Part 1
A girl could be seen running through a field of flowers while her black hair swayed in the wind. She laughed and danced as if she was overcome with joy.
Her black hair and red eyes stood out in her blood-red dress, making her look like a beautiful princess.
Music played.
She smiled with her eyes closed while dancing. The wind gently caressed her skin.
She suddenly felt someone grab her hand.
Her eyes shot open at this sudden action.
"L-Lord Arnold?"
Elizabeth turned towards the young man who was grabbing her hands with a handsome smile on his face.
He was wearing a pitch black suit which really suited his dark blue hair and bright blue eyes.
All Elizabeth could see around her were flowers as far as the eye could see.
There were no buildings, no empire and certainly no people who will see her horrible face.
A single red rose was in Arnold's suit's chest pocket. He pulled it out and held it out to her.
"You're beautiful. The most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he brought his face close to hers and took a deep breath, "You smell wonderful as well."
'Me? Beautiful?'
Also, how could she smell wonderful? The charred skin on her face always had a burnt smell which she has to cover up with herbs. The herbs only masked the smell, it didn't improve it at all.
"Wait, that can't be…" Elizabeth put her hand on her face.
Almost instantly, tears fell from her eyes.
She moved her fingers across her face as if she couldn't believe what she was feeling.
Softness.
There was no rough texture. No bumps or cuts. And no loose skin.
How?
Why?
Elizabeth suddenly saw Arnold reach into his pocket. He pulled out a small mirror.
"You don't believe when I say you're beautiful? Well, this here will convince you."
She took the mirror and looked at him uncertainly. After a few seconds of gazing into his eyes, she finally looked into the mirror.
"…."
Gorgeous.
That was the only way she could describe herself when looking into the mirror. She had eyelashes that was naturally thick that added a certain charm to her slanted red eyes.
Her lips were red with lipstick and her teeth were shining white. Elizabeth tried smiling.
Her breath was taken away by that smile.
She noticed something below her eye.
A beauty mark? Why was there a beauty mark below her left eye?
It added a certain maturity to her face.
"You're breathtaking even when crying," Arnold whispered into her ear. Her entire body was hit with a bolt of lightning by his next words, "I want you to become my wife and bear my child. Become Elizabeth Caervil von Berkley."
◇◇
The ticking of a clock echoed in the room.
Elizabeth laid there silently.
Her gaze was fixed on the ceiling.
That dream was something she experiences every night. Never once had she not dreamt of seeing that face that was foreign to her.
Where did that woman come from? Was it really her? Why was Elizabeth dreaming of that woman specifically?
"Could… could that woman be how my mother looked when she was young?"
That had to be it. Elizabeth has never seen her normal face in her entire life before. Perhaps her brain crafted that image in her head of her mother when she was young?
Her mother gave birth to Elizabeth when she was 17 after all. Maybe she was dreaming about her mother because of this?
Catching the whiff of a rotting stench, Elizabeth bolted out of bed and opened the windows. She took out a few leaves from her magic bag and grinded it between her hands. She used her black mana to break the grinded parts into particles.
The smell of burnt skin faded when the herbs' aroma filled the air. She also rubbed some soap on her throat and sprayed some perfume.
She came across these herbs when she started her dark magic lessons. It was often used on corpses to get rid of the awful smell when preparing them to be dressed for their funeral.
Dark magic required the students to always work with dead bodies during necromancer classes so it became second nature for Elizabeth to use these herbs. She used a type of spray before to get rid of the awful smell of her skin but it was difficult to buy a lot of bottles since she didn't have that much money.
Elizabeth also couldn't sell clothes to her customers since academy work was keeping her too busy. It would be a miracle if she could finish a single dress in a month's time.
The academy offered free food so Elizabeth never starved and she had shelter. Still though, it would be nice if she had some money to take care of her needs.
Thinking back to the first day she got here, Elizabeth grimaced.
She was standing in front of Arnold yet he didn't know her. She had this hope of revealing her true identity to him but lost that hope as quickly as it came.
Thus, she decided to pretend to be someone else. Sponsored students had a choice whether they'd like to reveal their names. Elizabeth asked Adrianna to not disclose her real name since she was the daughter of a criminal.
She was Lizette, a girl from nowhere hoping to end up somewhere after graduating.
Her courage to tell Arnold who she was had long since disappeared so she could only regret ever having come to the academy after nothing changed about her.
She was still that scared little girl who wanted to cry instead of standing up to others.
"…." Elizabeth tried to brush her hair but it got entangled in the brush. She tried forcing the brush through her hair but it felt like her hair was being pulled out instead.
Her hair was too dry because all she had been using so far to wash it was soap. The lack of conditioning caused breakage in her hair. She remembered pulling out an entire bundle of hair a few days ago.
It was horrible.
"…"
Elizabeth threw the brush aside and went towards the kitchen. She opened up the freezer and looked inside. There wasn't anything inside that could be considered a healthy breakfast.
Elizabeth had an assignment that she had to complete so she needed all the energy she could get.
"Ugh… I'll just go to the cafeteria."
Elizabeth didn't like interacting with others but since the academy was temporarily closed she could roam however much she wanted. Well, she still had homework so she had to stop by the library as well.
Once she was done eating then she would go there.
After getting her purse, Elizabeth headed towards the door and opened it, ready to leave.
"Eh?"
"?"
She was greeted by an unfamiliar face.
It was a little girl with bright blue hair and big round eyes. She was carrying a teddybear and holding it close to her chest.
Elizabeth stuck her head out of the door and glanced left and right.
'Is that lord Arnold's mother?'
She could see a familiar woman turning to a corner and descending some stairs.
"Um…" the little girl looked up, "Are you big brother's lover?"
"WHA!?" Elizabeth's entire face flushed red(well, her nose was red so one could only tell that she's blushing that way since her skin is charred and flaky). The bottom line was that she was overcome with embarrassment when the little girl asked that question.
Lover? Elizabeth didn't even have the courage to reveal who she was. She only begged Adrianna to not reveal that she was the one the Berkley family would be sponsoring.
Well, calling herself "Liz" was the best she could do to hide her identity.
Elizabeth could feel her head spinning because of how dizzy she felt.
"So you are just a friend then?" the little girl entered the room while Elizabeth was trying to think of what to say.
The simple answer was to tell her that she was Arnold's roommate. But she thought that just calling herself a roommate would hurt her pride as a woman.
But lying just to look good to a kid wasn't exactly a good idea. It was even childish.
"Ew, it smells like burned meat," the girl pinched her nose. She suddenly threw her luggage bag on the bed which belonged to Elizabeth.
"Um, sir Arnold's bed is over there." She pointed towards it but the girl didn't even seem to care at all.
'Why is this girl here so early in the morning when I'm about to leave?' Elizabeth assumed that this girl was Arnold's younger sister. Her blue hair was a giveaway of this.
"When will big brother be back? I want him to show me around before we leave."
"Leave? And go where?"
"I'm hungry. Make me food."
"…."
The girl suddenly kicked off her boots and dress and threw it on the floor. She headed towards her bag and took out a bright pink dress with gothic style patterning. She wasted no time in putting it on with matching pink pumps. She put on a big tie on her head which held up her bright blue hair.
"T-There isn't any food here…"
"What? Then go get some. Like I said, I'm starving!"
Elizabeth started to question this girl's sanity. Who did she think she was to order someone else around?
But perhaps being highborn caused this girl to become so arrogant.
"When is big brother coming back?" the girl suddenly asked the same question that she asked before.
"I'm… not sure."
"Where did he go?"
"Um, he's on a very important assignment outside the empire. Only about half of the students who left to explore dungeons came back. They said that it was a three-day exam but maybe he won't be back today? The three-day rule doesn't mean that they have to leave the dungeon immediately so they are probably having trouble coming back."
As soon as she said that the door suddenly swung open.
Elizabeth, startled by this, instantly turned around.
"Big brother!"
The little girl with blue hair suddenly ran towards the person who stepped through the door.
Part 2
"Big brother!"
Arnold—who only wanted to sleep after coming home from a sleepless night—was greeted by a cheerful shout when he entered his dorm.
"Melina?"
She jumped straight into his arms and smothered her face excitedly on his chest.
He looked up and saw Liz standing there with her head turned in another direction.
"Sorry if she's been giving you trouble, miss Liz. This is my little sister, Melina." Arnold introduced the little girl with blue hair. She only hung onto him and didn't pay attention to Liz at all.
Arnold smiled wryly.
"Uhm, I was about to head out but she showed up at the door. I saw your mother turn a corner earlier so she probably dropped your little sister here."
'Of course she brought Melina here. She knew that Melina would be more comfortable being with me than her. Still, this will be annoying if she has to be with me all day.'
He had to get his preparations in order before tonight. He wanted to stop by Lyra as well since he hadn't been there for quite a while.
There was also his promise with Stella which he had to fulfil in order to gain her trust. His schedule became so packed that he didn't know where to begin.
"Did Mother say when she'll come pick you up?"
"Nope! Mommy said I can spend time with big brother the entire week!" Melina purred like a spoiled kitten as she hugged Arnold.
Arnold wanted to vomit blood. If Melina stayed with him then she was bound to fall into danger. He wanted to go to Nuaria city later in the afternoon since he thought his trip with Stella wouldn't be long.
Melina suddenly backed away and spun around, "How do I look? Mommy bought this dress so that we can go spend time together in the capital."
"Ah, you look very cute, Melina." Arnold smiled as he patted her head.
"Ehehe~" Melina had a big smile on her face as she rubbed her head against his hand.
Underneath his smile wanted to click his tongue in annoyance but it couldn't be helped.
In times like these he had to be flexible with what he had to do first. His time as a Vice Guild Master helped him learn to be mindful of what was important and how things would be impacted if he chose wrongly.
'I'll just have to take Melina and Stella at the same time.'
His business was in Nuaria city which was on the western side of the capital. He was certain if the entire city wasn't under lockdown since they thought everything was under control. The mayor was probably too gullible and optimistic to believe that that "sudden" appearance of parasites was over.
What they failed to notice was that those parasites were known as dungeon crawlers. Well, it was understandable that no one was able to tell since people only know about these parasites in their adult form.
They would eat through their victims' bodies before reproducing in damp, dark areas. They were mainly dungeon creatures since the habitat inside a dungeon was better suited for them when they were young.
The young ones would immediately die if exposed to air that didn't have sufficient mana.
But the adult ones could even survive outside dungeons. They could attack livestock and make life difficult for villagers.
"Why are you the only one here? Where's Jack?"
Jack and Melina were the same age so they should be together to socialize with each other. Aside from Arnold, she frequently played with Jack as well if he wasn't busy with his spearmanship classes.
"Miss Judith didn't want him to come to the empire since he has to finish his studies. That's what she told Mommy."
"Ah, I see."
Arnold knew that Jack didn't have a lot to do while Marcus and Luke were outside the empire. Him and his mother were staying at the castle while the other family members were away so he was basically on vacation. The knight schools closed in the middle of the year already and tutors wouldn't be available during the last two months.
Jack only had school and extra tutoring for five of the ten months of the year if you were to include holidays.
The simple reason Judith didn't want Jack to come was because she didn't want him to become like Melina. It was like Melina had some kind of disease in her eyes which could spread.
Melina was a little weird in some ways but she was still Jack's sister. Arnold felt pissed at how Judith was treating Melina like some creature.
"Are you going out?" Arnold noticed that Liz was wearing her usual baggy clothes with her hair covering 90% of her face. He could only see her red eyes.
"I wanted to go to the cafeteria for awhile before going to the library."
"Oh? The library? I wanted to go there too but I have a lot on my plate right now. Can you take a message for me to someone?"
"Um, okay."
"Tell the bookkeeper that I won't be able to come today since I'm too busy. Lyra might be mad because I broke my promise but I'll have to make it up to her somehow."
"You're… close with that thing in the library?" there was a kind of venom in her voice.
The way she phrased it blatantly showed her disgust.
"Sort of," Arnold scratched the back of his head, "Can you do that for me?"
"…." She nodded.
"Thanks. We can leave in ten minutes, Melina. Just let me get ready."
"Okaaay~"
Melina went towards Arnold's bed and unpacked her things.
'Dammit, Mother. Why would you let her stay here?'
Professors had their own private rooms so Adrianna could've let Melina stay there. It was allowed by the academy for children of their staff to stay in their rooms after all.
Perhaps she was busy. This didn't excuse her from bringing Melina here so abruptly though.
Arnold rummaged in his bag in search for his clothes.
"Huh?" he suddenly felt something between his other stuff.
It was the lunchbox Ruria had given to him before he left.
"…."
"What's that?" Liz peeked from behind him.
The two of them shared responsibilities so both took turns at cleaning. Today would've been Liz's turn since Arnold's turn should've been yesterday and the two days before.
"I got this from a junior of mine," he put the lunchbox on the kitchen table and opened it up. The food didn't go bad but he still had to finish it before returning the lunchbox.
If he didn't then the girl would think he didn't want her food. Well, he only forgot. That's all. But god's knows how dramatic teenage girls can be. She will probably assume that he hated her cooking or something and somehow turn the entire academy against him by making him look like a bad guy.
Arnold wasn't exactly hungry right now so he closed the lid and pushed it aside.
"A junior… Was it a girl?"
"Yeah. She confessed to me last week and she even gave me a box of food for the three days I was away. I didn't finish it as you can see."
Liz only silently looked at him.
"I see."
He expected her to hurl insults at him for not eating the food at least since it was from a girl who loved him. But her reaction surprised him.
Was she just not like the other girls who cared for things like this?
"Will you eat it later?"
"…" Arnold frowned, "Uh…"
He didn't want it at all. For all he knew there was some kind of crazy blend of the girl's fluids and or body hair. It sounded crazy but the academy was filled with closet perverts. The girls especially so.
Luke had to deal with many of these kinds of girls during his seven years here. BDSM, pet play, among other things…
"Then may I take it? I haven't had anything to eat since we ran out of food. Going to the cafeteria every meal is bothersome."
"Are you sure? It's been in my magic bag for three days now."
"It's fine. I know this brand of lunchbox. The cooling system should've kept the food safe."
"Oh? So it's high quality?"
"Yes, only nobles buy these kinds of lunchboxes for their children. One of my cousin who attended here also used this kind. I heard it costs about 2 gold just for one."
'Ruria and Cain are definitely from a very distinguished family if she can afford to just give these kinds of lunchboxes to people. Perhaps their family owns a fief?'
He didn't notice the brand of lunchbox before since he didn't care.
"If the food is still good then it's fine if you take it."
Liz only silently nodded and took the lunchbox towards the sink. She began unpacking the top of the three boxes and grabbed a plate from the sink.
Arnold had already forgotten about Ruria's lunchbox by now since he was busy finishing up for his date. Although he was pretty tired and wanted to rest more than anything else, he couldn't upset his little sister since she was looking forward to this.
Judging by the fact that Melina came with nothing but a few article of clothes and one stuffed animal, he will probably have to buy her more things.
'I already bought her some things but that won't be enough for her.'
Melina was a shopping freak who wanted everything she laid her eyes on. If he were to refuse then she would make a scene of crying, kicking and hurling swear words at him.
This happened a lot in the past from what he read in the game's wikis. She was an annoying spoiled little brat to some but only Arnold knew that she couldn't help being so needy and clingy.
Her entire family isolated her due to the worsening of her condition and she ran off with a trashy noble son. She gave birth on a battlefield and died just a day after. The baby was stillborn.
Melina left nothing on this world that people could remember her by. Not even a child who could someday become a great person.
He didn't want her to grow up like that. Of course, he had to find ways to make her change her behaviors by fixing her condition but that was easier said than done. Autism didn't just go away, especially if it's a worse version than the one usually experienced by people from earth.
Just the simplest trigger could make her go mad.
"Let's go, Melina!" Arnold finished changing into one of his casual wear and shouted after exiting the bathroom.
"Okaay!"
It wasn't even a minute later that his little sister ran towards the door at his call.
The two left soon after.
**
"…."
Elizabeth was currently sitting on one of the stools next to the kitchen table. She was gazing at a plate of food. It was a simple piece of steak.
She didn't know why but she was feeling a certain dread coming from that steak. It wasn't visible to her eyes but she could feel it.
To find out what this strange feeling was, Elizabeth weaved black mana around the plate of food.
She used a dark magic spell called [True Reveal] that could detect phenomena not seen by the human eye.
"Ugh…! Kegh!"
Black smoke suddenly rose from the plate of food and she accidentally inhaled some which made her cough violently.
"W-What?"
Elizabeth had a body which could withstand pretty much any dangerous gas or airborne pathogen or even poison due to her special innate abilities. But this was different. Something like this wasn't as simple as a type of gas bought off shelves.
Elizabeth spat out a clot of black goo. It was from when she inhaled the smoke.
"Poison… An unknown kind of poison."
Her body was telling her that it was poison. If a normal person were to even lick it then the poison would've spread like fire on dried wheat.
Elizabeth's eyes went blank when she realized the motive of the person who gave the lunchbox to Arnold.
"…Ruria… A first year student…."
She chucked away the rest of the food and cast [Black Flame]. The spell only burned the contents of the lunchbox and not the lunchbox itself.
"You wanted to kill my loved one. I won't make your death painless."
But first she had to find out who this Ruria was.