As the crucial guests had all arrived, but the vitally important Lionheart carriage was still nowhere to be seen, the new head of the Lane family and the few remaining elder clansmen were nearly driven insane with worry.
“Is old York losing his marbles?!”
Unaware that fellow “Lane Trio” member and head butler had already suffered a heart attack from someone’s “elementary school sentence practice” and was directly carried off to the hospital, the corpulent and bloated head of the household, wearing a specially tailored oversized tailcoat, couldn’t help but complain after waiting for half a day without seeing the new duke return:
“He said he’d served the old duke for so many years and experienced every special occasion imaginable, assuring there would be no problems, which is why I agreed to let him handle the arrangements. But such a simple task as going out with people and coming back by carriage somehow managed to delay everything?”
“Don’t rush, let’s wait a bit longer.”
Compared to the new head of the Lane family, the clan elder of the Lane family clearly had more patience. After dispatching two attendants to hurry things along, he frowned deeply and said:
“Our new duke is different from the old one; he’s never received noble education and comes from the lower class. It’s only natural that some hitches might occur in a ceremony of this scale. Now we can only trust old York and give him a little more time.”
“Giving him more time? Who’s giving us more time?”
Glancing through the curtain tassels at the hall, noticing some guests already showing signs of impatience, the Lane patriarch sighed involuntarily, his expression filled with regret as he said:
“If I knew even this could go wrong, I wouldn’t have set so many procedures beforehand, sparing him a couple of rounds of trouble. We wouldn’t have scheduled things so tightly, leaving no room for flexibility!”
“Don’t rush. The calmer you are in situations like these, the better.”
Picking up the tea by his side and sipping it slowly, the Lane elder took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the tea stains from his white beard, soothingly saying: “Our new duke is quite an unruly person and doesn’t know how to be a proper noble. If we want him to cooperate, he must first understand that even though he is the Lionheart Duke, the Lane family needs our support to continue. So, the more complicated the ceremony, the better—it will help polish his temperament and make him realize our importance. Without our arrangement, he wouldn’t even be able to complete the succession ceremony. This way, in the future, he’ll know his place.”
“Hmm…you’re right…”
Somewhat convinced by the elder’s words, the Lane patriarch hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.
“Alright! Let’s stick to the original plan. You keep sending people to urge him, and I’ll head to the front hall to calm down those impatient guests.”
“Hmm, go ahead.”
…
As the two elders reached an agreement, one arranging people to find the new duke while the other tried to placate the guests, the guests on the first floor of the main building grew increasingly restless as the ceremony kept getting delayed.
“Ho ho, our new duke sure has a grand entrance!”
Looking around at the increasingly furrowed brows of the crowd, a certain “pauper” baron known throughout the capital because of Leon couldn’t help but mock sarcastically: “All of us here have marital ties with the Lane family, many of whom are of the same generation as the old duke. Half of them are his elders, some even two generations older than him. Out of respect for the recently deceased old duke, we got up early to support him, traveling far and wide to attend the ceremony, only to be left hanging like this?”
But first, since everyone present was merely vultures drawn by the stench of profit, eager to feast on the “Lane corpse,” they had no need to pretend decorous.
Second, having risen early to attend the ceremony, only to be left waiting for hours, naturally made everyone extremely dissatisfied. Once the pauper baron finished speaking, not only did no one oppose, but some even voluntarily chimed in to agree.
“Indeed, the Lane family has done a poor job this time.”
“It’s not just poor; they probably didn’t even consider us relatives worth their time!”
“Why should they care about us lesser nobles when they’re one of the kingdom’s twin pillars?”
With deliberate provocation from certain individuals and willing cooperation from others harboring ulterior motives, by the time the Lane patriarch emerged from backstage, the entire hall had descended into chaos, with direct criticisms and sarcastic remarks flying nonstop.
“Everyone! Everyone, please quiet down, please hear me out!”
Hearing the tidal wave of condemnation in the hall, cold sweat poured down the Lane patriarch’s back as he quickly raised his voice and shouted: “Sorry, sorry, today’s ceremony was indeed rushed. The duke was also delayed on the road due to some matters, which is entirely due to our insufficient preparation at the Lane family. We apologize for neglecting all esteemed guests.
However, this happened because we wanted to express our gratitude for your presence and prepared something grand. With complex procedures, mistakes are inevitable. We hope all friends and acquaintances can bear with us for the sake of past relationships.
Moreover, besides all of you, representatives of Prime Minister Leonard, Lady Annie, and Prince Joshua representing the princess are also present. We kindly ask everyone to give these honored guests some face and endure a little longer. I thank everyone for your tolerance!”
After the Lane patriarch finished speaking, the originally clamorous hall instantly quieted down again.
No other reason—this speech, although somewhat rushed, was extraordinarily effective in controlling the situation.
First came an apology to soothe emotions, followed swiftly by “The delay wasn’t intentional disrespect but rather due to excessive respect for you,” skillfully regaining moral high ground.
Then, leveraging the presence of the prime minister and the princess, pointed out that further troublemaking would mean disrespecting them, pinning down those like the pauper baron who intended to stir things up. Finally, bowing in thanks for everyone’s tolerance, effectively blocking any “intolerant” options.
For this, one could only say that the Lane Trio could rise to power after the Lane Blood Night and become the actual controllers of the Lane family wasn’t merely due to seniority but genuine competence. This quick combo move amply demonstrated the Lane patriarch’s verbal prowess.
Unfortunately, the Lane patriarch’s well-crafted speech successfully pacified 99% of the people, but it uniquely irritated the most troublesome one among them.
“I’m not anyone’s representative!”
Upon hearing “Prince Joshua representing the princess,” the well-dressed youth standing at the forefront of the guests, chatting with the prime minister’s wife, couldn’t help but frown deeply and rudely rebutted, ignoring his female companion’s stealthy tug:
“Watch your words! If anything, I represent the royal family, not anyone else!”
(End of Chapter)
