# 80 - 80
What Tullia called “Cupid’s disease” or “Eros syndrome,” was whispered euphemistically by most nobles as “excess power syndrome.”
This was because Crown Prince Ferdinand was nearly twenty years old, yet his outward appearance was still that of a boy.
No matter how much the Crown Prince possessed the sculpture-like beauty, talent, and guaranteed authority of a holy figure.
In the eyes of the conservative nobility, he was merely a “defective product” suffering from excessive divine power.
However, because that defective product was so beautiful, and because the temple venerated it as piously as if a ruler had descended, everyone outwardly showed respect.
In any case, he was also the legitimate eldest son of the late Empress Olivia.
The cold and tense atmosphere that characterized Crown Prince Ferdinand also played a role in this.
No one dared to disrespect the Crown Prince to his face except Emperor Alessandro.
Absolutely not.
“Huh.”
Viscount Lilius swallowed a sigh.
“It's a shame to let go of Sophia.”
It was a statement full of sincere feelings.
The Crown Prince's proposal was certainly crucial.
However, even the marriage proposal made by the imperial family found it difficult to impose his will in front of the name “Fraser.”
Since Sophia was the same age as Tullia, Viscount Lilius was planning to evaluate wealthy or influential people as marriage options for his daughter Sophia in the future.
If his authority had not suddenly declined to this extent, and if such an important crisis had not struck, he would not have easily accepted the Crown Prince's proposal.
"husband!"
cried Aubray in a sharp voice.
“Our son is having a crisis right now, so this is actually a good thing! Don’t teach Sophia useless ideas!”
"Am I an idiot? Of course. It's just unfortunate that we lose so much because of the timing."
“Hmm...”
Although she agreed to it in her heart, O'Pray quickly shook her head.
enough.
The most important thing right now was their only son, Tedric. I spoke honestly.
“How lucky we are to have adopted Sophia.”
Viscount Lilius nodded in earnest agreement with those words.
“It was thanks to your foresight.”
In fact, after giving birth to Tedrick, O'Pray had no intention of having any more children.
She believed that one son was the ideal number of children.
The more children there are, the more the father's love is divided, and only useless quarrels arise between siblings.
“Just like my father is doing now.”
Having one son inherit the position of caliph was quite sufficient.
“Besides, having children is a matter of putting one's life at risk for the sake of the woman.”
And of course, thanks to the divine power of the excellent priests and doctors of the Grand Ducal House, there was not a single woman from the Fraser family who lost her life during childbirth.
But the terrible pain of childbirth was enough to experience once.
Moreover, that child was a son who looked exactly like her, and was so precious that she would not feel pain even if he was placed before her eyes!
But a crucial event changed O'Pray's thinking.
“Who would have thought that Princess Hyacinthia would be allocated such a large dowry?”
Eldest daughter of Grand Duke Fraser.
Hyacinthia, Grand Duchess of Fraser.
That was when she accidentally saw the list of dowry that had been allocated to her.
That's when I learned.
That if the Grand Duke Assis Fraser allotted one share to his sons, he arranged 10 shares to his daughter.
Of course, Hyacinthia, Grand Duchess of Fraser, was a tremendous talent, and had been quietly mentioned as the next head of the family.
But the dowry amount set by Grand Duke Assis for Princess Hyacinthia was money she could take even without rising to the position of the next head of the family.
A huge sum, enough to buy almost an entire ducal palace.
Then O'Pray realized it.
The fact that Grand Duke Assis Fraser was someone who thought about dowry amounts for daughters or granddaughters on a terrifyingly large scale.
So what they adopted was “Sophia,” the name of a distant sub-dynasty.
“Even now, look at how the father, His Highness the Grand Duke, only lavishes that girl Tullia.”
O'Pray expressed her displeasure.
Of course, she doubted it.
The truth was that even if Sophia came rushing back from the academy, she would not have the same amount of favor with Grand Duke Assis as Tullia, who was already of direct bloodline.
Furthermore, Sophia feared Grand Duke Assis Fraser just as much as Tedric did.
She left for the academy and rarely showed her face.
But that doesn't matter.
What Oubray and Viscount Lelius wanted from the beginning was one thing.
“A father gives a gift when he gets engaged to a member of the Frasers’ immediate family.”
Viscount Lilius also obtained mining rights to a gold mine when he became engaged to O'Bray.
Compared to that, what Sophia now asked from the Grand Duke was an extremely modest engagement gift.
It was a loss equivalent to losing an entire gold mine, so the more he calculated it, the more he regretted it, but it couldn't be avoided.
Is this loss inevitable?
Viscount Lilius glanced at O'Bray.
His wife seemed ready to put poison in Tullia's cup if she could not save Tedric.
Of course, he didn't intend to blame her for that.
He wanted to do it first more than anyone else!
But on the other hand, Opry seemed a bit pathetic to him.
O'Bray's eyes were shining so bright that she might mistakenly think that Tullia had ordered Tedric's beheading.
Although Opray had always been protective of Tedric, lately it seemed like madness.
She said she absolutely hated the idea of having another boy.
Viscount Lilius wisely swallowed all the words he wanted to say and prepared to go out for the first time in a while.
Viscount Lilius could not even leave his room due to the house arrest imposed on him as a result of the scheduled trial.
But thanks to deliberately spreading the news that Sophia had received a marriage proposal from the Crown Prince, even the soldiers guarding him began to read Viscount Lilius' mood.
This meant that as long as there were no major problems, he could come and go tactfully enough.
“For now, I will go out and break this news to Big Brother Nigella. I also need to leak it to the elders who support me at the same time.”
And anyway.
“Since my daughter Sofia is in a position where she will be appointed Crown Princess, my older brother Nigella will not be able to look down on us like he did before.”
Nigella's attitudes and attitude could be reversed in an instant.
When he thought of Nigella who had to read his mood, his once low morale suddenly began to rise.
“We did a really good job adopting Sophia.”
Viscount Lilius came out smiling for the first time in a really long time.
* * *
And finally.
The carriage carrying Sophia Fraser arrived.
“Are you there, Miss Sophia?”
The Opry maids who had hurriedly emerged bowed to greet her.
Sophia tossed her decorated hat to the maids as if she were throwing it away, then looked around the beautiful and magnificent castle.
“The main Fraser castle is still impressive, isn't it? Well, of course, because there's no one with skills like our parents.”
The Opray maids gave an embarrassed smile.
"What are you doing? Let's go quickly. You've been taking good care of my room, haven't you?"
“How can there be any doubt about that?”
Sophia, as she always did, walked without hesitation like the princess of this Fraser Castle.
* * *
“So, now that all of the Fraser grandchildren have arrived, is that all?”
“Yes, Miss Tulia.”
There are a large number of descendants of the Fraser family.
First, me and the twins.
Agent Fraser, the "legitimate heir" of Count Nigella Fraser.
As well as Canis Fraser, the second son that Count Nigella had with his mistress.
and Sandra Fraser, the daughter of the mistress officially registered by Count Nigella.
Tedrick, well, is out of the picture, so it doesn't matter.
Now, her most important feature is the adopted daughter of Lilius and Aubrey, who also received a marriage proposal from Crown Prince Ferdinand...
Sophia Fraser.
It was her.
“Did Sophia Fraser come too?”
“Yes. Miss Sofia went directly to greet His Highness the Grand Duke.”
“You'll suddenly become the main character at my grandfather's birthday party.”
I put a lot of effort into preparing for my grandfather.
I was somewhat disappointed about that.
Although the grandfather himself is not the type to care about such matters at all.
“Ma’am, will you change the hall’s decorations?”
“Hmm...”
I pondered for a moment on Adel's question.
It is true that great wealth has suddenly descended on the family.
In such cases, it would be appropriate to change the decorations of the planned feast, but…
“No, I won't change it. In fact, why should I change it?”
“What if Viscountess Opray says she wants to change them?”
“Then I will show her the Prano Hall and ask her to decorate it.”
Adel laughed lightly.
The Prano Hall I mentioned was a small hall.
The size of a dining room that seats about twenty people.
The size itself was completely different from this grand banquet hall that could hold hundreds.
“Do not give her the keys to the storeroom even if she asks for it.”
“Yes miss, I understand.”
If you give her the keys to the storeroom, she might take out all kinds of precious decorations to decorate the house with.
I had absolutely no intention of showing such mercy.
“Oh, and fair too.”
"Yes?"
I lowered my voice and asked Adel.
“Did you prepare ‘that thing’?”
Then Adel smiled maliciously.
“Of course I prepared it, miss.”
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