The Unexpected Discovery Of Love 94 Tradition 2

The old laws were abolished and a confederal system of government was set up in order to unify the two old countries against foreign attack that was common in the time of old. Since their cultures and traditions were similar, the transition was smooth but in order to curb against secession, a restriction was placed on the aristocratic families. They could have properties in any state of their choice but their headquarters must be in the CCT.

The logic was that, if the aristocratic families were bound in the CCT, they would not be able to stir an uprising in their states of origin. This further raised the question, couldn't they order the branch families to act against the union? This is the reason why most people a.s.sume that the aristocratic families are actually hostages of the nation.

Star country was set up in a way that the aristocratic families could never unite to secede because they each watched the other. It would take a huge amount of trust and risk to attempt to break away from the union. With man, selfishness and greed is very common and therefore exploitable, they could not trust the next family not to sell them out. If a family tries to go up against the union, any other family could simply blow the whistle and if that family is found guilty, they are bound to lose everything to the whistle blower and as well be executed for treason against the nation.

The Blanc family was made an example to that effect. They tried to pull out of the union with the aid of foreigners with a promise of rulership and freedom, the bunch of them were publicly executed while their estate was divided amongst the families responsible for their down fall. Though a few from the branch families escaped but they had to live in fear for the rest of their lives with no chance of ever getting back on their feet.

Besides the responsibilities and powers were equally shared amongst the states so most family were content with what they had. Each aristocratic family, merchant family and every social cla.s.s had power allocated to them. As 30% of government is made up of the social cla.s.ses, they had equal representation so they could never be exploited whilst the aristocratic families coupled with the merchant cla.s.s families had always ruled so 70% of the government was allotted to them.

With the whistleblowing law, the upper, middle and even the lower cla.s.s had a shot at replacing an aristocratic family so everyone acted with caution. The branch family would never try to act out and could only remain in their state of origin in hopes that someday, they would be able to break away for the situation their ancestors placed them in.

The aristocratic families were like Feudal Lords, they owned the lands and then the citizens were their va.s.sals. Though, the Blackwood family had rights over land in State E, they sold the majority of their lands and estates which caused the decline of their family.

At age 21, Reno Blackwood, Brandon's younger brother, was given a few estates to start up his own branch of the family. Together with his wife Alice, they did a good job on estate management, reclaiming most of the lands unknown to the rest of the family.

Since they have a long history, they are bound to have over a thousand relatives in State E, so instead of recognizing every relative, they simply stay apart and only meet once in two years to give account to the main family. Therefore, the units under the Blackwood family hardly are in contact, in fact, they abhor each other.

Given that, the main family has the power to allot estates to the branch families, they try to suck up to the main family, at the same time hating, while wishing they were them.

All this contributed to the fear Judith had in her heart. She was afraid that Carl would drive Ryan away without anything or maybe give him the unwanted properties since the head of the family had that power to do just that. Her arrogance was just a front because she knew that she would not be able to protect herself against Carl if he were to become the next head.

Considering everything she had done to Carl previously, he was bound to take revenge on her, what if he exiled her together with her son? She did not believe that Carl was genuinely true to her son, she felt that it was all nothing but pretense that was why she tried all she could to keep them apart and also ruin his reputation.

But as she stood watching the door in silence, she knew her greed had pushed her son away into the hands of her enemy. Carl had successfully taken away her child, her insurance. To her, it was too late to turn back, she would not be able to get her insurance back or treat Carl right. No, she did not want to do that. She hated him. How could she let him be. His mother had taken Brandon away from her, she tightened her fists and cursed Carl as she recalled the past.

Strengthening her resolve, she spat out, "I would just have to kill you before you return." She wiped away her tears while swearing she would ruin Carl, it was the only thing that could console her, that could erase her hurt while ensuring her position.