Chapter 459: The Distraughtful Vote?
"After causing him to use up his remaining prediction. I managed to blind him with my sword. But it seems he still hadn’t decided to heal them."
The Veil of Roses held her chin as she pondered deeply:
"But what kind of deal did they make with an individual like him for him to accept?"
The Crown of Roses shook his head.
"We’re currently short on that particular topic, but what we should be able to gather from this is that their supply of resources are much bigger than we thought."
The Crown of Roses then continued on with the meeting, pointing out a variety of other evidence that may lead to the Cult of Jester’s as well as their activities in other territories in the Underworld.
Soon enough, this topic came to an end, where they eventually moved on to the next, this one in particular causing Marionette’s ears to twitch.
"In a week’s time, the Noble Banquet—The Legacy Table—would begin, taking place in the Darkhound territory in the Underworld. A gathering for powerful families with children, who are reaching the age for marriage."
He then slowly turned his head towards Marionette, who raised an eyebrow before shaking her head.
"I won’t be attending such an event. It would be a waste of my time."
The Thorn of Roses—her aunt, who was on the right side of the table, leaned towards her niece while leaning the right side of her face into her fist.
"The Legacy Table would only be attended by the higher class of nobles, who are undoubtedly associated with more powerful individuals."
The Thorn of Roses closed her eyes and gave a sly and teasing smile towards her niece.
"So, you needn’t worry about unnecessary concerns about them being too weak to protect themselves, Lady of Roses. I can guarantee there are a few that could be of your interest. And there may even be one that could appear different in your eyes..."
Marionette folded her arms and immediately rejected without a single shred of thought:
"I will not attend an event that would bring me no benefits, Thorn of Roses. These types of events bore me to no end..." Marionette slowly raised a hand to her nose, "The smell and sight of them also irks me."
"Even if someone there may be capable of protecting you?" The Thorn of Roses asked before adopting a mocking tone, "Considering you’re so weak and all~..."
Marionette lowered her hand from her nose before tilting her head up at her aunt irritably.
"I can assure you that my love life doesn’t need your input. Rather, I feel as though you should be working harder to court yourself a partner, given your current age."
At Marionette’s snarky comment about her relationship status, the Thorn of Rose’s face twitched.
The two of them never had gotten along with one another.
"Oh, dear~... You sure have become more impudent during your stay at the academy."
"More impudent? This is the way I have always been. Maybe if you weren’t so focused on trying to put yourself over me, you would have realised that—"
SWIP!
Marionette tilted her head nonchalantly and dodged a flying sword aimed directly at her head.
She then glanced at it, looking at the sword that was stuck through the backrest of her chair, which exuded a malicious dark aura.
She recognised this sword as one of the many weapons on the walls.
Marionette looked back at her aunt, who was the one in charge of the flying sword.
The Thorns of Roses twirled her wrist playfully as she continued to smile eerily with her eyes closed.
"If I had used all of my strength, it would have pierced through your head, my dear niece~..."
Marionette rolled her eyes and swiped her finger at the sword, causing a wave of darkness to wash over it and making it disappear.
The others, who watched this scene, sighed—it was always a common occurrence whenever the two were in the same room.
The Veil of Roses looked towards Marionette and asked in a calm voice:
"What is the true reason you don’t wish to attend such an event? Besides the one you had listed?"
Marionette perked up at the question as she faced her grandmother. Although her face was still cold and taciturn, it was much softer compared to how she faced her aunt.
Her eyes flickered away for a split moment before returning. Marionette slowly held her hand over the lower half of her face as she muttered quietly:
"I have a lover now..."
This sudden revelation caused a shock to spark within the minds of everyone at the table, except for the Crown of Roses, who only...
"Haa..."
Sighed.
Before anyone in the family could interrogate the Lady of Roses about her mysterious lover, he said:
"I suppose that I should be moving onto the next part of this meeting."
With a press of a button, the hologram flickered once more, this time being the last.
What it warped shifted into was the 3d image of a charming girl no more than 18 years old with medium-long hair and a uniform belonging to Louis Mana Academy.
It was Lillian.
Marionette instantly widened her eyes at the sight of Lillian before immediately softening her gaze as she appreciated the sight of the rabbit.
The Thorn of Roses gazed up at the girl and raised an eyebrow before looking towards the Crown of Roses, "Who is this girl? I don’t seem to recognise her."
"The person you are looking at is Lillian Ker Arius, the young lady of the Arius family—a family with firm roots inside the biomechanical industry. She is also the lover of our dear Lady of Roses."
The Blade of Roses perked up at the name Arius and couldn’t help but stroke his chin with interest, "The Arius? You are referring to the family that does research into the creation of chimeras, yes? That family is filled with nothing but madness."
The Gardener of Roses then interjected.
"Madness, yes, but a family filled with intelligence, absolutely. Not only are the Head and his wife geniuses in the field, but their son is quite the prodigy in it as well—I’ve studied their papers."
He then paused as he looked up at the hologram of Lillian.
"However, their intelligence didn’t seem to spread to their second child. With what I heard, she was considered spoiled and lazy, while also being quite the money-spender..."
The Thorn of Roses looked towards the Gardener with a smug look, "So a troublesome child, I hear, yes—?"
Before she could finish her sentence, she slightly tilted her head to the side and dodged a flying sword, the exact one she had just thrown earlier.
The Thorn of Rose gave a sly smile as she looked back at Marionette, who was giving her a rather intense expression.
She then heard her say:
"My apologies... It seems my hand slipped while I was putting that away. It was a shame you didn’t catch it, though."
"Retaliating now, are you? How bold."
Right as the Thorn of Roses was about to grab the sword, the blade magically lifted itself out of the chair before spinning around and landing back on its hanger on the wall.
The Blade of Roses lowered his finger before shooting the two a deadly glare that immediately calmed them down.
"If you wish to fight, do it in the hall that is made for that reason. If not, sit quietly until the end of this family’s meeting."
The Crown of Roses, watching as his daughter and the Thorn of Roses settled into their place, summoned another wave of folders before throwing it towards everyone except Marionette.
Marionette’s eyes flashed with confusion for a second as she saw this happen.
As curious as she was, she didn’t try to get a peek at what they were reading. All she knew was that... It must’ve had something to do with Lillian.
’But for what particular reason?’
Marionette looked back at her father and found him staring at her directly with his mechanical eyes.
Did he... Did he have some sort of ulterior motive for doing this?
Her hands fidgeted under the table before clutching into tight fists. Her right leg bumped up and down repeatedly as her pupils constricted.
The rules for those outside of their family to enter were that they needed to do either of two things.
They needed to be strong, incredibly strong and rack up enough achievements as proof.
The other would be to belong to a family that has a large amount of power, which grants her family benefits through connections.
Seeing as everyone had read through the files thoroughly, the Crown of Roses spoke again:
"The Arius family has the smallest amount of territory out of every noble family with the name Ker. The girl also doesn’t have any major achievements to her name, besides scoring first place in the Louis Mana Academy’s entrance exam and defeating an oversized mole in the recent news..."
His mechanical body then raised its left hand into the air.
"I vote that she’s unfit to join our family."
Marionette’s eyes shook as she heard this.
With every decision that affected the family, a vote would be held.
’To think this matter was that serious for a vote...’
Marionette immediately shot up her right hand in refusal, but then watched as everyone around her raised their left hand—joining with the Crown of Roses’s opinion.
The Gardener of Roses spoke, "If the Crown speaks truthfully, then she’s just a bit stronger than the weeds outside. Nothing special."
The Thorn of Roses said with a smirk, "Your lover is pretty, I’ll give her that and I guess her family is a bit interesting, but that’s about it. Sorry, my dear niece."
The Blade of Roses nodded to both of his children’s words before stating, "Her achievements and lack of powerful allies gives us no benefits if she were to join our family."
The Veil of Roses remained silent, but still kept her hand raised.
Marionette’s eyes trembled as she saw the overwhelming refusal in her family. She gritted her teeth furiously, uncharacteristic of her, before slamming her hands against the table.
Her cold and taciturn facade was shattered.
"What do you all gain from barging into my love life?! You may not see past what she has to offer on the outside, but I can assure you, she would have plenty to offer at the rate that she is going!"
The Crown of Roses tilted his head slightly at his daughter’s outburst, momentarily shocked at the sound of her raising her voice—this feeling being shared across those around the table.
Tapping his finger against the table, he asked:
"And what is it that makes you so sure? Or could it be your hormones talking? I wouldn’t put it past you, daughter, considering the girl is your first."
"You wish to know the reason, Family Head? Very well, for while all of you appear rotten in my eyes, she isn’t. In fact, she was the most glorious piece I have witnessed since the time I escaped that accursed hellhole you put us all through!"
The Crown of Roses ceased the tapping of his finger as his curiosity was instantly sparked.
"You... You can see the girl? With no fault in your mind, you can see every single one of her features?" Marek then became quiet.
Marionette, seeing that her father wasn’t going to retort, opened her mouth—intending to say something to get his approval, but then...
"It doesn’t matter... If you’re able to see her, then that means the possibility of seeing someone else like her isn’t impossible."
"But—!"
"No more. On May 7th, you’ll be attending the noble gathering. I will speak to you more about that in private."
Marionette, hearing this, fell back into her seat with a distraught expression.
Seeing that his daughter had finally quieted down, the Crown of Roses moved on to the next topic, "Now then... Which one of you four will be leaving for the Eastern Nation?"
The Gardener of Roses raised his hand, "That’ll be me. I’ve heard news of a deceased Prime Husk near the borders of the Eastern Nation’s part of the Neverron sea. I wish to go see it for research purposes under a disguise."
"Is that so? Very well, you may make your leave whenever and return swiftly upon completing whatever research you would like to achieve."
As the meeting went on, Marionette couldn’t help but clutch the armrest of her chair until it began to break under her grip.
It...
It wasn’t...
’Lillian...’
It wasn’t fair...