A thousand years ago, since the four ducal families were established in the four directions by order of the first emperor, the four ducal families had been reigning as the dominant power in their regions.
It had to be.
From the outset, the origin of the Four Duke’s position on the border was no different from being dispatched with full authority entrusted by the first emperor to calm the endless troubles throughout the empire.
Estel in the north, Tournigen in the west, Decaraznan in the east, and Crusel in the south. They were the leaders and absolute rulers of their regions in both name and reality, wielding more powerful authority than the emperor in the capital.
To the minor lords of those regions, the dukes were far more formidable than the emperor, who was a distant figure above the clouds, confined to Lumentium, someone they might never meet in their lifetime.
However, around 800 years after the Empire’s founding, the system in the North began to crack.
This shift occurred because the Duke of Estel, who was supposed to lead the north as its primary figure, was gradually descending into decline. The reasons were apparent: farmland dried up, intellectual pursuits waned, and mines that once produced gold and silver became abandoned one by one, reducing the dukedom of Estel to a mere military estate.
The power of an aristocratic family is not derived solely from position or authority. It was unacceptable for a leader to try to reign over others when they couldn’t even secure their own territory.
In that sense, the Duke of Estel, who, after years of decline, had only remnants of their former glory, lost the right to rule as the dominant power in the north.
Two hundred years passed in this manner.
After the Duke of Estel stepped down from their position as the leader representing the north, the Marquis of Castana took their place.
In the eyes of everyone in the north, the Marquis of Castana was more than qualified to rule after the decline of the Duke of Estel.
The Castana family, with a long history dating back to the Empire’s founding, had consistently produced powerful mages and amassed significant wealth by selling artifacts.
Economically, they were a top-ranking family with no rivals in the empire. For this reason, it seemed impossible for the Duchy of Estel to regain the momentum of two hundred years ago.
The nobles of the north decided to follow the Marquis of Castana, disregarding the weakened Duke of Estel. The trend appeared to have been firmly established.
That is, until news of the engagement between Cain von Estel, heir of the Duke of Estel, and Bianca del Castana, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Castana, spread throughout the north.
For the northern nobles, the news was nothing short of a thunderclap. They couldn’t believe their ears!
By common understanding, an alliance between the Estel and Castana families was as unlikely as a cat and a dog falling in love at first sight. It was unthinkable that the descendants of two families, who had been at odds for a thousand years, would fall in love and declare their affection in front of all their kin. Such a scenario seemed ripped from the pages of a cheap folk drama.
However, after the initial shock wore off, the northern nobles began to contemplate the potential consequences of the engagement rather than dwelling on what had already transpired.
If the engagement between the Heir to Estel and the daughter of Castana succeeded, and if a child were born from their union, the political landscape of the north would inevitably become complex.
Cain von Estel, a duke of the Estel line, would pass on the Estel surname to any child born from this union. But since the child would also inherit the Castana lineage through their mother, they would stand as a legitimate successor to the Castana legacy.
Given that Bianca del Castana was currently the only legitimate descendant of the Marquis of Castana, there was a real possibility that Estel and Castana could merge into a single family, disrupting the delicate balance that had recently settled in the north.
Consequently, the northern nobles made their way to the territory of Castana, where the engagement ceremony was held. They were eager to witness firsthand what repercussions the union of Estel and Castana might bring in the future.
****
[Cain’s POV]
I don’t remember exactly when, but when I was part of the expedition, I had a conversation like this with Kyrie.
“Oh, Cain. If you don’t mind, may I ask you something?”
Kyrie approached me with her question in a very polite manner.
Seeing that uncharacteristically respectful attitude, I nodded instinctively. It seemed that the troublesome elf had finally learned some manners in the human world, and I felt an odd sense of pride.
“Yes, what are you curious about, Kyrie?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I happened to overhear a conversation you had with Bianca del Castana the other day. Listening to that conversation made me curious about something.”
“…Yes?”
Seeing Kyrie unabashedly admitting to eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation, I couldn’t help but feel incredulous.
Why hadn’t the others taught this elf that listening in on private conversations was considered improper?
“Ah, was it a secret? I see. Humans and elves have different levels of hearing, so I didn’t consider that.”
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