Chapter Nine: Interrogation and Dining

The Staftfeld Residence was huge.

It wasn't quite like the place Villetta had grown up, smaller for one thing. But the designs on the doorway were magnificent. Resisting the urge to look through the windows, Villetta knocked on the door. Waiting a moment, the door opened.

On the other side was a demure, dark-haired maid standing before her. "Yes, may I help you?"

"Excuse me, I'm Villetta Nu of the Pureblood faction," said Villetta. "I need to speak with Kallen Stadtfeld."

The woman looked worried for a moment, then look away. "The Pureblood Faction, but... um... I'm afraid that Mistress Kallen isn't here at the moment."

"Can I wait for her?" asked Villetta. "This is somewhat important."

The woman nodded. "Yes, of course, right this way.:

Villetta was led in and was amazed at what she saw here. She hardly remembered the luxury of her old home, but this made the memory seem pale. There were chandeliers of crystal and silver candlesticks on the walls. Of course, the lights were electric, but still. And the stairs leading up to the higher room were carved beautifully of wood.

One day, Villetta would live in a place like this.

"...This place is beautiful," said Villetta as she was led into a side, waiting room.

"Yes, the Stadtfeld Family is very affluent," said the woman.

Then Villetta noticed a number of more temporary hanging streamers in the rooms. A table had been set aside, as though to carry plates of food. But nothing was there. "What are the decorations for?"

"Oh, there is a large ball planned today," said the woman, "now that the riots have died down. Mistress was very upset that Kallen was not here to be fitted the past week."

Kallen? Did the maid know her personally? "Where has she been?"

"She has been staying on the site of Ashford Academy," said the maid. "Apparently, as part of a research project."

"This research project wouldn't have anything to do with taking pictures of the ghetto?" asked Villetta.

"I do not know," said the woman. "It isn't my place to ask about Mistress Kallen.

"Please, make yourself at home, I will get Mistress Stadtfeld."

Villetta did sit down.

As the woman left, Villetta wondered why a girl like Kallen would want to rebel against society. She had everything someone could want here, luxury, servants, a noble title. Why rock the boat and endanger it?

She was still wondering when a pretty, blonde-haired noblewoman entered. She clad in a blue dress that showed off her back and a lot of cleavage. She wore crystal earrings and eyed Villetta warily. "So, what is this about exactly?"

"Hello, I'm Villetta Nu of the Pureblood faction," said Villetta, rising up." I was hoping to talk to your daughter about some of her after school activities."

"Ugh, I suppose it was only a matter of time before she started hanging out with hoodlums," said the woman. Her tone was long-suffering. "What has she done?"

"Nothing illegal, I assure you," said Villetta. There was little resemblance between the woman and Kallen. "I'd just like to talk to her about recent events and get her view on things."

"Well, you can do it on your own time, not mine," said the woman. "I need my daughter here for the moment."

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.

The door opened, and Kallen Stadtfeld entered the manor, looking around her. She obviously hated the place. Villetta felt a sense of resentment at that. Here this girl had everything Villetta should have had, and she didn't appreciate any of it. Then Kallen's eyes fell on the maid from before and glared, with the maid looking away with shame.

"Oh, it's you, Kallen," said Ms. Stadtfeld. "I would have thought for sure you'd have stayed with that guy."

Hadn't the maid acted as though Kallen was important to her? Then why Kallen's hostile reaction? Come to think of it; there was a resemblance between Kallen and the maid, more than her and Ms. Stadftfeld.

"Shut up, you're the reason Dad's never around!" snapped Kallen in response.

Obviously, there was no love lost between the two. They seemed to hate one another, actually. Meanwhile, the maid seemed hurt by Kallen's dismissal.

"You can say whatever you want, but I'm having important people over for a ball today," said Ms. Stadtfeld. "I've had to go to the trouble of finding a dress for you, and I need you fitted for it."

"Why do you need me?" asked Kallen backpedaling. As if she'd never been brought into any of these parties before...

"A number of important people want to meet you, obviously," said the woman. "Somehow, you've become an icon for the right people. I don't mean to let you mess this up for me."

"What, so I just get back, and now you want to sell me like a mare at auction?" snarled Kallen.

"That is so typical, everything is always my fault!" said Ms. Stadtfeld. "It's hardly my fault that you're so antisocial you refuse to talk to anyone else!" She looked at the maid. "Kozuki, step away from that vase! You might break it!"

It clicked.

Kallen Stadtfeld was half-Britannian. Probably picked because her mother was barren, or because the marriage was loveless. There had been a lot of divorces among nobles who'd married Japanese aristocrats. Once the marriage connection became a liability, they were abandoned. Likely Kallen had been chosen as the heir.

"I have plenty of friends, and none of them-" began Kallen.

"Um, excuse me, Kallen Stadtfeld?" asked Villetta suddenly.

"Yes, who are you?" snapped Kallen.

"I was wondering if I could ask you some questions somewhere other than here," said Villetta. "It's about the recent massacre in front of the Viceroy's palace." She looked at Ms. Stadtfeld. "If that is acceptable?"

"Do what you want, there's no reasoning with her when she gets like this," said Ms. Stadtfeld.

Kallen eyed Villetta warily and then fell into her old persona. "...Fine, I'll be happy to answer any questions you want."

"Good," said Villetta. She decided she wanted to be seen as the good guy here. "Why don't we go somewhere a bit less formal?"

"Fine by me," said Kallen, eyeing the manor distastefully.

She had no idea how good she had it, didn't she?

Villetta took Kallen to a diner she frequented in the settlement. It was a fairly cheap place, open to the working class. A lot of Purebloods went to fancy restaurants to spend their allowances. However, Villetta had no such allowance, so she had to be careful with her spending.

Still, for a special occasion like this, it was worth the extra expense.

"Now, do you want anything? Coffee, a soda?" asked Villetta over her menu.

"I'll take an iced coffee with extra milk, thank you," said Kallen. She seemed a bit taken aback and was trying to reconcile it with her persona.

"Two iced coffees, please, extra milk," said Villetta to the waiter as she came by.

Then there was silence.

Villetta wasn't really sure about how to go about this. She wanted information, of course, but she had to do it without alarming her. Break the ice, maybe? "I have to say; you have a very nice house. I mean, chandeliers of gold and crystal, satin cushions. It's the sort of place I used to dream about owning when I was a child."

"It's not really all that special," said Kallen.

"Whether you own the house you live in makes all the difference, I guess," admitted Villetta.

"You wanted to ask me some questions, Ms. Villetta?" said Kallen.

"Yes, sorry," said Villetta. "You've probably seen the video that was stolen from Ashford Academy, haven't you?"

"Yes, I did," said Kallen. "I got tied up in a closet for a whole day because of that."

"Right, yes, that, among other things, is what I wanted to talk to you about," said Villetta. "You may not know this, but Zero, the one who stole that footage, held up the Media Building. A lot of people got killed because of him.

"And with the chaos spreading all over the Empire, his capture has become a high priority.

"Could you describe what you saw there? How were you captured?"

Kallen went on guard at once, Villetta could tell by the subtle changes in her body. Her eye darted to those around as if contemplating something. Was she considering making a run for it? Or was she planning to silence Villetta?

Certainly, Kallen had a very toned body. It was possible she knew martial arts. Though Villetta doubted she'd do anything in public. Even so, the very fact that she was trying told Villetta something. "There isn't really much to say, we'd just gotten back, and then Zero attacked us. We were knocked out and woke up in the closet. A little while later, we woke up in the closet. Eventually, Sayoko found us."

"Sayoko?" asked Villetta.

"A maid who works at Ashford Academy," said Kallen.

"Is she an eleven?" asked Villetta carefully.

Instantly that got Kallen riled up, and Villetta enjoyed it. Kallen was infuriated by the question, but she couldn't show she was infuriated. The resulting helplessness was cute. "Why does that matter?"

"Well, race can be relevant in determining people's motives," said Villetta. "Our society is not an equal one by design. So your ethnic background can tell investigators a lot about you."

"You think she is Zero?" asked Kallen with sarcasm.

"No," said Villeta with a laugh. "I haven't done any investigations so far, and the police didn't find anything to suspect. I'm just trying to get a full picture of events."

"What do you need the picture for?" asked Kallen flatly.

Villetta decided this approach wasn't working. "...I can tell I'm making you uncomfortable.

"The truth is, we suspect that whoever Zero was, they might be someone who knows the layout of Ashford Academy. You took that footage and then were ambushed almost immediately. From there, Zero held up the Media Building.

"That is a very complex plan to put together on the fly. It would be a lot easier for whoever it was if they knew what you were doing." It would have taken real manpower to send out that much footage that quickly. There had to be some kind of underlying organization behind it.

"Yeah, well, I don't like talking about people behind their back," said Kallen. "So unless you're going to arrest me, I don't think we have anything else to talk about."

"Fair enough, I'm sorry if I offended you," said Villetta, musing that this was a battle she wasn't going to win. She leaned back in her chair and admired Kallen's features. "None of this is official, so you don't have to answer any of my questions if you don't want to."

"I have your iced coffee, ma'am," said a waiter, coming back.

"Thank you," said Villetta, more for show. Taking the coffee, she handed one to Kallen. Then she paused. "...Kallen, do you want to have lunch today?"

Why had she said it like that?

Kallen narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Well, you don't seem in a hurry to return home, and I thought I might give you an excuse to get out of it," said Villeta. "As an apology. We'll say that the question and answer session lasted a while longer than expected."

"Fine, thanks, I guess," said Kallen.

"So, what would you like to order?" asked Villetta.

Kallen ended up ordering a hamburger, which was good. Villetta never ordered anything above ten dollars in price. In fact, she preferred to order the specials. Her wallet was going to be taxed more than usual by all this; she knew it.

Still, Villetta wanted to get Kallen to talk to her. And to do that, she needed to get into her head. How to get herself across as someone trustworthy? In the meantime, Villetta made small talk while waiting for their meal. Kallen seemed to let down her guard a bit.

When at last they received their meal, Villetta spoke. "Anyway, I'm sorry I came across strong. The truth is that Prince Clovis has been in an absolute frenzy. Everything that has come out about his organization has hit him where it hurts. His reputation." There was the bait.

"You know Prince Clovis?" asked Kallen, pausing between bites.

"Yes, though he's not as impressive in person as on TV," said Villetta. "Everything about the man is fake. He pretends to be a charismatic Prince on television. Then he pretends to be a reasonable authority figure when working with people. He even pretends to be a loyal and dedicated subject when talking about the homeland.

"But...

"Well, to be honest, he isn't any of those things. All his ideas come from the people around him. And when they don't have any worthwhile ideas, his response is to scream and yell at his subordinates." All of which was completely true, though Villetta would never have a good reason to say it. Manipulating Kallen was a refreshing change of pace.

"Then why are you working for him?" asked Kallen flatly.

The question took Villetta off guard, and she took a bite of her own hamburger. Doing so bought her time to think of a response. How to tell Kallen that Villetta was only interested in personal advancement? Without seeming like a terrible person, that is. "It's a bit of a long story."

"I've got time," said Kallen.

"Well, I'm not a pureblooded Britannian," said Villetta. She remembered her theory. "My father was a pureblood Britannian, and my mother was an African mistress he brought back from the colonies. He was unhappily married to a woman he hated, and, worse still, he was afraid she was barren.

"Without an heir, he declared me his heir on a temporary basis and raised me as a proper Britannian Lady. Then, when I turned ten, his wife had a son.

"Immediately, I was disinherited and forced to become a servant.

"I spent the next seven years of my life mopping floors, setting plates, and waiting tables.

"That's why I joined the military."

Kallen looked at her with a new light. The story had done its work, and now the girl was reconsidering her initial viewpoint. "So why are you part of the Purebloods?"

"Oh, the Purebloods are totally hypocritical," said Villetta. "Every single one of them, if you ask them, will say they believe in the dominance of 'true Britannians.' But none of them have any real idea of what a 'true Britannian' is, other than the club.

"It's all about power in the end."

"But why did you join them?" asked Kallen.

Repeating the question put Villetta on the back foot. She found herself hesitating, looking for words. She forgot to take a sip of her coffee to cover her silence. Kallen knew how to play these games too, didn't she? "...I qualified to pilot a knightmare shortly before the war with Japan. I ended up getting sent in the vanguard with Lord Jeremiah Gottwald. We were supposed to get killed, breaking the Japanese defenses. Lord Jeremiah had the bad luck to be part of the royal guard to Empress Marianne, and my face is against me.

"Instead, we overran the enemy position in a matter of hours. The new Glasgow performed far better in the field of battle than anyone expected. And Lord Jeremiah led us in a series of lightning assaults that won a victory before most of our army even landed. The rest was a mop-up.

"Lord Jeremiah was offered a position as the head of the Purebloods, and he offered me a position. If I refused, it would be the end of my career, so I took the job."

"So you didn't even care about the ideology?" asked Kallen in surprise.

Villetta found herself in the rare position of having to lie directly. Except if she did lie, it would alienate Kallen. "No.

"Why would I? Ideology is something people use to justify pursuing self-interest. If anything, it's responsible for most of the worst crimes in history. If Britannia admitted that the only thing it cared about was power for its own sake, it would be better.

"There would be no good reason to discriminate against the numbers. They'd make valuable subjects. Instead of trying to conquer the world, we'd just secure resources in whatever way we needed. If people looked after their own self-interest, there wouldn't have been an invasion." Villetta was saying all this on the fly, but she wasn't sure her justifications were helping her case any.

"What do you mean?" asked Kallen, an edge in her tone.

"Well, think about it," said Villetta, remembering her briefings. All the justifications used for the attack. "Japan was using its stranglehold on Sakuradite as a weapon. It was forcing other countries to make concessions. There are places in Russia where tens of thousands of people died when the heat went off suddenly. All because Japan chose to simply stop shipping Sakuradite to the EU.

"Why do you think Britannia took over so easily?

"All Britannia had to do was promise free trade, and both were all too ready to sit back and let us walk in."

"How does that help your theory?" asked Kallen in turn.

Villetta had the feeling she was losing control of the conversation, and she did not like it. "Enlightened self-interest is acting in a way that benefits you in the short and long-term. Japan was acting against its own interests by alienating its allies. Britannia took a more farsighted policy and was able to gain control of Sakuradite."

"And now they're trying to conquer everyone else," noted Kallen.

"Yes, well, that's not in our interest," said Villetta, feeling her argument was weak. "That's why we pulled out of the EU. There is nothing in Europe we actually need. A lot of individual people get very rich by conquest. But Britannia itself is wasting valuable resources. We could get all the same benefits through fair trade deals.

"If we found something more productive to focus the population on, the invasions would end." Which was, ironically, exactly what had happened

"And what are you doing to help?" asked Kallen.

Okay, this wasn't going as planned. Villetta felt like she was the one being interrogated. Her thoughts were scrambling for an answer. Why did she care so much about this girl's approval? "Well, I convinced Prince Clovis to promote an Honorary Britannian. And I got him to begin investigations into the police. Of course, Prince Clovis thinks that he's only tossing scraps to the moderates and elevens. But he's setting a precedent that moderates will be able to use to shift things." Yet she felt like this wasn't enough when it was more than she should have done.

"You should be proud, none of this would have been possible without those pictures you took." Take the compliment and shut up. Except she wouldn't, Villetta had to give her something else. "Which is why I need to warn you about something.

"Prince Clovis is planning on declaring a national emergency. When he does that, he'll be able to shut down your program right away. Perhaps even arrest people for previous actions. It's for the best if your Student Council if you didn't do anything for a while."

What was Villetta doing? She wasn't supposed to be telling people about this. However, she hadn't technically been ordered not to. Winning this conversation, all of a sudden seemed very important.

"So what, you want us to sit back and go back to school?" asked Kallen. "While everything goes back to normal."

They both knew full well what she meant by normal. Villetta shifted and tried to find a way to spin this. "You should take the victory. Clovis is panicking now, and if you pressure him any more, I'm afraid you might get hurt. Weak rulers tend to get brutal when things don't go their way.

"Think of this as an opportunity to do major research for your next project."

Kallen considered that. "...Right, thank you."

Villetta bit into her hamburger. She couldn't leave it at that; this hadn't gone at all how she'd wanted it to. "Want some advice?" said Villetta.

"What kind of advice?" asked Kallen.

"You should get fitted for those dresses," said Villetta. "Network a bit, connect with some of the moderates in the Britannian nobility. You could make a lot of progress that way as well."

"I'll take it under advisement," said Kallen, finishing her meal. "I'd better go meet with my mother, then."

"Of course," said Villetta. "I'll pay the tab."

Villetta had gotten her meeting with Kallen Stadteld. But she wasn't sure who had gotten interrogated.