A realist is defined as, “a person who accepts a situation as it is and is prepared to deal with it accordingly.” Nobody filled this definition better than Emilia Worth. Born to an affluent noble family, one would expect her to be a proud and spoiled noble lady, but this was simply not the case. While her family did have money, it was of a lower rank, and it had taken the family many generations of hard work to get to the level it had achieved. While its current members did not struggle for necessities and could have some luxuries, they had not forgotten their roots and maintained a fairly stringent lifestyle, purchasing enough to be comfortable and appropriate to their rank, but never overboard or wasteful. 

Raised under such a mindset, Emilia had been informed early on that she would not get the opportunities other noble girls her age did. Other girls had lavish tea parties, bought beautiful dresses every week, and read romance novels and poetry. Emilia on the other hand had been taught economics, had attended educational sermons, and had shadowed her father to his business meetings as soon as she could walk. While other children threw fits and whined, Emilia showed an almost unnatural seriousness in her demeanor that often threw off new household staff who were not accustomed to her. She smiled and was polite, but showed an unusual devotion to her studies for such a young child. It was rare that you could find her without a book in her hand, or ink stains on her fingers. Despite this, the most peculiar thing about her was the fact that her hand was already promised to the Duke’s young heir despite this early in life.

The marriage had been an unexpected arrangement, formed when Emilia’s mother saved the Duchess as she was crossing the street and was almost hit by a rushing carriage. Her mother saw the impending disaster and reacted quickly, grabbing the Duchess and pulling her back out of danger just seconds before the carriage rushed through the spot she had almost been in. They had then escorted the Duchess back to her carriage while being thanked profusely, but Emilia’s mother had simply smiled and shook her head, claiming anyone else would have done the same.

However, the Duchess knew that was not the case. There were plenty of people in the kingdom who would have pushed her or left her to die without a moment’s hesitation if it would have benefited them. The kingdom was prosperous to many, but there were always some who never had enough, and their greed could not be satiated no matter how wealthy or powerful they got. The Duchess offered to reward Lady Worth, but no matter what she offered, she was softly declined each time. After much persistence, the Duchess was able to convince Lady Worth to at least bring her family over for a dinner at the Duke’s estate. With plans set, the two ladies went their separate ways, Lady Worth pulling her daughter gently along by the hand.