Invited

Chapter 15: The Chosen

Basilisk came to collect Layla from her room as he said the night before for her meeting with Rebecca. Rebecca had called her to meet for Council Selection, but she felt it was something more than that.

The two barely conversed through their walk to the office. It felt like the longest walk in that short hallway, taking each step slowly towards their destination.

Layla entered the room by herself, Basilisk making quick formalities with Rebecca then leaving to wait outside.

"Which nobles were invited to your Council Selection?" Rebecca asked, refusing to look Layla in the eyes while they spoke.

Layla began listing off each noble she could remember by the order of which she selected them. With each noble she told Rebecca, there was barely any acknowledgement that she made good choices. Finally, she got to the last seat in her Council, which was left for Solice Aion.

"The last seat is to be filled by Solice Aion." Layla concluded before shutting her eyes in preparation for a lecture.

"An invite was sent to a commoner?" Rebecca finally turned towards Layla, but she still looked away from Layla's eyes.

"I mentioned it to you when I was with Judah." Layla started to fidget. The room felt uncomfortable with the amount of questions that were being asked.

"Ah, yes. I remember now." Rebecca stepped forward to come closer to Layla. She added one step to each statement she threw at Layla.

"That day you disrespected me." Rebecca took another step forward. "When you thought I would simply let a commoner come into Vesta, from your silly attempt to be 'normal', when you are a noble. Act like a noble. You are an Azure. Have you no shame?"

Rebecca made it to be face-to-face with Layla. Their heights nearly matching, but Rebecca seemed worlds taller than Layla, as she meekly shrieked from the intimidating look she was getting.

Layla tried her best to correct Rebecca. "I mean no disrespect. I-"

"SILENCE." Rebecca's voice rose, she glared straight into the younger woman's bright blue eyes. Menacingly green eyes met with shaking blue eyes.

Outside, Basilisk heard the loud scream through the slightly ajar door. Little did Rebecca know, when he left the room, he had silently left a crack between the doors, so that he could hear their conversation. He felt a sting in his chest when he heard Layla getting berated for her choices. His sharp ears proved to be a plus in hearing their conversation, even as far away as he stood from the door.

Back inside, Layla prepared for the worst. Every conversation she has had with this woman always ended in her being yelled at for anything she had to say.

"Forgive me, m'lady." This was all Layla could muster before Rebecca started her tirade.

"It would do you good to SHUT YOUR MOUTH, since your emotions rule out reason. There are respectable nobles to choose from for a Council Selection. Some that have been part of the Vestan nobility for generations. A Lady such as yourself should never degrade into the commoner status. WHY would you want to meet with people who do you no good? As someone who was tasked to care for you, I have been nothing but the best for your future. Your parents take their precious time to keep their Regions functioning, so that you can live your life as a noble woman. Is this how you repay them? Is this how you repay ME, for all the years you've been under the care of the Lucan Family? You have a duty to the Azure Family as the heiress, and a duty to Judah to be by his side. The least you could do is keep away from thoughts about FILTHY commoners."

"I understand." Layla hung her head low and clutched onto her dress, holding back the tears that formed in her eyes while she was being told off by Rebecca.

Rebecca took another look at Layla, narrowing her eyes into a piercing gaze. She walked over to the receiver on the wall, yelling into it.

"SILVER OF LAYLA, REPORT."

Basilisk waited a few seconds to deter Rebecca from what he had heard previously. The entire time he was outside, he clenched and unclenched his fists with each word that she said. If only he wasn't born a Silver, if only he had a higher ranking in life, if only he could have done more for Layla than stand outside and listen to her being verbally attacked by an older noble.

If only we could have been born together in a life to be treated equally, he thought to himself.

He decided that enough time had passed for him to arrive in the room. He knocked on the door, careful not to move it too much from its slightly opened state. If Rebecca had known he was eavesdropping on their conversation, with his status, he would surely be placed in exile.

"Enter." Rebecca replied from the inside.

He walked in to see Layla borderline in tears, her face red from trying not to cry on the spot. Rebecca then taunted Basilisk with her eyes, as she didn't break eye contact with him as she took her finger under Layla's face to be placed on her chin. She raised Layla's head up, turning towards her to meet her eyes.

"Do make sure you are not disappointed when Solice Aion is unable to show up next week. Remember, the invited one can decline, and send two different representatives in their place. This is merely a feeble attempt to meet someone you only heard of through ASEND, a despicable hobby you were introduced to by that wretched Minerva Arcadia."

Layla's eyes widened with the mentioning of two representatives replacing the people who were invited. Judah had unfortunately left that out when he explained it to her the days previous. Her lips quivered when Rebecca released her chin and walked back to her desk. Basilisk came over to her side, and without touching her, he guided her out of the room. He quickly bowed for Rebecca, then shut the door behind him.

They walked back towards the Azure side of the estate. Layla walking extra slow behind Basilisk. She abruptly stopped and rubbed her eyes to clear them of tears. Basilisk came back to see if she needed anything. He twisted around to see if anyone was around them, checking around them. He made sure there wasn't the usual camera above them as well.

He leaned over and whispered into Layla's ear, "Let's go to the courtyard for more privacy."

Layla nodded, following him there. They reached the shared courtyard in no time. Finally, Layla bursted into tears and fell onto a nearby bench. Basilisk sat right next to her on that bench, and held onto her shoulders. He brought her closer to him, careful to keep a little bit of space between them. As Layla still wailed next to him, he rummaged through his pockets for a tissue. He swiftly pulled out a packet of tissues and handed it to Layla. She gratefully accepted it and pulled out the first one to dry her tears.

Unbeknownst to her, Basilisk had received the acceptance list of who will be attending her Council Selection next week. Rebecca was right, Solice Aion had sent two representatives in her place, named Xander and Kite. Two people he had no record of when he was researching connections to Solice. He couldn't bring himself to tell Layla of the news yet, choosing to instead let her know on the day they arrive. It killed him on the inside to not tell her yet, his stomach doing flips as he watched her sniffle and wipe away remaining tears while leaning on him.