CHAPTER 13: VISITOR IN THE NIGHT

(Louise POV)

"...AND STAY OUT!"

SLAM

It was early morning, and right now, as I watched the spectacle that unfolded before me, I could not help but sigh in resignation, yet found it hard not to laugh in amusement at the same time. I did not know exactly why, but it seems like I always end up, although I was unsure whether it was a blessing or a curse, or perhaps both, near a place where something interesting is happening, or is about to happen, a situation which I was presently in.

Siesta and I were on our way to the fountain to wash the clothes, minding our own business, when all of sudden, a door flew open in front of us, through which a familiar blonde-haired woman was unceremoniously thrown out from, said flying person of course, was none other than my sister Eleonore.

Apparently, according to the librarian who was the one who threw her out, my elder sister, ecstatic about the fast-forward-reading ability she acquired thanks to the item I gave her, was probably so entranced in what she was doing, that she did not notice that she was making so much noise.

Still, she was in a somewhat pitiful predicament so I decided to help her out, and so I started to approach her.

"He... she forgot to take back the book... hehe, hehehe, hehehaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

On second thought, perhaps that would not be such a good idea as of present.

"Meredy?"

"Let's just take another detour," I muttered to Siesta, as we turned around and went for the longer route, the mad cackling of my sister echoing throughout the corridor.

True, Eleonore may be my sister, but even though we had already made peace, there was no way I would allow myself to be caught fraternizing with a raving lunatic.

And as we continued on our way to the fountain, I could not help but wonder, if giving my sister those reading glasses may have actually been a mistake.

Though of course, I already knew the answer, since it was painfully obvious. I just did not want to acknowledge it.

"No... ahhh... please... don't..."

"Come now, wench..."

?!

"B-MMM?!"

"Shhh," I muttered to Siesta in a quiet voice, not removing the hand I had placed over her mouth to stop her from screaming.

A few moments before, I thought that running into my sister in the hallway in such an awkward state was just another one of the unfortunate events that I had to endure for the day.

Now, however, I could not be more thankful that it happened, for if it had not been for that run-in, we would never have thought of changing directions.

And all I would have known is that one of my colleagues, no, my friends, had been assaulted, and I would have been too late to do anything about.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

Well, whatever the bastard is planning to do, there was no way I'm going to let him get away with it. Not on my watch.

And unfortunately for him, who I now recognized as Guiche de Gramont, I have just the thing to deal with someone of his kind.

-BREAK-

(Guiche POV)

Ever since his disastrous attempt at dating multiple girls at the same time, things had been going downhill for a certain blonde-haired playboy, who was also known as Guiche the Bronze.

Yes, he was quite the player. He had the looks, the charisma, and the style, which was the reason why he was popular with the girls, and many of them wanted to date him. Of course, was was the key word, for while it was true that he was indeed popular with the girls, his charms were not enough to enable him to date multiple girls at once. Yes, he had read and studied novels on how to woe the opposite sex, and some of them were about a man who dated many girls at once, all of them aware of the existence of the other lovers, yet they loved the man just the same. Sadly for Guiche, his own appeal was not at the same level.

He already knew this, of course, which was why he had thought it was best for him to focus on just one girl, a pretty, blonde-haired female who he so fondly called Mon-mon. As time passed, however, he got tired and dissatisfied with having only one relationship, partly due to the fact that the girl, while they had been lovers for nearly a year, had never allowed him under her skirt, and the furthest they had ever gone was kissing.

Which was why, he finally gave in to temptation, to his urge, and thus attempted to woe two more girls, despite the fact that he was currently in a relationship, in secret. But then, despite all his attempts to keep it hidden, his playboy ways had still been revealed, and the moment he was discovered, his misdeed, unsurprisingly, backfired.

Now, despite the fact that he was attractive, each and every girl she tried to date rejected him, for most of them, having noble pride, did not want to share, nor did they want to be merely mistresses. To make matters worse, the three of them, namely Montmercy, his ex-lover, Katie and Julie, instead of hating each others' guts, had banded together, determined to make his life a living hell, thereby forcing him to flee every time class ended. And aside from that, the three, aside from hunting him down, were using black propaganda against him, and by now, a large part of the student population, were already against him.

Realizing that it was no longer possible to try and woe them, he turned his eyes towards the maids, and admittedly, there were those among them who were probably even more beautiful than the female nobles in the Academy.

Which brings him another problem. For the maids, despite being commoners, were protected by the laws and policies implemented by the school. In fact, the last time that someone attempted to harass one of them openly, said student ended up packing his bags, getting expelled, as well as bringing shame to his family.

However, not for nothing was Guiche the son of a military expert. Through careful observation, he noticed that the maids, in general, were passive, and submissive, when it comes to dealing with the nobility. Therefore, being the genius tactician that he is, he realized that all he had to do was catch them off guard, and corner them in a secluded spot where there will be no witnesses, and it was unlikely for them to tell or retaliate. All he had to do was use the right choice of words and this problem was solved.

Besides, if there were no other witnesses, he could easily protest his innocence and make up a believable story, in which he was the one in a positive light. After all, he was a good actor, and if it was only the two of them, even if the school had that cursed policy that the word of a commoner is just as valid as that of a noble, he would be able to get away with it without much of a problem.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle," he whispered to the maid.

And as the young man started moving his hands beneath his first victim's clothes towards the spot between her legs, the blonde-haired young man could not help but smirk in triumph. For the girl he had managed to pick was one of the meekest and least aggressive of the maids, who did not even seem to have enough courage to scream, and was therefore an easy fruit for the picking.

"MMMPH?!"

Or so he thought.

A moment before, he thought he was in control, pushing the girl against the wall, one of his hands slowly unbuttoning her skirt, while the other was busy groping her inner thigh. Now, however, he found himself being dominated, their positions reversed, as the girl, with surprising strength, grabbed him, slammed him into the wall, and pulled him into a kiss, a deep blissful kiss, their tongues moving in rhythm with each other. Finally, unable to take anymore, he decided to pull away to gasp for air.

"Fufufu," the girl mused maliciously, sounding slightly disappointed, as she wiped the saliva that formed around her mouth. "Tell me, is that really all you've got, Guiche the Bronze?"

?!

And before he could do anything else, without giving him time to recover, the girl, who he had formerly thought was a shy-type, knelt down, and unbuckled his belt.

"Here, let me show you how it's done," the girl purred, before she placed his piece of meat inside her mouth, and began her service.

"Ahhh," the young man could not help but moan in pleasure. Part of him was actually irritated, for it was apparent that the girl he tried to nab was likely no longer a virgin, given how good she was at it. On the other hand, she was so good that despite the fact that he, a noble, was being dominated by a commoner, it did not matter to him at the moment, nor did it matter that she was no longer pure. All he knew was that he was in a bliss, he was in heaven. And for his first time, an experience like this wasn't so bad.

"More gently please," the Gramont boy pleaded, barely aware of what he was saying, as he looked down towards the female who was currently sucking on his manhood, moving it in and out of her mouth in rhythm, while she held it with her...

"?!"

In an instant, the bliss, the arousal, the feeling of pleasure he was experiencing, began draining out of him, as he broke free from her grasp.

"Y-y-you... w-w-what are you?" the young man shuddered, as he saw that her hands, were made of nothing but bones.

He wanted to run, to escape, to get as far away from her as possible, yet to his dismay, he found that he was immobile. He was frozen, stiff as a statue, unable to move a single muscle.

"What's the matter, Guiche? Was it not satisfying enough for you?"

And as the girl stood up, to face him at shoulder level, the proud son of the Gramont family screamed, a shrill, scream of terror, which echoed throughout the abandoned corridor.

For her head, was nothing but a skull, her messy hair, as he realized, were made of serpents, and one of her eyeballs was popping out of its socket while the other one was empty, and instead worms were slowly coming out of it, as a foul smell filled the air.

-BREAK-

(Louise POV)

"...so that is what happened. Thank you for the information. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and inform the headmaster."

And with that, the young female medic who is one of Madam Emily's assistants left the infirmary.

"Don't you think that was a bit excessive?"

"No," I replied to Siesta with a firm voice, as I continued watching over a brown-haired female around our age, who was currently lying on a bed, unconscious. "In fact, if you ask me, what he got is much better than he deserved."

It was almost noon, and as of the moment, every single person in the school was busy, in preparation of the upcoming Familiar Evaluation Fair, with the exception of the second years, who were free from the tasks, for they were given the time to train and practice with their familiars, who will be entering said competition.

Which of course, included cleaning up the mess that was created by a certain blonde-haired pervert noble brat who is also known as Guiche the Bronze, a student, or rather, former student, of Tristain Magical Academy. For he had been expelled from the institution, and would be sent home first thing the next morning. Considering the amount of destruction he created, as well as the number of people who saw him at it, he would probably still have been given the same verdict, even without our testimonies.

The moment I saw him attempting to ravish an innocent girl, I found it difficult to restrain myself, and at that point in time, I was actually ready to tear him apart, and it took every bit of self-restraint I have to control myself from doing so.

At first, I thought of using Sleep Magic on him. After all, it would be the quickest and most efficient way to escape the situation. However, I could also tell, that if he was not taught a lesson, he will only grow braver and braver, and continue with his lewd and unsavoury actions.

And it was at that time that an idea popped into my head. Life in Earthland, while I was never lonely there because of my friends, was not exactly easy, especially when it comes to financial matters. True, there were those in the guild who had plenty to spare and were happy to loan money, and there were times that said loan was actually forgotten, but while it was true that I did borrow jewels once in a while, I always made sure that I paid them in full as soon as I can.

Unfortunately, while the magic which I use is indeed effective, both for offense and defence, it was one which went side by side with destruction, and was therefore not preferable, especially in missions which involve battling other wizards in areas where there are buildings and abundant in 'breakable stuff," which of course, would in turn, decrease the amount of money I earned by a great deal.

Because of this, I indulged myself further into studying a type of magic which would not cause too much damage. And as I asked around for advice from my guildmates, despite the fact that they were also experts at creating a lot of mess without even trying, I ironically got what I wanted.

Mystogan had been among the wealthiest members of Fairy Tail, because of his method of fighting. In fact, the master, in a drunken state, actually showed and boasted of his money stores, which Mystogan, who probably knew he won't be coming back, entrusted his account to the guild. And his savings actually had a number of zeroes, only for us to be disappointed when the master said that it was consumed, as tribute to the damned Twilight Ogre guild, during the seven years that the guild was at its weakest. Overall, his method was quick, efficient, and most of all, unless he was faced with formidable enemies, caused minimal collateral damage.

Inspired with this knowledge, I immediately indulged myself into studying books which focused on the type of magic which he used, and not only was I able to learn it, I was also able to invent some of my own spells as well as add in my own improvements to the existing ones because of it. In fact, I could actually use his stave-dependent magic techniques without the need of a staff, although admittedly, I was never able to learn, no matter how hard I tried, how to turn my body into air.

The only thing I regret is that even though I learned magic which could not cause too much damage, it did not really make much of a difference unless I went on a solo mission, for the companions I always went with on jobs were, since we are Fairy Tail, it isn't really anything to wonder about.

Illusion was one of Mystogan's specialties, and it was this particular type of magic which I had used on Guiche, one which I call Pervert's Paradise, a move which I originally created as a form of revenge against the man who, while I was grateful for the fact that he taught and trained me in the magic arts, was also the one responsible for corrupting my psyche, even if it wasn't his intention.

Unfortunately for me, however, the man was thoroughly unaffected, and there were three plausible explanations as to why it did not work. One, which was the most plausible, his magic was so powerful that he is able to block magic aimed at him passively without even noticing it. Two, he was too drunk to notice. Three, which was farfetched though still possible, he was unaffected because he has experienced having affairs with demons, skeletons and zombie girls before, and was actually enjoying himself.

Given his personality though, I could not help but feel that my third theory is actually the correct one.

Gramont, on the other hand, was neither as lucky nor as experienced.

For the illusion I had cast on him, must have snapped something in his head. For had gone mad, and went berserk. I was not there to witness it, since my attention was focused on rescuing Bianca from his clutches, and thus paid no heed when he ran away screaming at the top of his voice. The next time I saw him, however, he was punching and kicking wildly, being restrained by four pairs of strong hands, as he was brought in the direction of the Headmaster's office, while a brown-haired woman in purple robes, who I knew though not by name, as one of the teachers, held his wand, while Old Osmond, the Headmaster walked slightly behind her.

And upon listening to the gossiping and whisperings of the students, I found out what had happened. Guiche the Bronze, had gone nuts, and had sent his Valkyrie to wreak havoc throughout the school, the evidence of his actions lying all around, in the form of broken chairs and tables, shattered windows, and other forms of destruction. And to top it off, he had been shouting and rambling in random, which of course was about how a girl he tried to rape suddenly turned into a monster. Unfortunately for him, his rabbles were heard by none other than the Headmaster Osmond himself, who, according to the conversation of the students, happened to be walking around, inspecting the different areas of the school for cleanliness and beauty in preparation of the arrival of someone from the Royal Family.

Of course, the only real problem which remains is the investigation which the lecherous boy's family will undoubtedly try to initiate. But since Biancha was not a magical, they will not be able to touch her. Even if nobles had every right to hurt and harm or even kill the common folk without getting penalized for it, given their strict military and honour code, the Gramonts would not dare touch her unless they could prove her guilty. Unlike people like Count Mott, the boy's family had a good reputation to uphold, and would not risk ruining it, which means that she was safe. On the contrary, the girls who had been targetting said playboy would probably end up taking the hotseat, owing to the fact that they could perform magic, and would probably be suspected of messing with the boy's head. And since I know that said girls, especially Montmercy, were discreetly bullying the maids through non-punishable means probably out of envy of their beauty, that made things all the sweeter.

Yes, it was all Guiche's fault, and I believe, with every fibre of my being, that he deserved it. Still, even though I knew this, I could not help but feel pity, even if it was only slight, at the fate which had befallen the swine.

"Ahhh... no... please, don't hurt me..." Bianca, the girl we just rescued, muttered in her sleep, in a terrified voice.

Then again, I do not regret what I have done, nor do I have any wish for things to have turned out differently. True, it was never my intention for things to go so far, but perhaps, what happened to him was fate's design, as a way of punishing him for his transgressions.

-BREAK-

(Louise POV)

It was evening, and right now, I was currently on my way to Louise's, to my old room, which was currently being occupied by my sisters, the reason behind it, of course, was due to the fact that I wish to apologize for shouting at one of them a couple of hours earlier.

...

"...wandless magic, even I've never heard of such a feat before..."

...

Basically, three, no, at least four people, already knew the truth about me, which include Siesta, my two sisters, and the head medic, Madam Emily, well at least they are the ones who I told anyway. There are others, of course, who knew and believed that I was indeed her, which probably include the headmaster, as well as a few others who I do not know about. However, I had pleaded with them not to divulge the truth, and since they agreed although reluctantly, my status as a Valliere has not been confirmed, and as of present, still only remains as a rumour.

The only problem was, while all of them granted my request, one of them was still adamant on convincing me otherwise. Namely, my elder sister Eleonore.

...

"...you even managed to make a cure for Cattleya's illness ..."

...

Yes, I knew exactly why my blonde-haired elder sister was trying to make me change my mind, and her intentions, I was sure, were well-meant. However, I simply could not agree with her requests, for revealing myself would have a number of unpleasant consequences.

For Louise Valliere, while still very much alive, is officially dead. And if it was confirmed that she was, that I was not dead, and that I was still in the land of the living, it could trigger a reopening of the case, and a full-on investigation. And if that happens, if everything that occurred so far was added to the mix, then my friends and colleagues might end up getting caught up in it. And since they were commoners, there was a high possibility that they would be given unjust punishment, and I would rather not have anyone involved in my mess.

As for my magic, while my sister may have been impressed, it is something which I would rather keep secret. The fact that I am using a different system instead of the traditional one, would probably get me into a lot of trouble, mainly because of the backwards way of thinking which was headed by the Church.

...

"SHUT UP, STUPID SISTER ELEONORE!"

...

Then again, it was wrong of to me to lose my temper at her because of something so trivial, shouting at her then leaving her without another word. After all, while she was trying to sway my decision, she had not, despite the fact that she had a big mouth, divulged any of the information I told her, and kept it to herself.

And now I have arrived at my intended destination. All that's left for me to do is knock and face the c...

"I am to marry the Emperor of Germania..."

"Germania?"

"That country of barbaric upstarts?!"

"Yes. But it can't be helped. It must be done to solidify our alliance."

At that moment in time, I felt my body stiffen, the tension within me beginning to rise.

For in the room four people were in conversation, two of the voices were undoubtedly my sisters', one of which I was unfamiliar with, while the other one...

"...we need someone to go to Albion to retrieve it..."

"Please, there is no one else I can turn to..."

"I understand..."

No, who she was is irrelevant. Even if she was a noble, even if she was a part of the Royal Family, even she is, well, used to be my friend, that was unimportant.

"Thank you so much," I heard the voice of the woman say.

All I know, is that she had come in secret to the Academy, seeking help from my precious sisters to clean up her mess, basically sending them into what could possibly be their deaths, since Albion was currently in a state of civil unrest, while all she had to do was wait, lying comfortably on her bed, while hoping and praying to the damned Founder, that everything would go well.

And as the door of the room opened, and I found myself face to face with the female who had a hood over her head, knowing what she had just done, it was just impossible to restrain myself.

"Good evening, Princess," I greeted sweetly, which made the female's eyes widen with surprise.

Before I slapped her in the face for all she was worth.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Alright, another chapter out.

I have to admit, I am currently finding it difficult to push through with my chapters, due to the fact that there are plenty of things which I have to do. However, I still try.

Now, we all know how the system in Halkegenia is like, how the commoners are mistreated in the system, which was why I am actually tempted to include certain FT characters, aside from a certain red-headed swordswoman, who had had to work as a slave on constructing a certain tower, to supposedly revive a certain someone, though it turned out to be a farce, since said certain someone was actually alive. I mean, it might be interesting, how they would react to the social system in Halkegenia, although that's still up for debate.

Then, there's also the issue of FT canon. If things get too messy and confusing, while I will follow it, I'll probably have to add some extra elements, and while I was planning to write another fic of Louise's life in Earthland, I'm postponing it for now, first since I only have extra time to write one fic, second because I am not fond of writing a character-insert-then follow-canon- story.

But enough about that...

And like always, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter...

Later then, people...