âOh, my God, youâve come all the way here? Can you cut me some slack? Well, madam, if youâll excuse me for a moment.ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Seeing the good Crown Prince, who grumbled playfully but moved, made me feel envious of Empress Elizabeth.
On the other hand, the silent servant didnât even greet me, and until the end, he stared at me with his weird gaze.
Itâs hard to see through his eyes, but I felt uncomfortable because his eyes gave a dark impression. I didnât care about it in the past, but now itâs a bit of an eyesore.
I put down the empty glass for a moment and skimmed through the huge hall where the banquet was taking place.
To be exact, I looked at the guests who were eating food, drinking wine, and talking in groups.
Generally, in my case, my position is very ambiguous.
In the history of the Empire, there were no young women who became the head of the family temporarily.
Although the marriage age of ordinary aristocratic women is sixteen to twenty-three, young girls, who got married early at my age, would have avoided this due to problems such as being newlyweds or pregnancy.
In the past, it wasnât that there werenât any young girls who were friendly to me, but most of them were just a group of people approaching me for their benefit. At that time, I also didnât even try to take a side.
The group Iâm aiming for now was none other than the ladiesâ side. Old women with children.
Young girls, who are just about to make their debut in society, were chatting or whispering happily with their peers. I passed them and approached the seated ladies.
âDo you like the food? Do you have any inconvenience?â
The ladies, who were in the middle of a talk, looked at me in unison.
They smiled friendly, but there was a flash of curiosity in their delicate eyes.
Among them, Countess Bavaria, the lady who I hired to teach Rachel etiquette in the past, opened her mouth, âYou seem to have great taste, Marchioness Neuwanstein, thank you for inviting us.â
âIâm grateful to you for accepting my invitation. Iâm glad you came,â as she smiled brightly and answered with a sense of innocence like an immature girl, the ladies exchanged glances.
One of the wives who gave and exchanged meaningful expressions whilst I sat next to the Countess of Bavaria, said, âWhat an unexpected warm treatment. But Marchioness, weâve heard some strange rumors.â
âStrange rumors? About me?â As I asked with my eyes lifted up innocently, there was another quick exchange of looks.
The next to take over were the Marchioness Schweig and Countess Hardenstein.
âItâs not a big deal. I ran into Countess Lucretia in Salon the other day. I didnât believe everything she said, butâ¦â
âThatâs right, you shouldnât be quick to judge by listening to one side. You have to listen to both sides.â
âOh, well, I think I know what youâre talking about. Itâs all because I was immature.â
When I said that carefully, the curious gazes gathered on me. I deliberately lowered my eyes awkwardly, swallowing a friendly smile. Then I stuttered in a hesitation, âIn fact⦠you know, my husband was a sweet man. Heâs always been kind to the kids.â
âOf course. We all know that the Marquis was a good man.â
âThank you, Lady Bavaria, actually, after my husbandâs funeral, I asked Countess Lucretia to stay for a while and look after her niece and nephews to help them adjust faster.â
âOh, I donât think thatâs too much to ask.â
âYes. But it turns out that her diciply policy didnât match that of me or my husband. Maybe she is just overly strictâ¦.. I knew she didnât like me very much, but I couldnât stand it when she hurt the children, so I think I was rude.â
Already Iâve shown myself to people the other day by visiting a famous dressing room with my kids. The same was true at this banquet today.
All mothers in my position would do the same.
In order to get close to them, the most accurate way is to talk about the children.
Duchess Nurembert, who had been staring at me with her unique sad eyes, nodded her head suddenly, âI understand. Itâs for the kids.â
âLady Nurembert is right. God, thatâs what happened! I also wouldnât have stayed still. Donât you think so?â
âOf course. Iâd rather scold my son, but I canât stand others touching him. The outside world doesnât seem to understand that. My husband brought a swordsmanship teacher a while ago, and he kept beating my son.â
âOh, my God, is that true, Lady Bavaria?
âThatâs right. So my husband allowed me to do what I wanted. I told him that I would blow his eyes if he brought him one more time. Otherwise, my son might have run away from home by now.â
A burst of laughter broke out.
The elegant ladies covered their mouths with fans and laughed, and the husbands, who had gathered on the other side of the table to smoke, looked back.
âAnyway, Madam Neuwanstein did nothing wrong, but I wish you couldâve taken a more flexible approachâ¦â