With Hannah's eldest son away training in the army and unable to return in time, the three of them, with Emilia, gathered in the main hall along with Sophia and their mothers.
Emilia walked straight to the seat her father usually occupies and fell to her knees in tears. Sophia walked up quietly behind her and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Father is…dead" Emilia muttered, her voice breaking.
Sophia's hand trembled hearing her words and she broke into tears also, but wiped them away too.
"You will become the Queen tonight."
"You shouldn't break down so easily," Sophia said, her eyes also glistening with tears.
She lifted Emilia gently, while Margaret and Hannah stood in grim silence.
Not because of their grief but because of another matter that proves more important to them than their spouse's death.
Tradition expected Markham to choose a male heir from one of his sons, but they saw clearly when Markham was alive that he intended to make Emilia the heir instead. That's the only reason he approved for her to find a husband that would marry into their family, but due to the sudden incident, the fate of the next master of the house remained undecided.
Despite their grief, both Hannah and Margaret looked forward to their son becoming the owner of the Markham family seal and sat quietly in the hall, waiting for Sophia to decide.
"Madam, what do we do about the position of the next master now?" Rufus, Markham's most trusted butler, stepped forward to remind Sofia.
"Now that both Emilia and Catherine are getting married, I think it's obvious who the position of the lord should go to." Margaret voiced out and Hannah glared slightly at her.
"My first son might be at the border defending the Kingdom, but he is still the eldest son of this family."
"We should decide things according to how they are done," she said.
Sophia sighed, staring at the familiar seal in front of her and picked it up from the slate. Margaret and Hannah's eyes flashed with greed as Sophia walked forward.
"Emilia, take it."
"You decide" Sophia said, placing the seal in her hands.
All she had done in her life was manage the house affairs. She had no knowledge of the businesses and how they were being run. It's better to let someone who knows best do it.
Rufus turned to Emilia, who was hesitant to receive it from Sofia.
"My lady, please accept it."
"You can't be serious!" Margaret shouted.
"She is no longer a part of us! Sophia, you of all people should understand this!"
"How dare you address me by name?" Sophia snapped.
Hannah looked on, visibly angry but didn't dare to speak recklessly like Margaret.
"Why don't I dare? She is going to become the wife of the King in a few hours and detach herself from our family forever."
"How can you place all our fates in her hands?" Margaret's voice increased.
"She is the only reason you are still living, do you understand?" Sofia fired back, despite her weak strength.
"You want your son to lead?"
"Have you even considered if he's capable?" She asked coldly.
"And Emilia is more capable than all our sons?" Hannah added, stepping forward. Unable to keep her cool.
"Her Majesty," Sophia corrected sharply,
"She is to become Queen soon. You are not to speak her name with disrespect."
"A Queen bearing her maternal name."
"Why should we take an outsider as our master?" Hannah snarled.
"Aren't you risking all our lives because you lost your daugh…"
Sofia raised her hand in anger and slapped Hannah before she could finish the statement. Hannah stumbled back, shocked.
Her son is the first son and by right should also be the lord, but because of her low status, she couldn't oppose him joining the army. Now that the second son, who is Margaret's eldest, has the heart of a painter, her other son should be in the position of the lord.
"We all oppose Emilia making the decision for this family," Margaret added, turning to her sons for support, but every one of them turned their faces away from their mother, all hiding behind Emilia.
"Hart, how could you…" Margaret snapped, her voice trembling with disbelief.
"Silent," Emilia's command, sliced through the air like a blade.
All eyes turned to her as she approached the center table. She pauses, takes a long, deliberate look at the thick ledger before her, and, with a steady hand, she signs her name at the bottom.
The ink gleamed dark against the parchment.
Rufus bowed low and hurried off, cradling the royal portrait of Emilia painted just days earlier.
He hung it next to her father's, right at the heart of the ancestral hall.
"Father had just died," Emilia said quietly, her voice heavy with restrained grief.
"I would not argue with either of you today."
A thick silence settles over the room.
"The mourning rituals should begin now. After that, both of you are confined to your rooms until further notice."
Margaret and Hannah looked at themselves, unable to refuse her out of cowardice and grumbled quietly.
Then Emilia turned her head slowly toward Sophia, who had been standing quietly near the window. Her voice dropped into a colder register.
"I will be leaving the palace soon, and can't take care of the house affair."
"You should resume taking care of the household, as you did before and…" Emilia added, and paused for a breather.
Margaret and Hannah's eyes shone with expectation once more when hearing her words, while her brothers turned their faces away to escape the responsibility.
"Let Louis take care of the estate moving forward."
"What?! But…" Hannah gasped, her voice filled with protest while Margaret smiled a little.
Although she preferred Hart to Louis since he is more softhearted, having her other son in charge is also good. No matter how strict he is, he won't refuse his mother.
"That would be all." Emilia muttered and walked away without looking back.