Chapter 35 Disdain for Making Friends
"What!?"
The old lady shot to her feet in disbelief. "Did you tell them this is the wedding of Knight Commanders Holden and Candy, blessed by the King himself! Are they refusing to come? Do they want to defy the King's orders?"
The servant on the ground trembled. "Madam, those nobles said, they said..."
She fanned herself anxiously with her feather fan. "Said what?"
"They said the Titans are too lowly, and rejecting the Virlet family to marry some common woman is disgraceful. They said even stepping into Titan Manor would dirty their shoes..."
The old lady slammed her fan on the table. The servant ducked his head lower, terrified her anger might turn on him.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes blazed as she tried to calm herself. She couldn't understand why these nobles were showing such disrespect.
Didn't they understand how bright Holden and Candy's future was?
To be so hung up on Anne's divorce—she was just an orphan whose entire family had died. If His Majesty hadn't been so generous as to allow her to return and inherit the duke's title, and even made an exception to let her husband inherit the title, would those snobbish nobles have given her a second glance?
They all swarmed around her like starving dogs smelling meat, just trying to grab whatever scraps they could. Please! She was just a woman rejected by her husband!
Even after consoling herself this way, the old lady still wasn't satisfied. She strode forward and kicked the servant. "Go get Holden. I need to speak with him."
"Even if he's still on top of Candy, tell him to get off immediately!"
The servant quickly clutched his kicked leg and retreated.
The servant ran to the other side of the corridor. After making absolutely sure the old lady wouldn't discover him, he dropped his humble facade. The man spat contemptuously on the ground. "What an old hag. Look at yourself—what status do you have? A broken-down family so poor even rats won't visit, and you still want other noble lords to grace you with their presence. I'd love to stuff dog shit in your stinking mouth to shut you up, you old bitch. And you dare kick me!"
After saying this, his blue eyes rolled around. Given that the Titan family was just an empty shell, whether he'd even get this month's wages was questionable. If Duke Virlet later remembered to settle scores with them, staying here would mean not only losing his pay but also his life for nothing—a complete losing deal!
He had to find a chance to leave quickly, go to some guild or job board in a nearby town to find new work. At least he wouldn't starve. If he waited any longer and others at Titan Manor had the same idea, there'd be a lot more competition!
Thinking this, his expression relaxed considerably.
Still, since he'd been given orders, the servant jogged past the flower beds toward the stables. He'd asked servants along the way—Holden was currently feeding horses there with Candy.
But before he got close, the servant heard a woman's flirtatious laughter and a man's panting. He suddenly remembered earlier rumors that on the day Holden returned from the southern campaign, he hadn't first gone to see his family waiting for him, but instead dragged Candy to the glass greenhouse on the east side for an affair.
That glass greenhouse was where Holden had proposed to Anne, which was why he'd completely lost that beautiful lady and couldn't even get close to the duke's position.
"Holden... keep going, keep filling me up!"
The woman's shrill voice nearly pierced the stable roof. The servant saw the horses getting spooked, snorting in their stalls. He shook his head. Thinking of the old lady's orders, he worried Holden might attack him on sight. This wasn't some pampered noblewoman—one punch could knock out his teeth. The servant quickly hid behind a tree. "Lord Holden! The old lady wants you to come to the hall immediately to see her!"
Inside, the woman's leg was still hooked over Holden's shoulder, her other leg barely touching the ground, legs spread wide as Holden gripped Candy's waist and pounded into her with fierce thrusts. His shaft, covered in bulging veins, moved so fast it almost left afterimages, making Candy's voice grow even louder. The two were in the heat of battle when they suddenly heard this voice.
"Who!?" Holden roared angrily.
Having his fun interrupted, Holden couldn't stand it. But he retained a bit of awareness and vaguely heard it concerned his mother, so he called out loudly, "What does my mother want with me?"
But no one answered. The servant behind the tree had already fled the moment he heard Holden's angry shout—he didn't want to lose his life here.
When Holden got no response and was about to pull out of Candy to investigate, Candy unhappily wrapped her arms around him, actively standing on her tiptoes to push herself onto him. The woman's full breasts rubbed against his chest, clinging to him until Holden immediately forgot about that voice.
Candy smiled and hooked her arms around his neck, biting from his cheek all the way to his lips, finally laughing as she swallowed Holden even deeper. "...Holden, it's fine. If it were really important, how could they just send someone to give a quick message and leave? Don't worry about it. It's not enough yet—keep filling me up."
Holden thought about it and agreed. That voice earlier was very unfamiliar, clearly not one of the servants usually at his mother's side. If not, then it probably wasn't anything urgent. Better to continue with Candy.
Candy was pressed down into the pile of hay on the ground, her round bottom raised in a beautiful arc. Unlike other noble ladies, her skin wasn't flawless but covered with scars of various sizes. When Holden saw those scars, he thought of their days fighting side by side on the battlefield. His eyes filled with tender love as he growled and thrust in again.
The stable remained filled with lewd sounds.
Meanwhile, the old lady waited in the hall, but Holden never showed up. Two more servants returned, trembling from their errands.
Three servants sent out, and only a few minor families agreed to come. She was furious.
Her face twisted with fury. "Where is Holden!?"
Originally she'd wanted to discuss the wedding situation with Holden, have him try to visit His Majesty and ask the King to give this war hero some face. But now she'd been waiting here until it was nearly dark, and Holden still hadn't appeared!