I began my Academy life with typical general classes, social classes, and then knightly studies on odd days in the morning. As expected, I was the only female within my class. It did not sit well with male counterparts.
Despite being born from a good family, people still look down on me simply because I was a female. In my first life, I was Prince Erik's fiancée and not merely a high born person. No one dared to harm me, only now am I seen as an outcast to my peers of both males and females.
I had been training ever since I had regained my memories, but the difference in brawn between a male and female are no laughing matter.
I have to work hard everyday by doing seven consecutive laps around the forest, at least one thousand sword swings, a hundred sit-ups, two hundred pushups, and making sure my body retained its suppleness and elasticity from doing body stretching.
My workout regime had increased at least three times from my previous life. As a result, I gained some more muscles but somehow I still managed to keep my softness to my body.
"Lady Arielle is a bit stuck up," a girl said from above on the second floor.
My hearing was quite well, so I cannot imagine hearing her incorrectly. I continued to pay no mind to the whispers and continued on my way to class.
I soon felt some incoming object coming my way from a shadow being casted on me.
It was a flower pot. As a flower pot was about to drop on my head, I felt someone pull me from behind.
"That is dangerous!" Randall yelled.
It was my cousin Randall who saved me.
"Oh...Randall. It has been awhile," I said nonchalantly.
"Is that all you have to say seeing as though you almost got hurt?" Randall asked.
I paid no mind to his question and began picking up the large pieces of the shattered pot up.
"Do you mind getting a broom and dustpan?" I asked him.
"Why should I leave you after what just happened?" Randall asked.
"The culprit always leaves immediately after committing the crime," I answered him.
He soon grabbed my wrist.
"Stop this...You are bleeding," Randall said.
He as right. I had cut my fingers and had not noticed. He pulled me by my wrist and gently pulled me along. I watched his long braided pink hair dance behind him.
"...Not to the nurse. Rumors will spread," I said.
Randall brought me behind the church located on campus. He knocked five times on the back door to which Gavin Lord opened the door.
"One first-aid kit, please," Randall ordered.
"Donations, please," Gavin said as he held out his hand.
"The Church is a free service..."
What an amusing and unlikely duo...
"Right this way," Gavin said as he led us to their church run hospital.
I cleaned my hands with fresh soap and water. I found it odd how my pain resistance went up to the point where I would not notice small cuts like these. To anyone else, it would be a bit worrying. I can still feel pain, so it is not much of a cause for worry. The reason for my desensitization is still a bit of a worry.
"I will wrap it for you," Randall said as he moved the kit away from me. I reluctantly sat in front of him as he began wrapping my hand. He squeezed my hand lightly. "Does this not hurt?"
I would not be lying if I said that it didn't.
"Why were you there?" I asked him.
"I heard some rumors about girls seeing you with Prince Erik. Not everyone seemed too thrilled about it. When I heard that there were some people with bad intentions, I went to look for you because I was worried."
Must have been from the fall...Did they think I fell on purpose?
"Worried? I know that deep down you dislike me," I said.
His hands stopped for a moment.
"Why do you say that?" Randall asked.
I tried to understand why anybody would be willing to detest me enough to set Kaya Ouchi onto me. None of them had a personal connection to me other than my cousin Randall.
"I know that you have been pressured by your family to meet their expectations. You were always compared to me by your parents and tutors. I cannot blame you for disliking me."
He continued wrapping my fingers.
He sighed.
"I suppose this is the reason why for your recent change in attitude towards me...No, you have always been cold towards me. Even your smiles were empty since the beginning."
"I wonder why you accepted my offer to work for me in the first place if you knew that..."
"Even if your smile was empty, you were still an awe inspiring existence. Even one gaze from you would be enough. Working under someone like you was already a blessing in itself. Both of us would benefit from the connection in me gaining experience and how you would gain a corporate slave for yourself. There was no reason to refuse..."
"You still eventually grew to hate me...I am not blind to those kind of things," I said as I tried pulling my hand back.
Randall refused to let me go and sent an awkward smile my way.
"...That may have been true, until I got to know the real you. You work harder than anyone else to the point where you lose a part of yourself sometimes. More than hate or dislike, I respect you as much as I want to be like you. The you right now is much better than your false image from before."
In my heart, I felt guilty from hating him for something he had yet to do. He was family and someone I once played with...yet I still do not want him back in my heart.
I pondered about whether I should wear gloves or not to my next class. Gavin was willing to lend me a pair of white gloves that were the same kind used by the priests.
I had already bled through my second set of bandages, so I felt reluctant about using pure white gloves over my hands. There was no time to stop by my dorm room either.
Randall said that he would clean up the mess from the flower pot. I offered to do it myself, but he absolutely forbid me from doing so.
Such a worrywart...
Charlotte saved me a seat in our next class and waved at me.
"Thanks for saving me a seat, Charlotte," I said.
"No problem, Arielle."
Charlotte was being random as ever. She somehow used her connections to have almost all the same classes as me. The only time where I do not see her is during my Knight Course studies because of the amount of exercise involved.
"Why attend these classes if you were mainly interested in the arts?" I asked her.
"I want to be with you," she said nonchalantly. I felt a bit strange or having my heart race when she says stuff like this to my face. "Is there any other reason I need? Having art classes are fun and all, but there is less practicality involved. I am getting married, so the arts may be favored over my mind."
Charlotte's first cycle husband was Baron of Gregory in my first life. I never heard much about her marriage life. I always assumed that she was happy from how she always seemed cheery in her letters. It only goes to show you how little you truly know about the people closest to you.
"If that is true, it would be a waste of your abilities."
"Do you mean that?"
"If Charlotte tried, you could easily surpass me in academics or practically anything else."
I soon noticed her staring at my bandages.
"Arielle, those look painful. Are you alright?" she asked with a worried expression.
"I am fine. These are from when I picked up a plate I had broken."
She seemed to accept my answer from how she smiled.
"You should really let other people handle that, or at least be careful with your hands by using tools," Charlotte warned me kindly.
Later after school, I followed Charlotte to her art club. I soon heard some giggling amongst a group of girls. Their voices were the same if not similar to the group that had dropped the flower pot earlier. I tried not to make my face seen by moving behind Charlotte slightly.
"Char, I have to return a book. I am really sorry that I cannot stay with you," I said with a smile.
"I know that you will find another book while you are there, so let's go back to the dorms together," Charlotte said.
"Okay."
I went back to the art room after returning my book to see Charlotte. It takes about fifteen minutes to walk to the library. I thought that I may as well just find another book while I was at the library.
When I got there, it was as empty as ever. I knew that libraries were not a popular hang out for many people. It is a bit lonely that no one saw the same splendor.
I made my way towards classic literature and saw that there was someone else in that section. His blonde hair stood out and made me instinctively hide behind a bookshelf.
It was Prince Erik himself...
"...Am I in your way?" he asked.
It was too late to say that I accidentally stumbled here or something like that.
"Yes..." I blurted out loud.
His eyes widened in surprise for a moment.
"I am sorry about that," he said as he walked past me.
I breathed out a sigh of relief as I made my way to the book I was looking for. The book I wanted was misplaced into a spot where I could not reach even if I walked on my toes. Even if I asked for a ladder, the librarian is not here...
Should I give up on it?
I soon felt a large shadow being casted over me. The book I was eyeing was suddenly lifted from above my head. I turned around to see that it was Prince Erik with the book.
"Here," he said.
I stared long and hard at the book before me.
"Hm..."
"...Is it the wrong one?"
My heart suddenly jumped out of my chest.
He is not a mirage...
He is real!
"...Ah, um...thank you," I said as I took the book from him.
I quickly used the book to cover my face and made my way to the front desk where the librarian had just returned.
As I was walking by, I heard multiple screams from girls in the distance.
I told myself that it was not from the art room, but my legs were already in sprinting mode towards the art room.
As I got closer, I knew for certain that the screams were coming from the art room!
The image of the group of giggling girls popped into my mind.
If any one of them hurt Charlotte, I would...
"Charlotte!" I screamed her name as I pushed through the crowd of onlookers.
"Arielle," Charlotte called my name.
Her palm was bleeding.
"Char!"
I rushed to her side and applied pressure to her hand with my handkerchief.
"I'm sorry about your handkerchief, Arielle," Charlotte said.
"I don't mind about that...What happened here?" I asked her as I looked around.
There was a pool of blood by where Charlotte was standing. It is hard to believe that all this blood is hers.
"...What happened here?"
"A girl had cut the web of her hands between her forefinger and thumb," Charlotte explained calmly. "When I tried to get the carving knife from her hand, she cut me. It is not her fault. She was in a state of psychosis."
The experience would be frightening for anyone. I just wonder how Charlotte can be so calm about it all. Is this her training as a noble to not show fear on her face or her true personality?
No, Charlotte is my best friend. I know her best. She has always assessed things with a clear mind and is not one to freak out over a bit of blood.
"I will take you home," I said as I locked arms with her. "We are just a pair of injured people with similar injuries now."
"Haha! That is true," she said as she grabbed her school bag.
The next day, I heard that several girls had dropped out of school with all different reasons. Some were to be married off for political reasons, a couple were said to have exposed to having inappropriate relations with other students, and one person left because their family's illegal transactions were exposed to the public.
Even the girl who injured her hand was to return home to be married off to any man that would accept her scars that would stay there for life. Everyone knows that her choices would be limited to old men and her position would be reduced to a concubine or mistress.
Charlotte's injuries were thankfully not that deep. I cannot imagine giving my best friend to be the concubine or the wife of some elderly man. For my best friend, I will make sure to protect her properly too.