Chapter 6: CHAPTER 6: PLANNING AHEAD PART 2

The time for the Student Council election is a month away. I have to carefully plan on how to get on the good side of the majority of students. Each candidate is given a list of requirements to accomplish in order to be a considered prospect.

 

1. Candidate must be a bona fide second year student of Sliding Academy.

 

2. Candidate must have the support of at least two (2) members of the Sliding Academy faculty.

 

3. Candidate must show exemplary grades from the previous school year.

 

4. Should the Candidate not have exemplary grades but still wishes to become a considered prospect, said Candidate must be willing to start his/her campaign with no aid from the school.

 

5. Candidate must have the qualities of a leader.

 

The list then goes on to describe how candidates should not hinder other candidates' campaign through nefarious means and such.

 

For right now, the only things that I can check off are 1 and 5. I can always ask for Delic to be one of my supporting faculty, but the problem is finding the second faculty member to support me. My grades started dropping after my family died, so I can't say that I had exemplary grades last school year. However, I like the idea of starting my campaign without the aid from the school. It will put me in a better light if I manage to win the seat for President. Not to toot my own horn, but I would like to consider myself as having the qualities of a leader since I am the head of my family. I probably shouldn't inflate my non-existent ego, but going at this with optimism and pride is the only way to stand out. I shouldn't hide like I did last year. I must prove that the Winter Family is not dead.

 

During lunch, I found a nice and quiet spot in the school's garden that not a lot of people visit. I was content being alone since I was gathering my thoughts about the election until the dopey girl and her followers approached me.

 

"Hey, Viola. I heard that the guy who drove you this morning actually works here. No wonder you are still able to go to this school. You wouldn't be able to afford coming here since all of your family is dead." The girl laughs and takes my lunch. "So what did you bring me for lunch? What is this?" the girl asks as she examines my food with disgust. "Are you eating dog food?" The dopey girl throws the food at my face and walks off laughing only to be stopped by Delic.

 

"What is going on here?" Delic asks as he stands in front of the group of girls.

 

The dopey girl begins showcasing her best 'I'm innocent' look, but that would never have any effect on Delic. "Viola tried to force feed me her dog food lunch! I tried to say no, but she wouldn't stop shoving it in my face. As I was pushing the food away, the lunch tipped over and fell on Viola. I didn't do anything wrong, Sir." 

 

Delic stares at the leader of the girls who is trying to get away with bullying me. "If I recall, your name is Abigail Actona. You are the daughter of Sir Brian Actona, one of the retainers for the Winter Family. You are aware that the girl back there is Viola Winter, a member of the Winter Family, correct?"

 

Abigail rubs Delic's arm trying to suck up to him. "Oh my! You know my name and my family! How did you know?"

 

"It is my job to familiarize all of the students' names, their families, what their parents do, and the people their families support," Delic replies nonchalantly, dismissing the girl rubbing his arm. "You haven't answered my question, Miss Abigail. You are aware that Viola Winter is a member of the family that your father supports, correct?"

 

Abigail glares at me with utter disgust. "That girl doesn't have a family anymore. Isn't that why you took her in, Sir? What did she do to let such a dignified man such as yourself agree to help her? You can just throw her out and accept me instead. I have so much more to offer than that sorry girl over there."

 

Delic removes Abigail from his arm and walks over to me; however, I could tell that he wanted to shove her off. Sadly, since he’s a teacher of the school, he can’t hurt the students. Delic proceeds to kneel down in front of me and wipes the food from my face using his handkerchief. "Master, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

 

"It took you long enough, Delic." I take the handkerchief from Delic and continue wiping myself off.

 

Delic turns to the girls who are standing in astonishment as they watch our interaction. Mouths agape at how such a man would kneel to me. "I would have you know, Miss Abigail. I did not take in Lady Viola. Lady Viola accepted me, and I would appreciate it if you did not talk down to my master."

 

I stand up after cleaning my face as much as I could and grab my bags. "I am the new head of the Winter Family. If you have any problems with that, take it up with your father. We had a nice meeting a couple weeks ago about the matter, and your father has acknowledged me as the new leader. You would be smart to not do this again; otherwise, it will be your family I will be talking to instead of a poor excuse of a child like you."

 

As I was beginning to leave Abigail runs and tries to grab me, but Delic takes hold of Abigail's wrist and stares down at her with a cold chill in his eyes. "Master, I don't think this child understands what you said. You were even being nice enough to give her a warning. What should we do?"

 

"Master my ass! There is no way a girl like her is the head of a dead mafia family!" Abigail exclaims as she tries to free herself from Delic's grasp. "She should know her place. Girls don't lead mafia's. They support them with their bodies. Everyone knows this! Only men become heads of those types of families. Don't proclaim to be the head of your dead family's mafia! You're just a nobo-"

 

Trying my best to hold back my anger, I grab Abigail's face, digging my nails into her cheeks, and lean in close. "Delic, it appears that you are right. This child did not heed my warning and decided to attack me with both force and words. It seems I need to call in her father for a nice little chat." I throw Abigail's face from my hands. Thin trails of blood slip through the scratches my nails left behind. "Let's go home, Delic. I need to clean up. Please let the school know that I will be leaving early."

 

"As you wish, Master." Delic releases Abigail's arm, almost throwing her backwards, and follows behind me. He looks back at Abigail who still appears to be mad but stays where we left her.

 

Once at home, Delic carries me straight to my room so that I don't get the floor dirty from any leftover food that may still be on me. He prepares the bath, and I get undressed. As I sit in the tub, Delic begins washing me.

 

'Girls don't lead mafias.... Only men become heads of those types of families.'

 

Abigail's words keep repeating in my head. She only said those things because of the stereotype that goes along with mafia families and gangs, but that doesn't mean they are always true. It's just uncommon for women to be the head of a mafia, and if they are, the mafia isn't normally a big or well-known one. This will always be my biggest obstacle throughout my time as the family head.

 

I must have been under deep thought for a while because Delic rests his hands on my shoulders then suddenly asks, "Is there anything on your mind that you would like to talk about, Master?" I stay silent because I'm not really used to thinking aloud. "You are still thinking about what that girl said earlier, aren't you?"

 

I slightly pull my legs closer to my chest. "Do you think I can make a good leader, Delic?"

 

Delic pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath. "I feel like I will be giving a biased answer since I always think you are a great leader."

 

This answer causes me to turn around to face him. "I'm being serious, Delic. Do you think that I have a chance at reviving my family's honor let alone their mafia? Leading my people in a direction of growth and prosperity?"

 

"If I may be frank, I still believe that you have a long way to go," Delic replies, turning me back around so that he can continue washing my hair. "Nevertheless, I believe that the determination that you have for your goal will lead you onto the path to be a leader that everyone can depend on. This is why I will always think that you are a great leader."

 

You are reading story The Winter Vessel at novel35.com

A leader everyone can depend on... Delic is right. As long as I don't stray too far from the path to my goal, I can always be a leader to be proud of.

 

After my bath, Delic brings me a new lunch since my other one was ruined. I guess I must have worried everyone since I came home earlier covered in food residue. It feels nice to have people who care about me again. I never want to let this go. No matter what threat comes my way.

 

"Delic, please send a notice to Sir Brian to come to the mansion tonight. I would like to speak to him about today's event."

 

"As you wish, Master."

 

With that, Delic leaves the room. This gives me a chance to focus on my plan to get into that president's seat. So for the first problem, I need to find a second faculty member to support me. I could ask Delic to use that obnoxiously handsome face of his to persuade one of the female teachers, but that would defeat my purpose of making a big impact. I don't want loyalty out of fake support. I make a list of all of my teachers from the past year and start narrowing down who might be willing to support me. This leads me to cut everyone but two teachers. However, they are high wealth teachers. I highly doubt they would support a former student who has been demoted to the lowest class, but it will be worth the shot to ask tomorrow.

 

After another hour or so, Delic returns, but he is not alone. Sir Brian seems to have followed Delic back to the mansion to request an earlier meeting time otherwise known as now. It appears that a sense of fear has rushed over him when he heard that his daughter was bullying me. I agree to Sir Brian's request and prepare to meet him. Since this was not an official meeting, I did not need to wear the official attire. I walk into the meeting room to witness a fat man shaking in his chair, fearing that he might see the end of his days at that very moment.

 

Once Delic announces that I have arrived, Sir Brian immediately stands to greet me. "G-greetings to the snow's descendant!"

 

"Good afternoon to you too, Sir Brian. You can take your seat." As I get comfortable in my chair, Sir Brian fails to do the same. I can see the stiffness in his posture which he fails to hide. "You must be aware of why I have requested to meet with you, correct?"

 

"Yes, Lady Viola. I deeply apologize for not training my daughter to respect others who are of higher position. I have failed to mention to my family that you are the new head of the Winter Family. I left the previous meeting in great shock that telling my family what was discussed became the last thing on my mind."

 

Taking in Sir Brian's words, I can tell that he was brought up wrong as well, so it was inevitable that he would do the same to his own child. "I have listened to what you said. Is there anything else you wish to add?" The fat man quickly shakes his head. "Understood. There are two issues about what you have said that I will bring up first before getting to the main problem. First, one does not train his child. A parent raises his child. If one raises the child correctly, then problems won't pop up concerning said child. Of course, I understand that not every parent is perfect; however, that does not excuse them for poorly raising their children. Second, respect does not only go to the person of a higher position. Respect also goes to those who are under us. Just because a person makes less than you does not mean that you have the right to decide whether or not to respect said person."

 

I pause for a minute to decide my next words. "If those two principles were used on your daughter, this incident would have never occurred, and you would not be sitting in front of me right now. Do you follow what I am saying, Sir Brian?"

 

"Yes, Lady Viola. I understand."

 

"That's good to hear. I am expecting an apology from your daughter tomorrow at school. Whether I accept her apology will be determined on how sincere she says it. You may call it childish, but in the end, loyalty and respect goes a long way. If you do not wish for anything bad to happen, I will encourage you to speak to your daughter this evening. Is that understood?"

 

"Yes, Lady Viola."

 

"Perfect. Then you may be dismissed. Have a nice afternoon, Sir Brian."

 

With that, we both stand up, and Sir Brian bows to me as I leave. As Delic and I approach the door to my room, Delic asks, "Do you really think Miss Abigail will apologize to you tomorrow?"

 

"Highly doubt it. She doesn't like bowing her head to anyone. I was planning to use that attitude of hers to my advantage."

 

"What do you mean?" Delic pesters while pouring me a cup of hot chocolate since I don’t like coffee or tea.

 

"I'm going to use that girl as an opportunity to rise in school ranks if she doesn't apologize. I was planning on keeping my powers a secret until I announced my position to the city, but I'm realizing that I can use my power as leverage to win the election. Even so, I didn't know when it would be a good time to do it.” 

 

Taking a sip of the drink, I sit on the edge of my bed unable to hide my mischievous smile. “Now that I have such an object to utilize, I have an excuse to showcase my new position in the family which will inevitably bump me up in the eyes of the higher wealth classes and garner more votes. Voting for the head of a family will put those wealthier students in a better position for them. I get the votes and connections I need, and they get someone to add to their group of wealth. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

 

As I get relaxed in my bed, Delic silently stares at me. 

 

He has been surprisingly mature today. Normally, he does at least one stupid thing to tick me off. Is something on his mind? 

 

I motion for Delic to sit next to me on the bed by patting the space next to me, so Delic quietly obeys. "Is there something on your mind?" Delic remains quiet for a while longer. "You know this Master-Servant thing goes both ways. You listen to my problems and help me out. I listen to your problems and help you out."

 

"Master... I heard something disturbing while I was on my way to Sir Brian's house. I am not sure about the details of it since I was just passing by and accidentally tuned in on it, but you assuming the position as head of the Winter Family is beginning to circle around underground."

 

"And I'm assuming that what you heard might not be all sunshine and rainbows."

 

Delic slowly nods his head. "Some of the leaders that happened to meet up with each other were discussing what to do about you. Some were thinking about waging another war since you are still new to the position, and the family’s mafia is still in the recovery phase. Others were thinking... something else."

 

"And what would that be?" Delic once again becomes silent for a moment. "Delic, whatever they are thinking of doing, I need to know. I have to be prepared for anything."

 

"Some of the other leaders were thinking of kidnapping you and holding a shotgun wedding. They are unaware that you have the snow and ice power, but since you are the last remaining Winter, they might try to get an offspring from you that could possibly have those powers."

 

That's absurd... but I can't just let it slide. As much as I trust in Delic and his abilities, I don't have enough fighting power to fend off large mafia families and gangs. I need to find more people who will be willing to fight under my leadership.

You can find story with these keywords: The Winter Vessel, Read The Winter Vessel, The Winter Vessel novel, The Winter Vessel book, The Winter Vessel story, The Winter Vessel full, The Winter Vessel Latest Chapter