[Olivia's POV]
Olivia sat on her bed which was much bigger and softer than the one at her home.
Truly, being selected into the Royal Academy with a special scholarship was a stroke of luck for the girl who was of commoner origin with little to no funds to support even a normal education.
It was due to someone from the Academy's board of directors accidentally finding her doing magic much beyond her age group— and, while she wasn't aware of it, the Academy's new policy to find and train rare talents even outside of nobility—that she even got the unprecedented opportunity to study in this place.
Yes, she had always had a latent talent for magic. It was the only thing she found herself being somewhat good at. She was below average in every other regard. Education, skills, manners, etiquette, looks— everything really.
Olivia knew that very well and was humble and modest from a young age. She knew her place and acted so.
But ever since she entered the Royal Academy, her life seemed to have taken a turn for the worst.
While initially, she was fascinated and hopeful about her new life due to the high-quality education and resources (such as magic books) being so easily available, she soon learned the harshness of living in the world of nobles and rich while she was a mere commoner.
It was when someone first found out about her origin towards the end of her third day that she learned how much despised and discriminated someone like her was in this place. She had barely started to learn things and get acquainted with her peers but that revelation seemed to keep everyone at bay from then on.
At worst, she was even bullied by some of the girls. And nobody seemed to care about that even if other students and even some teachers found out about it.
She couldn't do anything about it herself because she had no power and thus say in the matter. She was but a mere commoner.
And then…
She lay on the bed as she remembered the day that seemed to change her life again.
It was when she met Leon, or as he liked to be called, Ian.
She smiled as his face came to her head.
He had been the only person who seemed to have come to her rescue and what's more, she never expected it, but somehow he also became her first friend here… and she his.
Her smile only brightened at the thought. She finally had someone who was like her. Though, that was wrong to say.
'Ian is an amazing person.'
She thought to herself, remembering all the amazing things she had heard about him until now from passing conversations and some of them being recited by himself when she asked about his life.
At such a young age, he had achieved a lot, made a name for himself, and was a Baron.
At times, it felt like he was too good for someone like her.
But then…
'Why is he so nice to me all the time?'
That question brought her nervousness. Because she couldn't find an answer.
'He can easily make better friends, but he doesn't.'
Indeed, while he acted aloof, it wasn't as if he lacked conversation skills.
'And he's such a kindhearted person too.'
He was.
'But he can also be a tease at times.'
She pouted, remembering his habit of occasionally teasing her for no reason.
'Why does he do it to me? I don't like it. It…It makes me so flustered.'
She blushed, thinking of the times it happened. Then she remembered today's subject of teasing and her blush became a few shades darker.
'T-That meanie. Saying such things to me.'
"Though… you're definitely cute and adorable. A total babe if you ask me. Heck, I know I would propose to you for sure if I could."
His words resounded in her head, causing her to fume and blush.
'Awawawa… why did he say it like that!'
She covered her face to hide herself from the world, even though she was alone in her room.
It took her a while to get a hold of herself as she twisted and turned in embarrassment from remembering it and his clear gaze. He looked serious and honest. So charming.
'Did… he mean that.'
A stray thought made her blush go into full throttle.
"Ah! Noo! Bad Livia! Don't think about weird things! Of course, he was only teasing! Don't act like this over a joke. We barely know each other. And he's such an amazing person. Why would he…"
She said out loud, hoping the flustered maiden part of her would listen. Luckily, it did and she finally calmed down.
She shook such thoughts and decided to distract herself with some magic studying. It was better to put all this energy into studying.
Though, regardless of her strange flurry of emotions, she was sure about one thing.
She was truly grateful that he came to her and extended a helping hand to her that day.
Her life at the academy was much better now thanks to him being a part of it.
Another reminder made her halt and sigh as she remembered something else that had been bothering her since the beginning of the academy life and something she hadn't yet shared with Ian yet because she wasn't sure if she should bother him with such things.
'I still don't understand the academy's rules and unspoken agreements. Nobility is so… complicated. Do I have no other choice but to bother him with my problem again? Would be mind? Would he think I'm using him? Uuu, why is it so complicated…? I only wanted to study magic.'
Much to her dismay, her plans for studying had been disturbed already as she instead had to decide.
Should she ask Ian for his help with her problematic status in the Academy? Or should she deal with it herself and not bother him?
[End of Olivia's POV]
***
The day after the incident with the prince and Angelica, I decided to give the duke's daughter a due visit.
Why? Because. I could certainly do with having an acquaintanceship with the duke family. They were exploitable… I mean, useful… I mean, they were fairly nice to their allies and favored ones. And I could think of a few ways to gain their favor. One of them was what Leon from the manga used: The "challenge the protagonist to a Mecha duel" event that'll occur soon.
As I walked the hallway where the most influential families' heirs were situated, I wondered what my actions today will lead to.
You see, I had an idea.
At worst, it could lead to a terrible first impression and possibly a bad reputation with the said Duke's daughter from today onwards. At best, I could get Angelica to owe me big time.
'Hopefully, my excuse works. I just can't stop myself from going along with this stupid idea after all I've done to arrange this meeting. Eh, fuck it. Not like they can do shit to me if I fuck up. I'm practically a one-man army in this world now at my level. And that's not even including Eris and her advanced warfare technology. Especially the new variants she's been building after studying the new era's magic technology.'
[Name: Ian Alpenwind
Level: 122]
Yes, I had nothing to fear in this world, even if things didn't go as smoothly. Though, given the nature of the world, I had a feeling things will go well.
"Uhm, is it really okay for me to tag along?"
Olivia asked, still hesitant about the idea of accompanying me.
Truthfully, I was mostly doing this visit for Olivia. Making the protagonist and antagonist friends was one of my main goals, after all. And for why I bothered. Well, why else?
'I can't wait for the WPs(World Points) that I'll get by fucking up the story big time. Hehehe. And I didn't even have to use my brains on this one. It was literally something I will be copy-pasting from what Leon did in the manga. Thanks, bro.'
I smiled in delight at the thought of getting a step closer to my goals. Slow and steady, as they say. High School DxD was just a few hundred… thousand—okay, it was still tens of thousands of steps away. Fuck!
My smile didn't last very long once that reminder surfaced. But I brought a cheerful face still as I replied to my companion.
"Of course, you can! I'm surprised you hadn't given the duke's daughter a courteous visit. You could have avoided a lot of that past aggressiveness thrown towards you by doing that. I think most of the girls who bother you even now are from her faction. They think you're being rude to the duke's faction by not greeting them. Haaa… don't ask me why they care. The nobility politics is weird in this world. I don't get it myself."
'I can only call it anime logic. But that'll still be a shallow answer. Not sure why they do it actually, other than being unnecessarily mean and getting off of it or something. Man, now that I think about it, her group is filled with mean and selfish little bitches through and through. No wonder even she herself was back-stabbed and got left out once shit hit the fan with the prince and his power rangers boy band.'
I thought, remembering the likely unavoidable future for miss Antagonist.
***