As soon as the sun was up, Amane was awakened by an urgent knock on her door. She had expected this to happen so Amane tried her best not to be cranky about it.But it was hard to remain calm when you were running on the minimum hours of sleep recommended to you. And no matter how good Amane was at holding her temper, she could not suppress that flash of irritation she felt.
"You are walking me up at the crack of dawn after I went through a lot. This better be important or I will make you all regret coming here."
Amane threatened the servant she knew was not from her fraction. She was sure that the council had sent this servant here to harass her.
"M-Miss Tsurugi, the elder council is asking for you to appear in front of them today. P-Please make your way to them as soon as possible."
The servant sounded nervous. It could be because Amane was glaring at him, or the fact that the servants that worked in Amane's place were leveling the new servant with cold looks.
The servant could feel that he was not welcomed in this part of the Tsurugi house. But he could also not help himself.
He had been ordered to do something, so he needed to carry it out.
"Alright, I understand. You can leave now before you give me a headache."
Amane had never seen a person run away as fast as this servant did from her. The pressure of Amane's eyes, as well as the servants' glares, was getting to the man now.
Everyone watched with hawk eyes as the man left.
Amane did not want to wake up from the bed. But she also knew she needed to show herself in front of the elder's council.
If she had decided to live like a law-abiding citizen, then she needed to play her part. And that meant facing annoyances like the elders.
'Ugh, things were so much easier back in my day. All you needed to calm a person down was to make them submit. Now you need to follow the rules and courtesies. You cannot even start a war if someone insults you.'
Amane complained in her mind as she pulled herself up. She watched as her servants moved around to get her prepared for the day.
"Master, you do not need to heed the elder's call if you do not want to. You can count on us to keep you safe."
Her maid for the day reminded Amane. And Amane was satisfied with that answer. It showed that her servants cared for her and looked after her constantly.
"I know I can shun the elders if I want to. But I should just put them in their place after a certain amount of time had passed. I cannot allow them to keep looking down on me."
The servant's eyes were full of admiration and trust for Amane. These were the looks that conveyed loyalty.
"Hmm, take out the red from my hair and put all the gold on me. Today, I will dress to impress."
One of the things Amane had learned so far about the modern world was that clothes could become your battle armor if you were crafty with them. And right now, that was what Amane wanted to do.
She wanted to show the elder's council that she was much better than them and that they could not touch her.
......….
In the afternoons, Amane finally opened the gates of the council room. She watched as everyone turned to look at her with blazing eyes. The elders could not wait to tear into her.
"Yoko Tsurugi, you are finally here. Do you know why you were called here today?"
Elder Hana asked with a voice full of glee. She seemed to be rather happy with what was happening.
She had always found Yoko Tsurugi to be an eyesore. And now it seemed like her wish to show Yoko her place was finally coming true.
"Hmm, I do not know why I am being called here today. If someone would be kind enough to enlighten me, it would be helpful."
Of course, Amane denied knowing why she was being called but she was more than aware that this call was about the intruder yesterday.
If these people brought up that point, they would be digging their graves.
"You do not! I am talking about what happened yesterday night. How dare you cause the honor of the Tsurugi family to fall? You let that intruder escape."
Elder Fushi sounded rather mad as she accused Amane. Her eyes were shaking in and her fists raged.
"Hmm, and how do you know about that, Elder? As far as I know, that information had not been released to the public yet. Do not tell me! You keep an eye on me?"
Amane pretended like she was shocked at the revelation. But. She was more than certain that she was being spied upon. These people had made that fact more than obvious at this point.
"Y-You foolish girl. Remain in your line. You have already caused a big scandal by allowing that intruder to escape. Do not you dare cause us any more problems!"
Elder Fushi continued, trying hard to regain her confidence. The accusation had shaken her to her core and she could not focus right now.
Amane did not say anything after that but her eyes did all the talking. Finally, Chief Hao decided to step in before his side could lose any more momentum.
"Lady Yoko Tsurugi, do you have anything to say about yourself? Or should we consider your silence as your refusal to comment on this topic."
Elder Dao decided to put pressure on Amane as well. He wanted to crush this arrogant junior and establish his superiority.
Amane watched all the present elders try to press her down. Some actively opposed her, but some were waiting to see what she would do before deciding.
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And Amane needed to target those 'free' workers if she wanted to get out of this situation.
In such a situation, Amane's eyes met Master Corina's. The elder lady was busy sipping the tea, but Amane had a feeling she was more than aware of everything that was going on inside this room.
"Calm down Dao, Hana. If you do not give the girl a chance to speak, how would she be able to answer your questions?"
Amane was surprised at the sudden help she got from Elder Cornia. But the shrewd glint in Master Corina's eyes told Amane that this help was not for free.
Master Cornia would cash in on this favor in the future for sure.
"Hmm, what did you say Cornia? Are you on our side or this rude brat's side? You better answer this question carefully."
Master Hana sounded triggered. And she was about to make a mistake when she was stopped by Chief Hao.
The elder man snapped his walking stick into the ground and everyone calmed down. Then, Chief Hao turned his attention to Amane and everyone else did as well.
"Lady Yoko, we would like an explanation regarding yesterday. Did you allow an intruder to cause problems in the Tsurugi house and then escape? What do you have to say about yourself?"
Amane took in a deep breath. She did not like this atmosphere which was biased against her already. But she also did not have a but to answer these old fools.
"Hmm, did I let an intruder escape or not? What if I let one of them escape? What would you do to me?"
The whole council looked satisfied suddenly. Their sharp eyes shot daggers into Amane and let her know that this was their preferred answer.
"Hump, I knew it. See, I told you we should not trust a kid like her with the household affairs. We were lucky that there was no damage."
Amane heard everyone talk about her and her failure as a leader. They were all happy to lay the blame on Amane.
But only a few sharp ones caught Amane's relaxed posture and they quickly realized that something was wrong. This female was far too relaxed for someone who was getting accused of failing to do her duty.
"Lady Yoko, hurry up and defend yourself. Otherwise, you will be asked to step down from your position as the Lady of the Tsurugi family."
Elder Hana warned Amane. seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
But Amane felt amused and she started laughing. She could not help herself since she could see how ignorant the people in front of her were. They did not understand her importance and what it meant to go against Amane.
'Hmm, so you want to go against me? Sure, try it and see where it gets you. I am sure you all will have a grand time with the beasts.'
Amane's calm smile irked the elders even more. They wanted to get her out of her seat right this moment.