Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 204: The Alternative

The silence stretched on for a few very entertaining seconds.

Aegis stood in the center of the ballroom, every noble eye in Valdria fixed on her. Evangeline’s face had cycled through about six different emotions before settling on something cold and calculating. She was already trying to figure out how to spin this. How to turn Aegis’s interruption into a humiliation.

Good luck with that.

"Lady Starcaller." Evangeline’s voice could’ve frozen wine. "You were not invited to this ceremony." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"I noticed. Your doormen were very polite about it, though. Lovely people. You should give them a raise."

A few titters from the crowd. Evangeline’s eye twitched.

"Then you are trespassing. Guards—"

"I’m invoking the Right of Petition." Aegis made sure her voice carried to every corner of the room. "Under Valdrian law, any noble of legitimate standing may petition to present themselves as an alternative candidate for a royal marriage, provided they can demonstrate worthiness."

That got murmurs. The Right of Petition was old, the kind of law that existed in dusty books and academic discussions, not in actual practice. Most people in this room had probably forgotten it existed. But it was still law, and now everyone was remembering that fact at the same time.

[Thank you, Evelyn, for making me memorize all that legal bullshit. I owe you a drink.]

Evangeline’s jaw tightened so hard Aegis could almost hear her teeth grinding.

"You think you meet the requirements?"

"I know I do." Aegis spread her hands, casual, confident. "If you’ll permit me to demonstrate. Shouldn’t take long."

"This is absurd." Darius stepped forward, his composure intact but his eyes hard. "Lady Starcaller, I respect what you’ve accomplished, but this is inappropriate. You’re disrupting a formal ceremony with a legal technicality."

"I’m exercising my rights as a noble of Valdria." Aegis met his gaze and shrugged. "Unless you’re suggesting that the law doesn’t apply when it’s inconvenient for you?"

Darius’s jaw worked. He wanted to say something cutting, she could tell, but he was too smart to publicly dismiss Valdrian law in front of the entire nobility. That would be a much bigger scandal than anything Aegis was doing.

[Smart guy. Shame you picked the wrong princess to pursue.]

"I propose we let her speak." That was Lord Harbell, somewhere in the crowd. "If she can’t back up her claim, she’ll humiliate herself. If she can, well, that’s worth hearing."

More murmurs. Agreement, mostly. Nobles loved drama, especially when it wasn’t happening to them. This was the most exciting thing that had happened at a betrothal ceremony in probably fifty years, and everyone wanted to see how it played out.

Evangeline’s eyes swept the room, reading the mood, and Aegis could see the exact moment she realized that throwing Aegis out would make her look worse than letting her talk. The calculation was almost visible on her face. Let the upstart embarrass herself, then proceed with the ceremony. Damage control.

"Very well." The words came out like she was spitting glass. "Make your case, Lady Starcaller. Quickly."

[Showtime, baby.]

Aegis turned to address the room properly, making eye contact with as many people as she could. This was a performance, and she was going to give them a good one.

"Let’s talk about what makes a worthy match for a princess of House Stone. Political connections? I have them. House Vermillion sponsors me directly. Lady Roseheart owes me her life. Lord Harbell, Lady Corina, and half a dozen other houses have formal agreements with House Starcaller." She gestured broadly. "I’ve been a noble for less than a year and I’ve built a network that most minor houses spend generations trying to achieve."

She started pacing, slow and deliberate, letting her boots click against the marble.

"Military strength? I’ve got two elite retainers who just won the exhibition tournament for noble houses. I’ve got thirty trained soldiers under contract. I’ve got an armory of enchanted weapons that would make some Great Houses jealous." She smiled. "Not bad for a former commoner, right?"

A few laughs from the crowd. Even some of the stuffier nobles looked grudgingly impressed.

"Wealth? House Starcaller’s revenue has been climbing every week. We’ve got exclusive supplier contracts, trade partnerships, and as of yesterday, two seats on the Consortium’s advisory council. We’re not the richest house in Valdria, but we’re profitable, we’re growing, and we’re not going anywhere."

She stopped pacing and turned to face Evangeline directly.

"And reputation? Well." Her smile widened. "Everyone in this room knows my name. I’m the Winter Trials champion. I’m the commoner who clawed her way to a noble title through sheer audacity." She spread her arms. "Love me or hate me, you can’t ignore me."

The room was buzzing now. People whispering to each other, evaluating, calculating. Aegis could practically see the political gears turning behind their eyes.

Evangeline’s expression hadn’t cracked, but there was something behind it now. Something that looked almost like worry.

"A pretty speech," she said, her voice dripping contempt. "But speeches are easy. House Goldspire has generations of proven loyalty to the crown, centuries of—"

"Mother."

Talia’s voice cut across the room like a whip crack.

Every head turned to the dais, where the princess was stepping forward, away from Darius, away from her designated spot beside the altar. Her yellow eyes were fixed on her mother.

"Talia." Evangeline’s voice carried a warning. "This is not the time."

"I think it’s exactly the time." Talia descended the steps of the dais, her white gown trailing behind her, and came to stand beside Aegis. Close enough to make a statement. Close enough that their shoulders almost touched. "Lady Starcaller has invoked the Right of Petition. She’s presented her credentials according to the law. The question now is whether I, as the person whose future is being decided, have anything to say about it."

"Your future has already been decided. This betrothal—"

"This betrothal was arranged without my input." Talia’s voice was steady, clear, carrying to every corner of the room. "I accepted it because I believed I had no other options. But now an option has presented itself, and I would be failing in my duty to House Stone if I didn’t consider it."

Murmurs from the crowd. Louder now.

"How could I possibly accept this betrothal," Talia continued, and Aegis could hear her warming to the argument, hitting her stride, "without ensuring that I’ve considered all alternatives? What kind of princess would I be if I simply accepted the first arrangement presented to me, without verifying that it was truly the best choice for my house and my kingdom?"

Aegis had known Talia was smart. She’d known Talia could be calculating when she needed to be. But watching her work the room like this, turning Aegis’s dramatic interruption into a question of Talia’s own diligence and duty, was genuinely impressive.

"Princess Talia raises a fair point," Lady Corina called out. "The Right of Petition exists for exactly this reason. To ensure that royal marriages serve the kingdom’s interests."

"I agree," Lord Harbell added. "Lady Starcaller’s credentials may not be the strongest today, but in my opinion, hers is clearly the fastest-growing noble house in Rosevale. Today, we may be satisfied with House Stone joining together with House Goldspire, but what about in a year? What if, in two years, House Starcaller is an economic monster all on its own? It would be premature to dismiss her without a proper evaluation."

More voices joined in. Not everyone, not even most, but enough. Enough to make it clear that simply throwing Aegis out wasn’t going to fly anymore. The room had shifted. What had started as a disruption was now a legitimate question, and everyone wanted to see it answered.

Evangeline stood very still.

Her face had gone pale, though whether from fury or something else, Aegis couldn’t tell. Her hands were clenched at her sides. She was looking at Talia like she’d never seen her daughter before.

For a long moment, nobody spoke.

Then Evangeline’s voice came out, cold and controlled and absolutely seething underneath.

"Very well."

Two words. They hit the room like stones dropped into still water.

"This ceremony is postponed. Pending further evaluation of House Starcaller’s legitimacy as a marriage candidate."

Aegis kept her face neutral, but inside she was doing a victory lap.

[YES, I GOT YOU!]