Welcome to Charming, where swirling petticoats, the language of flowers, and old-fashioned duels are only the beginning of what is lying underneath…
After a magical attempt on her life in 1877, Queen Victoria launched a crusade against magic that, while tidied up by the Ministry of Magic, saw the Wizarding community exiled to Hogsmeade, previously little more than a crossroad near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the years that have passed since, Hogsmeade has suffered plagues, fires, and Victorian hypocrisy but is still standing firm.
Thethe year is now 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
Liliana and Chester where to leave at noon. But first, she had some business to take care of. Business that she had been dying to accomplish for years. Heading up the familiar stairs, she was determined to go directly where she needed to.
Knocking on the door was but a courtesy, before she bluntly opened her step-monster's door and entered. "How dare you." She stated, rather than really asking.
Trystan had overruled her and in Ambrosia’s bid to appear indifferent she had been forced to capitulate without fuss less she gave off the impression that she cared about a single thing that Liliana did. She had spent the day reading, a charm placed around her parlour to keep away the noise of revelry, and occasionally one of the family members she could stand had appeared to give her an update on proceedings.
As such when her door opened she glanced up from her newly picked-up embroidery expecting Tanwen or one of the twins and was instead confronted by a furious bride.
Eyebrow arched and lips pursed Ambrosia dismissively lowered her head back to the stitches.
“Have things gone awry already? What a shame.”
Ambrosia's got 99 problems but this hot af set from MJ ain't 1 of them
Liliana had gotten her wish. That, perhaps, should have been enough. She was married, to a rich, pureblooded man nonetheless. But it was a matter of pride and respect that she came. An abundance of one and a lack of the other, to be clear.
This behavior was maddening, and needed to come to an end. For the sake of both women's reputation, if nothing else.
"You had no right to be absent at my wedding. Like it or not, we are family! How dare you snub such an important moment for this family, for my future? If you cannot think of my feelings, do you even think to care about how this looks for our reputation?!" Perhaps she was over dramatizing Ambrosia's absence. But people would talk, and it did not look good for the socialite-to-be that her own step-mother would avoid the wedding completely.
Ambrosia nearly laughed. To be chastised by a girl she had seen being raised was beyond the pale and had they been in company then Ambrosia would have ignored the outrage, knowing full well that her indifference was more infuriating to Liliana than anything else. But today was her wedding day: she could at least give them both the gift of a retaliation.
“Family?” Ambrosia muttered with a cruel smile coming to her lips. Setting aside her embroidery she slowly got to her feet but made no move towards the new Mrs Parkinson. (Merlin, it was wonderful not to have to share a name with her husband’s first mistake!)
“You and I are not family. And as of today I need never worry about the stain you put on the reputation of my family again.” She said coolly.
This woman was a complete nightmare. Did she care about anyone at all? Perhaps that was why Liliana was so uninterested in making any real bonds. Like it or not, the wicked step-monster had more influence over her than either woman would ever care to admit.
Gritting her teeth slowly, it took everything in Liliana not to hex the witch before her. "It's astonishing, really, how you can place father's choices on me to this very day. My wedding day. What did I, personally, ever do to you."
She remembered trying so hard when she was little, to be liked, to be seen. Wanting, craving, the attention from both parental figures of the house. The subtly snide remarks began when she gave up, the haughty arrogance, the demand of approval centering around father. What had a child done to possibly have gone this far down such a bitter rabbit hole?
The naivety of the girl was astonishing but, ultimately, unsurprising given how Trystan had treated her all her life. Ambrosia had, in a rare moment of honesty aligning with her own preferences, pointed out to Trystan that raising Liliana alongside their legitimate children not only diminished them but would ultimately lead to his bastard daughter not knowing when it was best to keep her head down and her mouth shut.
Liliana did not have the luxury of speaking to people like this, whether she was married or not, and Ambrosia was only glad she wasn’t embarrassing herself in public.
“Nothing at all,” Ambrosia replied honestly. “At least nothing that the rest of the Selwyns weren’t also guilty of,” she stopped, a smile twisting across her lips as she looked at the girl with malicious mirth. “Is that really it? All these years you thought that all of this was about you?”
Ambrosia's got 99 problems but this hot af set from MJ ain't 1 of them
Of course Liliana felt entitled to being treated like the rest of them. She had been raised alongside the rest of them. Had been given most of the privilege's that the rest of them were afforded. So to be treated differently by her own m step-mother, it felt like a betrayal of sorts. Brothers and sisters were annoying by default, everyone knew that. And Cad had something wrong with him to begin with. The Selwyn aunts and uncles treated practically everyone in the family the same way, being bitter or above it all seemed to be the family nature. But Ambrosia was a different beast entirely.
Being married entitled Liliana towards more of a leash than being the family bastard ever allowed. Cad's constant threats of being kicked out of the family had no more influence, and a divorce would be far worse of the Parkinson family than some honesty given by one of the family socialites. Her parties would more than make up for that, she was sure.
"Would you rather I think that I deserve punishment for father's actions? You, the matriarch of the family, missed my wedding. Do you understand what that speaks to at all? On your own property?" Did she even care? It seemed Ambrosia would only care about her pride, above all else. Not a small child's feelings when they want the attention of a mother figure, not the well being of the family name during a wedding, nothing that didn't specifically suit Ambrosia Selwyn.
Ambrosia half-bristled at the word matriarch. She still associated it with the elders of their particular community – the likes of Harriet Prewett, for instance, or Olivia Pendergast, a woman even Ambrosia had been intimidated by – but she could hardly dismiss the moniker. If she had to live her life as the overseer of a family she didn’t especially like for the most part then so be it; she loathed that it made her feel older than her years though. No one called Ursula or Rufina matriarchs and they had been bridled in the same stable throughout their youths.
Still, she would let it go, as she always did. There was no use fighting against a position that despite its drawbacks gave her the undoubtable rule of this household.
“I doubt anyone could be left in doubt as to my meaning,” Ambrosia replied smoothly, neatly folding her hands together. “Had I turned up at your wedding would it not have been the clearest reminder to one and all that you were not born to your father by legitimate means? What would they have said if I had been there, do you think?”
Ambrosia's got 99 problems but this hot af set from MJ ain't 1 of them
There were days when Liliana had wished that her father had at least granted her the decency of marrying the woman who had brought her into the world. Had legitimized her. Even if the marriage had been brief, even if Ambrosia had been destined to be added to the mix later. Liliana wouldn't have this constant dagger held over her head.
But today was supposed to be about her, and Ambrosia couldn't even give her that. One day in which they looked like a normal family who might not hate each other. "Perhaps that at least we had the decency, or even honor, to stand by one another. Your absence seemed to be a much louder reminder of my breeding."
Some of the gossip, no matter how quiet, had been outright cruel. But who could possibly have known. Perhaps Ambrosia was right, and it would have only been worse. But the absence had stung nonetheless. No matter how they felt about one another, Liliana had looked up to Ambrosia. No matter how much they despised one another, Ambrosia wad Liliana's only true exposure to what a mother was.
But still, Liliana straightened herself. "I mustn't keep my husband waiting any longer. Goodbye, Ambrosia." With that, she left the room, not caring if she was dismissed.
Ambrosia would not be moved on the issue of whether she ought to have attended. Of course she had done the correct thing – for herself, if no one else – because the mere thought of having to stand there and smile while Trystan fawned over his first mistake (that she knew of) was abominable.
The fact that her actions had the wondrous side-effect of aggrieving Liliana was by-the-by really. Still, Ambrosia was not entirely without feeling, despite what others might say, and she would not fight too savagely when Trystan inevitably wanted to invite his daughter and new son-in-law to family functions in the future. If nothing else Liliana had proven herself resilient despite her circumstances and it would do the others good to see hew triumphant in the face of so much adversity.
(Ambrosia counted herself amongst said adversity quite proudly.)
The flouncing out of the room, however, she could have done without. She loathed not having the last word but decided that today of all days she would gift that particular pleasure to her step-daughter. If was the least she could do and the most she was prepared to.
Ambrosia's got 99 problems but this hot af set from MJ ain't 1 of them
![[Image: OJ90voz.png]](https://i.imgur.com/OJ90voz.png)