Chapter 42
Stepmother, huh....
Anna's expression of faint disgust at the mention of the rumors surrounding Yuuji's past told Aiden all he needed to know. Looking at how handsome Yuuji is, he must've been a rather cute child. And from how Naoko treated him, the boy must be one of those who attracted a certain type. Aiden understood quite well. After all, he had been the same.
All of a sudden his mind flashed back to an old memory he thought long forgotten. A shock of dark hair, the scent of vanilla. Julie...
She was a caretaker of sorts to him since young. The daughter of a family friend who would come over often and offer her presence whenever his parents had to be away on business or wanted to spend some time with colleagues and a few drinks.
He recalled her tenderness and warmth. How old had he been that first time? Eleven? Younger? It happened during a party his parents were hosting. He didn't care for the stink of cigars and choice of music, finding the conversations of adults dull.
She came to his room, as she so often did. Strangely, though, she was different that day. He could tell from her eyes, the way she just stood there silently and stared at him even as he asked what was wrong. Instead of answering, she just locked the door behind her with an audible click, her eyes never leaving him. Wordlessly, she closed the window curtains and led him to the bed.
He didn't know why she chose that day. Maybe she had thought the merriment downstairs provided some opportunity she didn't want to miss. Maybe something about him just stopped her from holding back. Or perhaps the idea of taking him while their parents were just a few feet below was too arousing. Who knows. But regardless, Aiden remembered her hands. Warm and comforting, rubbing his shoulders. How they slid down towards his thigh. Then inched higher and higher until, eventually, they stopped at his waist while she glided her fingers underneath his pants.
Back then, it was a new and unfamiliar sensation. He went rigid, hadn't he? Yes. The thought of his reaction back then made his lip curve. The awkwardness of youth, he nearly chuckled.
Julie's soft whispers in an attempt to relax him still echoed in his ears to this day. She taught him many things that day. Slowly, carefully, knowing she could take her time with him while everyone downstairs partied.
He remembered how at one point Jess and Ty awoke. They cried loud enough to cut through the storm. Jess's cries in particular grew louder as she must've walked into the hall.
He could tell from her distinctive footsteps that their mother had eventually come to tend to them. Faintly, he even recalled a short exchange of some sort between his mother and Julie. Trusting the young woman, it probably hadn't even occurred to his mother to bother opening the door and check in.
....Aiden frowned at the memories. He was so young back then, so small. There was no way Julie could've been truly satisfied, right? It was a nonsensical irritant but it still bit at his pride. Well, she must've gotten some kind of pleasure from it considering she had kept coming to him for another couple years or so whenever an opportunity came about.
Honestly, her soft curves and sun-kissed skin were what must've caused his promiscuous nature to blossom. He became utterly addicted to her body. Her smell, her taste. She was a succulent meal he could devour as he pleased, when he pleased. And for her, he became utterly ravenous. As their relationship went on, their acts became bolder. They would fuck on the balcony of his room. She'd take his member in hand whenever she drove him to school. Would teach him how to properly eat a woman under the gazebo of a nearby park.
It was, unfortunately, the reason they had been caught. The blank, broken look in his mother's eyes the day she found them, Aiden cradling his lover's cheek while her tongue lay wrapped around him in a quiet corner of the family library, still stabbed at him.
There were a couple of videos they found in her room, he recalled. That one he did raise a brow at since he didn't think she had recorded any of their intimate moments, but it wasn't anything he had cared about. They couldn't always find time together, after all. She had to find some way to endure, eh? He's more upset she didn't share.
Suffice it to say, Julie was quietly sent away sometime after and he wouldn't hear of her again until a few years later.
There was nothing dramatic about it all, really. No one apart from them and their parents ever knew about it. But his mother couldn't even look at him for a couple of months after and his father didn't talk about it at all. He became just a bit colder, perhaps, but he never seemed angry at Aiden.
Aiden was quite pissed off about it, though. He ached for Julie's touch. Her warm curves. That sweet skin. Nothing else in life had ever quite matched the taste of her from those days. But that didn't stop him from doing his best to find anything he thought might. It was the start of his drug abuse. As a child who came from wealth, it was never hard to acquire certain herbs and spices if only one knew how to persuade the right folk.
Still, Julie's absence had felt keener each day. It made Aiden quite irritable. Shall we say, short-tempered? The sudden loss of previously easy gratification made him pick fights more. Sometimes with the wrong people, or the sons of the wrong people. The worst was when grew into his body more and he started messing with their daughters. Now that really gave his parents quite a few headaches.
It wasn't as bad as he would be just a few short years down the line, not by a long shot. But it was, in many ways, the start of a series of events that would lead him down that path. If he hadn't met Julie again, at the very least, he might not have gone quite as insane as he did back then.
Hm. In any case, Yuuji and he were quite similar in some regards. His stepmother must've had Julie's tastes.
Guys like us do tend to attract the naughty ones, eh, Yuuji?
Though perhaps Yuuji hadn't taken it as well as Aiden. The state of his body and room upon Aiden's arrival in this world did not reflect a sound mind, after all.
Or maybe he did, Aiden thought. At least he isn't the one who was out getting high and playing gangster.
Ah well. At least he knew why the boy was basically eating himself to death now.
Poor kid, Aiden shook his head. Then thought back to the various figurines, posters and other anime-related things Yuuji's apartment held when Aiden first arrived.
Aiden also had a bit of fascination with such things when he was young, but after Julie he lost all interest. Its how while he did have a bit of knowledge in a trope or two, most of this stuff was pretty strange. Not to mention, a haze of drugs and women had dulled memories of those things even further.
Ty had a keen interest in anime stuff too, hadn't he? He was the main reason Aiden recalled anything about such matters, he'd say. Aiden wondered if he would've turned out similar to Ty and Yuuji if he hadn't been eaten up by Julie that day.
Though maybe that's the inherent difference between us.
They both went through similar events but to Yuuji it was a trauma he retreated into a world of colorful distractions to deal with. To Aiden, it was a heady and intoxicating experience he dove into with abandon. He didn't know what that meant for him as a person.
"There must be some pretty dark thoughts in your head, sweetness," Annabelle noted as large glass doors lined with intricate silver designs welcomed them inside.
From the time she answered his question about that Tachibana boy, his face had twisted ever-so-slighty as if remembering something he would rather not. But she didn't bother asking what was wrong.
"I don't care to pry, but compose yourself," She said instead, gently squeezing his arm. "Though I find somber appealing on a man, you should focus on the task at hand. Showing off." She smiled at the man dressed in a white and silver uniform standing beside the elevator. "The Banquet Hall," She informed.
At once, the man pressed a button and they stepped in.
As they rose, Annabelle lightly adjusted the Meteoris Imperium on display at his wrist and called out. "You know, Aiden, I am still quite displeased at the liberties you've taken with my sweet little elk. But do well in upstaging that soon-to-be ex-husband of mine and taking away that new chienne he's found, and I'll overlook it."
She wanted Aiden to shove a green hat down that bastard's throat. If he can do that, past sins can be forgiven. Even something like deflowering her daughter.
"How gracious," Aiden replied drily.
"Of course, under one condition," She warned.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and asked, "And whatever could that be, O most benevolent one?"
Her lips curved maliciously."Next time, record a video and send it to her father. I'll give you his details."
Aiden blanked a moment. Fuck, he thought. She's downright evil, this woman.
"That's just about the worst thing you can do to a man," He shook his head. " No. Whatever little war is going on between you two, you keep her out of it," Aiden shot her a cold look. "She doesn't deserve to have her father look at her the way he would after seeing something like that."
Annabelle clicked her tongue. "Preferably he would have a psychological breakdown and need to be admitted to an institution. But yes, yes. I know. I was only joking."
"Though, if you wish, I can send him one of us."
She pinched him. "Hmph. Just what do you take me for?"
"What do you take your daughter for?"
"Hey, I said--"
"Yes, yes. A joke." He sighed. "One of exceedingly poor taste." He was promptly pinched again.
Just then, a ding announced their arrival. "Alright, we're here. Remember, look like class and temptation personified."
"I could never be anything but," He returned, a touch of amusement coloring his voice.
Annabelle rolled her eyes. She could never decide whether that cockiness of his was real or jest. But the confidence it gave off was definitely a plus.
The doors slip open. Inside were various round tables scattered about a large hall. To the front, a stage had been built. A soft, haunting melody met the ears as a beautiful woman played the harp onstage. The last notes of the song must have been played because as the melody trailed off the curtains closed in front of her for the next performer to prepare.
After a moment, Annabelle handed a slightly portly announcer with her invitation. He didn't even need to look at it to recognize her at a glance as he had known her for many years at this point. The only stranger was the tall young man whose arm she was currently hanging on.
But knowing of her delicate situation and keeping mind his own station, of course he would not pry.
"Presenting Lady Annabelle de la Fontaine, daughter of Duke Henri de La Fontaine third of his name, Duke of Valois, and her plus one..."
The man quickly scanned the details on the invitation, handwritten by the Lady herself in elegant script. His heart shook.
"...Sir Aiden Maddox the God-Tongue, Monarch of Pleasure, High Commander of Orgasms, Lord Protector of Unsatisfied Wives, He Who Brings To Climax, the Grand Duke of..... C-Creamed Panties."
Almost everyone in the room by that point had noticed the two. And, upon hearing the long list of titles, were rendered mute with shock.
The portly presenter had to wipe the sweat from his brow, having stumbled his words by the end of it all. He was red-cheeked, averting his eyes from the crowd in embarrassment. He sorely regretted coming to work this day.
My Lady, why! Did I offend you in some fashion, or else why would you put me through such mortification?!
He knew she arrived apart from her husband, who had come sometime earlier with a different beauty at his side whom he claimed was a distant relative coming to visit. An obvious ploy, most thought, but no one chose to poke a hole in it.
Lady Annabelle herself had remained quiet about every other woman he'd dallied with recently, so others dared not run their mouth first. Of course, everyone had assumed she would not bother to attend tonight. She hadn't in the last few months, at least. Perhaps choosing to turn a blind eye but also too prideful to share the same room as her husband's mistress.
How could anyone guess that not only would she come, she would come with her own side piece....and even choose to give him such outrageous titles.
This is clearly a declaration of war, everyone thought.
Meanwhile, Aiden let out a low chuckle. "The daughter is a sweet little elk, but the mother is a wicked little fox, huh," He whispered into his lover's ear.
The woman didn't respond, but the faint smile adorning her face was impossible to miss.
They descended the stairs under the quiet gazes of many, the next performer having been quickly rushed on stage to fill the sudden hush accompanying the newcomers' arrival. But soon enough, the gathered elite wisely resumed their conversations.
The crowd caught sight of the famous chronometer Lady Annabelle's new man wore at his wrist. Their only thought only? Tonight will be a good show.
Aiden scanned the room and found quite a few familiar faces. Women, all. They threw small, subtle smiles his way before turning back to their partners. In particular, he spotted Gu Mingkong among them. She was a friend of the widow he'd met some time ago just before leaving Akiko and her family. The woman, Wen Jing, had become a benefactor to him and introduced him to her friends, Mingkong and Xue Xuan'er. From them, he'd started meeting many more women of wealth in need of someone to occupy their beds when their hardworking husbands ran off on some business trip.
Well, some had more sympathetic stories, but at the end of the day they were still having affairs over trying to leave their lovers so its not like anyone was innocent. It didn't matter to Aiden regardless. Connections always helped, and being the most beloved cock of so many influential women was a good thing.
Some men may find such a thing shameful. Those men have disdain that stems from envy, nothing more.
"Anna." Aiden's ear caught the low hiss of some unfamiliar male.
Annabelle tightened her hold. "And so it begins," she told him softly, turning in the direction of the voice. She frowned. "Something's wrong."
"Wrong?" Aiden mirrored her confusion. "What's wrong?"
"That woman with him, she's someone different. I don't know her."
Aiden cursed. "Well shit, what the fuck is that supposed to mean for us then?"
"...I don't know. Well, maybe he just found another flavor of the month. Nothing changes."
Before Aiden could retort, all of a sudden he was here. A luxuriously-dressed man, a tiny bit shorter than Aiden. He appeared calm, but there was a black look in his eye. At his hip, a beauty.
"Have you lost all sense of shame?" He smoothly let forth a string of French. "Coming here with this....mongrel from who-knows-where, announcing him with such ludicrous titles. The Anna I knew had elegance and class. Enough, at least, to not show up to a banquet hanging all over some manwhore. Like it or not, Anna, we are still married. Bringing another man here like this is a disgrace. Though I understand you're angered at me, I didn't think you had the stomach for such childish maneuvers." His words came out cold and dispassionate, the only emotion being a tiny bead of disdain.
"Oh?" Annabelle arched a brow. "It seems to me that when it comes to shamelessness, you still have me beat, darling. Trying to condemn me for coming with another man while having some random harlot attached to your hip. As for my Aiden here," She placed a hand at his chest and stroked him affectionately, a dreamy smile breaking through. "He earned those titles, husband dearest...trust me." Her sly smirk would leave none wondering how she had the authority to make such a claim.
"Slut," Her husband cursed lightly. Then caught onto something in particular she said. That name she mentioned felt distantly familiar but he couldn't recall where he'd heard it.
Her smile widened, oblivious. "For him, sure. He, at least, knows how to fuck a woman proper. Unlike some, he has the right tool--and skill--for the job. I should invite you over next time, dearest. You could have the honor of watching how a real man brings joy to a woman," She laughed. And to anyone not versed in the language used, you'd think they were having such a pleasant conversation.
The man's left eye made the smallest twitch at his wife's audacity. He was about to respond when the woman he came with spoke up.
"Come now, Nathaniel," She said. "I know you're excited to reunite with an old friend," Now it was Anna's turn to look irritated, " But are you not going to introduce me? At least speak in a language we all understand."
Aiden found her voice rather pleasant. It was clear and crisp with an even rhythmic quality. Each syllable was given equal weight and duration and held a certain melodic rise and fall in pitch that made him want to hear more.
Nathaniel stared at his wife with a tic in his jaw. "Anna, this my cousin Celia."
His wife regarded the woman with amusement. "How curious. I wasn't aware you had such a cousin at all."
"She's the daughter of my great grand-uncle, a second cousin once removed whom I often played with as a child," The man explained stiffly. "Her father was killed by a rogue cultivator many years before you and I met and she was taken in by a friend of his. We reunited only recently, you wouldn't have known her."
Aiden heard that and once again realized this was a vastly different world than what he knew. A great grand-uncle's daughter? And she looks so young? She was either born in her father's later years or she's older than she shows. The whole concept of "cultivation" was strange to him.
He hadn't practiced it yet himself, either. Instructor Ooyama had said those lessons would come soon, though. Cade had warned against using the system to acquire a "Cultivation method" on his own to practice, something to do with Aiden knowing nothing about "meridians" and such. Might hurt himself by circulating the energy wrongly. So he had to wait for a proper lesson.
Hence, the whole idea was still vague in his mind. Was she one of those cultivators, this Celia?
Aiden looked her over. The woman accompanying Nathaniel stood a head shorter than him. Ink-like hair trailed down the sides of a gorgeous face. Delicate, classical, like a painting come to life. Striking green eyes, full red lips. Her skin, a deep caramel and probably just as sweet. She stood there in a tight satin dress that matched her irises and hung off her shoulders, displaying a beautifully curved collarbone and ample bust. It clung to her curvaceous frame, showcasing a slender waist and wide hips.
She has the look and sound of a Spaniard, though she doesn't seem a full-blood.
The Farnsworths are an old English family, so someone must've had a taste for cherry peppers. Aiden was rather grateful. He hadn't had a woman of the darker hue in this life yet. It'd be a shame to exclude them, no?
Annabelle, for her part, took her time appreciating the other woman. "She's grown quite beautiful, this childhood playmate of yours. How wonderful for you, Nathaniel." The man was silent. Anna went on. "Well, I suppose its my turn for introductions." A smile. "This is Aiden, Aiden Maddox. He's a friend of a friend I got to accompany me at the last minute." She said vaguely. "Unlike you, Nathaniel, who had been seeing new women left and right since before and after our separation, It's harder for me to find an escort to events like these."
For the first time, the man truly looked at Aiden. There was clear dislike in his eyes. "Pleased to meet you," He clearly wasn't but he raised a hand anyway.
Aiden clasped it firmly. "It's an honor to meet you, sir. I've heard so much about you. "
"Oh?" Nathaniel raised a brow in sarcasm.
"Quite," He replied smoothly. "Your wife does enjoy her pillow talk."
A chill pervaded the air. "What?" The man's entire demeanor turned dangerous.
Aiden tilted his head. "Is that not the right expression?" He asked with feigned innocence. "Apologies. English isn't my first language."
Nathaniel stared at him, eyes black and beady like a shark's. "How surprising," His grip tightened all of a sudden. "One would never think so with such crisp diction."
"I've still much to learn." Their hands finally parted. Aiden's knuckles throbbed just a bit.
"Don't we all," Nathaniel answered back, a slight grimace between his brows as pain blossomed from his palm all the way up his forearm. Just now, this mongrel's thumb pressed into the tender webbing at the back of his hand. Hard. It made his arm cry out and he forcibly endured.
"Aiden's a student attending Basil," Annabelle informed all of a sudden. "They say his innate Spiritual Power shocked even Lord Winchester. A heaven-warping talent, they called him. You must've heard."
Just then, Nathaniel realized it was true. That's why the name was familiar. There had been a rumor like that recently about some youth with a disturbingly high gift in that area. But it was not widespread knowledge. Basil Academy kept tight lips regarding their talented students.
But for this to be that same youth, Nathan considered, how did Anna come to know him? A friend of a friend...its surely not Aria. Even if there is that connection of them sharing the same school, she wouldn't have phrased it in that way if she knew him through her alone.
As for Aiden, he did remember a bit of fuss had been raised during his entry into that place but it hadn't seemed very important, nor did he receive any special treatment. So he hadn't thought much of it at the time. Was it something big?
"You also attempted to enroll in Basil once upon a time, hadn't you, Nathaniel?" Annabelle inquired, knowing full well he had.
And yet despite being of the prestigious Farnsworth bloodline which had produced many powerful warriors of all kinds, he was rejected. His physique, they had deemed, was not suited for their curriculum.
Nathaniel was a good businessman, but he was not blessed with the talent of a warrior. To this day, this remains a sore point in his life.
"It was not meant for me," Was the man's tightly controlled response. "Whatever talent I might have received was instead passed down to our Aria, for which I am more than satisfied."
"Speaking of, I hear you share a class or two with that daughter of ours, right Aiden?"
This troublesome fox, Aiden thought. She was trying to steer them in that direction after all, huh.
"I see her in passing." He evaded.
"Oh, a pity. I thought you two would have gotten along splendidly." At this, her husband sensed something strange. The peculiar smirk on his wife's face gave him a feeling of ambiguous discomfort somehow.
"Not at all," Aiden asserted, wanting to slap the woman. "I'm a bit of a troublemaker. Young Miss Farnsworth would call me an eyesore if asked, I'd say."
The woman giggled sweetly and patted his chest. "Come now, a young man as gallant as you would surely find it easy to ingratiate yourself to a woman. Isn't that so, Nathaniel?"
The man offered a soft snort. "I'm sure I wouldn't know. To men, other men may as well be planks of wood. How can we judge something like how attractive they are?"
"Well then we must find a woman's opinion." Annabelle spoke as if she had been waiting to come to this point. "What say you, Lady Celia? What do you think of our Aiden here?"
And so it was finally her turn to take part in the conversation, eh?
"What I think, hm?" The bronze-skinned beauty raised her hand fan at the question, hiding the bottom half of her face. She allowed her eyes to roam up and down Aiden's tall, masculine frame the same way she had felt his eyes coast along her own body just moments ago. She felt her lips curve up, pleased at what she saw.
"Muy bien," She nodded. "He wears that suit handsomely. I like it."
Aiden chuckled at that and flashed her a conspiratory half-smile "You'd like it better off me."
Celia was taken aback by his bold remark. She flicked her eyes to her companion but knew he didn't speak Spanish, same as she didn't speak the French he used with his wife.
She calmed herself and addressed the young man again. "I didn't realize you spoke the language of my motherland. It's good, you have the tongue for it," She complimented, offering him her hand.
Aiden stepped forward and took it, bowing to kiss the emerald ring at the center. "There are a lot more things my tongue can do than just this." His hand lingered. "I'm sure you'll find all of them quite....pleasing."
Celia caught his eyes just then as he rose. They were the most vibrant blue she had ever seen. Mesmerizing, as if holding an endless expanse of stars. And right now, they seemed to convey a very dangerous promise.
For a moment, she was lost. Speechless. She had encountered many men in the past and often they held lustful intentions. They were filled with greed and a desire for gratification. Even Nathaniel, whom she had known since childhood before their parting, had been the same the first time she saw him again after so long. It had been a disappointment to her, to be honest.
This man, however....there was a pride in his eyes. A pride that said, "I'm going to fuck you until you can't stop begging for my touch."
The realization of this, from just their brief exchange just now, already had her moist. The shame it brought made her grateful for her fan. Nathaniel looked between the two, a barely visible hint of suspicion clouding his face. "What was that just now?" He all but demanded.
Not liking his tone, Celia frowned. "Do I get upset whenever you slip into other languages to converse with those 'friends' and 'colleagues' of yours?" Her words were sharp. Celia had been growing more irritated by his attitude of late
When she first walked back into his life, he was charming and kind. They had talked for hours, laughing together at shared memories. He felt like a warm elder brother. Then, well...he grew a bit overprotective, let's say. Started looking at every man who came close to her with a critical eye. Celia was magnanimous enough to not mind it at first, on the merit of them being family and old playmates, but then he had the nerve to hit on every woman he found even passingly attractive.
She knew he was a married man, yet he was out there trying to bury his bone in whatever hole would let him...it was repulsive. And the simple fact he was acting so childish the moment Celia started conversing with another man in her mother tongue was irritating. Such hypocrisy was simply loathsome.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you implying?"
Celia said nothing, merely shaking her head in quiet disgust at his question. Did he really feel threatened by someone who was around the same age as his own daughter? She understood, deep down, he was trying to protect her. Still, she was no starry-eyed teen.
This Aiden did admittedly make some bold remarks just now, but how dare Nathaniel demand to know about their conversation? He was going to start to seem like some jealous lover than a concerned family member at this rate. Heaven forbid, since she felt everyone here already assumed she was some mistress of his. Which was, it need not be said, disgusting.
"Nothing at all. Why, do you think you have done something to feel guilty over?"
"Of course not," He blustered, disappointing her once again. She adored the man, but he had many flaws. How had he turned out this way? The Nathaniel she knew from her childhood was far more good-natured. Everyone knew he was cheating...the least he can do is own up to it.
Annabelle, meanwhile, took the prime opportunity to cut in. "Oh, I'd beg to differ on that."
Caught between the eyes of two incensed women, the man faltered. He grunted, falling silent.
Aiden laughed, clapping the man on the shoulder in a way that appeared a gesture of comfort. "Cheer up, Lord Farnsworth. There are worse things in life than having woman troubles."
Seeing a chance at alleviating the situation, Nathaniel forced a smile. " Oh? And is that something you can relate to, Maddox?"
Aiden shook his head. "Not at all," He chuckled." I don't make commitments to women which I don't intend to keep. Bit of an amateur move, that. Makes things messy, as you can see." He nodded to Anna.
Nathaniel nearly burst a vein. This brat was obviously toying with him!
"Sounds like the mindset of an immature womanizing brat afraid to take on a serious relationship, if you ask me."
Aiden waved him off. "I didn't." He dismissed. Then before Nathaniel could even think to get angry, over the slight, he went on. "But let me ask you, is a man who cheated on his wife of nearly twenty years any less immature? Lacking the common decency to properly divorce her beforehand if he is unhappy, instead choosing to have affairs behind her back like some coward. Bringing his mistresses to social events under the eyes of so many, like scum, " Aiden smiled, saying everything just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. "What would you think of such a man, Lord Farnsworth? I, for one, would surely prefer some 'immature womanizing brat' over a pathetic, hypocritical excuse for a bastard like that who makes promises of love he can't keep. A serious relationship, you said? Something like that is a joke to such a man. "
A cacophony of hushed whispers broke out, distinct even in the face of the music being played. Nathaniel's entire face turned black with rage. He felt utterly humiliated, wanting nothing more than to kill this unscrupulous bastard right where he stood!
"Your words are a bit harsh, Sir Maddox," Celia stifled a laugh, but the mirth was clear in her voice. It was amusing to see his sins laid bare so bluntly, as is perhaps right, but she did care for Nathaniel even though he was a bit annoying as an adult. So she disliked him being talked to in such a way.
"Are you trying to pick a fight with our Nathaniel here by saying something like that so openly?"
Aiden tilted his head curiously at that. " Harsh? I'm not sure what you mean, Lady Celia. It was merely a hypothetical example...ah." He seemed to come to a revelation. "No, well, I suppose given the rumors surrounding Lord Farnsworth and his wife, one could form such a connection." He turned to face the man directly. "Once again, my apologies. I should have taken into consideration your delicate situation. I didn't mean to imply anything. For example, I'm sure your relationship with your cousin," He lightly emphasized, "Lady Celia here is nothing but that of innocent childhood playmates having been reunited. Not some perverse, incestuous affair that should be looked down on. "
Nathaniel's entire body ran hot. How dare some brat from who-knows-where speak like that to him? What's worse, he couldn't even show anger over it for fear of giving credence to the implications. The bastard hid behind a thin veneer of decorum to shamelessly provoke him. It was a trap, and Nathaniel knew he couldn't fall into it.
So with fire and ice in his veins, feeling like his teeth would crack from how tight his jaw had become, he ground out an, "Obviously." The word was full of such seething venom it was a wonder how he lived through its mere utterance.
Celia watched their exchange with pensive silence, not at all liking what had just occurred.
In truth, she and Nathaniel had no blood relation as his great grand-uncle simply adopted her into his family when he married her mother. She was a babe then, so many people assumed she was conceived by him at some earlier time.
But since so few knew this truth, stressing their family relation as Aiden had, in front of so many high-profile men and women of society, changed things. Aiden's words just now had drawn a line between her and Nathaniel regarding what would be socially acceptable. They couldn't comfortably stay together so closely anymore. People were already starting to look at them more strangely upon hearing him. If the two of them kept to each other's side for much longer, it'd grow even worse.
Just then, a new song had started playing. Aiden looked towards the center of the room where a few couples had taken residence.
Celia, seeing that, was certain of one thing: Those words were deliberate.
And as expected, Aiden turned his palm up towards her. "Care for a dance, Lady Celia?"
He planned this.
After his words just now, how could she refuse? Right now, everyone thought the cousin card was a lame excuse Nathaniel was using to accompany some new woman he was having an affair with.
Only after it's revealed that they are family, as is inevitable soon enough, will the waters start to muddy. People who would have otherwise excused their closeness as that of family reunited--as is the actual case--would then instead look upon them with a more queer eye. All because this Aiden had made such implications. Unwanted rumors, especially ones so vile, would even negatively affect the Farnsworth family's various businesses. At worst, their stocks could take a significant impact.
She had to take his hand now or face damning rumors later. The only question is, did he believe they were, in fact, cousins....or did he, like everyone did at the moment, assume it was a lie to cover up some affair and was simply using it as a pretense here to strong-arm her into accepting the dance?
If it was the former, he was just taking another dig at Nathaniel. And, well, maybe he is actually interested in a dance, too. If its the latter, however...he's trying to make a move on some other man's woman, or so he thinks.
Which Celia did not believe was something that he would be doing just randomly.
Celia glanced at Annabelle, that "despicable woman" as Nathaniel liked to call her. Celia now understood why, too. She could just tell from the tiny little smirk the woman was sending her way.
She brought him for me, she thought. Or whichever woman Nate might show up with, I suppose.
Obviously, this was some ploy to get revenge on her husband for his philandering. To hire some charming gentleman to seduce Nate's women and cause him to wear a green hat. Honestly, it had a kind of ruthless beauty to it, such a plan. One Celia begrudgingly admired. How couldn't she understand the depths of hate a woman would have for a cheating husband?
But it wouldn't work here. There was zero chance Celia would fall to such a blatant scheme, much less when she knew it was something that had nothing to do with her. Why should she get in the middle of this little war between husband and wife?
Celia wondered if Annabelle truly believed she and Nathaniel were cousins. She wondered if the woman cared either way. Then she realized that this woman probably even hoped it was true. Because compared to some mistress he changed with the week, sending someone to seduce his childhood playmate and cousin to cause him shame was probably an even sweeter plot.
It's different when they're family, isn't it? Heck, the only thing worse would be if it were his sister or daughter...good thing Nate didn't have any sisters. As for daughters, there was only Aria. And not even a woman Nate described as "mercilessly vindictive and vile" would use their own daughter that way.
Its a shame, Lady Anna, but I'm not one of those women you're after. Even if you still want to continue with this little plan of yours, my moral backbone isn't so weak that I'll cave to some kid young enough to be my son!
Unlike you and your husband, I am a woman of virtue.