Chapter 844: Quite The Irony
Chapter 844: Quite The Irony
The tension changed instantly.The first-years did not understand at first. Some only recognized the name Granger and the implication of royalty. But the second-years understood enough, and the third-years understood even more. Percy Granger had not been some ordinary student. He had been the former ranked one of his batch, powerful, respected, coldly brilliant, and treated by many as a natural leader before graduation pulled him beyond the academy’s daily hierarchy.
His shadow had hung over Sheila long before she stood at the center of this arena. Everyone who had watched her from first year to now knew that being Percy’s younger sister came with pressure few people could see clearly and even fewer could speak about without cruelty.
Chris did not stop.
"Everyone here remembers Percy Granger," he said, turning slightly toward the older sections. "Powerful. Respected. The kind of student the academy looked at and understood he was meant to lead. He did not need to convince rooms to believe in him. His presence made it obvious."
The arena had grown quiet enough that the wind seemed louder.
Chris looked back at Sheila. "Which makes me wonder, Princess, whether you are truly trying to become commander for the second-years, or whether you are trying to prove you can stand where Percy once stood."
Sheila became very still.
Chris’s smile sharpened. "Perhaps this is not really about Eldervale. Perhaps this is about proving that you can be seen the way he was seen. Perhaps you want to lead because somewhere inside you, you still want Percy to look at you properly as his sister again."
A few students looked down.
Others stared at Sheila.
Chris’s voice softened just enough to become crueler. "After all, we all know you and Percy were never exactly close, despite being family."
The arena went nearly silent.
The point was personal in a way the first had not been. It did not attack her leadership style. It attacked the wound beneath it, or at least the wound Chris believed was still open. Some second-years believed it immediately because they remembered the distant relationship between Sheila and Percy.
They remembered the way Sheila had once reacted to comparisons, the quiet pressure around her whenever Percy’s name appeared, the way being his sister seemed to burden her more than strengthen her. Some third-years reacted too, not loudly, but with small shifts in posture and expression. They had known Percy better. They knew how large a presence he had been, and how difficult it would have been for anyone related to him to stand outside his shadow.
Sheila did not crumble.
But for a moment, she did not speak either.