ã€ŠVillain Princess.ã€‹


 Chapter 1: Banished?

    <h4>Chapter 1: Banished?</h4>

    "Aurora White, from now on, you''re not my fianc¨¦e anymore and you''re banished from the kingdom!"

    The bustling venue turned into silent when they heard the crown prince''s words. Everyone''s eyes were locked on the young woman whom the crown prince was holding and then their eyes moved towards the young woman who stood in the center of the hall.

    The young woman in the center of the hall, Aurora White, had a beautiful appearance with long brown hair and beautiful purplish hue eyes. She was dressed in a long blue dress that entuated her appearance.

    At this moment, she was looking at the crown prince in front of her and slowly raised the fan in her hand to cover up her mouth, "May I ask for the reason, Your Highness?"

    Her tone was not in the slightest bit filled with respect, but the one questioned by her didn''t seem to realize it at all. The crown prince was still hugging the young woman in his arm and said, "You''re bullying your sister, Lady Ad! And such an attitude is unwee and unsuitable for the crown princess!"

    Bullying?

    Aurora looked at the blond haired girl who was still in the Crown Prince''s embrace and wanted to shake her head. She had never bullied her sister nor she had any interest to do so.

    "Just because of petty jealousy, you''re hurting her!"

    Jealousy?

    What kind of nonsense is it?

    Aurora looked at the prince as if she was looking at an idiot.

    Who would want to be his fianc¨¦e if it was not because of the order from the King and her parents when she was young?

    Their engagement was nothing more than a political marriage.

    "So, I dere your banishment! This is the end for you, Aurora White!"

    Raising the fan to cover her mocking smile, Aurora looked at the crown prince and sneered.

    This is the end?

    For her or for the kingdom?

    Because for this day, she had painstakingly prepared a lot of things over the years.

    ...

    <8 Years Prior, Duke White''s Mansion>

    "Father, I''ll be engaged?" A young girl asked in her childish voice. She was around 10 years old and dressed in beautiful dress, but at this moment, her expression looked strange.

    In front of the young girl was a man in his thirties. He looked at his daughter in front of him and then answered, "His Highness the Crown Prince, Prince Edward, is 10 years old. You''re of the same age and also the most suitable one, Aurora. His Majesty is also very pleased with you."

    The most suitable one.

    Aurora looked at the portrait in front of her.

    The young boy had blond hair and the iconic golden eyes of their kingdom''s Royal family. He doesn''t look bad at all and one would think that he would definitely grow up to be a handsome boy.

    Based on status alone, Aurora knew that no other nobledies would be able topare to her.

    Her father, Duke White was basically one of the three dukes in thisnd. Her mother was the princess of the neighboring kingdom who had alliance with this kingdom. With these two people''s status, she has the highest status under the Royal Family.

    No one is more suitable to be the crown princess.

    Unless they wanted to search for other princess from other kingdom but for the sake of the kingdom itself, they would not do that.

    There was already a ready made princess in front of them.

    Aurora raised her small head and curtsied at her father. "I understand, Father, I''ll ept this engagement."

    Duke White nodded in approval when he heard his first daughter''s answer. His daughters'' education was impable and Duke White believed that the two of them would be able to grow up well. Moreover, Aurora is an obedient and capable child. Duke White felt reassured to hand over this engagement in Aurora''s hand.

    "You may leave."

    "Yes, Father."

    Aurora curtsied and made her way out of her father''s study room. Her purplish hue eyes had ayer of haze as she looked forward.

    Ever since she was young, Aurora knew that it was her responsibility to be married to someone of equal status or even higher.

    Because no matter how high the family''s status was, their ultimate end was only to be married away. This is the fate of almost all daughters in the entire kingdom, the fate that no one could escape even if they wanted to.

    Aurora walked on the long and familiar hall before she suddenly heard a scream and stopped.

    It was a familiar voice.

    ''Ad?''

    Ad is Aurora''s sister, who was only a year younger. Because she was born premature, she was a bit weak, so her parents always care more for this younger sister of hers.

    Aurora quickened her steps and headed to her sister''s bedroom. If anything were to happen to Ad, she knew very well that her parents would never be able to stay quiet. The two daughters were treated well, but Aurora knew very well that her parents prefer Ad more.

    Soon Aurora had reached her sister''s room and saw Ad who was lying on the bed.

    Her younger sister had blond hair simr to their father and at this moment, the long blond hair was scattered and looked messy.

    "What happened?" Aurora asked Ad''s maid who was not far from her.

    "Miss... Lady Ad was sleeping and suddenly scream..." the maid quickly exined in fear. If she gave the wrong answer, she was sure that she would be kicked out and there was no good ending for her.

    Nightmare?

    Aurora furrowed her eyebrows and her legs quickly stepped forward to bring her to Ad''s side. She raised her small hands and lightly test Ad''s forehead.

    It was not hot.

    Swish!

    Ad suddenly sat up and Aurora moved her hand away. She could see that Ad''s eyes were notpletely focused yet.

    "I... where... I..." Ad spoke and looked at Aurora who was beside her. Her eyes widened slightly as she asked cautiously, "Aurora....Aurora White?"

    "Ad, do you not recognize your sister?" Aurora asked with a frown.

    Should she call a doctor? Her younger sister''s condition seemed to be a bit serious this time.

    Even though Ad''s body was a bit weak, but she usually would still remember her family members.

    Ad had a nk expression. "Ad... Ad White?"

    "That''s your name," Aurora replied and looked at the maid. "Call the doctor."

    As the people around her was busy, Ad looked dull and looked down at her hand, the small hand of a child who was only 9 years old.

    Aurora didn''t understand what happened to Ad and stood up, wanting to call their mother over. She didn''t know what she should do if Ad truly didn''t remember them and her parents would be the one who was worried the most.

    "I''m... Ad White... the protagonist and she''s... the viiness..."

    Aurora heard intermittent whisper of her sister as she reached close to the door and her footsteps stopped. She turned to look at Ad on the bed and her purple hue''s eyes shed strangely.

    The next second, she continued to walk out of the room.

 Chapter 2: The Past

    <h4>Chapter 2: The Past</h4>

    Duke White came immediately when he heard that Ad was sick. This girl has such a weak body that she kept on being sick from time to time. But the girl was so gentle and kind that one would feel heartache when they saw her.

    Their mother, Isabe, came to the room to check on Ad quickly after hearing of Ad''s sickness.

    "You have light fever."

    Duchess Isabelle frowned when she heard what the doctor said about her daughter. This second daughter of hers was indeed a bit weak, but it was unreasonable to get sick every few days, right?

    "I''ll prescribe medicine," the doctor immediately said when he saw the bad expression on Duke White and Duchess Isabe''s face.

    "Ad, be good and drink the medicine, ok?" Duchess Isabe turned to look at her second daughter and coaxed the girl.

    Ad raised her head and looked at Duchess Isabe carefully. She nodded and then answered in her childish voice, "Yes, Mother."

    Her tone was sweet and gentle with a trace of forbearance inside. It seemed like a sensible child who would do anything to make sure that her parents were not worried for her.

    Near the door, Aurora looked at Ad on the bed.

    She made no intention to move towards Ad nor helping the other party. Instead, she simply stood there and watched as her mother coaxed Ad to drink medicine and rest.

    After a while, Duke White turned around and saw Aurora there.

    He motioned for her toe with him and the two of them left Ad''s room. It would be better to let her sleep a while longer.

    "His Highness wille tomorrow. In addition, you will be learning etiquette and diplomacy. Your mother wished for you to pay a visit to her kingdom," Duke White said to Aurora in front of him.

    His Highness wille...

    Aurora thought about the blond haired boy in the picture shown to her not long ago and nodded faintly. Prince Edward is the first prince and also the Crown Prince of the Yellow Kingdom.

    As for her mother, she came from Red Kingdom, the neighboring kingdom that had diplomatic rtionship with the Yellow Kingdom. As the future crown princess, she had to maintain this diplomatic rtionship, so her father was already eager to send her to the Red Kingdom and strengthen the so called bond with them.

    Even though Aurora didn''t really want to leave the Yellow Kingdom to go on such a long journey, she still chose to agree.

    Because she knew that even if she refused, it was useless.

    Once her father decided on something, he would never allow others to interfere with his decision. Rather than making it more difficult for her, Aurora knew it would be better for her to agree with her father''s order.

    "I understand, Father."

    "Good. You may go back now."

    Aurora curtsied and then made her way back to her room.

    "Miss," Aurora''s maid, Les, has been waiting for her. She looked at her miss''s face with worried expression. Even though she knew that there would be such arrangement, she had hoped that it would not fall on Aurora.

    Unfortunately, fate didn''t allow that.

    "I''m fine, Les." Aurora smiled faintly. "Tomorrow, I''ll meet with my fianc¨¦ and I hope you can dress me up nicely."

    "Of course!" Les nodded quickly. She would make sure that her miss is the most beautiful girl in the entire world.

    After giving the order, Aurora walked to her table and looked at the pile of books at the side and started reading. Most of these books were the lessons that she had to study ever since she was young.

    As the duke''s daughter, she had to learn many things ever since she was young.

    There were times when Aurora didn''t understand but after this engagement, she understood. He had long wanted her to be the crown princess, so the strict education was necessary.

    However, there were not only those books that were here.

    There were a few story books.

    "Protagonist... is the name for the main character in a story," Aurora muttered to herself in a low voice as she looked at the story book cover in front of her.

    She didn''t have much leisure to read story books, but it didn''t mean that she had no knowledge at all about it.

    And Ad''s words just now made Aurora felt strange.

    But after a while, Aurora shook her head. They were living in the real world and it was impossible for the story in the books toe true.

    She must be thinking too much.

 Chapter 3: First Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 3: First Meeting</h4>

    The next day, Aurora was woken up early to dress up.

    As the eldest daughter of Duke White, there were more than enough maids to help Aurora dressing up. All she had to do was to stand up and let them do their work.

    It has always been like this.

    Aurora could see that the maids were all more tangled than usual today.

    There could only be one reason.

    Crown Prince Edward ising.

    Aurora''s eyes flickered.

    This kind of engagement with someone they had never met before but because of the same status was verymon. Her parents met through this way and now, it was her turn.

    "It''s done. You''re very beautiful, Miss," The maids praised happily.

    "Thank you for your hard work," Aurora replied with a smile on her face. Whether she was happy or not, she would always show a smile on her face.

    Because she knew that her clothing arrangement has been made by her mother.

    All she could do was to follow.

    "Miss, His Highness will arrive soon, pleasee with me." The head butler came and looked at Aurora who had been dressed up with approval.

    Aurora inherited her mother''s beauty and looked beautiful. She had long brown hair that has been braided partially and made her look refreshing and cute. Her purplish hue eyes were very attractive, itpliment her face very well.

    The purple pupil was the mark of the royalty of Red Kingdom, the kingdom where her mother came from.

    Her mother''s eyes were closer to blue than purple, but for some reason Aurora inherited the purple hue eyes that belonged to the royalty instead.

    On the other hand, her younger sister had blond hair and blue eyes, the perfect replica of her mother.

    "Yes, Head Butler," Aurora replied.

    Following the head butler, Aurora walked through the familiar hallway until she reached the living room. There, she could see a blond haired boy was already waiting. He sat elegantly and his golden eyes were looking towards the table with snacks in front of him.

    As the crown prince of Yellow Kingdom, Crown Prince Edward naturally received the highest education.

    He raised his head and his golden eyes saw Aurora.

    Aurora curtsied, "Aurora White, the eldest daughter of Duke White, greets His Highness the Crown Prince."

    Crown Prince Edward looked at Aurora and showed a gentlemanly smile. "It''s a pleasure to see you, Miss Aurora."

    Aurora smiled in response.

    She was a bit nervous as she knew how strict the etiquette when facing the Royal Family was. The slightest bit of mistake could make the impression of her worse.

    "Shall we eat first, Miss Aurora?"

    "Yes, Your Highness."

    After the simple greetings, they proceeded to eat the breakfast. Aurora paid attention to her table manner, making sure she made no mistake and remained polite.

    It was a very simple activity of eating, but that alone had already reflected their education.

    They didn''t talk at all.

    When the food was over, they started to talk about some things to get to know each other. Even if they didn''t really want this engagement, but no one could say anything about it and all they could do was to try getting along with each other.

    "Kyaaa! Second Miss!"

    Hearing the shouts from the hallway, Aurora''s movement paused for a moment. She knew very well that her sister was not feeling well yesterday, so she should have stayed in her room.

    In the past, Ad would always stay in her room obediently after she felt unwell.

    The doctors also rmended her to rest properly so she would be able to recover quickly.

    But this time, Ad came out of her room?

    "Pardon me, Your Highness, I need to check on my sister," Aurora said apologetically to Crown Prince Edward.

    "It''s fine." Crown Prince Edward was naturally informed by his parents about the situation in Duke White''s household.

    His fianc¨¦e, Aurora White, had a younger sister, who was sickly named Ad White.

    Crown Prince Edward saw Aurora stood up, but before Aurora could leave, Ad had walked inside. She was dressed up properly and clearly had put on makeup. Even though it couldn''tpletely cover her pale appearance, but it made her look better.

    Aurora looked at Ad and was surprised in her heart.

    "Ad White greets His Highness the Crown Prince. I apologize for my unsightly appearance," Ad said weakly and then turned to look at Aurora. "Elder Sister, could you please help me to call doctor?"

    Aurora: ???

    Ad, what are you talking about?

    She looked at her sister''s strange performance and then looked at Crown Prince Edward. "Your Highness, please excuse me."

    "Yes." Crown Prince Edward nodded and looked at the two girls who walked out of the living room. He blinked his golden eyes as he thought about the blond haired girl.

    She looked beautiful and her weak appearance could easily tug one''s heartstring.

 Chapter 4: Strange Sister

    <h4>Chapter 4: Strange Sister</h4>

    Aurora felt that her sister was really strange ever since yesterday.

    Even if Ad needed a doctor, there was no need for Ad toe looking for Aurora. Moreover, showing her sick appearance in front of the Royal Family would also be considered to be impolite.

    If Aurora dared to do something like this, she was sure that her mother would lock her up and made her recite the etiquette book more than three times.

    But if it was Ad, then her mother would only reprimand her lightly.

    "Ad, you can ask your maids to ask for a doctor, you know?" Aurora said as she led Ad back to her room. Midway, she saw the Head Butler and signaled for him to call for doctor for Ad.

    Ad blinked her eyes and then shook her head. "But I want to see you, Sister."

    Aurora narrowed her eyes slightly. Her purple hue eyes looked at Ad and then asked, "Ad, do you forget that I have just apanied you two days ago after the maids called a doctor for you?"

    "I... I remember, sister, but I still want you," Ad stammered.

    "Rest in your room. The doctor wille," Aurora said slowly and then added, "Mother wille back soon too."

    Their mother came to the Royal Family''s Pce to meet with the Queen. It was actually an excuse to let their children meet and get close to each other.

    Their father has always been busy with his duty, so Aurora was not surprised not to see him. Anyway, the two of them rarely interacted with Duke White too because of his duties and so on.

    "I..." Ad wanted to say that she wanted to take a look at the Crown Prince once more, but she also knew that her action would make other suspicious of her. She could only nod her head weakly. "I know, Sister."

    Seeing Ad''s weak look that seemed as if she was being bullied, Aurora took a deep breath and nced at the maids. "Stay here and make sure Ad rest."

    "Yes, Eldest Miss."

    Ever since she was young, Aurora has been following her mother to learn many things. When Duchess Isabe was not at home, the maids and the servants would all listen to Aurora''s words.

    But even though so, there has never been any precedent of Ad having to ask for permission from Aurora first.

    Aurora would never restrain her sister.

    Or more like, she couldn''t.

    The one more favored in their household was Ad and if Aurora dared to restrain her sister, her parents would reprimand her. This was something Aurora already knew from the very beginning, so she would not do anything she was not allowed to do.

    "I have to go again."

    Turning around, Aurora''s eyes condensed.

    She was sure that Ad was no longer the same Ad as before. The day when Ad called for doctor was not two days ago but three days ago. Even though Aurora did apany Ad two days ago, but did Ad forgot about time?

    It was not impossible.

    But...

    Aurora took a deep breath, suppressing the thoughts in her heart and went back to the living room.

    She showed the perfect smile in front of Crown Prince Edward.

    "Your Highness, my apologies for the disturbance. I hope it would not affect your mood," Aurora said slowly.

    Crown Prince Edward chuckled. "It''s fine, Miss Aurora."

    The two of them were only 10 years old, but their education had made them more mature than their peers.

    Even when they were conversing with each other, it was hard to find the trace of their childishness.

    ...

    After another hour of talking with Crown Prince Edward, their conversation was more or less finished.

    Aurora took a deep breath and then looked at the Head Butler.

    "Miss, today you will continue your lesson. Tomorrow, Duchess Isabelle will bring you to Red Kingdom to let you start your education as the Crown Princess."

    Since the Crown Prince was willing to apany Aurora for a few hours, it meant that their engagement could be done. After all, they just needed to get along with each other.

    As for feelings?

    Ah, it was not important.

    How could there be any feelings in these engagements that only seek benefit and position?

    Aurora looked at the Head Butler and replied, "I understand, Head Butler."

    The Head Butler nodded in satisfaction. "Come with me. It''s time for your ss."

    Aurora has always been an excellent child. The education that was hard to digest even for Duke White when he was young could be learned by Aurora very quickly. If she was not a girl, Duke White would have wanted to pick her as the sessor.

    But now that she was selected as the Crown Princess, it was good enough.

    With this connection, their dukedom would be able to thrive.

    "Yes," Aurora replied calmly.

    She followed the Head Butler calmly, showing the same appearance as she has always been. The obedient daughter of Duke White and this would never change.

 Chapter 5: Is She too Sensitive?

    <h4>Chapter 5: Is She too Sensitive?</h4>

    The lessons for Aurora epassed various subjects.

    From mathematics, history, science, and many others. Now that Aurora had been chosen as the crown princess, the education would also add politics and diplomatic.

    Yellow Kingdom was surrounded by several other kingdoms and naturally there were some matters that required them to have interaction with the other kingdoms. For this, there were several treaties and so on.

    One of the reasons why Duchess Isabe was married to Duke White back then was also because of these agreements.

    To make the two kingdoms, Red Kingdom and Yellow Kingdom, closer to each other.

    But even with this arrangement, the two kingdoms would still have to negotiate some other matters.

    This was usually done by the Queen and also Duchess Isabe.

    Now that Aurora would be the crown princess, she would have to take on this matter sooner orter. For this reason, Duchess Isabe nned to bring Aurora to Red Kingdom and handed over the matter to her daughter.

    In this way, she would be free.

    She had to follow the instruction of her teachers because afterwards, they will give report to the Duke and Duchess. Thankfully, these tutors were all honest people and easy to deal with.

    For Aurora who had been with them for a long time, she had long known their personality and what they wanted from her.

    She just had to act.

    "Teacher Margaret," Aurora greeted her teacher politely.

    Teacher Margaret was the teacher who taught most of the lessons for Aurora. She had great knowledge for these as she had been the tutor for many nobles thorough her life. Now that she was already in her fifties, she no longer took so many assignment.

    Aurora was only one of them.

    "I heard about the arrangement, Miss. Congrattions for your engagement with His Highness," Teacher Margaret said with a faint smile.

    "Thank you, Teacher Margaret," Aurora replied.

    "But now that you have be the crown princess, it meant that you have to add some other subjects to your study." Teacher Margaret motioned for Aurora to sit down. "Before that, review the nobility stature in the Yellow Kingdom first."

    Aurora smiled. "The nobility stature started from Baron as the lowest. This title has the fewestnd and can also be obtained by knights who made great contribution. After Baron, it''s Viscount and then Count. Above count is Marquis and the highest is Duke, which is my father''s rank."

    Even if there were only five formal nobility title, but it was not easy to raise one''s nobility rank.

    The kingdom was stable and there was not many contribution one could make.

    "Indeed." Teacher Margaret nodded. "Starting from now, I''ll review more history of the other kingdoms. You should be prepared, Aurora."

    The position of the crown princess meant that Aurora would be involved in politics and diplomatic. Even if she didn''t want to, she had to start learning these in order to avoid losing face when it truly mattered.

    Aurora showed a faint smile. "I know. Thank you, Teacher Margaret."

    Teacher Margaret nodded. "In that case, let''s start."

    ...

    Aurora has several teachers and Teacher Margaret was only one of them.

    After the sses were over, it has always been past dinner time.

    "Miss, Master and Madam asked you to have dinner with them," Les, one of the closest maid to Aurora, said with concern.

    The family of four rarely eat together.

    Most of the time, Duke White was too busy toe back and Duchess White, Duchess Isabe, would eat with Ad alone.

    Aurora would be left alone.

    For Aurora, this has been the norm.

    Aurora looked at Les and then asked, "Has my sister gotten better?"

    The only reason why the four of them would eat together would be if Ad''s condition improved. Just this morning Ad asked for a doctor and Aurora doubted that Ad would have gotten better so quickly.

    Unless she faked her illness.

    When Aurora''s thoughts reached this conjecture, she frowned slightly.

    Ad has never been the type of girl to fool others and would not y around with her life. After all, as the daughter of the White Dukedom, she was also taught many things that was necessary as part of the nobility.

    Even though there would be time when Duchess Isabe taught Ad to use some schemes so that she would not be taken advantage of, it shouldn''t be the time yet.

    Because they wouldn''t appear in the society yet.

    Aurora suppressed her thoughts and nodded at Les. "I''ll go there."

    "Yes, Miss." Les showed a smile on her face even though she was actually worried for Aurora. After all, she knew how the dinner has always been in the past, but seeing Aurora was still smiling like this, Les couldn''t say anything.

    No matter how bad it was, Aurora couldn''t escape and had to face her parents and sister.

    Cleaning up her books, Aurora made her way to the dining room and saw Duchess Isabe came in with Ad from the other door. Looking at Ad''s appearance, she was no longer as pale as she used to be. Duke White himself was already sitting on his seat in the dining room.

    "Father, Mother," Aurora greeted and curtsied.

    Duke White nodded and nced at his wife and second daughter.

    "Father, Sister!" Ad greeted with her sweet voice and the strange curtsied that was not up to standard.

    However, Duke White only nodded in her direction and let her sit down.

    Aurora saw this but didn''tment. Because of Ad''s weak body, her lessons have always beengging behind Aurora. Not to mention, her parents didn''t have much expectation for Ad''s etiquette lesson.

    She was given all the convenience avable.

    The dinner was cold and everyone simply followed the etiquette necessary. Only the asional sound of nking from Ad could be heard as she looked clumsy.

    ''Her etiquette is getting worse?'' Aurora saw Ad and her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

    She could see that Ad''s etiquette was worse than how she used to be in the past. Even though Ad was given the convenience, it didn''t mean that her study would be stopped.

    Thus, it was strange to see Ad this way.

    But Duchess Isabe didn''t seem to notice and only helped Ad correct her table manner with a helpless smile.

    Aurora put down the thoughts in her mind as she looked at the food in front of her.

    She didn''t know why her mother didn''t notice.

    Or was she being too sensitive?

    Aurora was not sure.

    But no matter which one it was, Aurora couldn''t possibly question her sister.

 Chapter 6: Expectation

    <h4>Chapter 6: Expectation</h4>

    "You don''t have to force yourself if you''re still tired, Ad," Duke''s White interrupted Aurora''s thoughts.

    Ad quickly shook her head. "I want to get healthier, Father. That way, I can spend more time with Mother and Father and help Father."

    Duchess Isabelle smiled brightly when she heard her daughter''s words while Duke White nodded his head in approval. The weak body of Ad has always been the sore point for the two of them.

    It was just that they never mentioned it and always tried their best to treat Ad as normal.

    But no matter what, they would always give a lot of convenience for Ad.

    Because they were afraid that something would happen to her.

    Duke White then nced at Aurora. "Now that your engagement has been established, you will take over your mother''s role and some others. Tomorrow, you will go to Red Kingdom."

    Red Kingdom, the kingdom her mother used toe from.

    The diplomatic rtionship was maintained by the Queen and Duchess Isabe who used to be the princess of Red Kingdom. No one would be more suitable than the two of them to maintain this rtionship.

    Ad heard Duke White''s words and looked at Aurora.

    Her eyes flickered slightly.

    On the other hand, Aurora only nodded elegantly. "Yes, Father, I understand."

    Duchess Isabe looked at her first daughter and then said, "I will review your study after this. Follow me to the study room."

    Review her study?

    It was more like Duchess Isabe would only take a look at the report given by the teachers about her. She was toozy to ask questions personally about Aurora''s study and would usually not do anything like that.

    "Yes, Mother."

    "Finish your dinner first."

    After that, they no longer talked and the dinner ended in such a manner. Ad was brought back to her room, Duke White went to his study for his work while Duchess Isabe and Aurora went to the study room.

    Aurora waited for her mother as she looked through the report given by the teachers for her study.

    In terms of study, Aurora has been doing very well.

    "Your study shows that you''re already good enough." Duchess Isabe was satisfied that her daughter was really smart and had done better than her at the same age.

    As for envy?

    There was none.

    Duchess Isabe never liked these things and had long hoped there would be someone to rece her.

    Now that her daughter was proven to be capable enough, why not?

    "Thank you, Mother," Aurora said unhurriedly.

    Duchess Isabe put down the book in her hand. "Rest well. Tomorrow will be a long journey to Red Kingdom."

    The distance between Yellow Kingdom to Red Kingdom was quite far. The road has been fixed in the past few years, but it would still take some time to go by carriage.

    "Yes, Mother."

    After that, Duchess Isabe didn''t care about Aurora anymore and walked away.

    Aurora looked at the door and sighed.

    She left the study room and walked towards her room. As she passed by her younger sister''s room, Aurora paused for a moment.

    "Ad, are you sleeping?" Aurora asked in a low voice.

    The door opened and Ad looked out in confusion. "Sister?"

    Aurora looked at Ad in front of her and showed a faint smile. "I''ll be going to the Red Kingdom for a while, so I won''t be reading you any story at night. Don''t be lonely without me, ok?"

    Reading story?

    Ad''s eyes widened in surprise. She then shook her head quickly. "Sister, you don''t need to read me stories! I''m no longer a child and can sleep even without you reading me stories?"

    Sleep?

    Aurora blinked her eyes and looked at her younger sister. The reason why she read Ad books at night was because Ad was bored and couldn''t spend her time with her sister.

    The only time the two sisters spent their time together in the past was through this reading activity.

    But...

    ''Does her sickness this time mess with her memory?''

    Aurora was not sure, but she still raised her hand and rubbed Ad''s head. "Go to sleep quickly. It''ste."

    Ad obeyed and said, "Yes sister."

    The door was closed again and Aurora took a deep breath. She wanted to ask some questions to Ad, but she felt that this was not the right time. Besides, she was about to leave tomorrow.

    Shaking her head, Aurora made her way to her room and then moved to her bed.

    She knew very well that her parents'' expectation of her was really high because her sister''s body was weak. It meant that all of the responsibility as the heir would fall on Aurora''s shoulder.

    And her being a girl meant that if her study was good enough, she would be selected for an important position.

    This important position was naturally the crown princess.

    They have never asked her what she wanted because it was unnecessary.

    Aurora also knew that it was impossible for her to refuse the arrangement. If she tried to refuse, they would only punish her and then proceed with what they had arranged before.

    The question given to her has never been a question.

    Even if the tone seemed to be question, it was more like informing her about what she had to do.

    Aurora clenched her bedsheets before releasing it.

    This kind of life... was very tiring.

    ...

    The next day, Aurora woke up early and her mother was busy arranging the servants to prepare for their departure.

    "Les, you stay with me," Aurora said to her maid.

    "Yes, Miss."

    Aside from Les, who had followed Aurora ever since she was young, there were several other maids, servants, and even knights.

    The journey to Red Kingdom was by no means a safe journey.

    There were bandits on the way and if those people had no eyes, they would attack their carriage and cause trouble midway.

    Though, those who saw their family''s crest would usually not dare to make a move.

    After all, Duke White''s reputation was still very high.

    If they dared to offend Duke White, they had to be prepared to face the wrath of two kingdoms at once.

    Unless they wanted to seek death, they would not do something like that.

    "Before we arrive, I would have to tell you a few things, Aurora," Duchess Isabe said and looks at her daughter. "The mostmon negotiation between Red Kingdom and Yellow Kingdom is about water distribution."

    Water distribution.

    It was the mostmon topic because the biggest water source came from the river in Red Kingdom to Yellow Kingdom and two other kingdoms. There was a bigke in the middle of the four kingdoms, which would be divided for the use of four of them.

    There was a lot of dispute because of the water use.

    If theke water was used too much, theke would be dry and the other kingdoms would be dissatisfied.

    Because of this, there were already a lot of dispute in the past.

    Aurora raised her head. "Do you want me to take over of this negotiation, Mother?"

    "Not yet, but I want you to be familiar with it," Duchess Isabe replied calmly. This matter was usually arranged by her, but she was tired dealing with those politicians.

    She hoped to hand it over to her daughter as soon as possible.

    As for Aurora being too young?

    It was not a problem.

    This daughter of hers is mature enough.

 Chapter 7: Expectation (2)

    <h4>Chapter 7: Expectation (2)</h4>

    Aurora listened to her mother''s words and nodded slowly.

    This was only one of the few negotiations. The others rted to the trades and so on and she would have to be familiar with them soon.

    "I''ll tell you everything on the way and you better remember them," Duchess Isabe said and looked at her daughter coldly.

    Aurora saw her mother''s eyes and lowered her head. "Yes, Mother."

    She had to remember it.

    Because if she failed, her mother will punish her and never let her off.

    ...

    The journey took several days and during this period of time, Aurora felt her head was stuffed with so many things. Thankfully, she had trained herself to remember many things at once in her study.

    If she didn''t, she wouldn''t be able to reach her parents'' expectation of her.

    From the time when she was young, her life has been filled with study and study again.

    When other children were allowed to y, Aurora was given books ever since she could remember and was taught many things. Slowly but surely, her life was filled with nothing but books, study, and learning.

    No matter how tired she was, she had to finish her study or her parents would punish her.

    It was painful.

    So Aurora could only grit her teeth and followed the education set to her by her mother.

    "It''s been a few days." Duchess Isabe looked at the bustling Capital City of Red Kingdom in front of her and nodded her head. It has been a while since she came here because the diplomatic matter in the past two years were handled by the Queen.

    Aurora heard Duchess Isabe''s words and looked out of the window only to see a majestic city across the river. There was arge bridge that could allow one to cross thisrge river.

    It looked beautiful.

    "Red Kingdom''s Capital City is located right beside the river while Yellow Kingdom''s Capital City is closer to theke at the end of this river, so the distance between the two capital cities are not that far," Duchess Isabe said lightly.

    If not because the two Capital City was not that far away, it would have been impossible for them toe here in just the matter of days.

    Even then, they still had to cross the forest, so it was by no means an easy journey.

    At least, for normal people, it would not be that easy.

    "Yes, Mother," Aurora replied.

    She had studied the geography and knew very well that it was precisely this river that caused a lot of dispute between the four kingdoms, including Yellow Kingdom and Red Kingdom.

    The water''s real source was from the mountain of another kingdom, but that kingdom has always been neutral.

    On the other hand, the end of this river was ake that was then used to transport water to various small rivers by the four kingdoms. It was the real source of dispute because they were not allowed to take too much or theke water would drop very quickly.

    Since the river first passed by the Red Kingdom, Red Kingdom always had dominance in the negotiation.

    This was why Yellow Kingdom was willing to get into an agreement with Red Kingdom through her mother.

    Now, their daughter was even arranged to get married with the crown prince.

    It was obvious that the Yellow Kingdom wanted to make their rtionship with the Red Kingdom even stronger.

    "Mind your manner," Duchess Isabe said when they reached the bridge and after the knightsmunicated, they were now allowed to continue into the city.

    "Yes, Mother."

    Aurora looked outside at the street and saw the bustling atmosphere. There were many people who were walking around and aside from the dress of the people looked a bit different, there was not much difference with the situation in the Yellow Kingdom.

    After looking for a while, Aurora finally saw the castle and retracted her hand that was holding the curtain back.

    She knew she had to hold back now.

    "Madam, Miss, we''ve arrived."

    The two of them came down of the carriage and then Aurora followed Duchess Isabe forward. Even though she wanted to look around in curiosity, Aurora also knew that such behavior was not appropriate.

    She could only hold back.

    Before they could enter the castle, a middle aged man was already waiting there andughed loudly. "It''s been a while, Sister. It seems you''re doing well in the Yellow Kingdom."

 Chapter 8: Red Kingdom

    <h4>Chapter 8: Red Kingdom</h4>

    Aurora looked at the middle aged man in front of her.

    He looked like he was already in histe thirties or even forties. His hair was blond just like her mother.

    Duchess Isabe looked at the person in front of her and then said calmly, "Second Brother, you''re already the duke here but you still have enough time toe and wee me?"

    Duke?

    Aurora''s mind turned and remembered that there were two princes who were alive in the end in the Red Kingdom.

    One of them was naturally the current King.

    The other one was Duke Rain, the duke without real power and only empty position and territory.

    Duke Rain smiled and waved his hand. "You know that I don''t have much work. If I don''te here to y around, what should I do? Anyway, First Brother is already waiting for us inside."

    "Ok." Duchess Isabe nodded.

    They walked inside and Aurora could see the majestic pce. It was much more luxuriouspared to the pce in the Yellow Kingdom. Then again, the Red Kingdom has more resources and often won in their agreement for the water use.

    Before long, they reached the main hall and after their arrival was announced, they coulde in.

    "His Majesty is inside."

    The door opened and the three of them walked in with Aurora following behind Duchess Isabe. She could feel many eyesnded on her from the moment of her appearance, so she knew very well that whatever she did, they would judge her.

    Aurora would be lying if she said that she was not nervous.

    Butpared to the time when she would be punished by her parents, Aurora was able to control herself and continued to walk forward in ordance to the etiquette. She would not say anything unnecessary either and only followed Duchess Isabe.

    Thinking about her experience in her study in the past was more than enough to calm Aurora down.

    If she made a mistake again... she would be punished.

    So Aurora made careful step, following her mother in her action and only watched the surrounding areas through the corner of her eyes. She couldn''t be tant, she had to stay elegant and all.

    Everything that her mother taught her has long been carved to her bones.

    Even if she wanted to forget it, Aurora knew it was impossible.

    Her body would never let her forget.

    The moment she entered the main hall, Aurora''s eyes were attracted to the man in the middle. He''s her first uncle and also the current King of Red Kingdom. He was already in his early forties and looked a bit older than his real age.

    At this time, he was looking in their direction calmly.

    The king wore the king''s robe and also the attire appropriate for his position. His expression looked stern with long moustaches and beard. His blond hair was mixed with brown color and also some white hair.

    Being the kind was not easy and it seemed that for this king, it might have shortened his lifespan in a sense.

    "Rain, Isabe, it seems that they have made the decision?" Red Kingdom''s King''s eyesnded on Aurora who was following behind Isabe.

    Before the engagement between the two children were made, there had been some negotiation made to him. No matter what, Aurora is still the daughter of Red Kingdom''s Princess. If the Red Kingdom were to object to this marriage, they would never made this arrangement.

    But Red Kingdom''s King didn''t care about it.

    Aurora is only his sister''s daughter and for him, one daughter was not worth much. So he replied in neutral tone to the Yellow Kingdom''s inquiry.

    Now that Isabe had brought Aurora here, it was obvious what their answer to him was.

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Isabe replied and took a step to the side, "My daughter, Aurora, is now the fianc¨¦e of Crown Prince Edward from Yellow Kingdom."

    The crown prince''s fianc¨¦e.

    Red Kingdom''s King''s eyes flickered when he heard that and he nodded in satisfaction.

    "Aurora White, the first daughter of Duke White and Princess Isabe, greets Your Majesty, Red Kingdom''s King," Aurora curtsied and greeted formally.

    "Good." Red Kingdom''s King nodded at Aurora. "What do you know about Red Kingdom, Miss Aurora?"

    Aurora''s heart thumped.

    A test right after she came here?

    But no matter what, Aurora would answer the question. She raised her head and started to speak.

    "Your Majesty, Red Kingdom is known for their products of the strawberry field along with the...."

    Duchess Isabe and Duke Rain listened to Aurora listing the things that Red Kingdom was famous for and then moved towards the agreement between the two kingdoms.

    Aside from the water distribution, there were also trades between the two kingdoms.

    After all, the products from the Red Kingdom was rare in the Yellow Kingdom and vice versa. Only by trading would they be able to maximize the profit and cost.

 Chapter 9: The Young Princes

    <h4>Chapter 9: The Young Princes</h4>

    "Your daughter is not bad," Duke Rain whispered to Duchess Isabe.

    Duchess Isabe frowned and red at her second brother beside her. The etiquette of Duke Rain could be said to be extremely bad and now that he had be a duke without real power, he seemed to have let himself go even more.

    Even if he could still act appropriately in most public asion, Duke Rain would show his true self in front of his sister.

    For Duchess Isabe who was also living in etiquette for her entire life, it was uneptable.

    "Mind your words, Second Brother," Duchess Isabe said sternly.

    Duke Rain looked at his sister who was frowning and onlyughed. He felt that these two people were always too rigid, but he stopped speaking.

    At this time, Red Kingdom''s King had already finished talking with Aurora and felt that her knowledge was really solid.

    If he didn''t know better, he would have never expected that this was a 10 years old child.

    Red Kingdom''s King looked at his sister. "You have taught her well, Isabe."

    "Thank you for yourpliment, Your Majesty."

    "In that case, let her participate in the negotiation in two weeks'' time. In the meantime, she could y with her cousins. I believe they will be happy to see her," Red Kingdom''s King said.

    Cousins?

    Aurora''s mind turned.

    Red Kingdom practiced monogamy but there were also some cases of polygamy because of various reasons. The current King was one of the examples because he had one Queen and one concubine who had children for him.

    There were a total of two princes and one princess in Red Kingdom from Red Kingdom''s King.

    As from Duke Rain?

    He was not married and didn''t have the interest to settle down.

    There were many rumors that was not very good about it, but all in all, there were only two princes and one princess so far.

    They were her cousins.

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    After the talk, Duchess Isabe led Aurora out of the main hall. She nced at Aurora and said, "Keep up your performance."

    "Yes, Mother." Aurora lowered her head.

    She knew better than anyone that her mother would never praise her. No matter how good performance was, it seemed to be just ''to be expected.'' If her performance was lower, then she would be punished.

    It has never been good enough.

    Slowly, they made their way to the garden. There was the sound ofughter and Aurora saw her two cousins.

    One of them was already 15 years old, a young man with bright blond hair and blue eyes. He had handsome appearance, but right now, he was kicking someone on the ground.

    Beside him was another young boy who was around 11 to 12 years old, who had light brown hair. He was cheering his older brother and raised his small fist excitedly.

    And under them was a young boy around the same age as the second prince. He was crouching on the ground, holding his head on his arm to protect it from the first prince''s kick. His ck hair looked rather conspicuous when themon hair color here was from brown, red, to blond.

    "What are you doing?" Duke Rain asked when he saw the two princes behaved this way. Looking at the young boy on the ground, he had some guesses, but he still had to ask because his sister was looking in his direction.

    This sister of his was indeed very annoying.

    "Uncle Rain." The two princes stopped and stepped back. The first prince pointed at the young boy. "He mocked me, so I''m teaching him a lesson."

    Duke Rain looked at the young boy and said, "Stand up."

    His tone was cold and overbearing as if he was looking at an ant that was far below him.

    Hearing his tone, Aurora felt faint coldness in her heart but she quickly surpassed it. She knew very well that the Royal Family has always been far above others and their actions reflected the fact that they knew this very well.

    Her eyes moved to the boy as he stood up and looked in their direction. The dark blue eyes seemed to reflect the sunlight, making it look bright.

    He''s really handsome.

    "Prince Lester, or should I say Lester, you''re now just a captive prince," Duke Rain said slowly. "What right do you have to mock the princes of Red Kingdom?"

 Chapter 10: The Young Princes (2)

    <h4>Chapter 10: The Young Princes (2)</h4>

    Prince Lester?

    Aurora blinked her eyes and her brain was working hard once more. There were several kingdoms around the Yellow kIngdom and for the sake of diplomatic rtionship, Aurora had to remember them all.

    If she was not wrong, this was the name of the illegitimate prince from Ice Kingdom.

    Ice Kingdom located further to the north and didn''t border the Yellow Kingdom directly. The king of Ice Kingdom had several concubines and many illegitimate children. The main reason was naturally because of the cold environment there that caused many children to die when they were young.

    To make sure the King had sessor, they would have several wives.

    But even then, there were also some others.

    Once they had a child, the child would have to be brought to the Royal Pce as the prince and princess. If they could survive, they would receive the status they deserved as part of the royal family.

    If they couldn''t survive, then it was not their fates.

    There were a few illegitimate children that Aurora heard from Ice Kingdom, one of them was Prince Lester.

    She knew this name because in the agreement between Ice Kingdom and Red Kingdom, Prince Lester would stay in the Red Kingdom as their ''prisoner.'' The Ice Kingdom had several princes that they didn''t care about one illegitimate prince.

    "Yeah, you have no right at all!" The second prince pointed at Prince Lester andughed out loud.

    Prince Lester pursed his lips and lowered his head.

    Duke Rain saw this and waved his hand. "Let''s stop here. You can go. Brian, Charles, meet your cousin, Aurora White."

    Cousin?

    Brian, the first prince, looked at the young girl who was standing not far from Duchess Isabe. He still knew Duchess Isabe because she hase to the Red Kingdom several times in the past, especially during the negotiation time.

    He quickly straightened his body and exchanged greetings with each other.

    Aurora responded politely with a curtsy. "Nice to meet you, Your Highness. I''m Aurora White from White Dukedom in Yellow Kingdom."

    Brian smiled in response and replied, "Nice to meet you, Miss Aurora. I''m Brian, the first prince in the Red Kingdom."

    Behind him, Charles quickly followed suit, "Nice to meet you too, Miss Aurora. I''m Charles, the second prince of the Red Kingdom."

    Aurora smiled.

    She nced at the young prince who walked away and then moved her eyes away.

    "You can get to know each other," Duchess Isabe nced at Duke Rain. "I have some other things to talk about."

    "Yes, Mother."

    "Yes, Royal Aunt."

    With that, Duchess Isabe walked away with Duke Rain, leaving the three of them there.

    "Brother, next time, let me beat him first," Charles said after the two adults had left. "I hadn''t hit him today."

    Brian coughed and then said, "I know, let''s go to the garden to show it to our cousin."

    Charles pouted but he still nodded.

    Aurora blinked her eyes and looked at the departing back of Prince Lester. She felt that it was truly a pity for the prince.

    But considering the rtionship between the Red Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom was not good, it was actually normal for the people living in the two kingdoms to have conflicts when they met.

    What Aurora didn''t understand was why would they beat up the boy.

    Doing so would do nothing about the rtionship between the two kingdoms and would instead worsen it further.

    But Aurora couldn''t say anything.

    She had no position in the Red Kingdom and couldn''t express herself as it would only make herself in worse position.

 Chapter 11: Walking Around

    <h4>Chapter 11: Walking Around</h4>

    Prince Brian and Prince Charles brought Aurora to the garden at the side of the pce. The Royal Pce has several gardens, all of them were very beautiful.

    "Our little sister is taking a nap or we would have brought you to see her," Prince Charles said as he walked on the path. "Say, are you going toe here often, Cousin Aurora?"

    Aurora''s lips twitched slightly at Prince Charles''s casual words. She had the faint feeling that the education in the Red Kingdom was not very good or it might be the prince himself who was toozy to follow the etiquette and rules.

    "I wille here to follow my mother to learn, Your Highness," Aurora replied.

    "Eh, learning." Prince Charles'' face scrunched when he heard that. He hated studying and if not because of his mother''s request, he would have run away all the time when it was time for studying.

    Even now, he barely followed his study and often escaped in the middle.

    Anyway, his teachers couldn''t stop him and none of them dared to stop him. They all knew that if they dared to stop him, they might be the one to be punished. The prince''s mother was the favorite concubine of the king.

    It was hard for them.

    "There''s no need to learn all the time." Prince Brian smiled. "A bnce between work and rest is important."

    "Yes! Brother is right!" Charles nodded his head repeatedly.

    Aurora looked at the two half brother in front of her and her eyes flickered slightly. Even though she had only met them for a short period of time, she had a gist about their personality and habits.

    "Come on, we''ll show you our pce! I believe that you will feel it''s very good!" Prince Charles started to introduce the few things there excitedly. He had treated the entire pce as his ce.

    In the first ce, the pce belonged to his father, so in extension, it should be his too.

    Aurora listened to Prince Charles leading the way and silently memorized the route. Prince Brian was also smiling while adding information politely.

    Unfortunately, this didn''tst long.

    A servant came.

    "Your Highness, it''s time for your swordsmanship training," the servant said humbly.

    "Ah? I''ll only get beaten up!" Prince Charlesined.

    He didn''t have any talent in swordsmanship, so he has always been beaten up by his teacher during the spar. After that, he simply disliked learning swordsmanship and tried to stay away as much as possible.

    Prince Brian patted Prince Charles'' shoulder. "You still have to study or our father is going to punish you."

    Hearing the word ''punish,'' Prince Charles could only sigh and nodded. He knew very well that it was impossible for him to escape this one ss.

    For some reasons, his father wanted him to learn swordsmanship so much.

    "We will be going now, Miss Aurora. You may walk around and just don''te to the ce I mentioned not allowed," Prince Brian said to Aurora behind them.

    "I understand. Thank you very much, Prince Brian," Aurora replied and curtsied.

    She watched as the two princes left and shook her head slightly. These two princes were by no means stupid and dealing with these two wouldn''t be that easy. Right now, they were still young, so it was not apparent yet.

    Besides, Aurora was not their enemies nor part of the nobility in this kingdom. If anything, she was their cousin and belonged to another kingdom whom they needed to strengthen the rtionship with.

    With that in case, they would most likely maintain this superficial rtionship on the surface.

    ''It''s convenient for me.''

    Aurora walked through the stone path and headed to her mother''s ce. As much as she hated her position because of how much the expectation was ced on her shoulder, she also knew that she had to make use of the convenience this position brought to her.

    Only in this way would the cost and the reward would be suitable.

    Walking through the path, Aurora passed by the garden and saw a young servant scurried away with her friend, whispering to each other.

    She turned her head and saw the ck haired boy sitting by the stairs.

    His dark blue eyes looked rather dull, but there was a faint sharp glint shed for a moment when he looked at the people who stayed away from him.

 Chapter 12: Act

    <h4>Chapter 12: Act</h4>

    Ah.

    What a familiar look.

    Aurora looked at the hostage prince in front of her and slowly walked forward. It was strange enough that this prince was allowed to roam freely, but seeing his gaze, she had the feeling that she knew the reason.

    That dull gaze.

    One that would only appear when one had chosen to follow whatever was ordered to them, not bothering to care about it anymore.

    Just like a marite.

    Being controlled by others and all they could do was to follow the order from them.

    Tep.

    Prince Lester noticed Aurora''s arrival, but he didn''t bother to look in her direction. Instead, he lowered his head and looked down at his own hand.

    "If you truly want to act, you should act from the beginning until the end without showing any trace at all." Aurora looked at the young prince in front of her.

    His acting was good as no one would be able to see his true appearance if they didn''t pay close attention to his gaze and eyes. But with his status here, who would bother to pay attention to him?

    It would be good enough for them not to bother him at all because it was unnecessary.

    But Aurora was used to pay attention to other people''s gaze.

    And she might not be the only on.

    This time, Lester raised his head and looked in Aurora''s direction.

    Aurora showed a smile. "Only if you truly live your act would you be able to fool everyone around you."

    After that, Aurora curtsied and turned around to walk away.

    The two of them had no rtionship with each other and Aurora would not waste her time with him either. This two sentences were only given to him because she knew how painful it was to act all the time.

    But if one didn''t act, they would only receive pain.

    And Aurora didn''t want it.

    Prince Lester looked in the direction where Aurora left and slowly lowered his head, the glint in his eyes disappeared. When he raised his head again, he had returned to the way he used to be. The dull gaze was all people could see from him.

    ...

    After that short and brief meeting, Aurora reached the pce where her mother was staying.

    Duchess Isabe saw Aurora there and nodded. "It''ll take some time for the others to arrive for the negotiation. During this period of time, you will start studying about the content of the negotiation."

    "Yes, Mother."

    "You may go."

    Aurora curtsied and then followed the maids to reach her room. There was already a stack of books ced there.

    A proper diplomat had to understand the overall situation and not only the situation of the Yellow Kingdom and the Red Kingdom.

    For this reason, Aurora had to start supplement her knowledge over the other areas and spent her time learning about them.

    "Miss, don''t force yourself too hard," Les reminded as she brought a cup of warm milk.

    "I have no other choice," Aurora replied with a faint smile and sat down to start reading. She only had two weeks topletely understand the situation of the four kingdoms.

    This wouldn''t be easy.

    There were a lot of information that she has to read, but Aurora stayed calm and started reading, memorizing as much information as possible.

    She didn''t like studying.

    But she had to study or she would be punished.

    And it was only through having knowledge would it be possible for her to gain power on her own and figure out a way out of her situation. Aurora lowered her eyes, a faint glint shed and disappeared soon afterwards.

    It was not the time yet.

    Aurora looked at the book in front of her, her gaze had recovered to normal. No matter what she actually thought, she would not let them know her real intention.

 Chapter 13: Task and Duty

    <h4>Chapter 13: Task and Duty</h4>

    "Your Highness, Prince Charles is here to see you," one of the maids came to Aurora when she was studying.

    Aftering to the Red Kingdom, Aurora had been spending her time in her room to study. Aside from the first day when she came out to be introduced to the two princes, she spent her time in her room.

    This time, Prince Charles came personally.

    "Les, dress me up," Aurora said with a faint sigh.

    With such a honorable guest, it was impossible for Aurora to ignore the other party. The only way for her to keep her impression remained good was for her toe and greet the other party politely.

    It didn''t take long for the maids to finish and Aurora came out to see Prince Charles.

    The young prince was sitting on the sofa with a bored expression. When he saw Aurora, his eyes lit up.

    "Cousin Aurora, let''s get out of the pce!" Prince Charles raised his hand excitedly. He hated studying and wanted to bring Aurora out of the pce. Anyway, if his cousin is here, he would have other reasons to skip his sses.

    "Your Highness, I didn''te here to y around," Aurora said slowly.

    "Tsk." Prince Charles clicked his tongue. "Then, at least apany me. My brother is staying to practice and it''s really boring."

    "Where do you want to go, Your Highness?"

    "I want to see my brother being beaten up, but if Iugh at him, he''ll ask the teacher to target me afterwards, so you have toe with me." Prince Charles pped his hands as if he had decided to do so.

    Aurora: "..."

    She could see that this should have happened often, so she silently followed Prince Charles to the training ground. There were many people there, watching as Prince Brian was fighting with another knight.

    When the knights and other people around saw them, they quickly opened up a path.

    Prince Charles is a royalty while Aurora was also a royalty by extension.

    ng! ng! ng!

    Watching Prince Brian fought, Aurora could see that the prince''s movement was not that bad. There were women knights too in both kingdoms, but Aurora was not taught swordsmanship because there was no time for her to study.

    Her time was already cramped with everything she had to study in the past few years.

    Now that her study had already advanced, she was given another task and it was impossible for her to spare so much time.

    ''Should I start learning swordsmanship?''

    Aurora could request to her father on the basis to fulfill her duty. It was likely that he would agree if it was beneficial.

    But at the same time, he might not agree either.

    Because it was obvious that there was no need for her to be good at everything, especially since female knight was not very widespread.

    ng! Bang!

    Prince Brian was unable to hold his weapon well and slipped back, falling to the ground.

    "Your Highness, you need to keep your stance firm." The knight on the opposite of Prince Brian looked at the prince helplessly. He was their martial instructor and had been in this position for some time.

    The two princes didn''t see to have good talent to be a knight. Their stances were a mess even though they were already growing up. This made him rather helpless and tired when he was teaching them.

    "I know." Prince Brian frowned and sighed.

    "Hahahaha!" From the side, Prince Charles wasughing out loud. He always felt that the time when his older brother was defeated in a spar was the best scene.

    Prince Brian turned to look in the direction of his younger brother. He was about tosh out when he saw Aurora there and the words in his throat was swallowed back. Even though he wanted to reprimand his younger brother, he had to keep his image in front of Aurora.

    It seemed that his half younger brother also knew his intention.

    "Your Highness, it seems that today''s training shall end here." The knight also saw Aurora who was following Prince Charles and bowed formally.

    Aurora saw his gesture and nodded slightly. She knew very well that her presence has been made known and the people here would respect her to a certain degree. Yet at the same time, Aurora had no interest to purposely increase her reputation here.

    Because she knew very well that it would be of little use.

    As of now, she could only show herself as the obedient daughter of Princess Isabe who came here to follow her mother.

    Only in this way would she be able to remove those prying gazes.

    "Brother, how about if we take a walk with Cousin?" Prince Charles asked with a grin.

    "Alright." Prince Brian nodded at the knights and then followed them.

    Aurora nced at the side and saw a figure staying behind the tree but she didn''t step forward.

    There was no need to make her difficult position even more difficult.

    Her current task was to follow her mother and this time, it was to follow the two princes.

    That was all.

 Chapter 14: Decision

    <h4>Chapter 14: Decision</h4>

    Time passed quietly, soon, the other people had arrived.

    During this period of time, Aurora spent her time studying and also met with the two princes who brought her along. Prince Charles happily told Aurora about his study and the teachers while Prince Brian was apanying them politely.

    Perhaps, it was because he was older, but Aurora could tell that Prince Brian was also careful in his act in front of a 10 year old kid like her.

    Not that she minded.

    Because if it was her, she would also not put down her guard in front of children.

    She knew very well some children mature too quickly because of various situation and they could have terrifying thoughts in their heads.

    Aside from that, Prince Charles would also drag Aurora to see Prince Brian be beaten up by the knights. It seemed that he was so happy to see his older brother unable to do anything when he was bringing Aurora to see them.

    "Follow me, your role is to listen," Duchess Isabe said to Aurora.

    "Yes, Mother."

    The meeting soon started.

    ...

    And Aurora did nothing but to listen.

    The people from the other two kingdoms were trying to propose to increase their water''s supplies this year too. After all, the water supplies were arranged each year because of the crops needs and all.

    If they wanted more water supplies, they had to exchange it with other trades and so on.

    In this way, the negotiationsted for another week before it was finished.

    "Have you understood it, Aurora?" Duchess Isabe asked as they walked back after the negotiation was done.

    It couldn''t be said to be very beneficial, but it was good enough. After all, they were not the one who got the least amount of water this year. But whether it could continue like this next year would be another matter.

    "Yes, Mother," Aurora replied. "The season this year is good and it''s beneficial to have more water."

    "Indeed." Duchess Isabe nodded.

    The water distribution would also depend on the seasons and weather. For example, if there were more rain, there was no need for them to fight too much for the water from theke as there would be more rain water topensate it. On the other hand, they could get the advantage through other crops.

    But if it was drought time, they would need more water and then they wouldpensate the other kingdoms through other trades that was adjusted.

    It was more or less like that.

    However, there were not only the kingdom''s negotiation here, there were also many other negotiation that had to be done. In other words, there were also proposal from the other nobles plus the taxes they had to pay.

    There were a lot of work.

    This was the main reason why the people whoe to the negotiation switched between Duchess Isabe and the Queen several times. There were even times when the two of them go together.

    Only in this way would it be possible to increase the benefit for the Yellow Kingdom.

    Not to mention...

    Duke White''s territory also required the water from theke that was distributed through the smaller rivers.

    "Starting next year, you will be the one to handle the negotiation. The report and proposal from other nobles will be given a month before the negotiation started and you can choose and pick which one of them is suitable," Duchess Isabe added.

    She will be the one to do the negotiation?

    Aurora''s eyes widened slightly.

    Even if she knew that her mother''s expectation for her was sometimes a bit ridiculous, but Aurora didn''t expect that she would throw her work to her like this. Aurora lowered her eyes slightly and replied, "I understand, Mother."

    Duchess Isabe nced at her daughter. "I''ll watch over you next year and I hope I don''t need to do it the year afterwards."

    After saying that, Duchess Isabe walked first.

    Aurora took a deep breath and silently followed behind her mother. Her fingers were clenched to form a fist and she understood that if she failed, what awaited her would be the punishment from her family.

    She can only seed, not fail.

    How tiresome.

 Chapter 15: Formal Position

    <h4>Chapter 15: Formal Position</h4>

    Aurora didn''t know what her mother was thinking.

    Nor what other people were thinking.

    Red Kingdom''s King looked at Duchess Isabe and Aurora behind her. "Are you sure that you want your daughter to rece you starting next year?"

    "Yes," Duchess Isabe replied. "My daughter is very bright and I believe she could do it. Besides, as the future crown princess, she had to get used to her work earlier."

    Duke Rain was also present as he was one of the few people who usually listen in to the negotiation. He looked at his sister with a strange expression. "She''s only 10 years old, right?"

    They still knew the basic information of Aurora, so they knew her age.

    So hearing Duchess Isabe wanted a 10 years old kid to lead in the negotiation that involved the interest of the entire kingdom sounded strange for them.

    "She''ll be 11 years old next year," Duchess Isabe replied. "And I''ll be there to apany her."

    "Hmm." The Red Kingdom''s King tapped the chair''s handle.

    He looked at the young girl who was following Duchess Isabe and could guess that there was no point in asking the child. Looking at her eyes, she seemed to have long gotten used to her mother''s request.

    No matter whether she could do it or not, she had to do it.

    Even if it meant breaking her mind and body, forcing herself beyond her limit.

    "That''s just like you, Isabe." The Red Kingdom''s Kingughed. He understood his sister''s personality more or less. "I don''t have any objection as long as the Yellow Kingdom also approve of this matter."

    For him, it didn''t matter who lead the negotiation from the Yellow Kingdom as long as the negotiation could be done. The other kingdoms also sometime send their Queen for the negotiation. At other times, they would send other politician such as the prime minister.

    The Yellow Kingdom trusted Duchess Isabe and knowing his sister''s capability, the Red Kingdom''s King was not surprised.

    "I will talk to them," Duchess Isabe replied.

    Duke Rain clicked his tongue but didn''t say anything more. He only shook his head and felt that the daughters of Duchess Isabe sure didn''t have it easy.

    This woman''s standard was high because of their education in the past.

    He often escaped, but there were also people who couldn''t escape and had to follow through until the very end.

    "I see." The Red Kingdom''s King nodded at his sister.

    They talked a bit more before Duchess Isabe left with Aurora following behind her.

    With this, it seemed that the matter of her study would increase again?

    Thinking about it made Aurora felt tired, but she also knew that she had to continue with it until the very end.

    ...

    "Will youe again next year?" Prince Brian asked when they gather before Aurora and Duchess Isabe had to leave.

    "I have toe again next year, Your Highness," Aurora replied. As the representative of the Yellow Kingdom, Aurora would have no other choice but toe.

    "Then next year, you have to y more with us!" Prince Charles raised his fist. What he wanted the most was for them to y more rather than studying and couldn''t do anything else about it.

    With Aurora here, he had more excuses and the teachers were also tolerating him.

    Prince Charles wouldn''t be able to have so many excuses when he wanted to skip his sses next without Aurora being here.

    Prince Brian patted his half younger brother''s shoulder. "Don''t use your cousin as the excuse for you to skip your sses, Charles."

    "I know..." Prince Charles shrugged. "But in any case, if Cousin Aurora needs morepany, I''m always avable!"

    Aurora: "..."

    Prince Brian: "..."

    The two of them were sure that this was only Prince Charles trying to get away from his sses.

    Prince Brian shook his head and looked at Aurora. "I heard from my mother about the matter, so see you next year, Cousin Aurora."

    His mother?

    Aurora looked up to see Prince Brian smiling in her direction, but this smile had never reached his eyes.

    The people from the nobility are all mostly like this.

    Aurora smiled back in Prince Brian''s direction. "I will see you next year, Your Highness."

    Even though Prince Brian was not the one involved directly in the negotiation, since it involved in the negotiation, then his mother would be the one there. It wouldn''t be strange for his mother to share him some things.

    Ah, how troublesome.

 Chapter 16: Return

    <h4>Chapter 16: Return</h4>

    The journey back remained uneventful and Aurora didn''t know what to say about it. She chose not to think too much about Prince Brian and Prince Charles. Even though the two of them were her cousins and it was likely that they would see each other again next year, there was still a long time before it was time.

    On the other hand, Aurora was spending her time studying under her mother''s watch. She was supplementing her knowledge of various matters.

    When she got back, Duchess Isabe went to give her report to the royal family.

    Aurora didn''t know how Duchess Isabe did it, but it was confirmed that Aurora would be the one leading the negotiation from the next year. Of course, she still has to give the report back to the Royal Family and the others.

    It wouldn''t be an easy work.

    Duchess Isabe nced at her daughter who waited for her in the carriage and furrowed her eyebrows. "If you have time, you should have walked around the pce and find His Highness the crown prince."

    Aurora''s body stiffened and then she replied, "Mother, one couldn''t enter the pce arbitrarily without any notification."

    Her mother was able to ask for an attendance with the Queen because of her position as one of the kingdom''s diplomat. On the other hand, Aurora wouldn''t be able to do that because she was only the young daughter of Duke White.

    Even with her status as the future crown princess, she still wouldn''t be allowed to enter the pce so freely.

    "You can make the notification," Duchess Isabe replied coldly.

    Aurora took a deep breath. "I will remember, Mother."

    "Good." Duchess Isabe walked to the carriage and added, "This engagement is not easy to get. You have to make sure to hold onto it properly."

    Hold onto it properly?

    Aurora could only bowed to her mother but didn''t answer to her mother. The engagement that has been arranged by the nobility was not so easy to be broken.

    But she also knew that what her mother wanted was for her to please the crown prince and deepened their rtionship. It was just that this was not something that could be done overnight.

    She could only try.

    After the trip to the pce, they went back to Duke White''s Mansion and this time, Duke White was present.

    "How''s the negotiation this time?" Duke White asked after Duchess White came down from the carriage.

    "Nothing special, it''s going well and the negotiation is in our favor," Duchess Isabe replied curtly.

    Duke White nodded when he heard that.

    He didn''t pay much attention to the negotiation because he was busy with his own territory''s management. But he still needed to know how much water would be for them this year because his territory was also beside theke.

    It wouldn''t do him any good if he didn''t know.

    "I''ll give you the reportter." Duchess Isabe didn''t really want to work so much, but she had to do this.

    This was very tiring and she really wanted to live freely. In the previous two years, she managed to dump it all to the Queen as she was able to do this job well. This year, she had no other choice but go with her daughter to give example.

    "Good." Duke White nodded. "You can rest for today."

    "Yes."

    Aurora heaved a sigh of relief in her heart. If her father were to ask her to study again, Aurora felt that her head would explode. Her mother had already taught her so many things on the way that her head felt a bit ufortable now.

    "I''ll go back to my room, Father, Mother."

    Excusing herself, Aurora made her way to her bedroom. On the way, she saw Ad''s servant waiting in front of the study room.

    "Ad is studying?" Aurora asked.

    The maids bowed. "Yes, Eldest Miss, Second Miss is now studying."

    Ad is studying?

    Aurora looked at the closed door and slowly looked away. In the past Ad was unable to study because her body condition was not very good. But after two months not seeing each other, has Ad''s situation gotten better?

    It should have been a good thing, but for some reason Aurora thought about the changes of Ad she had seen before.

    ''It should be fine.''

    Aurora shook her head and made her way to her room.

    No matter what, Ad is still her younger sister.

 Chapter 17: Vassals

    <h4>Chapter 17: Vassals</h4>

    Aurora had to say that Ad changed.

    It seemed that she hadpletely forgotten that the two of them usually spent some time together after Aurora''s study.

    But now, Ad was already tired after her study.

    "Miss, Second Miss is just a bit busy," Les said to Aurora carefully. She didn''t know what Aurora would think about this matter and knew how close the two sisters used to be.

    But now, Aurora barely spent any time with her sister.

    "My sister has grown up, so she be more mature," Aurora said with a faint smile.

    In just a short while when Aurora didn''t see Ad, the other party had started to grow and be more independent. It seemed that there was no need for her anymore.

    Aurora looked at the mirror in front of her.

    "Yes, Second Miss has grown." Les could only follow Aurora''s words.

    For this matter, Aurora didn''t speak to Les again and her eyes flickered slightly.

    ...

    Just when Aurora thought that her days would return to normal, Duke White called her to his office and introduced Mr. Wren, the lord who has been managing the territory of White Dukedom over the years.

    Even though Duke White would manage the most important matters, most of the other things were managed by Mr. Wren. After all, the territory itself was vast and it was impossible for Duke White to be the one to manage it by himself.

    He had several vassals.

    The most important one being Mr. Wren.

    "Aurora, this is Mr. Wren and he''ll be your teacher for the time being while managing the territory from here," Duke White introduced Mr. Wren to Aurora.

    Duke White''s territory was not that far away from the Capital City, so even if Mr. Wren was here, it would not dy their business. There would be one or two days more dys than usual, but it was nothing much.

    All in all, Duke White wanted Aurora to know more about White Dukedom.

    Because the one who will benefit the most from the negotiation of the water reservoir and distribution was precisely White Dukedom.

    "I am Aurora White, Mr. Wren. It''s nice to meet you," Aurora greeted and curtsied.

    She looked at aged man in front of her and felt that Mr. Wren was older than her father. He was already quite old and looked like he had seen the vastness of the world and many other things.

    Mr. Wren was also looking at Aurora carefully. Hearing Duke White saying that the negotiation would be handed over to Aurora in the future meant that he had to make sure that Aurora understood the situation in their territory.

    Because only in this way would it be possible for Aurora to win more resources for them.

    "I''ll be in your care too, Miss Aurora," Mr. Wren said politely.

    Duke White saw their interaction and waved his hand. "You may go now. I still have a lot of things to do."

    "Yes, Father."

    "Yes, Master."

    Mr. Wren and Aurora left Duke White''s study and stopped in front of the door. Aurora was not sure whether Mr. Wren wanted to start teaching her right away or not because she also have other teachers, so she looked in his direction.

    Mr. Wren coughed and motioned for Aurora to follow him.

    "There are other study rooms here and Miss Aurora, I hope you can keep up with the study''s pace. I don''t want to teach worthless student," Mr. Wren said unhurriedly.

    Worthless student.

    Aurora showed a faint smile on her face.

    Over the years, each and every single one of her teacher always said that they have high expectation of her. She could only work hard and do her best to ingest all of the information stuffed into her mind in order to be able to fulfill their requirement.

    Adding another teacher wouldn''t make it much different.

    "I understand, Mr. Wren."

    Mr. Wren looked at Aurora, who was still as calm and elegant as she used to be when they first met. There didn''t seem to be any ripples in her beautiful purple hue''s eyes.

    She''s confident.

    This was Mr. Wren''s impression of Aurora and he could tell that this confidence stemmed from either her ability or foolishness. Considering that Duke White wanted Aurora to take over the negotiation on her own even though she was still very young, the first one should be more usible.

    And this made Mr. Wren intrigued.

    How much ability a 10 year old kid would have?

    He will see it for himself.

 Chapter 18: White Dukedom

    <h4>Chapter 18: White Dukedom</h4>

    Mr. Wren and Aurora went to one of the study room and took a seat.

    The other servants were already evacuated.

    The content of the study between the two of them might involve some secret matters in White Dukedom and the servants were not qualified to hear about it.

    "What do you know about White Dukedom, Miss Aurora?"

    "In which aspect, Mr. Wren?" Aurora asked back. There were various aspect about White Dukedom that Aurora knew and if she were to say everything, even a day would not be enough for her to finish.

    It was impossible for them to discuss everything either.

    "Let''s start with the most important thing," Mr. Wren said slowly, "Economy."

    Is it the most important thing?

    But thinking about the situation in White Dukedom, Aurora was not surprised for Mr. Wren''s answer.

    "The economy in White Dukedom is dominated by farming. Being the best arablend in the entire Yellow Kingdom, White Dukedom produced more than 60% of the grain for the entire kingdom," Aurora started slowly.

    The Yellow Kingdom has two extreme type ofnds, half of them were grasnds, forest, and the likes. The other half was desert and drynds.

    Because of this, the grain supplies were all concentrated on the east where White Dukedom was located. Moreover, the water source from thergeke could be said to be thergest water source for White Dukedom.

    Without it, they wouldn''t be able to survive.

    "But farming is very dependent on the weather and season. In good seasons, the produce of the grain canpletely cover the needs for the entire kingdom and even had excess. But in bad season, it would not be enough," Aurora said calmly.

    Mr. Wren nodded. "How about the other businesses in White Dukedom?"

    "There are some other merchants and market in White Dukedom, but the amount was very small. There are ..."

    Aurora remembered each and every single businesses in White Dukedom. Even though she didn''t think it was necessary to mention them all, but she still said it to Mr. Wren.

    White Dukedom itself had a vast territory and several lords. So these small businesses would not be managed by Mr. Wren personally and instead handed over to many other lords who were appointed by Duke White.

    They all have their own roles.

    When Aurora finished, Mr. Wren looked at Aurora in a new light. If he didn''t know better, he would not think that he was talking with a mere 10 years old kid.

    Interesting.

    He didn''t expect to see a very capable younger generation and she was also the one he had to teach.

    "As you have said, the development in White Dukedom will be dependent on the water source. What do you think should we do to be able to earn more water?" Mr. Wren asked.

    "I believe that my grandfather had already made some rainwater reservoir," Aurora said slowly. "When it''s raining, the excess rainwater can be collected and will help in case the situation is difficult. Increasing the rainwater reservoir can be done, but the location had to be selected in advance....

    Aside from that, if the Yellow Kingdom wanted to win more water, we could try by pulling more beneficial trade from Duke Sun''s territory. In exchange, he could also get more preferential agreement for the crops'' price."

    Duke Sun''s territory was precisely the area that was filled with sand. In the recent years, they have been able to copy the ss making from Sand Kingdom. But the produce was not that much.

    It could be said that Duke Sun was the poorest out of all nobles in the Yellow Kingdom even though he has vast territory.

    For this matter, Duke Sun was also helpless.

    The king granted him arge territory, but there was barely anything in his territory. Thankfully, there was still some mines that could help him earn some ie, but it was not much and to keep the lives of his people, he had to buy arge amount of food from Duke White''s territory.

    Because Duke Sun was dependent on Duke White, it could be said that the rtionship between them was not very good.

    They were both dukes, but Duke Sun could only rely on the other party.

    He was not happy.

    Aurora had seen their arguments when Duke Sune to Duke White''s Residence some time ago. She asked her father and he told her about the agreement between the two territories.

    Knowing that Duke Sun needed them, Aurora felt that it would be better for them to make a good use of this to earn a good amount of money and resources.

    "It would be good if you can negotiate this with Duke Sun," Mr. Wren said helplessly.

    Duke White and Duke Sun would only sh with each other when they met, so the negotiation was handled by the lords under them. Thanks to that, the negotiation was not going very well.

    "This is just an idea," Aurora said slowly. "You can also step forward and try to propose this...."

    Taking a piece of paper, Aurora made the list of agreement that was needed for them. In addition, the resource that Duke Sun''s traded, which was actually not that much, could be used for the negotiation with other kingdoms too.

    This was Aurora''s goal.

    She had watched her mother in the negotiation some time ago and understood that for them to get more benefit, they would need other territory''s help.

 Chapter 19: Whatâ€™s Your Goal?

    <h4>Chapter 19: What¡¯s Your Goal?</h4>

    If it was only relying on the produce from White Dukedom, it would be difficult for them to sustain themselves in the long term.

    After all, they would have to earn back their money through the sales of their grain and other produces to other territory. And what Aurora wanted was to improve the condition of the people and made White Dukedom better.

    Looking at the list of things that Aurora wrote, Mr. Wren''s eyes brightened. "If this set of rules can be implemented, it would be very beneficial for White Dukedom. It seems that you have thought about this, Eldest Miss."

    "I''ll be the one to manage the negotiation from now," Aurora said slowly with a faint smile. "And if I can make the situation of the territory better, wouldn''t it be for the best?"

    Mr. Wren didn''t answer immediately and looked at Aurora deeply.

    He could see that this young miss was really smart and there should be reason why she suddenly told him all of these.

    "Miss, what do you want from me?"

    "I want you to work well," Aurora said slowly, her smile never disappeared from her face. "Only if the territory is doing well would it be possible to discuss about other improvement for the territory, isn''t it?"

    Is it really only for the territory?

    Mr. Wren looked at the list of negotiation and terms written by Aurora on the piece of paper and took a deep breath.

    He had the faint feeling that if Aurora were to be the one to negotiate and manage the matter of White Dukedom, she would be the one who had the power instead of her father. Because even though Duke White is the lord of White Dukedom, he didn''t manage many things.

    Many things were handled by the smaller lords under them, including Mr. Wren.

    Mr. Wren had started working ever since it was Duke White''s father''s era. At that time, he had seen how the former Duke White was able to manage the territory and built the rainwater reservoir.

    It was improved thorough the years and it could help them when it was needed the most.

    And for some reasons, Mr. Wren felt that he was looking at his former lord when he was looking at Aurora.

    But...

    "Miss Aurora, you do know that you couldn''t be the head of the family as the member of the Royal Family, right?" Mr. Wren asked carefully.

    The person chosen to be married to the prince couldn''t be the head of their own family. This was the rule in the Yellow Kingdom and had been passed down from generation to generation.

    Because the Queen would be busy with various matter of the nation, so they were usually not allowed to be the head of their territory.

    As for being a woman...

    While it was indeed a rare case, there were indeed times when a woman be the head of a family.

    But this case was very rare.

    After all, the status of women were not very high and there were a lot of restriction for them if they wanted to take this position. And many people would not be willing to give them this chance.

    Unless there was a special reason why the woman herself would be the head, otherwise they usually would not be allowed to.

    Aurora is selected as the future crown princess.

    Her engagement with Crown Prince Edward has been arranged and it was unlikely to be revoked. After all, the Royal Family would be pping themselves in the face if they were to revoke this engagement that they made.

    They were not stupid enough to do this.

    "I have no interest to be the head of the family," Aurora said unhurriedly.

    Be the head of the family?

    When Aurora thought about her father and what he has been doing, Aurora didn''t really want to. The White Dukedom looked prosperous, but there were actually many problems in thend that had to be settled.

    Not to mention, Duke White basically didn''t make any improvement at all in the past decade or so. He only followed what his father had arranged before and let things continued this way.

    Aurora knew very well that there was a chance for her to be the head of the family.

    Because Duke White didn''t have any son, so the choice for the next head would either be his daughters or his son inw.

    But after the engagement with Crown Prince Edward, Aurora knew that this path is impossible.

    Thew couldn''t be changed so easily.

    Unless she tried to coax Crown Prince Edward to abolish this rule, but it would be many yearster when he ascended the throne. It was very unlikely to happen anytime soon and Aurora would not put her hope on this.

    So, Aurora wanted to settle for the next best.

 Chapter 20: Festival

    <h4>Chapter 20: Festival</h4>

    Mr. Wren didn''t understand.

    He looked at Aurora in confusion and then asked, "In that case, what do you want to achieve, Miss Aurora?"

    Aurora shook her head slightly. "Shall we start our study now if the question is over, Mr. Wren?"

    Hearing this answer, Mr. Wren knew that it was not the time for him to ask this. He looked at the list of negotiation Aurora write and took a deep breath. It would take some time for this negotiation to be done.

    But when he was done, perhaps Aurora would tell him more?

    Mr. Wren smiled faintly when he thought about this in anticipation and started to tell more about the details of White Dukedom that Aurora missed or didn''t know.

    After all, Aurora didn''t specifically learn everything and Mr. Wren still knew more. This time, he was determined to let Aurora learn as much as possible.

    ...

    Time passed quietly.

    Aside from studying, Aurora saw Ad was spending more time with the servants and walked out on the garden to exercise.

    Well, more like taking a walk.

    It seemed that Ad was determined to get her health back up as much as possible so that she would be able to get out more often.

    Not only studying but also getting healthier.

    Everything seemed to be going in a good direction.

    In a way, it seemed to be pretty good. Duke White and Duchess Isabe seemed to be happy with this, though. They had long been worried for Ad, so it would be good if Ad could be better.

    Only Aurora could feel that Ad seemed to be more distant from her. The time they spent together at night for her to read Ad was now gone and Ad seemed to be trying to avoid her.

    It was done discreetly, but Aurora was sensitive enough to sense it.

    Her sister is changing.

    That was one thing for certain.

    Aurora didn''t know the reason and she couldn''t ask it openly either. It might be because of puberty, but Ad was only 9 years old. Does pubertye so early?

    Aside from that, there were a lot of study Duke White gave to Aurora. In order to fulfill her duty, she had a lot of knowledge she had to master within a year''s time.

    Of course, it was not study every single day.

    "It''s time for Sun Festival," Duke White said during their breakfast together. Sometimes, they would still gather together for breakfast when Duke White wanted it.

    Ad''s health seemed to be getting bettertely, so Duke White wanted to spend more time with this daughter of his. Thus, they have been having breakfast together and gathered in the dining room.

    Though, if one were to say, there were nothing much that happened during this time except for Duchess Isabe being happier to see Ad and fed her daughter.

    "Father, can I go out?" Ad asked coquettishly.

    "Do you want to go out?" Duke White frowned when he heard Ad''s request. He didn''t want this daughter of his to go out because he knew that her health was not the best. It was only recently that Ad got better and Duke White didn''t want to risk it.

    "But I have been hearing about the Sun Festival for a long time and I want to see it," Ad said once again and looked at her father with a pleading look.

    Duchess Isabe looked at her second daughter and then at Aurora, who was sitting at the side, drinking some water. "It''s been a while since Aurora go out. Take this chance to see the situation during the festival, Aurora."

    See the situation during the festival?

    Aurora stopped moving her hand and looked up to see her mother looking in her direction. It was clear that she gave an order and this was not something that could be rejected.

    "In the meantime, you can take care of your sister so that she can take a look at the festival," Duchess Isabe added.

    That should be the main reason.

    Sun Festival is the festival to celebrate the bright Summer Season and also the victory of the Yellow Kingdom nearly a century ago. The story of the Sun Festival was very simple.

    The Yellow Kingdom was in a war against another kingdom and the war ended in the middle of summer. At thest moment, the young prince who held his sword beheaded his enemy and lead the army to turn the unfavorable war into victory.

    It was said that the young prince''s blond hair was like the sun shining in the summer.

    Ever since then, Sun Festival was made.

    There would be drama made to enact that war and various stalls selling various food and unique products.

    Everyone loved this festival.

    Aurora had heard about it, but she was not very interested to participate. Because aside from the y, there were not many other interesting things in this festival. It was mostly just people ying on the street for this celebration.

    "Yes, Mother," Aurora replied.

    Duke White looked at his wife and then at Ad who was still looking at him. He sighed. "Alright, but you''re not allowed to do anything excessive."

    "Yes, Father! Thank you very much." Ad smiled brightly after she heard her father''s words.

    With her father''s permissions, she could now get out of the mansion.

    She had been exercisingtely and now, Ad just wanted to get a chance to get out of the mansion.

    Naturally, she had to go with Aurora because she wouldn''t be allowed to go on her own.

    "Sister, please take care of me," Ad said to Aurora with a bright smile.

    Aurora heard Ad''s words and smiled back in response. "It''s my responsibility."

 Chapter 21: Familiarity?

    <h4>Chapter 21: Familiarity?</h4>

    The festival started in the afternoon, so Aurora and Ad dressed themselves to go out.

    Since neither of them wanted to reveal their identity, the dress they picked was rather in. Brown and cream colored dress that looked not much different from mostmoner dress.

    In addition, neither was wearing any jewelries.

    "Miss, you look very different," Lesmented after she had finished helping Aurora to dress up.

    She felt that her Miss was still beautiful even if she was dressing in such a in and simple dress. The dress formoners has always been very simple as they couldn''t spend so much money for fabric and the likes.

    "It''s more suitable for me to be this way," Aurora replied with a faint smile. "Now that I''m going out, isn''t it natural for my appearance to be different?"

    Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Aurora took a deep breath.

    Even if it was for a short period of time, she would be able to rx when she was enjoying the festival. It was rare for her parents to allow her to get out of the mansion and didn''t make her study all day long.

    "Yes! Miss is still very beautiful!" Les said energetically.

    Aurora chuckled and nodded. "In that case, let''s go."

    "Yes, Miss!"

    They walked out and saw Ad was also already prepared. Her choice for clothes were also simr to Aurora.

    "Sister! Let''s go and take a look at the festival!"

    "Yes, yes."

    The two of them came out using an ordinary carriage and stopped in one street before the two of them walked around. During this time, Ad looked very excited and was very impatient toe out.

    When the carriage stopped, Ad nearly jumped out if not for her maids to help her toe down.

    Even if they came out to the festival while dressing as ordinary people, there were still maids and knights in casual clothes following them. After all, their statuses were very high and it was impossible for the duke to let them out without any guards.

    Aurora looked up and saw the bustling street in front of her.

    There were many peopleughing with each other, buying some food, talking with each other, andughed.

    The y was held in the central square and would be repeated every three hours, allowing everyone to thoroughly enjoy the y. Even though the story was simr, the people who yed the drama would be different from morning to night.

    This way, it would give chances for many people to y the drama and let the viewers enjoy the different variations.

    It was very lively.

    Seeing this, Aurora smiled faintly.

    This kind of atmosphere was very different from the strict and rigid atmosphere in the Duke White''s Mansion, but it was also veryforting.

    Ad, who had climbed down first, pulled her maid to the nearest stall.

    "Mrs, I would like to buy two of these. How much is the cost?" Ad asked excitedly as she looked at the two fried dough sticks in front of her. Her appearance looked as if she had never enjoyed the exquisite food in the Duke White''s Mansion.

    Though, thinking of Ad''s usual diet, it was only normal for her to be greedy for these foods.

    The doctors warned her not to eat messy food because her health was not very good. If she were to eat too many oily food or some other types of food, it wouldn''t do her good.

    "Miss, you can''t eat these." The maid was frightened when she saw Ad wanted to buy the street food.

    She was warned by Duchess Isabe not to let Ad eat random food on the street in case it would not be good for Ad''s health.

    "But they look so good! Anyway, it''ll be fine," Adined.

    Aurora, who came forward to follow her sister, looked at the stall. Her eyes shed strangely when she saw Ad took out money with ease and paid for the food with great familiarity.

    Her action seemed as if she had done this repeatedly in the past.

    But if Aurora was not wrong, this was the first time Ad came out of the mansion.

    Also... hernguage was really different from thenguage they had been taught in the mansion. No matter how sick Ad was, she would still be taught proper etiquette so as not to lose the face of Duke White Mansion.

 Chapter 22: Chance Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 22: Chance Encounter</h4>

    "Miss, you..."

    "Ad, Mother reminded you not to eat too much food outside," Aurora reminded in a low voice.

    Ad furrowed her eyebrows and pouted. "But this is the first time Ie out, so I want to try it."

    Looking at her appearance, one would be able to associate her as the pampered youngdy from the nobility. Even Aurora would think that way and she herself also knew that it was also the truth.

    In a way, Ad was heavily protected and pampered by her parents ever since Ad was young.

    Even though the main reason was because of her weak body, but she still looked rather naive.

    Aurora sighed. "What if you get sickter?"

    "I''ll be fine." Ad waved her hand. "Don''t worry too much about me, Sister! You should also buy some food that you like."

    Seeing that her persuasion was useless, Aurora didn''t stop Ad anymore and let her do what she wanted. Aurora knew very well that no matter what she did, she couldn''t force Ad to do what she didn''t want.

    If she did and this made Ad cried, her mother would only reprimand her and made things difficult for her.

    Aurora would rather ignore Ad and simply receive the reprimand from her mother for not doing her duty well as the older sister. Who made her younger sister never truly listened to her older sister?

    Walking through the streets, Aurora looked around at the stalls and found that most of them were selling food. There were a few of them selling essory such as small wooden figurine, wooden sword, and some others rted to the festival.

    It was lively.

    Perhaps, it was the original intention of the festival itself.

    Rather than remembering the blood sheds because of the war and the sacrifice, it would be better for them to remember it as the day when they won and enjoyed the victory in happiness.

    The Sun Festival seemed to be pretty good.

    Aurora walked around and saw Ad had followed her at some points. However, Ad''s attention was quickly attracted to the various food stalls at the sides.

    It seemed that she was like a small foodie who never had enough.

    "Does Ad not eat enough at home?" Aurora asked.

    "Miss, you know the doctor restricted the food that Second Miss could eat," Les exined as they walked through the street helplessly. "Madam didn''t allow Second Miss to eat a lot of dessert in consideration of her health."

    "I see." Aurora nodded.

    Ad herself didn''t seem to care about her health and more about her enjoyment at the moment. It was not something rare as many other people did the same as her.

    But for Aurora, she only felt headacheing.

    Because she knew very well that when she got back, her mother will definitely ask for her exnation.

    Bang!

    Hearing the faint sound of fight at the side, Aurora furrowed her eyebrows. She nced at the side and saw two people arguing with each other. There was a young woman kneeling on the ground behind a young man while he argued with a middle aged man.

    "It''s not right to force a young woman!" The young man said to the middle aged man in front of him.

    "Bah!" The middle aged man sneered. "She owed our ce arge debt. You pretty young man, you shouldn''t be involved in this matter if you still care for your face!"

    "I... I don''t have money," the young woman said tremblingly. "Please give me more time and I''ll repay the debt."

    "What time! We''ve given you half a year but you still haven''t earned enough money. Isn''t it easier for us to sell you instead." The middle aged man sneered.

    The young man looked at the woman behind him and then looked at the middle aged man in front of him. "How much did she owe you?"

    "Do you want to pay for him, Pretty boy?" The middle aged man shook his head and looked at him up and down. "With your appearance, do you really think that you''re some kind of rich person?"

    "Don''t make me repeat it, how much did she owe?" The young man frowned.

    "10 gold," the middle aged man replied.

    10 gold?

    Aurora, who was listening at the side, shook her head. It was impossible for amoner to have that much money if they didn''t have some kind of business.

    Besides, the currency that was used was gold, silver, and copper. 100 copper is equal to 1 silver and 100 silver is equal to 1 gold. The monthly wage formoner were usually only 1 silver to 5 silver at most. In one year, they wouldn''t be able to reach 1 gold.

    Even the generous paying job wouldn''t allow them to earn that much.

    But she owed 10 gold?

    It meant that she would have to work several years if she wished to be able to repay this debt.

    "10 gold?" The young man frowned. "Then if I paid the money, will you leave her alone?"

    "You? Can you pay?"

    Aurora at the side looked at the scene in front of her and knew that this young man definitely could pay.

    He''s the crown prince of the Yellow Kingdom, Crown Prince Edward.

 Chapter 23: Thoughtless

    <h4>Chapter 23: Thoughtless</h4>

    If he couldn''t pay, it would be stranger instead.

    Aurora was definitely able to recognize the young man easily. After all, that golden pupil was very eye catching and even though the young prince was using hood to cover up his face, those who were familiar with the Royal Family could still recognize him.

    The golden eyes were very eye catching.

    "Wow, he''s really kind." Ad, who had caught up, had her eyes lit up when she saw this scene in front of her.

    She also recognized Crown Prince Edward, but she had no intention to step forward and greeted him directly. After all, the crown prince was dressed up like them right now, wearingmoner clothes that would make them look rather ordinary.

    It was just that the unique pupil that belonged to the Royal Family couldn''t really be hidden.

    "I can pay, but you have to promise me not to bother with her in the future," Crown Prince Edward said quickly.

    The middle aged man grinned while the young woman behind Crown Prince Edward was shivering.

    "Ok." The middle aged man nodded.

    With that, Crown Prince Edward took his pouch and threw 10 gold over to the middle aged man. For the crown prince who had a lot of money from the Royal Pce, this small amount of money was nothing.

    Ad watched this with shining eyes.

    She felt that the crown prince was really kind and full of justice. It was too bad that she was not the one who was being helped.

    If it was her, she would be able to get closer to him.

    On the other hand, Aurora shook her head slightly when she watched this scene in front of her but she didn''t step forward to stop Crown Prince Edward either. Even if she was his fianc¨¦e, but this ce was not suitable for her to step forward.

    "Good." The middle aged manughed when he received the money. However, he didn''t leave as his eyesnded on the pouch Crown Prince Edward was holding. It was clear that greed shed in his eyes.

    "But I think that it''s not enough."

    "What?" The young woman was screaming. "But it''s already so much! When I first borrowed the money, it''s not that much!"

    "The interest is high." The middle aged man sneered.

    Crown Prince Edward frowned. He felt that this middle aged man was really unreasonable and was about to order his guard to step forward when the guard who followed Ad had already stepped forward.

    Ad also came in at this time and said, "You''ve already promised that you will let them go after they paid, how could you back down on your words?"

    "Who are you? Don''t interfere in other people''s business, little girl." The middle aged man was looking at the man who held a sword against him. "You..."

    Ad crossed her arms. "I''m Ad White from White Dukedom. Are you sure that you want to offend me?"

    The middle aged man was clearly terrified with Ad''s introduction.

    The social structure in this kingdom was very clear. Those with higher status deserved higher respect and also would be honored no matter where they were. If those of lower status dared to offend the people with higher stature, they would be punished severely.

    In worst case scenario, it could even result in death.

    "I don''t dare! I don''t dare!"

    The middle aged man quickly shook his head.

    Crown Prince Edward looked at the young girl in surprise and then looked at the middle aged man again. "Then scram."

    "Yes, yes!"

    The middle aged man ran away while Crown Prince Edward smiled in Ad''s direction. "Thank you for your help, Miss Ad."

    "It''s nothing much, Your H... I mean, you?" Ad was not sure how to address the Crown Prince at this time. With him dressing as amoner, it didn''t seem right for her to expose his identity as the crown prince.

    Crown Prince Edward motioned for Ad to wait and then turned around to settle the young woman behind him.

    He wanted to make sure that she was fine.

    Ad waited patiently.

    At the side, Aurora didn''t step out. She raised her hand and motioned for the guard to follow the middle aged man.

    These two people were really... thoughtless.

 Chapter 24: Proper Kindness

    <h4>Chapter 24: Proper Kindness</h4>

    Aurora had nothing against kind people.

    In fact, she felt that kind people were good because it meant that they havepassion within them.

    But all kindness andpassion needed a proper ce to be shown.

    Thoughtless kindness would only put themselves in danger and it was not something Aurora wanted to see.

    They were all people with high status, wealth, and power. Compared to themoners and people around them, they have different weight in various matters.

    If they wanted to be kind, it was fine.

    But they had to remember their status and the fact that each and every action of theirs would affect the lives of countless people. There were many people who might want to make use of their position and got close to them.

    This was what they had to avoid.

    But despite being in high position, neither Crown Prince Edward and Ad realized this. They acted in a way they wanted to and helped themoners around them simply because they could, not caring about the other consequences at all.

    Aurora sighed.

    Perhaps, being thoughtless was also good to a certain degree.

    She couldn''t help her sister, but if the Crown Prince Edward didn''t change, it would be hard for him to protect his life.

    The guard soon returned and then whispered to Aurora.

    "Miss, the middle aged man from before is from the ck Market loan shark. The original amount of the debt is only 2 gold coins and had been repaid 50 silvers over the past 6 months. However, the interest is getting higher and higher...."

    Listening to the exnation, Aurora knew that Crown Prince Edward was being used by the greedy middle aged man.

    But it was fine.

    As long as this was not a scheme to make use of the Crown Prince''spassion to nt their people around him. Because if it was that way, then Aurora couldn''t let it happen and had to stop them.

    "Good job." Aurora nodded at the knight and the knight stepped back.

    After that, Aurora stepped forward and walked towards the two people who were still talking with each other. By now, Crown Prince Edward had already sent the young woman away and didn''t bother too much with her.

    It seemed that the action just now was nothing more than a momentarypassion.

    "Your Highness," Aurora greeted.

    "Sister!" Ad smiled brightly when she saw Aurora and Crown Prince Edward also looked in Aurora''s direction with surprise.

    Then, he thought about Ad''s health and felt that it was not a surprise for Aurora to be here considering that Ad''s health was not really good. Duke White wouldn''t feel assured if his youngest daughter were to go out on her own.

    "I''m sorry for not able to greet you properly in this ce," Crown Prince Edward said with an awkward smile, but he still followed the greetings in ordance to the etiquette.

    "This is the Sun Festival, Your Highness," Aurora replied. "It''s only natural for us to enjoy it without having to restrain ourselves in the nobility''s way."

    "You''re right." Crown Prince Edward chuckled. "Since we have gathered together, how about if we go together?"

    Aurora nced at Ad, who was still looking in Crown Prince Edward''s direction and replied, "It is our honor, Your Highness."

    "Ah, don''t call me with such formality when we''re out here." Crown Prince Edward scratched the back of his head and then said, "Call me Cade. In turn, I''ll also call you with your chosen nickname."

    Ad''s eyes lit up. "Your Highness, you can call me Ad directly."

    "Would that be inappropriate?" Crown Prince Edward was stunned.

    The main reason why he picked a different name was because it would be impolite for one to call others with their name directly. If they were of nobility, they had to call the other party in ordance to the titles they have.

    It was really tiresome.

    But that was how the nobility has always been.

    For this reason, it would be better to make up a name when one was traveling outside. In this way, they would not break the etiquette nor they would feel ufortable for having their name called directly by others.

    And with a different name, they could differentiate it when they were acting as amoner and when they were acting as themselves under the noble identity.

    "That''s..." Ad frowned. She seemed to have heard her mother said something about this, but she forgot about it.

    "I''ll go by the name, Anna, Cade," Aurora replied unhurriedly.

    Seeing her sister had already started, Ad quickly said, "In that case, I''ll be E."

    "Now that''s settled, let''s go." Crown Prince Edward smiled at the two youngdies.

    The two of them nodded.

 Chapter 25: Thoughts

    <h4>Chapter 25: Thoughts</h4>

    Going with Crown Prince Edward in the Sun Festival was bound to be differentpared to the time when they were going on their own.

    Aurora also able to sense the gazes of many people looking in their direction.

    Even though Crown Prince Edward was dressed as amoner, there were naturally many of his knights dressed up asmoner who were following him. Just like her and Ad, Crown Prince Edward''s position was high and precaution must be necessary.

    However, from the way Crown Prince Edward looked like, he only knew two people who were following him.

    The rest seemed to be protecting him from the dark.

    ''I guess it''s only natural for the kingdom to protect the crown prince so much.'' Aurora shook her head slightly.

    Compared to the Red Kingdom that has some dispute between the two princes, the Yellow Kingdom''s King only has one wife, the current Queen. In terms of marriage, this kingdom practiced more monogamy but it didn''t mean there were no concubines at all.

    There were still some of them here.

    Crown Prince Edward is the first prince and the second prince was still very young, so it was unlikely to pass the throne to him.

    The difference in age between the two princes were quite big.

    So, Crown Prince Edward could be said to be future of the Yellow Kingdom and many people couldn''t afford to have him fall at such a young age. This way, the protection for Crown Prince Edward was really high.

    "What is this, Cade?" Ad asked curiously as she pointed at the shining tube in front of her. It looked very beautiful and this made Ad curious about it.

    "This is a different type of light aside from candle that has been found," Crown Prince Edward replied. "I think it uses a special type of sand and has bee quite popr around heretely."

    "It''s sand? Can sand shine?" Ad was surprised.

    "If you want one, how about buying it as souvenir?" Crown Prince Edward asked with a smile.

    Themp they used were still using candles in various shapes.

    This tube actually also had candle inside that was lit up, but the tube was specifically made to be twoyers in order to create beautiful sand image on the surface.

    Aurora looked at it and knew that it was from another duke''s territory that has been famous in the recent years.

    And that duke''s rtionship with Duke White was really bad.

    ''This uniquemp has also reached the Capital City. I hope there wouldn''t be any trade war in the future.'' Aurora rubbed her hand together.

    Duke White''s territory was not far from theke where the negotiation was done by Aurora not long ago. And their territory was mostly dependents on farming, which make the water source even more important.

    But the other half of the Yellow Kingdom consisted of sand and resources there were scarce.

    In order to gain more money, they had to make various things.

    sses and thesemps were the new inventions they made in the recent years, but it was also the specialty of another kingdom.

    This only started to enter the Yellow Kingdom and that duke''s territory also started to reproduce it.

    It was a hit.

    Aurora was taught about her family''s territory and management, so she also understood more or less why her father was busytely. The interest in their territory was being challenged and it meant they would earn lesser money.

    For Duke White, it was not eptable.

    Their territory had to grow even more if they wished to survive.

    Aurora wouldn''t be the one managing the territory, but she could think about it.

    Besides, if she was not wrong, the products that Duke Sun''s territory made was a bit different from the one from Sand Kingdom. It could actually be used in a certain way, but the production method was kept secret.

    After all, the lives of the people in those two ces depended on this thing.

    "Sister! Let''s watch the y, it''s about to start!" Ad called for Aurora and Aurora smiled in response, bringing her thoughts out of this matter.

    No matter what happened between the two territories, it was not up for Aurora to worry about.

    She just had to take one step at a time on the things around her.

 Chapter 26: The Play

    <h4>Chapter 26: The y</h4>

    The y in the Sun Festival was made to be quite realistic.

    To a certain degree.

    Looking at the people who were waving their wooden swords to each other like this, Aurora blinked her eyes. She knew it was all wooden swords painted with metallic silver to create the impression of real swords.

    But it was clear that these actors didn''t know how real fights were done.

    The moves they made were nothing threatening. If anything, it seemed to be a show that was put for the sake of appearance.

    As someone who had watched real knights training, Aurora could tell this much. But if she was asked what should be done, then her answer would be she didn''t know. After all, she herself was not training in swordsmanship.

    ''Should I consider myself to learn swordsmanship?''

    Turning her head to the side, Aurora could see that both Ad and Crown Prince Edward was enjoying the y very much. Even if Crown Prince Edward knew the movements of these people''s swords were really bad, but he said nothing and still enjoyed the y and the festival.

    Once it was done, they pped their hands together.

    Aurora also followed suit.

    "Cade, it''s almost time for dinner. Would you like to eat together or return?" Aurora asked as they finished watching the y.

    "There are a lot of restaurants, but it''s usually full during this time." Crown Prince Edward shook his head. He could use his identity as the crown prince to book a VIP room, but it would be too boring.

    After all, Crown Prince Edward had done that several times and for him, it was really boring.

    He wanted to enjoy the festival without attracting too much attention.

    "How about buying some food from the street stalls?" Ad asked and tilted her head. "There should be some that are quite trustworthy."

    Some street stalls were made by themoners who didn''t have much reputation. But some others were made by those who had respectable reputation and also quite clean.

    Ad could see that much.

    "This..." Crown Prince Edward frowned slightly.

    Even though he was dressed up as amoner, but he didn''t really like eating food from the street. After all, he had the highest status and what he had enjoyed thorough his life was something that ordinary people could never expect to enjoy in their entire life.

    He was clearly not used if he was asked to eat the same food with them.

    Aurora could see the conflict on Crown Prince Edward''s face and said, "The restaurant that the Royal Family opened also provided special takeaway service for the Sun Festival. The price is higher, but it should be good."

    The Royal Family also has some stores on their own. Those who entered the restaurants were usually the nobles and the Crown Prince should have been there several times too.

    Compared to the street stalls food frommoner, Crown Prince Edward would be morefortable with the food from here.

    As for the high price?

    Neither of them really cared.

    They were all rich as Duke White still gave Aurora and Ad a lot of allowance. As for the Crown Prince, his allowance was even more than the two of them.

    "That''s a good idea!" Crown Prince Edward agreed right away.

    Ad looked at her sister and then nodded. "In that case, let''s go there, Cade."

    "Yes."

    Ad walked straight to Crown Prince Edward''s side and then turned to look at Aurora who was behind them, "Come on, Sister."

    Aurora blinked her eyes.

    They were only 9 to 10 years old, so it shouldn''t be strange for children to gather together and y around.

    But for some reasons, she had the feeling that Ad was purposely trying to stick close to Crown Prince Edward.

    Was she imagining things?

 Chapter 27: Suspicious

    <h4>Chapter 27: Suspicious</h4>

    The three of them went to the restaurant in question. Like what Aurora had said, the restaurant did sell take away box for them if they didn''t want to eat in the restaurant. Right now, the restaurant itself is quite full as many people came out to participate and enjoy Sun Festival.

    "Wow, there''s a full meal set too!" Crown Prince Edward was happy when he saw that the entire meal could be packaged. Even though the package was not very good, but he didn''t have to wait for seat.

    Even though a VIP seat could be prepared for him, Cade didn''t want to use it.

    Not today.

    "Let''s find some seat to eat."

    "Yes!"

    Crown Prince Edward and Ad made their way to the square and upied the seat. After that, they started to eat while talking about the y just now.

    It looked like the two of them were really excited about it.

    "His Highness is still a child after all," one of Crown Prince Edward whispered in a low voice.

    Aurora, who passed by, heard the sentence and her lips pursed, but she didn''t pursue it. She ate not far from them, still following the formal etiquette that was taught to her. Even when she was out here, she couldn''t really rxpletely.

    Meal for children were not too much, so it was done quickly.

    "It''s going to bete soon. Let''s go back, Ad," Aurora reminded.

    "Yes, ah..." Ad slipped and Crown Prince Edward quickly caught the young girl before she could fell to the ground.

    "Are you alright?" Crown Prince Edward frowned and felt distressed. It seemed that Ad was really a bit weak and need more nutrition. Even when she was walking around, she could even fall.

    "Y..yes, I''m fine!" Ad was a bit flustered, but she tried her best to stay calm.

    In front of her, Aurora blinked her eyes.

    If she was not sure before, now she was sure that Ad liked Crown Prince Edward based on her reaction.

    But she was only 9 years old, right?

    Even if she would turn 10 years old in a month''s time, it''s still too fast!

    It was also at this moment Aurora recalled her mother''s words.

    "Love is the most unreasonable thing in the world. Many people do stupid things in the name of love."

    At that time, Aurora knew that her mother was referring to her brother, Red Kingdom''s King. Because he fell for another woman, he made her his concubine and have a child with her. It was also because of this that the situation in the Red Kingdom was a bit stiff.

    Back then, Aurora didn''t think too much.

    Because she couldn''t understand such an illusory feeling like love.

    But seeing her sister''s reaction to Crown Prince Edward and the distance that Ad made to her in the recent times, Aurora felt that she had some guesses.

    Still....

    The word Aurora heard Ad uttered back then rang in her mind.

    ''I''m... Ad White... the protagonist and she''s... the viiness...''

    It was a strange term that Aurora had never heard being used in real life. If it was a story, then it was apletely different matter.

    But right now...

    Aurora took a deep breath and stepped forward. Her thoughts process onlysted for a second, but she was thinking a lot of things.

    "Ad, are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Aurora asked with concern.

    Ad straightened herself with Crown Prince Edward''s help. She smiled brightly and looked a bit smug. "Sister, don''t worry, I''m fine."

    Ah really...

    Seeing Ad''s expression, Aurora only smiled faintly and didn''t say anything else. She helped Ad up and bid farewell to Crown Prince Edward before making her way back to Duke White''s Mansion.

    Crown Prince Edward watched as the two girls left and sighed.

    "Second Miss Ad is really weak." Crown Prince Edward shook his head. "Come to think about it, she will have her birthday at the start of autumn next month, I better give some replenishment to Duke White''s Mansion. What do you think about it, Mike?"

    Mike is Crown Prince Edward''s personal knight who was responsible to protect him. Since Crown Prince Edward was traveling incognito as amoner, Mike was also dressed as amoner and followed Crown Prince Edward.

    Of course, he carried his sword with him in case it was necessary.

    Hearing what the crown prince said, Mike replied, "Your Highness, it would not be appropriate."

    Even though Ad is Aurora''s younger sister, it was not appropriate for her to receive gifts from her sister''s fianc¨¦. Moreover, the two girls hadn''t had their debut and entered the society.

    Technically, the two of them were still ''young girls'' and it was not suitable to have muchmunication with other nobles.

    Of course, there were also many nobles who had their engagement even before their debut such as Crown Prince Edward and Aurora. The two of them were engaged due to the fact that their family background was suitable and some other political benefits.

    But most other girls would only have their engagement after their debut.

 Chapter 28: Report

    <h4>Chapter 28: Report</h4>

    "Why wouldn''t it be suitable?" Crown Prince Edward asked in confusion. "It''s not like she''s an outsider, right?"

    Knight Mike looked at Crown Prince Edward and sighed deeply.

    In terms of intelligence, Crown Prince Edward was indeed not very bright. Even if his teachers had taught him etiquette andmon sense, but most of the lessons he had learned over the years seemed to have flown out of his head.

    Thankfully Crown Prince Edward was still young.

    There was still more than enough time for him to study.

    "Your Highness, Second Miss Ad is your fianc¨¦e''s sister. It''s not appropriate for you to get too close to your future sister inw," Knight Mike exined it from another perspective.

    Crown Prince Edward furrowed his eyebrows.

    "Besides, Duke White can care for his daughter''s well being without the need for you to concern yourself, Your Highness," Knight Mike added.

    Hearing this, Crown Prince Edward finally put down the thoughts of delivering medicine to Ad. Duke White was notcking in money at all and if they truly needed it, they could prepare enough medicine for Ad.

    "Oh, fine then." Crown Prince Edward nodded and then his attention was attracted by another matter.

    He was still young and it would be hard for him to think about suchplicated thing for a long time. Well, more like, the crown prince didn''t like it and didn''t really want to do something like that.

    ...

    <Duke White Mansion>

    Aurora and Ad returned using the ordinary carriage from before.

    "Do you have fun, Ad?" Aurora asked after they entered the carriage and Crown Prince Edward could no longer be seen.

    "Yes!" Ad smiled brightly. "It''s fun."

    "It''s good." Aurora had a faint smile on her face and she saw Ad''s face flushed with excitement and mentioned the things they did today. ncing out, she saw that they were already close to Duke White Mansion. After all, the ce where the carriage was parked was not that far from their home.

    It only took a short while.

    "Sister, I''m going to see Mother," Ad said and then rushed out to find her mother. She was excited to share to her mother about what she did today.

    "It wouldn''t be a good idea to tell her everything," Aurora was about to advise Ad but found the girl already ran away. Shaking her head lightly, Aurora made her way to her father''s study.

    Since she met with His Highness on the way, it was only right for her to give report to her father first.

    As soon as she arrived, the butler announced her presence and Duke White allowed her to enter.

    "It seems you have encountered something important on your trip," Duke White said lightly without raising his head from his papers.

    Aurora knew very well that the knights who followed them were all under Duke White''smand. Even if she didn''te here to give report, Duke White will still know their actions and behavior when they were outside this time.

    Rather than letting it them be the one to give the report, it would be better for Aurora to be the one to give the report.

    He will know either way.

    If she could make a good use of this to show her ''loyalty'' and stance to the family, Aurora would do it.

    "Yes, Father," Aurora replied and started to tell the story about her encounter with Crown Prince Edward. Even though Duke White cared for Ad, but he cared more about her engagement and also his territory.

    He loved power more than anything.

    A kind ruler like Crown Prince Edward might be a good thing for the people but not exactly one suitable for the throne. It was something that Aurora had realized too.

    If Crown Prince Edward remained the same in the following years, it was possible for the throne to slip away from his hands. Or even if he was still the king, he might be more of a puppet king rather than one who truly hold the power in his hands.

    "What do you think of this incident, Aurora?" Duke White slowly asked.

 Chapter 29 What Do You Think?

    29 What Do You Think?

    Aurora looked at her father in front of her and slowly replied, "The people whoe to trouble the woman should be real. She did have debt, but the main reason they choose today to make a move is because they wanted to take advantage of the nobles'' kindness to earn more money."

    Making trouble during Sun Festival¡­

    It was a bold move.

    Because there were more nobles who would dress up asmoner to mix with them. Even though some nobles would not bother to act and mix with themoners, they would stille out to the street in order to watch the y and to enjoy the Sun Festival. After all, not every day they could go out on the street so freely.

    There were so many nobles during the Sun Festival that it didn''t matter even if they were to spend most of their time outside. It wouldn''t attract much attention. The Yellow Kingdom''s Capital City was usually also very noisy during this kind of festivals. But not many people dared to make trouble during this day because they knew that if they were to offend the wrong person, they might have to pay with their lives. For some people who were living at the bottom, this was not a big problem, though.

    They have nothing to lose.

    "His Highness haspassion in his heart, which is not a bad thing. However, he''s unfortunate to stumble upon this matter and ended up being used," Aurora said slowly.

    Duke White chuckled. Looking at his daughter in front of him, Duke White felt that she was indeed quite smart. As expected of his child. It seemed that his wife was correct. The next negotiation could be handed over to Aurora. If she had such vision, it should be easy for her to understand what she had to do with her role.

    "If you''re the one in his ce, how do you n to deal with this?"

    "I would ask to see the contract," Aurora replied calmly.

    Even in the case of loan shark, there had to be the contract signed. In this way, they would be able to calcte properly how much money was needed and would not be scammed so easily.

    The interest rate might be a bit annoying, but at the very least, it would not be so outrageous that they were asked several times the real amount. "After that, I will arrange for the woman to work in one of our industry to pay off her debt," Aurora replied. "Rather than engaging in useless charity, wouldn''t it be better to use them in another way?"

    Duke White''s industries were a lot.

    Even though the main business for White Dukedom was the farm and grains, but it didn''t mean that this was all there was. There were many other things that they also dabbled in and this also included some small businesses. If an act of kindness could earn them another worker, why not?

    "In this way, I can see whether she work well or not. If she''s not talented, she can stay in that position, but if she has some kind of talent, then it''s not impossible to promote her and reward her when it''s determined she''s not a spy," Aurora replied. Duke White listened to Aurora''s words andughed. "You seem to already have a concrete n in your mind."

    "Giving money directly will only make them take it for granted," Aurora replied. "Some people will take the kindness to their heart, but some others are not so righteous and will forget about this matter soon enough."

    Her lessons had already taught her that human nature was indeed veryplicated. Some people were kind from the bottom of their heart, but many other people were those who had other thoughts and would take advantage of others without hesitation. "Indeed, this would be a good set of n." Duke White nodded. "But this couldn''t be done now. That woman has already run away."

    Aurora nodded. She was not surprised by this piece of news. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    When she sent the guards, she only asked them to follow the man and not the woman. Because even if they were to use the woman, that had to go through Crown Prince Edward''s hand and not theirs. But it seemed that Crown Prince Edward was really thoughtless. Aurora felt her evaluation for the crown prince was getting lower. Even if they were engaged and would get married in the future, but this was nothing more than a political marriage. There was no need for them to truly love each other as long as they could live with each other.

    Besides, what was needed from them was their position and ability in the future. "Now that you have reported this matter." Duke White looked at his daughter and smiled faintly. "Tell me what you want as reward, Aurora."

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