Part 52: My father was a duke, of course

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This couldn't be. 

Albert wouldn't swap out me for Ivy when Ivy hasn't even gained that much recognition. 

Sure, her father was an Earl, but my father was a duke. 

Consider it like this: My father was the head judge of the whole country, in which his decision was always the final decision for every huge case. 

He had the power to overrule anything, even if it seemed the most unreasonable choice to take. 

Though if I were honest, we have to watch our steps more than any other noble. 

One mistake and accusations from the vulture nobles come in. 

Not that all of them were only greedy and wanted to topple my father over. 

Most of the nobles were in line, to give their share to the commoners beneath them, and also to prevent a revolt against them. 

Justice was a very important factor in this country, surprisingly. 

But there was an exception to my father's power, though. 

In the otome game, I'm sure he did everything to prevent Roselyn from being beheaded. 

But the appearance of the one and only King stepped in court. 

Even thought the King judging the court was very, very, rare, he couldn't ignore it when his own son, the next king, needed it. 

Albert had loved Ivy very much, and considered Roselyn as a nuisance. 

Usually the King would leave it up to the Duke and nobles below them to judge because personally, my father was a very fair person who considered all elements. 

That was why the King had trusted my father so much, knowing that with him as the leader of the court, nobody guilty would go unpunished. 

And the people below my father, the marquesses? 

The primary judges, but my father's power equaled to more than half of their votes. 

And why, the lower Earls had even less power. 

Barons and Viscounts almost counted as the commoners when voting, except just had a noble status. 

Our territory, wealth, foundation, power, you name it. 

My family's were at least double, no triple whatever Ivy's new-appointed-earl-of-a-father's legacy was. 

But even when Ivy hadn't done anything particularly amazing or saintess-ish, he decided to replace me anyways? 

Oh, most of the nobles were not going to agree, except the faction that was against my father but had never managed to overpower him even banded together. 

In this world, marriage was simply a way to connect powers together. 

Anybody would want a relationship with a high-ranking noble, and having benefits from both sides. 

If my father wanted, I would get an engagement with anybody in a heartbeat. 

Who wouldn't want their sons to marry the well-raised, elegant, noble daughter from a high ranking family who had immense wealth and status? 

And gain a connection and possibly a bit of the inheritance while they're at it?

But obviously, they paired me up with the idiot prince because of how this rank system works. 

Anybody would have done the same with their children, unfortunately. 

Which is why I can't blame my father, since he didn't know and only wanted the best for me. 

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