Today was a very special day for Lorelai Ashburn. Today was the day her father will formally announce to the Argent Empire that she, Lorelai Ashburn, will be his official heir to the Ashburn Duchy.

For eighteen years, her father had been weighing the option between Lorelai and her twin brother Lorenzo. But as the years passed by, it became more and more apparent that Lorelai was the more talented of the two. Not that Lorenzo was a bad choice, he just paled in comparison to his over-achieving sister. 

Lorenzo doesn’t resent this fact, though. He would much rather prefer the freedom of not having to bear the weight of the heir’s duties.

Lorelai and Lorenzo had never once let their inheritance get in the way of their sibling relationship. Most people would assume the two to be engaged in a bitter rivalry for becoming the next ruler of the Ashburn Duchy, but that was never the case. Lorelai and Lorenzo were steadfast friends, and Lorelai couldn’t ask for a better brother.

Now, on their eighteenth birthday, the people’s expectation had come to fruition. Lorelai was to be named her father’s heir.

On the morning that day, before the ceremony was to be held, Lorelai and Lorenzo sat down to drink tea together in the drawing room as a way to toast what appeared to be the end of their childhood and the start of something new. 

“I wonder what comes next,” Lorenzo confided in his sister. “I’m pretty sure Father is planning to arrange a marriage partner for us after this.”

“Maybe you can convince him not to.” Lorelai proposed.

“How do I do that? He doesn’t listen to me as well as he does to you.”

“That’s because you’re not using the right words.” Lorelai pointed out. “Don’t say, ‘Father, I don’t want to get married because I love my freedom too much’. Say something like, ‘Father, I want to try out at being a knight captain for a while so I’m afraid I have to turn down any other engagements’.”

“Goodness.” Lorenzo was impressed by his sister’s cleverness.

“That’s your problem, Lorenzo. You always say no. You were supposed to disguise that by asking for something else.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this trick sooner? It would have been so useful!”

Lorelai rolled her eyes. “Because you would have abused this trick. I didn’t want you to find a way to escape your education or do something stupid.”

“Hey, don’t think so little of me.” Lorenzo shot back. “What need was there to educate me, anyway? It was clear from the start that you would make a much better leader than I would.”

“What if I die, Lorenzo?” Lorelai asked in a cynical tone. “I wouldn’t want Ashburn to fall into the hand of an unprepared Duke.”

Lorenzo shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if I’m educated or not. I still wouldn’t make a good duke.”

“Don’t say that.” Lorelai lightly smacked her brother’s head. “In the case anything did happen to me, I wrote down notes and instructions on what you’ll need to know.”

“That’s not necessary. Don’t say ominous things like that.”

Lorelai chuckled. “Of course, my original intention wasn’t to leave them for you. I was going to leave them for my own successor in the future.”

“Speaking of your successor, who do you plan on marrying? Isn’t there already a long line of suitors clamoring for your hand?”

Lorelai scowled at him, displeased at how he turned the tables on her. “Well, Ashburn doesn’t need a political marriage alliance. We are strong on every front and we lack nothing. So, if I am to marry, my future husband must be very competent in some way or utterly devoted to me. That’s all I need from a marriage partner.”

“And he would need to meet Father’s expectation.” Lorenzo pointed out.

“If it was up to Father to choose, I would probably never get married. Father wants to find someone on my level.”

Lorenzo laughed so hard until tears came out of his eyes. “There is no one on your level, Lorelai. You’ll just have to settle for less.”

Lorelai propped her chin on one hand. “You’re worrying about the wrong problem, Lorenzo. Unlike me, Father has far less qualifications in mind for your future marriage partner.”

“In fact,” She added. “He might already be picking a lady out right now.”

Lorenzo’s face dropped. “Oh, no.”

Lorelai smiled serenely at her brother. “Actually, if you could get me some of those delicious cakes from that one famous bakery in the capital, I will convince Father to postpone any marriage plans for a little longer.”

Lorenzo’s face looked even worse at her words. “I’m not going back to the capital again, not after what happened last time.”

Lorelai started in surprise. “Oh, I forgot about that. Never mind about the cake. I’ll see what I can do about any marriage plans. I was just kidding about them anyway. I’m sure Father isn’t in any rush.”

“And look!” Lorelai pointed to the window. “The guests are arriving!”

Lorenzo moved closer to the window to see better. Lorelai rattled off their names and titles as they entered the mansion one by one. 

“Huh, Uncle Henrius and Aunt Bianca are late.” Lorelai noted. “That’s not like them.”

Henrius Ashburn was the younger brother of their father, Duke Ashburn. He and his wife, Bianca, held the title Count and Countess of Leyton from the House of Ashburn. They had three children, Irene Ashburn, Claude Ashburn, and Kassius Ashburn. 

After some time had passed, Lorelai let out a sigh of relief as she saw a familiar carriage pulling up to the mansion. 

“There they are.”

Duke Ashburn personally came out to greet his younger brother and his family.

However, only Count Leyton and his eldest two children, Irene and Claude, came out of the carriage. Lorelai wasn’t sure why Countess Leyton and Kassius Ashburn weren’t in attendance, but since the family members that did attend didn’t seem in distress or anything, Lorelai figured the reason can’t be too serious.

Irene had an expression of annoyance on her face, probably due to whatever delayed them. Claude looked mildly concerned, possibly for the same reason.

“They should be the last guests,” Lorenzo mentioned as he got up from his seat. “That’s our cue to get ready.”

“Wait.” Lorelai spoke again just as Lorenzo was walking away. 

Another carriage had pulled up to the mansion, this one sporting the imperial crest on its side. 

“There’s someone from the imperial family here. Were we expecting anyone from the imperial family?”

Lorenzo frowned. “I don’t think so. Who is it?”

Lorelai peered closely at the scene through the window again. A young man with black hair and black eyes stepped out of the carriage.

Lorelai’s heart skipped a beat. She had never seen this person before, but she recognized him by his appearance immediately.

It was the infamous second prince of the Argent Empire.