Kailey's departure was eyed with great suspicion from the elites. What did this mean? Had William Wright sent the peasant woman away because he finally realized that it was entirely inappropriate? If that was the case, then good, William at least had some common sense. But the elites were very doubtful to this hypothesis.
Someone reasonable would have already realized they had committed a mistake when lady Elizabeth Erstwhile pointed it out and should have then sent the commoner away. The fact that William did not do that and even let the woman attend the sacred passing ritual showed he didn't understand the culture of the elites. The image of William as an unreasonable person was reinforced even more in the minds of the elites when they remembered how William had never shown interest in forming connections with other elites of his age. The signs of someone unsuitable to rule had always been there!
So, no, William could not have realized his behavior was improper – and even if he did, the elites were sure he didn't care. The reason the woman had left had to be assigned to something else. Two options were in the elites minds: either the commoner felt uncomfortable in the presence of such great persons as themselves, and had begged William Wright to leave the party – ahem, funeral – and William the lovestruck crazy man had to have indulged this request, or the other possibility was that William had noticed their hostile gazes towards the woman and had decided that it would be safer for her to leave.
Both options amounted to the same thing: William Wright cared deeply about this filthy peasant.
The elites all came to this conclusion at about the same moment. Most of the elites decided to simply store this information in the back of their brains at least until after the dinner was finished, but the Erstwhile's were an exception. Still full of anger because of the previous incident, a sinister smile flashed across their faces.
"Elizabeth," President Eric Erstwhile from country Y whispered to his daughter, "follow that disgusting commoner together with your butler."
Elizabeth's smile bloomed, liking where this was going.
"Don't kill the thing. Capture her," president Erstwhile felt obliged to add. His daughter had the habit of going a bit overboard sometimes. Normally he didn't mind much, but this time it was essential she showed some restraint.
The smile on Elizabeth's face dimmed a little. She really wanted to see the life drain out of that peasant's eyes. "Can I hurt her?"
"Of course," the leader of country Y said with an indulging look. "But nothing deadly. Don't take too long playing with the thing. You must be back soon. Preferably before dinner ends. Bring the peasant to an inconspicuous car and order our driver to bring her to the palace. Tell him he needs to be back tomorrow morning to pick us up."
"That commoner will come in handy with the negotiations of your hand in marriage with William," Elizabeth's mother said. "Don't screw this up."
"As you wish father, mother," Elizabeth Erstwhile answered politely. She signaled her butler and they sneakily separated from the rest of the elites to follow Kailey King.
***
On her way to her room, Lea decided to take the longer way and enjoy the gardens a bit more. The flowers were in bloom, and they were the only pop of color in this grey, white and golden palace. It was a feast on her eyes. She sat herself down on a garden bench and watched the colors to soothe her bored mind.
She was really looking forward to leaving this place. Hopefully Dwyl's mysterious plan to leave this world would soon give results, because it didn't seem like her helping the Criminals would happen anytime soon. She had barely talked to Mason the past week because he was so busy preparing the memorial, and it would be difficult for him to find a time to take her to the Criminal's headquarter. So far, she was doing a crap job in being useful.
Why couldn't she just be some sort of OP protagonist? Seriously, Dwyl, Writer or whoever chose her for the task (which wasn't really a task since there was no mission) must have been out of their mind. But then again, if there is nothing to achieve then there is no reason to bother all those smart and OP people. They would just waste their time.
While Lea was pondering her pathetic abilities two people appeared in front of her and blocked the sunlight; the woman elite who had called Kailey a sexslave when William was welcoming the elites and an unknown man in butler costume.
"Don't resist," the elite ordered at the same time the huge, muscled butler came at her and roughly restricted her hands.
Lea yelped in surprise and pain, her mind working overtime. What did she need to do?
She could ignore the woman's order, since she was free of the hypnosis and indoctrination thanks to Mason and William, but that felt like a stupid thing to do. First, even if she fought back there was no way she could win against such a strong man; neither she nor Kailey had ever even taken a self-defense or martial arts course or anything like that! She was just a weak woman with barely any muscle. If she fought back, she would only get hurt and madden her attackers. Besides, if she showed she could refuse an order, the pair would put up even more of a guard! They would just think she was a Criminal and kill her straight away. She could not let that happen.
Staying quiet and obedient was the best, and in the meantime, she would contact Dwyl.
[I'm being attacked! Sent help! SOS!]
[Huh?] Dwyl answered distractedly. [Attacked?]
[Yes! That elite woman who pointed me out!]
[Dwyl: Ah, I see.]
[Sent help! Now!]
[Dwyl: I can't. Need to focus.]
[I'm in danger!] Lea screamed frustratedly. Isn't William just having dinner? What needed so much attention, that he couldn't notify the guards to come help her out?
[Dwyl: You wanted to be a hero instead of a damsel in distress. Now's your chance. Good luck!]
Lea panicked. [No! No! No! Dwyl!!! Don't leave to my fate!] But no matter how much Lea pleaded Dwyl didn't answer her calls again.