Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 200: Countermoves

Aegis woke up to the sound of her bedroom door slamming open.

"Boss! Boss, wake up!"

She was on her feet before her brain caught up, one hand reaching for the daggers she kept under her pillow. Then her vision cleared and she saw Kai’Lin standing in the doorway, her ears flat against her head, her tail whipping back and forth.

Mei’Lin appeared behind her sister a second later, slightly less frantic but still tense.

"What." Aegis’s voice came out rough with sleep. "What’s happening. Is someone dead?"

"Not yet, nya." Kai’Lin bounded into the room and shoved a piece of paper into Aegis’s hands. "But you might want to read this."

Aegis squinted at the paper. Her eyes were still adjusting to being awake, and the handwriting was messy, clearly scribbled in a hurry. She made out words like "Goldspire" and "meetings" and "three houses confirmed" before she gave up and looked back at Kai’Lin.

"Summarize. Small words. I just woke up."

"Darius Goldspire’s been busy, nya." Kai’Lin’s brown eyes were sharp despite the early hour. "He’s been visiting noble houses all week. Quietly. No announcements, no formal invitations, just private meetings behind closed doors."

"He’s securing political backing before the betrothal ceremony," Mei’Lin added. "We counted at least five houses he’s visited in the last three days alone, nya."

Aegis stared at the paper in her hands.

Five houses. In three days. While she’d been busy collecting weapons and planning her Consortium presentation, Darius had been doing the exact same thing she should have been doing. Building a coalition. Making sure that when the betrothal was announced, he’d have a wall of noble support already lined up behind him.

[Okay. Okay, that’s annoying.]

"Which houses?"

"Whitmore, Vance, Pellington, Crestwood, and Hartley." Kai’Lin ticked them off on her fingers. "All minor houses, but they’ve got connections, nya. Whitmore’s got ties to the military, Vance controls a chunk of the textile trade, and Pellington—"

"Has three seats on the Merchant Council." Aegis finished. She knew this. She knew all of this, because she’d been planning to approach some of these exact houses herself. Eventually. Once she had more leverage to work with.

Apparently "eventually" had been too slow.

"There’s more, nya." Mei’Lin stepped forward. "The houses he’s visited? They’re talking to each other. Word is spreading that House Goldspire is consolidating support for the Stone-Goldspire match. By the time the betrothal ceremony happens..."

"Everyone will already be on his side." Aegis tossed the paper onto her bed. "And anyone who opposes the match will look like they’re going against the grain."

"Pretty much, nya."

Aegis sat down on the edge of her bed and ran a hand through her hair.

[Well, shit. I was so busy collecting shiny things that I forgot to actually talk to people. Classic gamer mistake. Get all the best gear, forget to do the faction quests.]

Not ideal. But not unfixable either.

She’d been planning to make her big impression at the Consortium meeting anyway. This just meant she needed to make a bigger impression. Loud enough that it didn’t matter what Darius had been whispering to minor nobles behind closed doors. If House Starcaller came out of that meeting looking like the future of Valdrian commerce, people would start paying attention whether they’d already promised Darius their support or not.

Politicians were loyal right up until a better option showed up. That was basically rule one of noble politics.

"Alright." Aegis stood up. "Get Evelyn. Tell her I need her in my study in ten minutes. And bring that list of houses Darius visited, I want to know exactly who we’re dealing with."

"On it, nya!" Kai’Lin was already out the door.

Mei’Lin lingered for a moment, her white-and-brown ears twitching. "You’ve got a plan, boss?"

"I’ve always got a plan."

"That’s not actually reassuring, nya. Your plans are usually insane."

"And they usually work." Aegis grinned. "Now get out of here so I can put pants on."

---

Twenty minutes later, Aegis was pacing back and forth across her study while Evelyn sat in one of the chairs, reviewing the intelligence report with her usual calm.

"The situation is concerning," Evelyn said, which was Evelyn-speak for "we’re in deep shit." "Lord Goldspire has been methodical. He’s not just securing support, he’s creating an impression of inevitability. By the time the betrothal ceremony occurs, opposing the match will feel like trying to swim upstream."

"I know." Aegis kept pacing. "I should have seen this coming. I was so focused on the shiny stuff that I forgot the boring stuff matters too."

"Perhaps. But dwelling on that won’t help us now." Evelyn set the report aside. "The question is: what do we do about it?"

Aegis chewed on her lip and thought.

She couldn’t reveal her hand early. The whole plan hinged on showing up at the betrothal ceremony with undeniable proof that House Starcaller was a legitimate option. If she started publicly positioning herself as a rival candidate now, before she was ready, Duchess Evangeline would have time to counter her. Time to find weaknesses, exploit gaps, tear apart her claim before she could even make it.

But she also couldn’t just let Darius build his little coalition while she sat around doing nothing.

[Think, Aegis. What would a proper schemer do here?]

"I can’t declare myself as an option yet," she said slowly. "That tips my hand too early. But I can make it harder for houses to commit fully to Goldspire."

Evelyn’s eyebrow went up slightly, which for her was basically a standing ovation.

"Go on."

"Economic entanglement." Aegis started pacing again, but faster now. "I visit houses today. Not to talk about marriage politics, not to position myself as a rival. Just business. Trade deals, supply contracts, partnership opportunities. Boring commerce stuff. I get them tied up with House Starcaller financially before they even know what’s happening."

"And when you do reveal yourself as a candidate..."

"They’ll have to think twice before openly opposing me. Because opposing me means potentially damaging their own wallets." Aegis grinned. "I can’t stop Darius from whispering sweet nothings to every minor lord in Valdria. But I can make sure those lords have a reason to hesitate before they actually back him up."

Evelyn was quiet for a moment. Then she nodded, and there was something in her expression that might have been approval.

"It’s not a perfect solution. Some houses will side with Goldspire regardless of economic ties, especially the ones he’s already visited. But it will create hesitation. Fractures." She pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen. "Which houses should we prioritize?"

They spent the next hour going through options. Houses that Darius hadn’t gotten to yet. Houses that had existing business relationships with suppliers Aegis could undercut. Houses that were known to care more about money than politics, which in Aegis’s experience was most of them.

By the time they were done, they had five names on the list.

"We can hit three of these today if we move quickly," Evelyn said, checking her pocket watch. "The others will have to wait until tomorrow."

"Then let’s move quickly." Aegis grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. "Oh, and Evelyn?"

"Yes, my lady?"

"Good work on the intelligence. Seriously. If the twins hadn’t caught this, I’d be walking into the betrothal ceremony with my pants down."

"I’ll pass along your compliments." Evelyn’s expression didn’t change, but there was a hint of something warm in her voice. "Though perhaps phrase it differently when speaking to them."

"No promises."

---

House Pellington’s estate was exactly what Aegis expected from a family that had made its fortune in wool trading: expensive, tasteful, and deeply boring.

Lord Osric Pellington received them in a sitting room decorated with paintings of sheep. Lots of paintings of sheep. Aegis counted seven before she gave up. There was even one above the fireplace that was larger than she was.

[... These people really like sheep.]

"Lady Starcaller." Lord Pellington was a thin man in his fifties with a wispy gray beard and eyes that never quite seemed to focus on anything in particular. "What an unexpected pleasure. I don’t believe we’ve had the honor of your company before."

"The honor is mine, Lord Pellington." Aegis put on her best charming smile, the one that usually made people want to give her things. "I’ve heard wonderful things about House Pellington’s textile operations. I was hoping we might discuss a potential business arrangement."

The negotiation took about an hour.

It wasn’t difficult, exactly. Aegis had done her research, and she knew exactly what House Pellington needed: a reliable supplier of high-quality dyes at competitive prices. She happened to know a merchant in the Old Quarter who owed her a favor and could provide exactly that. A few carefully worded promises later, and Lord Pellington was shaking her hand on a preliminary agreement.

Easy enough.

But throughout the entire conversation, something had been bugging her.

Little things. The way Lord Pellington’s eyes kept sliding past her when she spoke, like she wasn’t quite worth looking at directly. The way he addressed most of his comments to Evelyn instead of to Aegis. The way he kept calling her "the Starcaller girl" instead of using her actual title.

And then, as they were wrapping up, he said it.

"Well, this has been productive." Lord Pellington smiled, thin and patronizing. "It’s always refreshing to see young people with ambition. Even if their backgrounds are somewhat... humble." He glanced at a painting of a particularly fluffy sheep, like he couldn’t even be bothered to look at her while he insulted her. "I do hope you’ll remember your place in the greater scheme of things, Lady Starcaller. New money can be so eager to overreach."

Something flared in Aegis’s chest.

Hot. Sharp. The kind of feeling that made her fingers twitch toward where her daggers would be if she’d been wearing them.

Which was weird.

She’d been called a commoner a hundred times before. She’d been mocked for her background, sneered at by nobles who thought their bloodlines made them special. None of it had ever really gotten to her. Water off a duck’s back. Words from people whose opinions didn’t matter.

But right now, looking at this smug old man with his sheep paintings and his wispy beard, Aegis wanted to hurt him. Actually hurt him. She could picture it clearly, crossing the distance between them, grabbing him by the collar, slamming him against the wall hard enough to knock one of those stupid paintings loose—

"My lady." Evelyn’s voice cut through the haze. "We should be going. House Crestwood is expecting us within the hour."

Aegis blinked.

The anger didn’t disappear, but it pulled back, like a wave receding from the shore. Still there. Still present. Just... further away.

[What the hell was that?]

"Of course." She forced her hands to unclench. She hadn’t even realized she’d been making fists. "Thank you for your time, Lord Pellington. I look forward to our partnership."

She turned and walked out before her mouth could do something her brain would regret.

The carriage was waiting outside. Aegis climbed in and sat down, her jaw tight.

"My lady?" Evelyn settled into the seat across from her. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." The word came out sharper than she meant it to. She took a breath. "I’m fine. Just tired."

Evelyn didn’t look convinced, but she had the good sense not to push.

"House Crestwood next," she said instead. "Lady Crestwood is said to be more progressive in her attitudes. The meeting should be smoother." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Good."

Aegis stared out the carriage window as they pulled away from the Pellington estate.

[Seriously, what the hell was that? I don’t get angry like that. That’s not how I operate.]

But the heat hadn’t fully faded. It was still there, sitting in her chest like an ember that refused to go out. And for just a second, when she’d been picturing herself hurting Lord Pellington, it had felt... good.

That was the part that bothered her.

She shoved the thought aside and focused on the next meeting. She could unpack whatever that was later. Or never. Never worked too.

Two more houses to go.