Chapter 36 Find a Noble to Kill
Holden was ultimately caught by the old lady herself.
He wanted to go again, but suddenly torches surrounded the stable. The old lady walked in with a cold face, her dress muddy. Normally she'd have changed immediately, but now she wore this dirty gown to preserve what little dignity the Titan family had left.
"Mother!" Holden stared at her in shock, not forgetting to shield Candy with his body. But with this movement, he stood completely naked before his mother, without any chance to cover himself.
Seeing him still thinking of Candy first in this state, and noticing he was still aroused, his mother couldn't help but rage, "Do you even see me as your mother anymore?"
Her voice was ice-cold. Holden panicked immediately - in his memory, his mother had almost never spoken to him in this tone.
Holden quickly grabbed his clothes from the ground to cover Candy, then frantically pulled on his pants and stepped closer, "Mother, I..."
A slap landed on his face instantly.
Holden couldn't believe it, covering his stinging cheek, "Mother, why did you hit me!"
His mother looked at him with bitter disappointment, "Hit you? I sent someone to find you today, and what did you do? You left your mother waiting alone in the hall for hours while you were here having sex with a woman?"
"I, I thought it wasn't anything important." Holden was stunned. He remembered getting that message today, but since the messenger left quickly, he thought it wasn't urgent. So he kept fooling around with Candy instead.
He didn't know his mother had been waiting for him all along!
The young knight commander immediately dropped to one knee, "Mother, I was wrong."
His eyes swept over the firelight and figures outside the stable, and he frowned, "But Mother, even if I did something wrong, you shouldn't have brought so many people here to find me. If word of this gets out, the Titan family's reputation will..."
"You still know about that!?"
That was the wrong thing to say. Hearing Holden mention reputation, the old lady became even more furious. She rushed forward, raising her feather fan to strike him, but in the end she softened, lowering her hand and speaking with a cold expression, "The people I sent out today to deliver the wedding invitations came back."
Candy behind Holden was delighted - their wedding was about to happen, and she would finally become Holden's wife!
And without that annoying Anne in the way!
Candy thought smugly as she quickly threw on some clothes. There was no time to put on a proper dress, so Holden's shirt hung awkwardly on her, the hem drooping down, her chest exposed. Just looking at her made the old lady feel dizzy.
This was the woman Holden would rather give up Anne and the duke's title to marry!
Holden didn't notice his mother's expression and just said excitedly, "Really? Will everyone be there?"
The old lady sneered, "Be there? We'll be blessed if we can fill half the seats!"
"Those nobles won't come. They're all talking behind our backs about you losing the duke's title. Now except for a few nobodies no one's heard of, everyone else refuses to come!"
Holden couldn't believe it. Even if Anne's family, the Virlet family, were dukes, even if she inherited the title, so what? She was just a woman he had abandoned!
Who was he? Commander of the Empire's Third Knight Order, the Dawn Knight Order, a hero of the Southern Campaign. Even the King had praised him many times. His future was bright - what right did those people have to look down on him?
And Candy, his future wife, was the Empire's first female knight commander, also a war hero and one of the five Dawn Knight commanders. They had earned their place in history. What right did these so-called nobles have to look down on them? These parasites just hid on their estates and stole from common people, while he and Candy risked their lives on the battlefield.
Holden's eyes turned red with rage, like an enraged bull, "Those people who think they're better just because of their bloodlines and estates - who, who said these things? I'll kill them!"
The old lady glared at him, "Kill? Do you know what a crime it is to kill a noble? Even if you had the guts, don't drag the Titan family down with your recklessness!"
"Instead of throwing a fit here, think about how to fix this! Your marriage was approved by His Majesty. Now that the invitations are out, we can't just cancel. Holden, you need to go to the capital and ask His Majesty to issue a new royal decree making those arrogant nobles attend, or our family's reputation will be completely destroyed!"
Holden looked away uncomfortably. When he'd asked for permission to marry Candy, he'd secretly had the Dawn Knight Order members petition together. At the time it seemed like using their military achievements, but now he realized it could look like a threat!
No wonder His Majesty had ordered him to stay at the family estate to prepare for the wedding instead of returning to the capital with the other knights.
The king probably thought he was using the knight order to pressure him!
Holden was filled with regret, but now that it had happened, fixing it wouldn't be easy.
"I think there might be a way out of this," Candy suddenly spoke up.
The old lady narrowed her eyes, "What?"
She didn't think Candy had any brilliant ideas. After all, looking at everything so far, while this woman had been guiding Holden to act in his own interests, the results of all these events - besides Candy getting to marry Holden - had done almost nothing to help the Titan family.
This selfish, greedy woman wouldn't even be worthy of stepping through the Titan family's door if Holden didn't like her.
Candy didn't know or care what the old lady was thinking as she stared at her with cold, scrutinizing eyes. She twirled her hair around her finger, speaking casually, "I'm just saying, if someone ordered other nobles not to associate with the Titan family, then who would be willing to offend a duke for some nobody family?"