Premonition
At the damp end of the stone stairs, there was an underground dungeon.
As the soldier handed over the silver candlestick and left, Aracilla removed her hooded robe.
Through the iron bars, a woman in tattered prisoner’s clothes could be seen sitting miserably, her eyes closed in resignation.
“Sis, it’s me.”
“…Ari?”
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Iris opened her eyes groggily and crawled clumsily towards the bars.
Aracilla hastily placed the candlestick on the ground and knelt, meeting her sister’s gaze.
“How did you get here…?”
“Frederick helped. Sorry for not coming sooner. I was delayed due to various investigations.”
“No, thank you for coming.”
Through the narrow gap of the bars, the sisters clasped each other’s hands. In the dim light of the candle, Iris’s features became clearer.
Aracilla’s expression twisted as she examined Iris’s dry body covered in bruises and bruises, her emaciated face devoid of color.
“Oscar Vandermeer, you bastard… Others suffered because of him, but did he choose an easy death alone?”
“Aracilla…”
“If that bastard hadn’t committed treason, you wouldn’t be like this!”
Aracilla yelled with fierce anger, biting her lower lip. Drops of blood formed on her swollen lip from biting too often.
Clear hatred rose above the moist eyes.
“This is all because of that b*stard… No! Because of our family that forced you to marry him!”
“Ari, calm down.”
Iris reprimanded her sister in a tired voice. Despite being dragged here together and enduring harsh torture for her husband’s treason, she remained calm.
“My marriage was unavoidable. You know that too.”
“Yeah, I know! It was a strategic marriage promised in front of the emperor. But there were ways to cancel it.”
“There weren’t, Ari… There really weren’t…”
Iris weakly smiled through her pale lips. Her frail fingers patted her sister’s hand.
“You may not have known, but our ancestors asked the emperor to grant titles and property to the son-in-law who kept the marriage promise. So no matter what happened, this marriage would have proceeded…”
Upon hearing the truth she had never known, Aracilla’s face twisted in disbelief.
“Isn’t that insane? Why would they use someone else’s precious granddaughter as a hostage for their family succession? If they were going to do that, they should have raised their grandson properly!”
Unable to contain her anger, Aracilla slammed the iron bars, then paused, looking at her sister.
Iris also lowered her eyes with a guilty expression.
“If it weren’t for that, the one inheriting the Ducal House would have been Vandermeer instead…”
“Are you talking about the leader of the Red Hawk Knights, who recently left for the north due to the duke’s treason?”
“Yeah, I found out after marriage. My husband was fighting for succession with his younger brother. That’s why I…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Iris hurriedly covered her mouth and coughed. Aracilla worriedly patted her sister’s shoulder.
“Are you okay, sis? If I had known, I would have married instead. If it were me, I would have torn out that d*mn duke’s hair and chopped off his fingers so he couldn’t commit treason.”
She muttered with genuine regret.
Meanwhile, Iris’s summer-green eyes, which seemed like melted jade, lost their sparkle and became clouded.
“Ari… I have one last request…”
Aracilla leaned towards her sister, listening intently to her voice, which seemed like it could be extinguished at any moment.
“Tell our parents and Adrian that I’m sorry. And take care of the family.”
“Sis, I…”
“I have to go now.”
A soldier who entered and opened the door grabbed Aracilla’s arm. She tried to resist, still having things to say, but ultimately was dragged out by the strong grip.
A few days later, as the wife of a traitor, Iris was executed. Clutching the newspaper with her sister’s obituary, Aracilla sobbed.
“It’s unfair. Our sister didn’t know anything. I should’ve, I should’ve been the one to marry…”
She repeated, lamenting.
***
Late at night, inside the Viscount Hugo’s estate.
“Ugh!”
Aracilla gasped, her eyes snapping open. Her whole body was drenched in cold sweat, soaking the sheets.
She sat up, clutching the bedsheet, looking around. Even in the darkness, she could see the familiar sight of her room.
“What was that? Just a moment ago, I was…”
She had been mourning her sister’s death, lying on the floor.
Her blue eyes, slow to react, blinked under her damp eyelashes. Her heart raced rapidly and irregularly.
Aracilla, still in her nightgown, sat on the bed as usual. She soon realized.
“It was a dream.”
She had seen her sister’s future in a dream.
She possessed a unique ability to dream about the future events of others, not just herself.
The downside was that she couldn’t control when to dream.
If today’s dream turned out to be accurate, it had been five years since her last one.
After dreaming about the future, her magical energy always surged like this.
Placing her hand near her heart and confirming her internal magical energy, Aracilla was certain.
Seeing her magical energy boiling, she was convinced it was a prophetic dream.
Aracilla, proficiently concealing her magical abilities, soon hardened her expression solemnly.
“But then that means sis will die soon in the future, doesn’t it?”
Both Iris and Aracilla in the dream looked no different from their present selves.
It meant that whatever was going to happen would likely occur within a few years at most.
“No, I can’t let that happen. I have to prevent sis from getting married.”
But how could she stop the strategic marriage with Duke Vandermeer?
Aracilla, using magic, pondered setting fire to all the candlesticks in the room.
First, she could threaten to expose Oscar Vandermeer’s flaws and demand the cancellation of the strategic marriage.
“No, Vandermeer has the power to suppress our opposition.”
If Vandermeer’s succession was tied to the strategic marriage, it would proceed regardless of any controversy.
Even Hugo, with his deep roots and high reputation, couldn’t afford to confront the powerful Duke Vandermeer, who was considered the pinnacle among the three pillars supporting the empire.
So, secondly, Aracilla Hugo would marry Oscar Vandermeer.
Although Aracilla had been quite a spinster for some time, she could marry if it was for her sister’s sake.
However,
“I’m not confident in this.”
As soon as she thought about it, she couldn’t muster the will to not just punch and kill him.
She briefly speculated what punishment she would receive if she were to kill Oscar Vandermeer.
Noble murder would entail at least a thirty-year sentence, and if a petition were submitted from the Ducal House, the punishment severity would likely increase.
“Sigh, even with Frederick’s help, I wouldn’t be acquitted, would I?”
Then Aracilla would spend more than thirty years rotting in prison. It was a very difficult future for her, who had dreams she wanted to achieve.
Finally, thirdly, Aracilla Hugo would marry another Vandermeer.
“If it weren’t for that, the one inheriting the Ducal House would have been Vandermeer instead…”
“Are you talking about the leader of the Red Hawk Knights who recently left for the north due to the duke’s treason?”
Precisely, the Red Hawk Knights’ Vandermeer mentioned here.
“I don’t particularly want to marry a knight, but…”
But the Vandermeer brothers were the only options, so she had to choose between Oscar or another Vandermeer.
Aracilla, who had been pondering for a long time if there was no better way, made up her mind around dawn.
“This is the best option. I’ll just close my eyes and do it.”
With her decision made, she announced to her family when they all gathered for breakfast.
“Mom, Dad, sis, Adrian. I’m going to get married. The groom is Vandermeer.”
Or rather, she informed them.
The peaceful mealtime at the Hugo Viscount’s estate quickly descended into chaos.
“Our dear Ari, you seem half asleep. What trouble have you got into now? Be honest with mom.”
“Ara, are you feeling unwell? Jackson, go call the family physician.”
“Don’t get married, sis! You’re still too young!”
The family’s words, mixed with disbelief and concern, ended, and Aracilla calmly spoke up.
“Jackson, don’t call the physician because I’m not sick. I’m not half asleep because I’ve been awake since dawn. I haven’t caused any trouble, and Adrian, twenty-one is old enough to get married.”
With her earnest rebuttal, Lady Hugo also became serious, setting down the dishes.
“Why the sudden change? Who flipped the parents’ dress code over? That’s not who you are.”
“The Aracilla Hugo of that time is dead. The one reborn now wants to get married so badly, she might go crazy.”
With a demeanor unchanged, Lady Hugo saw a resemblance to her daughter three years ago in the second daughter who shamelessly spoke.
“Mom, Dad, sis. I won’t get married. You know, I might end up buried at Morrow’s Peak”
Just like back then, she caused a spike in blood pressure with her unilateral announcement, and even after all this time, she remained the same.
“Ari, but why Vandermeer? Aren’t you a mage who dislikes knights?”
“That’s right! You told me not to learn swordsmanship, remember?”
As Lady Hugo soothed her bubbling anger with a sip of water, Lord Hugo and Adrian stepped in.
The Setron Empire was famous for the strained relationship between mages and knights.
The imperial family had alternately nurtured both factions for generations to keep them in check.
They had a long history of antagonism, constantly competing to gain the upper hand.
“We’re making an exception for Vandermeer.”
“Why…? Ari, are you secretly meeting with the Vandermeers…?”
Plausible suspicion from Iris made Aracilla shake her head.
“No? I don’t even know their names exactly, and I haven’t seen their faces yet.”
A deep silence ensued. The Hugo family looked at Aracilla dumbfoundedly, collectively unable to speak, their faces displaying bewilderment.
Aracilla, steadfastly swallowing her food, wiped her mouth with a napkin and smiled brightly.
“There’s a strategic marriage promised between our family and the Vandermeer Ducal House, right?”
“Yes, but how did you know about that…?”
The eyes of Lord and Lady Hugo widened. They were amazed that their second daughter knew something they were still troubled by.
“I’ll be meeting Vandermeer soon, so I’ll take care of that strategic marriage.”
“…”
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Leaving her bewildered family behind, Aracilla returned to her room with brisk steps.
And she wrote a letter, handing it to her maid, Audrey.
“Send this to Vandermeer.”
Let’s take a look at the face of the prospective groom.
