Cassandra left for her tour of the castle the next morning after checking to make sure Maximus was nowhere around. The next test would not be ready for her for another day. There was a group today but, as always, room 3054 was far from first. That meant she could spend the entire day relaxing and recuperating from the previous tests.

The castle’s garden was beautiful, and she was only in the section decorating the Scholar Wing. There was a lovely stream and waterfall that cut through the garden, separating the area into two main sections. The first was a lovely path through flowering trees and the second was a well maintained garden full of flowerbeds and climbing flower archways. The path continued from the first section over a small bridge, and through the various flowered arches.

It was as the path curved past the flower garden and into one full of valuable herbs used for their scent that Cassandra ran into another person. There was an absolutely adorable cat girl leaning down to smell the chamomile slightly off the path. Her hair, or fur, was so light in color it was almost white, and despite her clearly having to be sixteen to attend the test she was small enough to be mistaken for a child.

Beastkin were said to come in all shapes and sizes, so why judge one so adorable? She did wonder if the stronger herbs like lavender and mint would bother a cat’s sensitive nose, but she wasn’t sure exactly how much of the catlike traits catkins inherited. Just as Cassandra realized she was staring, the girl looked up and saw her.

“Cassandra?” she asked with a strange recognition.

“Pardon?” Cassandra asked. Had they met before? Was she already famous enough to be recognized by strangers? Certainly the name Ms. Cookie had gotten around thanks to that whole scene the day before, but would anyone know her by name?

“Oh! Sorry,” she quickly said, scrambling up and giving a quick bow. Why was she bowing? “It’s just, you are the coolest character even if you are a rival. No, I mean… Um… Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Oh dear. This had escalated quickly. A character, a rival, and reincarnation all in one breath. Cassandra glanced around. “This isn’t the sort of place to talk about those things,” she warned, “You never know who might be listening.”

The girl seemed troubled for a moment. Even her troubled face was adorable. “I know! The gardener has been letting me practice magic in the old greenhouse. We could talk there.”

An old greenhouse used for practicing magic? This felt a lot like a trap, but Cassandra couldn’t help her curiosity. Besides, how could she deny such an adorable fellow magic lover? She followed her to the old greenhouse which was incredibly underwhelming after the spectacular garden she had toured earlier. It was small, dingy, and the door was completely missing. Still, the dirt stained windows and green grime wouldn’t allow anyone to watch them from a distance.

“Is this alright?” the girl asked, a bit nervous.

“It will have to do,” Cassandra agreed, “Can you tell me more about what you meant? Reincarnation?”

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“I have memories from a different world,” she began, then backpedaled, “Reincarnation is kind of like summoning, I guess? Except you it just sorta happened and you are born as a new person in that world.”

That solved that question. She hadn’t expected to meet anyone else who had those strange dreams or memories, but now that she was in the situation it seemed even more odd that she had thought she was the only one in the first place. There were more important things to discuss, though.

“What did you mean by rival character?” Cassandra demanded.

“That is… This world is a story I know that you could play like a game. Kinda like a visual novel,” she explained, her tail twitching with unease, “The goal of the game is to romance the capture targets and defeat the rival.”

“What happens if you fail?” Cassandra asked with interest, trying her best to ignore the familiar phrases from her own dreams.

“If you fail, you watch the capture target you were aiming for confess to the rival,” she explained, “and then you leave Tethia and become a magic weapon for the Gaia Empire.”

“That is unfortunate. Do you know who this person is who I am the rival of?” Cassandra asked.

The girl’s tail moved side to side even more frantically as she looked distraught. She spoke in a voice so small Cassandra barely heard her. “It’s me…”

“If I am your rival, why would you give me all this information and put yourself in danger?” Cassandra asked, “Didn’t you say your life is doomed if you fail?”

“I can’t do it from the start,” she replied, “I don’t want to romance or be romanced by any of the capture targets.”

“Can I ask why?” Were they terrible people or something?

“Well, you see, they are all men,” she explained, and sighed when she realized Cassandra wasn’t understanding the problem. “You mistook me too, didn’t you?”

Oh no, now she looked like she was going to cry. Cassandra quickly searched for her handkerchief. “I’m sorry if I misunderstood something,” she quickly apologized, “Could you let me know what it is?”

“I am a boy!” the catkin exclaimed with a shocking amount of force.

“You are?!” Cassandra exclaimed back in surprise, before quickly correcting herself, “I’m sorry. I see the problem now. But why are you telling me all of this? Wouldn’t things be worse for you if I am confessed to?”

“It’s too late for that,” he told her. How was his voice so high? Was it a catkin trait? No, she needed to stop thinking about it. “Haven’t you already been confessed to by the Prince?”

Confessed to? There was only one person who had ever confessed to her publicly or otherwise. “Maximus,” Cassandra realized, “But you are still here. There is no reason for you to go to Gaia.”

“I know that, but I’m scared. I thought that if anyone could help me, you could,” he told her, letting out a sniffle from the tears he didn’t quite hold back and clutching her offered handkerchief close, “But even you mistook me for a girl.”

“Sorry,” Cassandra apologized again. She needed to focus. This was an actual problem and the catkin in front of her had a very real fear whether that fear was logical or not. There had to be some sort of solution for this.

“Is there a capture target you don’t need to romance to gain their protection?” she asked. The loss of protection was the only reason Cassandra could think of for him to suddenly be carried off to Gaia as a magic weapon, “Perhaps one that won’t mistake you for a girl?”

He thought about it. “There is, but I might be too late to meet him. In his route I have to meet him before the third exam and agree to be his pair.”

“His pair?” Cassandra asked. A pair was an uncommon practice in magic where someone borrowed the magic of another with magic to spare to use as their own. Considering he had been practicing magic in this greenhouse, he must intend to be on the lending side.

“Yes. He is a genius, but he comes from the border where magic is scarce and doesn’t have any of his own,” he explained, “If no one offers to be his pair, he won’t make it into Nobility.”

“I see. Maybe I can help you find him. What is his name?”

“His name is Keane,” he told her, and seemed to realize something, “Oh, and mine is Autumn. I forgot to introduce myself since I already know you.”

“Nice to meet you, Autumn,” Cassandra replied with a smile and held out her hand for him to take, “Let’s go track down the genius.”