The red noose of fate (Part I)

"I'll follow you all the way to our next lives, Rosanna. Death won't keep us apart."

-Sebastian Verde to Rosanna Castus; Route 4

***

After the incident at the mess hall, the rest of the students avoided Rosanna like the plague.

Crowds parted at the mere sight of her, teachers steered clear, and even her seatmates in class would scoot their chairs far away, as though afraid they might catch a disease. It was the second time that Rosanna had been the subject of rumors since the arriving at the Academy — except this time, Rosanna could feel the fear in everyone's gazes, could hear the hush tones in which they whispered her name. It felt like a death sentence, to be merely associated with the name Rosanna Castus.

'She hasn't even apologized.'

'I can't believe she's still here.'

'She's going to get kicked out soon.'

Rosanna heard worse, if she was being honest. This was why she made it a point to make her presence known everywhere she went, like an itch no one would dare scratch. In her old world, people could be saying worse things on social media. Compared to everything that had been thrown her way, this was nothing!

She passed by a certain busybody who called her 'an attention grabbing commoner', which made her wish she still had stilletos. Oh, how she would have loved to impale that busybody's feet as they walked.

"Don't mind them, Miss Castus," Vincent said, catching up to walk besides Rosanna. It was eerie how he seemed to have plucked the irritation out of her mind, and put them into words. "They're just afraid. After all, you did get the girls to go into detention with you—"

"The Headmaster got me into detention with them," Rosanna corrected, adjusting her hands to accommodate the weight of the books she had been carrying. No big deal. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Vincent chuckled at that. She braced herself for another discussion, except Vincent didn't follow through. Instead, he simply held out his hands. "May I?"

"Hm?"

"Allow me," he took the books from Rosanna's hands, arranging them with ease. "You're going to detention, right, Miss Castus? Let me escort you."

She was never going to get used with a body guard following her around.

Rosanna understood that it was part of Vincent's duty to watch over her, but somehow, the boy had developed a sudden interest in handling Rosanna's belongings, offering to "escort" her wherever she went. The other day, he'd also offered to take her to the dorms, which caused quite the fuss seeing that Vincent was a boy and the resident assistant interpreted the 'escorting' as a prelude to some sort of courting ritual between young students.

"Better safe that sorry," the royal guard laughed sheepishly, despite being scolded. "At least I can report to His Highness that all is well, right, Miss Castus?"

It was comforting at first — to have someone to accompany to despite the whole school avoiding her like the plague — but it didn't take long for the VIP treatment to feel like being treated as a high-profile inmate.

What else was Vincent expecting her to do, anyway?

"I'm not going to run away, you know." She sighed. "Believe it or not, I really am about to head there. No detours. I don't run away from punishments!"

The royal guard didn't say anything at that. Fearing that she'd offended him somehow, Rosanna added:

"Besides, I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now. You're not my butler, nor my servant. You don't have to!"

She reached out and tried to take the books from him, only for Vincent to hold it against her reach. She never thought of Vincent as tall, but in that moment, she cursed Rosanna's petite figure, forever doomed to be towered over by the whole cast.

(It probably had a lot to do about feeling small, instead of the height itself. Since becoming Rosanna Castus, all she'd ever done was help people and be nice. Maybe it was Rosanna's own halo affecting her as well? What if the protagonist's aura was so strong...it can even change her personality?

The thought sent a chill down her spine. No way. She would rather die than be anything like the original Rosanna Castus: fragile, pushover, weak. This made her take a swipe at Vincent, in a desperate attempt to fight back.)

"Indeed, Miss Castus, I am neither those things." Vincent said as he dodged her attacks. "However, I am your guard—"

"Not mine," she huffed. "You were just assigned by the Crown Prince—"

"Incorrect. I volunteered."

Rosanna stumbled a little at that, falling out of balance as she tried to stand on her tiptoes. Out of panic, she clung to the nearest sturdy object…which also happened to be the royal guard himself. her fingers dug at the poor boy's clothing, way harder than she'd intended.

Rosanna tried to search for answers beneath that mop of hair. "What does that mean?"

Vincent peered down at her, considering. For one moment, an image of another person flashed in her mind — one with wolfish eyes, cold features, and hands grabbing her in the dark.

Rosanna blinked.

"What's going on here?" A new voice asked. Both heads turned to find Leo standing at the other end of the hallway, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

Ah. Good timing!

Relieved to find her favorite show-stealer of a butler, Rosanna immediately let go of Vincent. She spread out her hands. "Well, well, well! Look who do we have—"

"Shut up," Leo cut in, marching forward. Then, as if remembering something, he added: "Please."

"What brings you here, mister Cassius?" Vincent asked, popping up to stand beside Rosanna. "I thought your classroom is in another floor."

Leo only stared at Vincent, refusing to answer the question. He stopped just a few feet away from them, as though there was an invisible line that separated both sides.

Rosanna didn't know what to expect, but it was definitely not both boys just standing there, staring at each other in silence.

So even NPCs have it rough, She thought woefully. Rosanna always took hers for granted, being the main heroine, but everyone around her was fighting for what little screentime they had. Luckily for them, all they had to do was stick close to her!

"Hey now," she stepped between the two. "I'm sure mister butler here just came to say hi. Unless he missed me?"

Leo scowled. "I'm here under my lady's orders. She wanted me…to accompany you. Just for the meantime."

His coldness made Rosanna want to laugh.

"You don't have to hide your worries," She grinned. Of course, she already knew that the butler only had eyes for Viola, but there was something about teasing Leo that calmed her down and amused her to no end. "I understand that your esteemed self is concerned about me, no need to use Miss Viola as an excuse—"

He glared at her as if to say, eat shit.

"—but really," Rosanna continued, "you may go back to your lady at once. I'm plenty capable of handling myself—"

"I'm not asking for your permission," he said. "I'm going with you."

"I've got it covered, butler." Vincent cut in. Rosanna thought she imagined it, but for a moment she detected actual hostility in his voice — if Vincent was even capable of such a thing. "You've already done enough, haven't you?"

"His Highness is looking for you," Leo deadpanned.

All the words seemed to have been stolen from Vincent's mouth. A silent showdown passed between the two.

Then, he dumped all of the books in Leo's hand. Rosanna's books.

"Wait, that's mine—"

"Let him carry it for you, Miss Castus." Vincent smiled. "I'm sure Miss Viola would appreciate you making full use of the help she sent. Plus, the classroom you're headed to is in the fourth floor of the next building over."

Rosanna frowned. She didn't remember telling Vincent where her detention center was. "That's…a long walk indeed."

Somewhere around them, Leo struggled to put the books in order — another proof of Rosanna's earlier struggle. The butler huffed at Vincent. "I've got it covered, sir royal guard. Now go, your prince needs you."

Rosanna couldn't help the snicker that made its way out of her mouth. The Crown Prince should be needing her, but alas, they've long veered from the original plotline.

However, instead of answering His Highness, Vincent had grabbed Rosanna by the hand pulled her close to him. It was a simple yank that sent Rosanna stumbling once again, and as always, she cursed the original's weak physique and penchant in falling for somewhat assertive boys.

"If he causes any trouble," he whispered, "you tell me, okay, Miss Castus?"

And maybe it was the proximity, or the sharp edge in his voice that reminded her of another character, that Rosanna found her heartbeat speeding up, left with nowhere to go.

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, at loss, until Vincent pulled away.

"There was something in your hair, Miss Castus," Vincent made a show of dusting off something from her head. "There. Now it's gone."

Rosanna opened her mouth to speak, but no words managed to come out. As if the past few minutes didn't happen, Vincent waved goodbye and set off to find the Crown Prince, leaving her with a butler that looked just as surprised as she was.