Chapter 6 Off To School

-Two years later-

Early in the mourning little Melty Melromarcs eyes flicked open, she jumped out of bed and rushed out of her room, running through the halls still dressed in her nightie she she made her way towards the training grounds, she was going to watch her big sister train.

When she arrived she saw Malty sparring with Eclair, Melty started to imitate the fight gripping the air in front of her like it was a sword she started to wave her hands around making slashing nothings like she was holding a sword.

Little Melty practically worshipped the very ground her big sister walked on, the only person she held in higher regards than her sister was there mother, she saw her big sister as one of the strongest, smartest and most caring people in the world and Melty wanted to be just like her when she grew up.

Melty was so focused on her pretend training she didn't notice that said big sister was walking up to her along with Eclair in tow until she cleared her throat causing Melty to jump in surprise, turning around to see her ''big sister!'' Melty exclaimed shocked.

''Good mourning Melty'' Malty smiled ''what are you doing?''

''Oh'' Melty quickly straightened up ''I'm training like you are''

''Oh really, why don't you show us'' said Malty before leaning over to whisper something to Eclair, the two then watched as Melty started swinging her hands around like she had before, as though she was holding a sword, which the two found to be rather cute, the show ended when Melty tripped over her feet, but before she could fall her big sister caught her ''alright, that's enough for now but keep at it and maybe you'll be as good as me when I get back'' she said.

The reminder that her big sister would be leaving soon caused Melty to deflate ''big sister why do you have to leave?'' she asked.

Malty and Eclair looked at one another, Eclair then gave a nod and left the two of them alone, Malty then knelt down to Melty's level ''it's punishment for that party me and Eclair threw I thought you knew that'' Malty explained.

''I know but you didn't do anything wrong you were encouraging equal treatment for demi-humans, I thought that was a good thing, that we're suppose to encourage that so why are you being punished for it?'' Melty asked.

''Yes it is a good thing and yes we should promote equality between humans and demi-humans, but other nobles do not agree with such ideas'' stated Malty ''so to appease them mother has to punish me for and I quote 'corrupting their children with dangerous blasphemous ideals' unquote''

''But that's not fair!'' Melty cried stomping her foot.

''I know'' said Malty soothingly ''I know its not fair and while I think many of our nobles are just plain useless and only care for money they are necessary to keep the country running, so until we can find suitable replacements for them we sadly need to put up with them and sometimes we need to take a hit so to speak for the greater good of our kingdom, do you understand?''

Melty hesitantly nodded, she understood, she didn't like it but she understood, before they could speak anymore Melty's stomach spoke up making a loud rumble, Melty turned red as her big sisters hair while said big sister stifled a giggle, she then picked Melty up and started to carry her out of the training area.

''How bout we get you dressed and go down for breakfast, we can't have people seeing our future queen in her PJ's now can we'' Malty smiled.

This was something that Malty would do often she would talk like it was already decided that Melty would be the queen, the amount of faith her big sister had in her to make these statements made Melty feel very loved by her big sister and want to meet her expectations.

''Do you really think I could be the next Queen?'' Melty asked.

''I know you will be'' stated Malty.

Two days later Malty was stood before her parents and sister giving her last goodbyes before she got in the carriage to be taken to school.

Melty gave her sister a big tearful hug as she bid her goodbye ''don't cry Melty, I promise I'll only be gone for ten weeks then you'll have me back for two weeks and for the whole summer season'' soothed Malty.

''B-B-B-B-But that's way too long!'' Melty cried.

Melty held in a sigh, sometimes it was hard being a big sister and sometimes, like now, she wondered if she had spoilt Melty like how Trash had spoilt Malty in the story, she had caught Melty trying to snack onboard the carriage by hiding in her luggage five times now, but Malty just kept smiling and said ''I know it seems like a long time Melty, but I promise you it'll break over before you know it and I'll reply to every message you send''

''P-P-P-Promise'' Melty asked with teary eyes.

''I promise'' smiled Malty kneeling down and giving Melty a big hug.

''B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Bye big sister'' Melty sobbed, she was then rushed back inside the palace by two servants.

Mirellia then walked up and embraced her daughter and the two hugged breaking off Mirellia said ''I'm sorry you have to go through this Malty if could but-''

''No, its fine mother I understand and I'm fully willing to bite the blade and I know Eclair is too'' smiled Malty.

Mirellia smiled back ''but I do think this will be good for you, I think you've learned everything you can from your tutors and this will provide you a good challenge and it will be a good opportunity to ween Melty off you''

Malty gave a small laugh ''your right mother, we can't have our future queen be so dependant on her big sister can we'' she said.

This caused Mirellia to give Malty a smile ''even after all these years you still think your sister should be the next queen?'' She asked.

''I know she should be'' stated Malty.

''Your faith in your sister is inspiring Malty'' smiled Mirellia ''now then I should go check on your sister''

With that Mirellia went back into the castle leaving Malty with Trash which was kinda awkward, after Trash learned that Malty had thrown a party with Eclair that promoted Demi-Human equality he was furious and yelled at her, it was actually the first time he had ever been angry at her as far as she could remember, this started large shouting match between the two where they both said some pretty hurtful things to each other and now they didn't speak often and whenever they were near one another it became quiet and awkward.

Not wanting this to drag Malty just cleared her throat and said ''well then I should be going'' she turned around and was climbing into the carriage when Trash suddenly spoke up.

''Malty don't I get a goodbye?''

''No'' she said entering the carriage without even turning to face him, completely missing the heartbroken expression on Trash's face and rode off towards the school.

A few hours later Malty found herself in the schools assembly hall, she was sat next to Eclair waiting for student orientation to begin, while she was sat she was glancing around the room trying to see if she could spot any other characters from the story one in particular.

Malty admitted she never finished the story, but a lot of her friends spoiled some parts of it, one thing they spoiled was that Rishia had attended the same school as the Malty character, so she was hoping she could meet Rishia here at some point and befriend her and by doing so get her away from Itsuki.

Out of all the other three heroes Malty hated Itsuki the most, she saw him as an unsympathetic overly privileged brat, so if she could keep Rishia as far away from him as possible she saw that as a win.

''Are you alright Malty?'' Eclair asked.

''Oh, yes I'm fine sorry about that'' Malty replied, she had been so focused on trying to find Rishia in the crowd that she had barely been paying attention to orientation she'd have to ask Eclair somethings about it later.

''Now may I present to you the crowned prince of our great nation, Takt Alsaholn Faubrey, who shall be attending classes with you and has prepared a speech for all of you'' stated the announcer, Malty was pretty sure he was the principal, before stepping down to let someone else take the stand.

When they did take the stand many of the girls let out a dreamy 'ahh' but Malty felt every single hair on her body stand on end and her stomach started to churn, Malty didn't know why but something felt so wrong about this guy, his very presence made her feel uneasy.

This guy didn't even look like a crowned prince with his loose clothes and unkempt hair he looked more like some kind of smug drug dealer than he did a prince, Malty barely heard any of his speech as she just gazed at this guy trying to figure out what was wrong and why she felt so uneasy just by looking at him.

''Malty are you ok?'' Eclair asked gently nudging her shoulder to get her attention.

''Huh, o-oh yeah I- I'm fine'' said Malty hesitantly ''sorry about that Eclair''

She didn't know what had just happened to her or how to explain it to Eclair, but as it turned out she didn't have to as Eclair said ''yeah, that ones a real piece of work isn't he, I don't feel good about him''

Malty was glad that she wasn't the only one who felt uneasy about that guy, she would just need to try and avoid him from this point forwards as she focused on her own goals.

But as it would turn out that was difficult to do as she shared several classes with the crowned prince of Faubrey, fortunately Eclair shared all her classes with her so that helped her a little and eventually she could focus on classes while only feeling uncomfortable.

But she also shared several classes with one more person Rishia, she just wasn't sure how to approach her, she was pretty sure Rishia was the green haired girl at her party, so she thought about approaching her to thank her and use that to start a friendship, but she needed an opportunity and an opportunity she soon got.

One day Malty had been walking towards the meal hall when she saw a group of girls gathered around Rishia, Malty stopped to listen in and make sure everything was alright.

''Well if it isn't the poor noble'' one of the girls sneered, the other girls started to laugh ''watcha doing here, don't you know the lunch hall is a few feet away, oh that's right your too poor to get lunch aren't you!'' the laughs started up again, Malty really wasn't liking this it reminded her too much of her story counterpart ''but hey maybe your friends could- oh right who would want to be friends with someone as poor as you!''

''I would!'' Malty declared before the group of girls could laugh again, Malty had seen enough and she was not going to tolerate this, she stormed up and stood in front of Rishia protectively.

''And who are you?'' The lead bully questioned with a sneering tone, Malty easily recognised her as one of the girls in Motoyasu's party in the anime with her long dark pink hair she was that monk looking girl.

''I am the first princess of Melromarc, Malty S Melromarc'' stated Malty.

''I am Lesty A Lustra'' declared the bully ''I'm not afraid of you first princess of Melromarc, I am closely allied with the prince of Faubrey''

''Wonderful, now why should I care about that?'' Malty asked ''prince of country or not I doubt he has the power to expel me especially because I had good grades, but heres a question especially because I have good grades, but here's a question your a noble from Melromarc aren't you'' this caused Lesty to take a step back ''that's what I thought, so how about this you back off and I'll forget this happened''

With that Lesty and her gang of bullies turned and ran towards the lunch hall as fast as she could, Malty assumed she was going to cry to the prince but she would deal with that later for now she had to tend to Rishia, turning to her Malty saw Rishia was looking up at her in awe.

Knelling down Malty gently asked ''are you ok?''

''O-oh, yes thank you y-your highness'' she stuttered out.

Malty just gave her a gentle smile and said ''just call me Malty this isn't Melromarc, so don't worry about it, so what are you doing out here?''

Rishia looked down sadly and said ''they were right I don't have any friend so I was going to eat lunch here'' she looked up when Malty knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder, before retracting it and holding it out for her to take, when she did take it Malty stood up and pulled Rishia to her feet with her, she gave Rishia a gentle smile and said:

''Well I meant what I said, I want to have lunch with you and I'm sure my friend Eclair does too, so come on lets go have lunch''

And a few minutes later Malty and Rishia were with Eclair sat at a table having lunch, Eclair was getting along really well with Rishia, after a while of talking Malty explained what happened to Rishia and Eclair's eyes lit widened and she said ''oh so your the poor noble, sorry I don't mean to be-''

''No, no its- it's true'' said Rishia sadly.

''Poor noble?'' Malty questioned.

''Oh right you wouldn't have heard it, I wouldn't have heard it if it wasn't for two girls at my table didn't stop gossiping about it, essentially her family is suffering financial problems and she might not be here much longer, that's right isn't it, again I am so sorry I'm bringing this up''

''N-no its fine'' said Rishia tearfully, she knew this was it, these two wouldn't want to be her friends after this, but then she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and saw Malty smiling gently at her.

''Don't worry, we'll make sure you stay in this academy Rishia, in fact I think I have an idea that might benefit all of us'' smiled Malty.

But before Malty could explain her plan a loud ''that's her!'' Echoed through the lunch hall, the three girls turned towards the sound of the cry to see Lesty alongside the prince and she was pointing right at them, Malty gave an inward sigh she should have expected this, as the prince strutted towards there table, Malty gave an inward sigh she should have expected this, as the prince strutted towards there table the lunch Hal fell silent all of the kids wanted to see how this was going to play out, Malty felt a little uneasy with him here, but over the few weeks of classes Malty had built up a tolerance so she didn't feel as uneasy as she had before.

''I'm so sorry princess Malty if-'' Rishia rambled nervously before being stopped by Eclair who just said:

''Its alright Rishia, Malty can handle this''

Malty gave her a small smile before getting up and walking up to the prince ''Prince Take A Faubrey'' she said.

''Princess Malty S Melromarc'' he smirked before glancing her over ''my, my I must say your quite the tasty treat aren't you''

A shiver ran down Malty's spine as the man who made her feel so disturbed leered at her, it made her feel so filthy, but she took a deep breath and glared at him ''then focus on my eyes not my body'' she stated coldly.

Takt flinched and took an unconscious step back, he was not expecting that response, he could tell by the way this Princess Malty carried herself she wasn't the typical noble woman who fawned all over him but he wasn't expecting a response like that, ever since he had reincarnated in this world he had never been told no, he had been constantly praised and when he got older girls started to throw themselves at him, oh well, as much a shame as it was because of the girls beauty she was probably just one of those stuck up bitches.

''Now that we've exchanged pleasantry's what do you want?'' Malty asked.

''Well from what my friend has told me you've been rather rude to her, so I came to ask for an apology in her stead'' stated Takt with that easy smug smile.

''Oh'' mused Malty quirking a brow ''is that so, did she also tell you that she was bullying one of my friends''

''What your friends with that poor noble'' Takt laughed.

''Yeah, is there a problem with that?'' Malty asked glaring.

''I just expected you to keep better company'' stated Takt smugly.

''I could say the same of you!'' Malty growled.

''But then again should I really be surprised, after all you did host a party all for the reason of promoting rights for those filthy Demi-humans!'' Takt sneered, Malty was glad that she could hear many outraged cries as well as see many disgusted looks all around her all of them people from Melromarc, it made her happy to see so many people from her kingdom, nobles at that believed Demi-humans were equal people like them ''see, you've corrupted your people into thinking those wannabe humans are like us''

''If I am mistaken those to quote you 'wannabe humans' have two kingdoms made up of their race'' stated Malty.

''So what you did it just to ensure your kingdom could form an alliance with Siltvelt or Shieldfreeden'' Takt smirked.

''No, I did it because I have a dream'' said Malty 'sorry Mr. King I'm gonna borrow a line from you' ''a dream that one day my kingdom will have a united people, one with children will hold hands and play with each other without care for religion, skin colour or species and will form friendships that will last for generations, that is my dream for my kingdoms future'' Malty smiled as many in the lunch hall, both from Melromarc and from Faubrey applauded her speech, Takt just growled as he heard the applause.

''Well this has been rather interesting but I think we should get back to the topic we started I'd like you to apologise to my friend'' said Takt.

''And I'd like her to apologise to my friend'' stated Malty ''so it appears we're at an impasse and before you throw your status at me I don't care and I doubt your father or anyone in the kingdom will mobilise the military against my kingdom just because I won't apologise to your friend, so I guess we're stuck at an impasse aren't we''

''I guess we are'' Takt said growling under his breath ''I guess we are'' and with that he turned around and walked away.

Malty had turned around to walk when she felt someone roughly grab her arm and pull at her, she turned to see Lesty glaring at her ''this isn't over princess!'' she snarled ''mark my words!''

''Then let me give you some advise'' said Malty calmly thinking about her story counterpart ''the path your going down is more trouble than its worth, trust me''

With that Malty pulled herself free and walked back to her table where a smiling Eclair and an amazed Rishia sat ''good job Malty'' smiled Eclair.

''That was amazing your highness!'' Rishia said in amazement ''but why would you do that for me?''

''Because, like I said I want to be your friend, besides I owe you'' smiled Malty.

''You owe me?'' Rishia said confused.

''If I'm not mistaken your that girl from my party aren't you the one who said that the guests should give it a chance'' said Malty, Rishia turned red and Malty let out a small giggle ''guess I was right, thank you for that Rishia''

''Y-Your welcome your Highness'' squeaked Rishia.

''Hey what's with this 'your Highness' stuff I told you call me Malty'' said Malty with a smile ''now then would you like to here my plan?'' Rishia nodded 'alright time to use my P5 skills again and make a deal which will lead to friendship' ''Eclair is struggling with some of her classes, now I share some of her classes and I'm helping her with them, but I'm not in all her classes and I think your in some of if not all the classes I don't share with Eclair and from what i've heard your one of the best in your classes, so if you help Eclair I will pay for your tuition out of my own pockets''

''B-But why do that for me?'' Rishia asked.

''As I've said I want to be your friend, I think your a good person and I want to be friends with good people'' smiled Malty ''besides it helps my other friend, oh speaking of are you ok with this Eclair''

''Of course, I'll even contribute and help you pay for Rishia's tuition'' said Eclair.

''So what do you say Rishia?'' Malty asked.

Rishia looked at the table for a few moments before looking up with a tearful smile ''yes, yes, yes, yes I happily except, thank you... Malty, Eclair'' Malty smiled back knowing this would lead to a long friendship.

I'm sorry this took so long some IRL stuff came up, hopefully this was worth the wait, I hope I wrote Takt correctly, I haven't got to the part of the story with him in it so I don't know how he acts so I'm sorry if I'm off when it comes to characterisation, I know he's a thing and I know a few things about him I just don't know much about him, I hope you don't mind me making the monk looking girl in the anime Lesty, I tried to find a description of her and found nothing, oh and I'd like to ask when you think Fohl and Atla should come into the story, I wanted to ask because I'm not sure when to add them, I kind of want to do this character arc with Malty and Trash where she realises she could have made Trash a good man but due to the prejudice she had from the story she didn't try.