บท 28: The Duel of Shadows

"Lady Ailish... is that right?"

"Yes. Lady Ailish, the Marchioness of Rosemary and mother of the two young ladies, is returning. She should be arriving at the mansion shortly."

One morning, the butler, Diebel, came to Rest's room and delivered this news.

"Now that you mention it... I've never actually seen the lady of the house. Where has she been?"

"Lady Ailish has been accompanying the Queen on a visit to a neighboring country. The lady is a highly skilled mage and has been friends with the Queen since their student days."

Diebel answered Rest's question.

From what Rest gathered, it seemed that the true heir to the Rosemary Marquisate was the lady herself, while Albert, the current Marquis, was more of a consort. The Rosemary family was a matrilineal lineage, with a notably high probability of daughters being born. Thus, they had traditionally brought in husbands from outside the family.