“It’s so unfair that Aurelia gets everything!”
That was my younger sister Carlene’s favorite phrase.
“I’m the one who deserves to become the Grand Duke’s bride!”
I let out a deep sigh at this all-too-familiar scene.
However, the position of the bride of the Grand Duke of Brandenburg was not something I could simply hand over to her.
◇◇◇
I was born as the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Autenburg and given the name Aurelia. From birth, I had been assigned a particular role.
I was to marry Oliver, the legitimate heir of the prestigious House of Brandenburg, a grand ducal family descended from royalty.
Father subjected me to a rigorous education so that I would become a daughter he could proudly present anywhere. Beyond the etiquette required in high society, I studied ten languages, including ancient languages, as well as systems of governance, law, bureaucracy, diplomacy, military strategy, and other subjects on the level required to administer an entire nation.
It was all so that I could support my future husband when he became Grand Duke.
That was what Father always told me.
Father spared no expense in raising me to become a proper lady. He hired the finest tutors, and studying from morning until late at night became part of my everyday life.
My younger stepsister Carlene, however, was raised differently.
She arrived with my stepmother when I was eight years old. Bright, innocent, and charming, she was the sort of girl everyone naturally adored.
She was the complete opposite of me, someone others often described as impossible to read.
Carlene was not given an educational curriculum like mine and was instead allowed to grow up as freely as she pleased. After all, there had never been any plans for her to marry into a distinguished family.
That was all there was to it.
To Carlene, however, it apparently looked like blatant favoritism.
She envied the fact that I spent every day buried in books from morning until night, crying that it was “unfair.”
I believe that was the first time she ever said it.
From my perspective, Carlene was the enviable one. She could play all day without being scolded, and even when she made a mistake, she would be forgiven as long as she smiled sweetly.
Whenever I made even the slightest mistake, my tutors struck me, and Father reprimanded me harshly.
Carlene knew nothing of what happened behind the scenes, which was probably why she could so easily call it unfair.
Gradually, Carlene began throwing tantrums until the adults around her could no longer handle her. As a result, she was eventually allowed to join my lessons.
However, she could not concentrate for even an hour before she began playing around.
Naturally, the tutor scolded her, and Carlene burst into tears.
The quiet environment I needed to concentrate disappeared in an instant.
Afterward, Father decided to enroll me in a boarding academy.
From the age of ten until I turned sixteen, I was able to live apart from Carlene.
Those days, when Carlene never called me unfair and no one interfered with everything I tried to do, were truly fulfilling.
When I returned home after graduating from the academy, however, the household had changed considerably.
Carlene had taken over my room, and my personal belongings, including my jewelry, had been taken from me as well.
Fortunately, I had kept the pearl hair ornament that had belonged to my late mother with me, so it did not fall into her hands.
Most of the servants had also been replaced, while my stepmother had begun ruling the household in Father’s place.
The servants treated me as though I were the stepdaughter who had arrived later, while treating Carlene as the family’s eldest daughter.
Upon seeing how I was treated, Carlene laughed and mocked me for being pathetic.
She had grown into a beautiful young woman, but her personality had not changed at all since childhood.
How had things possibly ended up this way?
I wanted to ask Father what had happened, but I discovered that he had fallen ill several years earlier and was now bedridden.
No one had even informed me of his condition, and the revelation came as a tremendous shock.
My once-stern father had become terribly frail, without even a trace of his former dignity.
Could a person truly change so much in only five years?
Illness was a frightening thing.
That was what I believed at the time.
When I turned seventeen, I made my debut in high society.
Father had apparently arranged my dress and jewelry in advance, allowing me to make my debut in an appearance befitting my status.
When Carlene saw me, she exclaimed for the first time in years that it was unfair.
Not this again.
I was exasperated from the bottom of my heart.
When Carlene reached the age of her own social debut, she would also be given an extravagant dress and jewelry.
Nevertheless, my stepmother claimed Carlene was being treated pitifully and ordered me to give mine to her.
I was never given a choice. By the following day, the dress and jewelry from my social debut belonged to Carlene.
Fashion changed every year, yet she still wanted them. I was so astounded that I could not even find the words to respond.
I had planned to sell the dress and jewelry from my debut and use the money to have something new made, but that plan was now ruined.
I worried about what I would do with the social season approaching, but my concerns proved unnecessary.
It seemed Father had ordered additional dresses for me in advance.
However, Carlene cried, “It’s unfair! It’s unfair!” and took those from me as well.
Eventually, even the invitations addressed to me were given to Carlene.
In the end, I was unable to participate properly in high society before my marriage.
◇◇◇
My marriage to Oliver, the legitimate heir of the House of Brandenburg, had been decided from the moment I was born.
It was a predetermined future that no one could change.
I had endured a rigorous education for the sole purpose of becoming Oliver’s wife.
Then, in the spring of my eighteenth year, with my wedding drawing near, Carlene said to me once again,
“It’s so unfair that Aurelia gets everything!”
Here we go again, I thought.
