Chapter Text
the first night at princess charm school with alexandra’s new roommate, the princess of gardania, is calm and cozy. they easily fall into a routine of taking turns in the massive bathroom (with a magnanimous bath and diamond-shaped floor tiles), laughing at each other’s terrible taste in pyjamas (alexandra’s full-body flannel set in the late summer and isabella’s tiny silk set with an obnoxious print of a crown and the word ‘princess’, which she’d bought from the kids section of a department store), and making quiet conversation before falling asleep.
alexandra had taken the bed near the window, and isabella the one near the door. she’d joked that this would be her only opportunity to sleep near a door, because royal regulations stated it was dangerous to be close to the official exit due to the risk of intruders.
alexandra had made her princess laugh, and isabella had done so in turn.
she’d fallen asleep with a happy smile on her face.
•
their first shared class was etiquette at 8:30 am.
their alarm went off at 7, the room already fully brightened by the sun so the both of them were already half-awake. they changed quickly into their uniforms (which had come out of the closet perfectly steamed for some strange reason) and went through their respective morning routines. alexandra gathered up her brown hair into a tight bun, while isabella emphasized her blonde curls with some hairspray.
and off they went to the dining hall.
they were halfway through their bowls of yoghurt and oatmeal when atilia huffs and smacks her tray down.
“well, i’m fucked,” she spits, angrily taking a seat next to isabella who rolls her eyes.
“okay, what is it now? already through your weed stash?” she snarks.
“god, if i even have the chance,” atilia grumbles. “but no– do you see that girl over there?”
she points with her fork at a student. that same student, an angry-looking platinum-blonde, is arguing with a teacher who looks thoroughly unimpressed, her breakfast abandoned alone at a table. she has her hair in an intricate bun that looks like it had been a time-consuming process and has applied dark eyeshadow that emphasizes her clover green eyes.
“that is my roommate. who also happens to be the infamous dionne devin.”
alexandra raises an eyebrow in question. “infamous?”
“she’s the lottery winner,” isabella adds helpfully. “there are a bunch of rumours about her because her brother received an invitation to prince charming academy, while she didn’t receive one to our school. and then conveniently becomes the lottery winner– so people think her rich upper-class family bought her way in.”
alexandra is surprised. whether or not the rumours are true is something that can’t be proven, but the idea that the lottery system is corrupt is unthinkable. either way, entering your new school with students already gossiping behind your back about you not having earned your seat made alexandra sympathetic to dionne’s position.
“i heard,” atilia leans over, elbows on the table. “and with ‘i heard’ i mean i took a peek at her stuff– she submitted a request to the board to bring a bodyguard but was denied.”
“a bodyguard?” isabella whisper-shouts, ducking down as a scowling dionne sits down alonee after clearly having lost her argument with the teacher. “to the most secure place in the country? where at least twenty princesses and lady royals each reside? what is she afraid of exactly? this place is a small fortress!”
“yeah, sneaking out is going to be painful,” atilia agrees.
“you mean ‘would be’,” alexandra corrects, taking a sip of her freshly squeezed orange juice. whoever had laid out the breakfast options was a saint– a rainbow array of berries to lightly browned scones– and alexandra hopes, as she sinks her teeth into a slice of apricot– that they are paid their weight in gold (and then some).
atilia thinks about it. “no,” she relents, shrugging.
“but seriously, a bodyguard? that’s an insult to this institution,” isabella continues to rant, peering at dionne over alexandra’s shoulder.
“okay headmistress, now eat your oatmeal,” atilia advises, and alexandra hides her smile behind her laden spoon.