Here we are at Chapter 16. Back to school and back to more drama for Yukitsuki. I do not own Code Vein. They belong to Bandai Namco. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 16. Enjoy.

Chapter 16: The Lady of Ramona

Classes resume as normal for Yuki and her friends. However, despite everything returning mostly to normal, there were still a few issues. One being that Yuki's mind sometimes drifted back to Sophia and her brother. It's obvious there's some trouble there and Yuki would like to help, but she's not sure how. There's also two more problems that may very well be connected to one another. Professor Tiana once again tried to persuade Yukitsuki to pursue a relationship with a young man and referred to Lord Alan again. She always spoke about him and none of the other boys in her year.

"Was it because he's a duke's son?" Yuki wondered.

Even after Yuki told Professor Tiana that she's already engaged to Hiei, the older woman wouldn't listen. At this point, Yuki had no choice but to speak to the headmaster about it.

...

Yuki went to the headmaster's office during her meal break to speak with the man himself. She explained the situation regarding the professor. After she was finished, Headmaster Flanar leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"What is that woman doing? She'd never done anything like this in previous years. Our school prides itself on being an institution for education, not for the machinations between noble families. The students will have plenty of time for that in between semesters and after they graduate. You did the right thing bringing this to my attention, Miss Crystalglove. Professor Tiana isn't usually like this," Headmaster Flanar notes.

"Then why does she keep pestering me about getting engaged to a boy, especially to the son of Duke Defoster?" Yuki asks.

Flanar scratches his chin, "If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say she's getting pressure from the Defoster family. Her family is a marquess in ranking, thus below that of a duke. Her family's territory is next to Duke Defoster's but is smaller and they hold less influence. The duke can't come to you directly, especially without your parents' approval, so they might be trying to do so through less direct means,"

"You're pretty well-informed about this, Headmaster," Yuki notes with mild surprise.

"I'm the headmaster of a royal academy filled with the children of noble families. I make it a point to know the backgrounds of my students in case those noble machinations cause trouble for my school. Nobles in the past have tried to bribe or coerce their way through this place. My predecessor lacked the spine to deal with them. When I took over, I made serious changes. Thankfully, the royal family supported this and so I need not worry much about the nobles, lest they earn the royal family's ire," Headmaster Flanar explains.

Yuki sighs, "I wish they'd leave me alone. I am happily engaged to Lady Hiei Mamoriko and I intend to become her wife. That will not change,"

"I heard about that from all the gossip from the students. I hear more than they think. I will speak with Professor Tiana on this matter. I can't do much outside the school grounds, but inside, I have the final say on everything. If she wished to continue teaching at this school, she'll learn her lesson and back off. As for the Duke's son, there's not much I can do there, but I'm sure you can handle it. You have your friends to support you as well," Flanar notes.

"Thank you, Headmaster. If the duke's son tries anything, I'll just freeze him solid," Yuki says.

"Um... maybe show a little restraint please," Flanar sweats a little.

...

After that debacle had been dealt with for the most part, Yuki can only hope the headmaster will solve the professor problem. As for the duke's son, she'll cross that bridge when she reaches it. Yuki finishes up the rest of her classes and things are calm for the rest of the week. When the weekend nears, Yuki once again finds herself at the mercy of Carol who prepares a new outfit for her date with Sophia. Worse, she brought Hana into the mix since Hana was free to design outfits again.

"Don't worry, Milady, we'll make another beautiful outfit for you for your date with Sophia!" Carol had stars in her eyes again.

"Time to make up for lost time!" Hana wasn't any better.

Yuki can only sigh in resignation for what's about to come. When she looked to Hiei for support, the kitsune was nowhere to be found. She didn't want to share Yuki's fate if she could help it.

...

The weekend arrives and Sophia waits by a local fountain for her date with Yuki. She is wearing a dark blue military-style buttoned up shirt with a small cloak going down the left shoulder and a two-sectioned tail going past her rear. She has on white pants with only the right pant leg, one knee-high high-heeled black boot and another black boot that goes up to her thigh. A black belt with a golden buckle wraps around her waist. She has a pair of silver earrings with blue gems on.

Sophia sighs and calms herself, "You can do this, Sophia. Just have to give her a splendid date and move forward from there. It's just a date. Nothing too complicated."

"I'm here, Sophia. Sorry for the wait," Sophia hears and turns only to freeze.

Here comes Yukitsuki, wearing a long-sleeved white and black top with gold tassles, a short white skirt to match, white stockings, black heels with gold bows on top, black gloves, and a blue hat with a white ribbon wrapped around it. Finally, she has a small pair of white ribbons tied into her hair and a little makeup on her face. Sophia was expecting Yuki to dress up for the occasion, but she didn't expect that. Here she is, planning to woo Yukitsuki, and yet, the revere happened instead.

"Does it look okay on me?" Yuki asks, looking bashful.

Sophia blushes, but moves to speak, "You look absolutely beautiful, Yuki. You truly do look splendid in white, and other colors of course,"

Yuki blushes from the praise, but smiles, "Thank you. Carol and Hana took quite a while the night before preparing it. You look nice as well, Sophia. Your outfit matches your hair nicely,"

"I'm glad you think so. Well, the day won't wait for us; shall we?" Sophia offers her right arm.

Yuki takes it, "Yes. Let's get going," and they head off to enjoy their date.

The first stop of the day is a local amphitheater known for having a number of excellent shows. It's not the biggest where the absolute best go, but a place like that is better for more formal occasions. This is just a date, so they didn't want to go anywhere too fancy. They get inside and take their seats which are more towards the back out of personal preference. Today's performance would be in a shadow play telling a story. Normally, one would see such a thing in smaller venues or travelling performers using small boxes and cur-out puppets. Here, however, the actors use darkness magic to create the shadows for the play. Then, they use opera singers for the storytelling. This way, they can make bigger shows for larger audiences. The show is about a young girl who was chosen by her people to be offered up as a sacrifice to a dangerous dragon in order to appease it. The girl was forced to do so against her will. She cried out for her family to help her, to save her, but her parents and siblings merely looked away with cold expressions on their faces. They bound her to a tree, calling her a necessary sacrifice, and leave her to die. The girl weeps in the forest where the dragon lurks, begging for someone to help her. When no one comes, the girl gives in to despair and simply waits for the dragon to come and eat her.

After a few days, the dragon finally arrives. A large, black dragon with red eyes which stare down at her. The girl lifts her head and the dragon sees the empty look in her eyes. The look of one who has given up on life itself and simply wants to end. The great and terrible dragon, rather than eat the poor girl, took pity on her and freed her. The dragon told the girl she was free to return home, but the girl merely shook her head.

"I have no home. My family, my friends, my whole village brought me here as a sacrifice for you. Even if I returned, they would not accept me. They would only grow worse," the girl told him.

The dragon sighed, "Humans will always fear things they do not understand. Things that are different from them or things they cannot control. They see a black dragon and they think me a monster who eats humans. Let me be clear, I have never eaten another human. You are not the first 'sacrifice' sent to me. However, you humans make a number of mistakes. You never stick around to see what became of the sacrifices,"

"What... do you mean?" the girl asked him.

The dragon told the truth: every sacrifice he found, he freed and helped them flee to new homes, away from the village that became consumed with fear and paranoia. The dragon said he would do the same for the poor girl before him. However, when the girl heard this, she wanted something else.

"Can I... stay with you?" the girl pleaded.

The dragon was surprised that the girl made such a request. However, he saw the look in the girl's eyes. A look of hope. A look of desperation. The dragon nodded and agreed to her request. He took her back to his home, a cave filled with treasures and items the dragon collected in his long life. The two grew close and eventually fell in love. However, when they learned that the village planned to offer another sacrifice for the dragon, the girl had a thought.

"This can't continue. We have to end this, so no one else will suffer like me," the girl said.

The dragon agreed and they flew to the village to stop the sacrifices for good. The villagers grew frozen with terror as the dragon came to them. The girl hopped off his back and explained to them the truth about the dragon. However, while some in the village listened to her words, others feared she was being controlled by the 'evil' dragon. The latter were mostly the older folks who have lived like this for a long time. They did not know how to live any other way. The village chief was among them, the most paranoid of them all. He tried to give the dragon multiple sacrifices at once, but the girl tried to stop them. When the village chief tried to harm her, the dragon held him down with one of his claws. The girl and the dragon gave the villagers a choice: continue to live in paranoia and fear from a threat that never existed and destroy themselves from within, or end the sacrifices and start over by living another way. The villagers were unsure of what to do, but the village chief yelled at them to not listen to the girl's lies. Eventually, most of the village which were the younger folks agreed to the girl's pleas and chose to leave the village. Those that refused stayed. The girl did not care about what would happen with either faction after that. She just wanted the sacrifices to stop. The sacrifices were always young girls, but with the paranoid group being the elderly, they couldn't keep at it anyway.

The girl's family tried to mend their relationship with her, but after they're previous betrayal, she could not stay with them. The girl left with the dragon and returned to their home where they made a new life together. And thus, the story ends and the audience gives their applause. During the play, Yuki noticed Sophia crying a little, though the older girl quickly hid her tears.

"That was a nice play. A classic romance story, but a more realistic one too. I like that," Yuki notes.

"Yes, I agree. It's becoming more popular among younger audiences. Unlike the classic fairytales they read to children, this has a bit more realism in it in turns of the outcome while still having the romantic elements of a classic story," Sophia says.

"You were crying in the middle of it. Are you okay, Sophia?" Yuki asks.

"Oh, don't worry about me, dear. I'm fine. Come, let's go find ourselves something to eat," Sophia waves it off before rising from her seat.

Yuki decides to leave it alone, at least for right now. They exit the show and look for a spot to eat. Yuki remembers the new restaurant one of those boys who tried hitting on her in etiquette class told her about and so she suggested they go there. Sophia agrees and they do so. They find the place and it's decently packed. Luckily, they managed to find a good seat and a server brings them their menus.

"Hmm, not a bad place. In this kind of work, you have to stand out against all the competition. The decor, the theme, the high-quality food. If one doesn't excel in all of those, they won't last long. This is the same whether its restaurants for nobles or for commoners," Sophia notes, looking around.

"You have a point there. They must be able to adapt to. I heard this place has a good variety of sweets," Yuki looks over the menu.

It doesn't take long before they decide on their meals and hand the menus over to the server. While they wait, the two girls make mild conversation regarding a number of topics.

"So, you're officially engaged to Hiei Mamoriko. I'd say congratulations are in order," Sophia holds up her glass, just a water of course.

"Indeed. I'm glad everything turned out alright," Yuki toasts with her.

"If you do end up moving to the Dragon Alliance, I will miss you, Yuki. I do quite enjoy our time together," Sophia says.

"I like you too, Sophia. But, I want to be with Hiei. She's here as an exchange student. She'll have to return home sooner or later. Besides, the Dragon Alliance is like a second home to me since I'm a princess there and Mother Hikaru lives there as well," Yuki says.

Sophia rests her chin on her hands, "Hmm, still, it would be nice if you could stick around at least for a while longer. I have so much fun with you and your friends after all,"

"Speaking of engagements, have you found a partner yet, Sophia?" Yuki asks, mildly curious.

At hearing that, Sophia's smile gets smaller, "No, unfortunately. Despite the fact that I'm a duke's daughter, it's not as simple as that for someone like me. You're extremely lucky to find a partner you like. Worst-case scenario, my father might hook me up with a middle-aged man who either has no wife or too many women in his bed just to get something out of it for himself or our house. It happens more often than I'd like to think for women in aristocratic society," she glances out the window.

"Does that... have something to do with what happened with your brother?" Yuki asks.

And now Sophia's smile is gone, "You could say that,"

By this point, their meals have arrived and the two begin to eat. The food is quite delicious, but it doesn't distract Yuki from wanting an answer to her question.

"Sophia, do you... not get along well with your family?" Yuki asks carefully.

Sophia sighs, "I figured you'd ask. The truth is while the duke is my father... I am not the child of his wife. My mother was a maid there. I never really knew her, but I heard she was quite beautiful. He had an affair with her, but when it turns out that she became pregnant, that made the situation far more complicated. My father practically forced my mother to leave. Then, when she had me, he sent men to take me away and keep her away. I don't even remember what she looked like at this point. I am his illegitimate daughter, but his daughter still. He thought he could still get some use out of me. My half-brother never liked me, and neither did my father's wife. She always saw me as living proof of my father's infidelity. My father's main concern is the reputation of our house. I didn't have love in that environment, so I needed strength instead. I excelled in magic, etiquette, intellect, and other fields. But, only as a means of survival. However, my father never truly showed any signs of pride or care in my talents. All because I am not a true noble daughter. My brother was always jealous because while he has some talent, he can't wield magic and my grades have always been better than his. Like I said before: he hides his true feelings behind a mask. Honestly, I envy you, Yuki. You have no noble blood whatsoever, and yet, you have such a loving family. Family who raised you themselves, taught you, cared for you. Loved you. I never knew a parent's love. I wonder if my mother ever tried to see me. Or if she even cared," Sophia stares longingly at her half-eaten meal.

"Have you ever thought about trying to see her yourself?" Yuki asks.

"A few times, but... I don't know if I actually want to see her. What would I say or do? Worse, what would she say or do? Guess I'm too scared to find the answers," Sophia mutters.

"I do count myself lucky, maybe even blessed, to have the family that I have. I have no memory of my actual family. Who I was before I became Yukitsuki. But, I never thought about trying to find out because I have so much for me now and waiting for me in the future. Before that, I was lonely for a time. Sophia, I can't quite understand what you went through, but I do sympathize with you. If you ever need help, you can always come to me. You'll always have my support," Yuki says.

"Thank you for that, Yuki," Sophia replies.

"Besides, I wouldn't give up on love just yet. You're both beautiful and talented, and I can tell you're a good person at heart. I'm sure you'll find that special someone someday. Who knows, they could be closer than you think," Yuki says.

At this, light shines upon Yuki through the window. Sophia finds herself frozen once again, mesmerized by Yukitsuki's beauty. They finish their meal and then return to the academy after a fun day in the city.

"I had a good time, Sophia," Yuki says.

"As did I, Yuki. As did I. Well, this is where we must part ways. Until we see each other again. Hopefully sooner than later," Sophia says.

"Indeed. I look forward to it," Yuki smiles.

Sophia bends the knee, takes Yuki's hand in her own and plants a kiss upon it. Yuki blushes from the gesture, but neither say anything before Sophia leaves. She finds a quiet corner to seclude herself... and starts crying.

"Damn it... I truly am the worst. She's so pure and innocent... And here I am trying to get close to her because of my father. I truly am the worst kind of women," Sophia cries.

The pain is worse than normal because deep down, Sophia knows. She knows that she's slowly falling for Yukitsuki herself.

And that's the chapter. Yuki and Sophia have their date where Yuki gets to learn more about Sophia. But Sophia's family drama is causing her inner turmoil. Can Yuki help fix the problem? Until then, please Read and Review.