Creak, creak, rustle, rustle...
The carriage rolled along Charcoal Ash Avenue, its sounds especially clear in the night. Inside the cabin, warmed by a brazier, Old Madam Ingrid wept again and again.
She lamented how her daughter Roby would live from now on, and what would become of her young granddaughter Diana.
Madam Meryl and Gewen, her eldest daughter-in-law, softly consoled Old Madam Ingrid.
Thirteen-year-old Laura rested her chin on her hand and stared blankly through a gap in the curtain at the pitch-black night sky outside.
She could no longer remember what Aunt Roby looked like.
But she still remembered Diana, her cousin two years younger than her. Over the past few years, she had occasionally seen Uncle Davis bring Diana to holiday banquets. However, Diana was rather quiet by nature, and they could never really play together.
Poor thing, Laura thought.
She had two brothers and an older sister, while Diana had no siblings at all.
Listening closely, she could hear her father, Baron Roman, her eldest brother Roland, her second brother Russell, and Uncle Rosen talking outside the carriage.
"Now that Davis is dead, it's already settled that the Golden Plains will change hands," Rosen said quietly. "I've met that Dyson. He's a qualified heir, but after inheriting the title, he'll probably throw in completely with the Water Willow Family."
"Davis never formally named an heir. I think there's room to maneuver here," Baron Roman said.
"Indeed. The choice of heir should now be made by Aunt," Roland added.
"Will the Kingtop Mushroom Family obey Roby's orders?"
"Roby is the Baroness. Who would dare disobey her?" Baron Roman said energetically. "If they dare, Russell and I will teach them what loyalty to one's lord means."
Rosen still did not know that Russell had advanced to Dragon Domain