Each of the elders reacted to her words very differently; she couldn’t help but observe their reactions to try to get a read of who they were.
For example, Darculum seemed somewhat worried, his eyes glancing toward the other two as if to judge their reaction first before daring to make his own. Morena could tell that he was clearly the type who followed rather than led, waiting for someone else to set the tone.
On the other hand, Marci was annoyed. Morena could see him rolling his eyes at her words, his jeweled cane tapping lightly against the stone floor as if his patience was already running thin and he wanted to be done with this meeting.
Raxon, however, was much harder to read than the other two. Perhaps it was because he was the oldest of them all, but his face stayed impassive, and she couldn’t get a single read on his thoughts.
There wasn’t even a slight change in his expression when she spoke, no twitch of lip, no furrow of brow; nothing that betrayed thought or feeling.
Morena already knew he would be the hardest to read, and that came as no surprise. Men who lived that long and stayed in positions of power did so by mastering the art of hiding.
Elder Marci’s jeweled fingers tapped again along the head of his cane, his painted hair swaying slightly as he moved forward to speak.
"Those are grand words coming from a youngster barely old enough to order an ale. I have children older than you, and need I remind you, my lady, the Elder Council has been with this house even before you were conceived."
His tone rolled mockingly on the words "my lady." It was clear that he didn’t believe she deserved the title or his respect, holding a very low view of her, but Morena didn’t care.
Morena watched him without giving him the reaction he wanted, then let a faint smile curl her lips.
She couldn’t help but scoff inwardly at his display. Her own words had been somewhat childish, that couldn’t be denied, after all, they were meant to taunt them, she wanted to see how they would react to her outward display.
But to have such an old man snap back with something so petty? It made her feel more disappointed than threatened.
She rested her chin lightly against her hand, as though she hadn’t even heard his words. Her expression was calm, almost bored, a smile curling her lips to show she didn’t take him seriously at all.
"Is that so? The Elder Council has been here so long? Hmmm, I would’ve thought you were a recent addition, seeing how little you’ve done so far~"
The mocking tone at the end landed like a knife. The second her words rang out across the hall, she saw Marci bite down on his jaw. She could tell the man was so close to bursting, his temper basically turning his face red.
He was damn near ready to slam his cane down and burst into a rant.
Even Morena found herself surprised by how much fun she was having mocking him. Perhaps she was picking up bad habits, but watching a jeweled fool squirm had its enjoyment, she couldn’t deny that.
In the future though, she would need to keep in mind not to pick up such bad habits.
Though before Marci could let his temper loose, Raxon cleared his throat and drew the attention in the room toward him, shifting Morena’s gaze to focus on him instead.
Marci simply stepped back and dealt with his anger at his own pace.
"It seems we have drifted too far off the original topic we were here to address. As you said, you act in your father’s place today, so let us not waste more time on unneeded banter, and instead we should discuss the matter at hand."
Morena’s brow rose slightly.
"And what is that matter exactly?"
The man cleared his throat once more and went on to speak further.
"Firstly, the matter pertaining to House Brenle."
’Of course it’s that.’ The rıghtful source is 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
She had already expected that they would want to talk about the deal with House Brenle. It wasn’t possible to hide the deal, at least not completely, it seemed like news had already begun to spread.
The Elder Council hearing word of it was fine, annoying, but fine.
"Do you not see how such a deal could bring danger to the House? Connecting the House to an external factor that, quite frankly, we do not know the motive of."
At this point, Marci felt the need to chime in.
"Yes, dangerous indeed. How could you not have at least asked the Council’s opinion before agreeing to such a thing?"
Hearing his words, Morena couldn’t help but narrow her eyes. On the surface it looked like they were truly concerned about the House, like they said, but Morena knew that these cunning old men were more than just the surface.
From the information she knew, they clearly had some sort of connection to the church. Maybe they were being paid off, maybe they were working with the church to try and overthrow the family and use her brother as a puppet.
Whatever it was, they clearly didn’t have the best interest of ’The House’ in mind; so all this lip service was just disgusting to hear.
Her lips curled faintly as she replied aloud.
"Dangerous? The only danger was waiting while wagons fled and markets emptied. While you were all busy filling your own bellies, Brenle brought coin, wagons, and food that filled my house. Tell me, which of you offered a better answer?"
Morena expected the man to hesitate at least a little before replying, but it seemed like she had underestimated him. The man not only showed no reaction to the insult, but also replied calmly.
"Better answers take time. What you have done risks drawing the eye of the church upon all of us. They are not blind, Morena, and what will you do if they decide your actions go against their cause?"
She couldn’t tell if the man was trying to threaten her or warn her; after all, it was hard to read his expression clearly.
’AI, can you tell me his emotions based on his outward appearance?’
She had never tried using the AI for something like that before, but she was curious if it could do it. Even if it couldn’t, it wouldn’t change much, merely a test of curiosity.
[50% Disgust. 45% Annoyance. 5% Curiosity. Please note this is an assumption based on various outward factors and isn’t completely accurate.]
Getting a response from the AI, she was pleasantly surprised. She didn’t think it would work, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was definitely useful if she wanted to reference it.
The most interesting part was the fact that it showed multiple emotions, showing each finite detail it could read. It truly showcased how versatile the AI was; in truth, she probably hadn’t even used it to its full power yet.
’Ah, I was silent for too long.’
"Your warning will be remembered, but we need not worry about that. After all, everything we have done is within the cause of the church; in fact, we are openly helping them in their search for the criminal."
She paused for a second, then decided to add one more thing.
"Plus, the house isn’t weak; my people now have their stomachs filled, and weapons fresh. If some unsavory people wish to test it, then they can try."