The ladies, extravagantly dressed, stumbled across the parquet floor on their high heels, while the gentlemen showed themselves in tailcoats or uniforms.
Shyly, Adrien raised his little head to look at colorfully attired people, his head resting softly on Alexandre's shoulders as he watched the lively hustle and bustle surrounding him. He had never seen so many people at once. Somehow it intimidated him a little while his eyes wandered around. A few glances fell on the toddler, but most of them were still on Alec, yet there were more and more glances discovering him too. Cold eyes. Adrien turned to stone at this sight. It terrified him. With his mouth open, he stared fearfully at the starry faces, blinking uncertainly before burying his face in the crook of his father's neck. His small body stiffened more and more in Alexandre's arms, while his chubby arms clung tighter around his father's neck.
Adrien only dared to raise his head to secretly inspect the surrounding situation.
But the eyes did not let go of the toddler. Of course, it was rumored that a child was involved in this marriage. But nobody expected that the groom would deal with the situation like that and present the child so shameless and brazen in public. It was not uncommon for a girl to be lured into the bed by a brazen fiancé before her first wedding night. However, the situation of this bridal couple was even more shameful. After all, the girl had been engaged to someone else before. As a result, this situation offended quite a number of noble ladies. It was like the gossips of the noble society had finally found their food for the next couple of months.
Yet the Duke de Valois did not seem to be interested in the way the public talked about him and his wife behind his back. He proudly carried the child around and lovingly guarded it. Was there a different reason behind these rumors?
Alexandre stroked gently over the little boy's small back to calm him down. He had noticed immediately that the boy felt uncomfortable, his small body was stiff and trembled slightly. Alexandre could feel Adrien's fear.
He gently patted his little head. "Don't be afraid. I'm here."
Adrien nibbled even deeper into Alexandre's warm embrace, rubbing his chubby cheek against his father's.
Alexandre, on the other hand, was unimpressed by the crowd of guests who greedily glanced at his son, only to let their mouths run wild about it later. Which is why, he even prouder presented Adrien to the audience. He didn't care how they would talk about him, but he did care what the way they would talk about his wife. He had to prove all the more clearly how important Lily and Adrien were to him and how much he loved them.
The position of women in society was very fickle. Not only rank, name and fortune could improve a woman's position, but also the love of her husband. The more the husband loved his wife, the more solid her position in social circles rose.
But if a man showed himself openly with his mistress, that meant the social downfall of his wife. After all, she did not take enough care of her husband, which is why he had to seek for pleasure outside the marital bed. Alexandre did not believe in this nonsense. He knew how fickle the mind of some men was. Some didn't feel manly enough without two or three lovers at the side.
While some others married only for political reasons and kept their lover hidden.
Alexandre wanted none of that. He just wanted Lily. But to strengthen Lily's position, he had to declare his love publicly. A good start for this would always be to show how much they loved their children. Alexandre stopped a waiter. Unaffected by the situation, he showed Adrien the sweet little snacks on the tray. Surely Lily would not be enthusiastic about this idea, but after all it was an extraordinary day for them. So Alexandre wanted to spoil Adrien.
The delicious sweets on the silver tray immediately caught Adrien's eye and gained his full attention. He raised his head from Alexandre's shoulders and stared directly at the sweet snacks in front of him.
"I want that." Adrien pointed at a chocolate tart that caught his eye first. "And this..." The little one let his finger wander further to a tartlet with a strawberry on the cream topping.
Alexandre laughed. "Does Adrien want this or that?" With big eyes, the toddler watched attentively all the tarts on the tray. It was a tough choice. His eyes lit up as he thoughtfully let his head tilt to one side.
But when he heard a soft voice calling his name, his head shifted to find the source of the sound.