NOVEL WEB Chapter 33 : Who is the real head here?
Vivienne's POV
March 23 Year 853. It was morning and Vivienne got dressed up and was ready to meet with Serge. She had received a letter from Her Majesty the Empress yesterday stating that she needed to be prepared in case Serge gets summoned to the royal court tomorrow along with her. It was necessary to make sure there were no gaps in their stories to ensure that Luke got punished for the chaos that unfolded in the academy and not them. Just as she was about to leave her block, she noticed several guards. She tried to gaze in to see which house was so uncouth as to bring in personal guards to the academy and have it on display in front of everyone. Wait it was her family? 'What is going on? Wasn't Father and Mother out on vacation? Who gave these mere guards the right to come to the academy and ruin my reputation' she thought to herself as she approached the guards. She was going to give them a piece of her mind.
Or so she thought. The moment the guard saw her approaching they formed a line and out came the head butler Donald. " What is the meaning of this Donald? How dare you step into the academy and try to ruin my reputation among the other nobles? Who gave you the authority to do as you please? I order you to disperse back to our family manor now." she ordered.
The head butler was sweating. He was now caught in a tussle between two sisters. " It was Lady Hailey who ordered us to bring my lady back to the Manor," he replied cautiously.
" She dared to do that? I will have a word with her once I'm back. You can disperse now. " she ordered again and tried leaving. But to her surprise, she was quickly blocked. She glanced back at the butler furiously with her eyes saying ' What is the meaning of this?'
The head butler Donald having understood that the Lady needed an explanation quickly replied, " His grace Lord Batholomew Sterling was ordered to be present in the royal courtroom meeting yesterday. Owing to his absence, Lady Hailey was forced to take his place in the courtroom. My Lady was visibly stressed once she returned from the courtroom and asked us to gather information on what transpired in the academy. She then told us to fetch My Lady first thing this morning as it would spread strange rumors if we were to bring My Lady back in front of other academy nobles. We request your cooperation on this. Please don't make this any more difficult on us.".
Vivienne was fuming with rage. How dare her sister order to be under house arrest? And to send guards to bring her back on top of that. She was having none of it. She changed her mind. She will make sure to show Hailey who is the head of the house in the absence of her father and mother. She will make sure that Hailey never even thinks of messing with her again. With that, she agreed to follow the butler and guards back to the Manor.
As soon as she entered the manor, she went straight to Hailey's room. She opened the door without knocking and started walking straight towards Hailey.
" Ahh Big sis. Sorry for forcing you back.." Before Hailey could finish, Vivienne slapped Hailey hard following which she pushed her face causing Hailey to fall back and eventually fall down.
" Who gave you the authority to do as you please? Know your place. Mother and father made you study to become heir because they thought I would live a happier life as a princess of the Demontfort Duchy. You are in your position because of me. Remember that. The next time you try to embarrass me in front of all the nobles, I will make sure your name is removed from the family registry." she shouted.
" But big sis, ..."
"Shut up. Didn't I tell you to know your place? Not another word from you. I'm leaving to meet with Serge now. If you try to stop me, I will make sure you will be locked in your room for a week without food. You understand?"
" But sis, going to visit Serge now will cause problems to father's plan", Hailey desperately tried to reason with Vivienne. She had known for a long time that her father never loved either of them. They were a tool for him to bear an heir that would take the ranking of the house to the level of Marquis. Despite how Vivienne treated her, Hailey who understood the truth never hated her. She felt sorry for her sister and hoped one day once she understood everything, they would become close. But of course, that was just a pipe dream.
Slap. Vivienne slapped Hailey again. " Just shut up and remain in the corner of the house as you usually do." With that Vivienne stormed off from the manor and headed to talk to her beloved Serge.
The head butler could only watch as the lady left the Manor. He knew there was very little he could do. He also knew that what had transpired today would not go down well for both ladies.
Vivienne after travelling back to the academy met with Serge. Serge was handsome but not as handsome as Luke. But he had a much better character than Luke. Serge who saw her grabbed her hand and held it like they were a couple. Vivienne couldn't help but feel a wave of ticklish feelings around her. Serge was the only one who had made her feel this way. She had held Luke's hand many times but not once did she feel such ecstasy. She soon began discussing with Serge on how to present their love story. Serge who was looking at Vivienne as she spoke, took his hand and swept her hair that was in front of her face behind. His fate was now tied to hers. He should probably stop messing around with other women to ensure that he is able to become the next head of the Sterling family. He should at least pretend to do it until he becomes the head. Then not only will he have all the money in the empire but also the authority to do as he pleases with all the beautiful maids in the Count's place. Till then he had to be patient and a caring lover and husband. With that, he started paying more attention to Vivienne. He had to make her fall further for him to the point where she would beg him to not leave her if he took in a lover after becoming the head instead of being sane enough to push him out of the house with her authority. Will everything go well for Serge? The only person who had the answer to that is the mastermind, Hestia.