On the day the wind swayed the branches of the lush trees on the vast Zehren estate, Delilah's dark eyes were lost in a melancholy and silent void. She had managed to ignore her surroundings and the pressure of being in a place where the future felt uncertain; even so, she was easily distracted by the unknown.
The mansion, usually silent, was in complete disorder after the end of a ceremony that had sparked the curiosity of the high nobility, even though they usually paid no attention to lower matters.
Delilah did not belong to any privileged class or rank; that was something she understood very clearly. The responsibility of behaving properly just because illustrious society was watching visibly suffocated her. Certainly, no one cared what happened to an ordinary young woman who had served as an illegitimate daughter in a house of barons, yet they still cast criticisms that poisoned even the air one breathed.
As soon as she was offered the chance to see what would be her room from that moment on, Delilah was the first among the five candidates to leave the main hall. She wanted to escape the noble eyes and isolated herself in the bedroom, where there was only one person in charge of organizing her dull belongings; because even for a maid, it was pitiful to be the owner of only a pair of dresses and a hairbrush.
That was the mansion of Marquise Lathasha Zehren, the woman with the greatest fortune in a family tree that had been contaminated with numerous children related within the extensive nobility. Considered young within the aristocracy and the court at thirty-five, Lathasha had inherited a large fortune after the death of her parents. In an act considered immature by refined society, she was organizing a family gathering to choose an heir from among five candidates within the closest families.
The extravagant woman, who was not interested in entering a marriage like most would, was severely criticized. But at the same time, the possibility of inheriting a large fortune out of nowhere was too tempting for the families that had been chosen.
Delilah grew up under the prestigious Astraea baron family. Her illegitimacy was well known, and even though that family had legitimate children, Lathasha was clear when writing her name in the decree that the Baron of Astraea received. Of course, that was inconceivable, but the young girl who had become a shadow despite her good behavior would be easily handed over in exchange for a large compensation if such an extraordinary and miraculous event made her the winner.
For the Baroness, this choice was the most absurd of jokes, even if she could not laugh openly. When she looked at the other four candidates who had been chosen, she knew that getting rid of Delilah for a long time would be her only gain.
Furthermore, it turned out that the Baroness was not the only one who found the presence of her illegitimate "daughter" in the circle of candidates irrational. At first, Delilah refused to be placed in the same spot as the diligent and noble descendants with whom she would coexist starting that day, but the wishes of a lady like Lathasha had the power to subdue even a family with such lamentable prestige.
The chosen ones were discreet young people, with mysterious ambitions and striking personalities—none more remarkable than that of the young Miss Reines, who from the first day seemed the most suitable to win the inheritance.
The Reines family dared to declare that Lucrecia was one step ahead of the others. She was a woman skilled in politics, unique despite her harsh expression; her delicacy could not be denied. She was a true lady of high society. She had many virtues, even if the Viscounts did not believe their own words while bragging about the daughter they commonly disparaged.
The case of the other three candidates was not very different. The houses they came from would not be affected by their selection, much less by their absence.
Taking strict lessons and taking responsibility for noble matters alongside the descendants of the crown was too difficult to accept for a girl who barely knew the limits of the Astraea barony.
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