Ch 105: No Means No

Olivia's jaw nearly dropped at Lucien's rejecting her. Ahem, them. Well, at his refusal to babysit them, rather. And why in the world would he think of it as babysitting? They were already adults. If anything, this was more about having a friend, or at the very least an informal guide to show them around the academy and the city.

Both the empire and the elven kingdom were on good terms on the surface, though cracks had begun to appear beneath that surface. It was not something most people would know about, of course, but even if Lucien was aware of the fractures, he should not have declined. Instead he should have chosen to tour them around in the hope of keeping the relationship between the two nations from worsening any further.

Olivia turned her head toward the vice headmistress. Charlotte too wore a stunned expression, and though she concealed it quickly, a visible twitch had passed across her face before she managed to smooth it away.

Olivia still could not understand how Lucien could reject Charlotte so openly, so casually, as though she were not the vice headmistress of the very academy where he taught.

Shouldn't he be at least a little more diplomatic?Or at the very least offer some excuse? But no, he had simply announced that he did not have time and had no wish to babysit them. There had been absolutely no need to phrase it quite like that.

Olivia had heard of Lucien many times before, and rumours had painted him as bold and powerful. But she had not expected him to be this emotionless. He carried himself as though he stood above everyone else in the room, as though none of them mattered enough to warrant the slightest consideration.

She and her brother had no real claim over him, no right to expect that he would agree and willingly escort them around the academy and the city. That much she understood. But still, she had not anticipated such an outright rejection. Even if they meant little to him personally, they were the royal prince and princess of the elven kingdom. He should have at least given some thought to the relationship between the empire and the kingdom before speaking so freely.

"This is not a request from me," Charlotte declared, her voice firm and stripped of every emotion she had shown just moments before. "It is a direct order from the vice headmistress of this academy."

Lucien's silver eyes shifted to Charlotte. "Can they not simply stay at home?" he muttered irritatingly, not caring a single bit for Charlotte’s words. He turned his gaze sharply toward Olivia and Joseph, then returned it to Charlotte. "They may be royalty, but that does not mean we are obligated to fulfill every whim of theirs."

Olivia drew in a long, slow breath. The stare he had fixed on her a moment ago had sent a shudder crawling down her spine. For a fraction of a second, she had thought he might actually kill her. It was strange, because she had followed Lucien through the night to escape the forest, and somewhere along the way she had grown at least somewhat comfortable around him. But the look he had just given her was entirely different from anything she had seen from him before.

Charlotte sighed and shook her head, pressing her palm to her forehead. "I have so many matters that require my attention," she said, and her resolute tone softened into something that almost resembled pleading. "Otherwise I would have taken them around myself. You have free time in the afternoon after your second class, do you not? That is precisely why I thought you would be the better choice."

Lucien said nothing. He simply watched Charlotte with those sharp, ice-cold eyes, his face showing no reaction, no softening, no sign of anything at all. Olivia found it nearly impossible to believe that he showed no fear of the vice headmistress, that he could speak so freely with her without any of the deference or restraint one would normally extend to a woman of Charlotte's title and authority.

Are they perhaps ex-fiancés? Olivia's eyes shook as they darted between Charlotte and Lucien. She had heard nothing even remotely close to such a rumour, but the scene unfolding before her made no other kind of sense. Even she, despite being royalty herself, gave her academy professors the respect their positions commanded.

No, that can’t be possible. Olivia pushed the thought aside. She had met Charlotte on a few occasions and could tell the woman was far older than she appeared. There was no way Lucien would have been engaged to someone like that.

While the silent standoff between Lucien and Charlotte stretched on, Olivia's attention drifted to the girl standing beside him. She was positioned very close to Lucien, close enough that it was noticeable. She had golden hair and a face so flawlessly pale it seemed untouched by anything harsh or ordinary. Her face was so strikingly beautiful that Olivia felt, for a brief and disorienting moment, as though she were gazing at an angel.

How could anyone be so beautiful? Olivia felt threatened and challenged rising in her chest. She had always taken pride in her own appearance, and she refused to feel insecure by anyone.

Olivia’s eyes moved back to Lucien. He claims she is merely his student, but it hardly looks that way. Olivia had blurted out the question earlier, asking about the nature of their relationship, and Lucien had answered calmly, telling her the girl's name was something along the lines of Mellida. Her head hurt and she quickly remembered it was Melissa. And Lucien had added, with no particular feeling in his voice, that the girl was not his fiancée nor anything of the sort, but only a student.

The claim had not sat well with Olivia. How was she supposed to simply believe that? Why would a student be exiting his home alongside him? What exactly had been going on inside before they stepped out together? Her imagination offered a few unwelcome suggestions, and she immediately shoved them away, reminding herself that Lucien had been busy eating breakfast. But the thought had already stained her cheeks red, and she quickly angled her face downward to hide it.

"Haah." Lucien sighed after a long silence that had made the surrounding unbearably uncomfortable. "Did they tell you the full details of how they came to meet me?" he asked, turning his gaze toward Olivia as though looking for confirmation.

Before Olivia could get a single word out, Charlotte spoke. "Yes. They were apparently kidnapped by some people, and you helped them escape."

The word escape came out so gently and cleanly from Charlotte’s mouth that Olivia's lips twitched. Because they had not simply escaped. Lucien had killed every last one of the assassins.

Charlotte had not explained the full picture to Lucien, partly because Olivia had withheld much of it.

Olivia had only shared the bare minimum with Charlotte, over food, after she had quietly decided what was and was not necessary to disclose. She had settled on the simplest version: that they had been kidnapped, that Lucien had killed the kidnappers, and that he had led them out of the forest.

Olivia did not reveal the truth about what they had heard from the assassin, the schemes of the five kingdoms, the intent to kill Olivia and let Joseph live only to stoke conflict between the empire and the kingdom. All of it remained hidden.

Charlotte had clearly not been satisfied with that version of events. The story was too thin, too conveniently incomplete, and Olivia suspected the vice headmistress had already sensed that she had been given half the truth at best.

But what Charlotte privately suspected was not something Olivia particularly cared about. Olvia had not revealed the full story, and she did not intend to, because she did not fully trust Charlotte. As for Lucien, he had been there, so he already knew. Whether he would go around telling others was entirely beyond her control, and she had no power to stop him if he chose to.

Lucien gave a slow nod, seemingly having arrived at the conclusion that they had not shared everything with the vice headmistress. "Then what if they were to be kidnapped again, or attacked while I am escorting them? You know they will draw eyes with those ears of theirs." His gaze swept briefly toward Olivia and Joseph. "I have no interest in being their babysitter. I would recommend they stay at home where it is safer."

Olivia wanted to smash her fist squarely in his face. Had he not just a few hours ago personally walked them through the open streets to bring them to the vice headmistress, letting everyone who happened to be out at that hour see them plainly? Had he not already created precisely the kind of attention he was now citing as a reason to refuse? If he had been perfectly willing to do it then, why was it suddenly such a burden now?

Although, in the morning the streets had been relatively quiet, the truth remained that there had still been people watching from windows and doorways as they passed.

"Very well," Charlotte relented at last, her shoulders settling with the quiet resignation of someone accepting a fight she could not win. "Then so be it. They will remain inside."

She turned toward Olivia and inclined her head in a slight bow. "Your Highness, I did what I could. You and His Highness will need to remain inside until your people arrive to take you home." Her voice carried the measured respect of someone who understood the weight of the title she was addressing.

Olivia glanced at her brother. Joseph had his hands open outward, and his head tilted sideways, the gesture telling her to accept defeat.

Olivia’s eyes moved next to Melissa, who stood silently beside Lucien watching everything. Finally, Olivia's gaze came to rest on Lucien, who looked back at her with his silver eyes and a face that gave away absolutely nothing.

Olivia clicked her tongue at last and turned on her heel. She started walking away.

***

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