Second Chance

Chapter 10

Morrigan tried to keep her face as expressionless as possible. Now she was Charlotte, not Morrigan, and accordingly she should have behaved differently.

Morrigan tried to focus her gaze only on Elodie, not paying any attention to the second person standing next to the President. She shouldn't have shown any signs of knowing him. Therefore, she was able to fully consider the woman she had seen only in Ghostly Hours and only as a child. Elodie was dressed in a blue, the color of the starry sky, dress that reached to her ankles and emphasized the blue of her eyes. Part of her copper-colored hair was gathered with a crescent-shaped hairpin, while the rest of the curls fell gently over her shoulders. The woman looked petite, but at the same time majestic, even though she was subordinate to Maud. Morrigan noticed a certain pallor of the woman, as if she was holding on with the last of her strength, but tried not to show it. Elodie was clearly not one to give up. Apart from her slightly tired appearance, Elodie looked great, and Morrigan would not be surprised if she knew that she had a lot of suitors who tried their best to attract the attention of the woman.

Morrigan shuddered and tore her gaze away from Elodie, realizing that she was studying her too long and intently and remembering that it was quite indecent to stare at a person like that.

"Glad to meet you" - the Prime Minister smiled politely again and pointed to his two assistants. - "Alistair Ashford and Casper Milligan. And this is Jupiter North and his ward Charlotte Bradshaw" - he waved his hand vaguely in their direction. Morrigan struggled not to roll her eyes.

At that moment, she felt Jupiter's hands on her shoulders. This calmed her down a little and gave her some confidence. Morrigan slowly shifted her gaze to her "father". Corvus didn't even look in her direction, studying the other members of the delegation, and especially the Prime Minister and Squall. Morrigan wondered: how much does he know?  She felt the gaze on her and was surprised when she discovered that it did not come from Maud, but from Elodie. It seemed that she was studying the girl with the utmost attention and curiosity too. Morrigan could have sworn that for one tiny second, the corner of Elodie's mouth twitched, as if trying to smile, but she remembered those present in time.

Elodie Bauer knew exactly who was standing in front of her.

——————————————————————————

The Prime Minister and the President had quite a small talk for some time, only deviating into politics a few times. Morrigan tried her best to follow their conversation so as not to miss anything important. But after some time she realized that it was an empty conversation and absolutely nothing useful could be learned from it, and stopped listening, switching her attention to the guests.

At the very beginning, Squall looked a little confused and unsettled, but he quickly pulled himself together. Apparently, it wasn't the first time he had done this. So he quickly cut into the conversation, and only occasionally threw short glances in Elodie's direction.

Morrigan turned to Jupiter, who, to her surprise, did not take part in the conversation.

"I don't like all this" - Morrigan muttered darkly so that only Jupiter could hear her.

"I agree" - Jupiter cast a fleeting glance in the direction of the President. - "I have no doubt that she is up to something, but so far she has not given herself away. It feels like she's made of ice. No emotions. Unbelievable..."