The Aftermath of First Love - Chapter 7 end

“Let’s go to the parade, Mother!”
Dalliana ran ahead of Cheriliana, looking back at her. Her maid hurriedly chased after her.

“Dalliana, don’t run, you know your mother can’t catch up with you.”

“Okay!” Hearing Cheriliana’s voice, Dalliana reluctantly returned to her mother.

Today was the day of the crown prince’s wedding in the Kingdom of Liparital. The engagement between the prince, which had been arranged at a ball a few years ago, and the princess of Admyard progressed smoothly, likely due to mutual affection, and there was no interference from any outside forces.

Even so, due to the political involvement of the two countries, preparations took time, and it took about three years before it was finally realized.

At that time, Dalliana was still unable to roll over, but now she was nearly four years old.

“Cheril, have you been well?”

“Oh, Sky, it’s been a while. Yes, I’ve been doing well,” Cheriliana replied, gently stroking her slightly rounded belly.

“You’ve been remarried for two years now, haven’t you?” Sky said, gazing into the distance.

Four years ago, during the ball where the prince and princess first met, something occurred that couldn’t be spoken of aloud.

“Lord Nelson, what on earth are you doing?” The prime minister asked with a vein popping on his forehead, but in a calm tone.

Darnell was frozen, holding the waist of a young woman and with his hand tucked into her skirt, in a waiting room where no one should have been.

The woman was one of the princess’s maids. She had come to Liparital for the princess’s engagement, and in an attempt to gather information, she had approached Darnell, who was part of the prime minister’s office. Recently, she had become his secret lover.

Unfortunately, the prime minister and powerful figures of the royal palace had walked into the room where Darnell was having an intimate conversation with the maid.

From the perspective of the kingdom, it was clearly a honey trap, and Darnell had no excuse, resulting in his reassignment to an insignificant post.

What was even more unfortunate was that the affair between Darnell and the maid became a whispered court romance.

The forbidden love between a princess’s maid and the heir to a dukedom became somewhat of a gossip among the bored noblewomen and eventually reached the princess’s ears.

Unaware of the depravity of court romances, the young princess, upon her marriage, wanted to see her maid’s love story fulfilled as a small personal whim.

In the end, this chain of events led to the dissolution of Darnell and Cheriliana’s marriage.

The marriage had originally been based solely on social standing, so there was no real disruption when the divorce occurred. The only ones affected were Darnell and his lover.

Due to a clause that Cheriliana had insisted on in their marriage contract, children born from Darnell and his lover were not entitled to inherit the Nelson dukedom. It had already been decided that Darnell would inherit the title, but that Cheriliana’s beloved daughter, Dalliana, would be the next in line.

That clause had been pushed by Cheriliana’s parents, who had been worried about their daughter’s suffering from Darnell’s infidelity.

The Nelson family was wealthy, but they had occasionally been in need of cash for unforeseen expenses. The Mardock Marquis family, whom they were to marry into, had helped them, and thus, the Nelsons couldn’t refuse them.

Had the divorce not happened, the clause would not have seemed to disadvantage the Nelson family, but now, in hindsight, they could only say they were too lenient.

Though Cheriliana still had ties to Darnell and worried about the security of Dalliana, as a noblewoman and the daughter of a powerful family, such concerns were not uncommon.

Cheriliana and her new husband were determined to protect Dalliana, and if anyone tried to harm her, they would retaliate without mercy. This had been clearly communicated to both Darnell and his lover, both in writing and in person.

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“Father, over here!” Dalliana spotted her stepfather and waved her hand excitedly.

“Lina, have you been a good girl?” Adrian asked, lifting Dalliana and kissing her cheek before speaking.

Dalliana, puffing out her little lips, said, “Lina is always a good girl.”

“Indeed, Lina is always our precious, lovely daughter,” Adrian laughed, hugging Dalliana and kissing Cheriliana on the side.

Cheriliana and Adrian exchanged warm glances, their hearts full. The day they had coldly gazed at each other through the window of the academy’s building now seemed like a distant memory.

“Well, well, Lord Garnet, it’s been quite a while,” Sky greeted Adrian with a wave, as if to say, “I’m right here.”

“…I apologize. Lady Larkins, it’s been a while. Thank you for looking after Cheril and Dalliana today,” Adrian hastily returned the greeting.

“Aunt Sky, the carriage!” Dalliana shouted excitedly.

Adrian watched as Dalliana and Cheriliana happily ran toward the parade carriage, his heart full of disbelief at his good fortune.

After Lord Nelson had fallen into the honey trap, Adrian had spoken with the Admyard embassy, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and embellished a bit of the story.

He spoke of a love affair between a high-ranking, married man and a maid from a neighboring country.

The events from that night at the ball had been kept secret, but since no one spoke of it clearly, Adrian decided to subtly guide the story into a pure love tale. Whether the princess would ever hear of it was a gamble, but he figured it would be worth it.

Adrian believed that Lord Nelson had likely done something that would eventually lead to a divorce. However, thanks to the royal family’s efforts to prevent any damage to the marriage alliance, Adrian was able to steer events in his preferred direction.

Cheriliana had added a small stimulant to the tea she had handed to Darnell that night at the ball. Knowing he would eventually find a moment to meet the maid, Cheriliana’s father, the prime minister, had arranged for them to be discovered.

Cheriliana had once been ready to forgive Darnell and live with him, but after his infidelity, she had been deeply betrayed.

The only thing she had delivered to her father was a note with the exact time Darnell had entered the small room, and it had been used effectively. Cheriliana had laughed alone in her room, satisfied with how everything had played out.

Her father, too, seemed pleased that he had been able to push the unworthy and unfaithful son-in-law to a minor position and eventually toward divorce, and that their granddaughter, Dalliana, was now to inherit the dukedom.

Cheriliana wasn’t going to let her life take chance. If you want something, you have to move yourself and get it for sure.