789
In the Hall Family's luxurious mansion, the family of three ate in silence.
The countess cut the beef on her plate with gold-inlaid silver cutlery. When she saw the maid waiting by the door with desserts, she instinctively smiled and looked at the chair beside her.
It was empty, with no sign of her adorable youngest daughter.
Madam Caitlyn's movement also drew Earl Hall's and Hibbert's attention. Their knives and forks paused in unison, and under their gazes, Madam Caitlyn suddenly began to cry.
"Mother..."
Hibbert spoke softly, but he did not know how to comfort the sobbing Madam Caitlyn.
Before they knew it, the entire world had undergone such tremendous changes in just two years. Their once happy, beautiful family had broken apart and collapsed step by step. Now, he was the last child still at his parents' side.
Hibbert, who had once been somewhat frivolous and whom Earl Hall had criticized for lacking political sensitivity, had been forced to mature. After his beloved sister Audrey left, Hibbert distinctly felt that his father and mother seemed to have aged again.
"Audrey, my little angel..."
Madam Caitlyn wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
"She's only nineteen... she's barely left Loen a few times, and now she has to leave home, leave us, and go to Intis all alone..."
"No backing, no elders, not even a friendly family bound to us by an agreement... my Audrey. I don't even know if I'll ever have another chance to see her..."
Hibbert could not bear to keep listening. He spoke up to comfort his mother.
"Although we haven't arranged an engagement, that young lady from the Montemar Family is willing to look after Audrey as her own sister. That family is more influential than any of our other relatives there!... Mother, perhaps