SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant

Chapter 469: Chapter 469: The Fifth Legendary Character [III]

Trafalgar kept looking at her for a few seconds after that. Vivienne was still on her knees, calmer than before but not by much. The fear had retreated enough for her to think again, but it had not gone anywhere.

”Why come to me?” Trafalgar asked.

Vivienne blinked once. ”What?”

”If this is really about the Void Creatures, and if whatever you know frightened you enough to approach me under a false name, then why me specifically?”

Vivienne hesitated. That alone was enough to make his expression sharpen slightly. ”Talk.”

She lowered her eyes for a brief moment. ”Because my master told me to find you.”

Trafalgar went still. ”Your master.”

”Yes.”

”Who is your master?”

Vivienne looked unsure for the first time since she had started speaking honestly. Her lips parted slightly, then closed again. She understood that whatever came next mattered.

”It’s someone from the Primordial Bloodline.”

Trafalgar moved immediately. He closed the distance in one step and pressed a hand over her mouth before she could say anything else. Vivienne’s eyes went wide, her body going rigid beneath the sudden movement.

”Don’t say things like that here,” he said in a low voice.

Neither of them moved for a second.

Then he slowly took his hand away.

Vivienne stared at him, stunned. ”You...” She stopped, then lowered her voice as well. ”You know something.”

Trafalgar did not answer right away. He was watching her too closely now to bother pretending this meant nothing.

Vivienne swallowed and looked around the gardens for the first time since they had come there, as if only now understanding how exposed the place really was. When her eyes returned to him, the fear in them had changed shape. It was no longer only fear of him. It was the fear of having said too much, and the realization that Trafalgar was not confused by what she had said.

He understood it.

”So your master noticed it too,” Trafalgar said at last, his voice still low. ”I know there was a Primordial in the war. I’ve known that much already.” His gaze sharpened slightly. ”And yes, I was trying to find that person.” He paused for only a moment. ”My question is why that Primordial wants to see me.”

Vivienne hesitated, then answered honestly. ”My master didn’t tell me that part, so I don’t know. But as you probably understand, my master can’t just appear in a place like this.” She glanced briefly toward the distant lights of the main hall. ”So I had to manage things myself, come here, and somehow get close to you. That was the only way I could make it happen.”

Trafalgar looked at her in silence for a second. ”You don’t think pretending to be Xavier’s sister was too risky? More people saw you.”

”It was risky,” Vivienne admitted. ”But I had to do it, so I took the risk.” Her expression steadied as she spoke. ”I won’t appear in those people’s lives again, so it doesn’t matter if they remember me or not. To them it’ll just stay as something strange they can’t explain.”

”So what does your master want?”

Vivienne did not lower her eyes this time. ”To see you.” She said again.

That answer came cleanly. ”And since you also want to see my master,” she continued, ”it seems both interests are aligned.”

”Yes. They are.”

The tension between them shifted into something more practical.

”Where can we meet?” he asked.

Vivienne answered quickly, as if she had already rehearsed this part. ”I’ll give you the location. Next week, in—”

”Impossible,” Trafalgar cut in.

Vivienne blinked. ”What?”

”Next week is impossible. I’m getting married.”

That made her eyes widen. For a moment she looked too young to be carrying a secret like this. ”...I see,” she said at last. ”Then after that?”

Trafalgar thought for only a moment before nodding. ”Fine. After that.”

Vivienne let out the smallest breath of relief, but before she could say anything more, Trafalgar added, ”By the way, I won’t be going alone.”

Her expression changed immediately. ”What do you mean you won’t go alone?”

”I’ll bring two people with me. They’re trustworthy.”

”No.” The answer came faster than expected. ”That’s not possible. What if they betray you? What if they see too much? I can’t take that risk. My master saved me, and on top of that...” She stopped herself, but the fear was already there. ”I can’t risk anything happening because of his bloodline.”

Trafalgar looked at her steadily. Then he raised one hand and pointed at himself.

”So do I.”

Vivienne stared at him. ”So you do too?”

”What?” Trafalgar said.

”What do you mean, so do I?” She was still looking at him as if making sure she had heard correctly.

”I mean I belong to that bloodline too.”

That left her completely still.

Now it made sense. The reason her master wanted to meet Trafalgar du Morgain was no longer vague in her mind. If her master had been watching the war, he must have noticed him there. Not just as someone strong or unusual, but as one of his own. And perhaps something else on top of that.

Vivienne looked at him with open surprise for a second longer, then slowly nodded. ”I understand now.”

Trafalgar waited.

Because of the honesty he had shown her, she did not argue again. ”Fine,” she said at last. ”You can bring those two people with you.”

”Good.”

Vivienne straightened slightly. ”I won’t tell you the place now. I’ll appear one day and let you know when we can meet.”

Trafalgar thought for only a moment. ”If you can appear in Velkaris, even better. I usually stay there on weekends.”

Vivienne nodded once. ”Understood.”

Vivienne gave him one last look, then stepped back. ”Then I’ll find you again.”

Without waiting for another answer, she turned and disappeared into the gardens, her figure slipping between the pale paths and trimmed hedges until the silver light swallowed her completely.

Trafalgar stayed there for a few seconds, thinking. Then he turned and walked back toward the hall.

The noise of the Council gathering returned as he stepped inside. Voices, glasses, distant laughter, servants moving between nobles. Everything had returned to the same polished normality as before, as if nothing strange had happened at all.

He had barely taken a few steps inside when someone called out to him. ”Traf!”

Trafalgar turned and saw Xavier approaching quickly. ”I’ve been looking for you for a while. Where did you go?”

”I went out to get some air. Too many people were crowding around me.”

Xavier let out a breath through his nose. ”Yeah, that’s normal enough.” Then his expression shifted slightly. ”By the way... don’t you remember there was someone near you before I left? Someone I introduced?”

Trafalgar frowned faintly. ”I feel like I do. But when I try to think about it properly, my head starts hurting.”

Xavier blinked. ”It happens to you too?”

Trafalgar looked at him more carefully.

”So it wasn’t just me,” Xavier muttered. ”What was that supposed to be?”

”I don’t know. Maybe someone used a skill somehow.”

Xavier’s face tightened slightly. ”That should be impossible in a place like this. It’s strictly forbidden. But if someone broke the rules...” He let the thought hang, then shook his head. ”Whatever. We’ll see each other at the academy soon anyway.”

”Yeah. See you there.”

Xavier raised a hand and walked off.

Trafalgar remained where he was for a second, looking across the hall. And with that, the Council had finally come to an end.