Freedom's Heart

Chapter 18

Another beautiful morning in the world of an Otome game that might very well be the death of me. Come to think of it, I have been falling asleep way too quickly when I should be frightened for my life. It must be because of how much the world has changed. Noah and I get along. Marshal isn't evil like he was in the game. Zeno is trying to sleep with me instead of killing me and the heroine... while I don't know what has happened to her. She was meant to be quiet, timid, and she shouldn't have approached me the way she had done. I have no idea what I had done to change her like this but getting along with her is better than fearing she might lead me to my death. I had most likely saved her at some point without realising it when I was still an adventurer.

Bozzair is already awake, sitting on my windowsill, waiting for me to drop the barrier. He looks impatient, so I quickly drop it, letting him out before getting dressed. It looks like Zeno isn't lying outside my window, so it looks like he is learning. Or so I thought. After getting changed into my uniform, I finding knocked out outside my door. He must have thought my barrier didn't cover the entire room. I sigh as I heal him. This is starting to get old.

"I may like it when a girl plays hard to get, but even this is going too far," I ignore Zeno's comment as we meet up with Marshal and Noah for breakfast.

<0>

Well, this is new. When I get to class, I find a form of bullying I have only seen on TV and in books. Someone has written the words "Bully" Into my desk repeatedly. I don't remember the heroine receiving this kind of bullying, so I am generally surprised to see it. I smile at how childish it is as I sit down. Unfortunately, Marshal, Noah and Zeno don't see the funny side. If it wasn't for my insistence, they would have conducted a witch hunt to find out who did this to my desk.

It's not a big problem. Waving my hand over the desk, I quickly wash away the words. Everyday magic used for cleaning was something I was forced to learn to wash away the blood on my clothes when I was an adventurer. It would have been a problem if the words were carved into my desk, but since they were only written there, I was able to quickly clean up the mess.

"You are the future queen," Marshal complains. "You shouldn't put up with this."

"If I were you, I would destroy the people responsible," Zeno suggests.

"Sister, they shouldn't do this to you," Noah says. "We should at least have shown the teacher what they did."

"It's fine," I assure them. "They aren't hurting anyone but themselves by this childish act."

"Hey, do you think it's true?" I look up and notice a group of girls looking my way. "Do you think she really beat up those boys and someone from the other class they were protecting?"

So that's what people think happened. If it was true, I would be worried.

"She hunts monsters," Another girl adds. "She seems brutish enough to attack people."

Great, I guess I can't escape my fate of being a villain who finds her doom at this academy. But it is different from the game. I have some protection that the villainess didn't have. I stop Marshal from saying anything and tell them to ignore them. If he were to defend me, then that would only make people think I really did beat up those guys and the heroine.