One day, she woke up as a tragic girl at the end of her line, she had known herself by many names before but one was most certainly the only possible option left for her to live with.

Matilda, a plain name as any.

Was the name hers in this life or shouldn't she change it once she gets the chance?

For now, Matilda will work as a name, just like how the voice of the Saints told her it would.

It is unforgivable to live a life like a fiddle as her mother always taught her but her mother now lies 6 feet down in an unmarked grave. That's why Matilda must be the master of her own Fate, but every time she goes on her own, bad things happen, especially that last bit of trouble with Vivian.

So, she must listen and let the Saints guide her, she must abandon her honor in order to do the thing that the Saints want the most.

« Pick that up! »

« Cast that spell! »

« Save that child! »

« Pick that herb! »

« Buy that item! »

« Attack this! »

« Talk to that! »

« Escape from that! »

« Parry! Dodge! Attack! Forward! Backward! Left! Right! Right! Left! Left! Left! »

« LEFT! »

« LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFT…

And it happened again.

She broke.

« Man, this is buggy as fuck. »

A strong shiver ran through Matilda's body and… it all stopped… for now.

Blackness!

She should have listened… now it will start all over again.

***

"Your Highness, we have arrived."

Descending from his gilded carriage pulled by four white horses, the Prince turned around and looked at the maiden descending after him as he smiled and lent her a hand.

"Shall we?" He asked.

"My Prince… this is so much already. I can't be seen in such a dress in front of people." The girl spoke as she tried to pull up her dress to cover as much of her thin shoulders as possible.

"Dear Matilda, this is one of those days that even I have to swallow the bitter pill and go with the most lavish things. Tonight, we represent all our great nation's young men and women." He said warmingly and helped her down.

She was dressed in a lovely yellow dress which he complemented with his lilac formal suit. They dressed lavishly indeed since around them the entire world was revolving.

In the fine morning, a long carpet stretched out beneath the feet of the individuals standing in organized rows on either side of the carriage. This carpet led to an extensive garden situated close to the Ceremonial Hall.

Everyone chattered about how the Prince and his date were a match made in heaven. Despite the difference in class, the young lady was sponsored by the Temple since her childhood and has been given the best treatment and education, and even the first queen has displayed favor towards her. And the prince is the young lion of Great Eldgard, a talent hardly seen in a thousand years yet so humble and loving to his subjects and friends.

No one could stop chattering as the two walked on the flowery carpet until they reached the garden. After that, a score of carriages started to flow behind them and the students descended from each carriage as pairs of males and females.

Today, after all, is the Spring Festival day and all the colors are to be bright and beautiful, displaying the cheerfulness in the atmosphere as the students finish their long-dreaded exams, and are now about to bloom into the high society as men and women of the state.

But was that all? Of course not. Those students still have a long long day ahead of them and it is just beginning. In fact, gathering them in the garden is merely for them to stay outside the ceremonial hall until they get called in after the guests are seated.

Meanwhile, the students were to have fun and eat some spring snacks for lunch to make sure they were all set and ready for today's performances. The Combat performance, the Magic performance, and the Music performance. The three aspects that define each nation's future.

A student is only permitted to apply to one type of performance and it will be witnessed by the high and mighty of Archester and all the honored guests from across Albion.

A talent show for Might, Magic, and Culture as it is intended to be. For that, no mistakes can be made, and that's why participating in this performance was a year-long challenge for applicants since the spots of participation are limited to seven spots for each of the three performance types. Participation alone can boost the performing students' grades so much that they are almost guaranteed the top 20 positions in the overall ranking after the exam.

On top of it all, nine judges were invited from the ranks of the most prestigious figures in the whole continent. Those judges would be there to evaluate and sponsor the best performances in order to take the cream of the crop and nurture a new generation of elites.

And after the performance, there will be the evening banquet followed by a dance ball where the results of the exams will be announced on a ranking board by a percentage score. The participants of each performance from the previous talent show may get a reward of up to 0.2 points to their score from each judge which can boost the ranking by a large leap. However, that "up to" can mean anything starting from 0.01 and it means one must at least impress the judges enough to gain their acknowledgement, which may or may not even happen since the standards aren't just high, but outlandishly radical.

Stolen novel; please report.

In the end, it was all about the competence of each and every performer.

But this was still the beginning of the day, a very long day at that, and most of the students came in couples. There were also those who decided to show up alone but they were required to meet the standards of having a companion and only the students of the second and the first years can fill that role, such as the case with Prince Liam and his date, Matilda Ambrose.

But in this sort of gathering, there was someone who was seen in a bad light. So bad, in fact, that she wouldn't even get a date to the festival even if she tried her hardest to, and knowing her, she wouldn't even put in the effort, it is the protagonist of this story and its female lead, Vivian K. Moore.

Unloved by most of her peers in the third year, Vivian bears the stigma of being the haughty narcissistic villainess of the century. So unloved that rather than forgetting about her, people were already looking around for her just to gloat about the fact that she came here without a date.

But surprise surprise, Vivian wasn't here just yet which caused some people to start gossiping and chattering amongst themselves. Some said they would be bored if all the build-up that happened up to this point goes for nothing, others said that it could be dangerous to be late like that since no one is allowed to miss the four days of the finals as it still is a royal summon, and others speculated that since no one wants to associate themselves with her, Vivian seems to be too embarrassed to be present.

Still, to some individuals, this seemed like… it was way too easy.

It can't be this easy to make Vivian Moore back off, especially after the crisis she faced in the final exams.

This is the stage they all set, the Spring Festival stage, the moment when Crown Prince Liam of Elgard consolidates his faction and ends the last remaining fragment of opposition in their small academy world.

This will set the stage to unite the future heirs of the Six Great Houses under one man and one man only.

Vivian must fall so that the Moores fall in line once again and the Prince gets his support from their coffers of gold to attain his right to the throne.

Or so that's what it seemed it should be.

Prince Liam isn't as simple as to let a quarrel between him and his ex-fiancee be the basis of a bitter struggle such as this one. In every action he took, there was a reason for everything.

Vivian Moore was a perfect fit to be Queen, she had it all as if she was born for such fate. Beautiful, strong-willed, educated, and her family possesses immense wealth it can cripple the whole Empire.

But unlike the fears the King holds against House Moore, Prince Liam has a different view of the matter in mind. To him, Vivian was the right card to have even against his own father. With the money of the Moores and the new territory they acquired in the New World's colonies, the Prince can be unstoppable in his own right.

But the appearance of Matilda flipped the whole equation on its head. Now, Matilda Ambrose, the commoner girl, became of so much value that the Prince himself could no longer sit still from happiness.

Aside from how pleasant the girl was, she was very easy to talk to and would always say what he wanted to hear. Unlike Vivian who was like a rose of thorns, Matilda is a flower that one can keep around and touch whenever he desires.

Moreover, the only reason the Royal Family hasn't done anything against Matilda is either one of two reasons. Either they know what Liam knows about Matilda or the King wants him to lower his standing by fooling around with a commoner girl.

As for Vivian, when she threw a tantrum over Matilda, Prince Liam knew he couldn't keep the rose and the flower in the same pot even though the tradition was on his side and his father had three wives already. While Vivian's value was immense to control the flow of power in the new world, Robert Moore exists as a secondary pawn and he is willing to serve the Crown Prince faithfully against the interests of both his father and sister in order to guarantee the position as heir to the Moore family against his eldest half-brother, James Moore.

In actuality, Prince Liam cares little for what happens in the new world, and if what he's after becomes reality, Elgard's power will soar like no other in history.

For that to be fulfilled, Prince Liam needed everyone to take him seriously. Aside from the select few who are aware of the plans he's hatching, he needs to show that he's just not some other Prince who chases ladies and sports all day long.

And so, the first stepping stone in this path he chose is none other than his fianceé and her father who once supported his late brother over him.

Due to Vivian's prior engagement to another before him, namely the late Prince Charles, the former Crown Prince, Prince Liam has additional reasons to demonstrate his animosity towards Vivian and her father.

And so he waited. While she can be severely punished for missing the fourth day, the stage he set for today must go perfectly.

For the first time, the look on Prince Liam's face started to feel uneasy.

Seeing that, even Matilda started to worry over the Prince's sudden mood swings. She looked around as if looking for someone too and despite having a full entourage of seven capture targets in close proximity to her, she didn't seem like she was at ease.

That was until one carriage approached the garden road and took the turn other carriages took when dropping off students. Naturally, this should be Vivian Moore, the last student who is almost late to the party but seeing the design and the insignia on the carriage made many people frown.

"House Black?" A student asked.

"There was a student of House Black in the third year with us?" Another followed up with a question too.

Meanwhile, a figure showed up from a shadowy corner at the main pavilion in the middle of the garden and stood right behind the Prince.

"Who can it be?" The Prince asked the figure behind him.

"There are no sons of our house that are students in the three years this year." Edmond replied.

As if their minds were in synchrony, the Prince and Edmond had a rough idea of how this situation was going to evolve.

But reality was still shocking as when the carriage stopped, its door opened, and someone wearing a Knight's suit slowly descended. That someone stood beside the carriage, took a look at the classmates who were having an utter shock of confusion as the second person coming down from the carriage was Vivian, and slowly turned over to help her descend from the carriage.

"Thank you, dame knight." Vivian spoke to her companion gently.

"Be careful as you get down, Senior." Edith replied with a face both embarrassed and irritated.

"I will, my dear." Vivian chuckled slightly and covered her mouth with her hand fan that matched the color of her dress.

Unlike any dress worn by any lady, Vivian's dress had a sky blue long skirt with a white blouse. Over it, she wore a fox-pelt-lined coat. On top of that, she wore a picture hat and a pair of round-tinted sunglasses that were clearly ahead of their time. [Add Image Here!]

image [https://i.ibb.co/Lnq14Z9/Vivian-Spring-Dress.png]

This scene was bound to raise many questions as it raised eyebrows. Vivian arriving with a date is one thing, Vivian arriving with a girl date is another, and Vivian arriving with Edith Black is a whole new breed of unexpected.

How did she manage to pull that off?

Arriving with a same-sex student is not that uncommon especially if the two students had to perform together. But at the dance ball, everyone would have their dance partner of the opposite gender ready and waiting.

But Vivian had a last-hour epiphany and remembered a situation that would happen in the route of Richard Marshall where Richard wouldn't invite Edith to the festival, to begin with. He'd arrive with his "boys" from the martial arts class and would later blame Edith for not showing up on her own as if it is expected of her to come without a word.

This causes a problem for Edith and the Heroine replaces her at the dance since she doesn't get to have a date (mainly because she was targeting Richard) and finally Edith's downfall begins.

Even in other routes, the same situation occurs but Edith doesn't get her engagement broken at least. It doesn't get pleasant though.

So in conclusion, Edith's arrival at the gathering wasn't expected in some other circles either, thankfully, this would prevent some future trouble for her… or create new ones.

Vivian and Edith, two of the game's three villainesses, united their front in the face of a coming drama storm that would shake Elgard to its core.