SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant-Chapter 492: Vivienne and Xavier

Xavier kept staring at Vivienne as if looking away for even a second might let the memory slip again.

"It really was you," he said, slower this time, more certain. "At the Council I already felt that something was wrong, but I couldn’t place it. Every time you spoke, it was like my mind wanted to accept whatever you said before I could even think about it properly. Things that should have sounded strange just... fit. Then later my head started hurting, and the more I tried to remember your face, the worse it got."

Vivienne lowered her eyes for a moment.

Xavier let out a short breath through his nose and looked at Trafalgar briefly before returning his gaze to her. "I kept thinking about it afterward. I only have one dead brother. I was adopted. There was never any sister." His brows drew together. "So who exactly were you?"

Trafalgar stayed where he was, letting the conversation move but making sure it did not go anywhere stupid.

Vivienne answered after a brief pause. "My name is Vivienne. That part was real. But I’m not a Roquefort, and I’m not your sister." She glanced at Xavier properly then. "I used your identity to get close to Trafalgar."

Xavier stared at her for a second longer. "You really chose me for that?"

"I needed something believable," Vivienne said. "Someone close enough to him that I could get his attention, but not so obvious that other people would interfere first."

"And you thought pretending to be my sister was a good idea."

"At the time, yes."

That made Xavier let out a small, disbelieving laugh, though there was still tension under it.

Vivienne let out a quiet breath, then said, "I really am sorry. I needed a way to get close to Trafalgar, and I knew I couldn’t do it the same way everyone else was trying to. If I had approached him like the nobles, the merchants, or all those powerful people circling around him that night, he would have ignored me before I even finished introducing myself."

Trafalgar looked at her from the side. "I would have."

"I know," Vivienne said, then added, with the faintest trace of irritation, "If Trafalgar hadn’t been so rude that day, I wouldn’t have done that."

Trafalgar turned his head properly toward her. "And how exactly is that my fault?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Vivienne opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

That was enough to make Xavier laugh, the sound breaking the last of the stiffness between them.

"Alright," he said, still smiling a little. "That part does sound like him."

Vivienne looked at him, unsure whether he was mocking her or helping. "You don’t seem as angry as you were a moment ago."

"I was surprised," Xavier said. "That’s not the same thing." He studied her for a second, calmer now. "Besides, if I were really angry, you’d know."

"That is not especially comforting."

"It isn’t meant to be."

For the first time since this started, Vivienne almost looked like she wanted to smile, but thought better of it halfway through.

Xavier noticed anyway.

"You know," he said, "this is a strange way to meet someone, but I have to admit you’re not what I expected."

Vivienne blinked once. "What did you expect?"

"I don’t know. Someone colder, maybe. More pleased with herself." His gaze moved over her face, not in a way that felt hostile, only curious. "You lied well enough, but right now you look like you regret every decision that led you here."

Vivienne lowered her eyes for a brief moment. "Some of them, yes."

Trafalgar stayed quiet, letting the exchange move on its own.

Xavier continued, "And now I’m curious."

"That doesn’t sound much better."

"It isn’t bad either."

Vivienne looked back at him. "Curious about what?"

"About you," Xavier said, plain enough that even she seemed caught off guard by it. "You made yourself look like someone who belonged in my life, you nearly convinced my own mind to go along with it, and then when I finally confront you, instead of acting mysterious or superior, you stand there looking nervous." A faint smile touched his mouth. "That’s more interesting than I expected."

Vivienne stared at him for a second, visibly unsure what to do with that kind of attention. It was one thing to manipulate people. Quite another to have one looking at her like this after the lie had already fallen apart.

"I wasn’t trying to be any of those things," she said.

Xavier gave a small shrug. "That may be why it works."

She had no answer ready for that. Her fingers tightened lightly at her side, and she glanced away for only a second before facing him again. Xavier caught it at once, and the look in his mismatched eyes softened.

By the time they went inside, the worst of it had already passed.

Trafalgar noticed it first. Xavier was no longer looking at Vivienne like someone trying to tear apart a lie in front of him. And Vivienne, though still more aware of herself than before, no longer looked like she wanted to vanish into the wall.

That was enough.

The warmth of the restaurant closed around them the moment they stepped in. Soft light, quiet conversation, the muted sound of glasses and cutlery, all of it carrying the kind of ease Aubrelle had wanted from the start. It was elegant without becoming stiff. Intimate enough that no one had to raise their voice, large enough for everyone gathered there to breathe comfortably.

Aubrelle noticed the shift the moment they returned. She did not ask. She only seemed to understand that whatever had needed to be dealt with outside had been dealt with.

Mayla, on the other hand, looked between Xavier and Vivienne with open curiosity, clearly noticing that something had changed, even if she could not yet tell what.

Rhosyn noticed it too.

Her eyes moved once over Vivienne’s face before she said, in that dry tone of hers, "You look more uncomfortable now than when Trafalgar had a sword at your throat."

Vivienne stared at her for a second. "That is not comforting."

"It wasn’t meant to be."

That was enough to make Xavier look away with a faint smile he did not bother hiding very well.

Inside, the rest of the group was already gathered. Bartholomew raised one hand in a timid little greeting from behind his round glasses. Beside him, Cynthia looked far more composed, white hair falling cleanly to her waist, yellow eyes like gold. Zafira was there too, pale skin, black horns, long purple hair, and those greyish eyes that made her look calm even when she was clearly watching more than she said. Around them sat a few friends of Aubrelle’s and several familiar faces, but not too many. Less than twenty in total.

That was good.

It felt like a real celebration.

As everyone began settling into their seats, Xavier’s gaze drifted toward Vivienne more than once, and each time she noticed, even when she pretended not to.