The Lady in Politics

Chapter 5: The Announcement

The guests were busy chattering about the sudden appearance of the Third Prince, who was not supposed to be in attendance.

"Will he be proposing to a young lady?"

"Oh, could it be one of the young ladies of the Landerborne Duchy?"

"It is probable. Two princes in attendance for tonight's ceremony? There will certainly be a royal marriage announcement coming up."

The music was quickly overpowered by the noise coming from the gossiping elites. Everyone was curious to know if there would be another marriage proposal coming from the Royal Family.

"Well, whoever they proposed to, I'm certain the ladies would certainly come from either the House of Landerborne or the House of Berg." Frieda glanced towards an orange-haired gentleman who was standing at a corner, not too far away, holding his wineglass while talking to his fellow gentlemen. "So I suppose we shouldn't be asking about who will they choose, rather, who will not be chosen." He added that had Frieda thinking.

'House Berg...' She remembered the youngest child of Duke Berg, Lady Adeline Berg. She will also have her debut this night, so Frieda was curious why she hadn't seen her anywhere yet. 'Ah, maybe she will be late--- well, won't that make her rude for coming later than the Royalty? We are only waiting for the King, Queen, and the Archbishop of Balmoral.' She thought further.

"Why have you gone quiet? Are you nervous?" Frieda raised her head after thinking deeply when she heard her elder brother ask her. She smiled at him as she shook her head in response. "No, I just thought that I haven't seen Lady Berg anywhere, yet," Frieda replied as she looked around. "Oh, Lady Berg? I think I saw her at a distance earlier." Orion replied that had Frieda stunned for a moment. "She's already here?" She asked in surprise as she continue to look for her.

"Uh, Lady Landerborne." Suddenly, another noble young lady approached the siblings. Frieda turned toward the young lady and realized that it was another debutante. "Oh, what can I do for you, Lady Durchdenwald?" Frieda responded to her politely, which had the latter blushed for a moment.

"I did not mean to listen in to your conversation with the Young Lord, but I heard you were looking for Lady Berg. She's actually over there on the other side of the hall. I believe I saw her talking to her older brothers a while ago." The young lady explained. "Oh, I see. Thank you for the information, Lady Durchdenwald." Frieda replied as she glanced in the direction that the young lady pointed at earlier.

And as Lady Durchdenwald said, Lady Adeline Berg was indeed at the part of the hall previously mentioned. "Oh, there she is." She muttered, which made her brother turn in the direction she was looking at. "Do you want to talk to her? I can accompany you there." He said, but Frieda whiffed her head as she chuckled.

"I'd rather not." She replied, which made Orion curious. "Why not?" He asked. "I'm not sure of the reason, but the young lady seemed to not like me very much," Frieda answered truthfully, which had Orion quite taken aback. "Since when?" He asked further, which made Frieda think for a while. "Hmm... I guess from the moment we first met?" She answered reluctantly.

"I see," Orion replied, preferring not to speak more.

Suddenly, the entrance door to the ballroom opened once more, revealing the King, Queen, and the Archbishop of Balmoral. Finally, the ceremony can finally begin with the arrival of the hosts.

As such, the Coming-of-age Ceremony was started by the Archbishop, who gave church service to the young gentlemen and young ladies who have come of age. After which, they were to take their vows as new adults, in the name of God in their Orthodox.

As per both Furstenburg Empire and Odin Orthodoxy, sixteen years old is considered the legal age in the Empire, to which marriage proposals and marriage announcements were most commonly affirmed. However, marriages are only legal when the bride reaches eighteen years of age, to which consummation is more acceptable.