With nary a cloud in the sky, the grounds of Starveil Academy were abuzz with activity. The arrival of spring always brought with it a plethora of new students from both near and far, all clamoring for the prestige of attending. Such was the fame of this storied old school, nestled comfortably in the middle of the nation of Haldia; after all, a school for the elite had to be the best of the best. Be they upcoming talents sponsored by their patrons or students carrying the hopes and dreams of their predecessors, the students arriving here today would very well pave the path towards the future.

The first thing everyone had been directed to do, of course, was to head towards the courtyard for the entrance ceremony. Were the weather less favorable, it likely would have been the grand auditorium that such a ceremony was held within; with the spring flowers in full bloom, however, it seemed much more apt to herald the arrival of a new generation of students surrounded by them.

Seated as they were at the front near the podium that had been set up by the faculty, the newer students could be seen awash in a variety of emotions—anxiety, hope, excitement, and many more—as the headmaster, an older man with what could only be described as salt-and-pepper hair trimmed to perfection, took to the stage. There was a pause as a magical insignia formed underneath him, barely visible to the naked eye, but as he spoke, the reason for it became clear. Voice amplification magic, after all, would allow him to speak to everyone without exerting himself.

"Ahem. To the new students of Starveil Academy: I formally welcome you to our hallowed grounds for the years to come. As you all know, my name is William Augustine Hadforth III, and I am the headmaster of our esteemed academy. For generations..."

And thus the speech began. The relaxing atmosphere coupled with the somewhat long-winded speech continued on and on, and more than a few of the older students in the back were close to dozing off... Had they chosen to attend in the first place. But eventually, the older man's speech came to an end, and the students present given free rein to do as they wished before classes began. To socialize, return to their newfound dorms for the coming years, or whatever else they had in mind... So long as it was within reason, of course.


"I suppose that took long enough," muttered one young man as he stood up from his seat. His long black hair, usually left somewhat untidy, had been pulled back into a ponytail for the ceremony. As the son of a duke, he had to at least attempt to put up appearances for days like these.

Thankfully, his maid had him more than covered for formal situations like these.

Subtly rolling his shoulders as he stretched his limbs, Reginald von Afah took a moment to scan over his surroundings—though, to be more specific, he was on the lookout for anyone "of note". As this was the first day at Starveil Academy, the 'heroine' was bound to appear, as were the rest of the cast that he could remember. There were vaguely familiar faces abound, but for the most part they seemed to mostly blend together. The "standouts" were likely swept up in the wave of students moving to and fro, even despite their standout appearances...

But soon enough, the young man chose to simply worry about trying to find those who were relevant to his interests at a later time. For the moment, Reginald would simply begin to leave the courtyard, crowded with clusters of students new and old as it was. While there was nothing to be "immediately" settled, getting caught up in some of the 'opening' events of the first day did not seem particularly enticing to him in the least.

Hopefully that same maid hadn't gotten herself wrapped up in anything in the interim...

Today was the entrance ceremony. The time and day the heroine would finally arrive at the school and begin her journey. An epic tale that entranced many who played Cross Heart Academy. Too bad, before he died, Cervantes wasn't too invested in the story. After his first few playthroughs, Cervantes ended up skipping the cutscenes unless they were mandatory.

Though, unlike the heroine, Cervantes couldn't attend the speech. It was because he was here as a merchant rather than the majority of people who were students. Apparently, before transmigrating into this body, Cervantes decided to set up shop after getting permission from the school.

"Hey, Cervantes!" The merchant's eyes darted towards the voices that called him from a stall. To be precise, it was one of the shop NPCs, 'Joe Smith. Cervantes smiled and waved back at the man before continuing his walk. Despite spending some time inside this 'game,' it felt weird. Everything was life-like in comparison to playing it on a screen. The many background character had a life that a console couldn't replicate.

Waving at another shopkeeper, Cervantes stopped nearby a fountain. The pristine and clear water reflected an unfamiliar face. Taking a bronze coin out of the pouch, Cervantes tossed it into the fountain. "Please give me good fortune," Cervantes muttered to himself. He needed it. When he first woke up as the nameless shopkeeper, Cervantes couldn't tell if this was a weird dream. He still needed to get over the fact that he was inside the game.

Now that the game was his reality, was he supposed to treat it as a game or as his new reality? Such a conundrum greatly confused Cervantes.

"Though, that'll have to wait," Cervantes muttered. Depending on how things went in the future, he'd react accordingly. The first on his agenda was to deal with his first task—the Heroine. After the entrance ceremony speech, the heroine, Anne Marielle, would explore the school. It didn't matter in what order she visited, but she would show up at the shopping area of the school.

From there, the shopkeeper, Cervantes, would lead the heroine around and show the shops. There was a 100% chance of the meeting happening in the game because it was a tutorial, but if this were slightly realistic, there wouldn't be a need to meet each other. The heroine could explore by herself without his help.

"Though what if I do meet the heroine?" If that were the case, then the odds of this being a simulated game would increase by a margin. Not to mention what if the heroine was controlled by a player? Would the heroine speak as some sort of vessel for the player? So many questions, but answers. Regardless, Cervantes resolved to talk to the heroine if the case arose.

His life was at stake, after all.

Ribbon... check. Stockings and shoes... check. Hair neatly brushed (and even years after gaining a second lifetime's worth of memories, the ease with which magic simplified dealing with that still gave her a warm feeling), and not all done at the last second because she'd gotten too wrapped up in a book to remember. For once, Elastasia had managed to prepare for and show up to an event without prompting! Okay, it was also a huge event everyone at the academy was going to, which made it hard to miss, but she could still have ignored all that and missed the ceremony.

But then she would miss seeing Terys on his first day, relegating the younger boy to trying to seek her out somewhere amidst the school. For all his diligence, he didn't know the way around just yet. Besides, she missed the years where they'd see each other daily (even if the her that missed them wasn't the same as the her of now), it'd be a great opportunity to say hello.

Actually listening to the speech, Elastasia wished that she had chosen to skip after all. Not only was it boring and denied her the chance to read, being situated at the back with all the other third-year students meant that she couldn't see anything. Bored face after bored face in every direction, a speech regurgitated by rote to the point she was sure some of the better orators here could copy it verbatim...

It wasn't a fun experience, all in all.

Nor was fighting against the current of people leaving the courtyard, the occasional too-tall boy walking into her and having to make a hasty apology. Really, it was bad enough that by the time she actually got to the first years, the area was half emptied already, and trying to find her also-short brother amidst this sea of giants.

So, she relocated to just outside the entrance instead. Maybe Terys would have better luck finding her.

Hmm... already, there were a few familiar faces, bringing to mind how significant the upcoming year would be. That green-haired mop was undoubtedly the tutorial merchant, liable to run into the heroine soon more often than not. Whether he'd be quite as helpful in reality as in the game was debatable; a few of the individuals she'd met seemed quite distinct from their written personalities--Serrica always stood out as being rather different, for whatever reason.

And there was no way to tell what actual personality Anne would come into the world with. Bland? Exciting? Her looks were Elastasia's type, as generic as they were, but she hoped to avoid any hopeless confessions in her actual life.

This was really happening, wasn't it?

This was actually real.

At first, when she suddenly remembered everything, she hoped it was some sort of strange dream. Then, when it became clear it wasn't, she hoped that it was some kind of bizarre coincidence and she hadn't actually been reincarnated as the protagonist of an otome game after having previously been a very much male university student. Maybe it was just a coincidentally similar world.

Those hopes were dashed when she entered the school. When she saw the people here. When she set foot in the courtyard.

The entrance ceremony was exactly as she remembered it from the intro to the game.

Matsuoka Ryouji, or rather Anne Marielle as she had been known for the past sixteen years in this world, now found herself standing in the aftermath of the intro to Starveil Academy.

In the world of the otome game Cross Heart Academy.

As its protagonist.

What this meant was hardly lost on her, as she anxiously eyed the crowds around her.

Perhaps being the 'generically cute every girl' would work to her advantage. Nevermind the fact that being a girl in the first place was a tremendously awkward experience(in away she was thankful for those sixteen years she spent without remembering her old life, because that meant that she'd not had an even rougher adjustment period). In the real world, she wouldn't be that noticeable. And this was real now, not an otome game where every guy was destined to notice her.

Surely it would work out differently, right? Even if that entrance ceremony had been identical.

Anne wasn't the type of person who had played this game for guys to fawn over her. If anything, back when she was Matsuoka Ryouji, it was only natural he was much more into some of the female characters. The protagonist herself was cute, albeit deliberately generically so. And there was that one teacher too.

There was no way she wanted to end up marrying some guy.

She wasn't going to pursue any route. This was absolute in her mind. This was a zero route game. She'd think about the other stuff when she had the chance, but the most immediate problem was ensuring none of them would approach her.

It couldn't be hard, right?

Anne sighed inwardly, relieved at her own hopefully-true assumption. That's right. In real life, as long as she made a good, solid rejection, guys like that would let it go, right?

Of course she'd have to be careful, in this world where status mattered so much, but all the protagonist's romance options were at least decent guys, right?

They practically had an ocean of other girls to choose from, too.

Right?

Somehow her optimism was crumbling by the second.

Well, maybe if she made her way out of the courtyard as quickly as possible, to avoid even the slightest chance of a flag raising...

@PKMNB0Y

How sad it was that Serrica Francesca Haldblum had to sit through this boring as hell speech when she could be out and about, doing other things. Planning a new investment project or even speaking to other nobles to try and build more connections. Not that there was anyone that didn't want a connection with her ducal family of course, well, aside a certain ducal heir she could think of. Hah. Regardless, there was... ONE other reason that she was here today. This little opening ceremony heralded the introduction of the Heroine to the school.

Serrica had to ponder that topic inwardly. As if she could mention much to anyone else. She wondered if there were any others in a situation much like hers. No other character seemed to have as much of a personality change as she had. The original Serrica was nice but, in the current one's mind, she was much too nice. She was taken advantage of in Serika's mind, though she had never played one of the routes that focused on the woman. In fact, she had played relatively few routes. An RPG route related to the Prince. Some tactical game from overhead and her favorite, a sim game focused around the market.

Her focus came back to the world at hand as the speech had ended and she pulled her trusty fan out to cover a yawn. "I was afraid such a speech would never end." She sighed, shaking her head a small bit. She had told Lydianna, her maid, to go enjoy herself for a bit. Just because she needed to sit through this audible torture didn't mean the poor maid needed to as well. Besides, she had plenty for the maid to do later. Serrica needed some nice sweet snacks and wonderful tea made.

The student waited a small amount of time for some of the people to clear the area so she could easily push her way past some of the other students that left an impression of her being a small bit rude. That was fine. Even if they thought it, they could not easily voice their opinions. Unless they were powerful enough, of course. Among them the Royal Family could say something, though if they could make her apologize or not was a coin flip in the best of times for them. Besides, most would consider it an honor to be shoved aside by such a beauty.

The thought made her laugh a small bit to herself before turning her attention to those around her. She was looking for some small number of important characters around the room. The Heroine herself who was somewhat... Plainly pretty. As far as she was aware, Serika never really had seen the Heroine in any extravagant hair color or design. No dark red hair or platinum blonde. She didn't land her eyes on the girl. Who else was there? The maid that was employed by Reginold von Afah? Not as far as she could see. Reginald... Well, why would she bother with that. The tutorial guy should be at his shop at this point. There was that student council president, Noctis. Well, for now he didn't matter all too much at the moment. He was fairly high spec as far as the RPG routes went but he offered not much as far as marketable skills mattered.

She followed the crowd a small bit and took a small step aside to get out of the flow. Perhaps she'd visit Cervantes the Merchant and offer to inve-- Serrica's thoughts were cut off as she walked into something or, rather, someone. There was no one eye level so the noble looked down to see one of the things on campus that tended to the cute side. "Oh my, Lady Aquilanne! Pardon my offence of running into you. I had not noticed you as my attention was elsewhere." Lady Elastasia de Aquilanne was another secondary character in the game. She fulfilled a role similar to Serrica's and, if she had heard right, confessed to the Heroine in one of the routes. She was a powerful mage and someone of note that Serrica wanted to turn to her side in the future so it was best not to make an enemy out of her now. "I'll assume you are well?" She asked, looking over the short upperclassman.

@AThousandCurses

---

Entrance ceremony, huh.

She had mixed feelings about it. For about three years now, she had lived with this looming over her head. She tried not to let it get to her too much, but really, how could she just ignore it? The fact that this entrance ceremony might end up being the start of her rather...unfortunate path. Well, far be it from her to just rollover and die as it were. She had never done so in her past life until she had literally died from not rolling over and dying, and damn it if she was about to start now!

She thought briefly about meeting up with Reginald, but rather first, she should pick up some necessities from the market and possibly visit the staff to see if they'd let her use the kitchen.

Maybe she could find some good...investment opportunities here, too. She had already saved up a good deal of money from her work but she'd need a fortune if she wanted to live comfortably once the Von Afah house ran into troubles in the second arc.

"...ah? Isn't that...?" Walking through the market, she'd come across a rather familiar face. Well, sort of. The tutorial NPC that gave the heroine a rundown of the shops in the area. Huh, so he existed too. Normally she wouldn't think much of him but...hm, perhaps she could use him if he still gave out useful information. It was a good thing she was still dressed as a maid so she wouldn't draw too much attention.

"Apologies for bothering you, sir." Mella approached Cervantes with her usual even voice of practiced professionalism. "I am a Maid in service to the Von Afah house and was looking for both high quality ingredients for cooking." She'd provide a polite bow, but otherwise spare no friendly pleasantries. Saved her the trouble of spending a day running into every grocer at least if he could point her in the right direction.

---

BGM: Who's There? (Persona 4)

(This is not real, this is not real, this is not real, this is not real, this is not real, this is not real, this is not real, this is not real, this is not real...)

That's how much his head was spiraling at the time. After all, how come all of this could be true? It had to be a dream. He didn't want to even think about the possibility of this actually happening. No, it must be some dream. There was just no way that he was somehow standing there, in the middle of an event, from a game he had played before, experiencing it as if it was his life from now on. It had to be a joke... a bad one, at the top of that.

(It's all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream, it's all a dream...)

He was sweating bullets. No, that would be an understatement. It was like a waterfall, dropping itself through his head as he kept repeating himself through his mind over and over again. He wasn't even paying attention to the speech. He didn't even need to. He already knew the script and the words given by the principal. And that didn't matter. Nothing mattered. He just wanted all of it to end.

(I'm not in Starveil Academy, I'm not in Starveil Academy, I'm not in Starveil Academy,I'm not in Starveil Academy, I'm not in Starveil Academy, I'm not in Starveil Academy, I'm not in Starveil Academy...)

The speech ended. The students started to disperse around. But he stood there, frozen. He didn't follow them. Like a statue, he just stared at the ground, trying to ignore everything. He closed his eyes and shut himself from the outer world.

(Please... let this end. Let this end, let this end, let this end, let this end, let this end, let this end, let this end, let this end, let this end...!!)

He only saw the darkness. He only heard the silence. He tried to fall back to slumber. Right there, right now. He thought about a chance. A chance that he was in a hospital bed. But where was the closest hospital to his home? Right, it was that famous one. Sírio-Libanês? Was that the one? It didn't matter. All he wanted was to wake up. To see his mother and his brother... not his father. He didn't want to see his father ever again.

"... is... ct... oct...?" A voice rang out, muffled.

He didn't respond. He ignored it as much as he could. It was just the voice of a dream trying to call him so he should let it fade away. But it kept ringing, ringing, and ringing... like a cellphone. But he had to be strong.

"Noctis Alegretto!!" A scream rang out.

*BGM fades*

He opened his eyes as a hand was on his shoulder. It wasn't the name. It was the touch. And when he looked there was someone looking at him. It was a teacher... an NPC unnamed teacher.

"The speech is over. You can head out now." He said.

"Ah... ah..." "Noctis" responded.

His mind went blank. His body gave up. He just fell. Did the drop hurt? Was he bleeding? What did it matter? His hopes were broken. What he didn't want to be, actually was. He was there. He heard everything. He was no longer himself. He was now in Starveil Academy, as a student. And he ended up being THAT certain student. It was like an overload of information for him to process. All that he could mutter, before falling unconscious was...

Oh dear. The young mistress was off in the crowd somewhere, she just knew it! Not that this Serrica was anyone who would shirk from such a thing...much less apologize for it. A far call from the Serrica of the game proper to be sure, and far more financially savvy in what felt like a meta sense to boot, but she'd become accustomed to it all over the years here since her own arrival. Or, well, awakening? It was hard to pin down a word for it all. Even so, she was happy to serve and tag along here for the chance to fulfil her own aspirations.

Magic! Real Magic! This was an academy for the elite, but if she could glean and learn anything it would be superb. She'd also have to try a couple things she remembered about it from the game to boot. Whatever came, she would indulge her new life and live it to the fullest and best that she could! Yet how the eventual letter from Lord Haldblum would change anything, if it did at all, would certainly be something to see in the future. But until that time, she would at least take advantage of her current position in things if nothing else.

...However, this also mean attending to her cousin-mistress, or whoever she was this time around, as best she could as well. And to that end she was calling out whilst searching for her amidst the throng, nearly on her tiptoes as she tried to peer up to find that trademark head of orange hair.

"Mistress Serrica? Mistress Serrica?"

She was shoved aside enough times as it was along the way, of course, but she was used to the treatment by other nobility. Well, those who hadn't had her cooking at least. That much had gained her a sort of rather good reputation as a maid thus far, at least with guests of her mistress and mistress' parents in the past. Something to be proud of perhaps, but-

SLAM

She never saw who it was, but someone else sent her bowling back onto the ground by running into her. Lydianna fell flat on her back and side, wincing in pain as she made contact with the ground. But none paid any mind, it seemed, to her position, and as she did her best to at least get up onto her hands and knees she felt a slight warmth come to her eyes and flush into her face. It was humiliating...stupid crowds. Then her eyes would look up, landing on a familiar-looking someone walking in her general direction.

...Oh.

Her legs would bend to the sides as she sat up a bit more on her knees and tried to wave at said someone, before likewise starting to call out to them.

"M-Miss! Miss!"

She called out to the girl, one with uniquely peculiar violet eyes, short-cut hair, and seemingly in possession of a general beauty to her as if by design. Well, technically it was by design. Game design. Wasn't hard to recognize her as the girl who was supposed to be the heroine of the entire tale, after all, even if Lydianna herself was just trying to do her job right now.

But right now all she was seeking was a little bit of help for the moment, if possible...

@VitaVitaAR

"Hmmm? Oh, hello!" Snapping out of his thoughts, Cervantes turned to address the new voice that spoke up. Finding a small, petite girl in front of him, Cervantes felt he recognized her from somewhere. "How can I help you?" Putting on his smile, not too forced and not too insincere.

Upon listening to the girl, Cervantes discovered that she was the maid of House von Afah. Now he knew why she looked so familiar. When Cervantes played the game, he often pursued Reginald. It wasn't because he liked his character; it was more like Reginald was an excellent character. Often ranking on S- Tier, Reginald proved helpful in battle scenarios. However, he was S- because of the chance of him turning on the heroine.

Why was that? While Reginald wasn't the type to betray his friends, Anne was a wild card. She could choose to ally with or betray anyone. And it was unfortunate that sacrificing Reginald was a key speedrunning strat. Thanks to his high physical bases, if one were to add a few stat boosters, he would be able to solo most bosses. Unfortunately, doing this would earn his ire and make him turn on the heroine.

Though enough of that, why was that to the maid relevant to him? That was because every time he restarted the game and went to get Reginald, there was a mandatory cutscene where he would have to watch Reginald and the heroine meet each other. That maid was always there with Reginald. If Cervantes remembered correctly, the maid only spoke a line or two before disappearing. That was the only reason why Cervantes recognized the maid's face.

"Quality cooking ingredients? Let's see." Turning his head, he pointed out a direction. "If you head over there, you'll see many shops selling cooking ingredients. Though if you're looking for top quality, Sasha's sells good vegetables and fruits, there's a man named Markos that's good at cutting up and selling quality meat, and Kelloc's sells general items such as flour, oils, and seasonings." When Mella thought he was finished, Cervantes opened his mouth for round two. "If you want to buy fish, you should go ask Markos. I heard he was friends with a fisherman. I also heard that there was a greenhouse on the school grounds. You can try buying from there or even grow your vegetables."

"If you have trouble finding what you need, you should head into town. Sometimes I'll sell my wares there, and you can talk to me if you need help searching for a shop." With that, Cervantes finally seemed to stop. "Is there anything else you need miss?"

@Rune_Alchemist

As the crowd of students began to disperse, Reginald quietly continued along towards the path that led back to the main building. There were more than a few glances and hushed whispers thrown around as he passed by, but given his lack of presence at social gatherings, rumors surrounding him were to be expected. None of them were particularly truthful, of course—things like how he had gone insane, or been terribly injured because of an incident and refused to show his face around...

Honestly speaking, the young man felt as if he should have expected such exaggerations to begin with. Spending more time training with swords and spears or poring over tomes and papers instead of trying to play politics could only have led to this sort of behavior to begin with. Though Reginald had some mind to simply ignore matters, there was a part of him that was saying that leaving rumors unchecked could return to bite back in the future.

Those thoughts were quickly shelved, though, when the duke's son heard a sudden (and somewhat fervent) cry out for a 'miss'. Though he knew not the voice of the one from whom the words sprung from, the young man had instinctually turned to the source... Only to see one of the few people he would really rather not have seen in the first place.

Anne Marielle. The heroine of this story.

At this, Reginald's pace slowed to a halt, and the black-haired student paused and stared for a moment as he tried to recall if an event like this had ever occurred in the game—and quickly came to the conclusion that it had not. Given that he needed to get a grasp on what sort of person the heroine actually was, though, seeing whatever actual event flags were raised was of the utmost importance... Well, so long as they weren't "his".

With that logic in mind, though, it didn't seem too out-of-place to intervene and remove the oddity that was clearly trying to pull the heroine's attention towards her—doubly so if that oddity seemed to be a maid who, despite having been brought here by someone or another, seemed to not have any clue what sort of scene she was causing by blindly calling out to someone who, by most standards, was a seemingly random student.

And so, Reginald swiftly crossed over and, without missing a beat, grabbed the offending maid by the collar and pulled her onto her feet without any hint of a struggle.

"I would recommend that you consider the role of servants within the bounds of this school. Most nobility would not take kindly to being haphazardly called out to by a maid of unknown standing," he said, a slight frown on his face as he let her go. "Unless you would like your master to lose face, I would remind you to remember your place."

It was by no means a 'pleasant' thing to say, especially with all of the eyes already on him, but at least in doing so he could prevent someone with a far haughtier nature than his own from intervening and possibly causing even more of a stir.

@VitaVitaAR@Crusader Lord

"Eep!" All pretences of maintaining an elegant, noble facade were driven out of Elastasia with the collision, the meek squeak being followed up by a dejected pout at being literally overlooked in such a manner. Of course she was small, even smaller than her last go around at life, but that didn't excuse missing her entirely; it was a sunny day, surely all her hair caught the light at least a little bit...

For all her magical ability, she was fairly sure that she hadn't yet developed the ability to summon people with the force of her thoughts alone. Yet, here was the one of the obvious deviations from the game in the flesh--considerably more self-interested, for one, and with a rather curious interest in surrounding herself with pretty girls in social situations, even though one might expect a noble of her station to seek out promising heirs at this stage. Albeit, the world of Cross Heart Academy hadn't been so fleshed out as to cover every character's private life in detail, and that may just have been Elastasia's own inclinations colouring her perceptions, but it seemed another odd point to the list.

"I am quite well, Lady Haldblum. Aside from out most estimable headmaster's speeches, I trust that the academy has been to your liking thus far?" she replied, looking up at the brunette. Oh, that was another change; she seemed to e starting to grow it out. That was a shame, although longer hair could certainly frame that figure nicely. "Have you seen Terys, perchance? I was looking for him after the ceremony..."

@Pyromania99

Was that a maid, calling to her? But why? She didn't know any maids? Her family only had one, and this definitely wasn't her so-

Anne paused, staring in mute shock at the sight of the boy who had suddenly approached and hauled the maid to her feet.

There was no way she'd fail to recognize him. That was one of the capture targets, Reginald von Afah.

In other words, one of the people she wanted to interact with the least. There was no way she was going to approach the maid at all when he was around. It didn't matter what he was doing or saying, all that mattered is escaping from this situation as quickly as possible.

Turning on her heel and doing her best to vanish into the crowd, Anne was almost immediately encountered with the sight of another familiar but far less worrisome face.

Noctis Algretto was a boy, but he didn't have any flags. He was just a friend. She already knew him, in fact, and that made the fact he had just collapsed was an excellent excuse to get out of the courtyard and to somewhere less exposed as quickly as possible. Not to mention the fact that he'd just collapsed, someone had to help him!

"Ah, I... I should g-get you to the nurse's office!"

Escape as quickly as possible, make sure Noctis was okay. That was the plan in Anne's mind.

@MagusDream@Crusader Lord@PKMNB0Y

Once confronted by Reginald about her actions, the maid's face seemed to pale and her body seemed to shrink down in fear. The hasty apology that followed from her was followed by a simple wave from Reginald, though, as if to disregard the situation entirely. It was better to chastise lightly than to let someone lose their job (or possily more) over something like this.

But the matter regarding the maid was of less importance to him than the heroine in this case, and once he had seen the maid hastily flee the area, the duke's son turned around to see the heroine having run off somewhere else. Though he'd have liked to gauge what her personality was "actually" like, the possibility of her trying to raise some flags with him was not zero... Which itself would have been more annoying to manage than he would have liked.

No matter, then; he'd have the next few years to see what she would attempt to do. For the moment, it seemed more prudent to leave the courtyard and... Well, find Mella, if anything. Given how he had sent her off earlier to scout the markets to make sure she had groceries for the two of them (as he was less inclined to eat at the cafeteria to begin with) and how she hadn't actually returned yet, the young man reasoned that she was likely still there, and so promptly started to leave the area once more to seek her out.

---

---

Despite having had a teacher right beside him as he passed out, it did not seem as if anyone had immediately moved to help Noctis. Whether or not it was because of the chaos of the courtyard as the students left (or chose to linger) or something else mattered little, though, as it seemed at least one student was willing to extend their hand to aid the young man.

Anne's hasty arrival coupled with an attempt to help drag Noctis off the ground was a bit less successful at first, mostly in part due to her lacking the strength to do so. It was only after a bit of struggling, though, that the young woman would hear someone else's voice from nearby.

"Oh, is he all right? Here, let me help; we should bring him to the nurse's office as soon as possible."

Almost as if all of the effort she had put in was meaningless, the owner of the voice lifted Noctis' unconscious body up and slung the young man's arm over his shoulder.

"Ah... That's a bit heavier than expected. Would you mind helping me out here, miss?"

The young man who had moved to help, of course, would have given Anne even more reason to panic. His golden blonde hair and aura of regality marked him as none other than one Christopher Alvonshire—in other words, the First Prince.

@VitaVitaAR@MagusDream

"Yes, all has been well so far at the academy, though... I do dread the speech next year. He has a way of dragging it on and on." Serrica gave a small sigh as the older girl asked if she had seen a certain brother. "That cute little brother of yours? Nope. If I hadn't noticed you, there's not much chance I noticed him." Serrica mentioned as she looked around the area, seeing if she could get her eyes locked on any hair matching Elastasia's. "A shame, I could not set my eyes on him for you." The taller noble said, her own eyes meeting Elastasia's. "Perhaps if I find him, I shall tell him you were looking."

Serrica started to turn away so she could head off elsewhere before she stopped and quickly turned back towards the shorter girl. "Oh! And Lady Aquilanne, I plan on holding a tea party sometime soon to celebrate the start of this academic year. The time and date will be scheduled shortly and I will send you a written invitation. Should you find any other influent-- I mean, any other fine ladies of the academy who seem like they could use conne-Friends... Let me know and I will invite them as well."

Serrica seemed proud of herself for planning this event, "You will join me, right?" Elastasia was the character that seemed to have a thing for girls, or at least the main character, in the original game. Hopefully, it meant that she'd have an eye for girls to invite to such a connection making event.

@Raineh Daze

Well, at least that was one other person now on the lookout for her brother. That greatly simplified matters, although maybe Elastasia could do something else to help find him in this crowd a little bit faster... if nothing else, a little bit of magic ought to give her a better vantage point to see from, right?

Before she could do that, there was the little matter of Serrica's tea party to address. It wasn't the sort of thing that Elastasia wanted to attend. All-female or not, it would still just be a party of rich girls, and nobility vying for attention. But... maybe she should keep things moving in the direction of the main story? She hadn't met yet, but if Anne showed up in a magic class before this party, it should be possible to make the beginnings of an invitation and ensure she started to acquire powerful allies before the route splits.

But she didn't want to go...

"Oh, I don't know if I could meet many people you haven't," she said, resting her hand on her chin, "The Academy already draws from our typical social circles quite heavily. Your year would be the one most likely to have unfamiliar girls of lower rank."

@Pyromania99

@AThousandCurses

---

Definitely good information, as helpful as she'd imagine such a character to be. She did however, catch herself staring just a little at simply how...different still, he'd be from the in game version. Rather than a faceless NPC, it seemed as though he was still just as real as she was, or even Reginald was. Then perhaps he could potentially help with something else, too? She doubted it since by the second act of the game he was gone, but you miss every opportunity you don't take.

"I see, thank you. The information is helpful." She'd reply. "But...perhaps if you'd be willing to help with a more personal request," She'd lower her voice slightly. "I'm looking for...investment opportunities." She'd pull a coin from somewhere within her dress, holding it between two of her fingers. "Not for my Lord, mind you. But for myself. I apologize if this is an odd request for a maid, but I simply find myself needing a large sum of money."

Wait, what did the maid just ask him? Investment opportunities? Did that even exist in a maid's vocabulary? Regardless, Cervantes was pleasantly surprised by the maid's question. "Investment opportunities, well..." Cervantes trailed off in thought. Why would a maid, especially Reginald's maid, want to find investment opportunities? This didn't happen in-game, no matter how many times he played it. Perhaps this was some information he missed or skipped through while playing the game.

Still, the tutorial NPC, Cervantes, helped the heroine in whatever she asked. Things like where to find magic, what would the next event be, how to get away with murder, and places where a dragon egg might be...

Wait, how to get away with murder!?

A chill went down his spine as he smiled at the maid. "If you wanted my personal opinion, I'd say the potion business. They're very profitable and a necessity for adventurers. I heard that they sometimes make potions to help with illnesses as well." That was according to Cervantes's experience and some truth of the old world. Most hospitals were owned by wealthy CEOs, though Cervantes didn't know if the same applied to this world. It probably did, but he would need to do more research. "Though that wouldn't work..." Cervantes muttered to himself.

"If you wanted a more concrete answer, I'd need more information," Cervantes said to the maid. "Like how profitable they are, how easy is it to create a company in that business? Could you substitute that business with a different one?" That was better than asking for an overview of multiple industries. "I think you should start off with the question, 'which business do you want to invest in?' That way, I can tell whether or not it's a good investment." If the maid could narrow down the possibilities for him, that'd be great.

"Though there seems to be a problem with your question." A deflated look appeared on his face. "I mean no offense, but as a maid, your income would be low, no?" The maid in front of him could be a former noble that decided to serve another noble, but Cervantes felt like that wasn't the case. "It'd be hard to otherwise invest if you don't have enough money to compete with other merchants." After all, the more money invested, the more money is gained back.

"Though, I guess if you really wanted to invest, you'd be better off trying to find an inventor. Though those are often diamond in the rough." In a realistic sense, Cervantes was right. Inventors took a long time to create life-changing inventions, like the light bulb, for example, and they might be frauds if they fail. As a player, Cervantes had done it multiple times. In the investment part, he had the heroine invest in several businesses he knew that had a high rate of profitability. However, Cervantes felt guilty for that one artist in whom he often invested. In every playthrough, that artist would always follow Van Gogh's path. That artist could only find success in death...

A somber look briefly appeared on Cervantes's face as he was lost in thought. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

@Rune_Alchemist

Serrica smiled, looking Elastasia in the eyes. "Lady Aquilanne, there's an untapped market of young ladies come in stock just recently and, pardon my words, you could more easily fit in with that lot than your own." It would be interesting to see the high ranking noble and third year getting along with first years as if they were her age. "Perhaps you'll find some girl you're quite taken with in the newer students. They say love blossoms at the Academy." Of course, Serrica was referencing the Heroine and Elastasia's relationship in the original story.

"And if you do, never forget your friend who suggested to look around~" With that, Serrica smiled and turned around. "I'll let that brother of yours know you're looking for him if I see him. Until next time, Lady Aquilanne."

This time, Serrica truly did walk away confidently. If she had any more immediate plans, she didnt let on. In truth, she was curious if she could at least spot the Heroine and make note of her personality. She had no personal servant to snoop for her on campus at the moment. Perhaps she would need to send a letter back home and request someone skilled.

Oh, good, someone had come to help her. She wasn't used to the body of a teenaged girl, and hauling off the unconscious boy had been far more difficult then she'd thought. But with some assistance, she'd be able to get him to the Nurse's office without hurting hi-

Oh.

The moment her eyes fell upon her assistant, Anne realized precisely who it was she was looking at. There was no mistaking him. No denying it. Of all the people who had come to her aid, it had to be one of them. Not just one of them, but this one.

In the end, she supposed it made sense. Helping someone in need would totally attract the attention of somebody like him.

But that didn't make it better. That didn't help in the least.

If glimpsing von Afah wasn't bad enough, she'd just run headlong into the Crown Prince himself.

She could practically feel sweat dripping from her forehead her lips shut firmly as she vibrated in place slightly.

What did she do? How did she respond? She couldn't trip any flags, she couldn't! She didn't want to start heading down anyone any routes at all! What did she say?!

"HAAAH!"

... Probably not that.

Clearing her throat and trying to stop her head from swimming so much(not to mention screaming suddenly in the middle of the courtyard was embarrassing), Anne tried to compose herself.

Act normal.

Act natural.

Treat it as a passing meeting and move on.

That's all she had to do.

"L-let's... hurry to the nurse's office, then...!"

@PKMNB0Y@MagusDream

"Euuuuuuggh..." Elastasia groaned, pouting. It wasn't like any of the girls coming into the school were really growing that noticeably; there was no way she'd fit into the first years on height alone... which was a pretty dismal assessment of her own size, all things considered, but there was nothing she'd ever be able to do about that. Except levitate, but that sort of showy thing for conversation was very impolite unless circumstances actually demanded it for some reason.

Really, what was with Serrica's parting message? The rumours hadn't gotten out of hand yet, nobody was too interested in paying attention to where the bookworm was looking when she remembered to show up to social events (and that was the door more often than it was the ladies in attendance) and she'd not gotten blatant in her interests to the point of scandal either. Did the brunette know something? Hopefully not, she already had enough to think about avoiding any pretty first-year girls; Elastasia wasn't going to go seek them out.

Wandering around the courtyard, however, brought her to someone else she was familiar with. They were probably cousins of some degree, which would help with recognising her brother, but more importantly he was pretty tall.

"Hey, Reggie, have you seen my brother?" the short girl asked, popping up behind him as he looked to exit the courtyard, and falling into place even as he headed towards the markets proper. "I think he might have gone looking for me."

Ah, Reginald. Such a problem in so many routes of the game; as nice as she was now, it had crossed Elastasia's mind more than once to try and arrange a few accidents if the heroine ignored him. More than the other capture targets, even, as at least this didn't mean contemplating regicide. Though, trying to avert some of the biggest conflicts by violence really was a matter of last resort... she didn't want to do something like that, and it wasn't really her forte. Maybe if she could find some of the other second-half characters...