Coming-of-age ceremony
"Miss, the dress I prepared for you is ready." A maid pushed a clothes rack over from behind the butler, Bren. Bren bowed slightly. "Which one do you like?"
Tiffany had just finished washing up and showering, and with her hair still slightly damp at the ends, she walked up to the dresses in a long white nightgown.
Coming-of-age ceremonies are usually held in the evening, and there is still a long time before the ceremony begins.
"This one, please," Tiff said, tugging at a purple dress adorned with layers of jewels and pearls.
"Yes, miss." Bren left the dress behind and went out.
Tiff sat down at the dressing table, and Lisa gently picked up a strand of her hair and dried it with magic, then did the same to the rest of her hair.
The other maids were helping Tiffany choose jewelry. "Miss, how about this necklace?"
Tiff looked up. "Yes, and add those earrings too." She pointed to the hands of a round-faced maid.
Tiffany's hair was dry, and Lisa was helping her style it.
The banquet hall was almost fully decorated. Duke Strickland stood inside and realized he couldn't see his "beloved" son.
When Brun returned, he asked him where Antony had gone.
"Young Master Antony said he went to prepare a gift for Miss."
"This child, the whole family has prepared so much." Duke Strych said with a look of satisfaction.
As dusk fell, nobles arrived for Tiffany's coming-of-age ceremony. Duke Strickland stood in the banquet hall, exchanging pleasantries with the arriving nobles.
After all, it is one of the three great families, and the princes will also attend the coming-of-age ceremony of the Duke of Stryker's daughter.
The second prince had already arrived, and Duke Stryker went over to greet him.
Crown Prince Murray, Princess Luya, and Prince Chris arrived together. The three siblings have always had a good relationship, even though the Crown Prince and the other two are not full siblings.
There have always been two factions. One faction supports the Crown Prince's succession because he is the legitimate heir, being the son of Queen Casse. The other faction supports the succession of the Second Prince, Weilé, the son of Princess Ferrand, and believes that the Crown Prince is in poor health, so they want His Majesty to depose the Crown Prince and let Weilé succeed to the throne.
As for the other princes, not to mention that the fourth and fifth princes are already dead, even if Tiffany were alive, they would not be able to inherit the throne. The fourth prince's eye color is inherited from his mother and cannot be inherited. Although the fifth prince's hair and eye color match that of Princess Ferrang, he has a bad temper and compared to the second prince, he would naturally choose Weile.
As for Luya's older brother Chris, because Princess Salo was poisoned and gave birth prematurely while pregnant with him, Chris has some intellectual disabilities, and neither his hair color nor his eye color matches the description.
Therefore, the struggle for the throne has always been between Murray and Weile.
Amidst the melodious music, a man stepped into the banquet hall. His arrival surprised everyone, as he didn't enjoy attending these banquets. The last time they met was at the Crown Prince's birthday banquet, although the banquet ended abruptly due to some people.
Hicks was wearing a formal dress today, without a cloak, and her blood-red eyes held a hint of a smile.
He couldn't wait to see the look on Tiffany's face when she saw him.
However, his plan was destined to fail, as there was someone here who would surprise Tiffany even more.
Luya watched Hicks walk in, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes. She was surprised when she heard that Hicks had come to Muli's birthday party last time, so why was he here for Miss Gu's coming-of-age ceremony this time? Was he ruining his image?
Or perhaps he has some ulterior motive towards the Stryker family, or even towards the young lady.
"Royal sister, why hasn't Stryker arrived yet?" Chris tugged at Luya's sleeve.
Luya glanced at Chris and ruffled his hair. "Her name is Tiff, not Strickland."
“Royal sister, you can’t do this.” Chris slapped Luya’s hand away, and seeing her indifferent pout, he grumbled, “Mother said I am your brother, how could you touch my head?”
Tiffany appeared in her purple gown, with Lisa and Carrier carrying her long train. Her blonde hair was styled in an updo, and her face was adorned with exquisite makeup. She smiled gently, but her smile froze when she saw Hicks.
As she passed Hicks, a charming and beautiful face came into her view. Even though the face had nothing in common with Zhuzhu's original appearance, she could recognize who it was just by looking at her eyes.
When Luya saw Tiffany's gaze sweep over her area and their eyes meet, she knew that Tiffany already knew who she was, and the smile on her lips grew wider and wider.
Tiff walked to Duke Stryker's side, her mind filled with scenes of their time together. She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again, a polite smile playing on her lips.
Avoiding Luya's gaze, she greeted the Belanovich couple, "Uncle and Aunt."
“Hmm.” The Belanovics looked at Tiff with satisfaction.
Tiff suddenly asked, "Uncle and Aunt, where is Rother?"
Suddenly, she realized that she hadn't seen her son yet. They had set off even earlier than her, so why hadn't they arrived yet?
"It's really strange, they set off earlier than us, why haven't they arrived yet?" Duchess Belanovich explained, "I'll have a good talk with him when he gets here; that boy has always been so easy to manage."
“It’s alright, Auntie,” Tiffany said understandingly. “He must have been held up by something.”
Tiff knew it must have been Lorry who made the move.
Duke Belanovich felt inexplicably uneasy and suggested, "Why don't we announce your engagement to Rosser right now?"
“Ah.” Tiffany lowered her head, her cheeks slightly flushed. “Uncle, I still want to wait for Rother to come back and be with him.”
“Hmm,” Duke Belanovic replied, ignoring his unease.
Just as Tiff was getting impatient, Rory finally arrived. The Belanovics looked behind him but didn't see Rother, so they quickly asked Rory where Rother was.
Luo Rui looked pale. "He was kidnapped on our way here. Those people were very powerful."
Seeing that Rory's voice was gradually weakening and smelling the blood on his body, the Belanovichs realized that he was injured. Because he was wearing a black suit, the bloodstains were not obvious.
Even knowing he was injured, Duchess Belanovic couldn't help but blame him, "Why didn't you protect him properly!"
Duke Belanovich pulled his wife aside, saying, "The most urgent thing now is to find Rosser."
“Those people seem to be the ones who killed the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince,” Luo Rui continued.
As soon as he said that, Tiff looked at him, wondering what Rory meant by using her people as scapegoats.
Hicks curled his lips. Lorry was lying. Those people only killed members of the royal bloodline. Rother wasn't of royal blood, so why would they kill him?
Of course, even if it was someone of royal blood, it doesn't necessarily mean that those people killed him. For example, Tiffany killed the fourth prince to pave the way for the crown prince, since her family supports the crown prince, although he felt it would have been better to just kill Willey.
However, the thought that Rother was not dead dampened Hicks's initial gloating.
Tiff walked up to Rory in a few steps and exclaimed, "What did you say?!"
"They seem to be the organization that killed the Fourth Prince."
Tiff closed her eyes, looking somewhat unable to accept it, but in reality she was wondering whether she should faint. Oh well, she should just faint, otherwise she would have to act out how worried she was about Rosser.
Thinking this, Lisa leaned back and caught Tiff.
Lorry knew she was faking it, since she hadn't told Rother about it, but she herself had told Rother about it.
To outsiders, it seemed that the Duke of Stryker's daughter was so worried about her fiancé that she fainted. Although they were not yet engaged, everyone knew about Tiffany and Rother's engagement.
Hicks knew Tiff's true colors but didn't care, and Luya knew her inside and out, watching her pretend.
Tiff had her eyes closed when she heard someone calling her. Lisa carried her back to the room, and Tiff immediately opened her eyes after lying on the bed. She looked at Lisa and said, "Go and keep an eye on Carrier."
"yes."
After giving the instructions, Tiffany took off her dress and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
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