Chapter 197 Skilled at Slandering Others
Some of the nobles present had personally witnessed the confrontation between Anne and Old Lady Titan, so they naturally understood that things weren't as Starr had described. But everyone was smart enough to see that Princess Kirenya and Starr were working together to pin the blame on Duke Virlet, and who would dare contradict the princess?
"Yes, I heard Duke Virlet was completely arrogant, fainting the lady as soon as they met."
"That's not all. I heard she took everything from the Titan family, leaving her ex-husband's family in poverty for quite some time."
"And after being kicked out by her husband, this duke's daughter actually ran all the way to the dangerous Eastern battlefield, completely shameless in trying to win back her ex-husband. But he already had a new wife, so Duke Virlet, in her rage, joined forces with Duke Skoda's former subordinates to target her ex-husband. How vicious!"
"If I were her, after the divorce I'd just stay quietly at home. How could she have the nerve to go out, and to a military camp full of men no less? And as for how she got all those military achievements, who can really say for sure, hmph!"
After listening for a while, the old lady finally came to her senses and understood the princess's purpose in inviting the Titan family to the banquet.
Though she wasn't in the capital, she had heard about Princess Kirenya's failed attempt to win Duke Skoda's affection years ago. Judging by the things the princess had done, she clearly wasn't good-tempered, and it wasn't surprising that love had turned to hate. Now that Duke Skoda and Lady Sophia had both passed away, only Anne remained in the Virlet family.
Normally, grudges from the previous generation shouldn't be passed down, especially when one was a royal family member and the other a newly appointed duke. But the princess wasn't a good person—it wasn't impossible that she'd hate the Virlet family until none survived.
Listening to what those around her were saying, these supposedly noble aristocrats would say anything to please the princess. Old Lady Titan looked at Princess Kirenya again and noticed the faint smile on her face, clearly satisfied. She immediately understood what she needed to do.
Since the princess's hatred was all focused on Anne, she just needed to demean and smear Anne, right?
For Old Lady Titan, this was second nature.
She sighed, drawing everyone's attention. "She is Duke Virlet. Though our family believes we never wronged her, how can a viscount compete with a duke's power?"
"My son Holden actually didn't plan to divorce her at first, but Duke Virlet thought my son marrying Candy was a betrayal. We even said we could give up the marriage His Majesty had arranged and let Candy be a mistress, but she wasn't satisfied with that either. She demanded that Holden could only have her."
Seeing how sensible Old Lady Titan was being, Princess Kirenya's lips curved slightly. She sighed, "Although our country's law states a man can only have one wife, since His Majesty made an exception for your son and allowed him to marry another wife, that's equivalent to a royal decree of marriage. Are you saying Duke Virlet not only ignored His Majesty's arrangement but used it to cause trouble for the Titan family? So you drove her out because she was greedy and selfish, refusing to let her husband have other women, not even a mistress?"
"What a domineering wife. She married into the Titan family for three years without having children, yet still wouldn't allow her husband to find other women to bear his heirs."
Princess Kirenya shook her head. "Ladies, whose husbands here haven't taken mistresses? If there are any, they'd truly be rare specimens, since this is the most common thing. As a wife, Duke Virlet couldn't even tolerate this. So when she helped manage the Titan family, doing some wrong things out of resentment and unwillingness seems quite natural, doesn't it?"
Everyone looked at each other, their expressions somewhat awkward.
While it was true their husbands had all taken mistresses, when it came to not tolerating mistresses, who could compare to Princess Kirenya?
Her husband, Marquis Jaeger, had even personally appealed to His Majesty, accusing the princess of harming his mistress who was carrying his child. But even so, the mistress died miserably in the end, and the child was forced to stay with Kirenya.
For such a woman to accuse others of lacking tolerance was simply a joke.
Not one person present dared to laugh. They all mentally reconsidered whether to side with Princess Kirenya or the Virlet family—this was a major decision with no turning back if they chose wrong.
Especially since His Majesty had just ordered Duke Virlet to find a suitable husband within three months, and as everyone knew, when she divorced her ex-husband, His Majesty's decree clearly stated that with Duke Virlet's permission, her next husband could inherit the duke title.
That was a duke title!
The Soth Empire's territory was so vast, its history so long, yet there were only a dozen or so hereditary duke families. To become a duke just by marrying a wife—what a temptation!
Many were eager to try, but given that Anne had already inherited the duke title, they were still considering what approach to use to win the heart of this young female duke.
Roses? No, this duke could easily buy a mountain of roses—how would she be moved by a man saying a few sweet words and offering a few roses?
So those men were all watching and waiting for someone to be the first to stick their neck out.
As for the ladies, they had of course considered setting up their sons or nephews with the Virlet family, but the ladies who had visited the Virlet estate could all see that the duke currently had no plans to remarry. Even if they wanted to push their family's young men toward the title, they didn't dare force a meeting.
Hearing Princess Kirenya speak this way now, they dared even less to push people toward Anne. After all, once someone went to the Virlet family, while children born to Duke Virlet would have inheritance rights, everyone had just heard that Anne hadn't gotten pregnant during three years of marriage to the Titan family!
If she wouldn't even allow mistresses, and in the end the couple had no children, wouldn't the duke title's line of succession be completely broken?
No, no, this duke title wasn't so easy to claim after all!
Trion really wanted to say a few words in Anne's defense, but Old Lady Titan held her back firmly, turning to threaten her in a low voice, "If you speak out of turn in front of the princess, even Mephist won't be able to protect you."