Chapter 153 You Must Get Married
The Queen noticed that Friedel's gaze was still fixed on the direction where Anne's figure had disappeared. She smiled and said gently, "She's already gone. Why don't you go after her?"
Friedel looked a bit embarrassed. "Why would I go after her?"
"Didn't you come here specifically because of Anne?"
"I just don't want her to focus on trivial matters like marriage right after becoming the leader of the Knights. Besides, how good could the husband you and my brother arrange for her be? Even if he seems decent, who knows if he'd mind that she's been married before, or that she won't stay home doing housework like other women but will lead troops into battle instead..."
Friedel rattled off a long string of possibilities like pouring beans from a bag. Suddenly realizing he'd said way too much, he noticed the Queen looking at him with a half-smile. "You care about her that much?"
"My brother and I were both trained by Lord Skoda. Anne is his daughter, so I think of her as a sister and naturally want to look out for her."
Friedel bit his lip. He felt that if he stayed in the Queen's palace any longer, he'd be cornered with questions. "I... I have something to discuss with my brother. I won't disturb you any longer. Goodbye."
The Queen sighed, watching Friedel's embarrassingly hasty retreat. With him acting like this, she thought, marrying Anne off would be nearly impossible.
She just wondered how many schemes Rolf would have to come up with for his troublesome brother.
Friedel stormed into Rolf's study. "Brother, how could you let the Queen introduce husband candidates to Anne?"
Rolf glanced at him. "Just came from the Queen's place?"
"Yes, but when I got there, Anne was just about to leave. I don't know how the introduction went."
"If you care so much, why didn't you just follow her and ask?"
Friedel turned his face away. "I'm just normally concerned about a comrade-in-arms. Besides, Anne is Lord Skoda's daughter. I see her as a sister, so naturally I don't want her to marry just anyone."
"Oh, as a sister?"
Rolf looked at Friedel with a smile, but inwardly he cursed - sister my foot! If you really saw Anne as a sister, who was it that ran to the Virlet family to ask Lady Sophia for Anne's hand in marriage?
Just wait until Anne starts calling him "brother" and refuses to marry him - then he'll have something to cry about!
Meanwhile, Anne hurriedly left the palace and met up with Duncan and the other three at their pre-arranged meeting spot. The five of them looked at each other, all sporting dark circles under their eyes.
Anne had been forcing herself to stay alert, planning to show them around the capital, but seeing the exhaustion on everyone's faces, she immediately realized that one night's rest wasn't enough to recover from such a long journey. She waved her hand decisively. "Come on, let's go to the Virlet family's residence in the capital and get some good sleep!"
Cynthia glared at Anne. "Why go to your place? Who knows if anyone's been cleaning it. We should just go to my house. We stayed at my family's estate last night. If it weren't for picking you up, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed today!"
Anne immediately put on a flattering smile. She linked arms with Cynthia and got into the carriage. "Look at my memory - I forgot we have the young lady of the Yadley family with us. Your family's villa in the capital definitely has servants. Let's go, let's go to your place."
She yawned. "I talked so much at Queen Mother Smith's place last night, and was summoned by the Queen early this morning. I'm exhausted."
Morris was surprised. "You just attended a celebration banquet - how did you end up meeting all three of the most important people in the palace? And we never heard you mention knowing the Queen!"
Anne sighed and explained how the Queen had summoned her that morning. Everyone fell silent, especially Cynthia, who looked shocked. "I'd rather just get money! At least I could share it with you all directly. If they arranged some husband for me too, I'd really regret going to war!"
Samira nodded. Though she wasn't from nobility, she had no intention of using this opportunity to marry some noble's son. In her view, marrying just anyone wasn't as good as traveling and continuing to improve her spear skills.
The group returned to the Yadleys' villa in the capital with laughter and chatter. Cynthia waved her hand, having the servants prepare a room for Anne. After joking around, the five of them yawned their way back to their rooms and slept soundly.
During this time, under the arrangements of the Queen Mother and the King, Anne's succession ceremony was nearly ready. A messenger from the palace contacted Anne to notify her about the ceremony.
After several days of rest, Anne recovered her spirits. Following the solemn ceremony, she officially became the new Duke of Virlet and the youngest Duke in the Soth Empire.
The end of the ceremony also meant Anne would soon return to the Virlet family's territory. This was good news for Anne - after all, she had left Virlet Manor in such a hurry before that she hadn't been able to say goodbye to many people. This time she was returning home with honor and joy - how could she not be excited?
Cynthia and the other three had already discussed with Anne about visiting her home for a good time, and Anne of course welcomed them. She knew they wouldn't continue staying with the Knights, and once they left, who knew when they'd meet again.
The upcoming separation was a sad thing, but at least for now, her friends were still here.
However, as the carriage reached the city gate and Anne and the others were chatting, they suddenly heard hoofbeats from behind, as if chasing something. Their carriage also stopped.
Anne was just wondering which noble family in the capital was bold enough to ride horses in the streets when she heard Conor's voice outside the carriage. "Duke Virlet, please wait. His Majesty has something for me to tell you."
Anne was surprised to see Conor's smiling face as she got out of the carriage. "Uncle Conor, what else does His Majesty need me to do?"
Conor smiled and spoke. "His Majesty's decree is that you must find yourself a suitable husband within three months."
Their location wasn't far from the city gate, and there were many people coming and going in the capital. Seeing that one of the people standing there was the recently prominent Duke Virlet, and the other was Count Conor, a close aide to the King, they all gathered around and heard what Conor had just said.
"What? His Majesty the King is requiring Duke Virlet to get married?"