Chapter 46 The Old Lady Fainted from Anger
Everyone was shocked, especially the young lady's father, who quickly stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong?"
The old lady looked closely and realized it was the only marquis who had come to the event today. When she first saw that such an important figure was willing to attend the wedding in person, she was absolutely thrilled. She had personally welcomed him all the way and endured quite a few cold looks from others because of it.
Now her vision went dark, and she nearly fainted.
Mephist reacted quickly, catching his mother and frowning as he looked over there. "Let's first hear what happened. What if it has nothing to do with the Titan family?"
The old lady hoped for the same thing, but a sense of unease kept lingering in her heart.
And this unease reached its peak when the young lady's brother walked in.
Matthew, the marquis's eldest son, entered and shot the old lady's group an icy look before whispering to the marquis, whose face darkened as he glared at the old lady with cold fury.
"The Titan family certainly has fine manners, raising such a fine son."
The looks people gave the old lady immediately became much more knowing.
The old lady only had two sons - Mephist and Holden. Since Mephist stood nearby looking confused and had accomplished nothing, the marquis must be referring to the missing Holden.
But what had Holden done to offend the marquis's family and make their daughter cry?
The old lady panicked a bit. "Lord Marquis, surely there's been some misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?" The marquis's eldest son sneered. "My sister and I went to the garden for some fresh air and happened to run into Knight Commander Holden getting hot and heavy with Knight Commander Candy. No wonder we couldn't find them in the banquet hall—turns out they couldn't even wait that long and had to run off to the garden to take care of business. Or is it that the Titan family can't even provide a room with a door, so they had to go outside to put on a show?"
Nina gasped, "Holden was out there again?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized something was wrong, and her face instantly turned pale.
"No, it's not like that..."
But the nobles present weren't about to listen to their explanations. Especially that marquis—without another word, he took his children and left. The people remaining in the banquet hall all had different expressions.
"I wondered why the main character wasn't here. Turns out he ran off to get his rocks off like a dog in heat. Seriously, are they saying they actually did that kind of thing in public?"
"As expected, lowly families can't produce anything of value. I thought His Majesty told us to come because this knight commander was so outstanding, but now it seems he's nothing special."
"I heard from their servants that Duke Virlet also caught those two having an affair at the estate, which is why he got so angry he went to the king to order their divorce!"
"How dare such a family send us invitations! God, now I feel disgusted just standing on their property."
Though people were whispering among themselves, they weren't particularly trying to lower their voices, as if they were deliberately making things difficult for the Titan family. Then they began taking their leave, saying their own estates were far away and they'd let others enjoy the dinner.
The old lady tried to make them stay, but when she reached out, several nobles backed away as if they'd seen something filthy. The noblewomen who had been chatting pleasantly with her just moments ago waved their fans, their contemptuous looks pinning her in place.
"Don't trouble yourself to see us out. We'll meet again when there's a chance."
One carriage after another drove away from the estate without any reluctance. Even the minor nobles who initially didn't mind Holden's romantic drama got into their carriages as if being chased, quickly disappearing beyond the estate gates.
Only then did Holden finally show up late. Though he was fully dressed, his shirt was a bit wrinkled, and there were faint lipstick marks visible on his neck. Seeing the old lady and the others standing at the banquet hall entrance, he frowned.
Today was his and Candy's wedding, and they'd both gotten a bit carried away, especially after drinking some wine during the ceremony. When the heat came on, they couldn't control themselves. Going upstairs seemed like too much trouble, so Candy simply pulled him into the back garden bushes, and they went at it hard and fast.
It was quite a coincidence—because the wedding dress was elaborate and hard to remove, and Candy couldn't bear to let Holden tear it, she could only lift her skirt and do it like that. But at night, the white dress was particularly visible, and they hadn't restrained their voices either, which is how they scared the marquis's daughter who had come out for fresh air.
Because Candy's moans were loud and sultry, Holden hadn't noticed the footsteps that came and went, or perhaps he had noticed but just assumed it was a household servant. How could he have imagined it would cause such trouble?
The old lady was going crazy with anger. Seeing Holden walk in so unhurriedly, and even looking around at the empty space with some blame in his voice as he asked, "Where are the guests? Wasn't the dinner supposed to start?"
"Did you make the guests go to the dining hall while all of us from the Titan family ran out here?"
The old lady used every bit of her strength to viciously slap Holden across the face. Holden had been angry at first, but seeing her expression, he became flustered.
In his memory, his mother had never looked at him or treated him this way, let alone slapped his face like this.
What on earth had happened?
Holden pressed his lips together. "What's wrong, Mother? I wasn't here just now—what exactly happened?"
The old lady sneered coldly. "So you still know you have a mother, still know about the Titan family!?"
"Of course I do, I..."
Before he could finish, she snorted coldly. "You fooling around with that woman Candy all the time is one thing. You like her, so I've let you have your way. Even when the family had no money, I still found a way to put together a wedding for you. But what about you?"
She angrily threw her fan at Holden. "Have you forgotten what day today is and who came here!"
"Those were people you specifically begged His Majesty to get to come—otherwise they wouldn't have been willing to attend your wedding at the Titan house. There was even a lord marquis who brought his children, but what did you do? You fooled around in the garden right in front of the marquis's daughter. Are you trying to destroy us all before you'll be satisfied?"
"Never mind about you, but your sister is of marriageable age and doesn't have a fiancé. I was planning to find her a suitable noble young man tonight, and you ruined that too! Holden, are you trying to make me die of anger before you'll be happy!?"
The old lady clutched her chest, furious, but then heard Holden mumble, "That shouldn't be right though. We hid pretty well, didn't we?"
She immediately felt all the blood in her body rush to her head. Her vision went black, and she actually fainted right then and there.