I Wish To Die Peacefully

Chapter 15: Lady Ava Adrienne Albrecht

AVA

Today is the day after my official adoption as a member of the Albrecht duchy.

However, that was no reason for me to slack off. My activities on my first day as an Albrecht had already been planned. The second and third young masters were tasked to take me on a trip to the Central Plaza. It was for me to be familiarized with the shops and stores located there at which a majority belonged to the Merchant Faction affiliated with the Neutral Faction.

As we rode the carriage, the young masters briefed me of what I needed to know beforehand. A string of shops on a street called Cypress Avenue belonged solely to the Albrecht duchy; the Dawn Row Boutique, the Jewel Place bakery, the Glass Joker emporium, and the Exalted Compass Jeweler, all of which were sponsored by the duchy and run by people personally scouted and sponsored by the Duke.

I was tasked by the Duke to memorize the shops, streets, and every nook and cranny of the place since one of the things that noble ladies can be in charge of without facing social scrutiny is managing business relating to luxury goods, fancy food, and the fashion industry. It's something I would have to excel in eventually and it would be an advantage for me to learn as early as possible.

By 'as early as possible', the Duke means 'as early as possible'. He's really not wasting any time at honing me to be the future perfect Albrecht lady.

As I listened raptly to Young Master Lennox, scribbling notes on a small notebook I have at hand, I looked back on the startling turn of events.

My sudden adoption still came off as a shock to me. I didn't know that my journey into naming myself as an Albrecht family member would be this short-lived. Since the night the Duke ordered for me to be moved to one of the mansion's guest rooms, I was treated like the lady of the family as if it was a natural occurrence. Nobody questioned the Duke's decision, not even Head Maid Cecil who was known to be strict and conservative.

I was given several challenges by the Duke, the young masters, Head Maid Cecil and Head Butler Archibald for a period of one month. They tested my intelligence and began teaching me basic education. I didn't bother to hide my literacy in order to impress them and made it seem as though I was a genius. Of course, I held back a little as to not make them too surprised to the point of suspicion.

Like what they originally said, the Albrechts took care of my health and I began to find myself both too pampered and too busy to continue having insomnia. Perhaps the relief that I became a candidate to the position of the Albrecht's lady also lessened the burden on my mind.

Whilst eating and sleeping well, I was made to hone my reading and writing skills, memorize and apply basic etiquette and taught how to speak and act like a noble lady with the classes set up reasonably as to not put burden on my health. When the month was over, the Duke told me that he would proceed with the adoption and revealed the fact that they were pulling my leg regarding the 'candidacy' for the Albrecht lady's position. I was the only person that everyone considered in the first place.

As the preparations for the adoption was underway, the Duke also briefed me regarding my new background which he personally arranged.

Unlike with the Krausers, the Albrechts made preparations to make my adoption more legitimate on paper as to not face any negative comments from the noble society. I won't be adopted as 'Ava, the slum girl with commoner origins' but as a lowborn aristocrat who recently lost her only parent.

My name before adoption would be Ava Abbott, the only daughter of the Abbott Barony. In paper, the Abbott Barony exists but in reality, the family had died out twenty-five years ago.

The Duke told me about the entire story regarding the Abbott Barony to make me understand my position. A decade and a half ago, the last Abbott couple, Jeremy and Lucy Abbott, found out about their incapability of having children and went to seek counsel to the young Duke by sending letters. The Baron did not wish for the legacy of his family to end without the family name accomplishing something great enough to be listed honorably in history. It was a legacy that his father passed to him and one that his grandfather passed down to his father. Thus, the family line cannot end with him.