Episode 13: The Boy Without a Middle Name
Her black hair fluttered in the breeze. Those long legs strode toward him with a sense of purpose. Her clear blue eyes locked onto his with an unwavering gaze.
Luke was absolutely smitten by it all.
While he was mesmerized by her graceful movements, she introduced herself first.
“I am Alexia Louise Rietberg. My father is currently out inspecting the border, so I am temporarily acting as lord of the castle.”
“I’m Luke Valten.”
A murmur broke out among the onlookers. “Baron Valten,” they whispered.
It appeared that even in these remote areas, the surname of commoners who bought their titles was known.
“Just your last name? What about your middle name?” she inquired, eyebrow raised.
“I don’t have one.”
“You don’t have one?”
Alexia blinked her blue eyes in surprise.
Nobles in this country typically sport a middle name between their first name and surname. This custom dates back to the chaotic times before the nation was founded, when esteemed clansmen reveled in declaring themselves as “son of so-and-so” to showcase their noble lineage.
Traditionally, boys would take their father’s name as their middle name, and girls would take their mother’s.
However, it is not a strict rule; sometimes the name of a grandparent is chosen, and if an ancestor or relative was famous, the child might be named after them, in an attempt to snag some of that glory.
For instance, Luke’s father, August, has the full name August Georg Valten. Georg happens to be the name of the previous baron, making it Luke’s grandfather.
His stepmother, on the other hand, is Hermine Gertrude Valten, while his younger brother is Matthias August Valten. And let’s not forget the former fiancée, Natalia Hanna Cleve.
Compared to those magnificent names, “Luke Valten” was undeniably simple and straightforward.
Luke scratched his cheek, feeling a bit awkward.
“I’m an illegitimate child… so I wasn’t given a middle name.”
To be precise, it was his stepmother Hermine who had put her foot down on this matter.
Luke couldn’t quite recall it, but when he was first registered in the Baronial family records, he apparently had a middle name. Following tradition, he was named Luke August Valten at registration.
That little detail got scrapped when his younger brother Matthias was born.
When it came time to name Matthias, Hermine was adamant that her beloved son would never share a middle name with an illegitimate child.
“Matthias is the rightful heir to the Valten family! Of course, he deserves to carry my husband’s name!”
Hermine stood her ground, never budging.
If someone dared to suggest that Matthias take her name as a middle name, she’d go off like a firecracker, demanding if they were implying the successor shouldn’t bear the name of the family head, practically accusing her husband of not recognizing the child as his own.
And good luck suggesting that Luke’s middle name be changed to that of his grandfather Georg. That was met with ice-cold rejection, claiming that giving the name of the noble and illustrious Valten patriarch to an illegitimate child was outrageous, saying they favored commoner blood over Matthias, who was of legitimate noble descent.
In short, no one was winning this argument.
Interestingly, this was also the one occasion when Hermine lavished praise onto the Valten family, whom she usually ridiculed as nouveau riche, suddenly claiming they had a long and distinguished history, even extolling the virtues of a former family head she’d never met.
Then came August with the worst idea imaginable: proposing they give Luke his birth mother’s name.
But before August could even murmur a syllable about Luke’s real mother, Hermine erupted like a volcano.
“Are you suggesting we etch that filthy whore’s name into the Valten family register?!”
She went off, declaring she would never want to hear the scandalous name of a common prostitute again, insisting that listing it in the official documents was absolutely absurd. The conversation hit a dead end.
Luke’s mother was merely a young girl working at a flower shop—not a hooker. But trying to set the record straight would only have poured more gasoline on the fire.
Ultimately, August’s side crumbled under Hermine’s pressure. They went to desperate lengths to persuade the registry office to erase Luke’s middle name, slipping the official a hefty bribe.
As a result, among the two sons of the Baron, only the younger Matthias got his father’s name, while poor Luke remained without a middle name to this very day.
Here is a generated AI illustration of Alexia, based on her description in the novel:
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