On a foggy Sunday, the Stuart family's relatives and some invited nobles gathered at the Stuart family's cemetery to attend the funeral of the previous Duke.

Closest to the coffin were the twin children of the old Duke Stuart.

The young new Duke was dressed in black and white, seemingly injured, and unusually attending the event in a wheelchair.

His long, curly blond hair was bundled up on his shoulder with a hair band, his handsome face expressionless, coldly looking down at the coffin already in the pit.

Behind the wheelchair was the Duke's adopted daughter.

Her dark blue hair was intricately coiled at the back of her head, leaving a few strands of hair near her ears. A pair of ice-blue eyes were hidden under the brim of her veil, silently staring at the young Duke.

The girl was wrapped in a black velvet mourning dress, her slender waist graceful and charming, and her long skirt conservatively fell to her feet, revealing only a little bit of her shoe tips.

The large area of black made her exposed skin even whiter, immersed in the fog, emanating a pearl-like soft glow, her delicate hands carefully holding the wheelchair from the lace cuffs.

The atmosphere of the funeral was very solemn until the main process was over and the old duke's brother began his speech to express his grief for his brother, people finally relaxed a little.

Some people started whispering, discussing the young Duke and his sister.

"Are they not on good terms? They don't seem to have ever talked to each other."

"Now that you mention it, it does seem that way."

Before the funeral began, the siblings were supposed to greet the guests.

Although Helena had taken the place of a maid or attendant, always standing behind Landon, in charge of pushing the wheelchair, there was no verbal communication between them, only talking to guests separately.

Even when Landon had to stand up to offer flowers to the coffin, they didn't communicate. Helena only hurriedly stepped forward to support him when she saw Landon's foot already on the ground.

One guest lamented, "I heard they didn't get along, looks like it's true."

"It's impossible for them to get along in the first place, she's not his real sister, and she's just an adopted daughter who got involved in family affairs earlier than the legitimate heir. If you ask me, I reckon she'll be married off soon."

"What? Why would that happen?"

"The Duchess passed away early, and the old Duke should have remarried, but he never liked anyone, so the so-called 'lady's diplomacy', which should have been taken care of by the Duchess, was taken over by this adopted daughter. It's said that she's quite capable, and the old Duke even entrusted her with some affairs that she shouldn't have been involved in."

"Alas, what can the rightful heir do? The old Duke is really..."

Rules are meant to be broken.

However, at the level of a duke, even if there were no rules, no one would criticize him, but instead adapt to his "new rules."

But now that the old Duke is dead and the new Duke has succeeded, power will undoubtedly be consolidated.

Whether Helena can continue this glorious position is uncertain.

The easiest way would be to marry Helena off, so as to legitimately squeeze her out of the Stuart family.

Even if Helena has already laid her own people in the family, marrying would make her an outsider, and those who don't want to be seen as traitors should rightfully submit to the new Duke, the legitimate master.

These people were not dukes themselves, but they enthusiastically put themselves in Landon's shoes, and planned the new ruler's first actions very enthusiastically.

Some people interjected, "You people from out-of-town might not know this, but the new Duke... Hehe, he might not even have that foresight."

Many people instantly perked up, signaling the person from the capital to tell more.

The capital dweller lowered his voice, "Weren't you guys wondering why he attended in a wheelchair?"

"Why?"

"Because he was beaten for harassing a respectable woman! His father just died, and he's already not able to bear loneliness! You can imagine what he's been doing all this time, anyway, you know how the old Duke was like, raising him without proper guidance."

The gossipers collectively gasped and shook their heads.

Understood, a spoiled rich kid.

There's only one male heir in the family, he was born as the rightful heir, and his debauchery wouldn't affect his succession. It's too normal for a family who doesn't take their responsibilities seriously to raise a wastrel.

"So what's going to happen next? It's really hard to say..."Naturally, Landon and Helena couldn't hear the whispers of the people behind them.

They stood at the most eye-catching place aside from the coffin, only being able to relax a little after the funeral.

However, the end of the funeral does not mean that their tasks for today are finished.

Many people have come from afar to attend the funeral, so it's natural to take this opportunity to communicate with each other and exchange information. Therefore, after the funeral, there would be a banquet for those who have gathered.

Since it was a banquet after the funeral, even though the celebration was for the young duke's succession, the atmosphere couldn't be too lively. Guests moved around, holding their wine glasses and conversing in low voices.

Due to the large number of people who needed to be entertained, Helena had no choice but to leave Landon, who was in a wheelchair, to the maidservant and take on some of the responsibility herself.

She knew what these people were saying behind her back.

She also knew that when someone said, "You've worked so hard," they were actually thinking, "What a pretentious country bumpkin."

However, since there was no one else to share the task of entertaining guests with Landon, Helena could only pretend not to know their thoughts and respond to their probing inquiries according to etiquette.

After half a day's small talk with countless people, a noblewoman approached Helena. The noblewoman hypocritically congratulated her, "Oh, speaking of which, I haven't had the chance to congratulate you yet. I heard you're going to marry into the Stuart family?"

Helena was taken aback, "…Landon is going to marry me?"

Though she was an adopted daughter and had not entered the Stuart family registry, she could indeed get married if she wanted to, as long as there was a reason. But their relationship in recent years has not been the best…

That being said, her tutor had taught her the tricks of courting someone as a necessary lesson for a young noblewoman. But she didn't want to please anyone, so she didn't give it much thought.

Now that she thought about it, could it be that Landon's mischievous behavior was simply an attempt to get her attention? If that's the case, Landon's feelings for her…

The noblewoman narrowed her eyes.

She saw Helena's slight hesitation, and a shy smile gradually appeared on her face, which had previously been coldly wearing a polite smile.

It was as if the winter snow had melted, the earth had rejuvenated, and the ice flowers had bloomed.

For this brief moment, she looked radiant, with a captivating elegance that was completely different from her usual unattainable demeanor.

"You two truly have a deep sibling bond, even at such a time your first reaction was the young Duke Stuart."

The noblewoman covered the lower half of her face with her fan, as if to hide her contemptuous smile. However, her exposed eyes were filled with undisguised mockery, "Indeed, Miss Helena must have wanted to marry the young duke all along, right?"

Helena immediately replied, "That's not true, I've always treated him as a younger brother."

"Really? Your smile just now seemed to tell a different story."

Helena was surprised, had she smiled just now?

Before Helena could think further, the noblewoman continued, "Unfortunately, it's not the young Duke."

"…"

Helena's face, which had initially flushed slightly, suddenly turned pale.

A feeling of shame and anger welled up in her heart.

She blamed the lady for not finishing her sentence in one breath, leading her to misunderstand. But besides Landon in the Stuart family...

After enjoying Helena's rare awkwardness for a while, the noblewoman slowly said, "The one who wants to marry you is your cousin, the eldest son of your uncle. I heard your uncle discussing this matter with the young Duke Stuart just now."

"…Is that so? I didn't know about this, I'm not familiar with…that cousin of mine."

Helena was extremely shocked, barely controlling her facial expression.

Her uncle, the younger brother of the old Duke Stuart, while he did not inherit a title, still inherited some lands and had knights and slaves under his command, a big estate owner.

As for her uncle's eldest son…

Helena did have some impression of him.

He was a cruel character who liked to whip slaves and had a cruel personality.

The only time they met was many years ago, and the way he looked at her made her feel very uncomfortable.

That guy even thought she was some kind of female slave and begged her adoptive father to send her to him.

They actually wanted her to marry someone like that…

"You don't seem very willing, Miss Helena," the noblewoman lightly laughed. "However, the marriage of a noblewoman is not entirely dependent on her own feelings. Our family has raised us this far, and we should contribute something to the family, shouldn't we?"These sarcastic words about her being from a commoner background and not understanding what it meant to be a true noble, Helena had heard many times before and had long grown accustomed to them. However, this time, they were particularly grating on her ears.

Making a contribution... What contribution did it make for her to marry a scumbag?

Yeah, how could she forget?

Cain had mentioned that Landon had always been unhappy about her being in charge of the household. If she were to marry off, Landon could then naturally consolidate power and even forge closer ties with their uncle's family.

Helena had been mentally prepared for marriage for a long time, but she really couldn't accept that scumbag.

Back when her uncle had requested her hand in marriage for that cousin, it was young Landon who had stepped forward to keep her, even comforting her by saying, "When I grow up, I'll find a good husband for you, sister." —That's right, Landon also hated that cousin; however, discussing marriage didn't necessarily mean it was already agreed upon, right?

"These things won't go so fast. There's no definite news yet, so please don't spread rumors, madam."

"Really? But when I passed by just now, I clearly heard the young duke say, 'After marrying her off, will uncle come to help manage the house for Helena? It sounds quite nice,' I didn't hear the rest, but it shouldn't have much impact..."

Helena's hands clenched tightly behind her back, shame in her heart replaced by anger.

Landon—!

Her uncle obviously harbored ill intentions, seeking to take advantage of Landon's youth to get a piece of the pie. And Landon, in order to push her away, had actually welcomed the wolf into the house!

What an idiot!

She was going to have a serious talk with him now!