Chapter 6: Never Trust a Career Politician

Chapter 6: Never Trust a Career Politician

In retrospect, the wiki article never mentioned Prince Gideons actual opinion of Victoria. Everything mentioned was reactionary to Victorias actions against the protagonist and by extension, the targets. The game was played through Alessas point of view, so unless one of the love interests said something or made noted action in regards to Victoria, their opinion of her was never explicitly expressed.

Tori entered the game assuming that it would start at a level playing field. The characters didnt know each other and the rivalry was created and built up after first contact. It didnt occur to her that other characters could have already heard of her and her notorious reputation.

Now that she knew this and was aware of Gideons blatant disgust, Tori wished she could grab Victoria and scream at her.

You fell in love with a douchebag, Victoria! What the fuck were you thinking? Hes not even that hot!

At the very least, Tori was assured that she would have no positive feelings for the second prince after their first encounter. In fact, she had just the opposite.

You know what, if you want to believe unfounded rumors without bothering to fact check them, thats your problem. Any politeness she wouldve had vanished. He was the one who set the tone. Tori lifted her hand and gave him a dismissing wave before walking away. Go ahead and be willfully ignorant.

She heard his indignant gasp and wouldve loved to turn around and see his aggravated expression, but she was too busy strutting away like a queen.

Ilyana chased after her with a worried expression. Tori, that was the second prince!

Prince or not, hes still a citizen of the empire and a student. He should have the decorum of one! Deja vu. Still, Tori glanced at the distraught Ilyana and couldnt help but feel a bit guilty. She lowered her shoulders and her proud stance eased. Sorry, Ilyana. I shouldnt have dragged you into it.

Her roommate knit her elegant brows together, thought for a moment, and shook her head. No, youre right. You studied hard to get accepted. Its offensive that your hard work is disregarded so easily.

Toris eyes softened. Thanks, Ilyana.

Ilyana shook her head again. Im telling the truth. No matter, youre here now, so what does it matter what you ranked?

Tori took in a sharp breath and hesitated. I ranked 78, she said, under her breath. Ilyana cocked her head.

What was that?

I ranked 78. It was fine on paper, but when she admitted it out loud now, in the presence of a real classmate, she was a bit ashamed.

Ilyanas eyes went wide and her mouth was agape. Oh...oh.

Okay, that hurts.... Tori sighed. What about you?

I ranked...second.

Ilyana avoided her eyes and Toris lips squeezed into a line. How in the world did the second ranked student get stuck as a follower of Victoria? This game was messed up.

Lets just find our electives. Tori unrumpled her map and led Ilyana around campus. Finding the elective classes and other important buildings was a simple matter and so they returned to their dorm to unpack and then have dinner at the dining commons on the ground floor.

Tori could only sit awkwardly across from Ilyana as they ate, with a two table buffer space of empty tables between them and everyone else who came to eat. Sorry about this, she said as she lowered her head to eat some soup.

Ilyana sat up straight, almost defiant. Im not willfully ignorant. I know where I stand.

Tori threw her a thankful look and swore to herself that shed treat Ilyana well and make sure to keep her out of any trouble. Of course, the game world is never so good to a villainess. Just as they were finishing their meal, a shadow loomed over their small table.

Dont unpack. Im going to speak to the headmaster about expelling you tomorrow.

Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Did this imperial asshole have nothing better to do? She opened her eyes, refusing to acknowledge the second prince.

Im done here, Ilyana. You?

Also done. Ilyana dabbed a small cloth serviette on the corners of her lips and then tossed it down on the tray. The two of them stood up from their seats and picked up their trays.

Dont ignore me. Gideons icy voice stopped her after two steps. People like you who pay their way in have no right to act as if they belong here.

Her hands turned pale as she gripped the wooden tray. Ilyana frowned as she glanced down and saw Toris tray tremble.

Listen, if His Royal Highness wants to waste his time, thats your business, Tori said after taking another deep breath. But since you dont want to see me, lets just agree to stay out of each others sight.

She walked ahead and shoved her tray into the collection slot before stalking outside. The cool autumn air did little to cool her head. When she and Ilyana reached their room, Tori grabbed her thick student manual from her desk and violently twisted it, almost ripping it in half.

Hed already disparaged her that afternoon; why bother doing so again that evening and in front of a quarter of their dorm?

His accusations are unfounded, Tori. You dont have to worry. No one is going to expel you, Ilyana said with an affirmative look.

Tori nodded, but that wasnt her biggest problem.

It was clear she was on the princes shit list, meaning that she was now also opposite Fabian. That was two love interests that shed already become enemies of and she hadnt even met the protagonist yet.

Two out of eight enemies confirmed. Great job, Tori.

It was a miracle she was able to be at all at ease that weekend. She kept tossing in her bed, dreamless, but filled with anxiety and rage. When she woke the next morning, the sun hadnt risen and Ilyana was still asleep. With her nerves still wired, Tori took out a spare blanket and laid it on the floor next to her bed.

Ilyana woke to find her roommate doing planks. Tori...did you sleep on the floor last night?

No, this is a form to improve my posture, Tori replied as she finished counting to a hundred. I stretch and do some light exercises in the mornings. I hope you dont mind. Ill be quiet.

Ilyana shook her head and gave her an admiring look. No, no, you are from a martial family. You must be used to this kind of diligent training.

Ilyana gave her way too much credit, but Tori didnt correct her. The next two days were much calmer. The next day, they spent most of the day continuing sorting through their things, then going to collect books from the Lyce bookstore. Tori paid for their books to be delivered to their room, as several were quite thick and there were two sets. They waited in their dorm for the books to arrive before going to get an early dinner in an effort to avoid confrontation. It was an uneventful evening.

The day after, they made a list of what they wanted to buy for their dorm room and then went shopping. Tori confidently led Ilyana around the areas where shed explored with her brother and his underclassmen several days prior. They ended up with a few packages of things to bring to their room.

Ilyana, who had no shortage of money of her own, treated Tori to dinner off campus in return for the book delivery fee. The two stopped by a small grocery and pastry shop to buy some snacks before returning to the dorm. Despite the stares and whispers, Ilyana showed no signs of abandoning her roommate and Toris appreciation for her grew.

Tori was surprised she still had day-before-school jitters when she went to bed that night and ended up doing another set of morning exercises to let off some energy before finally going to sleep. In the morning, the two took turns in the small washroom beside their entryway. Ilyana offered to help Tori with her hair, but Tori gathered the wild mass of hair and shaped it into her usual bun at her crown. She then folded a green scarf and tied it as a headband.

Tori grabbed her book bag, which she prepared the night before, and slung it across her body. Today was the first day of the first years orientation week. Upperclassmen wouldnt start their classes until the week after, but many had already returned to prepare for the upcoming school year, thus, the campus was lively.

Toris classes would be light that week; more general introduction before they dove into the bulk of the subjects. Kasen had warned her ahead of time not to think the classes were easy based on the first week.

That morning, the first two hours of class would be given up for an assembly. She and Ilyana followed a herd of young green and white clad students into an auditorium after they ate a quick breakfast.

There were two auditoriums; a smaller one that fit one full year of students and a larger one that fit the entire student body. Today, they were in the smaller one, but many of the students had never been in such a large building. Ilyana suggested they sit somewhere closer to the front and Tori nodded.

As they walked through, Tori looked around for the protagonist and the love interests. While she had an idea of their features, what was in her mind from the wiki articles were the 2D CGI drawings of them in an anime-style. After seeing four of the targets in person, she realized the 2D drawings from the app didnt translate perfectly into a 3D living person.

For instance, the protagonist, Alessa, was blonde. There were dozens of blonde girls in the audience. Tori had no idea who she was.

She opted for finding the love interests. At the very least, she could avoid the ones she recognized. The first one she saw was surrounded by a group of followers: Constantine, the popes son. She frowned and hoped they didnt have the same homeroom.

Tori caught sight of the second prince with his anime-main-character silver hair. At his side was his loyal Fabian. As for the rest, she didnt worry about them for now. She sat down next to Ilyana and waited for the assembly to begin.

She walked down the aisle, towards the back of the room, with several classmates stepping back to avoid her. In the last row, in the furthest corner, Tori put her bag on the desk and sat down. She opened her bag and took out her notebook.

Another bag with a familiar gold ribbon hanging off of it was placed on the desk next to her. She looked up and saw Ilyana sit down beside her with a hardened look on her face. Toris eyes widened.

You can learn from anywhere in the room. Ilyana repeated her words stubbornly. What does seating matter?

It was such a small action, but Tori felt some pressure in her eyes. She could feel Ilyanas stupid devotion and almost wanted to laugh. She wasnt going to lose this girl any time soon. Tori held back a smile and nodded.

Several more people filed into the classroom. At the very front, the pretty blonde girl who had asked for her seat sat beside a plain-looking girl; probably another NPC. Across the aisle from her was the second prince and Fabian. She didnt see the popes son, but heard Ilyana gasp as Dimitri entered.

While he gave brief greetings to everyone, he stopped to shake hands and talk with the second prince. After nodding, Tori caught them looking in her direction. She ignored them and opted to show Ilyana the pencil set she bought. She was always a geek for stationery.

Dimitri ended up in the second row, behind the pretty blonde, as the back door opened again and a stern-faced, middle-aged woman walked in.

Good afternoon, class 1-A. I am your homeroom instructor, Instructor Rosemund. She got straight to business as she reached the front of the class. She put a small folder on her desk and opened it to take out a small stack of papers. She brought the stack with her to the podium and put it on the stand before turning around and picking up a piece of chalk to write on the board.

Tori immediately began writing down what Instructor Rosemund wrote on the board. The woman spoke as she wrote, giving a clearer explanation of what to expect from class. Their main area of study was social studies, so they would have course readings and projects that would involve people outside of their class, as well as substantial readings on the past.

They would start off reading Foundational History of Soleil. As Tori wrote down the chapters to read, she paused. Shed already read that book; it was one Kasen gave her and, for reference, she kept the copy he gave her. Since he said it was an inexpensive school book, she had written notes all over it.

Kasey, you are the best brother.

Once we get our foundational work done this semester, we will begin on more specific subjects and, starting next semester, based on your work this semester, you will be assigned your three year long Lyce Project, which is unique to the academic students, Instructor Rosemund said as she turned to face the students. Im sure many of you have heard about the project and that it will be scored periodically throughout your time here with a final assessment by a committee of faculty and ministers. Not to put pressure on you, but it will be the most challenging and important work you will have here.

Tori squinted. Her brother had mentioned it, but said he would discuss it further after her first semester, so when she went home for winter.

She scribbled down some notes as Instructor Rosemund gathered the papers shed left on her podium and began to distribute them.

Im sure youre all waiting for this, she said with a wry smile. This is the syllabus for the First Year Excursion. In order to build strong bonds within your year, all nine classes will go on a three-day, two-night excursion in the mountains. This years location is a days travel north of Horizon.

Ilyana received two sheets and passed one to Tori. The two looked down at the paper and saw a small map that was stamped on, as it was slightly askew. The words were probably printed on with a letter press, since many copies had to be made to be distributed.

This syllabus will be your guide for preparing for the excursion. Please take a moment to look it over, as this year will be different from previous years.

Tori looked over the syllabus and furrowed her brows. Kasen described the excursion as a camping trip with designated tasks or goals that the groups must achieve before the last day. Students would be let out into the forest without instructor supervision. They could not bring their personal comcrys, but Lyce would provide each team with a pre-programed transmission crystal that could locate them in case of an emergency. Students would also need to use the transmission crystal to check in at sunset.

If they did not or forgot to, an alarm would go off and an instructor would come to find them based on the crystals location.

Other than a map of the area and the crystal, students needed to provide their own equipment and supplies. Tori flipped the syllabus over and did indeed see a list of suggested items to bring. To keep it manageable, each student was only allowed one bag.

As for the assignment while camping, they varied from year to year.

Kasens class had to collect mushrooms and medicinal plants, which would be used by Universit students. It was a competition to see who could gather the most and on their last night, Kasen and his group had to take turns staying up to guard their harvest, as groups started trying to steal others'.

It wasnt exactly the best way to encourage a cohesive class.

Axton transferred into La Garda, the military equivalent of Lyce, his third year, but he and Piers were groupmates for their First Year Excursion. Their task was to eradicate some invasive species of rodent. The more they killed, the higher their score.

According to Toris syllabus, her First Year Excursion was to cross a valley in the mountains. The map was marked with a starting point and end point and it would be up to the students to make their way across and get to the end point by the end of the third day.

To top this all off, each student was required to carry their own bag of supplies, set up their own tent, start their own fires, and cook their own food. Whether the food was hunted or brought along to last them didnt matter, but since they were trekking across a valley, they would need to set up and take down their camp every day.

Still, the thought of exploring a new place was exciting to Tori. And this was all standard camping protocol, so it wasnt as if the excursion was unreasonable. She glanced around and noticed the tense silence in the classroom. She furrowed her brows and turned to Ilyana, who was frowning.

Now that Tori thought about it, her class was mainly made up of students from affluent and noble backgrounds. Basic survival would probably be even more difficult for them than the hike across the valley. She and her brothers came from a martial family and since armies tended to stop and camp while on march, Gramps had taken her siblings out into the forests in the south for days at a time to widen their knowledge base and prepare them in case the situation called for survival in the woods.

Of course, it was unlikely that Victoria joined on those trips. She didnt believe a young woman of her standing should lower herself to sleep on the ground and get dirty.

This was confirmed a few days earlier, when Tori was having dinner with Sebastian. He was worried that she would suffer or worse, be injured, on the excursion. However, all first years had to take part and there was no way she could get out of it. Not that she wanted to.

OG Victoria may not have wanted to sleep outdoors, but Tori, while a born and bred city girl, enjoyed the escape of camping. She first had her taste of it as a teenager a bit older than her current body. Then, as an adult, her fencing school offered an extended-weekend long wilderness survival training.

Tori had so much fun the first time she went, she tried to go with her fellow fencers every year. It became more a tradition than an actual training experience.

It shouldnt be too bad, right? Ilyana whispered beside her. Its just a three-day hike.

Tori turned the syllabus around to look back at the map. It didnt have much detail, but landmarks were marked on the map. There were a few streams, a river they fed into, some caves and mountains on either side. That being said, she didnt know what else was in there.

Was the terrain in the valley flat? Was the vegetation thick and difficult for them to walk through? Were there wild animals they needed to be aware of?

This isnt bad. Its just a walk. We dont need to do anything else, Tori heard someone say in front of her. She drew her lips inward. She doubted it was as easy as they hoped.

Their map wasnt exactly detailed and it was a days travel north of Horizon, in the middle of the fall. The weather was already getting colder and temperatures plummeted at night. You couldnt just sleep on the ground without something between you and the dirt.

Ill look into this more, Tori whispered back to Ilyana.

At the front of the class, Instructor Rosemund continued to speak after some students looked up from their syllabus.

You will get together in groups of six, but only two people from the same class can be in the same group. The other four must be from other first year classes. You have five days, starting today, to organize a group on your own. At the end of the week, one student representing the group will submit a list of the six group members names.

If a student does not have a team by the end of the week, they will be randomly assigned to a group that is missing a member or be grouped with other students who do not have a group. The final list of groups will be posted at the beginning of the following week, which will give you another week to meet with your groups outside of class and prepare for the excursion.

Ilyana leaned closer to Tori. Can I be on your team?

Before Tori could nod, Instructor Rosemond spoke up again. Now, in order to facilitate organizing your groups, lets get to know each other. Her stern expression eased as she leaned against the podium. Please stand and introduce yourselves. Lets start with you and go across.

She pointed to Fabian, who dutifully stood up at his desk.

Fabian von Dorn. I am from Horizon and currently studying to be an aide to His Highness, Prince Gideon. He looked around the class, as if acknowledging everyone - except Tori and Ilyana - and then sat down.

Next to him, Gideon stood up. I am Gideon du Soleil, second prince of Soleil. We are all classmates, so please just call me Gideon, he said as he smiled. Tori rolled her eyes and doodled him as a stick figure being stabbed with a sword on the corner of her notebook.

Fake son of a - wait, no, his mom is Piers mom.

He took his seat and the pretty blonde that asked for Toris seat earlier stood up. She turned to face the class and a wide, cheerful smile was on her face.

Good morning everyone. My name is Alessa Hart. My father is Baron Hart and I am from Chetterswickshire.

Tori nearly dropped her pen as her head shot up.

It was her.

It was the heroine.