Chapter 829: He Is Far More Dangerous
Chapter 829: He Is Far More Dangerous
Isolde looked away first, turning her gaze toward the dark academy grounds beyond the glass."Percy," she said softly, almost to herself. "Everyone always makes their way back to Percy eventually."
Liam said nothing.
Her mouth curved faintly, but it was not a smile. "Fine. You want to know why? I am testing her."
"Testing?"
"Yes."
"That is your reason?"
"One of them."
Liam stared at her.
Isolde folded her arms loosely, her back straightening as the last of the harmless warmth left her posture. She still looked elegant, still composed, but the fragility from earlier was gone.
"Sheila Granger has potential. I will not deny that. She is intelligent, powerful, patient, and far more suited to people than her brother ever was. But potential is not leadership. Potential is a pretty little promise people place on someone before they have actually proven anything."
"She has proven enough."
"To you?" Isolde asked.
Liam’s eyes narrowed.
"To Percy?" she continued. "To the students who want a kind princess to gather around because she feels safer than a prince with edges? To those who see her bloodline, her rank, her affinities, and the people standing near her, then decide that means she is ready?" Her voice remained controlled, but the resentment beneath it finally sharpened through. "Trust is being handed to her. Legitimacy is being handed to her. Future leadership is being shaped around her as if the academy, the second-years, and even people like you have already decided she belongs there."
Liam watched her carefully.
Isolde’s gaze returned to him. "I clawed my way to the top. I earned every inch of influence I have here. I was not carried by a royal name. I was not softened by people protecting the path around me. I had to learn how to stand, how to read people, how to lead those who did not want to follow, how to become necessary without anyone handing me the privilege of being trusted." Her mouth tightened. "And even then, I never received the kind of acknowledgment Sheila seems to receive simply because Percy Granger and Liam Hunter believe she might become something."
There it was.
Not jealousy alone. Not hatred. Resentment mixed with judgment, dressed as a test and sharpened by old wounds.
"Percy respected you?" Liam asked.
Isolde’s eyes flickered.
"That bothered you," he said.
Her voice went colder. "Do not pretend you understand that."
"I do not need to."
"You know nothing about what it is like to stand beside someone like him and still be looked through."
"Probably not."
That answer seemed to irritate her more than if he had argued.
Isolde looked away again, jaw tight for only a second before she forced it loose. "Percy did not trust easily. He did not praise easily. He barely acknowledged people unless they were useful or unavoidable. Yet he looked at Sheila as if she could inherit something from him even when he doubted her. He looked at you with respect after knowing you for far less time than he knew me. And now Sheila is walking into the next structure with everyone preparing to support her."