A formal proposal.
A formal proposal is something very common in most noble families. It was a festive event where the groom would take his parents to the house of the potential bride to formally propose marriage in front of their peers. Before this, the groom would send a bride price to the bride's family.
The bride's family could accept the gift but still refuse the proposal. If this happened, the groom would have no choice but to go home with his family.
To avoid this, it was advised that the groom and potential bride should spend time together and establish a relationship before they decide to have a formal proposal. However, since the nobles like to follow rules and enjoyed shaming someone for being promiscuous if they somehow break these rules, the couple can only see each other in front of many people.
They can still do many things together, but they were not allowed to be left alone with each other in a remote place. Once this rule was broken, the female was already considered married to the male, with no need for a formal proposal or marriage ceremony. The two were asked to sign the marriage documents and were given a house. Then society would mock them for their embarrassingactions.
Dorothy's circumstances were somewhat different and this was because Dorothy was considered a higher noble. She was the daughter of the Blessed One and the Blessed ones and their families were always the exception to the rules that society had set.
While Dorothy would not have a formal proposal, she was still going to have a small marriage ceremony in front of Martin and Federico. After that, she would be spending a month living in the groom's household before moving to their new house together.
There were other, more complicated, norms that the nobles followed but Rosalind was not aware of most of them simply because, in her past life, she did not have a wedding. To make Jeames marry her, she intentionally asked him to be with her alone.
They were caught holding each other's hands and the rest was history.
She did not have any formal proposals and was just thrust into marriage within a few days.
Of course, the circumstances were much better now.
The Duke walked inside the hall followed by two other men holding a golden chest. Then he greeted the older Lux before handing him the treasure.
"Bitter tea?" Martin did not know how to react when he saw that the chest was full of tea. The same bitter tea that everyone disliked in the Capital. At this point, he did not know if this was intentional or if the Duke simply did not know that no one wanted to drink the tea because of its taste.
"Yes. This is the rest of the tea that we have. Please accept this as a gift to the Lux family," the Duke said with a smile. His gaze immediately landed on the vacant seat where Rosalind was supposed to seat.
"Please sit down your Grace," Martin said as he tried to hide the irritation in his voice.
"I do not see the young lady?" Duke Lucas asked. "Is there something that I should be concerned about?"
"What? No! I The young miss "
"Is here," Rosalind's voice echoed through the hall. Everyone turned towards the woman wearing black as she slowly, step by step, walked through the entrance.
"Younger sister, how could you wear something black to your formal proposal?" While surprised by Rosalind's sudden arrival, Dorothy still managed to say something when she saw Rosalind's appearance. "Black is not the color of happiness."
"But it is the color of the North," Duke Lucas chimed in. He walked towards Rosalind, his long legs reaching her in just a few steps. Without saying another word, he held her right hand and kissed the back of it. "Thank you for considering the customs of the North, my Lady."
"You are most welcome, your Grace," Rosalind said softly. 'But if anything, you should thank my mother, she prepared the dress for me." She flashed a smile at Victoria, silently mocking her for the failed scheme. "My mother loves me a lot, she was very excited about this union so she prepared a lot of gifts for your Grace."
"Eh?" Victoria's eyes turned round as she stared at Rosalind. What was this girl up to?
"Isn't that right, mother?"
"I"
"My mother specially prepared this dress because she was very familiar with the customs of the North. She let herself get immersed in the books about the local customs when she heard the Emperor's order. She did it just for me," Rosalind gushed, still smiling at Victoria.
"Wife?" Martin Lux immediately asked.
"Yes, she is right," Victoria said after her initial surprise. "I specifically pick the dress because of the customs of the North."
"Please, mother there is no need to be shy. I know that you have been preparing gifts for my marriage," Rosalind said as she continued smiling. It was entertaining how Victoria was so sure that she could get away with what she did.
It seemed that she needed to teach the woman a lesson.
"Mother, what is she saying?"
"It is right," Victoria said as she forced a smile out of her face. "The lady is right. Indeed, I prepared gifts for the Duke and Rosalind."
Rosalind gave Victoria a tightlipped smile. Perhaps her changes had been very noticeable as her father was just staring at her saying nothing, but Rosalind did not care. After what Dorothy did, she knew that she could no longer hide in this place full of people that would devour her at any given time.
She could not just sit still while they planned to harm her.
She was going to do as much damage as possible before leaving this place! And she was going to walk out of here with a huge smile on her face.
"Very well shall we start the banquet?" Federico Lux asked, his voice stern as his eyes met Rosalind's.