SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant-Chapter 494: Little Celebration [II]

A few moments later, once the laughter had eased and the food had started arriving properly, Trafalgar picked up his glass.

That alone was enough to make the table quiet down little by little.

He looked around once before speaking. Aubrelle was beside him, calmer than she had been in days. Mayla looked comfortable for once, not working, not standing behind him, just there with them. Cynthia had gone still, Bartholomew was already paying more attention than he probably wanted to, Xavier leaned back with interest, and even Vivienne, who still looked slightly out of place, no longer seemed like she was waiting for the floor to betray her.

Trafalgar let his gaze move over them once, then said, "Thanks for coming."

Cynthia blinked. "That’s surprisingly normal."

Trafalgar ignored her. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"This is better than yesterday," he continued. "A lot better, actually. That wasn’t much of a celebration if we’re being honest. This is." His fingers rested lightly against the glass. "So... enjoy the food, don’t start fights, and let’s try to act like decent people for one night."

Mayla smiled first. Aubrelle lowered her head slightly, but the curve of her lips gave her away. Xavier let out a short laugh. Cynthia shook her head as if she had expected something drier and somehow got something more embarrassing instead.

Bartholomew, after hesitating a second, raised his glass too. "T-to the celebration."

"To the celebration," Mayla echoed.

The others followed after that, glasses lifting one by one until the small toast settled across the table with the kind of warmth Aubrelle had wanted from the start.

Then the conversation loosened again.

Food was served, plates shifted, voices rose and crossed over each other without becoming noisy. Aubrelle spoke more easily with the people around her than she had at any point during the wedding. Mayla stayed close, relaxed enough to simply enjoy herself. Vivienne still listened more than she spoke, but she no longer looked like someone standing outside the group.

Trafalgar let it all continue for a while before finally pushing his chair back.

"I’m going to the bathroom."

Xavier looked up at once. "Perfect. Me too."

Trafalgar glanced at him, already suspicious.

Xavier only stood up and adjusted the scarf around his neck like this was the most natural thing in the world.

Without saying anything else, the two of them stepped away from the table together.

They had barely made it halfway down the corridor before Xavier spoke.

"I need help, Traf."

Trafalgar glanced at him from the side. "With what?"

Xavier did not even try to dress it up. "I think I like Vivienne."

Trafalgar stopped walking.

For a second, he just looked at him.

"What?"

Xavier stopped too, looking completely serious despite the absurdity of the timing. "Yes. I think I do. So I need your help with that."

Trafalgar stared at him a moment longer, then started walking again. "Let me see if I understand this correctly. You like Vivienne. The same Vivienne who lied to you, used your name, and pretended to be your sister despite barely knowing you."

"See?" Xavier said at once, falling back into step beside him. "I knew you’d understand perfectly."

Trafalgar gave him a flat look. "That is not what I said."

"Close enough."

They walked a few more steps before Xavier lowered his voice slightly. "So? Tell me what to do."

Trafalgar looked more offended by the question than by the confession. "Why are you asking me?"

Xavier stared at him as if the answer should have been obvious to anyone with a functioning mind. "Oh, come on. Don’t act stupid. You literally just got married to Aubrelle, who half the academy was in love with at some point, you’ve got Mayla, and I’m pretty sure if you gave certain people the slightest opening you’d have even more waiting around."

Trafalgar’s expression turned drier by the second. "Who exactly do you think I am?"

Xavier spread one hand. "Trafalgar du Morgain. A magnet for women, whether you acknowledge it or not."

Trafalgar looked almost offended. "Excuse me?"

"I’m serious," Xavier said. "And after all the recent news, you’re probably going to be even more in demand."

Trafalgar let out a quiet breath through his nose. "You’re talking nonsense."

Xavier smiled. "Am I? Because from where I’m standing, you know perfectly well none of them have any chance unless you personally care about them."

That made Trafalgar glance at him again, this time with a little more recognition than annoyance.

"...You know me better than I thought."

"I do," Xavier said, pleased with himself. "Which is why I’m asking. So tell me something useful. Do you do anything in particular?"

They reached the bathroom door.

Trafalgar opened it and answered without even looking at him. "Live."

Xavier stared at him in disbelief. "I’m going to lose my mind. Fine, sorry for not being the great Trafalgar du Morgain."

Trafalgar washed his hands first, taking his time before answering. "Oh, stop whining. Just be yourself."

Xavier looked at him through the mirror. "That sounds dangerously vague."

"Then I’ll make it easier for you." Trafalgar dried his hands and turned toward him. "Don’t be excessive. Don’t crowd her. Don’t act like an idiot. She’s already awkward enough around people as it is. If you push too hard, you’ll just make her uncomfortable."

Xavier considered that for a moment. "So I do nothing."

"I didn’t say that."

"You said not to be excessive, not to crowd her, not to act like an idiot. That takes away most of my options."

For the first time since leaving the table, the corner of Trafalgar’s mouth moved slightly. "Then maybe it’s good for you."

Xavier let out a long breath through his nose. "You really don’t help much."

"I helped enough."

"Fine. Keep your mysterious methods to yourself."

"I don’t have methods."

"That’s even worse."

A few moments later, the two of them finished up and headed back toward the table, Xavier looking half encouraged and half doomed, which, in Trafalgar’s opinion, was probably the correct state for him to be in.

Before they reached the table, Trafalgar spoke again.

"And stop staring at her like that."

Xavier looked at him from the side. "Like what?"

"Like you’re stalking her."

That made Xavier’s face tighten at once. "I am not stalking her."

Trafalgar kept walking. "Then do a better job pretending to be normal. If you want something, talk to her."

Xavier muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like an insult, but by the time they reached the table, his expression had already been arranged into something he probably believed looked natural.

It didn’t.

Trafalgar noticed it immediately.

The dinner had moved on while they were gone. Plates had shifted, a few glasses were emptier than before, and the conversation had spread into smaller pockets across the table. Aubrelle looked quietly pleased with how the night was turning out. Mayla was more relaxed than before, listening to one of Aubrelle’s friends while still paying enough attention to notice the moment Trafalgar returned. Cynthia glanced up once, took in both of them, and seemed to understand at once that something had happened in that hallway.

Xavier sat down again.

Not too close.

Just close enough that he had a better angle to see Vivienne without making it obvious.

Which, naturally, made it obvious.

Vivienne noticed after only a few moments. Her eyes drifted toward him once, then again, and each time Xavier looked away a fraction too late. It was subtle enough that most of the table would have missed it.

Rhosyn didn’t.

Cynthia didn’t either.

Vivienne tried to keep her attention on the table, but every now and then her gaze drifted back toward Xavier before she caught herself and looked elsewhere. Xavier, for his part, was doing a very poor job pretending he wasn’t doing the same thing.

At one point, Rhosyn took a slow sip from her glass and said, in that dry tone of hers, "If the two of you keep looking at each other like that, sooner or later one of you will have to say something."

Vivienne nearly choked on her drink.

Xavier went still for a second, then tried to recover with whatever dignity he had left. "I have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Yeah, sure..." Rhosyn said.

That was enough to make Cynthia laugh under her breath, and even Zafira’s mouth curved slightly before she looked back down at her plate.

By then, dinner was already nearing its end. Plates were emptier, the conversations looser, the whole table carrying that softer kind of warmth that only settled once everyone had stopped trying to be careful around one another.

Trafalgar let his eyes move over it once.

Aubrelle looked quietly pleased. Mayla seemed more at ease than before. Bartholomew had relaxed enough to speak without looking like he was being marched toward execution. Xavier had become its own problem. Vivienne, despite everything, no longer felt separate from the rest.

That alone made the night worth something.

After a while, Mayla leaned slightly closer to Trafalgar and spoke in a lower voice, just for him.

"When this is over, come with me for a moment."

Trafalgar turned his head slightly toward her. "Somewhere private?"

Mayla gave a small nod.

There was something calm in her tone, but enough underneath it to hold his attention properly.

Trafalgar looked at her for a second, then answered just as quietly.

"Alright."