Chapter 30 - Grand Duke Roschester
Yvonne walked towards the pond and sat on the bench.
Looking over the still waters, she thought of the information she had gathered from Marquess Samed.
"Ho ho… So you want to learn about the social circles from a young age. That is good." He had nodded his head in appreciation.
She had enquired about the higher noble families and their children.
He thought that she wanted to know about them to socialize with them and build her own clique that would support her in the future.
If only he knew that she was gathering this information to stay away from the major families, then what would his reaction be?
She learned a lot from him during her class, information that was omitted in the script if it was not related to the main characters.
'There was much that was not mentioned in it but I need to know about them to survive and not get caught up in the crossfires.'
Only a few families were given importance in the story.
It also described extensively about the Royal family and its past. The relationship between each member and their influence on society.
Which was pretty much the same as what Marquess Samed had started with.
'I already know about this but can't let him know. So might as well listen to it again to refresh my memory.' She stifled her yawn and acted like she was paying attention.
Marquess Samed painted quite a picture with his words and Yvonne felt like she could see what had happened in the past.
The previous King Greggor Rosenhyde had two wives, Queen Romania and Concubine Yuliza.
While the queen was a princess who was sent as a tribute from a neighboring nation, the concubine was the only daughter of the Grand Duke Roschester.
'That name again!' Yvonne grimaced when she remembered the name Roschester and she felt a shooting pain in her chest.
The nobles believed that Queen Romania did not deserve the seat beside the King because she was not from Rosenhyde.
They wanted Yuliza Roschester to be their queen instead but by then King Greggor had already fallen for the beautiful and petite Romania.
At the same time, not wanting to break the promise he had made to his childhood sweetheart, Yuliza, he married them both but gave them different statuses.
His heart belonged to Romania but he was guilty for stringing Yuliza along, so he came up with this solution.
Yuliza was disheartened when she heard of his decision but when she saw that Romania was a kind-hearted and sweet young lady, she stepped aside and let the King follow his heart.
What she did not know was that this noble gesture of hers had softened the King's heart and though he loved his queen, he gave equal importance to his concubine so that no one might look down on her.
'You cannot love two people at the same time!' Yvonne mocked the indecisive king.
Romania knew nothing about state affairs so it was often the Royal concubine who accompanied the king to the court, while she just attended the Royal ball and other celebrations.
She felt annoyed and the first seed of discord was sown in her heart which would soon sprout in the future.
A few years after their wedding, Queen Romania gave birth to a healthy son who is now the king, King Ophire.
Unfortunately, she got extremely sick but the noble Yuliza nursed her back to health.
No one would believe that these two sister wives had such a great bond between them.
Yuliza's kindness and love for the king had spread in such a way that she was now more popular than the queen herself which sowed another seed of discord in Romania's heart.
She slowly started distancing herself and her newborn baby from Yuliza and was often cold and aloof towards her.
King Greggor noticed their strained relations and built a separate and grand palace for Yuliza so that Romania might not be offended or saddened.
Though Romania was overjoyed that her husband had pushed the concubine into another palace, she later discovered that he would visit her often and spend time with her.
Not wanting to seem greedy and small-minded, Romania turned a blind eye to the king's actions.
Years passed and on crown prince Ophire's 16th birthday when all the Noble families were present to celebrate the occasion in the palace, the Royal concubine fainted which caused a great panic in everyone's heart.
King Greggor personally carried her away with Romania and Ophire rushing after them.
Romania's concern and worry turned to a burning hatred when she heard the news of the Royal concubine finally being pregnant after so many years.
Prince Ophire was the one who was more excited than his father when he heard this happy news.
When he went to meet his mother, he found her behavior to be suspicious but he disregarded it. Which was a mistake he made.
Romania had now lost a large part of her sanity when she realized how much her husband and son cherished the bastard that would be born in a few months.
Her resentment coupled with her maids filling her mind with evil thoughts made her take a careless step that would haunt her for eternity.
During Yuliza's seventh month of pregnancy, she was suddenly visited by the queen.
Overjoyed at seeing her sister-wife after so many months, she hugged her and brought her inside to talk.
After a little chat, the queen left with her entourage.
But on the very same night, Concubine Yuliza went into premature labor.
Everyone was in a panic and they hoped that everything would be alright.
The King and crown prince stood outside the room awaiting any news from the royal physicians.
Sadly, soon after giving birth to her son, concubine Yuliza named him and after holding him for one last time, she breathed her last.
When Romania heard that Yuliza had died, she felt regret.
Not because her friend had died but because her son was still alive.
Prince Ophire had found this entire situation suspicious so after a few days of investigation, the real culprit was uncovered.
He confronted his own mother who had applied a certain perfume that could cause an abortion in women which made the concubine give birth before time.
She justified her actions by saying that she just wanted to save the crown prince's position for her son.
Enraged by this, he disclosed the entire story to his father. Though deeply disappointed, he did not want to lose another wife so he did absolutely nothing to Romania.
'Again! Indecisive and weak!' Yvonne rolled her eyes.
The relationship between Ophire and his mother strained henceforth to an extent where he wouldn't even greet her when he passed her by.
He spent his entire time taking care of his baby brother whose mother was killed because of him.
The guilt and depression got to Romania and she became excessively sick.
She couldn't even last a few months and soon followed Yuliza to the grave.
Even to this date, the present King Ophire dotes on his brother more than his own son, Prince Fritzen Rosenhyde.
The things that Marquess Samed had told her were known in the noble families but it was taboo to speak about it in public.
When King Ophire ascended to the throne, his brother took his mother's surname and became the Grand Duke of Roschester.
'I remember now, there's a face-off between the male lead and the supporting male lead, his uncle because the prince was always insecure that everyone loved his uncle more than him.' She nodded her head.
Just like any other story, this one also had a supporting male lead who was much better than the actual male lead but he never ended up with the girl.
Always supporting the main couple from the shadows even though it broke his heart.
This would be the exact definition of the supporting male lead of this story, Grand Duke Draco Roschester.
The very same man who could also be called 'Yvonne's future husband'.
'No matter what happens, I can never meet that asshole in this life!' She clenched her tiny fists and vowed.