Earl and Fairy: Volume 11 (Light Novel) (eBook)
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-0456-7 (ISBN)
Lord Edgar Ashenbert and his fairy doctor, Lydia Carlton, are officially engaged at last. While Edgar is eager for them to be wed as soon as possible, Lydia is overwhelmed by the preparation required for marrying into nobility. Wishing to debut without fear, she swallows her anxieties and agrees to stay with a countess famed for teaching young women how to behave in upper-class society. However, when she gets there, she finds herself inexplicably working as a maid. Meanwhile, Edgar is visited by an unfamiliar young lady who claims that she is his fiancée-and it seems she won't take no for an answer!
Lord Edgar Ashenbert and his fairy doctor, Lydia Carlton, are officially engaged at last. While Edgar is eager for them to be wed as soon as possible, Lydia is overwhelmed by the preparation required for marrying into nobility. Wishing to debut without fear, she swallows her anxieties and agrees to stay with a countess famed for teaching young women how to behave in upper-class society. However, when she gets there, she finds herself inexplicably working as a maid. Meanwhile, Edgar is visited by an unfamiliar young lady who claims that she is his fiancee-and it seems she won't take no for an answer!
Lydia shook her head emphatically. “You don’t need to go to such lengths for us to be married, surely!”
Even with her wealthy, bourgeois father, the upper classes treated her like she was nothing more than a merchant’s daughter. She shuddered to think how she might be vilified if she met the Queen.
“Your father graduated from Cambridge and teaches at the University of London. He might not be of the gentry in a technical sense, but he ought to be regarded as such in a professional capacity.”
Perhaps, if he were a bishop or a barrister. Her father’s profession might just about put him at the same level of social standing, but it was such a stretch that it seemed to her even more audacious to expect an audience with the Queen.
“Would you truly find it so shameful to announce your engagement to me before my debut?” Lydia asked.
Edgar’s brow furrowed.
“In that case, perhaps you ought to find yourself a wife among the aristocracy instead,” she went on, knowing as she spoke that she was being utterly unreasonable.
Unable to bear things any longer, she rushed from the room.
***
It had been one Lord Constable who had marched most indignantly into the Ashenbert estate about half an hour earlier. Despite having shown up without announcing himself, he had shouted at the butler to summon Edgar as though he were the one being slighted. Tompkins hadn’t had a choice but to interrupt the earl during his meeting with his fiancée and her father. Knowing how much influence Constable had in political circles, Edgar had chosen to see him rather than turn him away.
“I must insist that you take responsibility” were the first words out of his mouth.
“Regarding what matter precisely?”
“I shan’t be told that you have forgotten that you seduced my daughter.”
“I was quite unaware that you had a daughter.”
Constable’s face turned a bright red, an apparent mixture of rage and embarrassment. “Lucinda is a purehearted girl, and she is currently preparing for her debut this year. You have shamelessly taken advantage of her naivety, and I certainly hope you do not expect your show of ignorance to release you from all culpability!”
The man thrust a book in Edgar’s direction. The cover was bordered with ribbon, identifying it as a diary belonging to a young girl. He confirmed as much verbally.
“She has written about the love letters you sent her and the occasion on which you came to see her in secret.”
“Is it not a breach of privacy to read your daughter’s diary without permission?”
“I am her father. It is my duty to know everything regarding her.”
“In any case, I have never once sent correspondence to your daughter,” Edgar said with confidence. Nowhere did his power of memory excel more than in his dealings with women. “If you are upset that your daughter has been made impure before her debut, I suggest you confirm the details with her before casting aspersions.”
“Impure?! You mean to say it went further than a kiss?!”
Edgar stared at the man blankly. He hadn’t realized that what they were discussing was so trivial. “You would ask a gentleman to take responsibility for a mere kiss? In that case, I must have at least fourteen different women whom I am obligated to marry before your daughter.”
The comment had half been in jest, but Constable looked even more enraged than when he’d arrived. It was in that state that he went home again.
“My lord, I believe that fourteen is a rather modest estimate,” Edgar’s servant said on his return after seeing Constable out.
“Do you really?”
“Insofar as I am aware—”
“You may keep that knowledge to yourself, Raven. And I would especially ask that you not share it with Lydia.”
“I shan’t under any circumstances,” Raven replied, his tone unusually firm. It must have been borne of the anxiety he doubtlessly felt every time he witnessed his master upsetting Lydia.
Depression turned to disgruntlement as Edgar recalled his unpleasant guest, and an enraged Lydia left him alone in the smaller reception room. He had no knowledge of what Constable was accusing him of, so it didn’t matter how the man vented his anger. He and his daughter would be the ones to lose face. Edgar couldn’t foresee it becoming a problem. That was, as long as Lydia didn’t find out about it. While she didn’t seem to be having doubts, she was rather sensitive at the moment, and the last thing he wanted was for her to suffer unnecessary anxiety about the wedding. In that sense, the matter became one he would need to navigate carefully. It wasn’t, however, the most pressing matter afoot.
“Perhaps I really won’t be able to convince her to see Her Majesty...”
Lydia was as stubborn and inflexible as ever. Edgar had thought that she would become more trusting of him in his capacity as her fiancé as he worked through the wedding preparations. Though she was still awkward when it came to receiving his affections, he had expected her to thaw, little by little, and for their hearts to grow attuned and ready for the ceremony. The reality was very different. Things were becoming more complicated from one moment to the next.
He didn’t doubt that an audience with the Queen would be a heavy burden for Lydia to bear. The reason he wanted to insist was because of the inherent significance of Lydia debuting in high society as Professor Carlton’s daughter. It would be meaningless for her to have such an audience after becoming a countess. A woman who just so happened to marry into nobility was not viewed as equal to a woman who was born worthy of her title. He wanted Lydia to have a place in his circles without encountering hostility there, and now was the time to make it happen.
“Miss Carlton has gone home, my lord,” Raven remarked as he entered the room. The boy rarely showed emotion, his expression generally impassive, but his apprehension was all too clear to Edgar.
“She has. The idea of an audience with Her Majesty upset her.” Though Raven’s expression didn’t so much as twitch, Edgar suspected the news had discouraged him. “How do you suppose I might persuade her, Raven?”
“I don’t suppose that you can,” he said plainly. He never had known how to soften the blow.
“Oh?”
“Miss Carlton’s opinions do not change all that easily.”
On that point, the servant was absolutely correct. If Edgar stuck to his guns about the audience, she would likely be even more convinced that he was overly concerned with appearances.
“My lord, I ask that you try not to upset Miss Carlton too much.” Raven’s face was grave. It seemed he feared that Lydia might change her mind about the wedding completely.
Edgar was confident that Raven was just as happy about the upcoming union as he himself was. Should things fall through, the boy might come to resent him. Never had Raven rebelled or interfered in Edgar’s business, but it seemed he was so eager for the wedding to come to fruition that he was prepared to at least state his opinion.
“I simply wish to do as much as possible before any unpleasant happenings,” Edgar said. “I want to give her everything I can.”
Edgar had a powerful enemy. He had sought the title of Earl of Ibrazel in order to protect himself from that enemy, and it was during that time that he and Lydia had met. Her abilities as a fairy doctor had saved him then. He had determinedly kept her by his side to fight against the hostile organization, which was capable of commanding the Unseelie Court. And over the course of their time together, he had fallen deeply in love with her. Presently, and no matter what should happen, he wanted her to stay with him, not for her abilities but because of who she was. For her kindness and the peace he felt when she was by his side.
The leader of the society that had killed his family and tormented him for many years, was dead. His memories, however, which were linked to the core of the organization, remained. They had survived because Edgar had taken them in. Edgar had become the society’s leader: the Prince. He had no idea what would happen now, whether the curse that had given birth to the Prince would alter him or whether he would act as a seal for those memories and be able to remain himself. In any case, he found himself unable to let go of his hope of a future, including his marriage to Lydia, and he had therefore continued with the wedding preparations without being able to disclose the truth to her. He would marry her and give her everything that was in his power to do so. That ought to protect her, he reasoned, and it was why he was in such a hurry. And a place in aristocratic society was among the things he felt he could give her.
“There shouldn’t be any unpleasant happenings. From this point forward, your lordship will be able to live a peaceful life alongside Miss Carlton.” Raven was the only one who knew the full details of what had happened. His matter-of-fact assertion gave Edgar courage.
“Yes, you’re right. Regardless, I shall be sure to pacify her.”
“I do not think she would appreciate it if you were to express too much keenness.” The intricacies of emotion eluded Raven, and he spoke even his harshest opinions as plainly as he thought them.
“I know,” Edgar said...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 9.9.2025 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Earl and Fairy |
| Illustrationen | Mizue Tani |
| Übersetzer | Mizue Tani |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy |
| Schlagworte | Adventure • aristocracy and family secrets • Drama • female doctor protagonist • Folklore and Mythology • Shojo • Victorian Britain |
| ISBN-10 | 1-7183-0456-0 / 1718304560 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-7183-0456-7 / 9781718304567 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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