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As Evie walked through the barren mundane hallways, the sharp sound of her shoes on the marble flooring resonated throughout the most used corridor. Corlissa’s footsteps could be heard from where the corridors intersected, bringing about a certain feeling of anticipation. It was a call for disaster to strike, a common trope where the villainess trips the heroine.

The classic scene in which two females proceed to advance in a petty fight over the prompt of romance. Everything that the two would fight over or do was for the reward of being in a sappy romance with the most desired bachelor of society that the villainess would’ve been suited for.

‘Such is the fate of being a villainess,’ Corlissa thought as she briefly glanced at the girl lying pitifully at her feet as if she was grovelling to her. She was sprawled out on the floor as if she was pushed and crocodile tears began erupting from her tear ducts as if they could be done on command. People began whispering, causing a scene while they surrounded the two females, a raven-haired young boy, namely the First Prince, spectating from the shadows of a pillar. His back leaning against the pillar with a rather uninterested expression yet he was still listening intently for the sound of any movement.

A crimson-haired boy was glancing at his friend with a complexed expression, a look of obvious disbelief was plastered on his face as he let out a dejected sigh when he saw how engrossed his friend was in the conflict of two females.

“Hey, dude, what is wrong with you? It’s just the typical baseless conflict of noble pigs,” he muttered quietly to the First Prince.

“Trust me, that girl is completely different, she amuses me to no end. She holds so many secrets and I want to find them all out. There are so many mysteries she is shrouded in, she holds knowledge beyond anything that any human has ever come close to.”

“Why are you so adamant about this? This is just the small worthless fight of two children that have too much time on their hands, also neither of them seem any different from one another. I don’t know which one you are referring to as being ‘shrouded in mystery’,” he mocked.

“That’s just because she’s that good at hiding it, no one can grasp the gravity of the burdens she carries in silence. Every one is ignorant, that is the nature of humans, hiding behind a facade for no reason, only for minuscule personal gain that only causes misfortunes for others. All they do is sit back, hoping that someone will do it for them. That is the description of every human, without fail. Now shut up, it’s starting.”

“Why are you on the floor?” the blue-haired child questioned, yet she was only met with a few sniffles. Clearly, making it so that there would be a misunderstanding.

“Why are you staying silent? If you were genuinely wronged then you wouldn’t be hesitating to speak up about it, or is the minute fragment of morals preventing you from lying.”

Yet again, she was met with no true response.

“Childish.”

“What?!” the ash blonde-haired girl had finally voiced out.

“You are naive. Ignorant and sheltered. To resort to petty schemes, you have truly fallen. Be grateful I’m not calling you out for everyone to know, but remember, I have footage of everything that happened even before I reached here,” she whispered into her ear, only for the two of them to hear.

Without another word, Corlissa passed the Luxiere and proceeded through the crowd that parted due to her presence. Leaving an angered, stubborn and naive Evie Luxiere in her wake.

The regal prince gained an amused smirk resting on his face, anticipating the future advancements that he would be able to spectate for entertainment.

The day of the Proelium seemed to appear out of nowhere, there was an odd tense atmosphere compared to the usually vibrant mood that all the students emitted. Perhaps it was due to the presence of a first-year from Division C, despite the young Veronique having moved up many classes, she was still regarded as being categorised with the other first-years of Division C.

The annual Spring Festival held in the capital would be held after the Proelium, though some years they had coordinated the events to be held at the same time so the Proelium would become a part of the Spring Festival. The gossip of the young Veronique’s overwhelming talent and power had rapidly spread throughout society, nobles nitpicked at her lack of sustaining within their self-produced normalities while commoner parents pressured their children into following in her footsteps.

The entire existence of Corlissa threw the Kingdom’s social barriers into a pigsty. Those inspired by how she had moved up many grades despite her age and the scorn that others had towards her, caused more commoners to gain the confidence to take the magic affinity test. Yet Corlissa wasn’t finished, she wanted to completely eradicate or at least lessen the wall between social classes.

The Proelium was held at the usual venue, a large battle arena lined with rows upon rows of seats situated at an incline, in the very centre was simply a flat surface of dirt.

Students from every Academy in the Kingdom lined up according to the educational institutions they attended, they had a temporary podium placed in front of the lines of students with a microphone on it for the host of the Proelium. They usually had someone affiliated with the Church adjudicate the event.

It was customary for the strongest student from each institution elected by the director of said institute to proceed to the podium and each display a form of sportsmanship or a message they would like to reveal to the public.

The strongest competitors tended to be the senior students that had the most educational experience out of everyone there, the weakest students were the younger ones who were not exposed to as many situations at their academy.

From each academy, a student would walk up to the stage and give out a baseless speech on top of the cheers of supporters of each academy.

However, from Amiere Academy, the seniors could only mask their anger and humiliation when their chosen representative was called out in front of the public. They could only anticipate the embarrassment and shame they would be subjected to because of such an event occurring on a national occasion.

“Corlissa Veronique of Amiere Academy, please forward to the microphone.”

Corlissa’s expression displayed neither shock nor happiness, the indifferent expression plastered on her face never faltered in the slightest. She casually proceeded onto the podium as if it was a normal day walking through the academy halls, everyone was in disbelief and instead of the customary cheers of the crowd after the announcement of each institute there was an unnerving silence.

“Good morning, I am Corlissa Veronique. I will be representing Amiere Academy today. I hope we have a fun-filled experience. Now that the obligations have been gotten rid of, what I say next is not associated with the views of Amiere Academy, what I will say is based on my own personal beliefs. Since there are so many people here and many journalists, I will give you a big scoop.

I despise nobility, from the very depths of my soul, I truthfully announce that I hold utter scorn for those in nobility. Those that I respect or interact with are people who have earned my respect, but humans in general, I am disgusted by them all.

To the nobility of Merillis Kingdom, I have a question for you all. Why have you become such swine? You have grown addicted to the sweet taste of power and have become blinded by such strength, with power comes responsibility, you have neglected your responsibilities so you are unworthy of power. You nobles all know why you are nobles, you are only considered nobles because there are commoners, there are those of lower social standing than you which is why you can reap the benefits.

If there were no commoners where would you stand in the world? You would be at rock bottom. Commoners can become powerful figures in society, whether you are a commoner, nobility or royalty, you are all humans in the end. Don’t let go of the childish part of you that strives for a place past the sky.”

The crowd of spectators all erupted in an uproar of yells, screams, insults, praise, scorn and tears. Though some felt shame that the words of an 8-year-old held more truth to them than they as a society would be able to fathom.