Chapter 50: Volume 11 - CH 1

The year’s social season had come once again.  

Under her Majesty the Queen, London had welcomed the weather of spring, it was a time where fresh blooming flowers competed with one another in the liberated season. In one place was a mansion owned among the land of the nobles, where, one after the other, people gathered at the city’s official residence. 

Though it was a long time before the grand banquet would begin, those who had not visited the city in a while, for the sake of having “first meetings” with members of nobility, these people were also mixed in with the others for the purpose of attending drama recitals and concerts. 

Tonight, in the hall of the first-class hotel’s lobby, as usual, held an Irish harp performance.  

In the waiting room of the hotel, everywhere one could hear the cheerful, open laughters of young girls dressed in gorgeous dresses. 

And in the midst of it all, they were unable to calmly stand still while their eyes constantly moved about. This was the first time the young girls had entered the social season for the year. 

Until now, these girls had been carefully educated and isolated in preparation for this moment. Starting from now, they were to make appearances at social gatherings in hopes to seek their own marriage partners. 

Despite saying that, even if there was a favored man found, the young girls were prohibited from confronting the other party directly. It was the norm for their parents or other relatives to introduce the young women with understanding on their behalf. For to introduce oneself at the time proved to be rather difficult.  

So in the end, recognition of a marriageable target had to be approved by the parent. 

However, when a charming, handsome man they didn’t know appeared, everyone will still nervously look forward to striking a conversation with him. 

"Hey look, is that Earl Edgar Ashenbert? ”

The whispers of the young girls were disturbed by that statement, and suddenly, emerging into their view, was a striking, eye-catching young man.  

He was a young Earl who’d held the rare feudal title as the Blue Knight Earl. And after 300 years, the young earl finally returned to England to manage his family home, giving a very mysterious impression to others. 

With comparably sparkling, golden hair, a smooth,elegant voice, and beautiful stance, almost no one could resist being attracted to him. So to speak, no matter what he did, he was a very compelling character. 

And in the moment one were to meet his eyes, he would return with a perfect smile, hence all the ladies could not help but involuntarily follow his figure.  

However, they could only follow him with their eyes. He was just by their side for a very short time, and so their fantasy of mutual love was gone in the blink of an eye. 

And with those results, they then became clearly aware their dream was impossible. 

"Then again, I heard that Earl Edgar had recently become engaged, did you know?" 

"Oh, I heard that too. ” 

"Is it true? The rumors came from the words of the major newspapers, but there’s no credibility.” 

“My aunt heard from an insider that the Earl was at a jewelry store on Bond Street. He was ordering that the words ‘Dearest' was to be embedded onto a necklace.” 

"So it really is true..." 

The young girls sighed one after the other. No matter how much they yearned for the person, he had already chosen another. They couldn’t resent him either and therefore could only appear disappointed. 

“However, is it not that daughter who is always associated with the Earl?” 

“But before, there were also rumors of it being that songstress. ” 

“It's impossible for a songstress to marry an earl. The one in the rumors is more likely to be the banker’s daughter.” 

“That woman has already decided to marry someone else. Moreover, if the engagement is true, then that person must be someone of nobility. ” 

“That is a good point, so who on earth is it?” 

“I’ve heard that the necklace’s carved initials were L.C. Could that be her name?” 

"It must be a very beautiful woman. ” 

“Ah, but rather than to marry for beautiful appearances, family background is just as important. For the woman to be betrothed to the famously loose Earl Edgar, she must certainly be a daughter of quite an outstanding figure.  ” 

The young girls’ eyes carried over in the distance towards a group of ladies surrounding the Earl. 

“It is me. I am the one engaged to Earl Ashenbert. ” 

“... Eh.. Lucinda, is it really you?” 

“When did you and the Earl know of each other?” 

“At the New Year’s dance party. ” 

“But how could this be, because you are ...” 

As the young girl hesitated to speak, Lucinda reluctantly gave a small smile. 

She knew what the girls were going to say. Her mother was not of noble birth, it was not suitable for them to be together, seeing as Edgar was someone who had a profound history of origin.  

“Even if our statuses do not match, we can also get married. My mother said that I haven’t done anything shameful. Moreover, we have been in constant touch with each other, and a few days ago, he proposed to me.” 

Surrounded by her friends who were dumbfounded, she held a proud smile on her face. 

Her name was Lucinda Constable, whose initials just happened to be L.C. She heard from a friend of the initials and arbitrarily fabricated the story of her being the one to own the initials.  

“The engagement has yet to be announced to the public. I did not think the jewelry shop was to accidentally reveal it. Therefore, all of you, please remain silent for the time being. ” 

You are reading story Hakushaku to Yousei at novel35.com

*

Girls who dreamed of marriage, even if they had yet been decided of a partner, had already painted a picture in their hearts of their perfect love. 

The wedding dress colors were most common hues of various whites and silver.  When Her Majesty the Queen had married, she wore a pure-white formal dress,  with an orange bouquet of flowers, as it was said that in the language of flowers, the Carnation was the symbol for "everlasting love.”  Legend also had it that if a bride was to wear blue jewelry during the wedding day, then she’d always remain happy. Also, tying blue ribbons behind the socks, along with decorative- luxurious lace cuffs, all meant that the couple could finally embark on the road leading to the wedding. 

The Wedding banquet was to be held at a top-grade party Hall, to make the journey of the wedding all seem like a part of an ideal dream.       (I didn’t even add the nonsense with the “flower” lol and instead just continued on with the translation’s other part. hope that’s doable. It was really confusing otherwise.)    

In order to have the ideal wedding come true, the groom himself was also important, of course. But the other party was to have clear knowledge of their partner’s status as well as property. 

Looking at those young girls who intended to marry, even those who had only been presented in this year’s social gathering, the future plans for marriage was clearly envisioned in their minds. And at such a matter, this was not rare at their age.  

However in Lydia’s mind, she didn’t have the slightest ambition nor understanding of a perfect marriage.  

She decided to get married because of the matter three weeks ago. Because she believed that her feelings of just wanting to be with him was not false. However, in reality, she couldn’t quite the true feeling of “wanting to get married”. 

For young girls who have just been engaged, during this period of preparation, unlike those girls she was not in the mood to be happy. In Lydia’s heart, she was only confused.

Even if she was asked what sort of wedding ceremony she planned to hold, she couldn’t think anything of it. After all, the matter of getting married, until recently, was not something she could so simply and excitedly decide on.  

Even if a marriage partner was to suddenly appear miraculously, to get married even in this circumstance, she felt it was unimaginable and instead something in the distant future. 

As she absentmindedly pondered over that, her fiancé had already been standing there, smiling warmly at her.   

She was in one of the mansions of London’s nobility, and to be exact, in the manor of Earl Edgar.  

“Lydia, this sort of formal dress I feel is clearly very suitable for you ..” 

In Earl Edgar’s manor, surrounded by the elegant parlor appliances of the living room, a being who gave a noble impression with his ash-mauve eyes, was hotly gazing at her in place. 

At their feet was a velvet carpet which laid underneath the luxurious ceiling, with addition to the priceless, artful paintings which hung from the walls. Nearby the windows were blinds decorated with velvet curtains. There was no other who could create this contrasting decor but one person. Embellishing the room with elegant style and character was the Earl, Lydia’s fiancé. 

On the table were piles of wedding dress designs and fashionable models of gowns. Just the mere look of it, most would feel very weary. However, he very happily selected each piece one-by-one,  as he carefully held it out for Lydia to see.  

Ever since their decided engagement, compared to Lydia who didn’t know where to begin, her father took her place instead to smoothly and steadily prepare everything. 

"Ah yes, it’s very nice, but..." 

With there being so much lace, in the end, exactly how much money must he have. 

“Is this a little too ordinary? To show a little more lace is also good.  Or maybe having a pearl embroidery is perhaps better?” 

Pearl? 

This sort of formal dress wasn’t something a daughter of a commoner could wear. At any event, this wasn’t something the Carlton family could openly wear for show.  

"If you give that for someone like me to wear, the feeling of a formal dress would be lost.”

Lydia stepped to one side and flashed a look at her father who was sitting at one side nearby.  

“There won’t be such a matter, isn’t that right, Professor Carlton? Lydia is very beautiful. She has enough beauty to capture anyone’s attention, and she should be more confident with herself, don’t you also agree?” 

“Eh? ... No... that ...” 

Looking at her father’s vague answer, Lydia began to worry in a sweat. 

'If I had known it would be like this, I might not have agreed to marry so quickly. '

A couple days ago, Lydia and her father together visited the Duchess of Maysfield, consulting her of the essential preparation for marrying into an aristocratic family. Because Lydia’s mother died a long time ago, and with her grandmother having passed away a few years back as well, there was no other older women Lydia could discuss this matter with. 

Moreover, at that time, her father also played no role for marriage since he’d been so oblivious.  

The Duchess was quite close to Edgar and was very understanding. Even though she was pleased to consult them, from the beginning, she urged them that they need only to depend on the Earl. They need not to worry about other extensive matters. 

Because she was marrying into the Earl Ashenbert family whose roots were of aristocrats, the value of the bride’s dowry was also quite demanding similar to the Earl’s status. So when her father heard of such large astronomical figures, he became very perplexed and burdened.  

As a result, Lydia who had yet to even dream of a wedding, began to recognize the reality of it. 

“Goodness gracious, Earl. To speak of her wearing that wedding dress, it would be like  squandering money on the dowry of all the civilian brides.  ” 

Once hearing her father say such things, Edgar seemed to finally understood his concerns. 

“Professor, so long as Lydia can come live together with me in this manor, that enough is so blissful. Therefore, as for the clothes and dowry and whatnot, all will be prepared by us. You only need to prepare along some personal clothing, for it is fine.” 

“Ah, that’s what the wife of the Duke Maysfield had also told us, but as the father...”                                                                              (Ahhh okay, I see what you mean by how it makes sense to say “rely on the real”. Some raw translations contradict so much!)

“For you to consider a reasonable range of values is fine, matters pertaining to money can be truly difficult. So Professor, I completely understand your feelings.”

Lydia’s father was a man who rigidly adhered to the rules. He was someone who had a scholar’s equally big heart. Rather than as a father's pride, his mind was on this matter: "If her mother was also still living, she will not ask others to help prepare her daughter's wedding.” 

In the view of Edgar’s mind, he was certainly hoping to dress Lydia well, just like the brides of other Earls... However, he didn’t intend to brush off her father’s requests either. 

"I understand.  Then, I will use whatever I can from the time I had gotten married, in order to prepare well in advance for the wedding.  

When speaking of the bride’s dowry-- from the round table to the linen cloth-- all the necessary, daily-life essentials were to be considered.  Essentials such as new clothing, shoes and hats, other women accessories as well as make-up, were all things that required preparation beforehand.  

You can find story with these keywords: Hakushaku to Yousei, Read Hakushaku to Yousei, Hakushaku to Yousei novel, Hakushaku to Yousei book, Hakushaku to Yousei story, Hakushaku to Yousei full, Hakushaku to Yousei Latest Chapter