Can I Really Trust You?

Three

“I can’t grant you access unless you have an invitation or a student pass”, the guard stopped me at the gate. I reached into my satchel and pulled out my acceptance letter and showed it to him. “Don’t lie to me, Miss. There’s no way that you were accepted into the school here at the palace!”

I rolled my eyes at him and scoffed. “Are you shocked that a female smarter than the average male exists?” He laughed and crumpled the letter into a ball before tossing it at my head. “Hey! That’s a letter signed by the Emperor, you d**k wad!”

“Get out of here! You’re wasting my time!” He shooed me away making the noble men that were standing behind the gate laughed at our interaction.

“That’s right, girlie! Go home and wash the dishes!” One of the men yelled from behind the gate. A chorus of laughter erupted all around and for a second I felt my confidence diminishing. I bit the bottom of my lip, realizing that this was exactly why I wanted to become a judge. It’s a man's world out here and I refuse to be used by them.

I fisted the side of my dress and before I could open my mouth to retaliate back, a man with blonde hair that’s dressed like royalty had placed his hand onto the shoulders of the man who insulted me.

“That wasn’t very nice, was it?” He said menacingly. The man cowered, and immediately got onto his knees to apologize.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace!” He apologized as if his life was on the line. I tried looking past the guards shoulders to see who this blonde man was but every time I tried, the guard blocked it.

“I don’t think I’m the one you should be apologizing to. Why don’t you grovel and beg for her forgiveness like how you’re doing to me now”, he demanded. His back was turned to me and from what I can see, he looked fit and that coat he was wearing was tight on his arms.

“Me? A Baron apologizing to a mere woman with no status?” He scoffed.

“How do you know she has no status?” The blonde asked.

“Well-- I…”, the baron stammered.

“You there! What is your family name?” He asked me, at least I think he’s asking me.

“Me?” I asked just to make sure.

“Yes, you!” He said irritatedly.

“Vanderbrown, sir”, I replied quickly.

“Vanderbrown”, he said as he thought. “As in Count Bolas Vanderbrown?”

“That’s my father, yes”.

“She’s higher in status than you are!” He laughed. “Oh, the irony”. He turned his head to the side and I caught a glimpse of his piercing violet eyes which somehow looked very familiar to me. “Grisha, take this Baron to Miss Vanderbrown and have him apologize to her. If he doesn’t, come look for me”, he ordered a man in a suit as he walked away.

Grisha grabbed the Baron by the neck of his shirt and dragged him over to the gate, tossing him at it. “Apologize”, he demanded.

“I’m sorry, Lady Vanderbrown. I won’t say such insolent things to you ever again”, he grovelled. Grisha picks him up by the crook of his elbow and the Baron lets out a small yelp of pain.

“Now don’t let us see you around her again”, Grisha warned before shoving him away and then faced me to give me a respectful bow. I returned my thanks with a quick nod and went to pick up my crumpled up acceptance letter.

“Wait!” I called him. If anyone could get me inside for my class, it’s probably him. “I have a class I need to get to but the guard thinks I have forged my letter! Can you help?” I waved my letter over the head of the guard.

The guard grumbled and stepped aside. “I said no such thing!” He opened the gate and eyed me as I entered. I stuck my tongue out at him before looking around and taking in my surroundings. The courtyard was huge and elegant. There was a giant water fountain in the middle and green grass and flower bushes all around. I made my way in, passing the fountain and looking for the scholar’s building.

From what my brother had told me, the building was huge with a dome roof and that’s where those of high social status go for their education. People looked at me with curiosity as they try to figure out who I was. It’s not that I stay away from the public eye but I don’t usually go to a social gathering or party unless it benefits my family or I was forced to go by my parents.

The belltower began to toll as noon slowly approached. “Oh shoot!” The class itself starts at noon. I ran following the path in front of me, looking for the dome shaped roof. On the fifth toll of the bell, the white dome shaped roof came into view and I made my way towards it. I made it to the door by the eighth bell and rushed down the corridor, looking for the room with the number 105 written on it. My heels clicked and echoed through the hall as I slowly approached the door to my class.

I slowed my steps and took a deep breath in and out to even out my rapid breathing. Brushing the stray hairs away from my face, I grabbed the handle to the door and made my way inside. The classroom was full of young heirs, and all of them males. I had just made it in time as the final bell tolled and I made my way down the steps. I stopped at the back row thinking it was best but seeing how I had gone through an ordeal to get here, I might as well take a seat at the front row.

My heels tapped onto the wooden stairs as I descended and all eyes were on me. No one else was seated in the front row except for a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had dirty brown hair, green eyes and carried a look as innocent as a young boy. I couldn’t help but blush as he looked at me.

“May I sit here?” I asked him in a shy tone.

“S-sure”, he stuttered and scooted one seat down.

I took my seat and pulled out my notebook and pen from my satchel to take notes with. The door by the chalkboard opened and closed and a gentleman that looks about the age of forty walks in with books in hand. He looked good for his age. Dark brown hair back into a ponytail, glasses that covered his brown eyes, and his nose sharp and pointed which surprisingly worked well with his face.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen”, he began but paused as he looked at me. “And Lady Vanderbrown”, he nodded towards me and I gave him a quick nod back. “I am Professor Helsin and I will be responsible for teaching you all the laws of our Kingdom. Why do we have laws in place?” He started as he opened up his book on the podium.

“To have order we need laws”, someone from the back answered him.

“Yes but why specifically?”

“To not have as many people commit crimes”, said another.

“Yes and what else?”

“To scare women into their place and benefit the men in this Kingdom”, I scoffed under my breath.

“How so?” Professor Helsin asked me with an amused look on his face. I didn’t even know that he could hear me. I looked at him and swallowed my words from a few seconds ago.

“The system is flawed, men take advantage of women because they know that no one is going to believe the word of a woman unless it was told by the mouth of a man”, I answered him and all eyes were burned onto the back of my neck. I could feel my sweat dripping down my spine.

“Oh?” Professor Helsin said as he walked over towards me. “Why are you here, Lady Vanderbrown?” He asked with a smirk on his face.

“So that I can become a judge and give the women a fair trial”.

“What makes you think the women on trial aren’t treated fairly?”

“Because men will do anything in their power to put the blame on the women knowing that they can’t do anything about it”.

“Name an instance”, he tested me. I smiled back, as I had plenty.

“Take Gerland's case for example. Gerland was caught laundering money but he somehow planted evidence against his wife and she was jailed for a crime she didn’t commit. How do I know that she was innocent? Because she sat there and played with her fingers, not saying a word, afraid that if she did her husband would pay men to kill her”. Professor Helsin opened his mouth and closed it as he looked at me, surprised.

“How about something a little darker?” I mused. “Like the Handerburg case. Your typical crime of passion. Lord Handerburg was involved in adultery, got a little too caught up in his pleasures and accidentally killed his lover. To avoid being called a murderer, he blamed it on his innocent wife, who for Tasnia's sake was in a wheelchair. Now tell me, how is it possible for someone who is paralyzed from the waist down to strangle someone to death?”

“Preposterous! How dare you question Lord Handerburg’s innocence!” A student yelled at me.

“It’s simple, because the cause of death doesn’t match the story”, I shrugged as I looked back at a scrawny looking, pimpled covered, man-boy.

“It does too!”

“How so?” I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him.

“She could’ve drugged the Countess and then choked her to death”, he countered and I let out a dry laugh.

“If that was the case, why didn’t she just up the Belladonna dosage and have her killed right then and there?”

“That’s-- That’s! This is ridiculous! Why am I even arguing with a woman with no education!?”

“Enough! If she didn’t have an education, she wouldn’t be in this class”, the Professor defended me. “I can tell that this is going to be a very interesting class. The Vanderbrown’s never fail to amaze me”, he complimented and walked back over to the podium in the middle of the room.

I felt my pride swell in me and I couldn't help but let out a beaming smile. My family technically works as law enforcement for the Emperor and I can only assume that my brother had taken this class and my Father must’ve known the Professor himself. That would make me the third Vanderbrown that the Professor must've interacted with.

“You were very convincing”, the boy next to me whispers.

“I try to be”, as I open my book to the page we were told.

“I’m Landon”, he introduced himself, still whispering.

“Rizpah”, I smiled back.

“It’s a pleasure to be in the same class as you, Rizpah”, he smiled and I blushed. Maybe politics isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.