It is the season for love and murder in the court of Ravaeryn.
After a chance encounter one winter night, Lady Catarina de Fontaine had fallen hopelessly in love with Julian, the Crown Prince. However, upon discovering his untruthfulness, she immedi...
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1711, Lorewell
SPRINGTIME IN LOREWELL was always a sight to behold, and the trees were verdant green and weighed down by the hefty produce, dotted by fresh dewdrops and glittering in the gentle sun.
Flowers sprouted brilliantly in the windy fields, and one could see miles upon miles of fuchsia and white, beckoning you to stop for a while and bask in its beauty.
A few yards away from the field of flowers was a long, narrow cobblestone road that cut through a forest of pine, a path that led to the vast de Fontaine manor. The walls were painted a noble ochre, and tall stained glass windows bearing motifs of flowers and knights could be seen.
The de Fontaine manor unnecessarily had thirty bedrooms, an enormous ballroom, several sitting rooms and a dining room so grand that it rivalled the Queen's own dining hall.
The family had employed a total of a hundred staff, twenty in the kitchen, forty to maintain the household, five to tend to the horses, ten to tend to the gardens, twenty to handle the laundry, and the remaining five were personal servants.
Being the wealthy man that he was, Elliott de Fontaine undoubtedly could afford it all, but it was quite excessive, especially since the manor only had three masters to serve-- himself, his nephew, and his dear daughter.
As he had no male heirs, Elliott intended to find a respectable minor nobleman with few ambitions and wed him to Catarina, under the condition that he would renounce his family name and become a de Fontaine.
Such a match would be the best outcome for their clan, and Catarina would be able to live prosperously as a duchess without being caught in the struggle for power.
In his hands were an envelope sealed with red wax, its edges a bit wrinkled, a few spots damp from the falling rain.
Elliott was in a deep dilemma.
He knew that there would be six other ladies that could be chosen, but the possibility for Catarina to be chosen was still there.
As he entered inside, he immediately heard the sound of a pianoforte playing, and his heart immediately softened.
The notes were horribly off-key and all over the place, and Catarina's terrible singing voice accompanied it, causing one's ears to bleed.
He ventured towards the piano room, and through the window he saw his daughter and her two maids, Rosie and Marie, both smiling in pain while listening Catarina play.
The piece finally ended after a painful five minutes, and Rosie immediately opened her mouth to complain.
"Miss, if you keep playing like this, you will never become better! Do you want the music teacher to call you tone-deaf again ?"
"It's just pianoforte, Rosie. I don't think that it is anywhere significant," Catarina replied dryly as she pushed the notes aside and hopped off of the stool.
