The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 100

The true power is in the story itself, the Goddess said.

"All I'm saying is, the sooner we can dismantle the class system and rebuild a truly egalitarian society, the better," said Nell.

"You make it sound as though no noble deserves their position," protested Jay. "But some noble titles are granted as a recognition of merit."

These meetings always ended up going around in circles like this, which is why Belle found them so tedious and exhausting, even if the rebels... had some points. She'd actually brought her fiance, Jay with her this time because she hoped his calm, non-nonsense personality would help keep things on task, but so much for that...

Nell slammed her beer on the table. "Perhaps you may have earned your rank, but can you say the same thing of your unborn children?"

"Nell!" said Bernard. "That's taking it a little too far, bringing his unborn children into this."

"Actually our unborn children will inherit my rank, if any," interjected Belle.

"Even worse!" said Nell. "Can you really say that you think arbitrary inheritance, the mere accident of birth, is a just and fair way to govern a society?"

Bernard patted Nell on the back placatingly and interjected, "What Nell is trying to say is, is that rebuilding our government on the ideals of republicanism would benefit everyone. Lady Belle, hasn't your own family also been hurt by the unjust laws that separate us by class? It's not just the peasants. The nobles are overly restricted by the current system as well."

Nell scoffed. "Restricted, maybe, but not oppressed."

Belle sighed and took a sip of her beer, settling in to half-listen to a long rant. At least she was starting to get used to the bitter swill they served at this back-alley pub. The first night she'd come to meet with the rebels she'd barely been able to drink it, and everyone had stared at her. Partly because she had been far too overdressed for this part of town. But she'd learned to dress down significantly and drink her beer without a fuss, so now she mostly went unnoticed. 

Except Belle could sense someone watching her right now.

She turned around and caught the eye of a figure in a shimmery blue cloak standing by the doorway, wildly gesturing for Belle to come over in a way that was not subtle or sneaky at all.

Collette.

Belle hurried over to her friend. "What is it?" she hissed. "I'm supposed to be the primary contact with the rebels, and you're supposed to be the silent partner secretly providing supplies, right? We can't let them know your face. You need to get out of here."

"I know, but you need to come with me," whispered Collette. "I just got a message from Ulrich, who'd had a message from Corvina. We need to divest ourselves from the rebels immediately. There's imminent danger."

Belle glanced back over at the rebels, who were still arguing animatedly with her fiance.

Bernard and Nell were absolutely infuriating. They were obnoxious and wrongheaded, and Belle utterly hated talking to them about almost anything.

But also... Bernard was one of the genuinely sweetest men Belle had ever met, and Nell... well... Nell was a bit of an ass, but she was an ass because of just how deeply she cared about people and their wellbeing. And that was worth something.

And they were both incredibly naive. It was honestly a miracle that they hadn't been caught and executed for sedition by now.

Could Belle really just... abandon them?