Reborn in another world as a Hermaphrodite

"Ava... Go back to your room for a second——"

"I don't need to."

As Ava quickly wiped her tears away before getting back up, Fredrick didn't try to pressure her again.

Instead, he turned his attention to the crowds of people standing by the door.

"Ahem, before I leave. I only have one last worry in this life, and that's who is going to inherit my title."

Everyone stood in silence, waiting for Fredrick to continue as he pulled out an envelope from his coat.

"The Great Guardian had already announced who will be leading this house next.

I want you all to respect and obey the decision made by the Great Guardian."

After the warning, Fredrick opened the envelope, taking out a small letter from it.

"Fredrick Reid, the Grand Duke of Regina, will abdicate his position as the Grand Duke to his daughter.

Katherine Reid will be the Duchess of Regina... Her sister Amelia Reid will be the next successor in line, signed Sarah Reid."

As Fredrick finished reading the short letter, the crowds seemed a little surprised by the choice.

Katherine and Amelia were the most surprised, as they both expected Alex to be the one selected.

Even if Alex weren't of age yet, it would have made more sense for Katherine to be named as the temporary regent.

The tradition was being broken, with male priority over female in the line of succession clearly being ignored.

More importantly, the choice to have Amelia as the next in line made no sense, as Katherine already had her kids.

"Dad, I——"

"Don't ask me why you were picked. Go ask the Guardian why she picked you over Alex."

Fredrick whispered as he put the letter back into the envelope before handing it over to Katherine.

She could feel a heavy weight pressing down onto her hands from the envelope.

"I accept the title, father... I'll do my best to honor our family name and protect Regina."

"Very well."

The two walked together over to the crowds of people who all stood by the entrance.

All of the knights kneeled on one knee as they put their fists onto their hearts, with their heads looking down to the red carpet.

The maids and the men in suits also put their first onto their hearts, with their heads looking down.

"We swear loyalty to Grand Duchess of Regina, Katherine Reid!"

---

The news of her becoming the duchess had spread throughout the entire country like wildfire in less than a day.

All of Katherine's plans were thrown out the window as she now had to meet with various city officials and royalties.

Fredrick and Ava both left the house without saying a single word, leaving Katherine and Amelia to deal with all the work.

By the time the sun had fallen on the horizon, Katherine was beyond exhausted physically and mentally.

Still, she was sitting in Fredrick's office along with Amelia, planning Fredrick's funeral and her upcoming official duchess coronation.

"Why does this feel more exhausting than experimenting in a lab all day?"

Amelia complained as she leaned back on her chairs, seemingly having given up on helping Katherine.

"Because it is more exhausting. If you don't want to help, you can go watch over the kids."

"I'm good."

Amelia quickly got up from her chair before moving her pens to write down her ideas on the paper.

Outside of what used to be Fredrick's office, the three kids were in the living room.

All of their eyes closed, and their body lying on the sofa, seemingly to be asleep.

"What are they just sleeping all day?"

Meiya quietly asked, looking a little intrigued as she and Luqing both stood on the side.

The three of them had been meditating for the entire day since

"Mom, they aren't sleeping. They're meditating to improve their mana," Luqing explained.

"I see..."

As the two watched, Meiya suddenly started asking more and more questions.

All of them were regarding what happened in the morning, especially as she didn't understand why everyone looked so sad for Fredrick's birthday.

Luqing didn't seem to mind it at all, as she patiently answered it one by one.

After the explanation, Meiya finally understood why everyone was so different today.

---

When the next day arrived, neither Fredrick nor Ava returned home.

Katherine was forced to cancel the birthday she had set up for him, dismissing all the guests who came to visit him.

Even the emperor sent a representative to send a gift for Fredrick's birthday.

A mountain of gifts piled up in the storage room hadn't even been opened yet.

Everyone knew the gift wasn't really a birthday present. Rather, it was a goodbye gift to see him one last time.

"Mom... Does no one know about Grandpa's birthday? Not even grandma?"

Alex curiously asked as he and Katherine walked out of the storage room after putting more gifts inside.

"He doesn't celebrate birthdays... Nobody knows when he was born."

As they walked back into the house, a few questions appeared inside Alex's head.

But he didn't ask about it as they walked into the living room, reuniting with his sister.

"Amelia, have Mom and Dad come back yet?" Katherine asked, her face starting to look a little worried.

"No..."

As they both looked out to the window, the moon was already high up in the sky.

With the clock ticking more and more, it soon got to eleven o'clock.

There was only one hour left before the next day, the day that the curse would take effect on Fredrick's body.

All of the maids walking past the room were in distress, as they knew what was coming.

The three kids were waiting as well, trying their best to stay awake so they could see their grandpa for one last time.

Just as Katherine was about to tell them to go to sleep, a portal appeared in the middle of the room.

As a dark figure emerged, they were all disappointed as only Ava came out of the portal.

"He's gone."

---

The next day.

News of Fredrick's death was publicly announced right after the birthday rumor that spread throughout the country.

Fredrick's funeral was a private mourning, as Fredrick told Ava about it as his last wish.

As the casket was lowered to the family cemetery, Amelia gently patted Ava's back as she burst into tears under her veil.

Some of the maids also started tearing up, with Luqing unable to hold back her sobbing sounds as Meiya tried to comfort her.

Even Sophia and Mary started sobbing over the loss, unable to believe someone who looked perfectly fine was now gone.

The only one seemingly to be least affected was Amelia, who directed the knights to begin filling the grave.

Alex watched in silence as he couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu.

A sense of sadness emerged inside his heart, the one that he once experienced just a few years ago.

Although he had only recently seen Grandpa, he had already gotten used to seeing him at the dining table every day for the past week.

"Amen..."

---

After the funeral, Ava left Regina to return to the capital and stay with her parents until Katherine's coronation.

And for Katherine's coronation was settled one week after Fredrick's Funeral, or just three days before the kids needed to go back to school.

For the rest of the week, Katherine was extremely busy as she had to sort out all the things Fredrick had left behind.

With Amelia helping her, Luqing and Meiya took the responsibility of caring for the three kids.

Initially, the two of them watched them meditate for a day until Meiya got bored, leaving only Luqing to watch over them.

After the rest of the week had finally passed, there were only two more weeks of winter break left.

Katherine was finally free to bring the three kids out again, as the mayor was left with the rest of the workload.

Everything was resuming back to normal as if nothing had happened. But everyone could feel the castle feeling much more emptier than before.

Still, nobody spoke up about it, as everyone was trying to move past losing a loved one.

Katherine brought the three of them to Thalorim for the rest of the third week of the winter break despite wanting to bring them somewhere else.

The three of them pushed back as they wanted to meditate.

Katherine could feel the three of them were clearly scared of being next despite them being nowhere near the curse limit.

Still, she didn't try to change their mindset, letting them work extra hard on their mana gains.

With more and more time passing, the last winter of winter break soon arrived.

Sophia and Mary had finally made a breakthrough, and the two of them were now officially Level 2 Mage.

Alex was still slightly behind, reaching a barrier that he couldn't break through like the other two.

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