Chapter 133: Odd-Shaped Cogs
Edith couldn’t sleep for two nights straight; she barely closed her eyes to rest, but every bit of her conscience was gnawing at her.
She had always been a bit of a zealot, not just in terms of faith, but she saw the Establishment as the fine-tuned machine that brought prosperity to this empire she was privileged to live under. As a noble, she believed in the noblesse oblige and always thought that adhering to it was what set aristocrats apart from others.
But ever since that day she ran into Vivian Moore, her black-and-white worldview was shattered. Vivian was supposedly someone who represented rust in this machine they lived in, but as she got closer, all that Edith felt was that Vivian was simply an odd-shaped cog. It functioned, but it didn’t fit well with others.
Yet here was the thing: Edith was not stubborn, and to her, an odd-shaped cog could be the start of a new evolution in the machine. Maybe this odd-shaped cog could be the future and how all cogs were supposed to function from now on.
All the inaction and bureaucracy that she so much loathed were not a part of Vivian’s routine. If action was needed, action was taken. When Princess Charlotte wanted help, Vivian rushed to the Palace. When Natasha Ivanov was proven to be corrupt and crooked, Vivian didn’t ask for permission and took action, eventually leading to a bold, gun-blazing escape.
There was no hesitation; it was what Edith liked the most about Vivian and what she wanted the people around her to be like. Truthfully, Edith found a kindred soul in Vivian.
Then it hit her.
She was an odd-shaped cog, too.
How she discovered that wasn’t something instantaneous, as no belief could be shattered overnight. In fact, Edith didn’t want to believe that until she witnessed the rust behind all the cogs she knew firsthand.
She witnessed it in the Royal Palace with a prince making a commoner take over a garden that belonged to a royal princess just because he could. She witnessed it with her brother, who was under orders from the very same prince to operate a false treasury convoy for personal gains, even with her ex-fiancé, who seemed to be in on the action as well.
Everything regarding those people, whom she was supposedly on the side of, was shifty and dishonest. She was still bound to their service since her eldest brother was a supporter of that political faction with the blessings of their father. Her family’s interests were flowing in that current, and so she had to follow suit.