin was curious about the object when Annie smiled:
Ilyin thought things were moving quickly for something so important.
“Things got a little delayed?”
“Yes, but I heard there was bad news from the west.”
The avalanche occurred in the west and Ilyin thought about his dream.
The knights tried to exterminate the red-scaled monsters there, but would have failed before, she remembered they were called mollies.
“Is this related to the mollies?”
Annie blinked at Ilyin's words:
“His Grace informed you?”
Aden Bilften was known for being reserved and didn't discuss his business much.
Of course, most of the servants were terrified to even look him in the eye.
However, the Delroses that went up to the seventh floor were different.
Ilyin didn't know, but the maids on the seventh floor changed to those who had worked here for a long time.
Furthermore, the people who came up here were the most loyal to the Duke, Annie was one of them and also one of the few who knew that the Duke and the leader of the knights were the same person.
“Don’t make mistakes.” Aden had told her, looking like he was going into battle and it was the first time Annie had seen him lie or worried that the lie would be discovered.
Annie wondered who this Ilyin was and the Duchess was a much smarter person than she imagined.
“There was an avalanche there and it’s also where the mollies live.” replied Ilyin.
Ilyin was smart and Annie thought she understood why Aden liked her so much as he looked at his lady.
The former duchess cared more about herself than the mansion, as she just wanted to leave.
However, Ilyin was different and the atmosphere among the servants had already changed.
The Delrose maids secured their position after being removed from the center due to the Duke's long absences.
It was largely because Ilyin asked for them whenever he did something and that meant other families couldn't know what the lady was doing.
Annie had thought that Ilyin might be close to Blue North due to the outfit she was wearing, but now she was clearly close to the Delroses after the first night.
‘What happened that night?’ Annie smiled at the thought and blushed.
“Annie?”
Coming to her senses, after hearing Ilyin's question, she immediately answered:
"Yes.
It seems the mollies have allied themselves with the yesters."
Ilyin went to the bookshelf without saying anything, she didn't ask maids to do simple tasks and they served her more carefully because of that.
Ilyin treated them like human beings, unlike other elders or nobles.
“Yesterday…” Ilyin opened the map of the Biflten lands and looked for the word.
Fortunately, Biflten uses the same alphabet as the Empire and she found the name in the north easily.
"They generally live in the north and come down every year to find cooler weather.
They came to the northeast because of the winds there," Annie explained.
“And I met the mollies there,” Ilyin finished speaking as he looked at the map and heard that while the monsters lived in separate groups, they never attacked each other.
This was bad news.
“Sympaths can move much faster in the cold,” Annie explained as they looked at the map.
Ilyin asked a question while looking at Biflten Castle, which was closer to the Empire than other places:
“Each monster has a different ability?”
While Annie was going to shorten the explanation, Ilyin insisted that she speak and then Annie said happily:
“Six races live in Biflten, including humans…” There were seven races before.
Ilyin heard Annie's words and Annie pointed to the southeast area between the Empire and Biflten castle.
"Milton lived here.
They say they're beautiful and..." Annie nodded as she remembered the monster's ability
“They say they predicted the future.”
‘Predict the future?’ Ilyin’s eyes widened as she looked at the map.
The southeast area was the closest to the Empire.
***
It was said that the succession ceremony would inherit the Duke's name and his power.
The room near the ceremonial room was silent and dignified, Ilyin sat on a chair in the empty room to receive the Divine Objects.
Ilyin's maids bowed and left the room, she thought things were done quietly for such an important ceremony.
The Duke's power greatly affected the future of the Biflten and the ceremony was small and quiet for such an event.
Plus, the ceremony was held in the basement and there were no crowds like at the wedding.
Ilyin had experienced the bustling atmosphere in that room and knew that things were very different now.
“I came from Bright Elo.” Elo's signature yellow was bright gold and the strange girl was wearing an exquisitely decorated dress to show off the family colors.