Xavier said nothing.
Alfons watched the calculation move behind his face, the slow grind of a mind turning a problem over from every side and finding no good edge to grip. Whatever decision was forming there, Xavier had no idea yet which way it would fall.
What Alfons could not see was the rest of it.
Because Xavier knew the accusation was only half true, and the half that was false was the half that counted. Vivienne had slipped into the Council, yes. That part had happened. But nothing more had come of it, no stolen secret, no ruined house, no crime worth the word, and Trafalgar du Morgain had been standing right there when it did. Beside her, in fact. Beside her almost the entire time.
Which meant that if this ever reached daylight, it would not be Xavier's word holding the line. It would be Trafalgar's against Alfons's.
That was the part worth weighing.
