The First Female Duke

Chapter 11

Mrs. Hall didn't expect Penny to give her such a big surprise - a water magician with an innate magic value of eighty! If she hadn't double-checked, she would have even thought she had misheard.

Her mother's happiness made Penny's originally annoyed mood a little better-she had been in a bad mood ever since she saw Miss Willey in the auditorium, "Mom, it's true."

Mrs. Hall looked over at her and said fondly and affectionately, "I know, baby you're doing fine." She let out a long breath and seemed to drop a big stone from her heart, "That's good, with an awakening score like that, you'll definitely be able to be Miss Willey's chaperone."

Penny gave a start, she didn't realize that her mother still had her heart set on being someone's chaperone.

"But mom, I already have direct access to Sophia."

Mrs. Hall nodded, "Yes baby, of course you do."

"Then why am I being Miss Willey's chaperone, I mean, is it even necessary?"

Mrs. Hall looked at Penny strangely for a few moments, as if she didn't understand why she was asking this, for it seemed to her to be a question that required no thought at all.

"Silly child, don't you understand, of course I know you're brilliant, but if that was all it was, you'd just be an ordinary student in Sophia, but it's different when you're Miss Willey's chaperone, people will associate you with the Willey family."

Hearing her mother's words as a matter of course, Penny had the feeling of being refreshed, as if in her mother's mouth, her becoming a student in Sofia was far less important than becoming Miss Villey's companion.

She was struck, she admitted. After a half-dozen moments of silence, she woodenly and honestly spoke her mind:

"Mom, I don't really want to be any kind of chaperone."

"Why would I stoop so low as to be someone's chaperone when I can already go straight to Sophia? I don't want it even if it's Miss Willey."

Mrs. Hall was beginning to feel a headache. Ever since Penny had a serious illness and woke up, her personality had become a bit eccentric, but Mrs. Hall didn't put it on her mind because Penny was more confident and independent compared to before, which seemed to be a good thing, so at that time, Mrs. Hall's concern was only about her daughter's awakening.

Now that the awakening results came out, and her daughter's talent was excellent, as long as she became Miss Willey's companion, and then followed Miss Willey to go to Sofia for school, Mrs. Hall felt that she could already put half of her heart into her daughter's future. But now, the heavens had told her that parents were just fiddly fates, that things never went too well, and she hadn't realized until today that her daughter's ideas were so strange and bizarre.

"Do you know what you're saying, Penny?" Mrs. Hall got serious, "Our family is a subordinate family to Willey's, do you have any idea what words like yours could lead to if anyone on the outside heard them?"

Penny hung her head.

Looking at her daughter, Mrs. Hall's tone softened as she tried to reason with Penny, "Penny, perhaps there is something I forgot to tell you, do you know the results of Miss Willey's awakening?" Without waiting for Penny to answer she said, "Miss Willey awakened a dual system magical talent, fire has always been Willey's specialty, so let's leave it at that for now, but she also awakened the light system, do you know what the light system means?"

Unconsciously, Penny had raised her head, she didn't realize that her eyes were filled with consternation and surprise as she looked at her mother and said calmly:

"This means that by the time Miss Willey comes of age at 18, she can even immediately inherit the title and become the master of Tagmart as long as she wants to."

"If you become her companion now, when she inherits the title in the future, you will be equivalent to having a close connection with Marquis Villey, and will gain countless connections and resources ...... Why can't you think straight my child!"

The last sentence Mrs. Hall said almost like a sigh through clenched teeth.

Penny had heard it, and it was because she had heard it that she felt angry and embarrassed. It was as if, what she was proud of and cared about was completely worthless in someone else's mouth.

So Penny heard herself say in a shrill voice:

"Oh, so what, it's none of my business how good Miss Willey is, is it?"

Mrs. Hall was dumbfounded, she found that she couldn't convince her daughter, Penny seemed to be insisting on something she simply couldn't understand. There was nothing for it but for Mrs. Hall to tell her husband about the situation.

Mr. Hall was created a baronet, and he had been working for the Villey family, and according to his plan, in a few years, he might be able to get Lady Villey to create a viscount out of the Hall family's loyalty, so sending his daughter to be a companion to Miss Villey was an important part of the plan, but now, his wife told him that his daughter seemed unwilling.

--Penny She did not want to be Miss Villey's companion.

Mrs. Hall had some difficulty in saying this to her husband, for she felt that she was the one who had not educated her daughter well.

Mr. Hall listened in silence for half a day, and then he found Penny himself.

Penny then saw his father, who had always been gentle and loving to him, with an unprecedentedly stern posture, said to her, the words were very simple, only six words, but Penny felt that each word was like a thousand pounds on her heart.

Father said:

"Penny, don't be capricious."

The Hall family had raised her carefully and provided her with superior conditions, and she could not, indeed, be capricious.

--Eventually, Penny compromised.

A few days later, Penny officially received an invitation for enrollment from Sophia Advanced Academy, which clearly stated the time of the start of the school year.

Sophia's main city in Estara, Canas, was located in the northern part of this country, while Nobia City was to the south, which meant that it was quite a distance away from Sophia. Counting the time on the road, it shouldn't be long before they left.

And a clear reply came from the Veli family.

The matter of Penny becoming Miss Villey's companion was nailed down and irrevocable.

By this time, Mrs. Hall was arranging for her servants to pack Penny's bags for her departure; before going to Sofia, Penny needed to go to Tagmart and then travel with Miss Villey.

To be honest, although her daughter finally agreed, Mrs. Hall was not relieved, and she sternly explained to Penny's personal maid, Kelly, that she could not tell anyone about Penny not wanting to be Miss Villey's companion.

Kelly's face went white and she nodded her head in a hurry.

To beat her to death, she wouldn't dare to tell this to the outside world! She didn't understand the young lady's thoughts, she only knew that if people in the outside world knew about this matter, the Hall family would be severely affected, and she, as a small maid, would inevitably not have a good ending.

Two days later, Penny sat on the carriage to Tagmart, for this Nobia City's famous ancient castle, Penny did not have much yearning, just as she did not have much reverence for the surname Willey.

Her personal maid, Kelly, however, seemed unusually excited, and though she did her best to restrain herself, Penny could see it all in her glowing eyes.

"Have you ever been to Tugmart, Kelly?" Penny asked calmly.

Kelly shook her head a little shakily, "How could I have ever been to a place like Tagmart." Without Miss, perhaps she would never have had the chance to set foot there in her life.

"Didn't you guys get a chance when you were attending the Stewardship Academy?"

"There was, but ...... there were so many people who wanted to go that there was too much competition for me to reach."

Penny nodded and turned her head to look out the window, not speaking again.

Suddenly, she had a small understanding of why her mother had reacted with that kind of shock after hearing her say that she didn't want to be Miss Villey's chaperone. The ancient great noble of Villey had been entrenched in Nobia City for hundreds of nearly a thousand years, and in a sense it was the supreme ruler of Nobia City.

And Nobia City was also originally Villey's fiefdom.

The people here have a deep-rooted reverence for this family name, and she even said something like "I don't want to be Miss Willey's chaperone."

They probably thought she was too bold for words.

They could never understand what she was thinking.

Penny laughed suddenly, and in the moment she figured it out, she decided that she was going to keep all of her resentment and disobedience to herself.

--Firmly, pressed in the deepest recesses.

Penny entered Taggermatt through the back door, and she found the castle to be so intimidatingly large that the carriage traveled seven ways for a while after entering before coming to a stop.

She first visited Lady Willey - the marquess who had inherited the castle by thunder.

When Polina's calmly scrutinizing gaze fell on Penny's face, she had the feeling that she was being seen through and had nothing to hide.

Penny could have sworn that Mrs. Willey was the most imposing person she had ever seen in her two lifetimes. Being held in such a gaze really tested one's mental faculties, and it was a good thing that after a few seconds, the sight finally moved away.

Penny saw Mrs. Villey smile at her - a smile so stunning that it was as if she could make out the top celebrities of Nobia City of yesteryear.

"Go to Edith!" Polina said warmly.

Edith? That would be Miss Willey's name, Penny curtsied and saw Mrs. Willey, seated at the head of the table, nod gracefully at her.

When she had retreated to the door, Penny couldn't help but let out a long breath, and it dawned on her that she was so nervous that her palms were sweating just now.

Edith was in the stable at the moment.

She was wearing a light and delicate riding outfit, and was tenderly stroking a date-red pony. The pony's body was oily and bright, without a trace of mixed colors, with only a bit of slender white in the center of the brow, which made its whole body divine like a finishing touch.

At the beginning of Edith is because of this eyebrow a little white at a glance, also because of this, Edith gave it the name, Lilia.

When she heard this name, Polina raised an eyebrow, Lilia usually symbolized a windy and handsome boy in Estara's legends.

"I see you like it." Polina commented with a smile.

Edith was teasing Lillian with a candy bar at the time, and at her mother's words Edith looked up proudly, "Of course, it can run as fast as the wind when it carries me."

Edith had heard her mother talking about giving her a horse for a long time, but it wasn't until her tenth birthday that she actually received the gift.

A superb thoroughbred from Calcutta, a beautiful boy. Edith loved him and trotted around the stable on him every day after that.

Only she was happy for a while and then frowned, as if she had met with something troubling her, and when Paulina inquired, Edith frowned:

"Soon I'll be going to school in Sofia, what about Lilia?"

Polina quirked her mouth, "Is that what's been bothering you lately?"

Edith: "Yes, I'm sad to part with it."

Polina: "What's wrong with that, we can't just ship it to Canas City."

Edith's eyes light up, "Is that really possible?"

Polina nodded affirmatively, "Of course it is possible, my dear! In fact I was going to do it without you telling me - are you going to desert riding during your eight years in Sofia?"

Edith immediately shook her head, righteously stating that she certainly would not.

It was true that Edith hadn't deserted her riding skills, and even among all the skills she had mastered, riding skills were already considered to be at an exceptionally excellent level.

When Penny arrived at the stable, she saw Miss Willey on horseback in a red and white riding outfit from a distance.

She was galloping across the grass on her horse, followed by a string of people who seemed to be afraid she would fall off.

Penny stopped and looked out of breath for a moment, and not far beside her a brunette maid glanced in that direction before turning her head to say something to another maid next to her.

The other maid listened and then ran over to catch up with Edith, the maid pointed in this direction and Penny saw the Willey lady looking in her direction. Two seconds later she pulled on the reins and the unusually handsome looking horse shifted direction and ran towards her.

Penny realized she was surprisingly a little nervous.

Soon Miss Willey came to her heels and the horse's hooves stopped with precision. Even if Penny didn't know any better she could tell that the horse was of excellent quality, definitely a fine breed.

Sitting on a horse inevitably constituted a condescending angle, and Penny wondered what tone of voice she should use to respond if Miss Willey sat on a horse and spoke to her.

But Penny soon realized that her worries were unwarranted, a true nobleman never looks down on people, after the horse stopped Miss Willey did not hesitate to get down from the horse, and then walked to her in a few steps.

She stared at her, with beautiful amber eyes.

Penny's throat tightened, and surprisingly, she forgot what she was going to say for a moment.

Edith noticed that the young girl in front of her seemed nervous.

Am I intimidating?

So thinking, she gave a placating smile.

"I remember your name is Penny? Penny. Hall?" Edith asked mildly.

Was this the Miss Willey who had awakened the dual magic talent of fire and light and was going to inherit Tagmart in the future?

Penny had never come into contact with Edith head-on, she had only seen her back from afar.

There were tons of stories circulating about her in Violet, for example, she was good friends with the first lady of the Grimm's house, they often played pranks together, and they delighted in bullying others.

So in Penny's head, Miss Violet was the image of a pampered and bratty aristocratic young lady.

She had already prepared for the first meeting to be difficult, but she did not expect that the contact would be so ......

Penny gave Edith a complicated look, and suddenly lifted the hem of both skirts, slightly bent her knees, and said the words her mother had explained to her countless times:

"Penny. Hall, with all loyalty for you."

Like all shackles suddenly broken, Penny realized--

Everything wasn't as hard to take as she thought it would be.