“I really don’t know what to think of that girl...”

Claudius had been sent for a loop by his tutoring session with Maria Walston-Carter. After all, he was the one who had declared her to be a vicious villainess based on her cold behaviour towards Samantha the week before. She struck him as a malicious character, with a gaze that could freeze the blood in your veins and a lot of skeletons hidden in her closet. All of his years spent reading mystery novels and crime reports had given him a superstitious approach towards women like her. But once he started listening to her introduction to biology, he couldn’t tune out again. She was really darn smart – and she had done exactly what the Professor had asked of her. He couldn’t forget it if he tried.

“Are you perhaps starting to think that you made your judgement too hastily?” Maxwell asked as they walked to his dorm room.

As they entered, Claudius immediately made a rush for a small noticeboard that had been placed up against the far wall. It was covered with various pieces of scrap paper, marked with ink covering his observations about the people at the academy.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Max sighed, “What on Earth is this?” To him, they looked like nothing more than the ramblings of a madman. Surely Claude would be institutionalised if they found this stalker-like collection of tall tales and laundered gossip.

“Criminal profiling is key to being a good detective, even Lady Maria agrees with me on that.”

“The only criminal we’re profiling here right now is you.”

Claude ignored his snide comments and explained his process; “I’ve been asking around about her. I haven’t recorded some of the more popular stories – I only look for things that have a basis in reality. According to Talia, Maria doesn’t have any friends aside from her. Still, she’s the most popular woman in the academy.”

Max shrugged, “She likes to keep to herself. Just because everyone adores her doesn’t mean she’ll be friendly.”

“She loves shooting and has won several competitions, despite her young age. She comes from a wealthy and well-regarded family. She is also surprisingly athletic, according to some of the other girls.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“I’m not sure!” Claude chirped happily in his ignorance, “I just thought it was interesting. She’s a bit of a mystery, do you get what I mean?”

Maxwell wouldn’t admit to that much. Maria was the hot topic on everyone’s lips, and her achievements had become increasingly outsized since her fans started treating her like God’s gift to the green earth. She didn’t speak to many others – only doing so when spoken to. Talia had become the only regular acquaintance she kept, if only so that nobody could sit next to her during a lecture. The moment the period was over the two would part ways only to reunite a few minutes later in the next. Maxwell did not have the boundless curiosity that Claude did. He’d seen a hundred noble girls who were much the same. They had eclectic interests, cold personalities, and loved being at the top of the table.

“If she finds out about this, she might kill you for real. Do the teachers know about this?”

Claude brushed it off, “I’m just doing my due diligence as a member of the community.”

“Is that so? How would you feel if someone kept a board like this regarding you?”

Claude pursed his lips and hummed, “Um. I’d be flattered.”

“Sure, sure you would...”

Claudius was as ever totally ignorant as to how to interact with girls his age. Everything had to be pressed through a prism of crime novella-tinged mania. What had started as childish games in the garden had turned into a genuine interest in the art of deduction. At least Maria had seemingly pushed him in the right direction in terms of taking his learning seriously. Perhaps some knowledge would do him good and make his obsessions less disruptive. Max and Claude were childhood friends – he only wanted the best for him come what may.

“Samantha isn’t a fan either,” Claudius added, “She was very put off by the way that Maria spoke to her the last time.”

“That makes sense. I’m not saying that you both have to like her or anything, I just think the villainess thing you keep pushing is strange.”

At that moment, a blonde-topped head peered through the doorway and made her presence known. Samantha had heard them both speaking from the hallway and dipped inside to see what was going on. Claudius quickly reached out and tipped his board over into a face-down position so that she couldn’t see it.

“What are you two up to?”

Max laughed, “Claudius is just telling me about one of his theories again. And wouldn’t you know, it’s all about Maria.”

Samantha’s expression turned sour as she recalled their last discussion. She had expected some rudeness from the noble girls at the academy thanks to her rural background, but it was a different thing to experience it for real. Most of the mean girls preferred to say things behind her back lest they receive prompt retribution from Samantha, who was both much taller and much stronger than everyone else. Her Father always did serve large portions when it came time for dinner. She crossed her arms, “She certainly is a cold presence, but I hesitate to describe her as a villain like Claudius does.”

“I seem to recall you doing just that.”

Samantha clarified, “I was upset, it was just a figure of speech. I highly doubt that anyone in this building has the capacity to be evil as Claudius believes. She’s just a... prickly character. That’s all. I don’t care so much as long as we’re not forced into the same room together.”

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But they were going to be forced into the same room many times over. Samantha and Maria were in the same class, after all – and their dorm rooms were very close in proximity. Samantha’s negative reaction had cooled somewhat since their confrontation, but it still stung. Despite that, Maria always ignored her when they passed each other in the halls, and she hadn’t heard of her speaking ill behind her back.

Maria didn’t tend to speak with anybody at all, as a matter of fact. Samantha’s kind nature demanded that she seek answers sooner rather than later; but how could she approach Maria without incurring her wrath? Perhaps Talia was the answer to her problem. She was closer to Maria than anyone else, even if they didn’t spend time outside of classes together. Claudius brought the discussion back around to its starting point, “She’s an enigma for sure. But I have to say that she’s also an excellent teacher, so I might have to rely on her some more to get my grades up in the future.”

Maxwell waved him off and headed for the door, “Just make sure you don’t accuse her of being a villain to her face, Claude. You’ve got a bad habit of blurting out whatever you’re thinking.”

“I do not!”

Samantha nodded, “Yes, you do.”

Claudius had accidentally revealed a fondness for Samantha’s appearance a few days ago during a routine meal in the cafeteria. He insisted that there was nothing wrong with flattering someone – though the redness in his cheeks said otherwise. He had gotten ahead of himself and tried to win some of Samantha’s affection. Claudius shook his head, “Do not.” Both of his friends had long since given up on trying to argue with him when he became stubborn like this. They decided to say their goodbyes and head back to their respective rooms, where further work away from the lecture hall awaited them.

----------------------------------------

“Burning the midnight oil again, Maria?”

I looked up from the book I was reading to find the smiling façade of Talia’s erudite brother, Felipe. He was a regular sight in the libraries of the academy – picking out new learning material so that he could assist those who needed it. His passion for teaching had opened a path to a future within the academy itself, or any other higher learning institution that wanted to make use of his talents. I liked Felipe.

He was respectful of the distance I kept from others, and being a side character already in a relationship meant that I didn’t have to worry about accidentally triggering a flag and going down his ‘route.’ I scoffed at my own monologue, why was I thinking of these people as nothing more than fictile statues made for my amusement? Every piece of evidence had made it clear to me that this world was the real deal.

“I was just curious about some of the things that you mentioned during our last session, so I decided to clarify them for myself.”

He peered down at the book I was using and smiled, “Careful, you’re heading into some pretty advanced material there. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but it might make some of our later lessons a little boring.”

I preferred to dig my own grave than accept someone else’s, “I’ll survive.”

All of the lessons were boring anyway. Anything outside of our magic lectures was well-tread ground for me. The only enjoyment I could derive from them was the novelty of seeing a less-developed understanding of certain subjects presented to us. Part of it was keeping things easy for the first year, but sometimes it was obvious that the subject being spoken of was not yet fully explored or understood by the scientific community. However, I couldn’t assume things about this world so easily. As a perfect replica of the game, there were elements and supernatural forces that defined much of the world’s history and formation.

One of the foremost oddities was the creation of humanity – which was the result of divine intervention by a goddess named Adelite; no, not the mineral. A portion of her power was then passed down through the generations until it came to rest within a certain someone in my class. Adelite worship was the dominant social and religious leaning in Walser, though Samantha’s place as a ‘chosen one’ was a piece of evidence that supported her existence.

On the other hand, many players of the game had theorized that Maria was a dark opposite to Samantha. Blessed with Adelite’s powers but fostered within a negative environment. I never played the later entries in the series as I held no particular affection for the original, and several of the endings involved Maria being killed or exiled in dramatically ironic ways. I had no idea if she ever returned to be the main antagonist again. I needn’t worry myself with such things regardless, I was in full control of my own actions here and had no intent on making trouble. I wanted to keep my head down, go about my business, and hopefully come out of the other side without leaving a trail of negative consequences in my wake as I was liable to do in my past life.

“I think you’ll become an expert mage in time. It’s wonderful to see so many students enthused with the art, even if it is becoming less contemporary. At the very least I want to preserve it for future generations to understand and enjoy. If not for the sake of industry, than the appreciation and beauty of it.”

I nodded, “Time will prove you right, Felipe. There will always be those who are held under the spell of a classical art. My Father is one of them.”

“But I heard you’re a deft hand with a firearm as well. How did you convince your Father to let you participate in shooting?”

It took a lot of begging, pleading, and a fair amount of making myself look like a sad puppy.

“I asked nicely.”

Felipe laughed, “According to some of the girls in your year, ‘nice’ isn’t a word in your vocabulary. They speak of you like you’re the Ice Queen of the academy. Theodore’s admirers aren’t going to like that.”

I sighed and looked back down at my book, “They can rest assured that I have no relationship with Prince Theodore.”

“That may be the case, but such salacious rumours are common currency in these gilded halls. There are a great many students who have accumulated unearned infamy for a variety of perceived misdoings.”

I had plenty of material misdoings to damn me already.

The discussion was upended by the arrival of his fiancé, Beatrice Booker. She trotted into the library with a wily smile on her face, which lit up even further when she spotted Felipe speaking with me. “Oh, Felipe. There you are!”

“Beatrice, what are you doing here at this hour?”

She approached the table and straightened out her skirt, “The prefect sent me to grab you. They have been tearing their hair out because their precious schedule is being disrupted by tardy students.”

Felipe’s voice was drizzled with sarcasm, “Tardy? I wouldn’t dare.”

Beatrice looked to me, “Oh, and if it isn’t Lady Maria herself! It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” I responded politely.

“The rumours certainly didn’t undersell your beauty, and I love the way that you’ve styled your hair!” she gushed, pouring over every little detail in my outward appearance. “I think the other girls are going to have serious competition when you start to grow into your uniform.”

She was more optimistic about the grip of puberty than I was. I hadn’t grown an inch since it started. And for that matter – I was already the number one most desired bachelorette in the entire student body! Growing a pair of lumps on my chest was sure to make the problem worse.

“We’d best be away, Beatrice. We wouldn’t want to upset the prefects further.”

Beatrice giggled and waved goodbye, “See you again, Lady Maria.” I bowed my head in deference as they left me to my studies. They were pleasant enough company, but I was still resolved to keep my distance from everybody. Hellfire would come for me one day, and I didn’t want to drag anyone else down with me.

I flipped the page, “Chapter Five, liquid-based magic...”