[SCR] 7 – Seeds of Ambition

♔ 1 – The day of the tragedy ♔

“Idyllia. Come to my room after dinner.”

　Following her father’s advice, Idyllia went to the head of the family’s study after dinner.　As she walked through the corridors of the mansion, she wondered what he wanted.　Had the engagement between her sister and the Crown Prince finally been decided?　Rumour had it that the Crown Prince was crazy about her sister, and she thought it would happen soon.

(── How peaceful of a story that would be...)

Phew, she sighed heavily.　It must surely be about yesterday’s incident.　Last night, Idyllia’s father was attacked by assailants on his way back to the residence from the royal palace.　Her father managed to escape with only minor injuries, protected by guards, but her uncle, who was with him, was surrounded by the attackers and was stabbed nearly ten times, suffering deep wounds.　Her uncle Matisse, from the Leveaux family, was a monk who devoted himself to helping the poor.　From the time he was just a boy, he was very popular with the citizens as a good-looking and benevolent sergeant, which seemed to cause a lot of fuss in the city. In the first place, stabbing an unarmed monk was an unbelievable tyranny.

(Seriously ... Why would anyone do such a thing? ...)

The attack in the shadows of the night was apparently carried out by bloodthirsty young men of the Fontana family.　Idyllia knocked on the door with determination.

“Father.”

“Come in.”

Idyllia opened the heavy oak door and stepped inside to see her father sitting on a luxurious sofa.　There was a slight smell of chemicals, as if bandages had been changed.

“Father, are you hurt ...?”

“I’m fine.”

After saying this, her father shuts his mouth.　He was probably worried about his brother, who was seriously injured instead of him.　Her father and uncle were close brothers. Even though they took different paths, her father still looked out for his brother.　Thinking of his heartache, Idyllia cut him off.

“That ... Silvio ... is so deeply saddened that he has no words ....”

　At that, her father raised his eyebrows abjectly.

“How dare you say such a thing?”

“Father!”

“... I know. I know the hard position that boy is in. But ...!”

　Father tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fist.　It had been almost a year since he met Silvio.　All that time, Idyllia had been pleading with her father to marry him.　Her father, who at first did not listen to her, seems to have been defeated by his daughter’s persistent pleas, and nowadays he no longer opposed her as strongly as he used to. Sometimes he even asked her about Silvio.　Last night’s incident was just the tip of the iceberg.

“Something like this happened to Matisse. After all, it’s difficult to approve that boy’s relationship with you.”

Idyllia shook her head as if she was hanging on to the grave words.

“Don’t say that Father! Please.”

“But if the other side is this aggressive....”

“But even the Leveaux family assaulted a group of young men from the Fontana family last month, didn’t they?”

That was just a bunch of young idiots getting drunk and getting carried away.

“It’s the same thing that happened last night: ....”

“What’s the same?　It was clearly a premeditated attack.”

Idyllia crouched in front of her father, who was furious, and clutched at his knee.

“They say that was the result of radical youths running amok. The head of the Fontana family and those around him had nothing to do with it....”

“That’s absurd!”

“It’s true. In fact, the Fontana family has taken the situation so seriously that they are holding a meeting of the relatives tomorrow.”

“... a meeting of the relatives?”

“Yes, a meeting to discuss how to deal with last night’s incident.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Today, the head of the Fontana family sent an envoy to all the main relatives. Tomorrow, there will be a meeting at the main residence to discuss countermeasures.”

After explaining the details, her father sniffed, feeling a little calmer.

“Even if they didn’t know, they can’t be absolved of responsibility....”

He mumbled angrily and sighed heavily.　He then placed his hand on his daughter’s head, who looked up at him desperately, and murmured huskily.

“Idyllia. How I wish you had had the calculation and ambition of Beatrice....”