Chapter 156

On the Tuesday morning, as the moon at the horizon had just completely disappeared and the sun would not rise for over an hour, it was the darkest time.

However, under the illumination of thousands of whale-fat street lamps, the entire Red Pine Avenue was as bright as daylight. The usually quiet Red Pine Avenue noisily came to life earlier than usual in this extravagantly luxurious light.

Coal, flour, spices, lanterns… cargo boxes and baskets of all sizes, expensive utensils piled up in heaps, ribbons and velvet fabrics stacked like small mountains…

Carriages loaded with various supplies and gifts almost completely occupied the wide freight road. These carriages, connected one after another, were like intertwined dragons winding towards the end of Red Pine Avenue where Leon Manor lay…

Tch tch, truly worthy of the Lionheart Duke’s investiture ceremony – they sure don’t skimp on spending! A young woman peeked out from a two-wheeled light carriage, took a look at the seemingly endless queue ahead, then seemed uncomfortable from the chilly autumn wind. Quickly retreating back into the carriage, she muttered while touching her frozen, round nose: “I miscalculated. If I had known it’d be this cold today, I should’ve worn more layers.”

“…”

Looking at the young woman who was warming her hands by blowing on them and rudely stomping her feet due to the cold, the middle-aged noblewoman sitting opposite restrained herself again and again, but eventually couldn’t help but remind her:

“Princess Veronica, even if you snuck out, please mind your demeanor!”

“I’ll let you off today. I’m too cold to care about my demeanor. Honestly, if I could warm up the carriage right now, I wouldn’t mind dancing for you down there instead of just maintaining my demeanor.”

After joking around with the middle-aged noblewoman, the young woman forcefully pulled her woolen shawl tighter, covering the twin peaks almost popping out of her bodice, then leaned against the window to continue observing the outside convoy.

“Quite a lot of people have shown up today…”

Squinting her eyes and looking at the noble-exclusive racing lane for a while, counting the number of carriages that passed by, the charming young woman said with a smirk:

“Silver Chalice, Mandarin Duck, Light Shield… Heh, in just this short while, three major noble families have already passed. It seems the Leon family’s inheritance is indeed tempting enough.

Regardless of those who should come or shouldn’t, anyone capable wants to seize this opportunity to take a big bite. Today’s investiture ceremony will surely be lively!”

“…”

I don’t know how lively it will be later, but this dress looks far too “hot” on you! Seeing the young woman’s ample bosom nearly spilling out due to her leaning posture against the window frame, the middle-aged noblewoman involuntarily twitched her eyelids, hurriedly pulling her back inside, scolding with evident annoyance: “Your Imperial Highness, please mind your demeanor! Honestly…

If your identity is revealed during the ceremony, seeing you dressed so improperly, the entire Royal Family would be disgraced! You should at least find a dress that fits better before coming out!”

“This… I can’t help it…”

Lowering her head to look at her own dress, the young woman adjusted the floral pleats at her waist, showing how much space was left, then said helplessly: “My dress size is special, usually custom-made. This is the most suitable one I could find in a hurry. Look, there’s quite a bit of space here at the waist. Any bigger and it wouldn’t fit.”

“…”

Looking at the dress originally designed to be simple but appeared strikingly eye-catching on her, the corners of the middle-aged noblewoman’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch violently.

She roughly grabbed the young woman’s shawl, then tore off the tassels from the carriage cushion, tying dozens of decorative knots on the side of the shawl, hard-pressing a net edge to cover the front opening.

After modifying the shawl and re-draping it over the young woman, seeing her chest hidden behind the tassel net edge, the middle-aged noblewoman finally sighed in relief, then gritted her teeth and threatened:

Not really? Upon hearing this, the young woman slightly froze, looked down at the unusually thick shawl, then a hint of discomfort showed on her pretty face.

“This is pure woolen weave, the tightest stitching kind. Besides, there are charcoal stoves burning in Leon Manor. If I don’t take off the shawl…”

“Princess Veronica!”

“Alright alright, I won’t take off the shawl.”

Seeing the “wear-it-or-die” expression on the middle-aged noblewoman’s face, knowing this was her limit, the young woman could only sigh, obediently covering herself properly with the shawl, then stuck her head out of the window again to look at the traffic outside.

“By the way, letting me take the freight road instead of the racing lane was truly a good idea. If I had taken the racing lane, I wouldn’t have seen so many interesting things.”

After several carriages painted with three copper-crowned feathers raced past on the racing lane, the young woman counted the number of nobles attending the ceremony while smiling toward the worried middle-aged noblewoman: “Look, that penniless Earl actually came too. I wonder if he brought along that cabbage?”

Penniless Earl? Hearing the young woman’s words, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn’t help but furrow her brows and asked:

“Your Imperial Highness, what does ‘penniless Earl’ mean?”

“That’s an insult.”

The young woman smiled and explained: “A few days ago, the newly appointed Lionheart Duke had a little conflict with this penniless Earl. Upon discovering that despite having an Earl title, his crest only had three basic plumes, the Duke directly pointed at his crest on his chest and disdainfully called him a penniless Earl, almost making him faint on the spot.

Later, after waking up, this penniless Earl retaliated against the Duke’s mockery by placing a cabbage at home and proclaiming that the Duke’s position would probably rot faster than the cabbage at his house.”

After educating the middle-aged noblewoman about the origins of “penniless Earl” and “cabbage Duke,” the young woman grinned with curved eyebrows: “Although he’s about to inherit the Duke title, he really doesn’t feel like a noble at all. The reason why I insisted on watching the investiture ceremony today is to see what other interesting things he might stir up.”

Your Imperial Highness… ultimately is still a young person who likes excitement…

Seeing the young woman laughing happily, unlike her usual day-long frowning contemplation, the middle-aged noblewoman’s heart softened slightly. Just as she was about to give some advice, she heard a commotion from behind.

“Clear the way!”

“Make way! Make way!”

“Royal procession, pedestrians move aside!”

The two women in the carriage turned back in surprise and saw that the temporary barrier dividing the freight road and the racing lane had been forcibly pushed over and rudely dumped by the roadside.

Next, two teams of brightly dressed guards, holding long rods with curved ends specifically used for driving people away, shoved numerous carriages that didn’t manage to dodge in time to the side of the road, forcibly widening the central road of Red Pine Avenue, allowing a luxurious carriage pulled by eight fine horses to enter.

(The chapter is complete)