Chapter Text
It was midway through the semester. In the middle of the night, while Katarina Claes was asleep, the door to her room creaked open. She did not stir, and a figure entered. The only thing that could be seen was a faintly shining gem in their hands. They held it over Katarina’s body, and began to whisper in a strange language. After they were done, the gem began to glow brightly, and when the light subsided, the girl in the bed was gone. The figure smiled, and then slipped out.
~~
Katarina Claes woke up in her room and began to get ready for the day. At least, that was her plan, but as soon as she looked around, she realized that there were several things wrong.
The first thing she noticed was a garden hoe propped up on the wall, next to her chair. Next she noticed that the chair was piled high with clothes, books, and tools of varying natures. She wondered where she was. This could not possibly be her room. She looked over at the desk, with papers scattered around it. She glanced at them. They all had her name on them. All the worksheets from different classes that she took, all with her name on them. But again, this could not possibly be her room. Her desk was always orderly, like her room was always orderly, because that was how a noble’s room should be. She figured that this had to be some distasteful prank. By who though? Who would dare pull this kind of thing? The more she thought about it the more it angered her.
She would take this straight to her fiancé and make him do something about it. First though, she needed to actually get ready, she could not be seen in her nightwear. In the closet were her dresses at least. There were a few distasteful articles to be found, such as what appeared to be some pajamas in the shape of an eggplant, but she decided to ignore it and just get ready. Whoever did this to her would get their just desserts in the end, so why bother sweating the small details.
After she finished, with some more complications due to severely misplaced items, she left for the day.
She then immediately ran into her maid, Anne, who seemed surprised to see her.
“I see that you’re already ready for the day my lady,” she said quizzically.
Katarina understood her confusion. Normally of course she would wait for her maid to get her ready, but with her desire to go see her fiancé as soon as possible and get to the bottom of the prank, she had not stopped to think.
Although now that she was, it was equally strange that Anne was so late to get her ready. Normally she would be there as soon as she woke up, or she would be the one to wake her up. And it had taken Katarina a while to get ready herself, so Anne should’ve come at some point between. Yes this was an awfully late time for Anne to get here.
“Yes I am ready,” she said, “But that is only because you were not already here getting me ready. Where were you?” She narrowed her eyes. Anne could not possibly take part in a prank against her right? Or perhaps someone really had switched her room and Anne had been busy looking for her? Well she would see.
Anne seemed confused for a second, but quickly composed herself and bowed her head “I apologize my lady, I thought you would be at your garden, so I went there first thing. When I saw you were not, I quickly came back here. I apologize for my lateness.”
Katarina was even more confused after that. What Garden would she possibly be at this early in the morning? On a school day no less? Before she could inquire further, she saw her fiancé, Prince Geordo Stuart, third prince of the kingdom, come into view. She then decided to solve the problem with Anne later, talking with Geordo was more important now. She wanted to run but of course that was unladylike, so she just walked. As soon as he saw her he smiled. There was something strange about that smile, but Katarina did not have time to think about it because she immediately began to speak.
“Good day Prince Geordo, I have some matters I would like to discuss with you.
The briefest look of confusion crossed his face, before quickly morphing back to his smile. “Good morning Katarina, and what matters would you like to discuss?”
“Somebody has played a cruel prank on me!” She declared, with an air of drama that she was sure would rival any actress.
“Oh that’s terrible! What kind of prank? Are you hurt?” He asked, this time letting his face appear worried. Katarina feels like there’s something weird, but she doesn’t have time to consider it, she just keeps going.
“Yes, a terrible prank! I think someone has come in and messed up my room. There are things not where they should be, and things which I simply do not, nor would I ever, own. I would like your help to find out and punish whoever thinks they can mess with me!”
Again, a confused look passed over his face, and he looked up to Anne as if asking what she thought. Katarina turned and saw that Anne also seemed at a loss. In the end, they both shrugged, and Geordo headed to her room.
~~
Geordo knew that Katarina was a strange one. He knew it as well as anybody else. From the day he had met her she had been strange. But still, today she seemed to be acting extra strange. This feeling only intensified as he entered her room. As he looked around, he couldn’t see anything wrong with it. It looked the same as it always looked. He half thought that this might just be a prank that she’s playing on him. But still, when Katarina looked up at him, there was nothing but seriousness in her eyes. He decided to bite.
“So what exactly is weird about your room?” He asked, trying to be as serious as possible.
She started to splutter “Wh-what do you mean what’s weird? Everything is weird! There is a hoe in my room! All of the papers are scattered around my desk, and everything is out of place.”
Geordo still didn’t understand “but, how is this any different than normal?”
“What is that supposed to mean? This is not at all how a proper lady’s room should look!” As she talked, she seemed to get angrier. “I would never have a hoe in my room. My desk is always organized. My chair is always empty, but now there are books and clothes and what appear to be gardener’s tools on there!”
Katarina? Talking about being organized? Being a proper lady? Definitely strange. He figured this couldn’t be anything but a prank. He decided to just play along, and wait for the punchline. He properly composed himself and put on his best smile.
“Of course, forgive me. I will get right on that, and we’ll find out who did this to your room as soon as possible. For now though, the school day is about to get started, and we really must be going.”
She seemed to accept that. She nodded, although she still seemed angry, which was definitely a weird look on her. He couldn’t remember the last time she was angry. She gathered the papers strewn over her desk, and carefully put them into her bag. Normally she would have shoved them in without a second thought, but he guessed she wanted to try to be a “proper lady.” Either way as he began to escort her to class, she seemed to brighten up.
~~
As she walked to class, Katarina Claes started to get very excited. Although Geordo had been acting a bit strange, he was actually escorting her to class. He’d never done that. He had waited while she got her stuff together. Normally he would have just left her as soon as they stopped talking, but he actually waited for her. It was kinda weird, but she was only getting giddier. Geordo had always been kind of cold to her. He only got engaged to her as a nicety after she had hurt her head, and had never shown too much interest in her, but she had always tried to be as close to him as possible. She hoped that the more they hung out, that he would learn to love her. Always striving to be a good and proper lady so as to not embarrass him. Even so, throughout the years, he had only grown colder. And after he met the commoner with light magic, he had even proposed to drop their engagement due to her scar healing. She had worried greatly for their future. But now, as she hung on to his arm, and he made no move to get her off, hope started to bloom in her heart again. Perhaps he had finally gotten over his brief interest in the commoner and learned how much better she was.
She was so busy lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t even notice the person approaching behind them. That is until she noticed Geordo stop in his tracks, and heard the voice talking.
“Sister!! Hey Sis!”
She recognized that voice. As she processed it, she felt confusion and disgust well up within her. What was he doing here? Why was he talking to her? Why, on Earth, was he calling her sister?!
~~
Keith has never been late. He was extremely embarrassed with himself that he would ever be late. He had gotten ready as soon as possible and practically ran to Katarina’s room, but she was gone by the time he got there. Only Anne was there, and she seemed lost in thought. He asked her if Katarina was still there and she shook her head. As he prepared to leave for class though, she bid him wait for a second.
“Please be careful sir. The lady seems to be acting a bit strange today. She said someone had messed up her room, and played a prank on her, despite everything being just as she left it.”
Keith thought that it was strange, however his sister was eccentric to her core, so he didn’t think much of it as he thanked Anne and ran to get to class. As he neared, he happened to see his sister and thought to say hi before heading in. He almost stopped in his tracks as he saw what she was doing. She was hanging on to Geordo. Walking with their arms linked. He felt extra horrified. This is what he got for sleeping in. He needed to separate them. He ran and started calling out to her, but she didn’t seem to hear until after Geordo stopped walking. They both turned around, and Keith stopped dead in his tracks.
Geordo was glaring at him, but that was to be expected. He was about to ruin his moment with Katarina after all. What surprised him though, was Katarina’s face. A face filled with utter disgust. He had never had his sister make that face to him. Never. Sure she occasionally got angry, and there were a few times where she was disappointed in him, and he remembered every time due to how rare it was and how bad it made him feel. But this? His sister, staring at him like he was the scum of the Earth. Something was very wrong. He steeled himself and walked up to them.
“Good day sister. How are you faring? I heard Anne say that you said someone played a prank on you?” It took everything in his power to keep his voice composed.
She continued to glare at him. “Yes,” she said with an air of exasperation, “My room was broken into and my things were messed up. And some unsavory items were added as well. However, I don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”
Keith had no idea how to respond. He looked helplessly at Geordo, searching for an explanation, but Geordo also looked confused. He gently untangled his hand from Katarina’s. After a second, he seemed to compose himself, returning once more to his usual smiling self.
“I see!” He said, walking over to Keith before turning back to Katarina, “did you two siblings have a fight last night?” He was staring intently at Katarina’s face, which was morphing from plain disgusted to confusion with some disgust thrown in.
“A fight?” She asked, almost incredulously, “I despise him and rarely talk to him, why would you assume that we had a fight?”
Keith froze. Geordo, who had placed his hand upon Keith’s shoulders moments before, now tightened it uncomfortably, but Keith almost didn’t feel it. He couldn’t make sense of what Katarina was saying. Despise him? His big sister didn’t hate him? Geordo gave a dry laugh, and spoke again.
“Despise him?” He laughed again, although there was no sense of humor in his voice. ”Katarina fear are you sure you’re alright? You adore your brother to an unhealthy degree. You’re gonna give poor Keith a heart attack if you keep speaking like that.”
Katarina looked at Geordo like he had grown a second head. “Adore him?! I’ve hated him since the second he stepped foot in the house. Because of him I lost part of father’s attention, and mother became colder after he arrived in our lives. He’s only there to take over the estate once father dies anyway. I want nothing to do with him!”
Keith couldn’t understand a word she was saying. Hated him? Father’s attention? Since when had Katarina cared about their fathers attention? And sure mother yelled at her a lot, but cold? If there was a word that least described their mother, it was cold. He had no idea how to respond to all of this. Luckily he didn’t have to, with Geordo there. Geordo and Keith may not have the best relationship due to Keith being a constant thorn in his side, but if there’s one thing he knew, it’s that right now, none of that mattered. Katarina, sweet, loving Katarina, was spouting utter nonsense. Vile nonsense about the brother that everyone knew she adored. That’s enough to make anyone take a step back.
Geordo spoke again, but this time his entire demeanor had changed. He was no longer the man that constantly fought with Keith and loved Katarina with all his heart. This was now the third prince of the country, a dangerously intelligent and quick man.
“Katarina, what is your relationship with your brother?”
Katarina seemed taken aback by his change in demeanor, but spoke again “I hate him, what else? You know this already?”
“Do we?” Geordo asked, with his eyebrow quirked, “the Katarina I know loves her brother. Tell me, this morning you claimed that your room had been messed up, but me and your maid, the person who sees you first thing in the morning and last thing at night, said that there was no difference. Can you state those differences again?”
“I-I-I hate my brother, what are you talking about?” Katarina looked like she was going to blow a fuse
“What were the differences in your room Katarina?” Geordo continued, not allowing the conversation to get derailed.
“I already told you! All my stuff had been shuffled around! And there were also things that didn’t belong to me!”
“Really, like what?”
“Like the garden hoe of course! I don’t own any gardening supplies. And on the chair were several other gardening tools, also not mine, as some gardening books, also not mine!”
“So all the extra stuff was gardening stuff?”
“Yes?!”
“And so you’re saying that you don’t garden?”
“Of course not! Noble lady’s don’t garden! That’s ridiculous! Why are you asking me all this?”
“Tell me, what is our relationship?”
“Our relationship? Well you’re my fiancé of course!”
“Yes, but what is our relationship? How do you feel about me? How do you think I feel about you?”
“I-I love you of course! You’re my fiancé! And I assume you love me, even if you do act stupidly cold all the time, and even if you have been ignoring me recently to hang out with that stupid commoner.”
“Stupid commoner? Do you mean Maria Campbell?”
“Yes? Who else?”
“And you believe her to be a stupid commoner?”
“Of course, what else would she be? She’s nothing but a dumb commoner who doesn’t belong here and thinks that just because she has light magic she can hang out with my fiancé and my horrible brother and other important nobility. She’s nothing but a tramp!”
Keith saw that Geordo had been trying to maintain his composure throughout all that, but it was clear that the last comment was simply too much. The Katarina that had shown nothing but love for Maria, calling her a tramp? Also claiming that Geordo had been hanging out with her, despite the fact that it was her who hung out with Maria the most. He seemed truly stumped as to what was going on. Geordo turned to Keith, who was still frozen in the same spot.
“Keith,” he asked gently, “can you please gather everyone in the student council room? I’ll try to talk with her some more. But we desperately need to figure out what’s going on.”
Keith nodded. He didn’t know what was going on. But something was very wrong with his sister, and he would stop at nothing to find out what. He left to go find everyone.