The boy’s mother glared at Wade angrily and then turned to Charlotte, anger plastered on her face.
"Marchioness Oswalt, look at how unruly the boy is acting. Is he not being educated properly? His behavior could tarnish the Marquis’ reputation. I know that you empathize with him because of your similar background, but this is too much." She was just short of yelling.
The reason the children targeted Wade was because they had heard from their mothers that Wade was disliked by his stepmother and she wouldn’t support him.
His father was also usually busy and wouldn’t know what was going on until anyone told him. And it was clear Wade wasn’t gonna tell him.
So basically, no matter what they said or did, no one would question them.
She also thought the sa. That was why when the noble woman heard that her son was in an argunt with the bastard son of Marquis Oswalt, she rushed over imdiately.
She wanted to scold Wade and also wanted to use the opportunity to scold the Marchioness herself and did not hesitate to do so imdiately she arrived.
She thought that the Marchioness would not stand up for Wade, and if she was smart she wouldn’t say anything to her. It would also increase her hate for the child. To her, it was like killing multiple birds with one stone.
She pretended to be worried about the child’s actions affecting the Marquis’ reputation and indirectly insulted Charlotte using her background.
However, what she didn’t expect was the marchioness’ next words.
"Mind your words, Viscountess. We haven’t heard the child’s side of the story."
"What do you an? It is obvious that this child—"
"Viscountess." Alistair interrupted sharply, causing the Viscountess to shut up. "Let the child speak."
Everyone present turned to Wade. He was feeling a little nervous from all the gazes, but he cald down when he saw Aristia looking at him. He wasn’t alone. He had a friend who really liked him.
Even if everyone lied against him, Wade was certain that Aristia would speak up for him and tell the truth.
He took a deep breath and turned to the adult won.
He explained, "I only said that it would be better for him to see for himself since he asked whether the commoners drank the sa tea as us, and whether they used the porcelain teacups."
Duchess Winston looked at Ian for confirmation and Ian nodded. He did say that... but it ant quite a lot.
Hearing Wade’s words, the noble ladies gathered understood. The boy obviously wanted to mock Wade. Too bad he had caused a scene instead.
Seeing that Wade was right, Duchess Winston turned to reprimand the Viscountess.
"You heard the child."
The Viscountess still was unwilling to back down.
"Viscountess," Charlotte suddenly said. Her voice was a little cold. "It is not your place to worry about the Marquis’ reputation or the child’s education. You have far exceeded your limits. It is your child’s education that you should be worried about."
Her words shocked everyone.
"The Viscountess knows that she misspoke. It is best we forget this and not make things difficult. It is just a fight between children. It would be unreasonable to pursue argunts with children."
Seeing that Charlotte wanted to settle the score with the Viscountess, Duchess Matilda intervened before the situation could get anymore out of hand.
She tried to stop the matter from escalating as it would be bad for her reputation if such a thing happened during a tea party that she hosted. As the sa ti she also wanted Charlotte to leave the matter like that, which would be a disadvantage to Charlotte.
From her words, if Charlotte pursued the matter, she would be unreasonable. Little did she know that Charlotte did not care about that. She had determined to not take that. She wouldn’t be wronged by another person. Not anymore. She wanted to defend herself and Wade for once.
’It’s the only thing I can do for you before I go. I want to do it, just this once.’ She thought, glancing at him with a bit of sadness.
It was a fleeting look that no one caught. The next mont, her face reverted back to its coldness and she turned to Duchess Winston.
"I beg to differ, your grace. I cannot accept that."
The surrounding ladies gapsed in shock. Was this the sa Charlotte who silently took every word they said? She was even refusing the Duchess’s tacit words to drop the matter. She would be making enemies with her.
"What do you an, Marchioness?" Duchess Winston stopped smiling, looking at Charlotte.
"I cannot let this go, your grace." Charlotte repeated, then turned to the Viscountess.
"You falsely accused the son of the Marquis and acted disrespectfully to the Marchioness by disregarding status and scolding . Your son referred to the Marquis’ son as ’you’ and even used his first na, disregarding status and title. This I cannot let go."
The ladies had heard the boy’s outburst as they neared the part of the garden. The boy’s voice was quite loud and he hadn’t tried to lower his voice, disregarding any consequences.
The Viscountess shifted, her initial anger fading away as the implications of her actions dawned on her. Everything Charlotte said was right. She had indeed stepped out of line.
And the woman’s son had too. The children exchanged glances . Co to think of it, the boy had been the one yelling from the start while Wade had been responding calmly and sincerely...
"Then what do you want, Marchioness?" Catherine asked, speaking for the first ti since they arrived at the children’s table.
Just like Aristia, she had also been enjoying the entertainnt, but was also curious to see what Charlotte would do this ti.
Charlotte didn’t need to think about it. "I want them to apologize."
Murmurs rang out in the crowd but Charlotte wasn’t done yet.
"I want the Viscountess to apologize to and Wade. Just as her grace said, we shouldn’t be calculative with children. Her son should also apologize to Wade. They are both children so it shouldn’t count as being calculative, right?" Her gaze landed on Duchess Winston as she asked that.
She continued,
"Children should learn to take responsibility for their actions and mistakes, so that they grow up to be responsible adults, especially as nobles who will also lead the people of the kingdom under the king." Her voice was cold and stern. She gave them no way out.
"Very well. If that is what you want." Catherine waved her hand.
Her words held the final say. The Viscountess had to apologize.
She was embarrassed as she had to apologize, not only to the Marchioness who had a commoner background, but also to Wade, whom she considered lowly as a re illegitimate son from a mistress, and she had to do so in front of all the ladies and even the children.
The woman felt she had lost her face.
Sadly, she had no choice. She gritted her teeth and bowed to Charlotte. "I apologize for speaking disrespectfully to you and disregarding status, Marchioness Oswalt. Forgive for stepping out of line."
She turned to Wade, "I apologize for calling you unruly. Forgive , young master."
After speaking, she pushed her son forward to apologize. Everyone waited for the boy to speak.
Finally, the boy bowed and opened his mouth.
"I apologize for yelling at you, young master Oswalt." He apologized, a little bit unwilling, but tried to hide it.
"I will let it pass, but it will not end so easily next ti." Charlotte spoke. Her words were also a warning to the other noblewon. Her gaze swept across them. She wasn’t easy to bully anymore.
"Marquis Oswalt has acknowledged this child as his rightful heir and he should be accorded the due respect ant for his position." She ended her words.
"Now that that’s settled, let us return. There is no need to let this incident ruin the joy of this event." Catherine took the lead in dispersing the crowd.
The tea party continued, but with a different air to it. After seeing what happened, both the won and children held back from trying to mock Wade and Charlotte. Most of the noble children avoided Wade or behaved carefully around him.
[They change so quickly. Who would have thought that they had just been mocking him a while ago, but now there’s no trace of it.] Aristia sneered silently.
Wade, on the other hand, didn’t care about them.
Aristia silently gave Wade a thumbs up. She was satisfied with how things turned out.
[You’re growing, kid.]
Wade’s eyes sparkled and his face brightened. He didn’t understand what her hand movent ant, but he could vaguely feel that it ant approval.
He turned away with a grin. He had found a way to defend himself.
The Viscountess and her son left imdiately after the humiliating incident.
Because of the sour incident at the tea party, the tea party ended early. The nobles returned to their hos.
The smiling expression of Duchess Winston finally faded as soon as she entered her room after the last noble had left.
"Leave."
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