"Fantastic, don't worry we'll have the duel over the weekend, I'll send you the date and time." Morrigan said with a grin as she gave Patience one last look, "See you in two days."

As Patience gave a sigh of relief she was immediately gripped with a new fear. The fear of Bryson Coldwater who loomed over her. Bryson gently grabbed her by the shoulder and told her, "You are coming with us."

"Uh… but next period-"

"Is more than half an hour away, I stuck my neck out for you now I demand answers." Bryson said staring a hole through her.

"Okay."

"Follow." Bryson ordered as he marched his way to the library.

"Thanks." Reynard to Bryson as the crowd began to disperse.

"Hm?"

"You sort of had to volunteer for a mess I made." Reynard said.

"Well I was curious about all this. I hope she'll have the answers for me." Bryson said with a grunt and looked back towards Patience.

"You too Anna, you really didn't need to do this." Reynard said.

"I don't like bullies." Anna said with a shrug.

"Then why didn't you protect yourself?" Bryson asked recalling how she was picked on during the opening ceremony.

"Oh, that… uh well, I really didn't think I could. Not without getting in trouble. But thanks to you two I can stand up for myself." Anna said scratching her neck awkwardly recalling the dread she felt when first entering The Academy.

It wasn't long before they reached the not-so-secret hideout and Patience couldn't help but be in awe looking around the place. She had been to the library a couple of times already but never was able to notice the hidden way to the base until actually guided there. Once discovering it she couldn't believe how she never realized before. It must have some enchantment placed on it.

"Have a seat." Bryson said gesturing to a large table as he sat down on one end.

Patience taking a deep breath, sat on the other side of the table and fiddled with her thumbs nervously. Reynard sat next to Bryson while Anna watched as a bystander.

"Okay, why did you hit Frans with a bowl of chowder?" Reynard asked.

"It was an accident!" Patience cried out automatically.

"Really?" Bryson said unimpressed.

"Well… it sort of was." She said looking a bit more sheepish.

"Explain."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Do you know anything about the Pylet family?"

"No, not at all." Bryson said immediately.

"No sorry." Reynard said while Anna gave a helpless shrug.

"Oh, right." Patience said sounding a bit saddened by her irrelevancy, "Well the Pylet house has always been under the servitude of two other houses the Westbrooks and the Atwiks."

"So those two laughing at you were from those houses?" Bryson asked.

"Yes." Patience said, "Though that changed with me."

"What do you mean?" Reynard asked.

"Due to a long-standing debt we followed the orders of their houses. But my father recently managed to finally settle it."

"How long ago?" Bryson asked.

"Barely a year ago. Papa said he did all of it for me so that I would not need to be in servitude. He… he was horribly injured while doing it for me. I owe him everything." Patience said closing her eyes for a second.

"How does this have anything related with throwing food on someone?" Bryson asked getting lost.

"I messed up."

"Messed up how?"

"I destroyed half a million credits' worth of their equipment a couple of months ago. They haven't revealed it to anyone yet and promised to keep it a secret as long as I listen to them until the end of the month." Patience said.

"That's a lot of money." Anna said shocked, "What did you break?"

"There was an incident where I got a bit overzealous and wanted to go dungeon raiding and needed gear. So I maybe, sort of borrowed some equipment without permission."

"You what?" Bryson said in disbelief.

"There were some very valuable monster drops."

"Like what?"

"Giant sizzling moss silk."

"What's that?" Reynard asked and Bryson and Anna could only shrug.

"It's a beautiful silk that is perfect for cloth making." Patience said with a happy smile.

"Wait, you stole half a million credits' worth of equipment to make clothes?" Bryson asked realizing the connection between the silk and her custom clothes.

"Well, when you say it like that…"

"Okay, but why didn't you just pay them back?" Reynard asked, "I get it's a lot of money, but your family should be able to afford it."

"They can, but I just don't want Papa to know. He did so much for me."

"What's stopping them from reneging on the promise?" Bryson asked.

"Because their parents also don't know the equipment is gone."

"Huh?"

"They sort of snuck the items out from their storage and that's how I managed to take them."

"So why are you so scared of them?"

"Because if they get into trouble, they'll blame it on me and then Papa will have to pay."

"So they would keep quiet as long as they aren't caught, but also using this to use you." Reynard concluded.

"Yes." Patience said nodding her head.

"But why would they stop in a single semester then?" Anna asked.

"Because that's when a replacement set of equipment could be offered."

"How?" Bryson asked.

"Morrigan."

"Explain some more." Bryson said.

"I trained in the same swordsmanship program with her for a while. I was pretty good at it, she always wanted to fight me."

"What? So all of this is some petty rivalry?"

"It's not really a rivalry, she just wants to fight me. She never really got the chance before."

"Couldn't she challenge you normally?"

"I like fighting. I always refused, we don't share any classes so I guess she decided this was the best way to fight me. Once they help her get what she wants she then gets them a new set of equipment."

"Okay, but why the soup?" Bryson asked.

"Frans was never meant to be the target." Patience said as her eyes began to dart around.

"Was Bryson supposed to be the target?" Anna asked.

"Yes…"

"Why me?" Bryson complained.

"Because you would attack me and then Morrigan would use that as an excuse to intervene."

"But then why Frans?" Reynard asked.

"Both of them knew Frans, I think. So they used a bit of magic and changed the plan to send the soup to Frans instead. He was right there."

"Why?"

"I've always seen them hang out with him and kiss up to him. They were only families of viscounts."

"And if they help him beat someone who offended him, they could get closer." Bryson said nodding his head as he got up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Reynard asked.

"To gather some information, you keep talking with Pylet over there." Bryson said as he left the room, "She hasn't explained herself well enough."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.