Walking out of the room, I saw Kairos standing there with a few others.

“Hello, your highness. I figured you would like a change of clothes once you left the room,” Kairos mentioned, hand waving out.

Soon Valentine was being handed a clean uniform. Valentine sighed.

“I would not mind being given the contents of that spell now,” He mused, staring at the clean clothes with obvious desire.

“Uh it’s just fire and water.”

“Those are opposites, how did you mix them?”

“Nah,” I disagreed, “Fire is a cube and water is a square. The equation is basic multiplication. More water than fire.”

“What was the end result of what you used? The warmer one.”

“Uhhh,” I thought, “3 cubed, 4 squared times two. So 27 and 32.”

Valentine nodded, taking the clothes and going back into the room. He shut the door behind him.

Servants and cloaked individuals alike started stripping me. It was an uncomfortable process, hands brushing and scraping against my skin as the fabric was stripped off.

A new layer of grime was revealed with every inch shown. I danced away from the ones trying to put the dress on me. Nuh-uh. Not with blood and vomit still on me.

“Do not fear the others,” Kairos mentioned, “They are all women.”

I huffed, continuing to back away, “I’m going to spray myself with water before I put clean clothes on.”

The people all backed off, and soon I was even cleaner, my hands roughly scrubbing at my body. Finally I felt clean enough.

I stopped the water, walking out of the puddle I’d created after wringing out my crimson locks.

“Okay,” I agreed.

I was dressed again, the process equally as uncomfortable. Sadly no pants nor a shirt was given, so I had to be content with the dress.

Only a few minutes later Valentine walked out. Glancing at me and then the puddle, his magic reached out, drying me.

“Thanks,” I said.

Valentine nodded, reaching out and taking my hand, “Let us go. How long has it been?”

“It has been three days,” Kairos answered.

“I missed the exam,” I immediately focused on.

I hesitated. Wait. Did I? I couldn’t remember. I was tugged along, bare feet hurting at the feeling of the rough and cold ground. My hand in Valentine’s felt weird.

Specifically his hand was warm in mine. I could feel the pressure he used to hold it, feeling the taps of his fingers along my knuckles. The feeling of his thumb brushing against mine.

“I believe we should become allies, Valentine,” Kairos said as we walked, “It is nice to officially meet you. If you are not already aware, I am Kairos.”

Valentine stopped walking. I didn’t, tugging him along.

“You told him?” Valentine accused as he staggered much like I did back into a walk.

I scoffed, shaking my head. Glancing ahead, I saw nothing but darkness outside of the magelight Valentine kept up. Valentine and the servants seemed to know where they were going, so I didn’t pay too much attention to it.

“No. That was my blackmail. Nah, he was sent to check on us. Oh, yeah, what excuse did you give the others, Kairos?”

Kairos glanced at me, his glasses reflecting the light and preventing me from seeing his eyes. His cyan hair was cut from last time I was cognizant enough to notice its’ length. No longer did it grow over his glasses.

“What you had suggested. A piece of your soul broke off, and Professor Lance was busy trying to prevent it from killing you. That he shouldn’t be disturbed,” Kairos explained.

Valentine sighed, “That was a bad excuse. Anyone with a vague knowledge of souls would know that isn’t how things work.”

“Okay, then just call me an idiot for telling Kairos that and correct them,” I shrugged, glancing at the servants and cloaked figures around, “As long as whatever you come up with is vaguely similar, people will believe it.”

Valentine made a thoughtful noise, but otherwise didn’t respond. I was left walking on the cold stone floors. I grimaced every time I stepped on a rock, unused to being able to feel too much in this body.

Damn, I’m kind of glad Aphrodite threw soup in my face before everything felt realistic to me. Before I could feel every breath that entered my lungs. It would have sucked a lot more otherwise.

The cold and dark hallways passed quickly, and soon the light fell upon stairs. I was almost surprised as we walked up. I released Valentine’s hand to better climb the stairs.

We walked mostly single-file. When I turned, I saw the cloaked figures hadn’t followed us, remaining in the maze-like darkness below.

“Do you plan to heal yourself of your injuries?” Valentine reminded me. He looked back at me, hand on the doorknob.

I glanced down, realizing that my hands and arms were all bruised and scraped up.

“Oh, right,” I agreed, hand reaching up.

Maybe the soup wouldn’t have been that bad, if I was able to forget I’d had such vibrant and painful injuries.

Using the new circle, a glow of soft green appeared. I thought of all I knew of the human body, as well as the causes of each type of injury. Bruises are just burst blood vessels, and cuts are just sticky proteins not being sticky enough, etcetera.

My body looked much better after only a few seconds, the circle not a big one. Valentine nodded, opening the door. The light that was much brighter than Valentine’s magelight made me squint.

Me, Valentine, and Kairos wandered out of the basement of the Academy.

Several people were milling about, only a few glancing up. Like a normal college, not many people paid attention to us, everyone looking busy or focusing on studying.

The halls were grand, the floors made of tiles, each tile seeming to have a spell engraved into it. The walls were made of brick, the brick red contrasting with the engraved white tiles. I glanced up, seeing arched high-rise ceilings made of stone and wood.

Outside of the people, the walls were all decorated with many different images, awards, and paintings.

“Come with me. We will have to speak with the chancellor to have you do a makeup exam,” Valentine said, guiding me down many hallways.

I didn’t notice I was leaving bloody footprints behind until we’d almost reached the office, too busy looking around at everything. I ran directly into Valentine as I stared at someone with wild brown hair floating a rock in front of them.

I glanced up, taking a few steps back. Glancing down, I saw that my footprints hadn’t left any marks. I looked behind me, at the hall, then at the kid again. Then at Valentine.

“We’ve arrived,” Valentine mentioned the moment I focused on him for longer than half a second.

“Huh? Oh,” I glanced at the door that Kai was opening.

Before I could get distracted by the floating rock guy again, Valentine nudged me. I looked around the office we arrived in. It was very blue.

On the receptionist’s desk there was a round engraved plate-bowl-thing with a floating rock on it. I stared. Reaching out, I spun it. It continued spinning for a long time.

“Hello, is Chancellor Herald here?” Valentine asked.

My attention was caught. Herald? As in Doom Herald? Or as in Night Herald? From what I recalled, Doom Herald had long green hair the color of the forest and pink eyes as brilliant as any peony.

“Yes, he is,” The receptionist replied, “He’s busy right now, though.”

He wasn’t someone who was in the Academy arc. He appeared during the ballroom scene just before the country went to war with another.

Specifically, after he was introduced he appeared as a person called before the king to take Aphrodite to safety. He died pretty gruesomely to Orion, the angel, right?

“Could you tell him that I’m here, as well as the first princess of the Silver Kingdom?”

He was a character who’s only purpose in the story was to highlight just how powerful the immortal Orion was when he first appeared.

“You are causing unrest within this realm. I have arrived to kill you,” Orion said heartlessly, not seeming to care that he was covered in the entrails of her guard.

It was hilarious that I never saw his name coming, to be honest. His name was literally Doom Herald. And then a war started. And he died to one of the most dangerous people that participated within the war.

“Of course! One moment,” The receptionist agreed.

Poor guy. If I did my job right, he would survive. He was one of my favorites, in the story I’d read. Though…

“Princess Persephone.”

Well…

I couldn’t just keep referring to the people as my favorite characters, anymore, could I? These were real people. Real people who, as Kairos had gravely shown, could die at any time.

“Your highness.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

The Academy was its own country, having neutral ties to every other country. Essentially, it was a place everyone in the story would have interacted with at least once.

It was the place that could lead to enemy countries becoming allies. A place where every important or powerful person in the world met.

Valentine sighed. The rock continued spinning in front of me.

A perfect hunting ground for evil and good factions alike. If you weren’t careful or didn’t have any protection, The Academy was a very dangerous place to be with any sort of talent.

“He said you could go right in,” The receptionist said as she came back.

Good thing I didn’t have any talent, I mused, relieved.

Reaching out, I spun the rock again. Valentine reached out, stopping the rock. I glanced over at him, seeing him looking at me.

“Huh?”

“Let us go,” Valentine said.

“Oh! Okay,” I agreed.

I walked with him into the chancellor’s office. I was greeted by long green hair and pink eyes, the man glancing up from where he was seated. He waved his hand toward some chairs.

“Have a seat,” He offered.

I took his offer, exhausted from the torturous experience I’d just gone through. Valentine seemed to sit in his chair with as much relish as I slumped into mine.

“Hello. It isn’t often that rumors reach me, and yet I find I’ve heard of you thrice now within less than a year,” Herald mentioned, voice relaxed and casual, pink eyes focused on me.

It was kind of weird staring someone in the eyes when you’ve read about those eyes being torn from his skull. I swallowed, responding.

“Three?” I wondered.

The garden party definitely, and maybe me collapsing and bleeding everywhere right in front of the Academy doors, what else was there?

“Yes, though maybe it is more accurate to say I have heard five. You are quite the character, to have the audacity to threaten one of our professors here at the Academy and then expect to be allowed entry.”

My expression went blank.

Seriously? No, no, I wouldn’t let this go. Silas was a petty fucker, but that didn’t mean Herald was. He would understand, right?

“I would like to clear the air. May I?”

Herald leaned back behind his desk, gesturing at me with gloved hands, “Go ahead.”

“I am literally the only person I know aside from my twin sister who did not threaten Silas,” I corrected flatly, “Unlike everyone else, I had faith in myself passing the entrance exam, despite my amnesia.”

So fuck everyone else! From Kairos to Valentine to literally everyone else I spoke to even semi-regularly. They could all go fuck themselves, those pessimistic assholes. I’d definitely pass!

Herald’s expression grew interested, “Amnesia?”

… Why was that what he focused on? Did he not believe I didn’t blackmail Silas?

I nodded, “Yes. I’d lost all of my memories shortly before the garden party I attended, like… eight or nine months ago. I think.”

“Eight,” Valentine corrected, looking to me, “I was called from the Academy eight months ago to test and otherwise help you after your soul injury.”

“Oh. Huh,” I thought, then shrugged, turning to Herald, “Yeah. That. I couldn’t even read or anything. It sucked.”

Herald stared at me for a long time, “One of the rumors I’d heard was that you had faked injury to evade having Silas be the one to give you the exam.”

I hummed, leaning back in the chair and crossing my arms. Faked my injury?

Blood covered the walls, some even splattering up to the ceiling. The floors were coated in red.

Well I could easily disprove that, but that wasn’t really necessary, right? If the rumor was that I wanted to avoid having Silas give me my exam…

“Isn’t the easiest solution to dispel that rumor just having him be the one to administer my makeup exam?” I wondered.

An easy solution.

“He is the one who had claimed it,” Herald said, leaning forward.

His elbows rested on his desk, eyes focused intently on me.

“If it isn’t true, then what was the injury? Anyone with even partial knowledge of souls understands that pieces don’t just break off.”

Valentine sighed, sounding very aggravated, “As I was busy focusing on saving her, that is what she told her servant. Her injury is soul-related, yes, however a piece of it didn’t break off,” He gave me an annoyed look.

I flushed in embarrassment. This was him acting, right? … Right? He wasn’t actually annoyed with me, was he?

Sinking into my chair, I realized I couldn’t tell.

“She had already been having complications with her soul before arriving. As you know, I arrived a month before the entrance exams would take place. With how often she strained her magic despite my warnings not to in my absence, and with me not there to continuously heal her soul, her injury had been significantly worsened. She almost died because of her own idiocy,” Valentine snapped.

I was looking at my lap, determined not to look at Valentine. Was he acting? His tone wasn’t quite as scolding as the time I’d used his lightning spell before he could create it, but damn.…

The memory of the lightning incident made me sink into my seat even further. Right. That. Guilt and shame filled me, and my fingers tugged at my dress as I pouted down at it.

I spent a whole day getting scolded by literally everyone. Even Kairos! Kairos doesn’t even know magic. At least, he didn’t. Now he does.

I focused on the dress I was pouting at.

It was red and black. Naturally so, thankfully, my blood and other grime not staining the pristine fabric. The pristine fabric I was in the middle of wrinkling.

I thought about what Valentine said. Aggravated my injury, a piece breaking off, those were close, right?

“That’s close enough to what I said,” I muttered under my breath.

“What?” Valentine said sharply.

I flinched at the harsh tone.

“Nothing,” I said innocently just a bit too loudly, face burning as I almost cut Valentine off before he finished. Even my ears felt warm.

Silence stretched for a long time.

I don’t think he was acting, I realized. I think he was genuinely annoyed. Oops. My head bowed lower as I stared, determined, at the bits of my dress I was tugging at.

“I see,” Herald drawled slowly.

I glanced up, embarrassed. The green-haired chancellor was looking at me intently. He didn’t hear about the lightning incident too, did he? Was that the third rumor he’d heard?

“S-so yeah!” I said, getting back to the point, face feeling very warm, “Silas is a prejudiced dick anyway because he thinks Aph is better than I am, and Aph hates me! So listening to him whining about me is just a waste of time, since all of his claims are biased against me. So yeah. You’ll let me take the entrance exam, right?”

“Certainly,” Herald agreed immediately, his gaze still focused intently on me, “I’ll personally oversee your exam. Which specialization do you plan to follow?”

“Oh!”

Wow. That was easy. He answered like right away. Wow. That’s pretty impressive. No one’s ever been so ready to agree to me before. Huh.

“Okay! I’m dual-specializing with both swords and magic,” I said, content with the outcome.

Yay! I’d get to take the Academy’s exam! And even if I failed, I could just run away and live my life peacefully in the far north, where only giants and beasts lived.

Get myself a nice giant hubby to take care of me while I learned how to defend myself, or find and hide away in a dragon’s den. I mean one of the professors here was a dragon, right? So I could hide in his hoard until he returned to it. That was to the north, wasn’t it?

“May I—“ Valentine started.

“No,” Herald interrupted, standing up, “You will go and relieve Professor White from his duties as your substitute. Princess Persephone, if you would follow me.”

I got up, following after Herald. My thoughts had been forgotten about already. I walked next to him, glancing up to see that he gave me a curious look. His eyes met mine, trailing as he looked down my form, sizing me up. His gaze froze on my feet.

“Where are your shoes?”

I glanced down, too, ignoring Kairos’ sudden call out to other servants. My feet were bare, the dried blood staining them looking almost like the glitter—the freckles—on my skin.

“Oh, I don’t know. When I woke up in Professor Lance’s magical circle thing I didn’t have them.”

“You didn’t get any in the time between?”

“Time between what?” I asked, looking at him curiously, “We just got out of that room like ten minutes ago.”

Herald observed me, “If you truly had been undergoing Professor Lance’s soul magic, you would be unable to move for several days.”

I jogged a bit to keep up with his quick pace, “Nah. I’m built different. Professor Lance was super hyped when he realized I was still conscious after he first did the weird soul stuff.”

“Hyped?”

“Yeah, like super excited,” I agreed.

Herald’s gaze shifted from mine to the ground, quick pace stopping.

“Is that blood?”

“Huh?” I looked down, seeing a path of bloody footprints, “Oh, yeah. I almost died.”

“It’s fresh,” He realized after a moment, his shoe dragging a trail of blood along the floor.

His head was lowered, eyes focused on the blood.

“Well yeah,” I agreed again, looking at the ground too, “I almost died. You should see the room we just came from. Or, well, maybe not. It’s pretty gross. I think Kai will have to burn the dress I was wearing.”

Herald turned to me. His intent gaze shifted slightly, looking aghast.

“When did Professor Lance stop healing you?” He asked.

I thought, shrugging. His gaze was kind of very intense. What was with his reaction?

“Uhhhhh… Like…” I thought harder, “Well there was the going to your office, which was like ten minutes… The changing, that was like… twenty minutes… then before that the shower… That was like… I dunno, ten… And that happened right after he healed me again, so…” I looked at my hands, then looked up at Herald, guessing after my mind gave up on the math, “About an hour ago.”

Herald looked at me, his expression blank. His gaze scoured my expression for a long moment.

“Your highness,” Kairos said, walking up. In his hands were shoes.

“Oh! Thanks,” I said, reaching out.

I took them from Kairos’ hands, using him as a wall so that I could put them on. Kairos sighed, his hands coming up to hold my shoulders.

“You’re acting very… cheerful,” Kairos mentioned.

“Dude I’m tired,” I agreed, grinning up at him.

I walked away from him, staggering a bit. I looked at my shoes.

“Before I do your exam, I must first check on something,” Herald said.

I looked up at the greenette, staring into the pink eyes that were looking at me. It was kind of weird, the way he was looking at me all the time. Did he ever look away from me in the office?

“Oh, okay,” I nodded, “Do you want me to follow you, or—?”

“Yes,” Herald agreed, “I will be visiting Professor Lance’s soulmancy room.”

Oh. Shit. Was that a bad thing?

“That’s a bad idea,” I noted hesitantly, “Are you sure? I think you should maybe tell him first. It’s pretty dirty. He might not want you there.”

What if it would give something away, or had traces of necromancy in it or something?

“Yes, you had said it was covered in blood,” Herald pointed out.

“Yep,” I agreed, “But I really don’t think you should see it.”

Herald stared at me for a long moment, then he sighed, magic appearing on the tips of his fingers. Suddenly his voice was being projected out across every arch of the ceiling. I glanced up, seeing the magic connecting to itself.

“Professor Lance, if you would go to the entrance to the basement, I would be much obliged,” Herald called, the announcement fading.

Valentine had clearly been dragging his feet, as he turned the corner practically before Herald finished speaking.

“You plan to look at the room?” Valentine asked, eyes flicking up and down my form before turning to Herald.

I looked down at myself. I looked pretty normal, didn’t I? I was certain my eyes had bags under them, were they looking at me like that because I looked like shit? I guess my knees and ankles had trails of blood going down them, but… In my dress, you couldn’t even see my ankles, let alone my knees.

“Yes. I find myself doubting your claims, as Princess Persephone had mentioned it had only been an hour since you stopped healing her,” Herald mentioned.

I glanced at Herald as he gestured at me. Blue eyes turned my way, scouring my body once more before returning to focus on Herald.

“Yes,” Valentine agreed after a moment’s thought, “It has been slightly over an hour since Persephone has been fully healed.”

We started walking, following my bloody footprints to the basement door.

Herald sighed, opening the door, “If you are lying, I will find out.”