Murmurs ensued. People who noticed the commotion were gathering. Marianne sat down on the floor and looked around her but no one came to her aid.
“Look there, it looks like Blanchett’s Lady is rude to the Grand Duchess again.”
“Oh my gosh.”
“She really never gets tired.”
“She carried the contents of the gossip papers so excitedly. Looks like she’ll appear in person tomorrow.”
No! Marianne’s face turned pale. When she was dealing with Lilian, she seemed completely fearless, a contrast to her appearance right now. It seemed like the eyes around her and her reputation were more frightening than authority or the law.
“Lily, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay.”
Cedric hurriedly examined Lilian from head to toe. Not a single strand of her hair was tousled.
As soon as he confirmed that, his angry blue eyes went straight to Marianne.
“It’s an insult to the imperial family, Lady Blanchett, if you have something to say, try it.”
“I, I…”
Why is no one here at a time like this!
The person who secretly came all the way here without a chaperone was herself, but that fact had already been completely erased from Marianne’s mind, who was in a disadvantageous position. Right at that moment.
“Marianne! My baby!”
Duchess Blanchett hurriedly ran over and hugged her daughter, who had lost face and was sitting on the floor.
“Oh my God, baby! Why are you here!”
“Mom…”
In a situation where she’s driven to the edge of a cliff, Marianne finally starts to cry at her appearance.
The Duchess asked why she had come now and began to soothe her weeping daughter with a heartbroken expression in her arms.
Cedric, who suddenly saw this scene, was speechless. The one who made a mistake first was the other side, but a scene that would be easy to misunderstand was being directed by someone who didn’t know the whole story.
In fact, that was what Duchess Blanchett was aiming for. She knew very well that more sympathy was drawn for a girl crying in her mother’s arms than for a woman sheltered by two tall young men.
However, there was one fact that even the extraordinary Duchess overlooked.
“Lady Blanchett…”
It was that the Blanchett family, especially Marianne, had many enemies.
Someone who seemed to have watched the situation from the beginning shouted in the crowd.
“The Lady threw her fan at the Grand Duchess.”
‘Oh my!’ Scattering ashes on already cooked rice! (ruining work that’s almost finished)
But before the Duchess could respond, Damian acted faster.
“It wasn’t a crime of insult, it was a crime of trying to murder the imperial family. Lady Blanchett, even if you have an excuse, don’t do it. Because the situation is already clear.”
Someone worse than Cedric appeared.
The moment the words ‘murder the imperial family’ came out of the Grand Duke’s mouth, even the people’s chatter stopped.
As soon as she met Damian’s cold purple eyes, Marianne involuntarily stopped her tears.
Her instincts warned her. If she crosses the line any further here, something very big will happen.
Just when the mother and daughter sighed together in the silence.
“Oh dear, what kind of commotion is this?”
Madam Rachel appeared gently, fanning a black fan decorated with red rubies.
“Madame Rachel!”
People involuntarily stepped aside and made way for her. Rachel smiled at them and slowly moved closer to the Blanchett mother and daughter.
“To think that as soon as His Majesty left, there’s such a big uproar…”
“Ma-Madame.”
Marianne desperately called for Rachel. She had to work this out somehow, somehow.
She had a big accident because she lost her reason for a moment due to jealousy. If she committed the crime of murdering the imperial family, a more terrifying outcome would be waiting for her than simply a scandal. The only person who could help was Madame Rachel.
Marianne desperately began to make her excuses.
“Madame, I’m sorry. The singing angel fan that was given to me by Madame, there’s no way I’d throw that precious thing away! I just dropped the fan and that woman…”
“Her Highness Grand Duchess Lilian.”
“Pardon…?”
Madame Rachel’s brown eyes looked coldly down at Marianne.
“Lady Marianne, haven’t I advised you before? I want you to have respect for the imperial family of Rupenwein.”
“I, I, I…”
How can this be!!
Had even Madame Rachel betrayed her? Embracing the devastated Marianne at Rachel’s cold tone, Duchess Blanchett begged instead.
“Ah, the child was flustered and made a mistake…”
“If it was really a mistake, it would have ended in one shot, isn’t it? Besides, I’m not the one you should explain to, Duchess Blanchett.”
The Duchess was speechless but immediately changed her posture.
“Y-Your Highness. Because I’m stupid…I sincerely apologize for my daughter’s rudeness. To not call Her Highness by her title…I’m ashamed. Please, I’d rather you reprimand me!”
Lilian wordlessly looked at the Duchess as she begged for forgiveness. She nodded her head slowly.
“I understand that, Madame.”
Lily was well aware that this apology was not sincere.
On the outside, she was pretending to lie, but if you listen closely to what the Duchess said, Marianne’s fault was limited to ‘not using a respectful title for Lilian’.
Cedric as well was furious with this apology that didn’t even look like it.
“Now what…”
“Wait a minute, Your Grace, Elector of Turin.”
Madam Rachel interrupted and gently cut off Cedric.
Lilian made eye contact with Madame Rachel, who was moving her fan.
‘As soon as this person appeared, the tide changed. That’s amazing.’
Although she was facing her enemy, she couldn’t help but admire her skill.
Rachel said with a charming smile at the young Grand Duchess who was looking at her.
“The person who received the apology is Her Highness here, right? As an older brother, you feel angry, I understand…but wouldn’t it be nice to give Her Highness some time to answer?”
Duchess Blanchett shouted without missing the timing.
“Your Highness, Grand Duchess, I was really wrong! I will firmly admonish my daughter!”
“Your Highness, what will you do?
“They apologized this much, will you accept it?”
People who were watching the situation clicked their tongues.
The people gathered here were not fools. Madame Rachel’s mere appearance changed the mood, giving Lady Blanchett a chance to diminish her wrongdoing. She was pressuring the Grand Duchess to finish the matter without escalating it further.
The odds of the Grand Duchess, who seemed weak by the looks of it, beating Madame Rachel looked very slim.
The moment everyone thought it was hopeless, the Grand Duchess calmly rebelled.
“No.”
A small smile appeared on Damian’s lips.
“Sorry, but I have already been lenient enough.”
People’s mouths were gaping. What did the Grand Duchess, who looked like she couldn’t even catch a fly, say?
Of course, some of them nodded, not surprised.
“Indeed.”
They knew that the Grand Duchess had already covered up Marianne’s insolence once. They kindly explained it to those who didn’t know. A commotion spread among the crowd.
“A drink?”
“Oh my gosh. The young lady is too aggressive.”
“The crime of trying to murder the imperial family is indeed correct.”
“My God, that happened at Blanchett but they didn’t even crack down on their daughter?”
Naturally, the situation reached the point where even Marianne’s history was brought out to the world. Lilian calmly spoke.
“I have no intentions of forgiving you. Tolerance beyond this would affect not only my prestige but also the prestige of the Grand Duke’s family. It’s not a matter for me to decide personally.”
People were amazed by the Grand Duchess’ concise tone, which excluded personal feelings. As a result, Duchess Blanchett’s biggest weapon, her appeal with tears, also lost its power.
“Hmm.”
However, only Madame Rachel did not lose her smile. So that’s how this turned out.
‘I like her.’
But liking a person and the current situation were two different things.
“Alright, so what kind of punishment does Her Highness want?”
“That’s.”
“No.”
Damian interrupted.
“I forbid you to ask my wife any more about that.”
“Your Highness.”
When Lilian called, Damian turned around as if he had waited. It was only then that Lilian noticed that Damian was standing in front of her, distracting others from the attention on her.
Damian smiled and lifted Lily’s hand. He kissed it and whispered.
“You were surprised.”
“It’s okay. I…”
“If you do this, you’ve held up well. Good job. So now leave the rest to me.”
Upon hearing those words, Lilian realized. Damian was waiting for her to work things out.
Don’t be treated as a weak person who is unilaterally protected by Damian and don’t be ignored in his absence.
Lilian’s tense shoulder was also released. The bystanders whispered.
“Look at His Highness the Grand Duke doing that.”
“I know. He was talking to a certain lady earlier, so I thought there’d be a scandal again.”
“The lady tried to interfere with His Highness coming here, and was pushed away.”
In fact, she was also specially requested by Madame Rachel. However, as soon as the lady spoke a few words, she realized early on that seducing the Grand Duke was an impossible task, and instead of clinging to the impossible task, she gave up neatly. Having made a wise decision, she had already gone home.
“Well, that’s a rare newlywed couple in the empire.”
“Indeed…”
It was the moment when it became widely known that this marriage was not simply a product of a political alliance.
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