The afternoon sun shined down on Lucina's mansion in Solfin and a warm breeze danced through its garden. Maids hung laundry out to dry as they idly chatted amongst themselves to pass the time, gardeners trimmed bushes and started laying out plans for the coming fall, and the sounds of swords clashing from the newly finished barracks as Hellhound knights trained echoed on the wind. Tress took a moment to look out a window from the second floor before continuing on her way to the stairs that led up to the third floor. Even if Lucina would be in the capital for most of the year, she didn't want to become lax in her duties and kept up her routine of keeping the third floor clean and ready for its master's return. A part of her was sad that Lucina didn't take her to the capital since students were allowed one servant to attend with them, but she also was glad to be in Solfin since dealing with the previous Rolf family was tiring enough. "A whole school of young nobles…" Lucina wasn't well received in the nobility which meant that, as her maid, Tress would be an easy target for any of her potential enemies; or just any bored noble with an attitude. The safety and comfort of Solfin suited Tress just fine. "I prefer my head on my shoulders… It's Monday so I should air out the bed linens." Tress continued to talk to herself about what still needed doing today as she ascended the stairs. "The carpets should also get cleaned…I'll get the other two on it. Then there's the-!?!" But, Tress' day was immediately halted as she reached the third floor and saw a sight she never expected. "M-My Lady!?!" Tress quickly greeted as she bowed to Lucina who was standing in the middle of the hallway and staring at the door that led to the fortified vault room. Why was Lucina back? How was Lucina back? "I didn't hear of your return! Shouldn't yo-!?!" As Tress approached, she saw Lucina's school uniform was stained in vomit, and a strange ball of metal the size of a human head was sitting in a bucket of water at her feet. The bucket looked like it had burn marks despite the water it carried, and steam was coming off the metal ball. "Are you alright, my La-"

"This room," Lucina's voice was distant as she cut off Tress. Her eyes were fixated on the door to the room but held little focus as if staring directly through it. "It's safe, right?"

"The vault?" Tress felt a chill run through the hall. Was she nervous from the fear of death, or the fear of the unknown? Was there a difference, currently? Tress pressed on and said, "The Baron had the walls, ceiling, and floors fortified with metal when the third floor was added. There's no windows so the only way in or out is this door. Your wealth is safe inside." She didn't know why Lucina was asking about the vault, but she felt uneasy because of it.

"Even if it's on the third floor?" Lucina slowly approached the door and held out her hand toward Tress.

"There was gossip that, even if the mansion burned down and collapsed, the vault would remain," Tress answered as she handed Lucina the key to the vault that she kept as Lucina's closest servant.

"I see." Lucina unlocked and opened the door. While she had used much of the wealth stored within during her restoration of Solfin, the vault still held a considerable amount of valuables and gold that would last Lucina for years to come. A metal box with enchanted runes sat in the corner, an 'air conditioner' prototype Lucina made based on Olivia's suggestion that Lucina was using to replace the magic crystals from the wizards to keep the room's temperature in check. Any and all traces of wizard heresy were erased from her mansion. "Good."

"…Was there something you wanted to change about the vault?" Tress asked.

"No…" Lucina listlessly replied as she walked around the vault and inspected it with a lazy gaze. "Or…well… Yes, there is." Her hand flicked a stack of gold coins across the floor. "This would be a good spot for a bathtub."

"A…bathtub?"

"And we could put a divider here for privacy… A bed could be put there… A dresser here…" Lucina continued thinking out loud as she paced around the vault.

Tress cautiously raised an eyebrow and asked, "Will you be turning this room into a safe room?" While strange that Lucina was planning it now, the vault was easily the most fortified room in the mansion so it would make sense to be a safe room in case of attack. But an attack from what?

"Yes," Lucina responded and stopped her pacing. "Though, I'll need to do something about the light." The only light in the room came from the open door that let in the sunlight from the hallway's windows, which wouldn't do for her plans. "I should enchant something to make light…as bright as the sun." She reached up toward the ceiling and smiled. "A flower can't grow without the sun."

"A flower?" Tress felt a lump forming in her throat as an implication started creeping into her mind. "You'll be…keeping flowers here?" She hoped she was wrong.

"No, just one." When Lucina turned to face Tress, Tress had to bow her head as the face Lucina was making was too horrifying to look at. Lucina's voice dripped with an expectant yet twisted love as she affirmed Tress' fears, "A beautiful white lily."

"A white lily… Her Highness?" Tress was able to glean Lucina's desire for Olivia while working for her with how much she openly cared for Olivia. But why would she turn the vault into a safe room for Olivia when she's already in the imperial palace which should be the safest place in the empire?

"Yes…Olivia." Lucina flicked another pile of gold onto the floor and watched the coins roll around. "She's…not the brightest, you see."

"…?" Lucina would never badmouth Olivia, so her master's words caught Tress off guard. "…She's not?"

"She's made and saved more gold than she could reasonably spend in a lifetime, her contributions and dealings in high society cemented her position for years to come with the tools she's founded and the social connections she's formed, and she's self-righteous to a fault which has made the commoners, and myself, love her… But it wasn't enough." Another pile of gold was flicked to the floor but this time with more force and the coins ricocheted across the floor, forcing Tress to take a step back. "Gold is useless without the freedom to spend it, position is worthless if someone else can easily topple it, and self-righteousness needs a sharp mind to not be self-destructive." One of the coins rolled back and tapped against Lucina's boot before landing with the 'head' side facing up. Marcus' face proudly looked up at her from the floor. "It isn't enough and she doesn't even realize it because she's deluding herself into thinking she can change things. She's really quite foolish…but isn't that, in itself, endearing?"

"…" Even though Lucina encouraged Tress to speak her mind, this was one of those times when Tress knew she should keep her mouth shut.

"She's so sure that she can change fate despite our Lord Zulm already declaring the ending, and it is as clear as day, that I can't help but admire her for it! To spite fate so openly even though everything is happening as prophesized!? She's an idiot, but that's okay…" Lucina picked up the coin and sickly smiled as she used fire magic to melt Marcus' face and turn the coin blank. "After all, she has me: the only one who can help her. The only one who can save her! No matter how foolish she becomes, I'll love her all the same!"

"…Shouldn't you warn Her Highness?" Tress couldn't understand what Lucina was talking about, but this seemed like the wrong approach to whatever was happening.

"No," Lucina firmly answered and dropped the melted coin. "If she knew, then she would hastily act to try and 'fix' things which would only push James to do what he originally wanted… She can't know…" Lucina cocked her head to the side as she listened to whispers that weren't there before smiling a devil's smile. "So, Tress, you'll help me, right?" Lucina turned her frightful gaze to Tress who still refused to raise her head and look Lucina in the eyes. "You'll help me make the most comfortable flowerpot for my lily, right?"

***

Two weeks passed since I visited Solfin to have Tress start working on the vault and things are fairly quiet at school. Olivia's made a few 'coincidences' to meet the Saintess and they seem to be slowly getting along. As for me, my theory on how the holes my gravity magic creates was right: the more material I use to create the ball, the larger the hole will be and the longer it will last. Creating a metal ball the size of a human head makes a portal large enough for a person to walk through and lasts for a second which is just enough time to pass through before it closes. However, the ball will be molten which means I need a bucket that I have to continuously fill with water magic, or else it will burn a hole right through the floor. I should make a designated spot in the mansion that has a special floor to resist the heat, later. But, for now, I have other things to worry about. "It should be…around here?" After bribing some of the more shady upperclassmen, I narrowed down where this 'black market' from Olivia's prophecies was located and went to deal with it. Since 'Countess Sanguine' was the shopkeeper in her fifth prophecy, then I need to make sure I'm in charge before the Saintess discovers it. The royal academy was a massive campus that had multiple, smaller buildings that weren't directly connected to the main hall. While most were used for either dorms or sectioned off for specific classes that held overlapping topics, there was one that was left abandoned in the furthest corner of the academy's grounds.

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"The prayer hall~," my Olivia chimed in as we made our way toward the old building. Her slave collar's chain leash jingled a dirge as she recited what I learned after some digging in the library, "Ever since the wizards first appeared, the royal academy slowly cut the funding for the building until it was left a hollow shell of its former self~. Now, no one goes there as it's forbidden by the staff, and many claim it's haunted~."

"The perfect hiding spot for illegal deals." The old prayer hall was a two-story, wooden building covered in vines, a few of its windows were shattered, and the path leading to it was overgrown with weeds. They probably never tore the building down so it could remain as an insult to the gods: their once bustling halls of prayer and reverence were left to rot and be forgotten by the next generations of nobility. It was disgusting. I adjusted the black robe I wore to hide my identity and entered the building to find myself in a large entrance hall that was covered in dust; though a trodden path through the dust led deeper into the building. All the furniture and decorations remained as if everyone had left without taking a single thing when the building was finally abandoned. The ceiling held a painting of Lord Zulm's eye that was surrounded by the unreadable language of the gods. His eye watched me, almost expectantly, as I followed the path through the dust and deeper into the building. Eventually, in the room that used to house the priests who took care of this place, and through the secret door I was told about, I found who I was looking for.

"Greetings," a hooded man sat behind a large desk that was filled with trinkets, jewelry, and other oddities. Shelves covered the walls that were filled with books and bottles of strange liquids. There were even weapons stacked neatly in the far corner. "Tell me, dear customer, what is it you desire?" The man's voice sounded as if a rat could talk and he gestured toward the shelves around him. "Forbidden or rare texts? Poisons and antidotes? Jewelry from lost kingdoms? Everything has a price."

"…What about those weapons?" I motioned toward the swords he had on display and started walking toward them.

"Oh? An eye for the blade?" It was obvious by his tone that he didn't care what I picked so long as I made a purchase. He moved ahead of me and opened the display case for me to get a better look at them. "Relics from tombs, famous general's personal weapons, or subtle blades forged by master smiths!" He picked up a shortsword that had a golden guard with red rubies embedded into it. "All treasures, yet still just as deadly as their more mundane brethren! And all at a fair price for a dear customer!"

"It cuts as well as normal blades?" The sword he held looked more like a ceremonial blade than one you would take into battle.

"Of course! It is my shop's guarantee!" He smiled beneath his hood and I saw a few of his teeth were missing and replaced with gold ones.

"May I test it?"

"Of course!" He motioned to a door behind his desk and said, "I always keep training dummies on hand for customers who wish for a demonstration!"

"No need for those," I said and held out my hand.

"Why, of cour-!?!" The man finally shut up when I used my gravity magic to yank the sword out of his hand. I was wearing custom-made leather gloves that had small metal rings sewn into the palms that I used as the point of gravity for the sword's hilt and used my gravity magic to pull it out of his hand. "W-What are-!!!" I grabbed and ran the blade through his chest to pierce his heart.

"You're right, the blade is just as sharp as a mundane one." I shoved the merchant's body back and he fell to the floor with a thud. His eyes stared up at me in shock before fading away as the last of his life flickered out. "…Now for the cleanup." I put the sword leaning against the desk and dragged the corpse to the door to hide him in the back room until I could have Carl properly dispose of it. Actually, why would I have Carl do it when I can send his body anywhere I want with my portals? However, I should still have Carl look into the suppliers of this place to keep it running since I needed to sell the Saintess things and would need to keep the stock full. I plopped the corpse down and wiped the blood off my hands. "Now, I should look over the inventory he had to-"

"Hello?" A voice from the shop called out as a customer arrived. But that voice…it couldn't be… "Is the shop open?" Saintess Beatrice called out again from the main room.

"…" How did she figure out the location of the black market shop? There's no way she has an information network when she just arrived at the academy. Actually, more importantly, how did she know this was a shop? She sounded oddly calm being here. "…Guess it's time to begin." I lightly slapped my cheeks to focus my mind and tossed my black robe on a crate since it was supposed to be known to the Saintess that 'Countess Sanguine' was the shopkeeper. I walked through the door and greeted my first patron, "Welcome, dear customer."

"!?!" The Saintess' face was rightfully shocked since it must be weird that a fellow first-year is the shopkeeper in a black market shop, but there was also something else…confusion. She looked like she was expecting someone else and was confused as to why I was here instead. "Y-You're…?" Her eyes caught the bloody blade that was still leaning against the desk and the trail of blood that led to the back room.

"Just a small altercation with a rude customer who didn't want to pay for my wares." I should test her. "So long as you have the coin, anything's for sale, Saintess."

"…" The Saintess hesitated before quietly mumbling, "It's different." If I hadn't trained my senses during the war to be as sharp as they were, I would have missed it. Just what do you know, Saintess?

"I-" I was about to speak, but felt my body freeze when I saw what the Saintess did next: she started to subtly tap the air. Any normal person would dismiss such gestures, but I knew better! Those were the same gestures Olivia made when she interacted with her 'menu'! Was she the same as Olivia? Did she come from the same world? Did she know about the prophecies? I need to know and there was one way I knew how to get my answer. I cleared my throat so she would pay attention to me and said, "While I have many things for sale, some of them require your stats to be a certain level. Make sure you can use my items before purchase, Saintess." I cast the bait.

"Ah?" Understanding flashed across her face and she mumbled the words I was waiting to hear, "Status."

"…" Caught you. Now it made sense how she knew the location of the shop: she knew about the prophecies just like Olivia. The fact she was here during our first year and that she was immediately visiting the shop also told me what her aim was: the reverse harem ending, as Olivia called it. If that was the case, then she also knows what that means for Olivia. To think that Olivia offered you an olive branch and this is how you repay her?

"I'll take the first volume of Nyrub's Tome," the Saintess eventually made her choice despite not even looking at any of the shelves of items.

"An rare book detailing the unique necromancies of Yulash?" Of the four people the Saintess would go after, according to Olivia, this would only be useful to Andrew Mystyr since wizards are desperate to figure out the secrets to obtaining life and death magic. "An exotic choice." I used my gravity magic to pull the book off the shelf and into my hand which startled the Saintess. Without me even telling her the price, the Saintess produced the exact amount of gold the previous merchant had the book on sale for listed in his notebook that I glanced at behind the desk. Did the prophecies mention exact gold amounts for the items the Saintess would buy? How did she even have this much gold? Wasn't she an orphan? This was…odd. Also, now that I think about it, Olivia said she knew of the black market shop but not its location since the 'menu' was vague on where its exact location was. I handed her the book after accepting the coin and asked, "Anything else?" There was more to the Saintess than just knowing about the prophecies, but what?

"…" The Saintess hesitated for a moment before looking at her 'menu' and asking, "What are the current rumors around the school?"

"…?" That was an…odd question. It was so straightforward, and asked so awkwardly, that it felt like it wasn't what she wanted to say but did anyway. I might as well humor her, "It's said that, because of your arrival, the temples are sending Elder Solomon Kor to be a theology teacher and he should arrive some time next week. It's unknown why the imperial family agreed, but His Highness the Crown Prince pushed for it to be allowed." I watched her hand slightly flinch at the mention of Solomon's name. Looks like she already knows all her soon-to-be suitors, then. "The Crown Prince has taken an interest in you, Saintess."

"…" The Saintess, again, hesitated before looking at her 'menu' and asking, "Any item recommendations?"

"…" Another odd question asked in an awkward tone. She wasn't like this during the first day when speaking to Olivia, so was there something special about being in the black market shop that changed how she talked? No… She was speaking fine earlier when she first entered, this awkwardness only started when she bought something. Why? "Nyrub's Tome is quite thick, even if it's just the first volume, so it will take a while to read through. Perhaps a gift for someone else would be more appropriate as your next purchase."

"…!" Her face looked surprised that I knew the book was a gift, but she didn't press on how. The Saintess stood in front of the desk silently going through her 'menu' before finally saying, "That is all." An abrupt goodbye.

"Then I wish you a good day, Saintess." I gave a slight bow of my head as I added, "Should you ever need anything, you know when my shop is open."

"…" The Saintess didn't say anything and turned to leave with her gift for Andrew.

"Oh, and a word of advice." I stopped her once she was physically outside the door to the shop's room. "I'd appreciate your discretion on my ownership of this establishment. After all…" I picked up the bloody sword and let the blood glisten in the candlelight, "We must all properly play our parts."

"…" Even though my words were an obvious threat, the Saintess turned to me and had a…resigned look on her face. Her eyes looked tired and her smile was even more so. She gave a curtsy but made sure to take a step back so she wouldn't bow her head into the doorway. Did she not want to re-enter the room? Her next words also confused me, "Zulm's will be done."

"…" I watched her rise and walk away, leaving me to my confused thoughts. The Saintess both was and wasn't like Olivia. She had a 'menu' so that meant she was reincarnated from another world like Olivia was…right? Just who are you, Saintess?

***

Beatrice exited the abandoned prayer hall and quickly made her way across the school grounds back toward the dorms while making sure no one saw her. It was forbidden to go near the prayer hall and she knew from experience that they would be extra harsh on her since she was a Saintess. "The shop was also different…" she mumbled to herself as she clutched the tome to her chest. "It was different!" Her voice went from apprehensive to excited as she was filled with hope. With a renewed vigor she proclaimed to herself, "Then this time… This time I can do it!" Beatrice happily made her way to where she knew Andrew would be spending his free time despite never having met him; at least, in this life. "This time, the empire doesn't have to fall!"