fire flower; leopold vermillion x oc [Black Clover]

Chapter 27: The Test

The fork trembles in my hand as I cut off a piece of meat and slowly bring it to my mouth. Even though the Vermillion family seems to be staring down at their plates and eating, I can feel all their attention focused on me. Leopold warned me about good table manners, and even showed me the basics, but I feel as if something horrible is going to happen, like me dropping my fork or smearing the sauce of the meat all over my mouth.

Don't eat too much. Take tiny bites.

Remember to wipe your mouth.

Hold your cutlery with grace.

The instructions that I once scoffed at are now my lifeline. I carefully set down my utensils and dab at my lips with the smooth napkin, not daring to look up and see what the Vermillions are doing. They're judging me, assessing me, seeing if I'm ready for a life of nobility. I take a sip of water, barely allowing anything through my lips. Then I turn back to the piece of meat on my table, rolls of fresh bread and exotic greens lying next to it.

The silence drags on, not a human voice to be heard as the sounds of chewing and clinking surround the room. I'm almost through with my potatoes when someone pipes up.

"Were you not engaged to that other nice girl?" One of Leopold's cousins, seated at the left of the table. I raise my head simultaneously with the rest. It takes me a while to figure out that the speaker is the same one that mocked my rank as an Intermediate.

"Yes. Seradina Lameose," Leopold answers politely but tersely.

"And what happened to her?" There is nothing mocking in the voice of the speaker, but the question itself is a little slap in the face.

"A Heart's Duel." Again, another terse reply.

This causes another round of whispers and murmuring, but it dies down pretty quickly.

"A Heart's Duel, you say? And who was the challenger?"

Leopold allows a small eye roll before replying, "Mari, of course." He continues eating as the whispers flare up again, the clatter of cutlery being placed on plates echoing throughout the room.

"No way! She beat a Lameose?"

"The events must've been skewered in her favor!"

"Impossible. If she was the challenger then Seradina would have chosen two of the events."

"Maybe Seradina was unfit to be a Vermillion then, if she lost to a commoner!"

There goes that filthy word again. Commoner. But I continue eating, taking small bites of the vegetables and dabbing at my lips. Please just let this go already. The Heart's Duel is over, why gossip about it? Of course, I don't get my wish. Instead, I get something much, much worse.

The table shudders as someone slams their hands against it, jolting everyone into silence. I slowly lower my fork and my knife, and lift my head to see one of Leopold's cousins with both palms on the table. "How can she prove her worth here, at a dining table? She belongs in the arena, on the battlefield, with the warriors!"

"Sit down, Terone. We cannot stray from the ancient rites of our family." Fuegoleon stands up, instantly looming over the speaker. Terone gives a disappointed grimace and sinks back into his chair. Well, there goes my chance. It looks like I'll have to stick with the prissy noble stuff. "However," my head perks up as Fuegoleon starts to speak again. "If someone decides to challenge Mari, then she may prove herself as a fighter instead of a noble."

I scan the faces at the table, silently begging one of them to step up. Are they not saying anything because they're scared since I beat Seradina, or because they think fighting me will be a waste of their time. Probably the latter, but as I focus onto everyone's face, there is hesitation and reluctance underneath their cool features. Please. Just one of you. And then the moment is gone, with no one raising their hands or speaking up. I droop my head and stare at my plate, disappointed and crestfallen.