"Pfft-"
Claire, who happened to be standing nearby, couldn't help but let out a laugh.
Barrett quickly clamped a hand over Gemma's mouth.
"Even if we have a daughter, she wouldn't be able to inherit the leadership."
"Why not?" Gemma was utterly confused.
"Because we're just part of the extended family. Only the Clan Successor's direct lineage has the right to inherit it."
Barrett caught sight of Claire and scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Ah... right," Gemma finally understood.
After all that, it turned out Barrett's side of the family was just an offshoot.
Wait, did the James Village still adhere to the strict separation of direct lineage and extended family?
"Is your village really that traditional?"
Gemma accidentally let her inner thoughts slip out.
Barrett instinctively glanced at Claire and offered an awkward smile. "Sorry, Clan Successor. Gemma didn't mean anything by that."
Claire offered a warm smile. "It's fine. The James Village is quite traditional in some ways."
"If you can't accept that, you could always have Bar-" Claire realized she didn't actually know his full name.
Barrett quickly jumped in with a grin. "Barrett James."
Pfft...
The formal introduction was a little amusing.
But it didn't matter; it was just a testament to his parents' earnest hopes for him.
"Oh, you could always have Barrett join your family instead," Claire finished playfully.
Barrett saw Claire laughing and could only shrug helplessly.
Who could blame his parents for giving him such an earnest name?
Were the people of the James Village uneducated?
Absolutely not!
If someone managed to get Pandora to name their child, it was guaranteed to be something elegant.
Dewitt, for instance, had been named by Pandora herself.
But Barrett's parents had simply chosen his name on a whim.
He had been a sickly child.
So they gave him a name that sounded sturdy and strong.
It was simple, but it carried all his parents' hopes.
"Oh, wow..." Gemma hadn't expected Claire to suggest such a thing.
"That's not necessary. Even though I'm an only child, my parents aren't insisting the groom has to take our name."
"Your village might be a little
traditional, but I don't really mind. If
women are always the leaders, the
daughters of the James Village must hold a lot of power right?
If the daughters held power, it meant the wives wouldn't be looked down upon either.
That made her feel completely at ease.
Even if she had a daughter down the line, she wouldn't have to worry about a rural family favoring boys.
Claire chuckled. "It's not that a
woman has to be the leader. It's just
that by my grandmother's
generation, she was the only one left
the direct line, and im the only
child in my family."
So, she had simply been forced into the role.
"In the future, if my child doesn't want to take over as the leader, we'll select an heir
from the James Village."
"Who knows, maybe your child will have a shot at it."
Gemma's eyes lit up, but Barrett immediately shot the idea down. "No need, no
need at all, Clan Successor. We have no intention of staging a coup."
He was joking, of course!
Despite the sheer number of people living in the James Village, the vast majority of the village's assets were actually the private.p the private property of the main family.
Even the mountain behind the James Village belonged to Pandora.
The annual dividends distributed to the village were all paid out of Pandora's personal accounts.
While the village collective contributed to the work, they could never generate the kind of money that was handed out to them.
So, who in their right mind would dare compete with Claire's child for the leadership?
Even if her future child really wanted nothing to do with the clan, there was still Pearce and Edison.
Their children were also eligible to inherit the position.
Compared to an extended family member like Barrett, Pearce and Edison were much closer in bloodline.
They were the descendants of the previous generation.
However, because Pandora was the sole direct daughter, ninety percent of the James family's estate had been passed down to her.