CHAPTER 184: THE TRIBUNAL

Andria’s POV

I dressed quickly, pulling on a black top and tailored slacks, and dashed out of the apartment. I didn’t want to wait for Becca because I knew that she wasn’t even halfway dressed yet.

The school council chamber was already half-filled when I arrived. Some faces looked strange to me, like they were from the palace. You could tell by the way they were dressed, the crest on their coats and the fragrance of expensive perfume. Only Liara could make this kind of thing happen.

Allison was already there, sitting near the front row. I blinked. "How are you already here?"

She turned, smirking. "I had already showered before you called. Just had to throw on my clothes and run."

I rolled my eyes, slipping into the seat beside her. "Of course you did."

A few minutes later, the murmuring in the room quieted as Headmistress entered the council room. Tall. Sir Kaelric followed closely behind her, his expression as unreadable as ever.

He was carrying a laptop with a flash drive attached to it. I’m guessing it had the surveillance footage recorded in it.

"Bring in the defendants," she commanded.

The heavy doors at the side creaked open, and two guards led Liara and Jackson inside. Gasps rippled quietly through the room. Liara looked pale, her once-vibrant eyes dulled, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. Jackson stood beside her, expression blank, the bandage on his left arm faintly visible under his sleeve.

My stomach twisted.

"Liara Malverick," the headmistress began, voice firm, "you are charged with harassment of a fellow student, sneaking off school grounds without permission, and attending an unauthorized gathering of rogues and dark creatures. Do you plead guilty or not guilty?"

Malverick? I thought she would be Northsphere. However, I suppose Sir Kaelric did that to conceal his identity.

Liara’s eyes flickered toward Jackson before she spoke. "Not guilty."

"And you, Jackson?"

He smirked faintly. "Not guilty."

The headmistress’s lips pressed into a thin line. "Very well. We will hear from the witnesses and review your testimonies, but first, you have to answer these questions."

Liara’s confidence faltered a little.

"Where were you two hours before the kissing booth event?" The headmistress asked, looking straight into Liara’s eyes.

"I was in my apartment," Liara answered.

"Where were you around 7:30 pm that night, when the kissing booth had fairly begun?"

"I stepped out of my apartment, heading towards the kissing booth," She replied.

"Who took you to the underground club at the Crescent Hall museum?" The headmistress asked again.

"No one, I was just curious, and I wanted to go there. No one forced me; it was my decision," she defended, meanwhile implicating herself even more.

"So you mean to say you found out about that place on your own accord and went there alone, or with the assistance of Jackson, perhaps? Because he seems to be in charge of that establishment." The headmistress pushed. Liara tried defending Jackson; the words that came out of her mouth in her defence sounded more like she was defending Jackson instead, and that unsettled me.

But as the questions deepened, her composure began to crack. Sweat gathered on her forehead; her fingers trembled slightly.

"Miss Malverick," the headmistress pressed, "are you aware that the club you attended was registered under the name The Black Den: a known rogue establishment?"

Liara hesitated, glancing at Jackson again, and something about the way she looked at him made my stomach knot tighter. That wasn’t love, it was fear disguised as devotion. For a princess, what could she be so scared of, if he doesn’t have a blackmail on her already?

"I... I didn’t know," she whispered.

"You didn’t know?" The headmistress’s brow arched. "Yet you managed to find it, to enter it, and to remain there for hours?"

Liara’s lips parted, but no sound came out.

Jackson’s hand brushed against hers, subtle but deliberate. I noticed. So did Sir Kaelric.

"Enough," the headmistress finally said, sighing. "You may step down, Miss Liara. We will continue with the witnesses."

Liara’s knees wobbled as she returned to her seat beside Jackson. He leaned close, whispering something only she could hear.

Then my name was called.

I exhaled slowly, rose from my seat, and walked to the stand. The microphone felt too cold against my fingers as I adjusted it.

"Miss Aria Wolfsburn," the headmistress said. "You were present at both the school event incident and the club underground. Please recount the events in detail."

I nodded, beginning carefully. "During the kissing booth, I noticed Allison wasn’t around, so I went in search of her, just to find out that she was tied under a table in one of the science laboratories, with fumes released to suffocate her. I untied the rope, and she narrated what had happened, telling me that Liara and some other wolves had ambushed her and...."

The entrance door at the end of the council room opened.

Every head turned as the Alpha successors entered. They enjoyed making loud entrances, but this was a school council, for crying out loud.

However, they always felt like they owned the school, and probably the kingdom. They walked in together, quiet but undeniably commanding.

For a moment, I just stared at them; they had finally made up with each other.

I tried to continue speaking, but my voice stuttered. "...and... and put her in that situation. Later on the next two days, Liara was also missing at sports practice, and I decided to look for her. Sir Kaelric was also looking for her. He said he had a clue, and I decided to join him in the search.

That’s when we found the underground club."

From the corner of my eye, Damon tilted his head slightly, mouthing something that made my pulse skip.

Aven smirked faintly, folding his arms, eyes dragging slowly from my face down to my hands, deliberate and slow.

Tristan leaned forward just enough for our eyes to meet, looking at me intently. But even that made my chest tighten.

The heat crept up my neck before I could stop it. My fingers gripped the microphone too tightly.