At the beginning of the day after the auction, the city dawned more quietly than it usually woke up every day.
The citizens muttered about the rumors already circulating in the city, talking about the clashes of the night before, the auction that had brought in thousands of gold coins, and most of all, the fall of the Symons family.
Nobles died almost every year. Most nobles were men of high rank by local standards or even experienced old men. Therefore, the death of one of them wasn't so shocking because some of them were close to their age limit, others might fail in their cultivation and become severely weakened, or even get involved in battles with others of similar power.
Thus, news of nobles dying and their titles being passed on to their heirs wasn't all that unusual, although it didn't happen very often.
But the death of all the members of a noble house was a totally unusual event!
To give you an idea, the last noble family to be wiped out in the Seidel Kingdom had its final moment over 280 years ago!
No one from Millfall's current generation had ever experienced such a moment!
And it was not only the ordinary citizens who woke up this morning feeling different as they commented in hushed voices on the subject of the moment. Even the local nobles were a bit scared.
Aside from the wiping out of a noble family, it was a very atypical event. The Viscount was no ordinary noble like the many local barons.
He was a Mid-level Mage who was said to have physical strength comparable to that of a Sovereign!
How could such a monster have fallen?
Also, there have been many power shifts in the city recently.
First, there had been the fall of the Defiant Tyranny. Then, the Mazzanti family had grown exponentially to 'swallow' the Scarlet Syndicate.
Second, the army Commanders, who were in the city to hunt the basilisk, had died strangely.
Now the Viscount and his entire family had been eliminated!
With so much happening in such a short time, the local nobles were naturally frightened.
Among the most frightened was Baron Staples, who was choked with the terrible news of that family's demise, as it was soon to be much closer to his own through the marriage of their houses.
When Shelby left her area in the morning, she found her father and Amy with deep circles under their faces as they sat in the main living room of the estate.
They both looked as if they had been run over, especially Amy, who looked like a woman who had just found out that her beloved husband had died.
"Shelby... Are you awake? Are you going to eat something?" Baron Staples asked as his face darkened, his tone very pessimistic.
"No..." She replied as she watched her father, who seemed to have lost a few pounds overnight. "I have no appetite. The news last night was horrifying. I didn't think an entire family would fall like that..."
Molly stood behind Shelby as she watched her lady speak as if she had no guilt whatsoever.
But Molly didn't blame Shelby. She understood her and saw nothing wrong with killing people like the Symons family. But the orange-haired woman's performance was truly incredible.
"I know..." Baron Staples said. "I'm sorry. You were going to marry soon and settle down." He said, knowing his daughter didn't like Marcus or the arranged marriage but believing it would be to her advantage. "But it had to happen... Let's take a few steps back for now and think about something else in the future.
For now, let's try to get back to normal. But as the fiancée of the Symons family, you have to arrange the farewell to House Symons."
"I know," Shelby said. "This is an opportunity for us as well, father. I don't want to sound like someone who uses the deaths of others for their own gain, but this is the time for us to try to improve our family's standing."
Amy looked at Shelby and understood what the girl meant, agreeing with her for the first time in a long time. "Do you want us to enter the competition to inherit the title of Viscount?"
"Yes."
The hierarchy and succession of power of the nobility in the Seidel Kingdom had its rules. A non-noble power had to evolve from the lowest to the highest level throughout the kingdom's history.
That meant that a group like Mira's family couldn't earn the noble title of Viscount by becoming a noble family. They had to earn the Baron's title first, then seek the Viscount's.
Thus, only families with the title of Baron could enter the race to fill the vacancy left by Viscount Symons!
Not only that but only families with the title of Baron from the same province as the extinguished family with the title of Viscount could enter the contest.
That meant that 81 families could compete for the vacancy left by Viscount Symons.
If one of those 81 families became a house with the title of Viscount, its title of Baron would pass to a new noble power that would rise with the appointment of the king.
Shelby said. "We can't delay if we want to compete for the title of Viscount. The process of transferring lands and rights should begin within a week of the end of the Symons family. But in similar cases in the kingdom's history, powers that have shown an interest in assuming a higher title earlier have had an advantage in competing with other interested parties.
If we're going to try for the title of Viscount, we should do it immediately and send our proposal to the king."
How did a king choose a new noble or promote nobles to higher titles?
That could vary greatly from king to king. Some kings simply gave new titles or promotions to nobles they liked, who were loyal and dedicated to the kingdom or even showed to be promising. Other kings followed financial parameters, giving more importance to those who were most capable of generating the best profits for the state by accepting a noble position or a higher title than the one they already held.
Of the 28 kings Seidel Kingdom has had in its entire history, 15 followed an approach that was more focused on the state's financial returns, while the others had their own methods that were difficult to predict.
The current king of the Seidel Kingdom was a man very focused on the finances and prosperity of his state, so Shelby felt that her family had a real chance to advance in status if they made the right proposal.
Baron Staples looked at his daughter strangely, aware that thinking about the future was important but somewhat annoyed by her concern.
"Damn it, Shelby. You should be thinking about your fiancé's funeral! How can you say such a cold thing?" He asked, glaring at her.
But Amy took her stepdaughter's side. "Honey, don't be like that to Shelby. She's right. The Symons are dead, which is a shame. But we don't have to give up our dreams because of them." She said, putting her loss aside to focus on the future. "We must immediately study our situation and see what offer we can honor, but also one that can satisfy the king."
As she watched Amy try to convince Baron Staples, Shelby smiled inwardly, seeing that it would be easier to make these two work for her to achieve her goals in the short term.
'That's right, Amy, convince him. That way, I can run the family when none of you are around.' She mischievously thought as she clenched one of her fists behind her back.
