“Ville, this is very weird,” I said. I couldn’t help but speak in my usual frank manner.
The amazing thing about childhood friends is that was all it took for him to understand me. I know what I said was a bit rude, but he didn’t seem too bothered.
“I know what you’re trying to say, but he’s our source of information.”
“Information?”
Still looking less than pleased, Ville enlightened me. “It appears some people have heard that this guy here went and proposed to you. Your father submitted a letter of protest over that.”
“Huh?”
My father didn’t have any right to do that, but did he understand that? It didn’t seem likely.
“I’ll worry about the merits of the proposal another time. But what you should know is that the letter from House Duval included a line stating that they would be the ones to decide who you marry.”
“What?”
Why would they say that?
Wasn’t I going to inherit the house, not marry into another one? Wasn’t it too late to change that if the royal family had already granted their approval? Oh wait, my father didn’t know that. Meanwhile, the two before me did know all that.
“We don’t know when he might try and pick a partner for you,” Ville said. “If he makes a decision by himself, the royal palace won’t approve it. Looking at it that way, we don’t have much to worry about.”
Noble marriages required the permission of the royal family. They were generally more than willing to grant their approval, but they would step in if the arrangement involved a major house or some other source of significance. In my case, the royal palace knew I would be the successor of House Duval, so they wouldn’t approve any marriage requests should they pop up.
However, Ville had more to say.
“There’s no way to know what that man might try. If things get really bad, he might try and force you to spend the night in a room with someone he picked out.”
“If that happens, can I bring down the building and run for it?”
“Sure—rip the guy’s hair out while you’re at it.” It was pretty rare for Ville to greenlight violent solutions. He was usually trying to keep me in check. Saying all this seemed to take a weight off his chest. “Oh, I just remembered. The daughter of his lover has been on leave from the academy, and hasn’t left the Duval residence in the royal capital.”
“Really?”
I hadn’t known. That would explain why I hadn’t seen Ribbons around the academy.
“You did something, didn’t you?”
“Huh? Huuuh?”
C’mon, she was being so annoying.
“If her encounter rate— I mean, if she just left me alone, I wouldn’t have done anything.”
“She’s probably desperate to bring you down. Both what she hears from her father and the gap between the two of you have been a source of stress for her.”
Wait, really? Well, any normal father would have written her off as a dolt.
“Where did you learn all this, Ville?”
“Loks and Colny. Who else? I take it they didn’t tell you anything?” Ville smiled when he saw me grumbling to myself. “Don’t let it get to you. They were doing what they thought was best for you.”
“Even though it directly concerns me?”
“Your expressions and behavior are too easy to read. That girl might only get worse if she knew that you knew.”
Agh, I couldn’t say he was wrong. Ribbons was already obnoxious enough. If she found out that I learned about her self-doubts, she might attack me outright. Though I was confident I could fend off anything she could send my way!
“Lera, you’re thinking about fighting her off, aren’t you?”
“How?!”
Could Ville also read minds? It was bad enough that Loks could.
“While it’s true you have permission to use magic on campus,” Ville said with a heavy sigh, “don’t attack anyone, okay?”
“C’mooon.”
“Don’t give me that. With your powers, you can hunt in Layer Six. Don’t forget that.”
Except I hadn’t gone to Layer Six yet. Come to think of it though, Colny said that the royal capital was safe. There weren’t even fanged rabbits here, if you can believe that.
I caught the black knight in my periphery. He looked dissatisfied—no...sad, perhaps? Noticing where my gaze was, Ville looked at him as well.
“If you have something to say, let’s hear it,” Ville told him. “It’s something you could stand to do more often.”
“Why are you and Miss Lowell so friendly with each other?”
What?
Ville and I both paused.
“This entire conversation, you’ve acted as if you understand Miss Lowell better than anyone else. Who do you think you are?”
“Nobody. We’ve been around each other since we were kids, so I know how she ticks, that’s all.”
“Is now the time for bragging?!”
“How could you possibly take that for bragging?!”
It wasn’t often Ville looked so caught off guard, but that’s what happens when you get struck from an unexpected angle. To be clear, I had been thrown for a loop as well. While we weren’t connected by blood, Ville and I were like siblings. Since we both knew well how the other operated, evading subjects and beating around the bush didn’t really work. And with our high concentration of inner skull muscles, neither of us were particularly romantic.
“Would you focus?” Ville said. “This isn’t what we’re here to talk about.”
“Mmm. I suppose you’re right. Miss Lowell, should you receive any letters or other communications from your house, please don’t respond to them. It could prove dangerous.”