Men decide on how she should act and look, so feministic

"But why don't you let me have someeee?" Cecilia unsuccessfully tried to snitch a piece of steak from Devin's plate.

Devin smacked her hand with the newspaper he was reading, absent-minded, as he was trying to teach a puppy not to pee in the house. "The doctor has spoken; you should eat light."

"It's been 4 days!"

"Here, here," he pated her head, truly treating her like a dog. "Why don't we go for a stroll on the deck?"

Ever since Cecilia fainted she has not returned to the casino. Vlad came looking for her and quickly left when he found out about her fainting, leaving her a very nice and expensive-looking basket of chocolates that Devin doesn't allow her to eat.

She looked sadly at the bland porridge in front of her. What's the point at a one-of-a-kind plate if it only holds such plain food?

...

It wasn't until the next day, when Cecilia had recovered enough to hit Devin back, that she was allowed to eat well.

Unfortunately, it was also the last day of the cruise.

Devin sent some servants to clean up Cecilia's staff room and compensate Vlad for breach of contract (sick leaves were not recognized by the illegal casino). Cecilia, who had nothing to pack but the clown outfit that Vlad had kindly agreed to let her keep, went up to deck to see the ship anchor.

To her astonishment, even though they were supposed to arrive in an hour or so, there was no land anywhere in sight, only the endless sea.

Vlad, whom she hadn't seen in days, appeared out of nowhere at her side. "You played some tricks on me, huh? Don't think being sick is going to make you avoid your 2,000-gold-coin contract; I expect compensation at school."

Cecilia was forced to listen to Devin complain about the price he had to pay to get her out of the casino for days; she wasn't buying it.

"Devin already made it up to you, we're balanced."

"It was worth a shot," Vlad shrugged. "I still expect you to be... Friendly with me from now on, we can both benefit from this."

She did not refuse or agree. Cecilia still didn't fully understand Vlad's character. He was nice to her yet cruel according to others' rumours, acts like a child at times but always gains something from it. 

Cecilia couldn't understand if he was schizophrenic or just acting in front of everyone non-stop for personal gain.

Either way, it was terrifying.

"Aren't we supposed to arrive in an hour or so? Why can't we see land yet?" She awkwardly dodged the subject.

Vlad looked at her with an unknown meaning in his eyes but still answered, "Someone from the teaching staff will pick us up one by one. In the past they did it to avoid unfortunate events; now it's mainly because of tradition and to have the opportunity to develop relationships without interference from external factors, we just sail in a random direction every year."

"Unfortunate events?"

"It almost never happens anymore, but I heard that in the first years of the school's establishment, they often gathered the wrong people—commoners with little to no magic powers or students who shared the secrets taught here with outsiders. After the death of the saintess, her former disciple became the principal. He set a series of tests to check who was worthy of studying the records left by the saintess. Now a days most of the registrants come from long dynasties, so no one bothers with all the tests except for the initial sorting of magical powers when boarding the ship."

The former disciple of the saintess? Lucius' honest self-presentation came to her mind:

"I am Lucius, the first, last, and only disciple of Saintess Lawrence."

Could this be...?

"Is he still the principal of the academia?"

Vlad turned his head to the clear, blue sea: "No one can live forever, Cecilia, not even by magic. He's been dead for generations."

When Vlad talked about life and death he seemed particularly fragile. 

Only now Cecilia seemed to notice he looked paler and thinner than the first time they mmet—is eyes were sunken, his hair became dull, and although they had only been standing for a few minutes, his legs had already begun to shake a little under the weight of his body.

Cecilia was not narcissistic enough to think that all this happened out of concern for her; she started walking slowly towards the sun loungers. leading him to sit down without verbally acknowledging his difficulty.

Although they didn't directly exchange a word about his situation, Vlad understood Cecilia was trying to spare him from embarrassment.

In return, he decided he would spare her other obstacles.

"Let's head somewhere private." He snapped his fingers, and in an instant they went from sitting in sun loungers to sitting in Vlad's comfortable office chairs. Cecilia couldn't help but let out a small yelp in startle. 

Vlad placed his finger on her lips, quickly calming her down from her panic. "I want to discuss something important."

Cecilia couldn't help but feel that Vlad's personality in this meeting was different from all the times she had seen him. His temper was reminiscent of an old man who had already gone through the vicissitudes of life, very different from the boy who threw a tantrum because he won a bet.

"Your hair is not a problem, and your eyes are not a problem; the combination of them is a problem."

"What?" Cecilia came back from her musings when he said an unexpected sentence.

"It's not that I have a problem with your looks; it's just that there are a number of well-informed people that can cause you trouble at school. You don't want your first school experience to be ruined, do you?"

"How did you know-"

"I know everything." Going back to Vlad's office did good for him; some of his childish and intimate temper has returned.

"You don't have to believe what your employer of three hours said, It's just a gesture of goodwill on my part. I am available to help you if you want so."

"Help me how?"

"One or two?"

Cecilia thought she didn't hear him well. "What?"

"It's fine, I'll choose." He snapped his fingers a second time; she didn't know if it was her imagination, but his hair seemed to lose a bit more of its luster after that.

However, she didn't have time to worry about Vlad's hair because, within moments, she noticed that the hair strings covering her eyes were no longer white!

"What did you- how did- what?" Cecilia's utterly confused look amused Vlad. 

"If you want, I can change the color from black to the previous white, but you'll probably have to wait a few weeks."

"Why would you-" 

"Ho, look! It's your turn to be escorted." Cecilia notices, to her dismay, that her body is gradually becoming transparent. "Usually they really do call the juniors first, talking about ageism. Well, see ya at school!"

In front of her horrified eyes, he waved at her in what could only be called a sneer.

Cecilia's body eventually disappeared, leaving Vlad alone in his lonely, too spacious office.