𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 - Wriothesley x Neuvillette

Silence (Chapter 16)

Neuvillette was thinking everything over again. Had he been too quick to forgive Wriothesley? Why did it feel wrong to let it go? Why did it feel wrong to accept his apology? He had been working nonstop to cover the incident and calm the people of Fontaine, but the situation was out of control. It would help if a certain Duke would tell him what he knew about Matheo or if he should just leave it. He didn't even know if Matheo truly was the mastermind behind all this. But what would his relation to 'Ciel' be?

He went through more paperwork, his mind racing. He looked up to see Wriothesley walk into his office, looking more determined than Neuvillette had ever seen before.

"Monsieur Neuvillette."

"Your grace, what can I do for you?"

"Have you found anything new?"

"No, I have not. But perhaps if you would tell me how you know Matheo and how he is involved in all this, I could figure something out."

"Matheo does not know anything, Monsieur."

"Really? Or are you protecting him?"

"I am not protecting him."

"Then why won't you hand him over to me? Or tell me anything?"

"I have unfinished business with him."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Neuvillette nodded, knowing there wasn't anything to do in this situation. He just had to be more careful around the Duke from now on.

They sat down to go through files and paperwork together, hoping to find something they had missed before. The silence was deafening, only interrupted by the sound of turning pages.

Sedene came into the office with more reports, which immediately caught Neuvilette's eye. More disappearances? He grabbed the reports and skimmed through them. There had been a total of 6 disappearances, and Neuvillette hadn't even heard of it. Why had he not received these reports before?

It would be best to go look at the evidence from the scenes and talk to the people close to the victims, not that that would be easy now that every disappearance was automatically linked with Primordial seawater and people panicked over the smallest things.

He handed the reports to Wriothesley, who also skimmed through them, a little slower of course, but seemed to be thinking the same as him. 

He quickly left and went to examine the evidence and crime scenes of every disappearance. Much to Wriothesley's dismay, it all pointed towards Matheo. DNA, personal items, and even a note in his writing only seemed to make it more and more clear who had definitely been at every crime scene.

If word got out about this, people would only start to blame Neuvillette even more, and Wriothesley could see the Iudex visibly tense up while looking over the evidence.

"Are you going to tell me about Matheo now? Or are you perhaps his accomplice?"

"I know you don't possess humor, but was that really the best joke you could make Monsieur?"

"Yes, it was. But do answer my question anyway."

"You do realize there's no way I could try to assassinate myself? Or you, for that matter." 

"I do hope you're not foolish enough to try."

"I wouldn't dare."

"Then tell me about Matheo."

"I cannot."

"Wriothesley."

"Yes, Neuvillette?"

"Sooner or later you'll have to tell me who he is. Why not get it over with already?"

Wriothesley looked away, unwilling to meet the Chief Justice's gaze and unwilling to admit he was right. He was not going to tell him. Not yet. He still had to deal with Matheo first. He wanted to break him first.

While he was avoiding Neuvillette's eyes, the Iudex turned and left, unwilling to cooperate with someone so secretive. He had been wrong to forgive him and wrong to trust him. There was no other option than figuring it out himself, and he had an idea of where to start.

For a normal person, the walk to Meropide from the Court of Fontaine would take a while. But since Neuvillette could teleport, it took less than a second. Wriothesley arrived at Meropide a few hours later, to find Neuvillette waiting in his office, with Matheo sitting on the couch silent. He had never seen Matheo this quiet before. He could tell something was wrong.

Neuvillette said nothing, only staring at him. He looked at the Iudex and noticed some papers behind him. Neuvillette had found his plan... And notes.

"Monsieur-"

"Some interesting notes you have, your grace. I found the ones about cutting my  tongue out especially intriguing."

Wriothesley swallowed hard. How was he supposed to explain that?

"Neuvillette-" He tried again but was once more cut off.

"I had no idea you thought of me like that, nor that you harbor such resentment towards me, your grace."

They were both silent for a moment before Neuvillette continued in a little softer voice.

"What have I done to deserve your hatred?" 

He wanted to tell him that he didn't mean it, that the notes were old, and that he once blamed Neuvillette for his sentence but now doesn't. He wanted to yell until the other man understood his sincerity and forgave him. But as he looked into the Iudex's cold eyes, his mouth shut, and his tongue got stuck in his throat. 

There was nothing to be done, and he knew it. He looked over at Matheo, only now noticing the blood slowly dripping out of his mouth.

"..What did you do to him?" He asked as he looked back at Neuvillette.

"I simply asked him a few questions. He wasn't willing to answer me at first, so I had to remind him how to speak." 

"And what did he tell you?"

"Wriothesley... Why didn't you just tell me you wanted to clear your name? Why didn't you tell me what this man did?"

"And what would I have gotten out of that?" Wriothesley asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm despite the fear he was feeling at that moment. He knew the Iudex wouldn't help him, that's why he hadn't said anything. 

"Justice," Neuvillette said before turning around and teleporting out of Wriothesley's office.