"See? What did I tell you? A family built on lies can't be family, after all."
-Rosanna Castus to Damian Vespera; Secret Route
***
Dear sister,
I hope you're well! It's been only a few weeks since you left the mansion, and I miss you already. As you can see, I can write my own letters now. Are you proud of me? I still wanted to work on my penmanship, but Miss Quintus said that you're going to be busy soon. She has been a splendid teacher so far, and I'm learning a lot from her.
Did you know that mother used to be classmates with the headmaster? Apparently, Miss Quintus knew her as well! She said that our mother was one of their top students, just like you. I can't wait to grow up and go there too.
I'm going to do my best in studying, so I can qualify faster and join you, sister. Miss Quintus also said that I might make it if I work hard. Aunt also agrees with her. I'm so happy! It was the first time Aunt Felicia praised me.
I really do miss you, sister, and I hope you can write back as soon as you read this.
Love,
Max
***
Dear Maximillian,
Thank you for your letter. I didn't expect you'd write to me all the way from here! I'm glad to hear that you and Miss Quintus are getting along great — after all, she did promise to take good care of you on my behalf. Keep up the good work. Don't worry so much about the examinations, you'll definitely pass once you're old enough to take them. Believe me. The headmaster — no, the world will make it happen. I'm sure of it.
As for Aunt Felicia, I'm glad to hear that she's somehow learned to be a decent human being. Remember that you can tell Miss Quintus if she's still giving you hell. Or, you can just tell me. I'll run back to the mansion and get you out of there if I had to. Whatever happens, don't let her hit you or speak badly in front of you.
I wish I could be there as well, but I'll try to visit as soon as I can. It has been hectic lately, but it's nothing I can't handle.
Take care,
Rosanna
***
"I'm starting to think this is too much for you," the Headmaster said.
He sat at his desk all-menacingly, mimicking the infamous contemplative villain pose that Rosanna—no, Amelia— was all too familiar with in popular media. He had summoned her to his office to explain the mess hall fiasco, but so far Rosanna had not been able to do any explaining.
She stood a few feet across from him, at a loss. Retaliating back at those girls wasn't a mistake. She would do it all over again if she had to, that would show them what happens if they tried to mess with her favorite character.
But she couldn't explain unless he asked. He had to ask, so Rosanna could answer. She wouldn't be caught desperate to explain herself.
"May I ask you to elaborate, sir?"
From where she stood, Rosanna could see the Headmaster's eyebrows twitch. He paused for a second, seemingly considering what abomination he'd allowed setting foot in his precious Academy. Rosanna kept a smile innocent smile on her face, knowing it couldn't be her.
The Headmaster then pulled out a pile of papers from his drawer, shuffling through them like a deck of cards. "Indecent behavior on school grounds," he began rattling off. "Disruptive comments during official class hours. Disrupting the professor during official class hours. Making indecent comments towards other classmates." The Headmaster cast her a dirty look at that. "Does these ring a bell, Miss Castus?"
Rosanna scowled. "That last part wasn't true! I never did such a thing!"
"'I won't hide somewhere if I want to kiss someone. I would just kiss them on the spot. Comprende?'" The Headmaster read from the paper out loud, never once breaking eye contact.
Rosanna opened her mouth and closed it just as fast.
"Not only that," The Headmaster continued. He dug out another pile of papers from his drawer and slammed it on his desk. "You also poured chocolate over Isabelle Kolm, Lucy Albin, and Olivia Salus. All belonging to families that help keep this Academy running."
"But you're the Headmaster!" She retorted. "Isn't this your Academy?"
"And the empire belongs only to the emperor." The Headmaster scoffed.
Rosanna's throat went dry. She never considered those NPCs had powerful stats, much less have their names. In the game, they barely even got five seconds of screen time!
"B-but it's not like they can do anything to me, right?" She laughed nervously. Rosanna Castus was the heroine. The world was built around her.
"They could have you kicked out and blacklisted," the Headmaster said gravely. "Even I wouldn't be able to save you. It's already taking too much out of me to convince your teachers that you're Elizabeth's daughter, and not some imposter sent in by the Maures."
The word imposter rang in Rosanna's mind, reminding her whose body exactly hers belonged. Strange. Amelia Sola's memories were perfectly intact, yet before she knew it, she had begun to refer to herself as 'Rosanna', even though she made no effort to act exactly like her. Who was the real Rosanna Castus even?
"Luckily," the Headmaster interjected, pulling her out of her thoughts. "The three girls have all decided not to pursue their complaint towards you."
"Huh?" Rosanna blinked, unsure if she heard the Headmaster correctly. Those girls? The same ones who cried at the disciplinary office about their honors and dignity shattered, how traumatized they were from being humiliated? Those girls?
You'll pay for this, Rosanna Castus. We'll send the Ice Princess packing. Just wait!
"Are you sure, sir?" Rosanna asked, stepping closer. "They were very adamant last time—"
"They even wrote a letter of apology," The Headmaster handed her a letter, addressed to her by name and sealed with what she guessed to be one of their girls' personal seal.
At first, she didn't know whether to accept or call bullshit. Was this another one of those things she got wrong from canon? Could those girls turn out to be self-reflecting bullies, after all?
She took the letter and struggled to open it without ripping the envelope. Unable to stand the sight, the Headmaster took one of his trinkets from his desk and opened the letter for her. Right. She forgot that letter-openers existed. Cut her some slack — back in her old life, messages were sent through chat!
She glanced at the Headmaster, who nodded to her as if to say, go on.
She cleared her throat.
"Dear Miss Castus," she began reading out loud.
The Headmaster gestured for her to take a seat. She continued:
'I hope this letter finds you well and recovered. I am Isabella Kolm, writing on behalf of myself and my friends, in hopes that we can beg for your forgiveness for how we acted earlier. Truly, it was becoming of us ladies to attack a fellow lady, especially one as kindhearted and pure as yours. We did not know you were affiliated with Miss Viola, and we did not mean to cause you any harm. We apologize for dumping a mug of hot chocolate over your head and hurting you.'
"Kindhearted and pure," The Headmaster repeated, almost as if trying to speak the words into existence.
Of course, your affiliation with Miss Viola was not the problem. We were. You see, Miss Viola has outperformed us in academics, arts, beauty, and prestige. As a fellow student coming from a prolific family, we often hear tales of Miss Viola's accolades, and you'd be surprised how easy admiration can turn into jealousy.
"Oh," Rosanna whispered, almost in awe. Forget about specificity — this was an entire backstory playing out right in front of her! Who knew that Viola's goons secretly harbored envy for her, but were just too afraid to act on it? If only Viola had acted like the villainess she was before, perhaps these girls would've flocked to her instead of bullying her because it was the only to could somehow get back at her.
Looking back to it, many of Viola's accomplices did end up implicating her in the latter parts of the story, but Rosanna always thought that it had been done for the heroine's sake.
Now she finds out that even those NPCs carried complex feelings toward the villainess.
"Is that all?" The Headmaster pressed, looking just as invested.
"No, sir, there's still one last paragraph — "
"Please proceed."
She cleared her throat.
'When we saw Miss Viola all alone without her knight in shining armor to support her, we took advantage of it like the lowlives we were, and decided to bully her. We tried to hurt her. In the process, you got hurt as well. You were right to pour that mug over our faces. We deserved it.'
'To prove that our apologies are sincere, we respectfully retract all the lies we spat in the disciplinary office. We also no longer wish to pursue our ill-founded complaint. We will do our best to stay out of your way and make up for our blunder.'
'Again, we extend our sincerest apologies towards Miss Castus and Miss Adelais.'