Chapter 62 Emily's Apology?
Emily gave a look, and her capable maid immediately stepped forward to check Pearl's injury.
"Is Ms. Hamilton hurt?" Emily asked gently.
Cressida shook her head: "Thank you for your concern, Ms. Gomez. I'm fine."
Compared to Pearl's crying and fussing, Emily, who was around the same age, was much more composed.
Emily just looked a bit displeased, frowning as she gazed at Pearl's injured earlobe.
With Marshall present, everyone fell silent and properly paid their respects to him.
Cressida was no exception. Even though Pearl was pointing at Cressida and accusing her of wrongdoing, Cressida remained perfectly calm.
Cressida just lifted her eyes slightly, met Miguel's gaze for a moment, then looked away.
After the maid finished examining the injury, she nodded to Emily.
"Ms. Gomez's ear wound is quite deep."
Hearing this, Pearl gasped and ran crying to Emily: "Emily, you have to stand up for me!"
Emily held Pearl's chin and checked twice herself. Her eyes immediately took on a threatening look as she glanced at Cressida.
Emily was smart—she didn't say anything herself, but held Pearl's face for Marshall to see.
The blood on Pearl's ear looked shocking. The wound torn by the earring did look quite frightening.
Cressida had acted herself, so she knew the extent—it was just a flesh wound, a small punishment. She hadn't been ruthless, otherwise Pearl's earlobe wouldn't have survived.
Marshall said: "Bandage it up for now and send her to see a doctor later."
Emily maintained her dignified posture:
"My sister has always been playful, which is why she upset Ms. Hamilton. It's nothing for girls to quarrel, but this injury is on the earlobe. If it scars, it won't look good."
Joseph, standing behind them, immediately said: "This is Emerald City. How dare anyone get physical over a quarrel? Where are the rules?"
"Joseph!" Marshall scolded. "Ms. Hamilton didn't mean it."
Cressida thought for a moment—Joseph, who had just spoken, had a reckless personality.
Joseph's birth mother wasn't of high status, but Joseph was fairly hardworking. Plus, having grown up with Marshall, Joseph and Marshall had a decent relationship.
Joseph said: "Even if it wasn't on purpose, she should apologize. Otherwise, what does it look like? Is this how Ms. Hamilton disgraces General Hamilton?"
With Joseph saying this, Cressida's offense became serious, even dragging the late Cameron's reputation into it.
Miguel spoke up then, his tone lazy: "Joseph, I never noticed before how much you like meddling in other people's business."
Joseph, suddenly called out, froze. He looked timidly at Miguel with some respect.
"Miguel, I—I'm not meddling. I'm just angry on Ms. Gomez's behalf."
Emily smiled to ease the tension: "Alright, it's not that serious. Just have Ms. Hamilton apologize and that'll be the end of it."
But Cressida said: "I won't apologize."
Cressida's firm attitude made all the princes present raise their eyebrows.
Marshall's warm, deep gaze turned to her, watching her, wanting to hear what she would say.
Pearl covered her ear, relentless: "Emily, look at her—she dares to be so arrogant in front of the princes. You can imagine how she bullied me just now!"
Jessica was a bit scared. After hesitating behind Cressida for a moment, Jessica prepared to step forward and admit fault, but Cressida held her hand back.
"I did injure Ms. Gomez accidentally, but throwing games are inherently dangerous."
"Jessica accidentally hit Ms. Gomez's foot with an arrow from the throwing game, and Ms. Gomez wanted Jessica to kneel down and wipe her shoes."
"To spare Jessica the embarrassment, I followed Ms. Gomez's request and threaded a branch through the copper ring, which led to the accident. But it wasn't my fault. If I hadn't given it my all, Jessica would have been humiliated, and I would have felt just as bad."
Before anyone else could speak, Miguel laughed coldly: "Making someone kneel and apologize—quite the skill."
Pearl trembled all over and quietly moved beside Emily, grabbing Emily's sleeve.
Emily: "Ms. Hamilton, Pearl was upset at the time. Actually, if you had apologized properly then, she definitely wouldn't have pursued it."
Cressida met Emily's gaze fearlessly.
"Jessica apologized repeatedly, and everyone present witnessed it. It was just that Ms. Pearl Gomez wouldn't let it go. May I ask Ms. Emily Gomez, is it true as Ms. Pearl Gomez said—if we don't kneel, you'll make trouble for us?"
"If so, I can kneel right now. Not only here, but I can also kneel all the way to His Majesty the King and apologize for today's incident, admitting that I damaged Cameron's honor."
When Cressida said this last sentence, she looked at Joseph.
But Joseph kept his head down, not daring to meet her eyes.
Emily was taken aback: "Ms. Hamilton, you're being too serious. There's no need to bring this before His Majesty."
Cressida: "But Prince Joseph mentioned my brother Cameron. I can bear any grievance, except when it comes to Cameron. So I won't apologize."
Joseph's head shot up. He was about to say something to defend himself when he caught Miguel's sidelong glance. Miguel's eyes were cold, and Joseph immediately chose to shut up.
It was all his fault for talking too much just now. Great, wasn't it? He shouldn't have provoked this Cressida!
Marshall finally spoke: "I understand the whole story now."
He turned to look at Pearl: "Pearl, you're really being thoughtless."
Marshall's tone was neither light nor heavy, but it made Pearl's face turn very ugly. She quickly said: "I just wanted to joke around with Ms. Hamilton. I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
Emily reacted quickly: "Go apologize to Ms. Hamilton. You were naughty today."
Pearl walked over reluctantly, her eyes full of unwillingness.
Cressida: "Ms. Gomez doesn't need to apologize. Just don't make things difficult for Jessica after today."
Pearl stared at Cressida, annoyance flashing in her eyes, but she had to say: "I won't. I was just playing around with you."
The matter was resolved just like that, and everyone around was secretly surprised.
Pearl had been able to act so arrogantly because she'd never been properly punished. No one dared offend her, and the Gomez family turned a blind eye to her behavior.
Everyone thought it was fine as long as Pearl didn't go too far.
This time Pearl actually apologized to Cressida, and Emily couldn't say anything against Cressida.
Marshall said to Miguel with a smile: "You insisted on coming to Wisteria Terrace. I told you there'd be no space, but you didn't believe me."
Miguel said casually: "I haven't been back to Emerald City for the Flower Festival in several years. I didn't know there'd be so many people today."
Hearing what they said, Cressida realized that Miguel had actually come to Wisteria Terrace on purpose.