Awry Affairs

Change a hawk to a little white dove

More than a feeling, that's the power of love

~ Huey Lewis

Chapter 3

He, who takes revenge for a small insult, will have a bigger one thrown at him. ~ Chinese Proverb

"I hope Keith doesn't fret too much at being left behind," Katarina Rafa Claes told Sophia Fia Ascart as the two friends walked through the halls of one of the academy buildings intended for official functions.

As befitting a school for the nobility, the academy campus was well supplied with places suitable for everything from a tea party to a full on banquet and ball. After all, their graduates might be playing host to exactly such events in the future so it was important that they could practise the skills involved in them.

Part of this programme was the requirement that male students should host parties for their fellow students at least once per term. And since most of these parties took place on the same schedule, this left them competing for guests in the form of the female students. Katarina had been practically bombarded with invitations for parties to attend this afternoon, as the first year students hosted their first parties - far too many for her to attend, even if they'd all promised the most delicious food.

"Well, he can't come with us," Sophia pointed out. "He's hosting his own party."

Katarina nodded. "You're right." It had been very kind of her brother to take the time from his preparations to help her to sort out the invitations, discarding those that were unsuitable for some reason or another. "Thank you for inviting me along to this party."

"Oh, Katarina," the albino girl caroled. "It's I who have to thank you for agreeing to come with me."

"Well, I had no idea there was a party catering to those who love romance novels," she admitted. "I wonder if I lost the invitation."

"I think your brother might have lost it. He did seem to lose Gerald's invitation for you," mused her dear friend. "It's a shame brother couldn't come along to this one, the third years aren't hosting today, but apparently he was told he had to go to the prince's tea party."

Katarina made a face as they went up the steps to the floor indicated on the invitation Sophia held. "I don't care how great the food will be, I'd have to be on best behaviour the whole time. Keith was right that I shouldn't go, mother would hear something about it and then I'd be in trouble."

"Well there won't be any drama at a nice quiet tea party like this one," Sophia assured her. "We'll have tea and snacks, talk about novels and maybe make some new friends."

"You don't deserve to attend!" someone declared ahead of them, and from around the corner Katarina heard the sound of someone falling. What was going on? She lengthened her pace, striding suddenly ahead of Sophia to reach the corner.

"But I received an invitation," another voice protested weakly.

There was the sound of something tearing and Katarina rounded the corner to see a girl ripping up a piece of card. "It was just a courtesy, know your place, commoner." There were two other girls with her, standing over someone else sprawled on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Katarina yelled, stomping forwards. Her good sensible boots made a big thumping sound as she did so and she just knew that her face was in the villainous expression that she hated in the mirror, but it wasn't something that mattered to her at the moment.

The standing girls twisted to look at her and their eyes went wide.

"You, I mean you!" Katarina jabbed her finger at them like a gun! "I will - !"

"EEEK!" The leader of the trio shrieked and then all three girls were in frantic flight, stumbling in their high heels and elaborate gowns to get clear of Katarina's wrath.

"Um," Katarina broke off as she saw them rush out of view, one down the stairs, another opening a door apparently at random and the third actually hopping out of the window at the end of the hall. (From the disgusted shriek, she'd landed safely but that was where the gardeners heaped manure before they laid it out on the flowerbeds. Katarina knew that because she'd exchanged tips there one afternoon when she was supposed to be learning… something.).

Then she looked down and saw that the person on the floor was a familiar looking blonde girl: Olivia Campbell, the protagonist!

Oh gosh!

"Lady Katarina!" Sophia rushed up after her and had to seize Katarina's arm to stop herself, swinging slightly before she came to a halt. "You were magnificent!"

"Er… hehehe." The tall brunette gave her friend a nervous giggle. "I lost my head a little, but er… oh, are you alright?" She offered her hand to Olivia, helping her up. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Um." The common-born student examined the floor. "N-no. I-I'm fine. Tha-thank you so much!" she managed to stammer out.

Sophia gave her a warm smile. "It's okay, you're not the first person Lady Katarina has rescued from bullies like that." She glanced down at the floor and then picked up the torn pieces of card. "What's this?"

"Ah… my invitation," Olivia confessed. "It's the only party I was invited to." She looked at the ripped pieces. "Maybe they're right."

It looked a bit familiar to Katarina and she held out her hand to Sophia, who quickly handed them over. Sure enough, once she put the two halves together, Katarina saw that it was just like the invitation she'd turned down earlier. "Oh, Prince Julius' party… it's probably going to be all sorts of stiff and formal. There are much better parties to go to than that. You could -" She was about to suggest Keith's party but then game memories of being battered by an earth golem sprang to mind. No, not triggering the Keith route. Nope-nope-nope! "- ah, come with us!" she finished brightly.

"Really?" asked Olivia doubtfully.

Katarina slumped. Darn this villainous face of hers. No wonder the heroine wouldn't trust her.

"It's a party for people who like peace and quiet, with hobbies like art and romance novels," Sophia explained, taking out her invitation. "And it says that anyone coming can bring along more guests as long as they share those interests."

"Are you sure it's alright?" Olivia asked Katarina nervously.

"Yes, of course!" Katarina helped her up to her feet. "And if the host isn't nice to you, we'll just go somewhere else." She frowned. "Whose party is it, Sophia?"

"Leon Fou Bartford," the albino answered.

The duke's daughter tried to remember who that was and failed.

"The boy who can't do any magic."

Katarina was sure her expression gave away that she still had no clue. "Well, I'll remember him for this part then," she decided. "It's just along here, isn't it?"

It was indeed only three doors further away, and when Katarina knocked on the door, she was surprised by the face of the boy that opened it. She had seen him, she remembered now, although she hadn't put a name to the face until now. He wasn't particularly tall, or particularly handsome (although she had to admit that with Gerald and Nicol around so much she might be a little spoiled). He had dark hair, just barely long enough to tie off in a ponytail, and sharp eyes.

"Welcome," he greeted them, his voice calm and very non-threatening. "Please come in."

Inside, the room was set up with three tables, chairs all around them. Katarina saw a table set up with snacks and sweets and pastries and… oh, there was that, and she wanted one of those… picking up a plate she started filling it, then remembered that she wasn't alone. "Here," she declared, offering the plate to Olivia. "Have something to eat, that makes me feel better."

Some of the other girls looked up at her and she wondered if she was being too loud.

"Please help yourselves," Leon told her, pulling back a chair at one of the tables, and then another for Olivia. "How do you like your tea?"

"What sort of tea do you have?" asked Sophia curiously, eyes flicking to another table where two girls were reading books.

"Four types," the boy said with a smile. He ticked them off with his fingers. "Milk and sugar, just milk, just sugar, and none of the above."

"Aren't there different types of tea leaves?" asked Olivia, sounding confused.

"I've heard that rumour as well, but I don't put much weight on the notion." His eyes twinkled and then he pointed at another table where half a dozen jars held different types of tea. "Only kidding, but if someone has a passion for tea, they'll have to talk me through how to make it."

"I'll have some with milk and sugar," Katarina decided.

"An excellent choice," Leon assured her. "And yourself, Miss Campbell? You look like you've had a bit of a shock, may I recommend the same as Lady Claes?"

Olivia agreed and Leon turned to Sophia, who was looking torn between sitting with Katarina and Olivia, or sitting at the table with the girls who were reading. "It's quite alright to switch between tables, Lady Ascart, And may I say that you're looking lovely today?"

Sophia blushed. "Y-yes, you may. Ah, I like my tea… er…"

"Black and strong like her brother," Katarina offered helpfully as Sophia seemed to have forgotten.

"Of course, I'll be right with you." The boy nodded politely and went to the table with the tea on it.

"Please don't say it like that," Sophia whispered to Katarina and went to sit at the other table, her ears bright red.

Katarina stared after her and then looked at Olivia. "What did I say?" she asked plaintively.

The other girl was blushing, but didn't say anything.

A few moments later, Leon returned with three cups of tea. He delivered one to Sophia, placed the other two before Katarina and Olivia, and then stepped away only to return a moment later with another plate of treats. Sitting down he pushed the plate towards them. "So how are the two of you liking your time at the academy?"

Olivia looked nervous. "I'm… Not sure I should have come. I'm barely keeping up with everyone else and…" She hunched over defensively.

"Most of us have had a pretty thorough education before we got here," Leon mused. "To varying degrees. I imagine that your previous schooling wasn't at the level of having a dedicated tutor or tutors giving you direct and personalised coaching?"

The common-born girl looked surprised at the very notion.

The boy nodded kindly. "The fact that you're keeping up despite that is actually a testament to your capability. Just sticking with the classes will likely put you ahead of most of us given some more time. I'd imagine that you're already much better than me when it comes to magic."

"Or me," Katarina added encouragingly. "All I can do is make a little bump of earth."

"Indeed. We all have our strengths and weaknesses." Leon sat back in his chair. "Admittedly it wouldn't hurt if you had some friends to study with, wouldn't you say so, Lady Katarina?"

Her eyes widening, Katarina sat up. "That's it, you can come and study with me! Keith and Gerald and our other friends help me out all the time!"

"B-but you've already done so much for me," Olivia protested. "And you're a noble, so…"

Katarina shook her head. "Why would that matter?" She looked at Leon. "It doesn't matter, right?"

"Opinions differ," he answered, which didn't make sense to her. Either it mattered or it didn't? And Olivia was the protagonist, so she'd be fine unless she stumbled into some bad end… oh, and if she was studying with Katarina then she could ask the girl some clever questions and work out who she was getting close to and what routes to worry about!

It was a perfect plan!

"The other advantage to studying with others is that it'll help you to make friends," the boy continued after a moment. "Unfortunately there are always those who find it easier to drag others down than to better themselves, here or anywhere else. When you start rising up the class rankings - and I really do believe that you will, Miss Campbell - then some of them may misbehave. You'll be much better off if you have some young lady of high rank in your corner."

Katarina frowned in thought. She didn't like the idea of Olivia being bullied again, but it had happened once already and there were lots of events in the game that worked out like that. "Yes, if there was only someone with the right status that could help you…"

Olivia looked dubious. "Why would anyone important support me? I'm just a scholarship student."

"Really, the crown should have arranged to have someone looking out for you," noted Leon. "Prince Julius, for example. But he's apparently fixated on his new crush. But don't put yourself down, Miss Campbell. We're all quite young really. Who knows what we might all end up doing?"

"Oh!" Katarina smacked her hands together, causing several people in the room to look up nervously. "I've got an idea. Why not approach Lady Redgrave? She's very important."

"Ye-esss," Leon agreed, an odd look on his face. "I think it's fair to say a duke's daughter would be important enough."

(Sophia started giggling over on her table. She must have found a really funny book, Katarina made a mental note to ask about it later).

"You should…" Katarina stopped and picked up her teacup, sipping on the sweet milky goodness. She was sure her mother had talked about this at some point. Probably lots of points. Etiquette was really hard! And Keith wasn't here to prompt her. But… "I know this, I'm sure I do."

Olivia gave Leon a look and he pushed the plate of snacks over to her. "Please try one of these."

Ah, they looked very good. "That's it!" Both of them looked at her curiously. "You should give Lady Redgrave a present, that's proper courtesy when asking for a favour. If you give her something nice then she has to look out for you!"

Phew, that had been a tough one. Katarina helped herself to a pair of cookies as a reward.

Olivia looked embarrassed though. "I don't think I could afford something."

"Oh!" Katarina knew what to do. "How about you make something for her?" She did that when she wasn't sure what to give Keith or Anne on their birthdays. Well, except when she gave them a voucher for a back-rub or for a favour in the future, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea here. "You could bake some sweets for her."

The girl looked over at Leon. "Would that be alright? I don't make food as nice as the sort of expensive sweets a duke's daughter would like."

"Well, you could always ask Lady Claes here to taste-test them," suggested Leon. "And perhaps she could find some excuse to ask Lady Redgrave what sort of sweets she likes. Suggest her brother was going to invite the lady to a tea party or something."

"What a brilliant idea!" Katarina exclaimed. She'd obviously made a mistake by not making friends with Leon sooner. He was like a puzzle-solving wonder. He'd probably get every route on an Otome game mastered on his first attempt!

"I'd be glad to make sweets for Lady Katarina and Lady Redgrave," Olivia decided, showing proper determination as a heroine. Go for it Olivia, Katarina cheered her on. I support you! Although it would be better if you don't take a route that has my doom flags on it!

Leon had arrived early to see what the scores were for the midterms. He didn't think he'd be flunking out but it would be interesting to see if the extra studying had helped any.

Once the teacher had pinned them up, a scattering of students who took enough of an interest to check right away clustered around. Right up at the top, Leon saw Scarlet's name - the more detailed breakdown showing several perfect scores as well as extra credit results. He hoped she'd be pleased.

Gerald Rafa Stuart was just below Scarlet - Leon looked around but the elder of the two twins wasn't around yet, so he was spared a reaction. His brother Alan was though, and the boy had taken the fourth spot, right behind Olivia Campbell.

"Well done, Alan!" he heard Katarina declare loudly.

"Yeah, it's not bad," the silver-haired musician drawled dismissively. "How did you do?"

"Right in the middle of the class," the pretty brunette declared proudly. "Strictly average!"

"Well done, I guess, then."

Leon turned and saw Katarina pumping her fist triumphantly. Well, he supposed she wasn't exactly booksmart and if she felt a middling score was good then who was he to judge her standards?

As he was watching, Scarlet arrived, slipping quietly around the enthusiastic brunette and looked up at the scores. She smiled slightly at the results.

"Congratulations," Leon offered.

"And to you," she told him gracefully. "Fifth place is very good given your handicap."

"What?" Leon jerked around. "I hadn't checked mine… well I'll be!" She was right - there was quite a gap in the actual grade average between he and Alan, a wider gap than separated all four of the top scorers, but nonetheless, his extra credits had pulled him up well above the median.

"So you're Scarlet Rafa Ades," Alan greeted the girl. "I've spoken to your sister a few times but I don't think we've crossed paths much before."

"Oh wow." Katarina stared at Scarlet with bright eyes - they both had a similar shade of blue eyes, Leon noted. "You even beat Gerald. That's amazing. Do you think he'll be upset, Alan?"

"I don't know," Duke Stuart's youngest brother admitted. "He said something about 'giving someone a chance', this time. I didn't ask who…"

Scarlet turned, face pinched, and stalked away, fists clenching and unclenching.

"...he was talking about." Alan finished. "Er… something I said?"

"If he's giving someone a chance," Katarina muttered, half to herself, "Perhaps he's fallen in love with them. Ooh, Olivia is up there in the scores…"

"I don't think you have to worry about Gerald falling in love with anyone else, Katarina." Leon could tell Alan was amused that he had to say that.

"I believe that Scarlet was feeling a little competitive after she came second last time," he explained. "Gerald was perhaps a little smug about it. And if he's suggesting that she came first this time because he let her… well, all I can say is she's going to be really motivated for the end of term finals." Leon looked up at the scores. "I'm not sure how she'll top this time though. She wasn't perfect in everything, but even where she wasn't, she wasn't far off."

Katarina looked troubled. "I wonder, maybe she's a… a hidden heroine? No, that makes no sense. Do you know if she has a dark and tragic backstory, Leon?"

"Wouldn't you know?" Alan asked her. "I mean, she's your first cousin."

"WHAAT?!" Katarina exclaimed. "Since when!? How did that happen?"

Leon scratched his head. "I'm not really up on all the relationships between the ducal families, but I'd assume that one of your parents has a sibling… That's how first cousins usually work."

Alan nodded. "Duchess Miranda Rafa Claes was born into the Ades household. The current duke, Scarlet and Violet's father, is her brother."

"Really?" Katarina turned and paced back and forth across the corridor. "But how come I've never met her before."

"Well, the Ades lands are on the far side of the kingdom from your father's lands," the duke's son pointed out. "And Duke Ades reportedly hates coming to the capital - don't ask me why, I don't know - so probably you've just never been in the same place as her before. She has a twin sister, I suppose you don't know about her either?"

Katarina seized hold of Alan by the front of his uniform jacket. "Tell me everything," she insisted.

Leon decided he was better out of this and backed away quietly. Alan shot him a betrayed look, but Leon shrugged helplessly. He was a friend of Scarlet's but that meant that even if he had dirt on her family life it wouldn't be right for him to tell Katarina all about her. If she wanted to learn about her cousins, surely she should approach them herself.

After extensive taste-testing with Lady Katarina - Olivia simply could not believe how sweet the other girl was - she was finally ready to approach the daughter of House Redgrave. She'd been putting it off until now, she admitted, but with the mid-term results out, her name was no longer discreetly near the bottom of the class.

With help from Katarina's friends - and for that matter, explaining things to Katarina had been quite useful in working out how to get points across clearly - she'd finally worked out what she'd been missing in several classes and the results were evident. Unfortunately that meant that they were also evident to all the other girls in the class, and Olivia had seen several dark looks directed towards her when Katarina wasn't looking.

Lord Bartford had been right, she realised. She would need someone else besides Katarina to extend some protection to her and Lady Redgrave was the best choice - she was engaged to the crown prince so if she said Olivia had to be left alone then no one else would quarrel over it, right?

Armed with this conviction and a basket full of ginger muffins that had been selected painstakingly to match Lady Redgrave's preferences, Olivia set out to dare the most elite of the academy's girl's dorms.

Nothing could stop her as she convinced the concierge to let her enter, found the right floor and knocked on the door of Lady Redgrave's rooms.

"What are you doing here?"

Nothing, except for the girl who'd torn up her invitation to the prince's tea party.

"Well?" the girl insisted as Olivia stared at her. "Do you think you can just walk in here? Or did you forget how to talk."

"Who is it?" Another girl joined her, another face that Olivia recognised. "Oh, the scholarship student. Have you gotten bold enough with you stealing a high spot in the exams that you're not hiding behind Lady Claes?"

"I-I didn't steal anything!"

"You think you can just jump up from the bottom of the class almost to the top and no one knows the reason?" The first girl sneered. "Everyone knows you must have done favours for the teachers, or someone that could get them to give you extra points."

She didn't say what the favours would have been but Olivia wasn't unworldly enough to miss what was being employed. "I would never - !"

"What's this?" The second girl grabbed her basket away from her. "What sort of rubbish do you think you're bringing into Lady Redgrave's room. This must be from some second-rate bakery… no, that's wrong." She picked one of the muffins out and closed her fingers around, squashing it until it fell apart into crumbs. "You couldn't afford second-rate. Fifth-rate more like."

Olivia drew herself up to her not particularly great height. "I did not!" she declared, trying to imitate Lady Katarina's confidence.

"What was that?" She was jabbed in the chest by one muffin-stained finger. "Did you just speak back to me, commoner? Do you need a lesson in your place?"

Backpedalling, Olivia felt her back hit the opposite wall. She had nowhere to go. This had been a dreadful mistake!

"Check her pockets," the first girl suggested. "Maybe she came here to steal something."

A door opened inside the apartment. "What's going on here?" a crisp voice demanded, and the two girls froze.

A second later, the owner of the face came into view and Olivia paled. It was the crown prince himself, Julius Rafa Holfort. He glanced at her, then at the basket and then the two girls with her. His lips twisted as if he was about to spit. Then he turned sharply and looked back into the room. "This is exactly why I don't believe a word of your protestations of innocence, Lady Redgrave. You mouth all your claims inside of how you had nothing to do with the vandalism against Marie and her possessions, and I'm sure you never dirtied your hands with them… not when you have your loyal supporters here doing your dirty work for you."

To complete Olivia's humiliation, the daughter of Duke Redgrave followed the prince. "I don't do any such thing, your highness," she protested. "I would never sink to such behaviour."

"And yet I walk out here and right on your doorstep you have your people bullying other students. I don't think there's anything more to say," the prince declared. He strode off, shoulders tense and angry as he reached the stairs and descended, leaving silence behind him.

Angelica Rafa Redgrave was trimly built, with blonde hair caught up behind her hair in intricate tight braids. Her eyes were red and angry as she took in Olivia, the basket, the other girls…

"We're so sorry, Lady Redgrave," the girl with the muffin stains on her hands yelped. "We'll get rid of this commoner immediately."

"You - will - do - no - such - thing!" Angelica ground out, biting off each word with vigor. "Get out of my sight! Both of you!" Her voice rose sharply. "Don't let me see you in my rooms again!"

"But Lady Angelica, we were just..."

The duke's daughter slashed her hand downwards. "I don't have any doubts about what you have been doing here - which is disgusting. But what I do doubt is that I would get an honest answer if I asked what part you might have played in Lady Lafan's recent misfortune. Either way, you have made me look like a liar in front of my fiance. What that means for your families I will leave to my father, who I assure you will be receiving a letter discussing this."

White-faced, the other two girls fled as fast as their feet could take them. Olivia could only assume that causing this was some super-power that only Duke's daughters possessed.

"Cordelia," Angelica called back into the room. "Please pick up this basket and see what can be saved. And perhaps some tea for my guest and I."

"Of course, Lady Redgrave." A dark haired maid stepped forwards and started picking up the basket.

A hand was extended towards Olivia. "I'm terribly sorry about the horrible welcome you've received," Angelica Rafa Redgrave assured her. "Please come in and let's see what I can do to make this right."

Olivia nervously accepted the offered hand and was led into a dining room that was so full of expensive-looking ornaments that the girl didn't dare touch anything lest she cause more damage than she'd be able to repay in her entire life. Katarina's rooms were hardly plain, but her visit there had left her with an entirely different impression - there was plenty of room, and the shelves and mantelpieces were only sparsely filled out, mostly by items that could invariably spark some anecdote from Katarina about how she'd come by the souvenir - be it something she'd bought on impulse, been given as a gift or simply picked up.

These rooms though, gave no such impression of an individual, only of their place in society. Crushing wealth and authority. It was… curiously, not the same feeling that Angelica gave her as the irritated noblewoman took a seat at the end of the dining table and gestured somewhat curtly for Olivia to take a seat.

"Is that… behaviour normal?" she enquired. "The way that those two treated you, I mean?"

"Not everyone is like that," Olivia blurted.

"I see…" The other girl shook her head. "I… I apologise. They are expected to take their lead from me and I've apparently led them to believe that I will endorse such conduct. Rest assured that I will be taking steps to rein that in… as far as I am able."

"T-then you're not going to push me out of the academy?"

"What?" Angelica looked bemused at the notion. "No. Of course not. You're sponsored here, you have as much right to be in the classes as any of us." She tilted her head. "More than most if I judge by the grades in the recent exams. Believe me, if I were to be considering forcing people to leave, you wouldn't even cross my mind. Not that I'm doing that at all."

Somehow, Olivia believed that the other girl did indeed have a list of people she would be happy to get rid of.

"So what…" The braided young lady broke off as the maid entered the dining room with a tray. From this she laid out two saucers, then tea cups, then side-plates, and filled the cups with tea before depositing a ginger muffin on each side-plate. "Oh, thank you Cordelia."

"Of course, my lady. I will clean the basket for Miss Campbell and a few more of the muffins were intact enough to eat."

Angelica raised her fork towards her muffin and then paused. "So what was it that brought you here today, Miss Campbell? Having not really heard from you so far, I'd rather thought that you were choosing to avoid contact with most of the class. Which is… rather understandable now that I see what sort of contact you were experiencing." She used the fork to break off part of the muffin and scooped it into her mouth.

"I… uh, Lady Katarina suggested that if I asked you…"

"Mmm, mmm." Angelica swallowed. "Oh this is delicious. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I must ask where you got them."

"I… baked them?" Olivia offered nervously.

"You baked them? For me?" The duke's daughter looked at her. "That's a rather considerable effort. What favour could you want that you've gone to those lengths? Believe me, I'm very inclined to grant it." She stuck her fork into the muffin again, cutting away a larger mouthful.

"I just wanted the other girls to leave me alone."

"I'd love to say I could give you an absolute promise of that," Angelica told her after washing down the mouthful of muffin with some tea. "My influence is not… quite so extensive but I'll put the word out. And… you're on good terms with Katarina Rafa Claes?"

Olivia nodded.

"Good. Between the two of us, most of the students will know better than to trouble you. And if one of the fools does, then let me know. Or Katarina's friend Mary." Angelica's smile was warm. "And if there's anything else I can do for you, please come and tell me. I'll make sure that those two aren't here and that anyone who is knows that I won't tolerate that sort of behaviour from them."