On a Tuesday morning, the moon had just completely vanished at the horizon, and the sun wouldn't rise for another hour. It was the darkest time.
However, under the illumination of thousands of whale oil street lamps, the entire Redwood Avenue glowed as bright as day. The usually quiet Redwood Avenue came alive early in the extravagant lights.
Coal, flour, spices, lamps... crates of all sizes and baskets, piles of expensive utensils, mountains of silken ribbons...
Carriages carrying various supplies and gifts nearly filled the wide transport road entirely. These carriages, linked one after another, were like intertwined dragons winding their way toward the Ryan Manor at the end of Redwood Avenue...
*Wow, the Duke of Lionheart's inheritance ceremony is sure spending a lot of money!*
A young woman in a light blue ceremonial dress stuck her head out from a two-wheeled carriage. After seeing the seemingly endless line ahead, she quickly shrank back due to the biting autumn wind, rubbing her red, round nose as she muttered,
"I messed up. If I'd known it would be this cold, I would have worn more layers."
Watching the young woman warming her hands with her breath and stomping her feet, the middle-aged noblewoman sitting opposite her couldn't hold back any longer. After trying and failing to keep silent, she finally reminded her,
"Princess Veronica, even if you sneaked out, please mind your manners!"
"Oh, let me off today. I'm too cold to care about manners right now. Honestly, if you can make it warm in here, I'd even give you a dance."
After joking with the middle-aged noblewoman, the young woman tugged at her woolen shawl, covering the nearly exposed smooth curves above her underskirt. She then leaned sideways against the carriage window, continuing to observe the procession outside.
"There sure are a lot of people here today..."
As she squinted at the noble-exclusive drive lane for a while and counted the number of passing carriages, the pretty young woman said with a half-smile,
"Silver Chalice, Birds of Paradise, Light Shield... Ha, in just a short time, three noble families have already passed by. It seems the Ryan Family's inheritance is indeed tempting.
Regardless of whether they belong here, everyone with any ability wants to come and take a bite. Today's inheritance ceremony will surely be lively!"
*Whether the ceremony will be lively or not, I don't know, but that dress you're wearing is certainly 'lively' to an excessive degree!*
Watching the young woman leaning against the window frame in a way that nearly exposed her ample bosom, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but twitch her eyelids. She quickly yanked her back, eyes full of irritation as she exclaimed,
"Your Highness, mind your manners! Really...
If your identity gets exposed at the ceremony and people see you dressed so immodestly, the entire royal family will be humiliated! At least find a better-fitting dress before heading out!"
"Well... there's nothing I can do..."
Looking down at her formal dress, the young woman pulled the pleats at her waist, showing the middle-aged noblewoman how much excess fabric there was. She then said somewhat helplessly,
"My dress size is special, so they're usually custom-made. This is already the best-fitting dress I could find in a hurry. Look, there's a lot of room at the waist here, any bigger and it wouldn't fit."
Observing the dress that would be considered plain in style but looked strikingly impactful on her, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but twitch her lips twice.
She rudely snatched the young woman's shawl, yanked tassels from the carriage cushion, and tied dozens of knots along the side of the shawl, fashioning a mesh edge to cover the front.
After placing the modified shawl back on the young woman, the middle-aged noblewoman sighed in relief upon seeing her chest obscured by the knotted mesh. She then threatened through gritted teeth,
"When we get to the manor, even if you sweat to death, you cannot take off this shawl; you must wear it properly! Got it?"
Surprised by her words, the young woman's face wore an awkward expression as she glanced at the remarkably heavy shawl.
"This is pure wool, and it's the densest kind! Plus, there are coal stoves burning in the Ryan Manor. If I don't take the shawl off..."
"Alright, alright, I won't take it off."
Seeing the "wear it or die" look on the middle-aged noblewoman's face, and recognizing this as her bottom line, the young woman sighed and obediently wrapped the shawl tightly. She then once again poked her head out to watch the flowing carriages.
"By the way, suggesting I take the transport road instead of the drive lane was a great idea. If I were on the drive lane, I wouldn't see so many interesting things."
After a few carriages bearing the crest of three copper feathers sped by on the drive lane, the young woman counted the participating nobles and joked with the worried middle-aged noblewoman,
"Look, that snobby little Earl has also come. I wonder if he brought that cabbage with him?"
*Snobby little Earl?*
Hearing the young woman's words, the middle-aged noblewoman couldn't help but frown and asked,
"Your Highness, what does 'snobby little Earl' mean?"
The young woman explained with a laugh,
"The new Duke of Lionheart had some conflict with that snobby little Earl a while back. Upon discovering that, despite his title, the Earl's crest only had three basic feathers, the Duke disdainfully poked the crest on his chest and called him a snobby little Earl, nearly enraging him to death on the spot.
Later, after the snobby little Earl recovered, he sought revenge for the Duke's mockery by displaying a cabbage at home. He then proclaimed that the Duke of Lionheart's title would likely rot faster than that cabbage."
After providing the middle-aged noblewoman with the backstory of the "snobby little Earl" and the "cabbage Duke," the young woman smiled brightly,
"Even though he's about to inherit the Duke title, the Duke of Lionheart feels very un-noble. The reason I insisted on witnessing the inheritance ceremony today is to see what interesting antics he'll come up with."
*Ah, Her Highness... still such a young person who loves excitement...*
Seeing the young woman smiling happily, no longer wearing her usual thoughtful frown, the middle-aged noblewoman's heart softened slightly. She was about to say something when they suddenly heard a commotion behind them.
"Make way! Make way!"
"The royal family is on the move, everyone step aside!"
Shocked, the two in the carriage looked back and saw the temporary barrier dividing the transport road and the drive lane getting forcefully pushed down and stacked to the roadside.
Next, two teams of brightly dressed guards wielding long poles with hooked ends, used to clear people, began shoving numerous carriages that couldn't dodge out of the way, forcibly widening the center of Redwood Avenue to allow an opulent carriage drawn by eight fine horses to drive through.