Chapter 30- Where Did You Go, Alex?

First period of class and I'm already having drama. Can't I take a break? I'm a side character, right? I shouldn't be this busy! The busy one should be Alex, not me! My actions are only filler content!

"What have you done with Lady Claudia, you filth of a commoner!" Lady Elena demanded.

"I have done nothing. If you're looking for her, I believe she has History class with Alex."

"That's not what I'm asking! How have you seduced her?!"

This caught everyone's attention in the class. There's still five minutes before the teacher comes, so I need to last until then. Honestly, how did Lady Elena find me? Does everyone know my schedule or something?

"Seduce Lady Claudia? You know I'm a girl, right?"

Lady Elena glared at me. "I know you are a digesting homo, so don't try to play ignorant."

Tch, this crap again. I loudly groaned, "I'm not homosexual! I still like boys! How many times do I have to yell this out?!"

It's too early for this! I hate mornings! Just leave me alone! I beg you, Celestia, steer all this drama towards Alex's way. Why am I being picked on so early in the morning?! Is Alex being picked on, right now? Are we both having a rough morning? If it's just me, I'll pray to Pandora instead so she can take my life, right now!

"Lady Elena, please stop causing a ruckus so early in the morning," Lady Rium said.

Yes, yes! You tell her, Lady Rium! Tell her to lay off my back!

Lady Elena glared at the dark-haired girl. "Don't you feel disgusted sharing a room with a homosexual?"

"I have known Reiré since young. There is nothing to be disgusted about."

Lady Elena smirked. "I get it. You're also one of them, aren't you?"

I felt my blood run cold as people in the class began to whisper among themselves. I'm fine with rumors about me and Alex going around, we don't have any reputations to uphold. But Lady Rium is a duke's daughter. I don't want to be the cause of her ruined reputation. Friends of Lady Claudia or not, I won't forgive anyone that hurts my friends.

"Lady Elena, you came looking for me. Don't drag Lady Rium into this," I sternly stated.

"So you finally decided to take me seriously?" Lady Elena scoffed. "So I was right. You and Lady Rium have an intimate relationship. Both of you disgust me!"

Lady Rium stood up to match Lady Elena's height, no, tower over Lady Elena and narrowed her eyes. "You are the one that is disgusting. Reiré and I don't have that kind of relationship. And what's wrong with liking girls? There are many forms of love and you dare trample on her feelings? I am Rium Bazanine! Do you really want to make an enemy out of me?!"

Lady Elena flinched under Lady Rium's dominating tone. It also made me want to turn my gaze and have nothing to do with her. When Lady Rium's voice takes on a menacing vibe, you can certainly feel the villainess in her. She's truly one of the rival characters like Lady Claudia.

"Hear me now, fellow classmates! If I hear a single word leave this classroom about this incident, I can't promise that your families' reputation will not be ruined," Lady Rium threatened.

Everyone in the room grew silent as they looked down at their desk like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Lady Rium shut everyone up with a single sentence. In this survival of the fittest, Lady Rium stood on the top and none can bring her down.

"Lady Elena, any more words you want to say?" Lady Rium stared straight into her hazel eyes, challenging her.

Lady Elena quivered under her intense green eyes and glanced down at her shoes, showing that she had submitted.

Lady Rium smirked, "If not, please leave. Class will be starting in a minute."

Lady Elena clenched her hands and quietly left the classroom. The atmosphere was so tense that you could snap it in half with your fingers. I have learned from early on that Lady Rium was not someone you should mess with. I only feel comfortable teasing and making fun of her when Lord Raphael was nearby because Lady Rium was much softer and laid back when she's in his presence.

"See, Reiré? Say the word and I'll have this entire school purged of your rumors," claimed Lady Rium.

I shivered as a cold chill ran down my spine. And it's not the pleasant chill that I would get from Lady Claudia. "Thank you, Lady Rium, but that's alright." If I did ask you, I feel like there would be a giant massacre instead. I don't need to have my hands tainted with blood, thank you very much.

Lady Rium pouted, "You are way too kind, Reiré."

I hesitantly chuckled, "So I've been told…"

"Hmph." Lady Rium sat back down in her seat.

The room seemed to sigh with relief when the teacher finally came in to start the class. I have a feeling that this will be another stressful day. I'm getting another headache again.

- - - - 0-0-0 - - - -

"Poke."

"Ouch!" I winced and leaned away from Alex who poked my arm. "Don't touch me! My skin hurts!

Alex giggled, "Sorry, sorry."

I huffed, "My body feels so uncomfortable. I don't want to think about doing Swordsmanship class with my sunburn. I'm dying here."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You're exaggerating."

I glared at her. "Why don't you try sitting out in the harsh sunlight and get roasted, then you can tell me if I'm exaggerating or not."

Alex anxiously laughed, "I'd rather not get a sunburn…"

Why am I once again paired up with this idiot? At least her table manners are getting better. I held up a notecard that said the word soup. Alex picked up the middle spoon out of the three different sized spoons. I then held up a notecard that said steak and Alex picked up a fork and a knife. That was simple, how about this? I held up the card that said flan and Alex picked the smallest spoon on the table.

"Your table manners have gotten better," I praised. "You now know which utensil to use."

"Not all of it. There are some foods where I don't know which utensil to use. All I know is that the largest spoon and fork are rarely used and the butter knife is never used unless there is some kind of bread or biscuit."

"We'll be having an evaluation test soon, so you have to memorize."

Alex groaned, "I know."

"So? When are you confronting Lady Alexis?" I asked as I handed the note cards to Alex.

"I was thinking during lunch, but…"

"But?"

"Prince Leo asked me to come to the student council room to help out a bit."

My eyes lit up. "Oh! How's it been going in the student council room? Has Lord Raphael done anything strange?"

Alex rolled her eyes at the mention of Lord Raphael. "Other than accusing me of hurting Alexis because I was jealous of her? No. He's been really annoying. See, if you had properly gotten Raphael hooked up with Rium, I wouldn't be in this situation."

I sighed, "Not like I could do anything. If you want to blame someone, blame Lady Alexis. She's the one that stole Raphael before I could get them to confess to each other."

"He has completely turned into a total dick."

What a word to come out of the heroine's mouth. This is the first time I hear Alex use an inappropriate word.

"Isn't he supposed to be the handsome cool boy that makes every girl's heart flutter? So far all he's been doing is making me irritated."

"I mean, he's certainly making every girls' hearts flutter with his words."

Alex sighed, "I feel super bad for Rium. Her sweet young man had turned into a complete douchebag. She's also been a bit… cold lately."

I hesitantly smiled as I remembered what happened an hour ago. "I think her villainess is starting to come out. With Lord Raphael putting his attention elsewhere, Lady Rium is slowly turning into the rival character that's shown in the novel."

"Oh good, so it's not just me that thought that," Alex let out a breath of relief.

How Lady Rium became the villainess was because Lord Raphael paid attention to Alexandra. Lady Rium, who usually baby's Lord Raphael felt like Alexandra was stealing him from her and became conflicted. Since Lady Rium loves Lord Raphael, she respected his choice of friends and let him be.

Just to say, in the novel, Lady Rium's love was actually one sided unlike the current Lady Rium. Lord Raphael actually found Lady Rium to be suffocating because she babied him a lot. When he went off to the academy, he forgot about being a duke's son and just had fun at being a normal teenage boy. He'd flex his position, have fun with girls, and even skip classes. Yep, you heard me, he skipped classes. What a delinquent novel Lord Raphael was.

When Alexandrina appeared, he turned over a new leaf. He stopped flirting with girls and attended class like a good boy. The more time Lord Raphael spent with Alexandra the more jealous Lady Rium felt. But unlike Lady Claudia, what hit Lady Rium the most was loneliness. Lord Raphael was Lady Rium's childhood friend and best friend. You could say that he was the only apple in her eye. Even though surrounded by other nobles, Lord Raphael was the only person that Lady Rium could act herself around. When she couldn't take the loneliness anymore, she snapped and mistreated Alexandra hoping to drive her away from Lord Raphael, only for it to backfire of course. Her bullying caused Lord Raphael to break all contact with Lady Rium leaving her heartbroken. To make it worse, he ruined the Bazanine family and they lost their duke status.

Since I exist in this world, I was able to change the fate of Lady Rium. The reason why Lord Rapheal became the shy and timid boy was thanks to me. Lady Rium still babied Lord Raphael, but it wasn't as intense as it was in the novel since Lady Rium also had me to worry about. I worked so hard in getting Lord Raphael to fall in love with Lady Rium at a young age and Lady Alexis just came right in and ruined all my hard work. Lady Rium's doom was set right back on course and her family will lose their status… In fact, doesn't this affect my family too? If the Bazanine household falls, I'll lose my tuition and my family will lose their investor! Isn't Lady Rium's doom more important than Lady Claudia's currently!?

It was too early to think about the fall of the Bazanine family. For the most part, I was able to avoid Lady Rium's mental breakdown over Lord Raphael. I kept her company and made sure she doesn't feel too lonely, but I don't know how long I can keep this up. Lady Rium would always have a sullen look whenever she saw Lord Raphael with Lady Alexis. The heart wants what it wants and I can't help her. I just hope she doesn't start using her status to mistreat Lady Alexis like she did to Alexandra in the novel. She'll be following the path of her villainess self, and that is the one thing I do not want to happen.

What's the best course of action, right now? Lady Claudia doesn't look like she's following the path of envy, so I guess I'll move my attention to Lady Rium for now… Maybe I can ask Alex to watch over Lady Claudia, I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone yet…

"Reiré, you have your thinking face on. What's troubling you?" Alex asked.

"I'm worried about Lady Rium. I don't want her to become the villainess in the plot line."

"Alexis is activating Raphael's route so it makes sense for Rium to go through the transformation."

I frowned, "I really need to cut Lady Alexis down fast. Can I ask you to watch over Lady Claudia?"

Alex's face turned pale. "Oh no. Oh no no no."

I gave her a look. "Alex."

She rapidly shook her head. "Nuh uh, nope, not gonna do it."

I huffed, "Then do you want to look after Lady Rium instead?"

Alex immediately nodded her head. "Yeah! I'll do that!"

"Do you hate Lady Claudia that much?"

"I wouldn't say hate, but at least Rium doesn't threaten me with a sword like Claudia does in the game."

"Really? She pointed her sword at you?" I know Lady Claudia takes Swordsmanship class, but I didn't think she'd put her skills to use on Alex. "Is this where Prince Leonhardt defends Alexandra by having a sword fight with Lady Claudia."

"Yes," she confirmed. "It was a cool cut scene."

I sighed, "Alright, then you can help me look after Lady Rium."

"Easy enough, I just have to stop her from turning into a villainess, right?"

I nodded. "Yep. Just keep her attention off of Lord Raphael and Lady Alexis. I'll work on the rest."

Alex smiled as she saluted, "Aye aye captain!"

I smirked, "I guess I'll see you after school. I'll meet you at the stables."

"Sure, I'll be waiting. I'm usually last to leave anyway."

I sighed, "I'll lend you a helping hand if I haven't finished cleaning by the time I get there."

"Yay!" Alex cheered.

I lightly chuckled. I feel like I'm always swept up in her tempo.

- - - - 0-0-0 - - - -

Well, today was full of ups and downs. I had lunch with Lady Rium, Lady Charlotte and Lord Philip, after that, I had a surprise pop quiz during Math class. Alex cried during that while I was relieved that I studied. I think half that class hated Sir Oscer after today. I would too if a teacher suddenly announced that we had a pop quiz.

"See you tomorrow, Reiré!"

"Ah, hold on, Prince Clovis!" I called out before he left the class.

"Hmm?" He turned back to give me a puzzled look.

"Are you going to see Lady Sophia?"

His face turned slightly pink as he said, "Yeah. Do you need to pass on something to her?"

I smiled, "Here. I made some extra cookies. Share some with Lady Sophia."

Prince Clovis lit up and happily took the small bag of cookies from my hands. "Oh, thanks! I'm sure Lady Sophia will love them."

"I hope it's to your taste."

Prince Clovis waved goodbye and left. I cleaned up the counters and packed my things. I think Lady Claudia has Business as her seventh period class… Time to head up to the third floor. I hope she's still there.

Walking out of Cooking class, I made my way towards the busy stairs that lead up to the top floor. Just as I reached the stairs, I saw Lady Claudia walking down the steps. What perfect timing, am I right?

"Lady Claudia," I called out.

The noble glanced my way, but didn't say anything. She had Lady Elena and Lady Jasmine with her and they both ignored me.

I bowed and greeted, "Good afternoon, Lady Claudia."

"Do you hear something?" Lady Elena asked.

"I think it was a mosquito," Lady Jasmine replied.

"What pests they are, aren't they?" Lady Elena smirked as she glared at me.

Lady Jasmine agreed, "Yes."

I sighed. I can tell when my presence isn't needed. I'm not a big fan of Lady Claudia's friends, but I'm not gonna ruin their relationship just because I want to be by her side. "I see that I am disturbing you. I only came to give you some sweets I baked."

Lady Elena scoffed, "Who would want something made by a commoner, am I right?"

Lady Claudia nodded. "Yes. Whatever you made, I don't want it."

I sadly smiled, "I see. I'm sorry, Lady Claudia. I baked you some cookies as thank you for the lotion yesterday." I noticed how Lady Claudia's blue eyes began to sparkle when I said the word 'cookies.' I internally giggled at her cute reaction. "But it seems that I have overstepped my boundaries. I'll just hand the rest of these off to Prince Clovis instead. Have a good day." I turned on my heels, ready to leave.

"Wait!"

I smirked and turned back. "Yes, Lady Claudia?"

"I'll accept your gift."

Both Lady Elena and Lady Jasmine widened their eyes in shock. "Lady Claudia!?"

I smiled, "They are lemon flavored. They go amazingly well with tea."

Lady Claudia eagerly took the small bag from my hands. "Don't get me wrong. I just don't want them to go to waste."

I chuckled, "Of course, Lady Claudia. I made enough to also share with your friends."

Lady Elena crossed her arms and stated, "I will not eat what you made!"

I only shrugged, "That's fine by me. It just means more for Lady Claudia."

"Lady Claudia, you aren't actually thinking of eating this garbage that this cursed child made, right?" Lady Jasmine questioned.

"I bet it's poisoned or something. It could even be drugged!" Lady Elena accused. "Accepting something from this homo is already kind enough. You don't need to eat it, just toss it away."

Lady Claudia suddenly looked irritated. "Elena, Jasmine."

The two girls flinched under Lady Claudia's harsh tone.

"My actions are my decisions alone. I don't need your opinions. I'm accepting these treats and I'm eating them."

The two girls bowed. "Y-Yes, Lady Claudia."

Wow… I just got the chills. Oh, how I love this feeling when seeing Lady Claudia being so domineering.

Lady Claudia glared at me and said, "You've done what you wanted, now scram."

I smiled and bowed. "Of course. Sorry to have bothered you with my presence."

"And apply more lotion," she added. "Your disgusting red skin is ruining my mood."

Ouch. Way to point out my sunburn. "Of course. Your lotion has been helping me cope through this pain. I am very thankful."

Lady Claudia hummed, "Hmmm, is that so…"

I noticed how there was a faint smile on her face. She was acting quite cold, but she had greatly warmed up to me. I honestly don't know how to feel about this. I'm really happy, but I'm also scared at the same time.

"I shall take my leave. I hope you ladies have a good day." I bowed once more and quickly walked away.

I took deep breaths trying to calm my thumping heart. I didn't realize it earlier, but it has been beating pretty fast for a while. To think that Lady Claudia would have this effect on me now. I hope I wasn't blushing the whole time, that would be pretty embarrassing on my part. Then again, my skin is red, maybe they didn't notice my blush under my sunburn. Oh, thank god for the sunburn.

"Lady Reiré!"

"Hmm? Eck!" I turned around to see who was calling and it was Prince Leonhardt. I wish I had pretended not to hear him. Would that be considered disrespect towards our future king? "Prince Leonhardt, do you need something?"

He held out a pink handkerchief and said, "Can you hand this back to Alexandra? I would look for her myself, but there's a problem in the student council room that I have to take care of."

I took the handkerchief and asked, "Why do you even have Alex's handkerchief?"

Prince Leonhardt smiled, "She accidentally spilled some tea on me during lunch."

I mentally smacked my head. Oh my god. Alex, how clumsy can you be? "I am so sorry on her behalf."

Prince Leonhardt chuckled. "She already panicked and apologized. It was an accident so I'm not upset with her."

I sighed, "You really are too kind. I shall make sure to return this to its rightful owner. I was on my way to Alex anyway."

"Thank you. Tell Alexandra that I appreciated her help earlier."

I bowed and replied, "Of course, your Highness."

"You have a good evening," Prince Leonhardt said as he walked away.

I looked down at the soft cloth and tucked it into my pocket. I'm gonna give that idiot a good scolding on how to handle tea. If I spilled tea on Lady Rium, she would have my head.

Heading towards the stables' locker rooms, I saw many students walking out with wet hair. It reminded me of my Swordsmanship class. I'm shocked that each outdoor class has a locker room of their own. In the other world, schools only have two locker rooms, one for girls and one for boys. And yet, Roseward Academy has three sets of locker rooms. What is this? The YMCA? How many locker rooms does this school need?

"Reiré?"

I jumped at the unexpected tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Lady Viola in her school uniform holding a wooden bow and carrying a bag of arrows on her back. What is she doing at the stables with the archery equipment?

"Greetings, Lady Viola. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm looking for Alexandra."

"With your bow and arrows?"

"I'll be heading to the archery field for some more practice since I'm free after classes today," she explained. "I'm not here to shoot at Alexandra if that's what you're wondering. I'll be expelled if that were to happen."

"I bet your family will just pay it off though…"

Lady Viola shrugged, "You're not wrong."

Rich kids are scary…

"So why are you here, Reiré? Are you also looking for Alexandra?"

I nodded. "Yes. I'm here to return her handkerchief and grab dinner with her. Why are you looking for Alex?"

"Her uniform was delivered."

Ah! From that uniform incident. "That was fast, I thought it'd take a few more days."

Lady Viola smiled. "The Academy has many extras, so ordering one for Alexandra was simple."

"I see…" Turning away from the blonde girl, I noticed how the students have dwindled. "Alex sure is taking a while…" I walked into the girls' locker room to see that it was vacant.

"I wonder if we missed her…" said Lady Viola.

"But I told her I'd meet up with her at the stables…" I muttered.

Alex would never leave early. Her classmates always force the cleaning onto her, so she's always last to leave… unless she actually finished early today.

Lady Viola huffed, "Guess I'll just have my maid send the uniform to her dorm room."

Maybe I shouldn't over think it. I probably took too long so she's waiting for me in the main building instead. Alex wouldn't ditch me to confront Lady Alexis already. If something happened to her, I'd feel terrible.

"If you're that worried about her, I can help you look," Lady Viola offered.

"That's alright. I don't want to trouble you."

Lady Viola smiled, "I have some extra time to spare."

I bowed in gratitude. "Then I'll take you up on your offer."

"I'll look in the buildings. You can look around the fields." Lady Viola walked towards the main building as I faced the open fields of the Academy.

"Where did you go, Alex?" I really hope you're around here…