[And now...what do I do?] was Elaine's first thought when Miriel opened her mouth; she had seriously believed that the girl was bluffing, but one look into her eyes was enough to understand that she was serious.

[Has she discovered me? How? Why? Was it Erwin?] These were the second questions that began to race through Elaine's mind, in the few seconds that felt like an eternity.

Then, a much worse thought crossed her mind, making her tense up all at once; [Is she a spy sent by Umarth?!]

If this prospect had any basis, it would have ended her student life in less than four days. She wanted to discard this hypothesis immediately, as it seemed unlikely for something like that to happen. But the more she thought about Umarth, the more this possibility took root, and the more her anxiety rose.

[When everything seemed to be going well...] thought the girl, who, at that moment, due to her paranoia, had come to believe that Miriel was a spy from the new kingdom of Umarth. Not only her, but her twisted mind also made her believe she had fallen into some sort of trap, and to her, everyone present was an enemy.

And it was at that moment, however, that a darker side of her manifested; [...5...10...20...Twenty Elves. Some of them are high level, like Haldir. I can kill ten of them here and now, but with the others...I need to act cleverly...]

At that moment, she was ready to act; there was no turning back, and even if she had never killed before in her life, she was determined to eliminate every single supporter of Umarth, regardless of where or when; for her, it was on sight

But before the princess of Blueheaven could even begin the massacre, Miriel spoke up again, just in time to stop her.

"As you know, my sense of smell is a bit peculiar; my nose can distinguish any kind of scent, even the ones of humans or elves. Despite being faint, I can sense her scent is similar to ours..."

[Is it true?...] Elaine asked herself skeptically, not convinced by the girl's words; but Miriel was calm, her tone of voice steady, and her gaze serene.

Slowly, Elaine calmed down, and at that moment, after all the tension left her body, she finally realized what she was about to do without any concrete evidence; [What...was I about to do?!] she thought, shocked, covering her face with her hand.

"...Are you sure about what you are saying?" Haldir asked hesitantly, still doubting Miriel. "Yet, she has no features that resemble ours..."

"Do you doubt my words now?" the girl muttered, pouting. "I have never lied and never will..."

At that moment, Elaine, after an initial state of panic, slowly lifted her gaze, and with watchful eyes, read the room's situation; there was skepticism in the elves' eyes, but she realized there was also some doubt.

It was a strange situation, one she could never have predicted, yet at that moment, what seemed like a desperate situation for her had turned into an ambiguous one, a situation Elaine could exploit to achieve her goals.

"Em's true, ai'm an elf. O gon least, ai laik partly, since ai laik a fourth generation elf."

Elaine decided to turn the situation to her favor, choosing to speak in Elvish, revealing, at least partially, her identity; but she lied, as she added a small detail in that simple sentence: that she was a fourth-generation elf.

When people heard her speak in that way, they were all shocked, and the skeptical expressions that had ruled their faces until a moment ago gave way to great surprise and curiosity.

"A fourth-generation elf?" Haldir asked, surprised but still somewhat doubtful. "Really?"

"Yes," Elaine countered firmly, trying to be as convincing as possible. "You see, my grandmother was a half-blood and married a human; my father was born 1/3, and since he married my mother, who is also human, I ended up being only 1/4..."

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"And that part involves the deviant element of ice, am I right?" Miriel interjected, subtly supporting Elaine's "veiled" lie.

"Exactly, Miriel..." Elaine replied, feeling she was about to convince everyone.

"Just as I thought..." the girl hissed with attentive eyes, nodding repeatedly. "You've heard of a certain girl who, besides being a genius, can manipulate the deviant ice element at only 15 years old, right? Well, it's her. Her name is Lucy Blazestorm, and she’s been here for a short while. Upon hearing the news, I wanted to interview her, since the ice element for humans falls into the rare deviant category, something they shouldn’t normally possess. I had my doubts, but when I met her, they vanished... She asked me to meet you all, and I killed two birds with one stone. That’s why I brought her here. Because soon she will become famous for her abilities, and if it were discovered that she is a fourth-generation elf, it would be the end. I wanted to explain it, but a certain ‘BEDUIN’ started going crazy...” Miriel concluded, shooting a glare at Haldir, who felt slightly embarrassed.

"Oh...Is that why you brought me here?" Elaine said with a surprised tone, not expecting this at all.

"Exactly! I know what it means to not have a space all to yourself, and I know what it means to feel like a fish out of water... Here, you can do whatever you want! Study, sleep, eat, without anyone bothering you or making you feel uncomfortable!"

[It’s a...nice thought] Elaine thought for a moment, not expecting this when she came here.

"Forgive me, Lucy..." Haldir said softly, mortified. "It's just that this place is special to us; being elite students, and on top of that, elves, we are always disturbed in whatever we do. I didn't mean to be rude..."

"Don't worry..." said Elaine, feeling somewhat guilty about what was happening. "I understand why you did it, I don’t blame you."

Hearing those words, Haldir's slightly low spirits lifted again. "My name is Haldir Aranion, I am in the fourth year of section A. Nice to meet you and... Welcome to the club!"

At the same time, the remaining kids in the room, seeing Haldir's behavior, began to introduce themselves to Elaine slowly, one by one, then returned to their business. Elaine did not want friends, true, but at that moment, after calming down and succeeding in her initial intent, she felt a certain homesickness seeing so many elves gathered together, making her a bit sad because it automatically made her think of her deceased friends and parents.

[Sooner or later... I will return home, it’s a promise] Elaine thought, laying the foundation for her grand revenge plan.

"Lucy... forgive me for what happened!" Miriel suddenly said, bowing towards Elaine.

"It's all okay..." Elaine replied, thinking that she would have reacted the same way as Haldir in his situation.

"By the way, it seems Haldir is a sort of leader for y'all, right?"

Indeed, Elaine noticed how everyone started to introduce themselves only when Haldir made the first move; and everyone sided with Haldir when he didn't want Elaine to join their club. She didn’t know him personally, but maybe the fact that he was the eldest in the room made everyone see him as an older brother; [In that case... I’ll have to keep him close too...] Elaine thought, believing that, in a not-too-distant future, she would need someone like him to convince the other elves.

"Haldir a leader?" Miriel repeated, hissing. "Well, although he's an idiot most of the times, he's the oldest among us, and he’s the one who created this club. But no, he’s not the real leader...at least, not when she's around."

"She? Who is she?" I asked, surprised that there was someone else I hadn’t seen yet.

"May I come through?"

Suddenly, in the middle of the conversation, a female voice interrupted the two girls, who, taken a bit by surprise, turned around.

> The girl behind them was taller than them, about 1.70 meters; her hair, well-groomed, was bright blonde and straight, with a blue rose gracefully nestled behind her ear, its petals contrasting beautifully with her hair and her eyes were light blue, like the color of a clear sky; her face had beautiful features, so much so that she looked like a princess out of a storybook.

>

> She wore clothes that differed slightly from the typical academy students. Her outfit included a modified school jacket adorned with diamonds along the seams, paired with a very short skirt that accentuated her long legs, which were partially covered by long black stockings."

Elaine observed the girl, but besides noting that she was an elf, she had never seen her before. Miriel, however, as soon as she laid eyes on the girl behind them, smiled broadly; with a great leap, she jumped on the girl, hugging her warmly.

"Melian! You’re back!"

Suddenly, everyone in the room turned towards the girl, and several shouts of joy erupted instantly, with everyone rushing to surround the girl, who welcomed all with a small smile.

[Melian... Who the heck is she?... Uh? Wait...]

As she observed her appearance, on the cloak she wore, she saw a pin, different from any other pin the students had: it was a crown, and in the middle of it, a magical wand stood; Elaine had no doubts, that girl was the Queen of the Spellcasters.