The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

137 - Their Doubts and His Letter

[AN: we are visiting Soleil Listere and William Aerielle this chapter. For anyone that may have forgotten their existence, I updated the character list in Lily's memory box to include everything that happened for them till now.]

Soleil Listere's Point Of View

Everything is a mess. Large parts of the academy is empty. All of the knight students are gone... but it isn't just them. Most of the students with family dealing with merchanting have been excused from classes to help out their families since armies need their work to make ends meet with food and equipment.

In addition to that, most of the dukes and marquesses have all withdrawn their family members from the academy until the danger is gone.

'They're safer in the forts than in the capital' I hear them argue. I may not be as good as strategy as Lionel or Eric, but I know that the capital would likely end up falling before many of the forts, since it isn't... defensible.

Even our family has mostly withdrawn to the fief. Only father and I will remain after tomorrow. Tonight might be the last time I will see my sisters. The thought makes my stomach scrunch up like a sour raisin.

—-*—-

As you can imagine, the remaining students are feeling quite tense and nervous. As a high noble, another part of our job is keeping people calm under these circumstances... but instead...

"What is going on here?"

I call out sternly to a group of people discussing loudly in the school courtyard. On one hand is Millet Greenhall a future count, and on the other is William. Other than William both crowds mostly consists of nobles ranked that of a count or lower.

William is excellent at mediating arguments with deals that favor both sides, so knowing that this had gone on for long enough for a commoner to come to me, begging me to do something about it was a shock.

Millet Greenhall turns towards me with steeled determination in his eyes. He's a bit shorter than William, but even short Millet outshines William for a moment as Millet straightens up and places a hand to his own chest.

"Lord Soleil. We were discussing the accusations of treason armed at house Celeste."

Millet's eyes narrow with bitterness as he puts additional emphasis 'accusations' as if trying to tell me that it was nothing but accusations. Just enough to let me know what was going on, and at the same time make a snap remark at the other part in the discussion. William. Seeing how Millet glances to William with spite, their argument must have gotten quite heated

William's resting scowl is worse than usual so he must be quite irritated as well. This is unusual. William is a Duke, and everyone else here are ranked lower than him. For an argument to last this long must mean that Millet's side is desperate, as ruining their relationship with William can cause quite a lot of political and economical problems. He even has enough power to mess with the taxes the crown demands of them.

"It is nothing for you to worry about, Soleil. It is merely an argument over suspicious behavior."

William crosses his arms. He's a bit taller than most, but as usual doesn't have muscle to make up for his slight frame, so he doesn't look as intimidating as he attempts to be by flashing the honor student badge and student council brooch.