A Stepmother's Marchen

Chapter 28

“Oh, my God, you’ve come all the way here? Can you cut me some slack? Well, madam, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”

Seeing the good Crown Prince, who grumbled playfully but moved, made me feel envious of Empress Elizabeth.

On the other hand, the silent servant didn’t even greet me, and until the end, he stared at me with his weird gaze.

It’s hard to see through his eyes, but I felt uncomfortable because his eyes gave a dark impression. I didn’t care about it in the past, but now it’s 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 wasn’t that there weren’t 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 didn’t even try to take a side.

The group I’m aiming for now was none other than the ladies’ 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.

“Do you like the food? Do you have any inconvenience?”

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, “You seem to have great taste, Marchioness Neuwanstein, thank you for inviting us.”

“I’m grateful to you for accepting my invitation. I’m glad you came,” 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, “What an unexpected warm treatment. But Marchioness, we’ve heard some strange rumors.”

“Strange rumors? About me?” 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.

“It’s not a big deal. I ran into Countess Lucretia in Salon the other day. I didn’t believe everything she said, but…’

“That’s right, you shouldn’t be quick to judge by listening to one side. You have to listen to both sides.”

“Oh, well, I think I know what you’re talking about. It’s all because I was immature.”

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, “In fact… you know, my husband was a sweet man. He’s always been kind to the kids.”

“Of course. We all know that the Marquis was a good man.”

“Thank you, Lady Bavaria, actually, after my husband’s funeral, I asked Countess Lucretia to stay for a while and look after her niece and nephews to help them adjust faster.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

“Yes. But it turns out that her diciply policy didn’t match that of me or my husband. Maybe she is just overly strict….. I knew she didn’t like me very much, but I couldn’t stand it when she hurt the children, so I think I was rude.”

Already I’ve 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, “I understand. It’s for the kids.”

“Lady Nurembert is right. God, that’s what happened! I also wouldn’t have stayed still. Don’t you think so?”

“Of course. I’d rather scold my son, but I can’t stand others touching him. The outside world doesn’t seem to understand that. My husband brought a swordsmanship teacher a while ago, and he kept beating my son.”

“Oh, my God, is that true, Lady Bavaria?

“That’s 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.”

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.

“Anyway, Madam Neuwanstein did nothing wrong, but I wish you could’ve taken a more flexible approach…”