Chương 30: Chapter 29

Alice's eyebrows were knitted together, her lips pursed.

"Took me a while to notice it as well." Lily comforted her friend while conveniently leaving out the part where she nearly accused him of lying before finally feeling it herself.

"Your brother is a freak for catching it." Lily had counseled waiting until the next morning to inform Alice of what they, read he, had found. Not that it was a long time to wait; they'd been out pretty late. Fortunately, there happened to be a cafe over one section of the tunnel.

"Do you have any other setting besides insulting?" Cal asked while sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Lily meant it in the best of ways, I'm certain," Alice said tersely, most of her attention elsewhere. Those specific wards had a feature meant to blend them into the surrounding ambient magic and were tricky to spot. Cal might not have spotted them if he'd not been consistently checking campus for them.

"The bestest!" Lily gave a brilliant smile, her good mood from last night persisting.

"So go ahead and order as many of those as your freak self can handle!" Cal downed the cup, stacked it with the rest of the empty ones, and then reached for the next. He didn't need the caffeine, but he hadn't forgotten about gift hunting, and a cafe was an opportune place to taste a bunch of different blends. Lily footing the bill didn't hurt. With any luck, he'd find a good one and check Pan-. Err, Gerald off the list. After that, he'd have to think about Albert and maybe Millie.

Both were the worst type of people to shop for.

"I feel it." Alice's voice came out as a whisper.

"Faintly. However, there is no mistaking it."

"We shouldn't talk here." Lily raised her hand, beckoning the waitress over.

"Anything to go?" Alice didn't respond, lost in thought. Cal took eight for himself. Lily's generosity did not extend to helping him carry them, so he was left juggling them on the trip back to the Academy. A trip that was conducted in silence. It ended as soon as the door was shut to their dorm. Alice turned around sharply, stopping him from entering further.

"I recall you agreeing to stay away from Petro." He had, hadn't he? He didn't have to respond as Lily jumped to his defense. Or more accurately, jumped on Alice.

"Alieeee," she sang, hanging off the taller girl.

"Let it gooo. This is amazing news!" Alice did her best to maintain her stern look while Lily clung to her like a koala.

"Be that as it may. I am Heir, and Callum defied my wishes. Tell me, was it your pride that determined your actions?" Is that what she thought? He could admit to having some amount of pride, but that didn't factor into this.

"I didn't mind ignoring the duel request, and I don't overly care much for other's opinions on me. I just...." Cal struggled to find some reasoning other than the truth.

"Couldn't let it continue." Cal acknowledged that it was a lame excuse. Lily agreed, bursting out into laughter.

"L-lily, this is a serious discussion." Alice stuttered. Her face had taken on a red tint that didn't seem to be borne out of anger. She tried prying the blonde off her, to no avail.

"Conduct yourself with proper decorum, please."

"Oh, come on, Alie. You can't not see the resemblance here. Do I really have to remind you, third year with-" Her words were cut off as Alice clamped a hand around her mouth.

"Mhmhemn." Lily protested? Whatever she'd been about to say caused Alice's shade of red to turn brighter.

"Enough; I'll lay the matter to rest." Alice carried the girl over to the couch, setting her down. She nearly collapsed next to her; her skin slowly returned to its normal hue as she sat. Cal settled down in the side chair, knowing there was much to talk about.

"We're not going to the authorities, right?" He asked for confirmation. None of them had spoken about what to do with this newfound piece of evidence.

"Nope~" Lily cheered.

"That'd be a total waste. He set wards right under one of the postal buildings. The second we tell them they'll put gag orders on us and quietly make it all go away. After all, we can't have people questioning the Empire's competency." Yeah, that sounded like the Empire. Well, the Federation wasn't too far off in that regard either. Lily continued.

"Don't get me wrong, Petro will be done, but there's a much better way to play this." She nudged Alice with her elbow.

"Isn't that right, Alie?" That brought Alice out of her own head. She took a moment before responding.

"Lily is correct. As much as I dislike the man, our house will gain a greater benefit if we use this to negotiate with him." In other words, blackmail. Well, that had been his plan from the get-go.

"You have a contact in the newspaper club, correct?" Alice inquired. Cal gave a slow nod, even if he thought contact was a strong word.

"Do you trust them?" She followed up. There were only three people in the world he trusted, and a schoolgirl with a penchant for gossip was not one of them. He gave her a thumbs-up anyway. Something like this should be fine. Alice studied him, eventually coming to a decision.

"Have them discreetly prepare an article detailing what we've discovered. I want a single copy to be produced. We'll deliver it to Petro along with a list of our demands." That was maybe doable. He felt sort of bad asking when Anne had already gone out of her way for him.

"Do we have to be so," he searched for the appropriate word.

"Theatrical?"

"Presentation is critical. The impact he receives from seeing a printed piece of his misdoings will have a profound psychological effect. Making him unbalanced in the proceeding discussions." Shock value then. Fair enough. This was probably the part where he should tell Alice he agreed on her behalf for some type of interview in exchange for the information Anne provided. He kept it to himself. No need to ruin the moment.

"Speaking of said discussions, Lily-" Alice's address was halted as she witnessed what Lily pulled out from her breast pocket. It was a series of folded sheets. Alice examined them with interest and let out a low chuckle.

"I realize we've known each other for some time; however, I appreciate your anticipation of my request." The sheets contained information on properties owned by the Lucerna family.

"Can't take all the credit or any this time," Lily replied almost sheepishly.

"The brute did all this. I checked some of them, and it's solid work." Alice's gaze interchanged between reading what he'd spent the week gathering and him.

"I do hope you are prepared for your exams this coming week," she said warily. He wasn't.

"They won't be a problem," he said with an air of confidence.

"I shall take you on your word. However, should your marks prove unsatisfactory, I will take a greater part in your studies." That wasn't ideal; he would have to study for real.

"He'll be fine." Lily waved off Alice's concern for his education.

"Now how much blood are we taking from the leech?" Cal would have liked to say things moved quickly after that and everything was already over. They didn't, and it wasn't. He couldn't be too upset about it; it wasn't as if everyone was resting on their laurels. Anne had recently given him the dummy article. She'd been thrilled at the story and decidedly less thrilled when he said it could never be printed for real. Their agreement going forward would be interesting.

She'd been impressed with his fast work and wanted him to dig up something for a pet project she was working on. He agreed easily enough. If he were ever caught where he wasn't meant to be, he'd claim to be doing investigative work for the club. The girls themselves were also working pretty hard on additional research for their list of demands. Despite Lily's unexpected praise, what Cal had turned over was mostly surface-level information. He had names, locations, and nothing else.

That didn't stop it from being useful. They used it as a springboard and began a deeper dive into the individual holdings. They singled out desired properties and then set about finding out how much they were worth to House Ardere versus how much House Lucerna valued them. Once they had a breakdown on everything they wanted, it would be time to put the screws to Petro. Cal could admit that as their efforts moved closer to fruition, there was a voice in his head expressing its hesitation with the whole thing.

In the grand scheme of things, Petro hadn't done that much to earn his ire. He had tried to use Cal to advance his interests, but that was an old song. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Other than that, his offenses amounted to words and trying to shame Cal. In return, they were about to ruin his life. It hadn't even been difficult.

Sure, he'd wasted the better part of a week in the library, but that was an insignificant commitment compared to what was about to come down. Giving him some well-placed hits was one thing; the pain would be temporary. This? It was starting to feel disproportionate. Cal regularly reminded himself that the brat was in the way and, after all was said and done, would still be far more privileged than the common citizen. It was his poor luck for choosing the wrong opponent.

As for the laws he'd broken, well, Cal didn't care much for imperial laws. With his waning motivation, he excused himself from helping further. Under the guise of needing to study. Which he really needed to do if only to prevent any sort of tutoring from occurring.

"I thought I recognized that shade of red." Ryan stopped by his desk, somehow having tracked Cal down in the vast expanse of the library.

"I see you're taking things seriously." Cal shrugged, looking up from the magical theory textbook he'd been reading.

"I want to start off on a good foot."

"I get that; Gregor and I booked a room. Want to join us? Might be better than out here." Ryan offered while shifting his attention around the room. Cal followed his gaze and saw people duck and avoid eye contact. Others shamelessly whispered while watching.

"Why not," Cal replied while gathering his materials and rising. Ryan said nothing more and led him up a floor and across some sections. Entering the room, Cal saw Gregor seated at the table with various books and notebooks opened in front of him. It had been some time since he'd last seen the man. He looked better?

"Gregor here just found out he aced the one he took at the beginning of the week." Ryan must have read his thoughts.

"Lame move by the prof to give a test first thing of the week. Don't they know we need time to get warmed up?" Ryan took his previous place, indicated by the lone book open in front of it.

"It's not that big a deal." In contrast to his grumble, Gregor had the ghost of a smile on his face.

"I still have two more to get through this week."

"Nice. All of mine are stacked end of the week." Cal offered while taking a seat and laying out his things.

"Also a lame way to do things," Ryan added.

"If it were up to you, we wouldn't have exams to begin with," Gregor said with his voice growing quieter. Clearly focusing on what he was reading.

"Wouldn't that be the life?" Ryan leaned back in his chair, his sole book going neglected. He addressed Cal.

"How's yours going? Not letting all that stuff get to you, I hope?"

"Can't do anything about it. No use worrying about it." Cal gave a boilerplate answer.

"I've been doing my usual, studying, and everything."

"I noticed you in the library a lot last week. Didn't want to disturb you as you seemed focused." Ryan stated. Had he been keeping tabs on him?

"I'm much more interested in that 'everything'?"

"It's nothing exciting," Cal said defensively.

"Club activities and some small city excursions." Ryan leaned in with a conspiratorial smile.

"Uh huh, want to share any more details on those excursions?" Cal opted not to make any leaps of logic, recognizing the pattern from last time.

"Whatever you're thinking, it's not that."

"Listen man. We're all guys here." He swept his arm out.

"What's said in the study room stays in the study room." He patted Gregor on the shoulder, who jumped at the touch.

"Aint that right?"

"He doesn't have to say anything he doesn't want to." Gregor disagreed.

"Boring." Ryan declared.

"Now come on. A second picture of you appearing all lovey-dovey with the Arcutien girl showed up, and I have it on good authority you two not only snuck out for a night alone in the city but then had a chaperoned date the next day!" Someone had spotted them at night? That wasn't great. Hopefully, they lost track of them once in the city.

"I don't know who keeps spreading this around." Cal shook his head. His life was not a shitty romcom.

"Nothing is going on between us. She's essentially attached to the hip with Alice." Ryan flipped his phone to Cal, scrolling back and forth between both previously posted pictures.

"You realize I'm not blind, right?" Cal wondered if he wanted to be.

"For context, both of those were her threatening me. The forehead thing was because I headbutted her."

"Word of advice, if you're going to lie, make it more realistic. Assaulting the fifth-strongest student in the Academy is a stretch." It was easy to forget that part.

"She's not willing to hurt me. Alice would have her head."

"Alright." Ryan threw his hands up.

"I'll pretend that's the reason why."

"Don't you have your own love life to see to? Why bother with my non-existent one?"

"Oh, you naive fool, it is because of my relationship that I am under orders to interrogate yours." Cal was about to question him when Ryan elaborated.

"One of the most important ways to strengthen a relationship is to gossip about other people's relationships. Everyone knows this." Cal felt that wasn't right. He also wasn't willing to argue the point. He went back to his reading and had a few blessed minutes of peace before being interrupted again.

"I've been thinking." Ryan's poor book still sat unused.

"Why not after this week, us guys go out and do something fun?"

"What are we talking about here?" Cal hedged; he wasn't opposed to the idea.

"Open to suggestions; right now I'm thinking about the Colosseum. It's always a good time. I'll have to check the schedule, but there should be some races or fights on the books." Cal pondered if they were to the death. The Empire couldn't be that backward, could they? Gregor responded before he could, in a genuinely disappointed tone.

"I'm not sure I'll have time for that."

"I might be iffy as well." It depended on the time they decided on for the extortion; all he knew was that the window they planned to give Petro was small as to ramp up the pressure.

"We'll play it by ear then. I'll text you both the day before and see where we're at. That sound good?" Cal nodded in assent. It would mean he needed to make contact with Olivia and shake her down for spending money. They fell into silence after that, studying diligently. Specifically Gregor and Cal. Ryan made a show of flipping through the book, played on his phone a bit, and then said he needed to meet up with Jessica. Leaving the pair alone.

"How has the transition been?" Gregor spoke, breaking the silence much to Cal's surprise. The guy didn't come off as the sociable type.

"Growing pains. Not used to a lot of this, probably won't ever be." The mirror's reflection hadn't stopped bothering him.

"It won't, not in my experience." Cal held his tongue, no longer certain of what they were speaking about.

"I was uplifted some three years ago." Uplifted?

"You're-""A bastard, yes." Gregor interrupted him.

"It is no secret; I believed you were aware." Guess it wasn't that uncommon a thing to happen.

"I don't make it a habit of digging into the pasts of others." Not yet, at least.

"You should," Gregor argued back, his eyes drifting up to meet Cal's.

"As a noble, you're expected to know who you associate with."

"You're starting to sound like Alice." Cal mused. His words triggered something as Gregor got heated.

"It goes double for people like us. They look down on you, on me. It doesn't matter what you accomplish; you'll always be second-rate in their eyes. Impure." He spat out the final word.

"That's pessimistic," Cal said carefully, wanting to avoid setting the boy off.

"Alice has been fine. Mostly. While Ryan and the rest seem cool if a tad too nosey."

"They're the exception, not the rule." Gregor's tone softened a notch while speaking of his friends before hardening again.

"I wouldn't trust that sister of yours. You're a tool to her. Nothing more, nothing less. If you turn out to be of subpar work, they'll discard you without another thought." They were both using each other, so that wasn't much of a problem. Gregor could see that Cal remained unconvinced.

"I won't lecture you on how to live your life. Do what you want. Only don't be surprised when the ground falls out from under you." With that said, he gathered his things and left. Cal was left thinking about what he'd said. No, he was thinking about how it was said. There was a lot of anger there. Betrayal. Cal understood the feelings well. That just left the question, was that a kid lashing out, or was there something more sinister?