Chapter 231: Breakfast
They spent the next forty minutes training together, alternating between individual exercises and occasional exchanges whenever one of them noticed something worth correcting.
Neither suggested practicing their combined technique. They had plenty of opportunities for that at the academy, and for once, there was no particular reason to push themselves.
By the time they finished, the sun had risen properly above the estate walls, and the smell of breakfast was beginning to drift through the open windows.
Breakfast at the Cross estate was considerably more elaborate than what William had grown accustomed to at the academy.
His mother had always taken household arrangements seriously, and although she wasn’t particularly fond of unnecessary extravagance, she made certain that her guests were properly accommodated.
The dining table had been prepared with a variety of dishes, ranging from freshly baked bread and pastries to eggs, roasted vegetables, fruit, and several other breakfast options. Rather than using the entire length of the enormous table, the servants had arranged everything toward one end, allowing everyone to sit comfortably together.
By the time William and Seraphina arrived, Liam was already seated.
He had a plate piled with food in front of him and appeared thoroughly pleased with himself.
"Morning," he greeted them between bites.
William glanced at his plate.
"How long have you been here?"
"Not long."
"That doesn’t answer my question."
"Long enough to discover that your kitchen makes excellent pastries."
Seraphina laughed as she pulled out a chair.
"I see you’ve been keeping yourself busy."
"Someone has to appreciate the kitchen staff’s efforts."
William shook his head and took his seat.
A few minutes later, Isolde appeared in the doorway.
She looked much better than she had the previous evening. The dark circles beneath her eyes hadn’t completely disappeared, but her complexion had improved, and she seemed more alert as she glanced around the room.
"Good morning," she greeted them.
"Morning!" Liam waved her over. "Come sit. You’re going to want to try these."
Isolde approached the table with a curious expression.
"Try what?"
"The pastries. I don’t know what they’re called, but they’re incredible."
"How many have you eaten?"
"Four."
William looked at him.
"Five," Liam corrected after a moment. "Possibly six. I stopped counting."
Isolde laughed as she sat down.
"I suppose I’ll have to try one, then."
"You won’t regret it."
As she reached for her tea, Arabella Cross entered the dining room.
William’s mother took a brief look around the table, exchanged a few greetings, and approached the sideboard where several additional dishes had been arranged.
"Good morning, everyone. I trust you slept well?"
"Very well, Lady Cross," Isolde answered politely.
"I’m glad to hear it."
Arabella glanced toward the table before turning to one of the nearby servants.
"Would you bring the fruit preserves over as well? I believe they’ll go nicely with the pastries."
"Of course, my lady."
She gave a satisfied nod before looking toward William.
"I have a few matters to attend to this morning, so I won’t be joining you for breakfast. Make sure our guests have everything they need."
"We will, Mother."
"Good. Enjoy your meal."
With that, Arabella excused herself and left the dining room.
Isolde watched her departure with a thoughtful expression.
"Your mother is quite remarkable."
William glanced toward the doorway.
"She has her moments."
"I’m serious." Isolde smiled faintly. "I ran into her earlier this morning, and she simply wished me a good morning before continuing on her way."
"That sounds like her."
"She didn’t ask about yesterday or whether I was feeling better. I know she probably meant well, but I was relieved she didn’t bring it up."
William nodded in understanding.
"Mother doesn’t like making people uncomfortable unnecessarily. If she thinks you need space, she’ll give it to you."
"That’s rather considerate."
"She can also be terrifying when she decides someone needs a lecture."
Seraphina smiled over her cup.
"I can imagine."
"You have no idea."
Liam interrupted by pushing the plate of pastries toward Isolde.
"Speaking of important matters, try one of these before William eats them all."
William stared at him.
"I haven’t touched a single one."
"Exactly. Very suspicious."
Isolde shook her head in amusement before taking a pastry.
She bit into it, paused, and looked down at the remaining half.
"Oh. These really are good."
Liam leaned back with a satisfied grin.
"See? I told you."
"Perhaps you should consider becoming a food critic," Seraphina suggested.
"I’ve thought about it."
"Of course you have," William muttered.
Breakfast continued pleasantly, with Liam providing most of the conversation as he moved between discussing the estate, the academy, and several incidents from the recent competition.
Isolde seemed considerably more comfortable than she had been the night before, occasionally laughing at Liam’s remarks and contributing stories of her own.
William was glad to see her enjoying herself, although he knew the improvement in her mood wouldn’t make the problems surrounding her family disappear.
Eventually, Isolde set down her cup and looked toward him.
"William, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"What happens next? With the inquiry, I mean."
The question brought a brief pause to the conversation.
William placed his utensils aside.
"Thursday’s proceedings will focus on testimony. You’ll probably be asked to appear, but Sera’s team will prepare you beforehand."
"Will I have to face my mother again?"
"Not necessarily. That depends on how the inquiry decides to proceed. You’ll be answering questions about what you know, not defending yourself against her."
Isolde nodded slowly.
"And after Thursday?"
"That depends on what the testimony establishes. The documents and financial records are already being examined, so the investigation should begin focusing more heavily on the people directly involved."
"Which means?"
"Which means your role becomes less important once you’ve provided the information they need," Seraphina explained. "Your testimony helps establish the circumstances surrounding the evidence, but the case doesn’t depend entirely on you."
Isolde looked between them.
"So even if my mother continues trying to pressure me..."
"It won’t change what the investigators already have," William finished. "And it won’t make the evidence disappear."
She sat quietly for a moment, considering his words.
"I think that’s what I’ve been struggling with."
Seraphina tilted her head slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since this began, I’ve felt as though everything depended on what I said or did. Every conversation with my mother made me question whether I was making things worse, and I kept worrying that one mistake would undo everything."
"Your mother probably wanted you to feel that way," William replied.
Isolde looked at him.
"She wanted you to believe that withdrawing your support would bring the entire investigation to a halt. If she could convince you that everything rested on your shoulders, you’d be much easier to pressure."
Isolde lowered her gaze.
"That does sound like her."
William hesitated briefly before continuing.
"My father isn’t much different. He’s always been good at figuring out what people are afraid of losing, then using that against them."
"That must have been difficult to grow up around," Isolde said quietly.
William gave a small shrug.
"I learned to recognize it eventually."
There was little more he wanted to say about the subject, and Isolde seemed to understand that.
She offered him a sympathetic smile before reaching for her tea.
Liam, who had been listening while finishing his breakfast, finally spoke.
"Well, at least you know what to expect now."
Isolde turned toward him.
"I suppose I do."
"And Thursday isn’t today."
"No, it isn’t."
"Then why spend the whole morning worrying about it?" Liam asked, leaning back in his chair. "You’re here, nobody’s bothering you, and we’ve got an entire day ahead of us. You might as well enjoy it."
Isolde smiled.
"You make everything sound so simple."
"Some things are simple. People just have a habit of making them complicated."
William chuckled.
"That’s a rather convenient philosophy."
"It’s worked pretty well for me."
"I can see that."
Liam grinned before turning back to Isolde.
"Seriously, though. You don’t have to do anything important today, do you?"
"Not that I’m aware of."
"Then take the day off. Read something, go for a walk, join us for training if you feel like it. Whatever you want."
Isolde considered the suggestion.
"I suppose a quiet day wouldn’t hurt."
"Exactly!"
Liam looked thoroughly pleased with himself.
Then, apparently remembering something, he turned toward William.
"Actually, speaking of training, I noticed something interesting on your training ground earlier."
William raised an eyebrow.
"What did you notice?"
"That coordination target near the eastern wall. The one with the rotating sections."
"What about it?"
"I want to try something."
William stared at him for a moment.
"Should I be concerned?"
"Probably not."
"That’s not reassuring."
Liam waved off his concern.
"Relax. I’m not going to break anything."
"That’s exactly what you said before you damaged the academy’s western practice field."
"That was an accident."
"You destroyed three targets."
"Two and a half."
Seraphina covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Isolde looked between them with growing interest.
"What happened?"
William sighed.
"He decided he could improve his reaction speed by increasing the target’s rotation beyond its recommended limit."
"And it worked," Liam insisted.
"Until the mechanism broke."
"Minor setback."
"One of the targets flew across the training ground."
"Nobody got hurt."
"Because everyone moved out of the way."
Liam shrugged.
"See? Excellent reaction training."
Isolde burst out laughing, and even William couldn’t maintain his serious expression.
"You’re impossible," he muttered.
"Thank you."
"That wasn’t a compliment."
"I choose to take it as one."
Liam finished the last of his tea and stood, stretching his arms above his head.
"Anyway, I’m going to take another look at it. William, come find me when you’re done eating."
"Don’t touch anything until I get there."
"No promises."
"Liam."
"Fine, fine. I’ll wait."
He grabbed one final pastry from the table before heading toward the door.
William watched him leave with a resigned expression.
"He’s going to touch it, isn’t he?"
"Almost certainly," Seraphina replied.
Isolde laughed again.
"Is he always like this?"
"Pretty much," William answered.
"Does he ever get tired?"
"I’ve been wondering that myself."
Seraphina smiled.
"He does have his quieter moments."
"When he’s asleep," William added.
"Even then, I’m not entirely convinced," Seraphina replied.
That earned another laugh from Isolde.
She glanced toward the doorway Liam had disappeared through before turning back to the others.
"I’m glad he’s here."
William smiled.
"So am I."
"He’s certainly made the last two days more entertaining," Isolde continued. "I don’t think I’ve laughed this much in weeks."
"That’s Liam for you," Seraphina replied warmly.
They remained at the table for a little longer, finishing their breakfast and discussing what they intended to do with the rest of the morning.
Isolde mentioned wanting to explore the estate gardens, having seen only a small portion of them during her previous visits. Seraphina offered to accompany her later, provided William and Liam didn’t manage to destroy the training ground before then.
William assured her that he’d do his best to prevent it, although he wasn’t particularly confident in his ability to keep Liam out of trouble.
Eventually, the sound of someone calling from outside reached the dining room.
"William!"
He closed his eyes briefly.
"He’s already started."
Seraphina laughed as she rose from her chair.
"Well, we’d better go see what he’s doing."
William stood and glanced toward Isolde.
"Are you coming?"
She considered the question before nodding.
"I think I will. I’m rather curious about this coordination target now."
"Trust me, it’s not nearly as interesting as Liam makes it sound."
"We’ll see about that."
The three of them left the dining room together, making their way through the corridor toward the courtyard.
Outside, the morning air was cool and refreshing, with a gentle breeze moving through the trees surrounding the training grounds. The sun had risen high enough to illuminate most of the courtyard, although the shadows of the estate walls still stretched across the stone pathways.
Liam was already standing beside the coordination target, examining its rotating sections with an expression of intense concentration.
William immediately noticed that one of the mechanisms had been adjusted.
"Liam."
His friend looked up.
"Oh, there you are!"
"What did I tell you about touching anything?"
"I haven’t broken anything."
"That’s not what I asked."
"Well, technically, I only adjusted the tension a little."
William stared at him.
Seraphina started laughing.
Beside her, Isolde covered her mouth, although the smile on her face was impossible to hide.