Malicious Gossip
I was glad to hear stories about my Father, whom I didn’t know well.
After a while, he finished his greetings, and I was waiting for him to come back.
“Look.”
“Coming to such a place so boldly.”
“Such a brazen woman.”
I heard whispering voices.
“Henry.”
“Yeah.”
At the end of my gaze was Mother, and the ladies seemed to be speaking so that they could be heard on purpose.
“Oh my? How do you do?”
“That dress really suits a nouveau riche like you.”
“Truly.”
Not only did they talk behind her back, but the ladies also insulted my Mother’s dress in a gaudy manner.
Why, the exposure of her skin is not even that high?
“A red dress is not fit for a celebration.”
“How uncivilized.”
The ladies who blamed my Mother in multiple ways laughed at her, and people gathered as if something had happened.
“I wonder who she’s trying to get with this time.”
“Did she seduce Count Monhan with her body?”
Terrible.
My Mother has never done anything like seducing someone to help with her work.
Mother, who takes pride in her business, would never do such a thing.
“Stop it…”
“No, wait…”
“Please stop.”
I tried to go to my Mother, but I was stopped by Lady Oriana and Henry.
“There’s no need for intervention.”
“Yeah, it’s not necessary.”
“But…”
Why, when it’s happening right in front of me?
“Remember. You can’t win by confronting someone who talks behind your back head-on.”
“But…”
“In the social world, the one who plays well wins, and you have to use your head.”
My hand was clasped stronger.
All I could do now was watch over Mother.
How powerless I am, filled with regret.
But…
“Eh?”
“Haa~ how distasteful.”
“Well, it’s self-inflicted, isn’t it? Really incorrigible.”
Mother had a wonderful smile on her face.
As if she was enjoying being gossiped about.
“That’s an honor.”
“Huh?”
“I guess this beauty is a sin? Making everyone else jealous… I’m really sorry.”
“What are you…”
“Being beautiful is really a sin.”
The smile on her face as she held a fan in one hand was… something.
“Don’t be stupid.”
“What we want to say is!”
The ladies who were being sarcastic to Mother were getting irritated but continued to make nerve-wracking remarks while realizing it.
“It must be hard for you as women not to be desired by men…”
“Wha!”
“Not being able to get along with your husband and participating alone today, how pitiful.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
Participating alone?
That means…
“Oh my? Your husband has arrived.”
“What!”
At the end of my gaze was a middle-aged man escorting a woman a generation younger. They were too close together.
I think it’s too much for a social occasion, but those two are…
“Oh, that’s the husband of Lady Morabon, the one who was being sarcastic.”
“And by the way, the mistress is her niece.”
Gross.
Is such a terrible thing happening in the Royal Capital’s social world?