After this incident Erika roamed around the academy with Maruschka for some time before returning to their room.
By now Bauer has unpacked both of their luggages and put them in the two cupboards beside their respective beds.
"Thank you lady Bauer. Though it was not your duty but you still took care of my luggage as well." Maruschka bowed in gratitude.
Bauer's face turned red.
"I, it's okay. You don't have to bow for something like this. We are both commoners after all."
Maruschka didn't know what to say. She was slightly flustered.
"Alright it's almost lunchtime. Let's go grab some lunch from the cafeteria below."
Erika broke up their conversation.
"As you wish milady." Bauer replied.
"Man I really am starving after all that walking." Said Maruschka.
They went down to cafeteria from before. This time it was full of students.
They sat in various desks to eat their lunch, while some were choosing what to eat.
Since this building was only for the top class aristocrats, there weren't that many students.
Soon Erika and Maruschka took their lunch sets from the person who was distributing it.
"Umm, lady Bauer won't you eat with us?"
Maruschka asked curious as to why Bauer didn't take her lunch.
"Ah, I can't eat with the lady. I will eat after you are done." Bauer replied.
"I don't particularly mind it. Why don't you just sit with us?" Erika said.
"But milady,"
"Oh, come on. There is no need to be formal. Come on."
Bauer gave in to their pressure and decided to sit with them.
Maruschka ended her lunch first.
Since she was afraid that she would be laughed at again she ate fast.
After Maruschka ate her lunch she sat with Erika and Bauer chatting with them.
"You know you can return to the room if you like." Erika said.
"It's okay lady Erika I would be bored in the room all alone anyways." She said.
While they were enjoying their lunch, many students gave them weird looks because Bauer was sitting with them. This made her uncomfortable.
Suddenly Erika heard a voice she hasn't heard for a very long time.
It was lunch time and the prince Theodore arrived at the cafeteria after the classes broke.
He saw that Erika was eating along with her maid and the commoner student.
He noticed that Maruschka was just sitting while Erika and her maid ate.
He decided to use this pretext to harass Erika.
"So, you made the commoner wait while you along with your maid eat?"
He said looking at Erika with a frown in his eyebrows and obvious disgust.
"How low can you fall? Flaunting that even your maid deserves better treatment than the commoner student. This type of behaviour is unexpectable from the future queen of this country."
Maruschka was shocked at this. She couldn't understand why the other nobles were using her as excuse to defame Erika.
Erika and Bauer both were unable to understand what the prince was talking about.
Whispers from other students started to be heard.
"So that lady is his highness' fiance? No wonder she is in the same student building as him."
"What is highness saying?"
"Weren't they just eating together?"
"Is the other girl really a commoner? What's she doing here? Eww."
"Is the commoner trying to seduce the prince using the other lady's kindness as a stepping stone?"
"That's why you never help the commoners. They are just backstabbing animals."
Erika tried to explain the situation to the prince.
"Perhaps your highness has mistaken. We were just eating together."
"Lady Erika is right your highness. She didn't do anything wrong to me." Maruschka firmly replied.
Maruschka didn't know the prince. She was imitating how Erika called him.
She didn't like the idea of other's reprimanding Erika in her name. Moreover she knew how the nobles treated the commoners.
She now started to think of them as hypocrites who wouldn't help the commoners themselves but use them as tools to bully other nobles.
"You don't have to put up with it. I know she is forcing you to do your bidding." The prince said brushing all of their arguments.
"Don't worry. I'll report this incident to the academy principal. Strict actions will be taken against bullies no matter her rank."
The prince left the room without waiting for any reply or counter arguments from anyone.
A butler took his lunch to his room with him.
The room was silent for a moment. Everyone was shocked and didn't know what to say. They couldn't understand the prince's behaviour.
Finally whispers started again.
"Poor lady. I am sure it's the commoner. They are well known for such dirty tricks."
"How did she even got close to the prince? What were his royal guards doing?"
"Hey, stop it." Erika stood up and shouted.
"Maruschka is my friend and she has been with me all day. There is no way she could even get near his highness. So stop defaming her."
"Please forgive us lady...."
"Erika. Erika Raubenbraum is my name."
"Lady Raubenbraum please believe us. We are sure that commoner has used her blackmagic on his highness."
Maruschka was sitting in her seat all this time shrunken and afraid. She was horrified and couldn't understand why all this happened. Bauer was trying to comfort her.
Erika was furious. She already knew that the prince was far from the prince charming in the original game but she didn't anticipate that he was this bratty.
However, her priority now was to contain the crowd to make sure that the academy doesn't become a nightmare for Maruschka.
"Being loner is already hard enough now if bullying starts then Maruschka won't be able to have a bright and enjoyable time in the academy." She thought.
She could also remember her time as a highschooler. She was a social outcast and always lonely. Though she wasn't bullied but her classmates would laugh about her or talk about her behind her back.
Remembering this she couldn't tolerate the idea of another student having an even harder time due to herself.
"As the fiance of the crown prince and the future queen of this country am warning you that Maruschka is my friend and I won't tolerate any bad behaviour towards her." She boldly declared.
Maruschka was brought to tears hearing this. She couldn't believe that even after all this Erika would try to help her and stand by her side.
Hearing the threat all the students quite down and started on about their business. However, the whispering didn't stop. Though in a more discreet manner.
Erika noticed a student who was sitting alone abruptly got up and walked out without finishing his lunch.
After lunch, they went to their room.
Here Maruschka cried on Erika's arms. Erika was a bit surprised. She patted her head and back and consoled her.
Bauer brought a glass of water for Maruschka. She slept immediately after drinking it.
Erika and Bauer brought her to her bed and covered her with a blanket after changing her clothes.
"Um, Bauer what did you mix in the water?" Erika asked curiously.
"Just some medicine to calm her down. She needed rest." Bauer said with a straight face.
"Fine.... thank you for 'calming' her down." She said letting out a long breath.
"Milady, I have a bad feeling about everything that happened today. Specially what the prince did. It was clear that he is up to something."
"Yeah me too. I feel that something is wrong. While the prince acted like trying to protect her, in reality he made things worse for her."
"Alright, where did you put the P38s?"
"In the second drawer in your closet."
"Get them. We will keep them with us from now on. I am ordering the enactment of rule 78 of the Nishizumi Style."
"You are saying weird words again milady." Bauer laughed.
She opened the drawer, brought out the two P-38s and handed one over to Erika while hiding the other inside her maid dress.
Erika also hid hers inside her uniform.
"Whatever keep it at your person at all times. Even when sleeping."
"Do you think she needs one too?" Bauer said pointing at the sleeping Maruschka.
"No, she isn't in the Wehrmacht. So she can't have guns."
"As you wish."
Erika and Bauer both remained in the room. They talked about how the day went and what they did.
At night both of them went to sleep with the guns under their pillows. Maruschka slept through the entire time.