New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 166: I WANT THE PRINCESS

Chapter 166: I WANT THE PRINCESS

Charlotte woke up in time for dinner.

She sat up and looked around the room, noticing that she was alone. She guessed that George had left after she fell asleep. She didn’t even know when she had fallen asleep.

She slowly got up from the bed, placing a hand on her forehead. Had George really said he loved her?

She left her room and headed to the dining after confirming that everything that had happened earlier was not a dream.

During dinner, even the servants could tell that the atmosphere between the husband and wife was a lot less cold.

***

Few days later.

The servants in the Oswalt mansion gossiped in hushed voices about how their Madam now joined the Master and young master for breakfast and dinner.

They were surprised. Most of them had heard from a few maids that the master had headed to the Madam’s room a few days ago and they wondered what was happening.

By now,all the servants were aware that their Madam wanted a divorce. If the master was aware that the madam wanted to get a divorce, was there going to be a quarrel? The servants could only wonder endlessly.

What surprised them was that after the master left the madam’s room, the madam once again joined the master and young master for dinner that evening and had been joining them at the dining table ever since.

This new development left the servants unsure of what to think.

George had left the mansion for work, leaving Charlotte and Wade in the mansion.

Towards the evening, Charlotte left her room, planning to go to the garden.

She met the head maid on her way out. Suddenly, a question popped up in her mind.

"Head Maid, what about Wade?" She hadn’t seen him all day.

The head maid showed a surprised expression but his it quickly. "The young master has just completed his lessons for the day." She replied.

"I see." Charlotte nodded. She continued her steps when the head maid’s whisper stopped her.

"What a pitiful child..." The head maid muttered. She hadn’t meant for Charlotte to hear it and was only just talking to herself.

"What do you mean, head maid?" Charlotte asked.

The head maid was startled, then she regained her composure and replied. "Forgive me for speaking out of turn, madam. I was just lamenting the young master."

It was something she usual did subconsciously whenever Wade was mentioned, not expecting that Charlotte would hear her this time.

Charlotte raised her brows in confusion.

The head maid sighed. It was understandable that the madam had no idea. After all, she hadn’t wanted to listen to anything about the master or young master, and none of the servants would dare to say it.

"Madam, you don’t know, but when the young master was found by the master, he was being bullied by other children. He was not favored by his mother either. She would often beat him and blame him for the smallest mistake. He was constantly being ridiculed by other children, his mother too, for having no father. He is truly a pitiful child."

When the head maid was done, Charlotte’s expression changed. She had no idea. She hadn’t cared to know about the situation surrounding Wade when he first arrived. Her feelings hadn’t allowed her to try to find out anything about him.

She hadn’t spoken more than a few sentences to him when he first arrived.

George also hadn’t told her. No, it was better to say that she hadn’t allowed him to do so.

She hadn’t known if his mother was dead or alive. She felt horrible. He had lived with them for more than a year, and yet, she didn’t know much about him.

Even when George explained to her the plot that had taken place involving him, she still hadn’t fully understood just how horrible a mother Sana was.

"I also heard that he is always being mocked by noble children for having commoner background. But the young master mentioned that the third princess and her friends are quite nice to him."

"Where is the young master?" Charlotte asked.

"Huh? The young master is in the garden. But madam, wh—" the head maid was in the middle of asking, but Charlotte had already left without a word.

Charlotte gripped her gown as she headed to the garden. Her mind kept flashing back to the head maid’s words earlier.

She arrived at the garden, her eyes fleeting over the area. Wade wasn’t there. She headed to the greenhouse behind the garden.

Wade was sitting there and drinking tea while munching on some snacks. He was obviously resting from his lessons.

He looked up in surprise when she came in.

"Greetings, m-marchioness Oswalt." He greeted. He was always conflicted about whether to refer to her as ’madam’ or ’marchioness’. Calling her ’Stepmother’ was out of the question. Wade didn’t want her to hate him even more by using a title on her that only served to remind her of what he caused.

Charlotte formed a smile as she took a seat on the bench opposite him, feeling awkward as she realized she had never smiled at him before.

Wade almost choked on his tea seeing her smiling at him. His eyes widened. Was his father’s wife smiling at him? He opened his mouth, but closed it.

Charlotte looked down at the table between them, noticing that there were other teacups on the tray on the table.

Wade’s assigned maid noticed her gaze and went forward to fill a teacup. Charlotte nodded at her in appreciation, then commanded.

"Leave."

"Yes, madam." The maid bowed and left, passing a puzzled look at them.

Wade was feeling a bit nervous as the two of them were left alone, wondering why she had come.

"Marchioness Oswalt, is there something you need?" He finally asked.

Charlotte kept her composure and didn’t reveal her conflicted state as she replied, "I just want to have tea with you."

"... Oh." Wade then said nothing else, silently drinking his tea.

"How are your classes?" Not knowing what to say, Charlotte decided to ask this question.

"They are alright." Even though stunned, Wade replied. He paused, then continued, "I am mostly used to them now."

Charlotte nodded slowly. "That is good. When I got married to the Marquis, it took me quite some time to get used to the noble classes."

She had been tutored in necessary classes while growing up, but she was new to noble social etiquette and household management in nobility.

She could understand how difficult it would be for Wade to adjust to his classes, especially when he hadn’t received any education on writing and reading, around the time of his arrival here.

"Really?" Wade asked, noticeably perking up at her words.

Charlotte was surprised at his reaction, but she quickly got over it. A laugh escaped her lips as she nodded. "It really wasn’t very easy. You know that her royal highness had even arranged a new tutor for me."

Wade sighed and nodded, peeking at her a little before saying. "I wasn’t used to anything— the classes, tea parties and nobility in general. We never did them."

Charlotte understood he was talking about his time before coming to the Capital with George.

"Sometimes, I would play with the other children. Mother didn’t want me to..." Wade froze and his words trailed off. He had mentioned his mother in front of her.

A maid had told him that it would only make Charlotte angry and hate him more if he talked about his mother to the Marchioness. She was probably looking at him with anger and disgust.

His eyes turned downcast. They had been having an actual conversation that he was beginning to enjoy and he had ruined it.

However, when he looked at Charlotte, he was stunned to see a look of curiosity in her eyes, not anger, not hate, not disgust, just pure curiosity.

"Mother didn’t..." Charlotte gestured for him to continue.

"M-mother didn’t want me to stay in the brothel that much." His voice lowered, watching her from the corner of his eyes. "She didn’t want me to chase away her clients."

A distant look formed in his eyes. He remembered the last time he saw his mother— the day his father had found him. He could still hear her voice repeating those words to him. Her voice merged with that of the other children. He could hear the words of each and every one of them. They kept on repeating and overlapping, ringing in his ears over and over again. He felt exceedingly small.

It wasn’t the first time he’s felt like this. He usually felt a lot like this, but coincidentally, he was usually in Aristia’s presence on those times. A few times, he would even receive a letter from her at that exact moment, pulling him away from his disturbing thoughts.

’I want the princess,’ Wade thought.

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