"Keep your eyes up here, pretty boy. Your rival is me."
-Oswald Mirande to Damian Vespera; Routes 1-3
***
Seeing Rosanna Castus incarcerated should mark one of the best days of his life.
There was no other punishment more fitting for the girl who made his lady miserable throughout many lifetimes and by extension, Leo. If he were being honest, she deserved to be kept in somewhere far worse than a storage room — like the Imperial Palace dungeon, for starters.
(She actually WAS put in the Imperial dungeon once in their previous lives, but that's another story.)
However, as he saw the familiar mop of white hair in the dimly-lit room, Leo only felt dread. The royal guards had wrapped a piece of cloth over Rosanna's eyes and mouth, while they bound the rest of her body in rope.
Never in their previous lives had he seen Rosanna treated so roughly. He had only ever seen that time where she was coated in chocolate, but since then, even the Imperial Knights handled Rosanna with care - escorting her instead of actual arrests.
"Your Highness, this is…" he turned to the Crown Prince, at a loss. He had always imagined himself ordering her capture, but never the Crown Prince himself, who had a track record of doing EVERYTHING it takes to make sure that Rosanna gets exempted from such things.
How should he say it? Should he grab the boy by the shoulder and scream, 'How could you do this to your future wife?' Whisper discreetly that he's making a huge mistake?
As he struggled to find the words, the Crown Prince had long ripped off the blindfold from Rosanna's eyes. Leo could see the exact moment she realized what was happening, and how, in the depths of her mind, she was probably already blaming his lady for it.
Leo needed to come up with an excuse, fast. Rosanna's patience, he learned, was a fickle thing: and if he and his lady were marked for death thanks to this little stunt, then dead they shall be.
"Rosanna, we came here to save you!" He blurted out. The Crown Prince whipped his head towards Leo, causing the royal guards to immediately follow suit. The royal guards, still in their disguise as school staff, turned their weapons towards him.
It was Viola's turn to step in. "Wait, he's my servant—!"
"Everyone, halt." The Crown Prince ordered. "This is a school, there's no need to have your weapons drawn."
Says the person who ordered them to carry one in the first place. Even back at the Adelais Estate, the Crown Prince had the royal guard tail them, always lurking, waiting. Leo was already an expert at spotting them from the corner of his eyes, but he never imagined they would follow Damian all the way to the Academy.
What possible dangers could be hidden in a private Academy for pompous children of nobles?
The Crown Prince approached Rosanna Castus, his footsteps filling in the silence. Leo wondered if incidents like these had taken actually place in their previous lives when he wasn't there to witness them.
"Listen here, Miss Castus." The Crown Prince said in a level voice. "I'm going to let you speak, so choose your next words wisely. If you scream, you're dead. If you lie, you're dead. If you as much try to talk to anyone but me—" he glanced at Viola and Leo, "you're dead. Nod if you understand."
'What the fuck is this?' Leo thought. 'I don't remember Damian being this cruel!'
Rosanna, however, only nodded.
"Alright. First things first. Are you a spy?"
Rosanna tilted her head, confused.
"Don't tell me you don't know what a spy is."
There was a slight widening in Rosanna's eyes. She shook her head.
"No as in, you have no idea - or no as in, you're not a spy?"
Rosanna blinked, as if waiting for the Crown Prince to realize how stupid the question sounded.
"Okay, let me rephrase that. Are you stalking me?"
Rosanna shook her head.
"Then how did you know so much about me? You're not supposed to even recognize me."
Rosanna glanced at Leo with a blank expression, not a shred of intelligence or ounce of wit to be found in there. The Prince simply followed her gaze and nodded.
"I see, I see."
"W-what exactly is he seeing?" His lady whispered next to Leo.
"I haven't the faintest clue, my lady." Leo wasn't even sure if all of this was real.
The Crown Prince's voice softened, the way it did whenever he slipped away from the weight of the Crown and back to his usual self. "You do understand that I have my reasons for doing this, right? It's a matter of safety. None of this wouldn't have happened if you didn't say all of those things in class. I hope we can understand each other, Miss Castus."
Rosanna Castus seemed to take in his words properly. She said something in a muffled voice.
"What?" The Crown Prince leaned forward.
Another muffled nonsense.
"Ah, of course. My apologies." The Crown Prince removed the piece of clothing over her mouth.
"…detention." She was saying.
"What?"
"I said, this is ILLEGAL DETENTION!" Rosanna yelled. Just like that, the blades were pointed back at her. She didn't even flinch — instead, she hopped towards the Crown Prince's direction, at the expense of falling onto her face. She glared at everyone in the room like a deranged animal. "I get that you like me, but this is too much! I couldn't breathe! It's been hours and no one even bothered to give me food—"
"Like you? As if!" Viola whisper-screamed. "Miss Castus, you were the one who has wicked designs against the Crown Prince!"
"Abuse of authority!" Rosanna cried. It must only be Leo who noticed that she didn't agree nor deny with Viola's accusations...although she was making a lot of her own. "Violence on campus grounds! This is bullying! I'll be reporting this to the headmaster—"
"The headmaster works for the Imperial Family," Leo said. "There's no abuse of authority if it's the Crown Prince. You can't prove the violence. As for bullying, you don't have a motive."
Rosanna glared at him from the ground. "Of course, there's a motive."
"And that is?"
"I'm pretty," the girl said with a straight face. "I'm smart, and everyone loves me. All of you can't accept this."
Leo put a hand over his temple, feeling his blood pressure rise. There it was again. For some reason, this life's Rosanna Castus seemed to be under the impression that the world was laid upon her feet, ripe for the taking. At least the previous incarnations of Rosanna Castus didn't have this kind of audacity.
"Amazing," the Crown Prince murmured, stroking his chin. "I initially brought you here because I thought you were a spy…but could it be that you were just painfully stupid?"
Rosanna's mouth fell open.
And then: "I would rather be a spy than being called stupid!"
The Crown Prince hummed. "Is that so?" He held out his hands, and one of the guards immediately handed them their sword. He knelt towards Rosanna in an unmistakable position, preparing to strike.
"Very well then—"
"Your Highness, no!" Viola yelled, but it was too late.
The blade remained suspended in the air, held back by Leo's grip. In a short span of seconds, he had sprinted to the prince's side and gripped his wrist, sparing Rosanna.
He didn't even mean to do that. His body had acted on its own, leaving no room for thought.
It didn't mean anything.
"Oho? What's this, Leo?" The Crown Prince grinned. "You would defy the Imperial Family just for her?"
"No!" He immediately scrambled back, letting go of the Prince. He held his hand as if it burned, and it should have, for even daring to move on its own. "You Highness, it's been a misunderstanding! I only thought it would be bad, you know, killing someone—"
"But…I only meant to cut the ropes."
Ah.
"And here you say you'd never fall for me," Rosanna Castus whispered softly.
All eyes in the room turned to Leo, including the royal guards. He gritted his teeth.
He shifted to a groveling position, his knees on the ground and palms flat on the floor. "Your Highness, pardon me for the interruption! Please carry on with the execution!"
***
"I demand compensation," Rosanna Castus said, rubbing her wrists. She sat on her chair like it was a throne, cross-legged. The royal guards flocked behind her, making it look as if they were under her command, AND not the Crown Prince's.
"Whatever your reasons are, you have no right to hold a fellow student captive." She glared at the Crown Prince. "No right to point your weapons at me, either."
"You do realize that every word that comes out of your mouth can easily get you killed, right?" Leo asked. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, this Rosanna Castus was definitely not like her previous incarnations. Where the previous Rosanna would stay her hand, this one threw her cards all over the place like confetti.
"Good thing I have you to save me, then." She smirked.
Leo rushed forward, causing the royal guards to block his path.
"Let me at her!" He begged. "Just one smack! Just one tiny, little smack—"
"Shut up," Rosanna Castus ordered. "You love me."
Leo stared at her as he struggled, unsure how one person could inspire so much hate within his body. To be fair, Rosanna Castus had committed worse sins.
But this? Unforgivable!
"What do you want from my servant, anyway?" Viola stepped forward, meeting Rosanna's cool gaze with a glare. "You've been giving him trouble since earlier, now rumors are circulating about him. Do you think this is amusing?"
Leo could hear the underlying frustration in her voice, which made him feel warm enough to calm down. Not only did he get to see his lady jealous, he even had her defending him!
"I've heard about you, Rosanna Castus. You come from a disgraced family." Viola continued. "Your aunt hates you and your brother, so now you're here to prove your worth. Are you so afraid of being at the bottom of the food chain that you're picking on Leo? Because he's a servant?"
"Do you think he's lower than you?" Now Viola's voice is rising, catching even the Crown Prince in surprise. "Let me remind you, he scored higher than everyone else—"
"He owes me."
The three words washed over Leo like a bucket of cold water.
Viola's face warped in confusion. "Excuse me? He owes you? How? WHEN?"
When he looked up, he saw an inkling of the old Rosanna sitting on that creaky chair, cold and regal. The same Rosanna that once smiled from the Empress' throne in one of their previous lives, twirling the crown in her fingertips like meant nothing more than a useless piece of metal.
'You owe me, Leonardo Cassius.' She'd said, 'You have no idea how much.'
Leo didn't even know what she was talking about. If anything, she was the one that owed him! She was the one who made them suffer! She was the one who did as she pleased, trampled people under her feet, and used anyone that could help her ascend to the throne. Rosanna Castus had no right to demand something from him. He was the one that should be compensated.
And yet…
"She's right, my lady," Leo murmured. "I-I owe her something." In this life, at least.
Viola Adelais knelt by Leo's side, flabbergasted. "What? I thought you said there was nothing?"
"I-I didn't want to trouble my lady—"
"I don't mind that! Tell me, Leo. Was it money? How much? I can pay for you—"
"My lady, no. It's not money. Besides, even if it was, I can't ever ask you to pay in my stead—"
"Then what is it?"
Leo swallowed. He could never tell his lady that he cheated on the exams, especially when he scored higher than hers. "It's…a favor."
Somewhere around them, the Crown Prince let out a scandalized gasp.
"What kind of favor?" He interjected.
"None of your business," Leo said through clenched teeth. Looks like this Crown Prince spent more time with his head on the gutter than doing actual princely duties.
But then again, a prince was still a prince, and Leo was...well, a servant.
He immediately corrected himself: "I mean, it's personal, Your Highness."
At this, Rosanna clapped her hands. "Miss Viola, please do not worry. Your servant and I go way, WAY back! You've said it yourself, I come from a disgraced family. I'm not well-received by most noble houses. Servants, however…" She let her voice trail off, letting Leo fill in the blanks.
Curse you Rosanna Castus. Curse you and your stupid, disgraced family.
"Please pardon her, my lady. I apologize on her behalf to the Crown Prince as well." Leo bowed. "Whatever it is she said to you, or how she acted tonight…I swear on my name she means well. It's just the way she is."
His lady had an unreadable expression as she heard all of this. If she found it strange or out of character, she didn't say anything. On the other hand, the Crown Prince had clapped his hands, signaling the royal guards to retreat.
"Alright, I'll take your word for it, Leo." He said. "We'll leave you two to sort out your…erm…personal matters." At the word 'personal', the Crown Prince used his hands to cover his face. "Miss Viola, I think we should—"
"I'm not leaving my servant with THAT," Viola scowled.
"Maybe I can escort you on my way back—"
"Okay." Viola agreed immediately. "Let's go."
'So much for defending me!' Leo inwardly howled.
"My lady, please don't—"
Viola cut him off with a look that said: shut up.
Leo deflated.
"Everyone is dismissed for the night." The Crown Prince ordered, opening the door for Viola. But before they left, he called out, "And Miss Castus?"
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Please keep my identity a secret. I don't know how much your dear friend Leo has told you, but I am using an alias for a reason. We can discuss the compensations for your trouble in the morning."
The door shut behind them.
***
Once they were alone, it was Rosanna who first spoke.
"They were really rough with me. Everything hurts." Rosanna moaned, slumping in her chair. Then, with one eye open, she grinned at Leo. "Thank you for coming, by the way. I said some unnecessary things to the prince and the only way to prove my innocence was through an alibi."
"Did it have to be me?"
"You're the only one I know." She let out a whistle.
"What if I hadn't come with my lady?"
"You're always with her."
"What if we didn't show up?"
"You will."
"Good thing you're here to save me, then." She said earlier. Leo didn't understand where this confidence was coming from. As someone who lived the same life over and over, he couldn't even predict a single outcome in the ever-changing chain of events.
Each of his lives led different routes, with Rosanna playing a key role every time he was reborn. Not even the Rosanna of those lives held this unwavering belief that everything will work out just because she wished them to be.
This Rosanna wasn't just confident. It was almost as if…she knew everything already.
"What do you want from me?" He asked, cutting straight to the point. It didn't matter which Rosanna was in front of him. Whether she remembered that old debt or not, Leo wanted nothing more to do with her. Period.
"Seriously? I thought it was obvious."
Leo remained silent. So far, all of Rosanna's actions have no recurring patterns. He may even go as far as saying that this was the weirdest, most obnoxious, and most annoying version that he's ever met.
So no. It's not fucking obvious. Not in the slightest bit.
Sensing his growing irritation, Her Highness Rosanna Castus finally deigned him an explanation. he spread her hands placatingly. "Look, you owe me for the exams, and now I owe you for standing up for me. Like Viola said, this place has a pecking order. You're a servant, and my family has a bad reputation."
"I see," Leo said bitterly. "So you want me to serve you?"
"What? No!?" Rosanna shot up from her chair, looking genuinely offended. "What I'm saying is — we should work together. Have each other's back. You know, like, friends."
She looked at him with those clear blue eyes, both hands clasped in prayer. Perhaps she thought it made her look angelic.
Leo didn't have to think twice. He turned his back, stepped out the door, and shut it behind him.
He would rather be a lowly servant than be anything remotely close to that.