This fic is a one-shot that crept into my head while watching the anime. I immediately knew that I was going to like this anime after the first episode as it checked all the boxes that piqued my interest. I like that there are some Yuri nuances but the main character is rather baka about it. Nonetheless, this story is inspired by it, and I think that Maria and Catarina would be rather adorable together. Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading.
The Secret Villainous Ending
(Flag Event 1: Introduction Turned Awry)
"So, you're the light user that everyone has been talking about, huh? I'm not impressed. Are you girls impressed by her?"Catarina Claes mockingly imposed herself over the lonely blonde commoner who had just arrived at the magic academy. Her villainous expression was clear as day as she stood behind a line of henchmen maidens who were taking orders from her.
Maria Campbell was the blonde commoner who had just arrived at the magic academy. Her mother had told her that because of her status, it was likely that she might endure hardship at the academy. Her mother had worriedly suggested that she stay in the public eye just in case, so the teachers could help out if the need arose. However, Maria had stupidly failed her mother's wishes, running in a blind panic toward the deeper parts of the woods.
As a result, she was now trapped with her tormentors while the possibility of someone saving her was reduced to zero. The fire magic from one of Catarina's henchwomen forced her to hug the tree pressed to her back while evil laughs further suppressed her ability to think.
"Please, I don't want to cause trouble with anyone. I only want to peacefully learn to control my abilities and have a quiet school life on campus," begged Maria, tears streaming down her face.
More laughs and snickers from the girls further mentally weighed Maria down. The wall of girls parted as the brown-haired villainous approached the foreground. "Pfft, as if. I see how popular you are with the boys in this school. Someone like you who is interesting can't possibly have a low-profile school life."
"Interesting...?" Said Maria with a soft tone of voice laced with confusion. Despite the clear and present danger involving the active fire and academy girls that stood before her, she couldn't help but blush at the comment. That was the first time anyone had ever called her that. With the villainous now in the foreground, she could clearly see how elegant and beautiful she was. How was it that someone that beautiful could be so mean? She asked herself that question and never found an answer.
The combination of Maria's soft and weak tone of voice, coupled with her soft blue eyes caused Catarina to stammer slightly before recollecting her composure. "You... w-wow, you are so dense. It's people like you who think they aren't cute but really are that pisses me off." In the deepest parts of her heart, she had to admit that she was rather cute—but she would never admit it!
"Cute..." Said Maria. She did it again as if acting like an adorable parrot that only recited a single word.
Catarina grew further enraged to hide the true reason her face was red. The other girls started to give her odd looks because of the way this conversation was going. Catarina quickly steeled herself and her eyes ignited with focus. "This girl is hopeless. Why don't you run home to your mommy if you know what's good for you?" It would be better that way. This girl was too cute for her own good and would surely garner the attention of Prince Geordo as well. That was her fiancé and she wasn't going to lose to some country bumpkin, especially since she saw her as a real threat.
The hot flames from one of the academy girls danced around Maria, intimating her and pushing her further against the tree. Catharina smiled evilly and felt elated that all was going according to plan. A little more pressure and the commoner would be fleeing from school and back to her country bumpkin life. Admittedly, she had been interested in seeing light magic up close but perhaps it was best for her ego if she didn't. Life was truly unfair for a feeble commoner to inherit divine light magic fit for royalty. It should have been her to wield such a gift.
Her thoughts were then cut off when shrieking pain filled the air. Her eyes widened when she saw Maria fall to the floor after getting hit with fire. "What the...?! Hey, I told you to scare her—not burn her!" She shouted, a sweat drop showing on her face.
The academy girl who had controlled the fire took a step back and fearfully shrunk before the harsh gaze of Catarina. "S-She unexpectedly got closer to the flames! I wasn't trying to hit her intentionally."
Maria was now on the floor with the clothing on her left arm completely singed with burnt fabric and the lingering smell of charred flesh.
"Ah! This is bad!" Cried the one who had conjured the fire. She was then the first one to make a mad dash out of there like a bat out of hell.
"Everyone, run!" Cried another girl and all the henchwomen ran for their lives, leaving only Catarina behind.
The last thing Maria saw before she blacked out was Catarina Claes staring at her from above with a worried and conflicted look on her face. After that, Maria thankfully regained consciousness in the school's infirmary. Dazed and confused, the nurse had bandaged her burnt injury up and had used magical means to further accelerate the healing process. Her clothing had taken most of the damage and if anything, she would need to take some herbal cream imbued with magical healing for a week.
The nurse had told her that she had been allegedly found in the forbidden old dorm building deep within the woods. That place had been known to house low magical creatures that could still harm you if you weren't careful.
Still a bit dazed, all she could do was hear this story play out. She had no knowledge of there being a forbidden dorm on academy grounds and figured it was nice to know of its existence. The true events of what happened were not lost on Maria. She asked who had brought her in, but the nurse was wondering that same question.
"I had stepped out for a minute and then returned to find you on one of the infirmary beds with a note that explained the alleged situation. Miss Campbell… are these events true and were you in the forbidden dorm deep within the woods?" Asked the nurse.
Maria then confirmed it, causing her to get a few days of detention for her recklessness. She had the chance to speak the truth, but her kind heart didn't want Catarina to get in trouble. All evidence pointed to her being her savior. A kind act such as that had touched her, and it didn't hurt that her face had blushed from imagining her being held by her. It was stupid thinking it, but she liked that they shared a secret together.
Catarina soon learned that Maria had covered for her once no one had come after her. She was surprised, to say the least. As a result, her perception of her turned to interest rather than annoyance.
(Flag Event 2: These Words Bring Pain)
After that incident, Catarina kept her distance from her but ultimately returned to make her life a living hell once Prince Geordo grew friendly with Maria. In truth, it was hell when Catarina ignored her for that brief time. Seeing her again, after knowing that she saved her fascinated Maria to no end. The wound on her arm had sufficiently healed and left no lasting mark.
Over the course of their interactions, Maria came to realize Catharina was lonely. Sure, she had lackeys surrounding her, but they were only around because of her status rather than them respecting her.
Eventually, Maria learned that Catarina was engaged to be married to Prince Geordo, which made her feel ashamed as she wondered if Catarina thought she was trying to steal her betrothed. With that in mind, drama inevitably reared its head after she received secret poems and love letters from Geordo that dangerously made it a reality. While he was a charming blond prince who could swoon the heart of any girl he wanted, the one girl he fancied already had a brown-haired villainous on her mind. What she felt for him was only friendship and even that began to shake in its foundation as he was cheating on the woman he was supposed to be with.
"What should I do with these?"Maria asked herself while in an empty hallway. She stared at the stack of poems and love letters in her hands from the prince that left nothing ambiguous. These poems had been sprinkled in various places that she went, such as the library, underneath her dorm door, and even a few classes they shared. He wanted her dearly, yet she didn't desire that. She thought of throwing them in the river, watching all the sickly-sweet words melt into incoherent ramblings until no one could lay eyes on them. Ultimately, she did what her kind and selfish heart desired her to do—she gave them to Catarina, wishing that she wasn't going to open a box of malice from the villainess.
A turning point in their status with each other occurred once Maria handed the poems and letters with an apologetic bow. She had done this because she felt it was the right thing. Her wanting to hurt Catarina was farthest from her mind. In a show of good karma, Catarina was healthily receptive to the evidence presented before her. As a result, her anger wasn't trained to Maria but to Prince Geordo.
Tears fell silently from Catarina's face with her mouth displaying utter disappointment. "… that devil of a man. How could he write such infuriating sweet nothing to anyone but his fiancée?"
"Catarina… there aren't any feelings other than friendship toward the prince. He is your betrothed, which I figured this should be brought to your attention. I'm deeply sorry."
Catarina's face cracked, showing her defenseless and touched expression. "You're sorry? What is wrong with you… Why are you so kind to me after all that I did to you?"
Maria softened her face and swallowed the hurt that lingered in her heart. "None of that matters relating to this. He is your fiancé, and if I was in your position… then I would like someone to tell me the truth before I spend my life with him thinking he only has eyes for me."
Catarina clutched the papers close to her chest, anger fueling her heart as she moved past Maria. Before fully turning the corner, she stopped. "Maria… thank you. And, thank you for going along with the story I made up when I brought you to the infirmary a few weeks ago."
The blonde commoner quickly widened her eyes and turned but only saw an empty hallway. Catarina's apology was truly out of character, yet Maria cherished it to no end. Never in a million years would she have thought that Catarina would confirm that it was her that took her to the infirmary, let alone a thank you. The brown-haired villainous had left, hopefully, to confront her fiancé about his unfaithfulness.
(Flag Event 3: Behind the Mask)
A few months later, the annual Masquerade Academy ball was underway. The whole school populace dressed in costumes, disguising everyone's Identity. It was a night of elegance and mystique for the whole student body. The event took place in the courtyard of the main academy building while the full pale moon silently watched over the event.
Maria was dressed as a black swan, adorned with black feathers that integrated with her elegant dress. One of her teachers had helped her acquire this dress since she was her ace student and wanted her to enjoy her time at the ball. A white mask with a swan beak rested on her face and hid who she was.
Catarina was dressed in a mirror-matched version of Maria's dress. The difference was that hers was white with a black swan mask. Their diametrically opposed outfits pulled them into a conversation without either knowing who the other was.
As the night carried on, they found themselves at peace with each other, able to convey a plentiful amount of topics. Neither knew the status of the other, and noble birthrights or titles played no part in how they interacted. With all that stripped away, only two people who found a connection remained without any barriers.
"So, love life. Do you have a boy that you like?" Asked the swan adorned with the black mask. They had both made their way to a private balcony overlooking the courtyard.
The swan adorned with the white mask blushed hiddenly and giggled softly to herself. "There isn't anyone that I'm interested in that way… well actually, there is, but I fear that it's forbidden."
"Oh, do tell," said the black-masked swan.
The white-masked swan shifted in place and uncomfortably made some of the cutest noises the other swan's ears had ever heard. "I don't know if I should. I shouldn't have these feelings for them as they are engaged to someone else."
The magic in the air dispelled and Catarina, formerly the black-masked swan, swallowed hard. She still didn't know who this was but something in her stomach told her that she should be ready to hear the prince's name. Shame, she was enjoying this conversation and the last thing she wanted was to feel threatened by a love rival, even if she was conflicted with the prince. "Is he a blond prince with a devilish persona?" She bluntly spoke, pulling herself away from the edge of the balcony.
"Huh?!—No! Absolutely not. It's not a boy at all, but a noble lady." With that sentence alone, all the worries and predictions that Catarina had thought went out the proverbial window.
"A girl?!" She shockingly questioned.
Perhaps it was the anonymity that gave the other swan confidence that night. Whatever the case, the white-masked swan nodded happily. "Indeed. She is the one I think about when I go to sleep and when I wake up. To spend my days with her would be like a dream. Sadly, others might see those days like a nightmare, but I was allowed to get glimpses of her true self. Behind all that arrogance and bratty air to her, there is someone who understands hurt and loneliness. I think that her villainess nature is her shell to keep people from getting close to her. I wish I could convey my feelings to her but she is soon to be engaged to a prince who neither loves her nor cares for her at the minimum as he tried to court me with sweet poems."
Catarina had been rendered utterly spellbound by the facts that revealed who she had been talking to this whole time. It was Maria, and she had just conveyed that she harbored sweet feelings for her. Her heart was pounding through her chest and during that thumping, her face broke into a small smile of flattery. However, it was quickly washed away once she realized that those feelings would never be conveyed again. "What are you saying? So, are you going to give up on her?"
"Huh?" Responded Maria timidly.
Every gut instinct was telling her to not encourage this, that this had no happy outcome at all. It couldn't work out. She still had to be loyal to Prince Geordo despite his unfaithfulness or else her family would disapprove, preferably her mother. All logical sense did not hold as she wished to water this proverbial seed of love lest it be left to never bloom. "What you feel is beautiful and real. Maybe it can't work out but you never know unless you try, right?" Frankly, that meaning held no strength as she would be the one to ultimately cut the bloomed flower and watch it die when it was time. It felt like trying to take care of a sick bird that didn't have long to live.
Maria smiled warmly at her companion, and that alone made Catarina feel like she did the right thing, even if she would regret it later. "Thank you so much. You've given me a lot to think about."
The two talked for another hour, watching the people slowly retreat to their dorms bit by bit once it grew late. The next day, she would be lectured by the prince, wondering where she was during the ball. He only asked because he wanted to show her off to some noble gentlemen who were visiting the academy on business, and would have gained him some social status back home. Truly, he no longer loved her and at least, figured that she could be useful in helping build connections for his kingdom he would one day rule.
(Flag Event 4: Judgement)
As the second-year students' graduation ceremony was upon them, Catarina found herself surrounded by a mob of students with the prince leading the charge. "Catarina! Your crimes have been brought to light and you will be judged accordingly. A few have spoken up and revealed that Maria's incident regarding her arm was because of you." Boldly declared Prince Geordo in the middle of the room.
Murmurs of disgust and disbelief filled the air. Catarina stood frozen in place and without words to say as her fiance was the one leading this judgment on her.
Maria was there yet she avoided eye contact with Catarina. Prince Geordo continued. "A criminal such as yourself that preys on the weak should be locked away. Why... I can't even bear to even look at you anymore. It's with a heavy heart that I must break off our engagement. You are not the woman that I thought I loved," he said in a very fake melodramatic manner. It finally happened, this was his golden escape to break things off with Catarina without tarnishing his noble image.
The commotion from the other students stirred the energy within the room like a cyclone.
Catarina felt without air and the sheer insult of his words lit a fire in her. "Prince Geordo... Khhh... that's rich coming from you! You were supposed to be faithful to me yet you go and write love poems to Maria behind my back!" She had not confronted him about it because opening up that discussion would have set off actions that would drastically alter her life. She had wanted to wait until after the second year's graduation to reveal it, so she could have time to travel to her home and have a heart-to-heart with her mother about it. She figured that it might make her mother see the reasoning to be against the marriage rather than sending a letter.
A few gasps filled the room but nowhere as palpable as the murmurs from earlier. Perhaps it wasn't such a shock that the Prince was looking for someone else compared to the villainous that everyone in the academy saw her as.
Prince Geordo gasped comedically and let a sweatdrop appear. "How did you— the lengths that you drove me to! Yes, I have fallen for Maria, for she is a wonderful soul that has given light into my dark world that you shackled me to." He referred to the forehead scar sustained by Catarina as a child, and how he felt responsible that he ended up proposing to her because of that.
Catarina's fists balled up and her body tensed with silent rage. "You... you humiliate my family's name with your unfaithfulness. You call off the engagement, and you break my heart on top of everything else! I thought you loved me when you still wanted to marry me after the scar on my forehead, but you only did it out of pity!" In hindsight, she had always suspected that perhaps the fascination he had felt for her when they were kids had faded. It was like a tide that she fought against and never did make attempts to be better. Instead, she tore down others who tried to outshine her.
The blond prince scoffed with hilarity. "My heart was starved from knowing true love because of you. You're a brat, a manipulator, and a self-centered little girl! I tried to love you but you didn't make it easy. Face it, who could love such a woman?!" He touched his forehead, flicking his golden locks to express how sorrowful he felt, yet it was all shallow expressions.
The others soon rallied behind the prince's words and began to spew hateful comments toward Catarina's character. Everything about her being a bully, a brat, and a narcissist assaulted her ears and she couldn't blame them.
Catarina's eyes filled with rage, rejection, and tears. Everything he said hit close to home. Everything that they all said was an echo that peppered her with more sorrow. Filled with despair, anger, and shame, she wanted nothing more than to shut the prince who had opened the floodgate to this chorus of ridicule. She didn't even hear Maria trying to be the small glimmer of light in the darkness that was preaching the opposite of what everyone else was saying.
Everything happened so quickly that Catarina didn't realize that she picked up a nearby sword from some decorative statue and charged at the blond prince.
"Maria, look out!"
Maria looked onward in puzzlement at his remark. The prince was next to Maria and by the angle of Catarina's charge, she was going straight for the prince. There was no indication that she was going for Maria, however, that wasn't what everyone else chose to think.
The prince moved forward, putting himself between them like a gallant knight. "I won't let you hurt Maria anymore."
Against a mad woman ruled only by negative emotions, the Prince had swordsmanship training under his many skills. In that split second, Maria moved forward and restrained the arm of the prince, but it was half too late. The prince was swift and elegant, and if it wasn't for Maria, then his strike would have been definitive.
His strike, instead, impaled Catarina's right arm, drawing blood from the young princess.
Maria widened her eyes in horror. Catarina shrieked as she fell to the hard and cold floor. Her shrieks were pained and explosive which sent the others in the room into stunned silence.
The prince was shell shocked but only for a breath of a second. Trying to maintain his flawless image, he quickly hugged Maria like the hero he painted himself as. "Maria, I saved you from the mad princess. She has truly become a criminal!" Frantically shouted the prince who looked no more crazed than Catarina did a few moments ago.
The wounded princess weakly struggled on the floor, holding her bleeding arm that was slowly making her feel dizzy.
"She was about to kill Maria!" Agreed a random group of Academy students within the crowd.
"What a vengeful and horrible woman!" Shouted another voice.
"Exile her! Exile her!" They all boomed in agreement.
Catarina frantically looked around her, seeing the shadowy faces of everyone else as her vision grew darker by the second because of the lack of blood.
The prince smiled uneasily, delusionally grateful that everyone had rallied behind him. "Yes, a fantastic idea. This witch needs to be exiled! Take her away to some far-off land! Put her in a boat and ship her off like cargo!"
Some had begun to restrain Maria who, in their eyes, seemed to be in emotional shock at almost being attacked. In truth, she was in shock at seeing the woman she admired on the ground. "Let go of me! You've all gone insane. Catarina wasn't going after me, and I do not fancy you one bit!" Her sharp words tore a hole in the prince's heart who remained motionless.
"Lady Catarina..." She joined the wounded princess on the ground and inspected the bloody wound.
"It hurts. I… I can't feel my arm," weakly moaned Catarina, her eyelids growing heavy.
"Let me..." Softly whispered the blonde like a sweet angel from heaven.
"Huh?" With clouded eyes, Catarina suddenly felt the warmest rays of light that she had ever felt. The warmth of this light was loving and gentle, even greater than the warm feeling of a summer day at the beach.
Life returned to her eyes and the first clear image she saw was her angel Maria lovingly looming over her. The two soon paused briefly, feeling something else than just warmth enter both of their hearts. There were no words left to say as both of them saw each other past their defenses and understood the feelings of each other.
After that harrowing event, things only ramped up for the worse after that. She was inevitably banished from the school, and her mother, once she found out about her banishment and violent nature, disowned her. With nowhere else to turn to after getting kicked out of school, her fate was to live her life as a commoner. The only rays of hope for her were that she still had her life and wasn't forced into a pure exile in which she would be sent out of the kingdom.
(A few months later)
"kyaa!" A shovel dug into the soft dirt and lifted the ground with vigor. The former villainous then halted her farming work and wiped the sweat from her face. She basked in her pride and a new lease on life that had opened up her future once again.
"Lady Catarina..." The former villainous turned around to see a blonde older woman with a tray of sweets and lemonade. "You're a fast learner when it comes to farming," kindly said the woman.
Catarina contently giggled. "You think so, Miss Campbell?" She tried to not let a blush out but found it futile.
The woman, revealed to be Maria's mother nodded, not allowing the second-guessing nature of the younger woman to take effect. "Yes, makes me think that in a previous life, you used to live for this."
That was too funny not to laugh at but she held herself back so she wouldn't sound like a jerk. "That would be the joke of the century if true. I owe it to your teachings that got me so skilled." The two enjoyed a short pause from the workday, drinking some fresh lemonade and eating sweets.
The older woman looked up at the sky and smiled. "Today is the day that Maria comes back from the academy."
Catarina stopped drinking and grew alert. "Oh, really? I... hadn't noticed." Guilt grew deep inside her heart.
The older woman understood the guilt that Catarina held up to herself like a mirror. "That's alright. We've had a busy few weeks running the farm and fighting off those scummy business people. She's going to be thrilled to see you again."
"So am I..." Softly giggled Catarina. Soon, Maria would be here and she would have her chance to say what her heart had wanted her to say for a while. She had needed some time to think and she knew without a doubt that her feelings were the real thing.
Sometime later, a carriage appeared beyond the horizon and gradually made its way to the little home of the Campbells. As it stopped, the door swung open, revealing Maria. She thanked the carriage service that brought her to her home and watched it depart.
"Maria! Welcome home dear!" The mother eagerly ran up to her daughter and hugged her with overdue eagerness.
Catarina had walked behind the shadow of the mother, all the while, trying to figure out what she would say next. She quickly made her presence known and waved at Maria. "Was your journey a safe one?" She spoke calmly and friendly, gauging how affectionate she should be.
Maria's smile grew brighter, almost giving off a happy trembling vibe. She nodded courteously toward her mom, all the while, her eyes never looked away from Catarina.
For a few seconds, a silence lingered in the air. It wasn't a suffocating silence but a soothing one that didn't invoke a sense of awkwardness.
Maria's mother understood the silence and smiled knowingly. "Oh, I think the food I have in the oven is almost done." She made her exit, leaving the two by themselves.
They both thought of the same thing, wanting to dearly thank the considerate mother, who most definitely had her motives for granting them some alone time.
Maria had been blushing the whole time and once her mother had left, she then approached the brown-haired woman. "Hey, how have things been here?"
Catarina paused, feeling overwhelmed by her shift in life once she had been banished from school. "Well, it's been an experience. There isn't a boring day when it comes to your mother. She's been teaching me how to farm and everything that that entails. She and I have actually started our own small business, and we've even gotten some rotten rivals trying to shut us down."
"Are you happy?" She needed to ask that burning question to find peace in her heart.
Catarina paused again, searching her heart for a genuine answer. "I am. She's a wonderful mom... more than my own mother. Of course, there's no competition there as my own mother stopped being a good mother once she divorced my father. Her disowning me was only the neat ribbon to send me off with."
A fractured family, that had been one of the many reasons for Catarina's villainous manners. "Maybe one day things can be better with you and her," said Maria, holding a small hope in her heart that the brown-haired woman could achieve that reality.
Catarina smiled wearily and placed her hands on Maria's shoulders. "I could take it either way. What I found here... with this life you offered me, that is something far better than the affection of my mother in my opinion. This life has you in it." They leaned in and kissed tenderly. It had been nearly a few months since their last kiss and this one held nothing back in confirming to Maria that this was what Catarina wanted.
Their lips parted and they both hazily giggled softly to each other, drunk with pure love for one another.
"If you still feel bad about my situation then don't be... please. You did nothing wrong. I was the one who orchestrated your injury and blindly attacked Prince Geordo. My actions caused me to get banished and disowned by my parents. All you did was offer me a road for me to walk on when you shouldn't."
(Flashback/Event Flag 5- Redemption)
This was her conclusion, the end of the road for her. Remarkably, her fate did not end in death nor total banishment of the land that she grew up in. Her grim ending was that the school had banished her and shortly after that, her mother had disowned her for the attack on a student's life as well as her banishment from school. The prince did not exile her as his heart was too broken by Maria for him to even care about anything else. Even if he could, Maria would testify and draw more unwanted attention to the drama that unfolded at the academy, further tarnishing the prince's "noble" reputation.
Catarina wiped the tears from her eyes, replaying the message she received from her mother that she was disowned, and dead to her in every way. Her mother didn't even care that she had been hurt nor even want to hear her side of the story.
She was now at the wharf area near the academy that would take her anywhere but here. She paused to look at the boat and felt her future grow gray and distant. At least it would take her somewhere far away from this mess of a life she made for herself. That last thought gave her enough comfort to take another step toward the boat.
"Catarina!"
She stopped, taking in the sweet voice that she wasn't ashamed to admit she liked. However, in this situation, that voice was a bitter pill to swallow.
"What are you doing here?" She asked roughly with the voice of a hurt soul that wanted to push the world away, including the voice that reached out to her. Her face turned to the blonde commoner and tears were visible on both of their faces.
Maria had been gasping, seeming to have sprinted as fast as she could to get here. "I... I'm sorry, but I can't let things end this way. Not after seeing the depths of your feelings for me!"
Catarina swallowed and shied away mentally. "M-Maria... so, you felt it too?" She softly traced the spot in her arm where steel had pierced her flesh. There was no longer any visible evidence that such an event happened thanks to the blonde that stood before her.
Maria clutched her chest and poured her feelings out. "Yes, when I healed you with my light magic, that same magic shed light into your heart that let me see its depths. I saw the feelings and memories that you held. You were the other masked swan that I met that night."
"Guilty as charged, Maria," she said tiredly. "The thing is... I liked you for some time now, but before that, I was so jealous of your abilities. I thought that a commoner like you having light magic was laughable and that I was a better fit to have them. Despite my bitterness and jealousy, I desperately wanted to know who you were. Confronting you with malice was the only way I could express myself. Regrettably, I went too far and felt sick to my stomach about it. It didn't help that you were easy on the eyes and the thought of picking on you grew more enticing. You had every right to hate me or be fearful of me, yet you showed me nothing but kindness along the way. You then approached me with Geordo's love poems that showed his unfaithfulness and that was the kindest act I ever felt. So, don't think that you caused me a great deal of pain by showing me them." She flashed her a smile free of pain.
Maria calmed her beating heart and let her words pour out. "Catarina, I like you too. I didn't know how you would react so I kept it to myself. I know that you had a hand in my injury, but you also took responsibility—"
"Don't delude yourself. I was afraid and that was all. I didn't even have the courage to tell the truth and left you in the infirmary like someone leaving a child at the doorstep. How could you like such a woman?!" She was a villainous and this was only the path that she set up for herself.
Maria saw that Catarina was being too hard on herself yet was determined to ease her heart. "I just do. Your life is very lonely and I wanted to get to know you better. The swan that I saw at the ball was you without holding up a persona. We had such a wonderful time and knowing that it was you... made it double special."
The villainous blushed and defensively crossed her arms. "So what now? Where do we go from here with these feelings that yearn to be understood? I'm not wanted here."
"I'll talk to the school again. Surely, they can have a change of heart to let you stay."
Catarina giggled in defiance of that delusional reality. "Forget it. My mother disowned me, so there's no political or financial gain for them keeping me here. My grades don't hold by themselves unlike yours." She paused to herself filled with bitterness and resentment. She did not wish to feel this way, especially to the woman before her. "Maria, sorry for being so harsh. Please, just let it go. It's not like my affinity for earth magic is potent, unlike your light magic. There isn't any reason for me to pursue any education here."
While immensely sad, Maria folded on the topic of her return. "Alright... Catarina. W-where will you go?"
The former princess dropped her arms and gazed at the sky like a child gazing into the unknown. "That... Well, you got me there. Maybe I can sell what I have on me and carve out a small and decent life." Her heart grew so heavy at the thought that she would most likely be spending a few days living outside before she could find stability.
A burning resolve manifested inside Maria that was as bright as her magic. "Catarina... come live with me at my home in the countryside. My mother will graciously take you in."
"Maria..." She didn't know what to feel about that kind of offer. A stubborn fool with a lot of pride would have declined, but she knew this was an opportunity to nurture this emotion of love she had inside her.
"It can be the chance to see where our feelings for each other lead us," said Maria, speaking the same mind that Catarina held.
She did not speak for nearly half a minute. All the while, expressing how deeply torn she was pondering over it. One final glance at the blonde who awaited patiently with bated breath was the final nail that made her agree. "I would love that, Maria." Sensing that Maria wanted to be bold but couldn't, Catarina leaned in and captured the blonde's lips. It was quick and sudden that by the time Maria knew it, it was already over. A fire lit inside her filled with joy and excitement. She wanted more yet held herself back for now.
Catarina recoiled and caught her breath, her face beet red. Indeed, this kiss that she gave made her body hot all over. What she was feeling was genuine and not fleeting. Maybe it was lust but even that could turn into love eventually. All that she needed to confirm was that she was attracted to Maria and desired to see this through to its conclusion.
The two lovingly smiled at each other, eager to greet the future together.
(End Flashback)
"Maria, I love you."
"Catarina, I love you, too."
"Maria, Catarina! Dinner is just about done. Come in from the hot sun already." Maria's mother's voice came from the house and reached their ears.
Their next kiss had turned out into a full-blown tender makeout session. Catarina held Maria close by her hips and made a silent vow to never let her go. Maria agreed and locked her arms around the neck of the former princess, and eagerly opened her mouth more. The need for air grew and they eventually pulled apart to sheepishly blush, hoping that they hadn't been seen by Maria's mother. She knew already, but it was embarrassing nonetheless for a mother to catch her child in such a state. Their fingers interlocked with each other and they began to walk toward the house.
"You mentioned drama with some local rotten rivals, should I be worried?"
"Hardly, they should be worried by your mom and me running them out of business," pridefully declared Catarina.
Maria laughed and squeezed back in return. "Catarina, once I'm done with school, I'll be here more often. Please wait for me a bit longer."
"Hmph... obviously." Winked Catarina. She would do more than wait as she had been slowly gathering funds aside to buy an elegant ring for the woman she loved.
I'm happy overall that I got this story out of my system. As of me writing this, I've only seen the first season and I'm going based on what I know. I did take some creative liberties since my goal wasn't to aim for canon accuracy but to tell a 'nice what if' story. This will probably be the only story that I write for this fandom and I'm okay with that. Thank you all for reading!