Chapter 1351 – ##13_The Countess’S Descent
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1.
The Jemernai County was bustling from early morning.
“Pechya! Hurry, hurry and get ready!”
“Okay! Here you go! Lady Odile!”
“Oh, Vera! I told you, we don’t need the half-bonnet anymore!”
“Oh dear, I’m sorry!”
“Miss Odette! Don’t keep closing your eyes. I need to curl your eyelashes!”
“Ugh, but… my eyes keep closing… and it’s so uncomfortable, can’t I take off this dress?”
“No! Your makeup and hair will get ruined when you put it back on.”
Odile and Odette, who had woken up with the dawn breeze, looked utterly drained amidst the fussing of their personal maids.
Indeed, they had woken up at 3 AM for a bath and had been getting their makeup done until sunrise.
This hectic schedule was the first since their wedding ceremony.
Odette blinked tiredly and complained.
“Ughhh, I want to sleep more….”
“Odette, stop whining. You’re not a novice witch anymore, right? You don’t need to sleep.”
“But I’m sleepy…. Haaah.”
“I told you not to yawn…! Haaah! You’re making me do it too!”
Odile and Odette sat side by side in front of the vanity.
The twins, who used to be indistinguishable, had changed.
“Alright, shall we look in the mirror now?”
“You look so beautiful! Everyone in society will be watching Lady Odile and Lady Odette.”
“Of course, they should. We’re the main characters today.”
“I’ll be a little more noticed than you, sister. White always catches the eye more than black.”
That was because only Odette’s curly hair was as white as Deneb.
It was a pure white, not the white streaks mixed in here and there like before.
Odette’s eyelashes, fluttering as she yawned, were also as white as if they had been dusted with snow.
“Can’t you stop this childish fighting? We’re both proper Countesses of the Jemernai family now.”
“Ah.”
“If you keep acting like that, it only proves that you’re still immature.”
“I guess so. Sigh, the good times are over.”
“…That’s true. The novice witch shield was quite reliable.”
Galina, the head maid, who had been watching them chat, wiped away tears.
There were twice as many tears as she had shed at the wedding.
Unable to hold back, Galina hugged Odile and Odette with her sturdy arms, hardened by chores.
“Lady Odile, Lady Odette, I’m so proud of you both….”
“Keheuk…!”
“H-Head Maid Galina…! I can’t breathe….”
“To see both of your successions while both of you are still alive…. I, Galina, can die right now without any regrets….”
That’s right.
Odile and Odette were no longer novice witches.
Through an unconventional succession, they had inherited their teacher’s full mark and had become proper 22nd-tier witches.
2.
There is a gateway that a newly apprenticed witch must pass through.
It is their debut into society.
While other events are held in various places, this debutante ball must be held at the first red-roofed salon in Ars Magna Town.
There are several reasons for this.
The surface reason is that it is a place to guarantee, with the authority of the red-roofed salon, that the witch has now moved beyond being a novice and has become a witch in the true sense.
The second is to start active social activities by inheriting the connections of their predecessors.
Even if a witch lives for magic, the connections built through social activities provide many conveniences.
Of course, this is the story of a family that values its unique salon culture. In cases like Amelia and Sharon, who don’t have much interest from their predecessors, they often don’t debut.
Isn’t the ‘in-crowd’ culture not something everyone shares?
Conversely, it means that the Jemernai County, the in-crowd among the in-crowd, the privileged among the privileged, must go through this gateway.
“It feels like just yesterday that the twins were running around at the academy. Now they’ve already become witches.”
“Time really flies when you see things like this.”
“Will Duke Shin Siwoo attend?”
“Probably not. There’s a tradition that the debut place of a witch is a men-forbidden zone. Even the Rose Glass messengers can’t enter.”
“Oh my, that’s a shame.”
The red-roofed salon was more splendid than usual.
The decoration of the salon on the debut day is the responsibility of the family, and the Jemernai family was one of the richest families in Gehenna. How the salon is decorated on this day proves the family’s prosperity.
Thanks to that, there were plenty of finger foods that were pleasing to the eye and expensive gifts for the guests.
Skilled maids from various families moved in perfect order.
“By the way, I’m seeing a debutante ball being held while the teacher is still alive.”
“It’s the result of Duke Shin Siwoo’s unconventional succession research, right?”
“Yes, I heard that Count Albireo and Countess Deneb are maintaining their tiers even after the succession.”
“That part is different from the rumors. I heard they each dropped one tier to the 21st tier.”
“Oh, is that so? Anyway, one tier might not be so bad? After all, the successor maintains their tier, right?”
“Anyway, the problem of the decreasing witch population has been solved again.”
Also, the red-roofed salon was more crowded with witches than usual.
It wasn’t just a large number of them, but a total turnout of the high-ranking witches of Gehenna.
The Jemernai County had gained unprecedented soft power by marrying Duke Shin Siwoo.
It was the immense power of being the ‘in-laws of Grand Duke Hesed.’
Everyone was eager to get along with the Jemernai County, so the crowd was larger than usual.
On the unofficial upper seat of the salon (like the back seat of a school trip bus), on the second-floor terrace overlooking the ballroom.
Albireo and Deneb watched the scene with a happy gaze.
“Sister, I’m so nervous.”
“Me too. Hehe.”
Wasn’t it something they could never have dreamed of, seeing their daughters, who had grown up so well, make their debut?
This alone made them feel as good as when they sent their daughters off to get married, and the conversations they heard from below were enough to make them shrug their shoulders.
“The Jemernai County has truly become a prestigious family.”
“Count Albireo is so lucky with her son-in-law…. I should have treated Duke Shin Siwoo better when he was a public slave at Trinity Academy.”
“I heard that Count Albireo and Countess Deneb had a close friendship with Duke Shin Siwoo even when he was a slave.”
“From his slave days? What was my timing for buying him out….”
“Can’t I do something too? I want to get close to him even now, but I can’t even talk to him….”
No matter how envious they are, it’s no use.
The Shin Siwoo harem cartel has already been completed.
“Hehehehehe.”
“Sister, don’t make that evil smile.”
Moreover, this is the price of patience that cuts through the top.
How many of them could have endured the days when their stomachs were torn apart until the cartel was completed through marriage?
But Albireo’s expression worsened in an instant.
“I wonder what kind of mysterious method they use…. I’m going to ask for an unconventional succession later when I have a novice witch.”
“Ah! Me too!”
“I heard that the witches of the Leto Salon are already busy sending love calls to Duke Shin Siwoo, asking him to do an unconventional succession for their children.”
Well.
It’s an inevitable trend of the times.
The unconventional succession project must be carried out to restore the witch population, which has already decreased too much.
The truth of the unconventional succession, which is currently under media control, will one day be accepted by all witches without much resistance.
It’s not like some kind of first-night right from a fantasy novel. It means that the first man of every novice witch who has decided on an unconventional succession will be their son-in-law (and even their mother will be with them).
Even though they are Gehenna witches who value tradition, a mother’s heart wants to watch over her immature daughter’s back for a long, long time.
Diana Yesod’s debutante ball is scheduled for next week.
What if the other party is Shin Siwoo, the best alpha male and hero of Gehenna?
The immature novice witches might be counting the days until they spend their first night with him.
Perhaps even the mothers who share the bed might be looking forward to it.
It’s a truly terrifying story.
“Sister, here’s a headache pill.”
“Thank you…. Give me one….”
Is the cartel really solid?
Is the future of Gehenna okay like this?
Albireo felt a headache coming on.
Then, the gatekeeper banged on the door, and everyone’s attention turned to the salon’s main door. He shouted in a loud voice.
“The twin birds of black and white, forged with nobility and tradition, the great companions of the witch city of Gehenna. Countess Odile Jemernai and Countess Odette Jemernai of the Gemini constellation are entering!!! Respected guests, please cheer with applause!”
Along with the fanfare of the orchestra that had been waiting, flower petals fell like rain.
Cheerful whistles and applause.
Countess Odile and Countess Odette, who appeared as the door opened, entered the salon with smiles that even felt arrogant.
Although they had a youthful air, their confidence, not shrinking even under the gaze of many, seemed to reveal the dignity of a countess.
“Congratulations on your succession, Countess Odile.”
“Please become a countess like your teacher, no, even better, Countess Odette.”
“Well, that’s a given.”
“It’s a piece of cake for us.”
Well, I’ve talked too much about politics, but a debutante ball is also a place where mature witches bless the future of novice witches who have officially become witches.
Watching their daughters, who shone like jewels amidst the pouring blessings, gifts, and words of praise.
“Hehehehe…!!!”
“Deneb….”
“Sisterrrr….”
Albireo and Deneb wiped away tears endlessly.
3.
The ball, which lasted until late at night, was over.
Even though the hectic debutante schedule was over, the twins, who hadn’t even taken off their makeup, came to see Siwoo, jumping up and down as they spoke.
“Assistant, we were so cool, you know? We were just the main characters of the salon!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Everyone kept calling me Countess Odette, you know?! Isn’t that amazing?”
“We’re not novice witches anymore, we’re proper countesses now!”
“Ugh, you should have seen it yourself.”
““That’s right!””
Listening to the title of Assistant, which had now become a nickname, was truly moving.
To think that the reckless tomboy Odile and Odette had become such proper countesses.
It actually seemed like their atmosphere had changed a bit?
“Assistant, call us by our new titles quickly.”
“Me too, me too.”
“Countess Odile.”
“Uwaaaa!”
“Countess Odette.”
“Kyaaaaak!!!”
Odette’s tension, as she screamed and cheered, was the highest he had seen recently.
It was enough to make Siwoo laugh like a father.
“Shall I bring some alcohol?”
Just when he thought that they would go straight to bed as usual.
“Then! We’ll be going now!”
“We’ll be leaving now!”
“Huh? Aren’t you going to stay a little longer?”
Siwoo, who had thought that they would lie down in bed and proceed with the night debut of Countess Odile and Countess Odette, was bewildered.
“No! No! There are so many people we have to brag to!”
“We have to go brag to L’Riel, Duke Eloa, Amelia, and our teacher again. And also to Sharon, Linne, Dorothy, and Kybele, and so many others!”
“Then, bye!”
Seeing the backs of Countess Odile and Countess Odette disappear with a whoosh, it seemed like tonight would be a rather noisy day.
