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Chapter Text

As a child, Maria Campbell was called many things.

Very, very few of those things were pleasant. 

Bastard child. Magic outcast. Misfit.

She was quite used to it, for better or worse. Usually for worse, but she learned to bear it. 

Maria was alone in this village.  

Aside from her mother, she had no family here. Her father packed  up and left once her light magic developed when she was five years old. She had no friends, either. After all, who would be friends with a child born from a scandal such as herself?

She tried, she truly did. She wanted nothing more than a friend. Someone she could laugh and play with like the other girls.

Someone she could talk to, someone she could sing and dance and fly kites in the meadows with like all the other children in her hometown. 

Despite her best efforts, she couldn't win the heart of even a single companion at her school. The people in her village made it quite clear she wasn't one of them, not in any real sense. 

And so, she passed her days, studying to prepare herself for the Magic Academy. 

By the time she turned eight, Maria had entirely given up on the notion of having a friend.

---

It was early summer when Maria was 9 when that girl first appeared.

She was making her way through the village to the bookstore, seeking out a newly published volume on fundamentals of water magic. Obviously, Maria did not have water magic, she had light magic, but as it so happened, there weren't many books published on light magic due to how rare it was, even among the nobility. Water magic was said to have similar properties to it in some regards, however. Some magic scholars reported the way mana flowed from the user's source acted very similar in water magic users as it did in light magic users, so Maria sought to learn whatever of the basics she could from there.

Finding the book she needed, Maria began to make her way home, eager to see if she could learn anything of value from the new text. 

Unfortunately, she was a bit too caught up in her desire to start learning and began leafing through the book as she walked. Distracted, Maria wasn't watching her step, and as she rounded a corner, she bumped hard into someone.

"Oof!" the figure she'd bumped groaned.

"Aaah! I'm so, so sorry! Forgive me!" Maria cried out quickly, pressing her palms together.

"Maria!" the person she knocked into called out happily, seemingly oblivious to being bumped.

The blonde girl wasn't too accustomed to people calling her name out happily, especially not after being bumped into. Warily, she peeked up at the person she'd run into.

It was a girl about her age. She was dressed in a plain but rather flattering blouse and red skirt, with shoulder-length brunette hair that curled up at the ends slightly. Her brilliant blue eyes struck Maria like two of heaven's brightest stars shining in the night. Her face was youthful and full of energy, with a small X-shaped scar on her forehead.

The blonde's mouth opened, but no words came out. This girl was beautiful! 

Something was off though, considering Maria was certain she'd never seen this girl before. 

"Hello," Maria said meekly, before asking, "Um... how do you know my name?"

"Ack!" the brunette drew back sharply, before looking out into space for a moment. Eventually, she sputtered out, "It... It was a lucky guess!"

"Oh," Maria replied simply. It was an obvious lie. She'd probably heard about her from someone in town, but knowing the rumors about herself, Maria thought it best not to ask further.

"Oh, I'm... Ka... uh.... I'm Rina! Cla....yton! Rina Clayton!" the brunette awkwardly introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, I'm-- " Maria was cut off as another figure rounded the corner.

"Don't... go... running off like that!" a tall, dark haired woman in a simple olive dress huffed, as she placed her hands on Rina's shoulders protectively. She looked very annoyed with the smaller girl as she regained her breath.

"Anne! Guess who?" Rina gestured to Maria, ignoring her companion's complaints.

"I have no idea. Who?" the dark-haired woman, Anne, asked.

"Oh, right! Never mind, Anne!" Rina shook her head, "Maria, this is Anne. She's my... my big sis!" she said proudly, presenting the other woman like she was showing off some valuable artwork.

Anne sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"H-hello," Maria gave a small wave.

"Hello, Miss... Maria, was it?" Anne asked kindly, shaking her hand.

"Yes. I'm Maria Campbell. Nice to meet you," she curtsied politely to Anne.

Rina clasped her hands together, wiggling in place as she squealed in delight, "Aaah! Tiny Maria is too... cute!"

Tiny? Was she that short? Maria blinked, entirely unsure why either of these two would want anything to do with her.

"I apologize for my La-- for my little sister's rudeness," Anne sighed, "She can be a bit of a troublemaker sometimes."

"Oh, no, not at all! I bumped into her, I wasn't watching where I was going! My apologies!" Maria said sincerely, hoping the older sister wouldn't be angry.

Anne gave her a thoughtful look for several seconds before sighing,  "I'm quite sure it wasn't your fault, Miss Maria."

Maria blinked. She was grateful the dark-haired woman wasn't angry, but she couldn't recall the last time anyone in this village had been so forgiving to her. 

These two were definitely from out of town, Maria decided.

"Th-thank you, Miss Anne," she said politely after a moment.

"Oh, just Anne is fine," the older sister answered.

Actually, were they sisters? As Maria got a closer look, they didn't really look that much alike. Their hair and eye colors were different, and their features didn't look like they were related either. Perhaps they had different fathers. She knew all too well how easily one's parentage coming into question could upturn their life for the worse, so she opted not to mention it.

"W-well, it's nice to meet you!" Maria said after an awkward minute of silence. These two seemed friendly enough, but Maria needed to head back soon, "I'm on my way home, so have a nice day!"

As she turned to head home, the book Maria was carrying slipped out of her hand and into a puddle on the ground.

"Ah! Oh no!" Maria cried out in shock. She had just purchased that, and it wasn't cheap! 

The blonde bent down to retrieve her book, but another pair of hands had already taken it. She looked up to find the younger girl of the pair she had just met had swiped her new book from the ground. At first, Maria thought she was going to steal the book, but was surprised when she saw what the brunette was doing.

Rina was... wiping the book off with her skirt?

"Ah, no! You don't have to do that!" Maria waved her hands wildly. Her mother didn't have much money, she didn't want to have to ask her for cash to buy this girl a new skirt because of her own clumsiness.

To her surprise, however, the brunette girl's response was: "It's fine, it's just a skirt!"

"A skirt your mother provided you," Anne muttered under her breath. 

It seemed to Maria she was quite tired of dealing with her younger sister. 

"Here you go!" Rina said cheerily, presenting the clean and dry book back to Maria.

"Thank you! You really didn't have to do that!" the blonde said, blushing as she accepted the book.

"It's no big deal," Rina replied with a wave of her hand, "Unless it's still dirty. I can buy you a new one if you want?"

"Ah! No! This is... this is perfect!" Maria exclaimed, clutching the book to her chest.

The young light mage felt something suddenly, a soft warmth filling her heart as she talked to these two girls. 

Without thinking, she blurted, "Would... would you two like to come over to my home?"

"Eh?" Rina blinked.

"Oh, Miss Campbell, we really couldn't impose," Anne responded politely.

"It's fine, really! We don't get many visitors, so it should be nice! I'm sure Mother won't mind!" Maria insisted. She didn't know much about friendship, but these two made her feel like she... like she wasn't unwanted.

"We'd love to!" Rina answered, earning a glare from Anne.

"O-okay! Um. Great! Let's go!" Maria grinned, feeling a little flutter in her heart. In her excitement, however, she had started walking back the way she came. With a blush, she turned around, "Oh, it's this way.... "

After some time, the group made their way back to the Campbell home, situated far on the outskirts of the village. The simple stone cottage stood a good distance from the main town, giving it a tranquil aura out in the country.

"You have such a nice home, Maria! This place is so peaceful and pretty!" Rina's eyes curved up as she smiled at her.

"T-thank you!" Maria blushed, unused to receiving such glowing, genuine compliments.

As she stepped into her house, Maria called out, "Mother? I invited some guests, is that alright?"

Appearing from the kitchen, the tall, blonde figure of Mrs. Campbell emerged, wearing a simple dress and apron.

"Of course," her mother smiled softly at her. Ever since her father left, her mother's eyes had a distant sadness in them.
Maria quickly introduced the two girls to her mother, who politely welcomed them into their home and led them to the kitchen to sit down at the table.

"I can't say I recall seeing you two around here before," Maria's mother noticed. Her tone wasn't accusatory, more curious than anything.

"Well, to tell the truth, we aren't from this area," Anne responded gently, "We come from a bit further north."

"So, what business brings you to our village?" her mother asked kindly.

"As it so happens, we--" Anne began, before Rina cut her off.

"We're the children of a merchant family!" the younger sister exclaimed, before elaborating, "Yes, born to a family of merchants, Anne and I travel frequently. And though we have for many years traded along other routes, the changing times demanded our route change as well. Thus, we now pass through this village weekly."

Anne gave Rina a look. 

The light mage narrowed her eyes a bit as well. The way she said that almost sounded rehearsed, the blonde thought. Still, she opted not to comment on it for the time being, not wanting to risk damaging this rare, friendly connection that was growing between her and Rina. 

Maria and her mother made light, pleasant talk with Rina and Anne until it was nearly dusk. Eventually, at Anne's request, the two girls took their leave. 

"I-it was nice to meet you... Rina!" Maria gave a little wave as the sisters exited her cottage.

"It was nice to meet you too, Maria!" Rina replied with a grin, "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Maria's heart jumped. Really? She... wanted to see her again?

"Ehh? You're coming back?" the blonde asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Rina responded immediately, before turning to her elder sister with hopeful eyes, "Well... if Anne says it's okay...."

The taller girl looked at her sister for a long moment, before letting out a soft sigh, "I suppose it would be acceptable."

Maria felt her face light up.

A new feeling of warmth dawned in her heart as she waved goodbye to the pair. That was the nicest conversation she'd had with anyone in a long time!

---

Maria had a lingering sense sense of doubt that her new companions would even show up the next weekend. Maybe they overheard the truth of Maria's parentage, or perhaps they learned of her light magic, and fled in disgust. The blonde felt worry knotting in her stomach as she considered those ideas more and more once the next weekend arrived.

True to her word however, Rina arrived right at dawn the following weekend with Anne (reluctantly) in tow.

The two met Maria halfway up the path leading to her cottage on the edge of town. Rina ran happily up to greet her, while Anne kept an attentive eye locked on her younger sibling's movements from a few paces back.

"Oof!" Rina grunted, falling flat on her face.

A concerned look appeared on Maria's face as an annoyed one appeared on Anne's. Rina quickly stood and brushed herself off before continuing to run up to Maria as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, Maria!" the brunette grinned, dusting herself off. 

Maria almost asked her if she was okay, but it didn't seem like she even noticed falling down. 

"Hello, Rina! Hello, Anne!" Maria greeted the sisters with a wave, "How was your journey?"

Maria, Rina, and Anne fell into a warm conversation, which felt almost alien to the blonde. She hadn't spoken with anyone like this in some time. 

At some point during their visit, Anne went off to talk with Maria's mother, leaving Rina and her alone together. At some point, the conversation between them died down, and the young light mage was left staring at the way the sun glimmered through Rina's hair. The brunette was either staring at her or staring of into space somewhere behind her.

"Do I have something on me?" Maria asked, half-jokingly assuming it was the former.

"Oh, I was just looking at your tree," Rina said without hesitation. Anne sighed behind her as she added, "It looks like it would be perfect for climbing!"

"Eh? You... like to climb trees too, Rina?" Maria asked. She knew a couple of the kids in town liked climbing too, but she didn't get along well with any of them. Their parents, she suspected, had told  them to stay away from her.

"Yeah! I love climbing!" the brunette answered, taking a muffin from the table.

"Me too!" Maria smiled. Honestly, it was like the heavens had sent someone to brighten her life.

"Mother gets mad when I climb, but it's just so much fun! You can call me Monkey Girl if you'd like! Since I climb like a monkey and all..." Rina said through a mouthful of muffin.

"My La-- ahem. My... little sister, you shouldn't go around giving out rude nicknames for yourself like that," Anne chastised her.

"It's okay, Anne! Maria's my friend!" Rina shrugged her off.

Rina said it so casually, it almost went undetected by the blonde. 

But when it hit her, it... really hit her.

"Ah, Maria, are you okay?" Rina's eyes went wide with concern.

Maria realized then that she was crying.

"F-friend?" the blonde whispered.

"Eh?"

"I'm your friend?" Maria asked in a small voice, hoping she hadn't misread the situation.

"Of course!" Rina declared, spreading her arms wide, before adding,  "...if that's okay with you?"

Maria felt a lump in her throat. Unable to speak, she nodded sharply several times. Rina was saying something to her then, but her mind was whirling too much to hear it.

Friend. She had a friend. 

Not just any friend, a best friend.

"Um, Maria?" the brunette asked her again after a moment.

"Y-yes?"

"... wanna climb that tree?" Rina thumbed over her shoulder to a tall oak by the river.

Rubbing the tears from her eyes, she grinned at the monkey girl. She wasn't just a monkey girl anymore, though, was she? 

She was her best friend, Rina Clayton. 

"Race you to the top!" she called out to her. 

Maria had already made a move to run over to the tree, trying to get a head start. However, the brunette seemed to have that same idea, as she was already halfway there.

The blonde picked up speed, bolting across the green with a glowing smile on her face. The two hit the tree trunk at almost the same time, scurrying up the branches like a pair of squirrels frolicking in the spring.

Maria felt a happiness filling her heart like she'd never felt before.

---

At some point, Rina became a fixture in Maria's life without her realizing it. 

At first, it was once a month when the sisters would visit. 

Then it became every other weekend. 

And then, every weekend.

Maria would spring out of bed every time the girls were scheduled to come by. 

One weekend, she ran into the kitchen in her cottage with a glowing smile on her face. As she entered the kitchen, her mother chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"You really like her, don't you?" she asked with a smile Maria hadn't seen since her father left.

The light mage felt herself go red.

"Mother!" she squeaked out, not sure why she was so embarrassed all of the sudden.

"It's true! You're so much more... lively when she's here!" her mother added, placing her breakfast on the table.

Maria bit her lip, trying to hide her grin, "She's... she's my friend."

Her mother gave her an strange sort of smile then, one which made her feel... odd. It seemed like her mother knew something she didn't. Hm.

Maria and her mother spent the morning preparing a cake for Rina and Anne as a thank you for their kindness. Mrs. Campbell seemed much happier when Anne was around, and Maria noticed she brightened on the days they would visit too. Her mother always felt distant after her father left, but when Rina and Anne were here, she felt... closer.

Maria felt her heart flip flop in her chest when Rina arrived and saw the cake. She grinned at the blonde like she was the most amazing person in the whole world. Maria never thought it was possible to be warmed so much by a smile.

Anne and Maria's mother made idle chat in the other room as Rina presented Maria with a romance novel she was reading.

"Here, Maria! You should check this out!" the brunette said, offering the book to her.

"Ehh?" Maria looked at her, perplexed.

"It's about a commoner with wind magic powers who falls in love with a Duke!" Rina said with a smile, "It's a great love story!"

Maria flipped through the pages, intrigued by the premise. A story about a commoner with magic? That sounded familiar. Although, Maria wouldn't want to fall in love with a Duke, she didn't think. She didn't know all that much about love, but she couldn't see herself with someone like that...

"W-wow! Thank you, Rina! I'll get it back to you next weekend, okay?" Maria said abruptly, realizing she'd been staring at the book for a long time.

"Don't worry about it, you can keep it if you want!" Rina replied without missing a beat.

Maria was about to protest when Rina's sister appeared in the doorway behind her.

"Shall we be going now, my Lady?" Anne took her sister's hand gently. 

Rina waved goodbye to Maria and her mother, mouth still stuffed with cake. Maria giggled as she tried to say goodbye through the wad of food, only for a muffled grunt to come out.

Anne rubbed her eyes in frustration as she led her sister off.

Despite how frustrated she always seemed with her little sister's antics, Anne was always doting on her. It made Maria happy, seeing how much the dark-haired woman cared for her sibling. Even if they weren't related by blood, Anne clearly cared deeply for Rina, and was always doing her all to care for her.

Maria noticed at some point that Anne often referred to her little sister as 'My Lady'. 

It was cute, she thought. It must be a sister thing.

Maria didn't have any siblings. She often wished she did. 

Her only relatives in the town were her aunts, but they tended to keep their distance ever since the scandal about her mother came to light.

Having Rina visit was fantastic, but it still left her feeling fairly lonely for the remainder of the week, and the weekends when she wasn't able to visit.

She momentarily considered whether she considered Rina to be like a sister to her. She cared about her, and felt happiest when she was around her. Was that what having a sister was like?

Sister... didn't enitrely seem right. The way Anne cared for Rina seemed a bit different from how Maria saw the brunette.

No, Rina wasn't like a sister. She was more like... Maria didn't quite know what it was.

But she didn't think of her as a sister.

---

It was late autumn when Rina stole Maria's heart.

Maria had just turned twelve, and Rina was visiting with Anne like she usually did.

The sky was grey, but the clouds had no intention of raining. The landscape was fading from reds and golds into browns and tans, as the winds of early winter blew the last remaining leaves from their holds in the increasingly barren trees.
Maria followed as Rina marched through the the plains down by the river, the dry brown grass nearly reaching the girls' hips.

Rina wanted to, for some reason Maria couldn't quite wrap her head around, find a wild snake so she could get 'a more realistic reference point'. The blonde had no idea what that meant. Reference point for what? She had asked, but Rina brushed it off as she often did.

Before long, the girls arrived at the river, where Maria suspected there may be water snakes. The snakes in this area weren't venomous, but Maria wasn't terribly fond of them; none of the girls in her school were. 

Needless to say, it came as something of a surprise to the blonde when Rina spotted a snake near the riverbank and dove down onto it like a cat pouncing on it's prey. The brunette caught the reptile with one quick move, hoisting it up by it's tail for Maria to see with a big grin on her face.

She sometimes found it hard to believe this wild monkey was a merchant's daughter. Perhaps her family were fur traders? It would explain why she was so familiar with the outdoors, if she grew up in a family of hunters or the like.

Rather than following the brunette's example of just jumping straight down, Maria found a trail of boulders that led down to the river's edge. Treading carefully, she made her way down to the sandy embankment below an overhanging tree branch. As she hopped from the rocks onto the sand, however, she faltered off balance. Her feet sank quickly into the dirt.

Maria let out a yelp of shock as she sank.

"Maria? Are you okay?" her friend's voice called in response to her shout.

The blonde looked down to survey the damage. She wasn't injured at all, however.... 

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just... " Maria tried to lift her leg out of the mud, but found it stuck fast, "Um... I'm stuck."

Rina giggled, pointing at her from further down the sandbar, "Don't be such a stick in the mud, Maria!" 

The blonde glared back at her, wiggling her legs to try and free them. As she did, the mud wobbled a bit and she sank a bit deeper.

Rina seemed to notice as well, tossing the snake back into the river and stepping up onto a nearby boulder to get a better view.

"Oh no, Maria! You're stuck in quicksand!" the brunette cried out, sounding distressed.

"No, I don't think it's quicksand, it's just mud-- " Maria tried to calm her, though she didn't have any progress trying to get her legs free.

"Don't panic, Maria!" Rina shouted, running up the riverbank so she was standing on the solid ground above her, "Whatever you do, don't panic!"

"I'm not panickin--" the blonde began calmly.

"STAY CALM MARIA! STAY CALM!!!" Rina screamed.

Maria put her hands on her hips and glared. She wasn't anywhere close to panicking, but with her friend shouting at her like that, she just might start. Still, it was a little distressing how quickly she was sinking....

Before Maria knew it, her monkey-like companion had scaled one of the longer tree branches that extended over the spot of mud Maria was caught in.

Rina reached her arms down from the branch above her. Clasping tightly onto her friend's hands, Maria felt Rina's sturdy grip pulling her up and out of the mire. The blonde wiggled her legs to free herself as Rina pulled her up. In just a few short minutes, she was free.

"W-wow," Maria panted as she regained her breath.

"What?" Rina didn't seem nearly as winded as someone who just pulled another person directly up out of mud should be.

"You're really strong, huh?" the blonde asked, thoroughly impressed.

"Ehehe, I guess? I spend a lot of time hoeing my fields, so I might have built a bit of muscle. Also, sword training, I guess.... " Rina rubbed the back of her neck, looking off into the distance.

"Fields?" Maria tilted her head, although it didn't seem like her friend heard her. 

She thought Rina's family were merchants, not farmers. Not to mention, sword fighting was typically a nobility thing, so Maria couldn't really guess why she would need that skill. She was going to ask her more, but decided against it. 

There were a lot of things about Rina Clayton that didn't make sense.

As the two hopped out of the tree, Maria noticed something.

"Oh my goodness, Rina! Your arm!" Maria gasped as she saw an arc of crimson across her friend's forearm.

"Oh, heh," Rina scratched the back of her neck sheepishly with her uninjured arm. It seemed as if she didn't even notice she was bleeding until Maria mentioned it, "I guess I scraped myself when I climbed up a minute ago...."

Maria didn't think, she just reacted.

Her hand moved over the wound, glowing white. She heard Rina gasp slightly as the wounded flesh began to stitch itself back together. 

It was only after the healing process was complete when Maria realized what she just did. 

She never told Rina she had light magic.

Oh gods. The blonde felt her heart sink.

"Ah! Rina! Th-that was... I'm... " Maria buried her face in her hands, fumbling for an explanation.

Was her best friend going to leave her? 

Not now, not like this, please....

"Maria, you're... " Rina began.

Here it comes, Maria winced.

"You're amazing!" her friend finished.

The blonde sat still for a moment, still shielding her face with her hands, before she allowed herself to look up.

"Wh-what?"

"You're amazing! Your light magic is amazing!" Rina was grinning at her, "Thank you! Thank you so, so much for healing me!"

She clearly wasn't angry (she sounded grateful, even), but oddly enough, she didn't seem surprised to learn she had light magic at all.

"You aren't... bothered by it?" Maria asked skeptically.

"Ehhh? Why in the world would I be?" Rina sounded baffled.

"I don't know... people usually get... weirded out by my magic. I'm just a commoner. Commoners aren't meant to have magic," Maria looked down. 

Rina shrugged in response, "Girls aren't meant to climb trees, but that's never stopped me!"

Maria looked up at her, a dawning feeling of hope in her heart. It felt like Rina might just be the kindest and most accepting person in the whole world.

"I know you can help lots of people with your magic, Maria," the brunette said, taking Maria's hands in her own, "So don't worry about being a commoner. I know everyone will love you no matter what!"

The light mage's eyes widened. The way Rina was looking at her, it was exactly the same as the way she looked at her when Maria baked her a cake. Maria almost felt a tear coming on.

Rina learned she had light magic... and she still looked at her the same way.

As they walked back to the village, Maria glanced over at Rina. 

The brunette had a distant look in her sapphire-blue eyes, like she was thinking about something important. Wind blew through her long brown hair. There were still flecks of mud on her cheek from earlier.

And, in that moment, Maria's entire world flipped upside down.

It hit suddenly, with no particular warning. Rina wasn't really doing anything of note; they weren't even talking. 

The blonde felt her breath hitch as the realization set in. 

She was in love. 

Maria Campbell was in love with Rina Clayton.

---

Maria didn't know how to process her newfound feelings.

Love... wasn't something that ever occurred to the young light mage before. She knew nothing about romance aside from what she gathered from some novels Rina had lent her over the years. 

After revealing her light magic to Rina, she told her she was planning to study at Sorcier Magical Academy, to which Rina seemed entirely unsurprised. Ever since then, the brunette was constantly badgering her about love, saying she knew she'd find love at the magic academy, and how she would support any relationship Maria chose.

It kind of made her heart ache every time Rina said something like that. No, correction, it really made her heart ache. More and more each time. She hadn't really expected Rina to see her in that way, but every time the brunette would tell her something along the lines of 'You have my full support, even if you manage to fall in love with a prince!', Maria's spirit would crumble a little bit more.

Still, she wouldn't let herself be dispirited, especially since she hadn't even confessed her feelings to the monkey girl yet! 

Maria flew out of bed one morning, realizing it was the weekend. Not just any weekend, the weekend of the summer festival!

She'd never really been to the festival before. Well, she had when she was young, before her father left, but she was so young at the time she hardly remembered it. Since then, she'd been busy studying to prepare for the academy during the summers, so she didn't get much a chance to go out for things like that. Now, though, she had Rina and Anne to go with her!

That morning, the blonde flew out the door of her cottage, grinning as she thought over what she would do with Rina at the festival- what games she would play, what treats she would buy....

Maria met Rina and Anne at the entrance to the village, where the streets were lined with stalls boasting all sorts of novelty foods, toys, candies, and games. The early morning sun was bright overhead, but there were already festive lanterns lit, lining the streets and filling the area with the sweet smells of incense they were burning.

Rina looked like she was doing her best not to pounce on the candies; Anne looked like she was regretting not bringing an actual leash for her sister.

As the trio made their way into the festival, Maria quickly became aware of the looks she was getting from the townspeople. She knew by this point in her life that she was a bit of an oddity in this village, but it still made her feel lonely for everyone to treat her differently.

There were those in her village who appreciated her light magic, but even they didn't really know how to talk to her properly. And for every person in town who liked her magic, there was another who was scandalized by it. Thus, walking through the festival was something Maria was extraordinarily grateful she had Rina and Anne by her side for, as she knew she'd feel lonely here without them.

The summer festival was in full swing as the trio walked hand in hand, with Rina in the center, through the town square. The lilting sounds of some travelling musicians filled the air and some acrobats performed in the center of the square. Rina appeared to have little interest in those, Maria noticed, as her eyes zeroed in on a vendor selling glazed apples.

"Hi, Maurice!" Rina greeted the vendor with a smile.

"Hello, Rina! Would you care for some apples?" the vendor, Maurice, offered with a smile.

"Sure! Anne, Maria, do you guys want any?" the brunette asked the others.

"No, thank you," Anne replied politely.

"Um, sure!" Maria responded with a smile. 

She was a bit surprised by the fact that Rina was apparently on such good terms with Maurice, a well-built man in his thirties with a short, red beard, who tended to a local apple orchard. The blonde paused and thought back to all the times Rina and Anne had visited her village in the past. Maria supposed they didn't exclusively hang out with herself and her mother; it was inevitable they would run into some of the other townsfolk at some points. Not to mention, Rina had such an exuberant, outgoing personality, it made sense she would easily befriend others from her village.  

"Are you friends with her, Rina?" Maurice asked, giving a glace towards Maria.

"Yeah! Maria's the best!" the brunette said, affectionately wrapping her arm around Maria's waist. The blonde felt a little light-headed all of the sudden.

After a polite 'thank you' to Maurice, Rina passed Maria her candied apple as she greedily chomped into her own. Anne tried to remind her sister to show some manners while eating, but Rina had already gorged herself on the snack. 

Before long, the three young ladies had made their way onto an open stretch of green. At the far end was a set of targets in front of the forest with bows and arrows a distance away from them; an archery competition. A sign read that anyone to get a bullseye won a prize of a free funnel cake.

"Ah! Rina, can we do that?" Maria asked suddenly, pointing eagerly towards the archery set up.

"Ehh? You know how to shoot arrows, Maria?" Rina sounded surprised. 

The light mage couldn't blame her, she supposed. She probably didn't look like the type to do that type of activity, but in all honesty, ever since Anne and Rina started visiting, Maria had been a bit more adventurous. The monkey girl's wild spirit rubbed off on her a bit, it seemed.

One of the books her friend had lent her told a story of an archer falling in love with a merchant's daughter, winning her heart by winning an archery tournament. Perhaps she was being naïve, but Maria figured she might as well try. Every so often, the blonde would go into the woods behind the Campbell's cottage and do target practice with her father's old bow. The thought to being able to capture Rina's attention, to be able to make her eyes sparkle with wonder, to be able to show off for once.... Well, it was something Maria was going to give her best effort. 

And here at the festival, they had an opportunity for her to show her skills. She wasn't great, obviously (she'd only been practicing for a few months, after all) but Maria decided she ought to do her best while the opportunity presented itself.

"I... I've been trying to pick up archery," Maria admitted sheepishly.

"But the Maria in the game didn't know archery... " Rina murmured, tapping her chin curiously.

"'Game'?" the blonde looked at her friend, confused.

"Oh, heh, nothing! Never mind!" Rina waved her hand as if it were no big deal.

Maria arched an eyebrow at her, but didn't press the matter. 

"Do you want to try too, Rina?" the blonde asked.

"Hm? Oh, no thanks! The last time I tried to shoot a bow, I ended up hitting the dinner table," Rina rubbed the back of her neck with an embarrassed look.

"Eh? You were doing archery in your house?" Maria's eyes widened.

"No, in the forest," Rina responded.

"But... how...?" Maria was entirely confused.

"It was a very... improbable shot," Anne sighed, rubbing her eyes.

Rina followed Maria as she walked up to the booth where the bows and arrows were kept. Anne followed them quietly, keeping an eye on her younger sister. Choosing a bow with a similar feel to the one she normally practiced with, Maria led Rina onto the green and lined up her first shot.

Releasing the bowstring, the arrow sailed through the air and hit the target with a solid thunk. It landed just off center. 

"Wow, Maria, you're really good!" her friend praised her.

"Th-thanks!" Maria smiled. 

She almost hit the bullseye. She could do better.

Notching another arrow, Maria let her second shot fly down the green. She felt a swell of pride as the arrow landed. 

Bullseye.

Maria led Rina and Anne who was tailing them quietly to the tent where the funnel cakes were kept. Pointing to the target where she'd hit the bullseye, Maria received her funnel cake as a reward. 

This summer festival was amazing so far! She was so happy she came here!

Maria passed half of the funnel cake to Rina.

"Ehh? This is yours, Maria!" the brunette protested.

"I want you to have it!" the light mage replied with a gracious smile, "I won so we could share!"

Rina looked skeptical. But she also looked hungry. After a minute, she bit into her half of the cake.

"Mmmm!" Rina cupped her hand to her cheek.

"You like it?" Maria asked.

"Yeah! Although... " Rina's eyes met her own, "I prefer your cakes, Maria."

The blonde blushed, glancing away for a moment. As she did, Rina became distracted by another participant in the archery competition.

"Ehh? Edward, are you alright?" Rina scampered over to the side of a boy standing with a bow and arrow at the top of the green.

Edward was a schoolboy a few years younger than Maria herself. He had dark hair and was fairly athletic for his age. He looked upset and was fidgeting with his bow and arrow uncertainly.

"Hm? Oh, hi Rina," Edward said sullenly.

And, apparently, he was friends with Rina too. Had she befriended the entire village when Maria wasn't looking?

"What's wrong?" Rina prompted him again.

"It's just... I've been trying to hit a bullseye for a while, and I'm not even coming close," Edward admitted sadly.

"Well, then you should keep trying 'til you do, right?" Rina replied casually.

Edward didn't look convinced.

"I just... I don't know. I don't think I can do it... " he murmured sadly, "I've never hit a bullseye before, so it doesn't make sense that I could do it now...."

Maria was about to tell him it would be okay, to reassure him that this game wasn't that important. Before she could get a word out, however, Rina had already swooped in by his side.

"Well then, you shouldn't worry... " the brunette started. 

Maria guessed she was about to say the same thing she herself had planned to tell him.

"You shouldn't worry about whether it would make sense or not!" Rina finished her thought.

The light mage blinked. That wasn't the the reassurance she had expected her friend to give.

"Ehhhh!?" the boy looked as confused Maria felt.

"Throw logic out the window. You said you don't believe you can do it. So don't. Don't believe in yourself," Rina said, causing the boy to give her a look before she continued, "You don't need to, because I believe you can do it! So believe in the Rina... who believes in you!" she finished with a dramatic flourish.

That was... a pretty good line, really, Maria thought to herself. 

Just like when she met Maria herself, Rina seemed entirely too happy to just throw everything away and help this total stranger (or maybe he wasn't a total stranger to her, considering how familiar her seemed with her). The brunette really had the strangest way of just diving headfirst to help anyone she met, didn't she?

Maria caught a glimpse of Anne who was gaping at her little sister.

"Honestly, I don't know where she gets it sometimes," Anne sighed. It almost sounded like she was trying to sound exasperated, but Maria could see the clear look of admiration on her features.

Maria glanced back to where Edward and Rina were standing by the archery range. Apparently, the monkey girl's magic charms had worked, as Edward looked as if he had shaken off his doubt. The boy had pulled the bowstring back taut as he lined up a shot and loosed the arrow down the green.

Maria felt a flutter of happiness for the boy as he hit the bullseye.

"W-wow. I did it," Edward breathed.

"You did it!" Rina yelled out joyfully.

"I did it!" the boy said again.

Rina congratulated him for another minute before they turned toward the tent where Maria was watching from.

"Hey, Maria, he hit the bullseye too!" she said cheerfully.

"I saw! Congratulations!" Maria smiled warmly at Edward.

"Thanks! Wait, you're that girl, the one with the... ?" he trailed off, recoiling a bit.

Maria's smile fell a bit. She was used to it. People in this village tended to... be that way around her a lot.

"This is Maria! She's my friend!" Rina said with a grin, wrapping her arm around Maria's waist for the second time that day. 

"R-really? I thought she had light magic?" Edward tilted his head.

"She does! She's pretty amazing, huh?" Rina said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Maria felt a bit flustered. She knew Rina didn't care about her magic, but it seemed like she didn't understand how unusual it was for a commoner to be born with rare light magic. Rina really ought to know better than to just go around telling people her magic was something special, and expecting them to just--

"Yeah, that is pretty neat, actually!" Edward admitted with a grin.

--completely accept her. 

Wait, what?

"Ehh?" Maria stared at him, perplexed, "You... you're okay with me having light magic?"

"I mean, it's kinda weird for a commoner to have magic... but if you're Rina's friend, I'm sure you're cool too!" Edward gave her a smile.

"Heh heh, hear that Maria? I'm cool," Rina smirked at her.

"Well, I gotta go. I spent way too long shooting arrows," Edward waved to them, nibbling on his hard-earned funnel cake, "Bye Rina! Bye Maria!"

"Have a nice day, Edward!" Maria waved to him happily, hoping she could continue to stay on good terms with him and hopefully some of the other villagers in the future.

The crystal day was fading into the early oranges of afternoon as Anne decided Rina had gorged herself on enough junk food from the festival and led them back to the Campbell home. Maria felt her heart flip as Rina took her hand as they walked back from the festival. 

"This reminds me of the summer festival back in Ja-- " Rina started to say something, but cut herself off, turning to make sure Anne was out of earshot.

Maria was about to ask what she was going to say, but as she looked over, she noticed the tiniest of tears in her best friend's eyes.

"Are you okay, Rina?" the blonde asked softly, resting her hand atop her friend's.

"Eh?" Rina looked up at her, blinking the tears away.

"Do you... do you miss your home when you're here?" Maria asked carefully. Even after all this time, the blonde hadn't learned all that much about her friend's home other than her coming from a merchant family.

"No, no, it's not that.... " the brunette shook her head slightly. She paused for a moment, staring off at the fields as they walked before speaking again. Not quite meeting Maria's eyes, she asked, "Um, would you understand what I meant if I said I feel more at home here?" 

Maria paused. Her first thought was to say something like 'I feel at home with you too', but that didn't quite seem like the right thing to say here. The way Rina said that seemed almost... bittersweet. The look in her eyes reminded her of the wistful look on some of the patrons at the local pub after a long night drinking.

"N-not quite," Maria admitted, "What do you mean?"

The brunette chuckled slightly, her eyes looking older than most thirteen-year-olds Maria knew, "It's kinda hard to explain I guess. It's just... my home has a lot of expectations for me. And I love my family, I love them so much! But... being here, I just feel... free."

Maria nodded as her friend spoke. She rarely saw Rina act so... serious. 

"Well, um..." she wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, "I'm happy that I can be here for you!"

Rina hummed, eyes sparkling in the afternoon sun. Maria thought for a moment she had said the wrong thing, that her friend might cry, but instead she smiled a soft, warm smile the blonde hadn't seen before. She thought her heart might burst for a moment as the brunette reached out to run a hand through Maria's hair. 

Shortly after, Rina and Anne said their goodbyes. Rina hugged Maria for longer than usual. Something unspoken was shared between them in that moment; at least for Maria it was. She wondered if her best friend felt it too?

As the two girls made their way back to the village to depart, Maria walked back into her cottage, where her mother was preparing a meal for dinner. The kitchen was positioned such that the window over the stove overlooked the tree she and Rina had been sitting under, meaning her mom had probably seen their... interaction just then, Maria noted with a hint of embarrassment.

She had also noticed that, at some point since Rina and Anne started visiting, that distant look that once hung in her mother's eyes had vanished. Tonight though, as she stirred the soup she was fixing for dinner, she had some... other look in her eyes.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Maria asked. She'd never noticed her mother make that face before.

"Oh yes, dear. Just remind me to make a special cake for the wedding," her mother replied with a twinkle in her eyes.

Maria tilted her head. Wedding? Whose wedding? Wait...

"Mom!!!" Maria went absolutely crimson. 

Her mother grinned. 

---

Rina didn't show up one weekend.

The brunette had informed Maria in advance that she wouldn't be there that week, so it wasn't a surprise, and it wasn't the first time Rina didn't visit, but Maria still felt lonely without her.

Admittedly, it hadn't been as lonely lately. Whatever people-pleasing magic Rina seemed to have was thoroughly cast on the townsfolk. As soon as word spread that Maria was friends with the chipper young monkey girl who visited every weekend, it seemed like everyone was friendlier towards her. 

Perhaps it wasn't exclusively Rina's doing, as Maria had been a bit livelier herself since befriending the brunette, but it seemed that a good number of the townsfolk, and even other kids at her school were warming up to her. There were some girls at her school she would even call friends! Of course, they would never replace Rina as her best friend, but it was great to have others she was on good terms with in her hometown!

As she made her rounds through the town, gathering food and supplies for her home, Maria picked up a pamphlet detailing the weekly news in Sorcier.

As she returned to her home, the young light mage scanned the paper.

An elixir claiming to cure a variety of diseases was proven to be a hoax, the nation of Le Sable struck a new trade deal with Sorcier, a lavish party was held for the fourteenth birthday of Lady Katarina Claes, the fiancée of the third prince.

Nothing in the leaflet was particularly noteworthy to her. 

The only thing that caught Maria's eye was the bit about the birthday party. She realized right then that, in the entire time she'd known Rina, she never learned when her birthday was!

She'd known her best friend for nearly five years now!

Maria felt her heart sink.

Well. That just wouldn't do, now would it?

First things first, Maria thought. 

It was time to give her best friend a birthday party great enough to make up for the one's she had missed!

The light mage wasn't wealthy so she wouldn't be able to get anything terribly fancy, but she had a suspicion Rina didn't really want anything too extravagant. She did love sweets, though. And Maria knew how to bake....

By the time the next weekend rolled around, Maria was feeling nervous again. 

Was this enough? Was it too much? She didn't know.

The Clayton sisters arrived at the Campbell cottage at mid-morning as usual, and Maria was feeling her gut twist with nerves, hoping her gifts would be enough for five years of birthdays.

As the girls made their way into her home, Maria became acutely aware of the smirk on her mother's face. She tried not to pay any mind to it, but her face got redder by the second. Rina sat at the kitchen table and Maria took a seat next to her, scooting closer to her.

"Um... I got you something," Maria sheepishly presented her with a small box wrapped in cheap parchment.

"Ehhhh?!"

Rina wasted no time ripping the paper off and throwing open the box. Inside was a gold and blue hair ribbon Maria had found in town. She hadn't been sure what to get her friend as a gift, but the color of the ribbon was identical to Rina's eyes. She gathered what little money she had saved up and sprinted down to the shop that sold it, earning a warm smile from the shopkeeper.

"I know it's not much, but I wanted to get you something," Maria was staring at the ground, cheeks flaring red.

"I love it!" Rina replied instantly. Maria would have almost thought she was joking, but that wasn't the kind of person she was.

"R-really?" Maria smiled hopefully.

"Really!" Rina beamed at her, before spinning around to her sister, "Hey Anne! What do you think?"

"It looks lovely, my Lady," the dark-haired woman responded with a genuine smile.

"I really, really love it Maria! I'll wear it every day!" Rina's eyes were lit up with glee, "But why get something like this so suddenly?"

"I... I don't know when your birthday is, but I thought, since we've been friends for so long... " Maria trailed off, eyes darting around, "I know it might not be enough to make up for all the birthdays I've missed, but you... you mean so much to me, and I wanted to do something for you!"

Maria went scarlet as she realized how loud she was talking, and how her mother was giving her that smile again. Rina blinked at her for a moment.

"My birthday was actually just last weekend," the brunette said softly, looking a little surprised.

"Really?" Maria blinked. Something about that hit a flag somewhere in her brain, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Yeah! Nice timing Maria!" the brunette gave her another brilliant smile. 

"I also made you this," Maria smiled back, presenting the cake she worked so hard on. The icing on it was difficult to get right; Maria had spent a long time perfecting it as best she could. It was a sheet cake with a picture of Rina holding a snake on it.

When the brunette herself saw it, she grinned that almost-wicked-but-far-too-warm smile of hers that made Maria's heart flip-flop in her chest. She passed out plates and knives, and, with Anne's permission, the brunette began gobbling down the very large cut of cake she took for herself.

The light mage beamed. Rina was a light in her life, someone she treasured more than anything. To see her happy like this, happy because of something she did, was a brilliant feeling!

As Rina wolfed down the cake, Anne chastising her all the while, Maria realized just how deeply her love for the brunette ran.

---

The next time Rina and Anne came by, the younger girl brought a box with her, tied up with a bow.

Maria stared, perplexed.

"Wh-what's this?" the blonde asked, though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"Well, you gave me this ribbon and that cake for my birthday! I wanted to give you something for all the birthdays of yours that I missed," Rina explained.

"You didn't have to-- " Maria tried to protest.

"Yeah, I did. I really did," Rina said definitively.

"No, you really didn't!" Maria looked over to Anne for help, but she had a look on her face that said 'you can't change her mind'.

"Maria, you're really important to me!" Rina blurted, the slightest hint of red on her cheeks, "I wanted to!"

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely! Now open it!" Rina pushed the box into her arms.

Maria opened the box and felt her jaw drop.

This was... whoa.

It was a locket. 

A simple braided chain made of fine silver, with a brilliant light blue gem embedded on the locket itself. 

It was beautiful.

The blonde clicked the locket open, finding a little note inside that said From Rina :). She gaped at the treasure, spinning it around in her fingers for a moment.

"So... what do you think?" Rina prompted her after she stared at the gift in silence for quite some time.

"Wh-wha? This... this is too much! I couldn't possibly accept---" Maria started, only for Rina to cut her off.

"Maria, it's yours! I thought the tanzanite on there matched your eyes," Rina explained with a slight blush, "Unless you don't like it?"

Maria stared in wonder. Wasn't tanzanite incredibly valuable? What kind of merchants were Rina's family?

"I... I love it," she said softly, face darkening, "Thank you, Rina. Thank you so much."

Maria thought for a moment her friend's face went scarlet, but her own eyes were watering a bit, so it was hard to tell.

"Now you'll look like a fairy tale princess for sure! If you wear that at the academy, I'm sure the capture targets will be all over you!" Rina blurted suddenly.

"C-capture targets?" Maria asked skeptically. There she went again with some strange things Maria couldn't make heads or tails of.

"Nothing! Never mind!" Rina brushed her off as usual. 

Maria sighed and shook her head at her friend, a response she seemed to have picked up from Anne.

After some time, Maria and Rina walked quietly out to the old oak tree behind the Campbell's cottage, hand in hand. The two climbed up the tree without a word, instinctively knowing the branch the other wanted to sit on.

The pair sat in companionable silence, fingers laced together, swaying their arms back and forth. They watched the sun setting, painting the emerald fields gold with its fading rays.

Eventually, Rina broke the silence.

"I heard a story once... called Fortune Lover," Rina looked around sneakily, like she was revealing some big secret.

"Fortune Lover?" Maria tilted her head. She hadn't heard of it, but she didn't read many romance novels outside of the few Rina lent her over the years.

"Yeah. it was about a commoner girl who was born with magic. She was a bit of an outsider because her magic powers kept her from getting close to the people in her village," Rina started.

"Hm," Maria nodded, noting that the main character sounded an awful lot like herself.

"One day, she went to a magic school where she met... she met a bunch of people. There were a bunch of different endings to the story, so you could choose who the heroine ended up with!" Rina waved her hands dramatically.

"Really?" Maria had heard of some kind of choose-your-own-adventure type stories before, but never got around to reading them.

"Yeah! One of the endings had the heroine meeting a charming prince! After rescuing her from a v-vil... villainess," Rina seemed to hesitate on that word, glancing over her shoulder as if someone would hear, before continuing, "the prince ends up falling in love with the heroine, and they live happily ever after!"

"Wow, what a nice story!" Maria smiled. It sounded pretty rosy, and not very realistic, but those types of stories could be nice too, sometimes, "Does the heroine of Fortune Lover meet anyone like you, Rina?"

"Ehhh?" her brunette friend's eyes widened. It was a cute look, really, Maria mused, before Rina answered, "I mean. Yeah. She does. But she doesn't... I mean. I'm not... not a vil--" Rina cut herself off, shaking her head. She seemed to chew over what she wanted to say for several seconds before she spoke again, "You never know where life will take you, you know? You could fall in love with a prince, or anybody, honestly! Maybe that's what will happen to you when you get to the academy, Maria!"

"Yeah, right! Like that would ever happen!" the light mage laughed at the idea. As if any nobles would take any interest in her beyond whatever use her light magic might have to them.

"It might! Really! There will be princes at the academy and everything!" Rina seemed insistent.

"No way! I wouldn't want to marry a prince," the blonde waved her hand dismissively. 

Maria looked up at the twinkling stars beginning to appear in the evening sky. 

She had heard tales about the capitol city where the academy was located. Every story she heard about their lives seemed like some kind of fairy tale. The castles and dances and all the high life of the nobility seemed a world away from her. She couldn't imagine ever getting along well enough with any nobleman to fall in love with them. Her life was no fairy tale; even if she did have light magic, she wasn't some perfect heroine. 

Not to mention, the world of Sorcier's politics wasn't something she sought to entangle herself in if she could help it. The thought of being whisked off her feet by some fairy tale prince was nice and all, but she'd much prefer a simple life with Rina. 

This... whatever this was between the two of them, was all Maria really wanted. Just to be able to laugh and play and run through the wide green fields under crystal skies with the woman she loved was more than enough. She didn't want a prince or a castle or anything else. 

Just Rina.

And, maybe it was wishful thinking on her part, but the way Rina had said she felt at home with her that time? Maybe her monkey-like friend wanted this too....

Or so she thought. It seemed the brunette was still insistent on pairing her off with some imaginary romance novel character.

"Maybe you could fall in love with the heir to a duchy? That's one of the other routes...." Rina offered.

"That sounds... complicated," Maria crinkled her nose, concerned how marrying into such a prestigious family would reflect on both her and them.

"Son of the Prime Minister?" Rina suggested.

"I'm not so sure...." the blonde sighed. Why were they all connected to political figures? Couldn't the heroine of that story just fall in love with a merchant's daughter?

"Who would you fall in love with, Maria?" Rina sounded utterly perplexed.

"Someone like you!" Maria answered without a second thought.

After a moment, her eyes widened, as she clapped a hand to her mouth, realizing what she just said.

"L-like me?" Rina's voice shook a bit. Maria felt her heart flip.

"There's not anybody like me in Fortune Lover. Well, there is, but she's... I'm... ummmm...." Rina trailed off, scratching her head. 

"I'm sorry, Rina! I didn't mean... " Maria wrung her hands together, hoping to the gods this wouldn't be the end of their friendship.

"Eh? You don't have anything to be sorry for! I guess... um. You'll figure out what route you'll take when you get there, right?" Rina shrugged. 

"I... I suppose so," Maria murmured. She didn't quite know what her friend meant by that, but It seemed like her unintentional confession went entirely over the brunette's head. She didn't know whether that was good or bad. At the very least, Rina didn't seem like she wanted to stop being friends with her or anything.

Maria leaned back on the grass, staring into space alongside her friend.

She would be starting at the Academy soon. And that meant she would be seeing Rina a lot less. Yes, she would still visit their village, but she knew the weekends Rina would visit and the weekends Maria herself would return home wouldn't always overlap. Not to mention, she wouldn't be able to come home every weekend anyways; she knew she'd be busy studying all the time.

The light mage sighed, gazing at the falling night sky as the last rays of sunlight vanished beyond the distant horizon.

The shining summer of her youth was coming to an end.

---

The day had finally come. 

Her last weekend with Anne and Rina before she started at the academy.

Maria knew, she knew, it wouldn't be the last time she'd see the brunette. But she couldn't stop the tears that threatened when their day of climbing trees and idle chit-chat and discussing the latest romance novel Rina had loaned her drew to a close.

As they made their way to the tree behind the Campbell's house, Anne pulled Rina aside. Maria wasn't one to eavesdrop, but she could hear the elder sister saying something along the lines of 'don't forget to tell her this time, okay?'

Maria wasn't sure what to make of that. Still, after a minute, Rina and Anne went their separate ways. Anne walked quietly into the cottage to have another lively chat with her mother as Rina scampered over to where Maria waited by the tree.

The sunset was glowing, beautiful as usual. Maria felt a hint of nostalgia as she thought back to all the warm summer evenings she'd spent with Rina watching the sunset from the branches of the tree in which they now sat.

They sat in companionable silence for some time, each waiting for the other to address the elephant in the room.

"Are you... are you ready? For the academy?" Rina eventually asked, looking at her nervously.

"I hope so," Maria did her best to sound sure of herself. 

Maria was pretty sure she'd never really interacted with anyone of noble descent aside from the academy workers who came to her cottage to tell her about what she needed to do to prepare for her enrollment. Still, the academy felt like an entirely different world. 

"I'm sure you'll do great there, Maria! You'll fall in love in no time!" Rina said cheerily, again trying to sell Maria's heart to someone she'd never met.

Maria bit her lip. This was the moment. If she was ever going to confess her love to her friend, it should happen now, right?

"Rina, you--" she started, but cut herself off.

The brunette was staring into the distance, gazing over the fields. Everything about her was beautiful, Maria realized. Inside and out.

"Hm? Were you gonna say something, Maria?" her friend asked after Maria stared at her for a long moment.

"I just wanted to tell you that your hair is so... long," the blonde improvised, blushing.

"Ehh?" the brunette tilted her head. 

It was true though. Rina's once shoulder-length chestnut hair was now down to her hips. Or, it would be if the breeze wasn't blowing it into the wind behind her. The sun's rays sparkled through her flowing locks, making her look like an angel.

"It's so pretty," Maria added with a blush.

"Th-thanks. Your hair is pretty too, Maria!" Rina grinned at her, blushing slightly.

Maria gazed at her with wide eyes. She went for it.

Leaning in, Maria pressed her lips to Rina's cheek slowly, softly. She heard a small squeak of shock from the other girl, but she didn't pull back.

After a long moment which would stay in Maria's heart for an eternity, the blonde drew back gently. Rina was gaping at her with wide eyes.

"You mean so much to me, Rina Clayton," Maria poured her heart into her words, "I want to stay by your side forever."

Maria felt her heart hammering in her chest as she waited for any kind of response.

"I. I. Uhhh... " Rina stammered, touching her cheek softly where Maria's lips had pressed just a moment ago.

The blonde clasped her hands together in nervous anticipation.

"You mean a lot to me too, Maria... " Rina started as Maria leaned forward, "I wish... I wish I could stay here forever, too!"

Maria blinked. It sounded like there was something left unsaid in that.

"But you're going to go off to the academy and fall in love with someone, and I'm going to keep travelling with my family since our merchant company moves around a lot!" Rina bemoaned her situation, tears in her eyes.

The blonde pursed her lips. Did Rina just say that Maria would fall in love with someone at the academy? Did the brunette really not understand what she had just said as a confession of love?

Well. Goodbyes aside, the blonde felt a different kind of frustration. Rina Clayton might just be the densest person in the entirety of Sorcier! 

Maria sighed. Maybe now wasn't the moment to confess. Maybe there never would be, if she was trying to confess to someone with the romantic perception of a tree stump.

In any case, Rina did have a point. They were going their separate ways now, weren't they? Maria bit her lip. Maybe the academy would be a romantic opportunity after all. Not to fall in love with a prince of a son of the Prime Minister as Rina tried to convince her, but as a chance to get closer to Rina herself. She wouldn't see her as often, but she would get an opportunity to make a name for herself as a light mage. Perhaps, if she really set down and worked hard, she could get her powers strong enough and become a travelling healer! That way, she'd be able to travel alongside Rina wherever her family's company went.

"Rina," Maria took her friend's hands in her own, trying to give it one more chance, "I'm going to do my best at the academy, I promise. And one day, once I graduate, I'll be able to be by your side all the time!"

The brunette gasped softly.

"Th-that's great Maria! I know you'll do amazing!" Rina grinned at her, making her heart flutter.

All Maria could do was smile gently back at her. If that didn't get through to her, she didn't know what would. 

"And I'll always be... here for you," Rina said, tapping Maria's chest. The blonde didn't know if she meant the locket she was tapping, or her heart, but for her own sake, Maria would pretend she meant the latter.

After some time, they made their way down the tree trunk, and finally said their goodbyes. Rina embraced Maria in a tight, reassuring hug as the last rays of sunlight faded. As they embraced, Anne emerged from the cottage, waving a kind goodbye to Maria's mother.

The light mage felt a whirl of emotions as Rina and Anne waked away down the pathway leading back to the town. Her mother comforted her, pulling her into an embrace as she led her inside the cottage. 

Tomorrow, Maria would be departing to the capitol city to start her life as an academy student.

---

Maria's arrival at the academy was, expectedly, met with scorn.

She knew in advance that a commoner wouldn't exactly be welcomed with open arms, but the sneers and whispered gossip still hurt.

It reminded her of her childhood, before her best friend had stumbled into her life. She had been an outcast in her village because of her magic. Now here? A place where magic was the norm? She was still an outcast! It wasn't a surprise, naturally, but it wasn't long after she arrived when she found herself wishing she could just go back home. Back to the fields near the river, running with Rina until their legs ached.

Maria sighed wistfully. 

She yearned for the holidays when she would return to her home, and hopefully be met by the woman she loved. Maybe someday she could gather the courage to tell her how she felt. Maybe Rina would even feel the same. Maria closed her eyes, that silent hope being her guiding light through the glares and quiet insults of her new peers.

Every so often, her fingers drifted to the locket. She hadn't taken it off since Rina gave it to her. Maria had no idea how much it was worth, but price didn't matter. it was her most valuable possession. She still kept the From Rina :) note inside the locket clasp.

This academy really did feel like a different world. The tall marble arches and gold-encrusted adornments of the school buildings were a far cry from any of the simple, stone-and-wood cottages and shacks in her hometown.

And that was to say nothing of the students themselves.

Maria wasn't typically one to listen to gossip, but the noble ladies here weren't exactly quiet in their conversations.

"I've heard Lady Katarina Claes will be attending this year as well," a dark-haired noblewoman declared, before asking in a hushed tone, "Have you heard about her... eccentricities?"

"I've heard the third prince is quite taken with her," another chimed in, "But I haven't the faintest idea why. She's entirely... insane!"

"You two ought to mind your tongues, Lady Claes is headed this way right now!" an third noble lady added.

Maria closed her eyes, considering what she was hearing. 

An insane noblewoman who was engaged to a prince? Perhaps it would be in her best interests to avoid her. Maria didn't like the idea of forming opinions off of gossip, but she felt really out of her element here. The last thing she needed was to incur the wrath of someone in good standing with the royal family. It was only her good grades and the rarity of her magic that graced her the opportunity to attend this academy at all; she knew without a doubt the powers that be could make her current good fortunes vanish in an instant.

Seeking to avoid whatever noblewoman was capable of striking such fear into the hearts of other members of high society, Maria made her way out to a glade of trees behind the school. Meandering aimlessly through the trees calmed her nerves as she weighed up what her best choice would be to try to fit in here.

As she wandered the campus, Maria realized with a twinge of self-loathing that she had gotten herself lost. Her first day, and already she was entirely out of her element. She looked around, not even able to see where the school building were from her place amongst the trees. She turned to her right and found a sturdy maple tree with low-hanging branches that begged to be climbed.

Quickly scaling the tree, the light mage scanned the area, trying to find any signs of the building she was supposed to be attending her first class in.

"Are you searching for something?" a male voice came to her from below. 

Maria flushed as she realized she wasn't as alone in this patch of trees as she'd thought. She looked down to find a blond young man standing on the ground beneath her. He was attractive, about her age, and dressed in a sharp white and gold suit with a red cape.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry! I was just looking for the building where Introduction to Healing Magic is being taught. I... seem to have gotten a bit lost," Maria admitted sheepishly, hopping down from the branch to greet the handsome young man with a simple, "Hello there."

"Well, I don't believe you'll find your class in that tree," the blond man teased.

"Y-yes, I suppose not," Maria answered. He didn't seem to be heckling her like some of the other students, but it didn't look like he was trying to flirt with her either, like some of the men in the city had before she reached the academy.

"As it so happens, my first lesson is in the hall opposite where Healing Magic is taught. Allow me to escort you there," he replied politely.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

"Absolutely. I'm on my way there at the moment anyways," he gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

As he began to lead her back to the campus, the blond man turned to her.

"I am Prince Geordo Stuart, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said courteously.

Maria felt her heart flutter. A prince? Really? And to meet her in such an embarrassing way! 

"Um. I'm Maria. Maria Campbell," she said meekly.

"Ah yes. The light magic user, correct?" Prince Geordo asked.

"That's right," Maria confirmed, grateful the prince had the decency not to call her 'the commoner light magic user', as so many others did.

"It's always a great benefit to our nation to have more light mages. Let me know if you need help with anything here at the academy," The third prince offered her with a charming smile.

"Ah! Thank you very much!" she smiled in response. It was reassuring to know one of the nation's princes was so kind.

Although, she suspected, it may be because of her potential use as a light mage rather than a genuine desire to be friends, seeing as no one else at the school wanted anything to do with her. Maria shook that thought out of her head, hoping she could make some friends here.

The two walked in comfortable silence for several moments as the prince led her back to the academy grounds, before he spoke again.

"Climbing trees, hm?" the prince tapped his chin, a devilish smile on his lips.

"I-I know it's not proper behavior for a lady, I apologize!" Maria reddened yet again.

"Oh, it's not that, you just remind me of someone," Prince Geordo gave her an odd smile. It was the first genuine-seeming smile she'd seen on him.

Maria couldn't think who a prince would know that would climb trees like that. She was about to ask him, but realized they had already arrived at their destination.

"Ah. Here you are," Prince Geordo gestured to the door leading to her Healing Magic class with a flourish.

"Thank you so much, Prince Geordo!" Maria bowed deeply in gratitude.

"Anytime, Miss Campbell," the prince gave her a polite nod as he turned to depart, "Have a nice day!"

"Yes, you too!" Maria gave the prince a small wave as he went on his way. 

How nice, she mused. Even if Rina wasn't here, at least there were a few kind people at the academy. She turned to her classroom, hands clasping nervously at the handle of her wicker basket.

The light mage had anticipated a certain degree of disdain from her peers due to her status, and had prepared a basket of muffins to try to win their favor.

"Your sweets could make anyone fall in love with you!" Rina had declared earlier that spring, through a mouthful of one of her homemade cupcakes.

Maria hoped she was right. She didn't have much else she could do to try to win anyone's favor here at the academy. The students here all came from money and status, so she couldn't do all too much gain anyone's approval other than offering them her homemade treats.

As she entered her classroom, she brought out her wicker basket of muffins, opening one of the flaps before the class.

"H-hello... Um, if anyone wants one, I made some muffins for everyone," Maria said meekly, facing the class.

There were a few whispers, several silent glares.

"Hmph. Really?" someone in the front row sneered, "You expect us to eat those?"

"Indeed. I'm sure the commoner's treats are just delicious!" another student laughed, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Maria felt whatever shreds of confidence she felt withering away.

"Filthy peasant! You don't deserve to be here! Royalty walks these halls, you know!" an indistinct voice screeched at her as she clutched her basket to her chest.

Feeling tears in her eyes, Maria spun on her heel, desperate to get as far as she could from the jeering crowd. She made a beeline for the exit of the classroom, speeding into the hall and around the corner. 

However, as she rounded the corner, the blonde bumped hard into someone. She lurched back, dropping her basket of muffins in the process.

Oh no. Please no. 

Maria felt her stomach drop as she realized what just happened. 

"Oh! The little commoner has gone and done it now! She went and knocked into Lady Katarina!" a voice sneered from somewhere behind her.

Nonononono. 

This was all wrong. 

Why her, of all people?

Of course. Of course it had to be her. 

The 'eccentric' noblewoman. The one engaged to a prince. The one belonging to the wealthiest duchy in Sorcier.

If the light mage thought she'd been scorned and shamed by the other girls at this academy, she could only imagine what this supposedly insane noblewoman would think to do to her. She braced herself for the worst. She wished Rina was here, that monkey girl always knew what to say in these kinds of situations.

"Oh, hey Maria," a familiar voice called down to her casually.

Maria froze. 

Her eyes snapped open, fixed on her shoes. She couldn't bring herself to look up, to move. Before that moment, she had never fully understood what it meant to have one's heart stop. 

She knew that voice far too well.

Ever so slowly, Maria turned her gaze upwards. As she did, she was met by beautiful blue eyes that looked like two of heaven's brightest stars shining in the night.

The noblewoman she just bumped into was... Lady Katarina. 

Lady... Kata....

"Rina?" 

It came out as a breath, an incredulous whisper.

The name... or nickname, she realized, hung in the air for a long moment.

"Maria! How's your first day so far?" the brunette greeted her with a grin, as if she'd just showed up for another weekend at her cottage.

"Wha... wha... wha...?" Maria's brain was spinning, trying to process.

Lady Katarina Claes was Rina Clayton?

Or, perhaps, Rina Clayton was Lady Katarina Claes?

Oh. 

Wait. 

What?

Her first and best friend, the rough-around-the-edges, tree-climbing, snake-catching, monkey girl was here at the Magic Academy right in front of her.

And she looked like an absolute princess. 

Her dress was gorgeous, like something from a fairy tale. Brilliant blues and golds shimmered in the afternoon sun that streamed in through the windows, making her seem to glow like an angel. Her hair was tied up in an elaborate style, although, rather than the gem-encrusted hairpins of her peers, Maria noticed a familiar ribbon, the one she had gifted her for her birthday.

"What- what are you doing here?!" Maria wasn't entirely sure what emotion she was feeling. Shock, sure. But other than that? She needed a moment to process.

"Eh? Why wouldn't I be here?" Rina asked obliviously, nibbling on one of the muffins that had fallen on the ground.

"My Lady, please tell me you didn't forget to tell her?" another familiar voice came from behind her best friend.

Maria's wide eyes drifted to the source of that voice.

Anne was here too. 

And she was dressed in a very sharp looking maid's uniform, emblazoned with the crest of the House of Claes?

"Tell her? Of course I told... wait," a look of despair washed over Rina's face. She stood suddenly, grabbing Anne by the shoulders, "Ah! Oh no! Anne! I forgot to tell her!"

The dark-haired woman facepalmed.

"Maria, I'm actually Katarina Claes, daughter of Duke Claes," Rina said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, "Sorry I forgot to mention it!"

Maria might have laughed. She might have whimpered. She wasn't quite sure what she did, because suddenly, her head felt very light.

The voice of her best friend calling out her name was the last thing she heard before she fainted.

Chapter Text

Katarina Claes sat on one of the rich red sofas in the Ascarts' home library, a book sprawled out on the table in front of her and Sophia. It wasn't an unfamiliar text, in fact, they had read this particular novel several times. As it so happened, it was the very book that drew them together in the first place!

Sofia and Princess Emerald! It told the beautiful, heart-rending tale of a princess befriending a commoner woman. Oh, Katarina could have (and had) just squealed with delight at the blossoming friendship between the two characters!

"I find Princess Emerald to be a fascinating character," Sophia said in her cute, quiet little voice, "Even though she could have anything she wants, being royalty and all, what she wanted most was to see the world! And that desire to explore led her to meet Sofia...."

"Yeah! And she became really close friends with her!" Katarina finished. What a lovely story!

"F-friends?" Sophia looked up at her, a bit confused. After a second, she shook her head lightly, "Um, anyways! I have a new book here which we can read now! It's newest Devilish Count story!"

"Oooh!" Eager to dive into the new novel, Katarina gulped down the rest of her tea. And immediately wished she hadn't.

"Um... Sophia?" the brunette started hesitantly.

"It's down the hall and on the right," Sophia replied automatically. Evidently, she was used to Katarina overindulging herself on tea and sweets during her visits.

A few moments later, as Katarina made her way back from the restroom, she passed the main study of the house, where Nicol and Sophia's dad was meeting with some men and women in suits. The door was slightly ajar, so she could just barely peek through. They were probably from the Ministry, Katarina guessed. Prime Minister Ascart was in conversation with them, which she really, really should not eavesdrop on. 

Naturally, she listened in.

Katarina was jumping in midway through the conversation, so she might not quite know everything they were discussing. From what she could gather, though, they seemed to be talking about how magic could appear in people who weren't from magic parents.

"There does seem to be an increase in irregularities and unusual circumstances surrounding magic inheritance," one of the Ministry guys said.

"Indeed. Just a few months ago, a young woman of common birth was found with light magic in a village just south of here," Sophia's dad replied.

The people in the next room continued talking as Katarina listened intently.

A commoner girl with light magic? Was that... Maria Campbell? The protagonist herself?

No way! 

She made her way back to the library, mind racing as she considered what she'd heard. So far, Katarina had met almost every one of the major players from the game; the only exception being the heroine, Maria Campbell. And now, thanks to that little bit of semi-unintentional eavesdropping, she now knew where Maria lived.

"Hmmm," Katarina leaned back so her head touched the back of the sofa.

"Lady Katarina?" Sophia sounded a bit perplexed by her friend's actions.

The brunette's eyes landed on the cover of Sofia and Princess Emerald. A story about a princess...  befriending a commoner....

Katarina rolled her head from side to side, the inner machinations of her mind beginning to whir, "Hmmmmmmmmmmmigotanidea."

---

A few days later, Katarina resolved herself to set her scheme into motion.

It was a simple plan, really.

Fortune Lover basically followed the story of Maria Campbell; when she got to the academy, her story would begin. And, if worst came to worst, her story would end with her either condemning Katarina to exile for bullying her, or pushing Katarina to attack her, only to end up being killed herself. Obviously, Katarina had no intention of bullying or attacking Maria, but still. It was something that worried her. A lot.

And then, the universe went and told her right where Maria lived. Or, Sophia and Nicol's dad did. Same thing. 

After overhearing that particular nugget of information, it hit her. If she wanted to avoid her doom, the best way would be to befriend the heroine! That made sense, right? If the heroine saw her not as a villainess, but as someone she'd been friends with for years, then Katarina wouldn't be as likely to hit any doom flags!

It was a brilliant plan, surely! A plan which she-- mostly-- thought up herself (with a bit of inspiration from Sofia and Princess Emerald).

Thus, she requested an audience with her father one night after Keith had gone off to bed for the evening, thinking of her scheme to go out to the country to meet Maria.

"Katarina, I believe there was something you wanted to discuss with us?" her father pulled her aside one night after dinner with her mother close behind.

The duke's daughter flinched slightly at the 'us'. She wanted to discuss something with him, yes, ideally without her mother listening in. Her father was, after all, much easier to sway on matters such as this. But he must have let slip to Katarina's mother that she wanted to talk to him about something, and now she had to present her idea to the both of them. Great.

"Ahem. Yes," Katarina started as politely as she could, "I wanted to ask if... if I could do something,"

"Oh? And what might that be?" the Duke smiled warmly at her. Her mother, meanwhile, arched a suspicious eyebrow.

"Well... you know how I like to climb trees?" Katarina plowed ahead, hoping they would at least her hear out.

"Yes," her father nodded.

"And grow vegetables in my garden?" she continued. So far, so good....

"Yes," the Duke nodded again.

"And how I like to play outdoors and catch animals and train how to fight with a sword and... and that time I chopped Keith's door down with an axe, and--- " the brunette began rambling, forgetting herself for a  moment.

"Katarina," the Duchess cut her off with a particularly menacing smile, "Is there a reason you are reminding us of all the damage your antics have incurred to the property on this estate and the reputation of our family?"

"Eep!" Katarina flinched back at the sharp daggers in her mother's eyes, "Um... I mean. I was thinking..."

"Oh, whatever is it, child?" her mother leaned forward impatiently.

"I was wondering if I could go out to the country on the weekends so I could play outdoors and not mess stuff up here at the house!" Katarina blurted.

To her surprise, the Duchess blinked at that, the menacing glare in her eyes fading ever so slightly. Her father looked a little surprised as well.

Since no one said anything, she took it as her cue and pressed on, "I mean, if I can go out to a place in the country and play around with some commoners and climb trees every once in a while, I won't have such an urge to do that stuff on the estate. And that way, I won't embarrass everybody in front of the princes."

Her mother exchanged a look with her father, who smiled ever so slightly. Katarina had no idea what any of it meant.

"Plus! Studies suggest that kids with a creative outlet are more well behaved anyways!" she added cheerfully.

"'Studies'?" her father queried.

Oh, right. Those were studies from Japan. Well, whatever.

"Um, it's nothing. But... can I go hang out in the country?" she asked hopefully, looking up at them with wide eyes.

The Duchess leaned over, whispering something in her father's ear. He chuckled and nodded after a moment. 

Katarina held her breath.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to give you some more recreational time," her father replied with a little smile, "You have become so outdoorsy as of late!"

"Eh?"

"And we will expect you to keep yourself on your very best behavior for the remainder of the time," her mother added.

"You... you're actually letting me?" Katarina couldn't believe it. Did her plan really work?

"We're giving you a chance," her mother corrected, "Anne will be with you to make sure you don't do anything too foolish. And if you cross any lines, you won't be going back out to the country. Do you understand?"

"Yeeee!" Katarina pumped her fists excitedly. And then, catching herself, added, "Ahem. Yes, Mother, I understand."

"One last thing. You are to use a false name when doing... whatever it is you plan on doing," the Duchess added.

"Eh?" Katarina lifted an eyebrow.

"I don't want you besmirching the House of Claes' name with your behavior, do you understand?" her mother gave her a look.

"R-right," Katarina quickly agreed. If a fake name was all it took, then that shouldn't be a problem, right?

"Now, dear? Do you know any villages in the country you'd like to try to visit?" her father queried.

A smirk crept up Katarina's lips.

"Oh, I know just the place.... "

---

The next weekend, Katarina was bouncing with excitement as she sat across from Anne in the carriage to Maria's village. 

Her parents needed Keith to attend some magic lessons on this particular weekend, something Katarina was inexplicably grateful for. It was nice to have some time to just be herself. Keith was great, he was her little brother after all. But she knew if he was around when she went out playing in the country, he'd probably be really overprotective, as he tended to be. Not to mention, if Maria fell in love with Keith straight away, Katarina wouldn't have any time to befriend her herself!

Anne watched her apprehensively from the other side of the carriage. Her personal maid had been appointed to travel with her on her quest to win the heart of the heroine. Anne would be pretending to be her sister, something the maid seemed to have more reservations about than Katarina herself. She didn't know why Anne would mind, she was basically her sister anyways, right? She acted like a big sis to her all the time!

Their aliases would be those of the children of a traveling merchant family. It was an excuse Katarina herself had thought up... kind of. Well, it was the alias Princess Emerald used when she went to visit Sofia in the story. It shouldn't be that big of a stretch, even if Katarina didn't know much about whatever it was merchants did. She had even prepared a little explanation of why their family would be passing through Maria's village from now on! It was foolproof!

Before long, the carriage had arrived in an idyllic little town some ways to the south of the Claes estate. Katarina and Anne stepped out into the adorable little cobblestone streets and ventured into the village. 

Anne led her first to a cute little inn that looked like something from a picture book, where she asked the innkeeper for information about the town.

As Anne talked to the innkeeper, Katarina took the chance to dash off into the village. It was so lovely here! All the shops were so quaint, like something out of a western Christmas special! Stone buildings with cute little red and brown shingled roofs! Picket fences! Kittens resting on fence posts!

She tried not to let herself get too distracted, she was looking for someone, after all.

Katarina considered asking a local, but since she had never met Maria, she technically shouldn't know who she was. She just had to pretend to be a stranger and hope for the best. 

And hope would have to go a long way, since this village was a lot bigger than she thought it would be!

Still, if she wandered around, Katarina might just bump into Maria!

Katarina turned a corner and bumped into Maria.

"Oof!" the brunette grunted as the other girl collided with her.

"Aah, I'm so, so sorry! Forgive me!" Maria exclaimed, pressing her palms together.

"Maria!" the brunette blurted. 

How lucky! She'd only just arrived and she'd already met the heroine! Now, all Katarina needed to do was make sure she didn't do anything to make her suspicious, uneasy, or otherwise convinced she was a villainess.

"Hello. Um... how do you know my name?" the blonde gave her an adorably curious look.

"Ack!" Katarina recoiled. Oh no! Had she already messed things up? She needed an excuse, and fast! Quick, what was a believable reason for knowing Maria's name? Aha! She had the perfect excuse, "It... it was a lucky guess!"

"Oh," Maria's expression softened.

Job done! She was now thoroughly convinced Katarina only guessed her name! Still... the way Maria was staring at her seemed like the had some lingering question. Wait! Maybe that was it! She was probably waiting for Katarina to introduce herself!

"Oh, I'm... Ka... uh," Katarina stopped herself. She wasn't supposed to be besmirching her family name, "I'm Rina! Cla....yton! Rina Clayton!"

There! That was smooth as silk, wasn't it? Katarina mentally congratulated herself on how easily she conjured up that alias! 

"Nice to meet you, I'm-- " Maria started, although Katarina already knew her name.

The blonde was cut off as Anne finally caught up to Katarina, grabbing her by the shoulders, "Don't... go... running off like that!"

Katarina couldn't contain her excitement! She was standing face to face with the heroine of Fortune Lover! 

"Anne! Guess who?" Katarina gestured to the one and only Maria Campbell.

"I have no idea. Who?" Anne huffed, wiping a bead of sweat from her face.

Wait! Anne wasn't from Japan! She wouldn't know who Maria was! 

"Oh right! Never mind, Anne!" Katarina shook her head, hoping her maid wouldn't pry. 

Although, right now, Anne wasn't supposed to be her maid was she? And Maria was probably wondering who she was...

"Maria, this is Anne. She's my... my big sis!" Katarina presented her, arms spread wide as she gestured to Anne.

"H-hello," the blonde greeted Anne with a shy wave.

"Hello, Miss... Maria, was it?" the maid gently shook her hand.

"Yes. I'm Maria Campbell. Nice to meet you," the light mage introduced herself. And then she dipped into a little curtsy, and Katarina thought she might burst from cuteness overload. 

Maria in the game was so cute already, of course a younger, chibi-fied version of Maria would be even cuter!

"Aaah! Tiny Maria is too... cute!" she just couldn't contain herself.

They talked for a little while longer before Maria invited them over to her house for some reason. Katarina didn't know why she was getting invited over, but she wouldn't complain; befriending the heroine was her main goal here!

Before long, Maria led her and Anne to a fittingly adorable little cottage on the outskirts of town; a nice, peaceful sanctuary in an already peaceful village.

Entering the Campbell's cottage, Katarina quickly saw where Maria got her looks from. Maria's mom was just as beautiful, and had a striking resemblance to the heroine Maria herself would be when she grew up! Even Anne seemed to notice how pretty Maria's mom was!

Before long, they all fell into a surprisingly comfortable conversation. Anne and Maria's mom were talking about something. Katarina was busy focusing on how Maria was twirling a strand of her golden hair around her finger. Every time she twisted it, it made the little flower she had tucked into her hair bounce a little bit. 

At some point, the young light mage caught on to her staring and directed her attention to Katarina. Aaagh! The brunette blushed and looked away. Hopefully Maria didn't think she was suspicious!

It felt like the afternoon passed in a flash. Before she knew it, it was already time for her and Anne to head back to the estate.

"I-it was nice to meet you... Rina!" Maria gently waved to her as she stepped off the cottage step. Hearing the blonde call her by the nickname she had given was so cute! She looked forward to the day when she could tell her who she really was, and that she'd be able to stay friends with her once they got to the academy!

"It was nice to meet you too, Maria!" the brunette called back, "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Ehh?" Maria's eyes widened, "You're coming back?"

"Of course!" Katarina grinned, but then remembered her mother's condition, "Well... if Anne says it's okay...."

She looked up at her maid with wide, pleading eyes.

Anne held her gaze for a moment before letting out a long sigh, "I suppose it would be acceptable."

Maria's face lit up almost as brightly as Katarina's.

Somewhere inside, Katarina could feel this was the start of something special.

---

Katarina began visiting Maria regularly.

It was weird how easily she got along with the blonde; she supposed that was the power of an otome game heroine at work!

It was so nice having these little weekend getaways! 

Being able to go out and play in the fields and trees and just have fun without worrying about stuff like damaging her reputation or keep up appearances in front of the royal family or anything else.

In all honesty, being able to hang out with Maria was probably the most fun she'd had since she regained her memories!

If only her other friends could join in all the fun....

Suddenly, a thought entered her head! What if she introduced Maria to Geordo and Keith now? For that matter, she might as well bring Alan and Nicol along too! Maria could meet all the capture targets right away!

Wouldn't their affection points increase if they knew Maria since she was a child?

Katarina's mind whirred as she considered how fun it would be for all her friends to go visit the next summer festival in Maria's village together.

But wait! 

If her friends all met Maria now, it would change the whole game! Heck, it could even trigger some new doom flags!

Even worse, if they all knew Maria before the game began, then the romance flags in the game wouldn't happen! Some of the most romantic bits in the game were the first meetings! If they met Maria by some random chance in the country one day, it might not hit a romance flag! Then poor Maria would have to go through the academy without ever falling in love!

No! That wouldn't be good at all! 

No, Katarina had to make absolutely sure none of the capture targets met Maria before the game began!

---

The weeks seemed to creep by as Katarina sat through her private education lessons at the Claes estate. All day, the only thing she wished for was to be by Maria's side, scaling trees and playing in the river. She found her thoughts drifting back to the blonde at the strangest times.

She hadn't been able to do any of that stuff since she was in Japan! It was so nice to have a friend who was as... outdoorsy (as her father put it) as she was. Maria was an energetic character in the game; her charisma was what stole the hearts of her capture targets after all, but being able to actually play outside with her and climb trees with her was so different to anything Katarina could have imagined!

Being able to go out and play was such a huge relief for her. 

It was, however, a double-edged sword. The rest of her time spent in the mansion became just that much more tedious. Especially the daily etiquette training, magic lessons, and general studies she had to keep up with as a duke's daughter.

One afternoon, Katarina found herself particularly restless. She would be turning eleven in about a month, and her parents were busy making preparations for her birthday party.

The brunette played with Keith outside in her vegetable patch.

(Thank goodness her parents had allowed her to keep tending her small farm in addition to letting her go to Maria's each weekend. She knew she'd have to thank her father for that at some point.)

"Hey, Keith! Do you think I should harvest my turnips yet?" Katarina turned to her brother, who was helping dig holes to plant gourd seeds in.

"I have absolutely no idea, sister. How do you know if they can be harvested or not?" Keith asked curiously.

"They're supposed to be picked before the first big frost of the year. Do you know if it's gonna snow soon?" Katarina leaned against her hoe.

"Um... I-I'm not sure," her brother looked at sky for a second, as if it would tell him the forecast, before turning his attention back to her, "You should probably get changed soon, though."

Ah, well. She had wanted some turnips to give to Nicol and Sophia the next time she saw them. She'd have to check gardener Tom's almanac to see if it had any information on when the first frost would be.

Still, Keith was right. She did need to get herself cleaned up soon.

Prince Geordo was coming over to visit today.

Before long, she had changed out of her gardening wear and into something presentable.

"Keith!" the brunette called out, making her way down the stairs.

"Yes, sister?"

"I think I'm gonna try to harvest my turnips first thing next week," she explained, "I'll be out this weekend again. I gotta find a good novel to bring, too!"

"Where exactly is it you go every weekend?" her brother gave her a look.

"Gih!" Katarina hadn't expected him to pick up on it that quickly! She'd only been sneaking off to Maria's village every weekend for the last two years!

"Uhh... well, that's.... " she twiddled her thumbs, trying to think up some excuse.

Keith sighed, "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Katarina suddenly felt extremely guilty for keeping her rendezvous with Maria a secret. She racked her brain for some way to explain things to Keith without messing up the game or raising any new doom flags when a familiar glint of blond hair drew her eye away.

"Oh, Prince Geordo!" Katarina turned to the doorway of the entrance hall.

"Hello, Lady Katarina, Lord Keith," the prince greeted them courteously.

"Prince Geordo," Keith smiled warmly at him, "I was just having a conversation with my sister. Surely you can wait a moment."

"Why, Lord Keith, I am simply answering the invitation my fiancée sent me," Geordo smiled back just as warmly, "Surely you would have no problems with that?"

"Ah, yeah, Keith, I invited Geordo over to talk about some things," Katarina suddenly remembered why he was visiting in the first place, "We can catch up later, don't worry."

Geordo gave Keith a pleasant smile as she led him off to a private study in the east wing of the estate.

The two fell into a casual conversation, discussing odds and ends before the prince eventually turned to her, "May I ask what it is you wished to tell me, my dearest Katarina?"

Oh, right! All this time she'd spent with Maria had reminded her of one of her biggest doom flags in the game!

"Well, I just wanted to say if you ever fall in love, feel free to end our engagement! I wouldn't want to hold you back from the person you love!" Katarina answered airily. 

She knew that, eventually, Geordo and Maria would cross paths, and she didn't want the prince to feel he was locked into an engagement she would refuse to break off!

Geordo's eye twitched. 

His smile looked almost strained as he replied, "Oh, Lady Katarina, I assure you our engagement will not keep me away from the woman I love in the slightest."

Another answer like that, huh? She'd mentioned to Geordo several times that he didn't need to stay engaged to her, but he didn't seem to get it. He must still want to keep her around to ward off other women he didn't want to marry.

Oh well, Katarina sighed internally. She was sure he'd change his tune once he met Maria.

---

"Well, then, you should have a nickname too!" Katarina found herself saying one fall afternoon at Maria's cottage when she was twelve. The two had somehow landed on the subject of Katarina's 'monkey girl' nickname.

"What about 'Flower Girl'?" Katarina suggested. Maria always wove those cute little flowers into her hair, after all.

"No, that doesn't sound right," Maria replied, absentmindedly twirling one of the flowers in her hair. 

That was probably for the best. Mary kind of had dibs on any flower-related nicknames anyways.

"Well, then... how about 'The Heroine'?" Katarina gave her a mischievous smirk.

"Ehhhh?" Maria's eyes widened at that suggestion.

"Since you seem like a heroine and all?" the brunette elaborated.

"In... in what way am I anything like a heroine?" Maria reddened, averting her eyes.

"You just are! You're nice and you have light magic and you're smart and pretty.... " Katarina could go on for hours. Every time she met Maria, she found some other amazing thing that made her just that much more incredible.

"You think I'm pretty?" Maria asked.

"Of course! You're beautiful, Maria!" Katarina replied, not missing a beat.

It was true, Maria was growing up to be even more stunning in person than her character had been in the game!

After all, who wouldn't fall in love with her?

The charms of a true to life otome game protagonist were nigh-unmatched!

As Katarina sat on the floor of Maria's cottage, she felt like that thought was a little off. Maria wasn't just a protagonist, was she?

Now that she thought about it, all her friends were a little different from how they were in the game. Would Maria still fall in love with them?

But the Maria she knew was different from the Maria in the game in a lot of ways, too.

The Maria sitting next to her was apparently an amazing archer; Katarina couldn't help but be amazed by the sight of the blonde drawing a bowstring back. Something about that image made her heart flutter. She also had a mischievous streak in her that the Maria from the game didn't seem to have. Since Maria didn't have any childhood friends in the game, maybe having Katarina there to play with brought her out of her shell a bit?

And another thing. In the game, Katarina clearly remembered one of the prompts said 'Maria slept silently through the night before the graduation party.'

Well, that... that was a bare-faced lie! Maria didn't sleep silently at all!

Katarina knew that much from experience.

One chilly winter day, Anne and Katarina had been visiting the Campbells when a snowstorm blew in unexpectedly. Mrs. Campbell had started a fire in the fireplace, and the cozy atmosphere in the little cottage was like something out of a dream. 

Maria's mom and Anne went into the next room to talk about whatever it was they always talked about. Katarina was happy Anne had someone to talk to! She always seemed cheerful after spending time here, too!

(If she were back in Japan, Katarina would surely be curled up in a blanket playing some otome game on her tablet!)

Katarina pulled a quilt from the sofa down, wrapping it around Maria's shoulders when she noticed the blonde shivering. As she did, Maria grabbed her hand and pulled her under the blanket with her.

Their faces were an inch apart. Katarina felt her breath hitch. 

The brunette couldn't think of anything to say, so she just wrapped her arm around Maria's shoulders, pulling her into a soft embrace. Maria must be freezing! Surely this would warm her up, right?

They sat in front of the glowing warmth of the fireplace in quiet, the only noise coming from the crackling of the fire and the occasional laugh from Anne or Maria's mom in the kitchen. 

After some time, Maria drifted off to sleep, the light mage's head was resting on the brunette's shoulder, and she snored like a bullfrog right into her ear. Katarina had nearly jumped out of her skin!

That didn't seem like a characteristic of a heroine at all! 

She also talked in her sleep. The brunette couldn't fault her for that, considering Anne had mentioned she talked in her sleep too, but the little things she murmured were so unbearably cute it made Katarina burst into a grin.

For all Maria's protests that she didn't connect that much with the characters in the novels Katarina had loaned her, she often murmured little things like 'I love you' or 'Please marry me' in her sleep all the time!

It was adorable! Every time she sleepily whispered something like that, Katarina felt like her heart would explode!

Some time later, either Anne or Mrs. Campbell found her and Maria curled up on the floor, fast asleep. 

The duke's daughter opened her weary eyes to find the warm orange glow of the fire lighting the wooden beams of the cottage ceiling. Beyond the windows whose corners were rounded with snow, light flurries were still drifting past, although it wasn't nearly as rough as the blizzard earlier. The sky was a dark blue-grey; it was already sundown. She must have slept the whole afternoon away in Maria's arms!

Katarina rubbed her tired eyes as Anne led her away from the cottage, waving a goodbye to Maria as she walked. 

And, more than her snoring, Maria just felt like she was... more than just a heroine. Katarina didn't know how to explain it.

In the game, it seemed like Maria was just naturally really good at everything, but after getting to know her, that wasn't quite true.

Even baking, which was Maria's favorite hobby, was something she struggled with now and then. 

The light mage had attempted a new recipe for muffins a few weeks ago, and... well....

In her last life, Katarina had been playing around with Acchan in the forest one day, when she'd tripped and landed face first in an anthill. Now, granted, Maria's muffins didn't taste quite that bad, nor did they literally bite the inside of her mouth, but they were reminiscent in a way.

Also, there was the matter of her light magic. In the game, it seemed like Maria was just really good with light magic from the start, but Katarina realized just how much time she devoted to studying early on in their friendship. She had dozens of books on magic, most of which were cheap entry level magical texts, which she'd been using to train herself in lieu of being trained by her family.

Naturally, as a duke's daughter, Katarina had access to a nearly exhaustive list of magical texts. Thus, she would quietly peek over Maria's shoulder when helping her study occasionally and make note of the subjects the blonde was delving into. And then, whenever she got a chance, the brunette would sneak a book or twenty out from the Claes estate's library and lend them to Maria! It was easy enough to convince her they were books she had just picked up on her travels with her family. 

The light mage always insisted on returning them, but Katarina insisted she keep them at least until she could get all the useful information possible from them.

(She clearly could get more use out of them than Katarina could!)

Also, she was competitive. She was constantly racing Katarina up trees when they went climbing together. It kind of reminded her of her duels with Alan, except Maria actually beat her a few times.

That made her feel weird. Not bad weird, but... she really wanted to beat Maria! She was supposed to be the wild monkey here!

Huh. So. Maria wasn't just a heroine. 

Katarina pondered over that idea as she departed with Anne for their carriage.

Maybe there was more to their world than just the game.

---

Katarina's fourteenth birthday arrived with a fanfare fit for a queen.

At least, that was how Geordo phrased it when she arrived at the regal gala in her honor. The prince took her hand in his as she stepped out of the carriage and gently placed his lips to her knuckles. Blushing, she followed her fiancé into the reception hall of the royal palace.

She had been content to have her party at her estate, but Geordo insisted on having it at the castle, saying something about how he wanted to make the event more 'eye-catching'.

Well, that much was certainly true.

Her birthday party was beautiful! All her friends (sans a certain light mage) were there! The tables were stocked full with all her favorite cakes and pastries, and everyone wore their most beautiful suits and dresses!

As Katarina stood by the massive crystal window of the royal palace, she realized she was facing south. Somewhere out there, Maria was resting in her little cottage, far from the twinkling magic crystal lights and hustling carriages of the city.

Somehow, as she stared out the window, Katarina felt like she was missing something important.

(The next weekend, however, when Maria gave her a simple hair ribbon and a homemade cake, Katarina felt incredibly full. And not just from the cake she gorged herself on.)

---

And then, there was the dream.

It came unexpectedly one afternoon several months later on her way back from Maria's village. Katarina drifted off, as she so often did, in the carriage ride back to the Claes estate.

The dream started abruptly.

She was standing in the kitchen of Maria's cottage, wearing her slightly sweaty farming clothes after a long day of tilling her fields.

"Ah, Rina!" Maria greeted her cheerfully, wearing a simple apron over her casual clothes, "The stew is almost ready!"

"Oh," Katarina replied simply.

"And... " Maria started again, Katarina looked up hopefully when Maria concluded, "The cupcakes are nearly done too!"

"Yay!" Katarina cheered, pumping her fist. 

The blonde giggled at her, and Katarina felt a warmth in her heart like she'd never felt before.

And then, Maria leaned over and kissed her right on the lips--

-- and Katarina jolted awake.

"Waaah!" she cried out, startling Anne.

"My Lady, are you alright?" the maid looked at her with a mix of concern and annoyance.

"Ye... No... Uhhh... " Katarina rubbed her head. What? What was that dream? Sure, Maria was a good friend... but... what? The brunette squeezed her eyes shut for a minute.

Anne looked worried.

"I... I'm fine. I think," Katarina tried to reassure her, "Hey Anne?"

"Yes, my Lady?"

"How good of friends do you have to be with someone before you can kiss them? Like, on the lips?" Katarina looked to her maid for advice.

"Ah," Anne leaned back, shoulders relaxing a bit, "Is that what's worrying you?"

Katarina waited for a response, tapping her fingers against the velvet seats of the carriage.

"I'm not quite sure that would be friendship, my Lady," Anne informed her mysteriously.

"Ehhhh? What else would it... be...?" Katarina found herself asking, doubt creeping into her mind as she spoke, "Of course it's... fr-friendship...."

It was totally friendship, right? Sofia kissed Princess Emerald on the lips a lot, and that was a classic tale of friendship!

Anne looked like she wanted to say something, but before she could, their carriage arrived at the Claes manor.

As she returned inside her family estate, Katarina tried to push down all the questions that kept bubbling up inside her. The more she thought about that dream, the more she felt little slivers of nervous, anxious, spinny... stuff in her chest. Kind of like how she felt whenever she thought about doom flags, but not as scary. 

(Or, maybe, even scarier.)

She tried not to think about it again.

---

That dream was something Katarina must have pushed out of her mind at some point. Or maybe she just forgot about it. 

Either way, kissing Maria was the last thing on her mind by the time her last day at the Campbell's cottage rolled around. Both she and Maria would be starting at the academy first thing tomorrow morning, and she could finally shake off this stupid secret identity business.

So obviously all she needed to do was tell Maria who she really was! That shouldn't be too difficult, right?

After a long and thoroughly fulfilling day of playing and chatting about friendship novels, Katarina followed the blonde over to the oak tree behind her house.

Or, well, she was about to, when Anne pulled her aside and sternly reminded her, "Don't forget to tell her this time."

Of course she wouldn't forget! She'd been itching to tell Maria who she really was this whole time! 

Well, kind of. She didn't want Maria to learn she was the villainess, but she did want her to know she was a noblewoman who would be able to attend the academy with her!

Katarina and Maria began scaling the oak behind the Campbell's home at the same time. By now, Katarina knew by heart which branch Maria liked to sit on at sunset. The blonde had different favorite branches depending on the time of day, Katarina had deduced.

Taking a seat on the tree limb, Katarina gazed over the emerald fields. The summer evening began to glow as the duke's daughter spoke with the light mage.

At some point, Katarina and Maria landed on the topic of her starting the academy tomorrow. 

Katarina took a breath, this was it. If there was ever a time to tell her friend who she really was, this was it. So she went for it. She was about to tell Maria her real identity, she really was.

But then, Maria leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Her brain stopped working for a minute.

She briefly wondered whether this was a doom flag. They were in a tree, and Katarina was suddenly so dizzy, she thought she might fall. Was this how she'd meet her doom? If so, it wasn't the worst way to go, was it?

Actually, was she falling? She felt light. She felt spinny and floaty and a lot of other things she didn't quite have words for.

Maria pulled back, and Katarina looked into her eyes. 

Oh. 

Yeah, she'd definitely fallen, alright. She'd fallen hard.

This was like that dream all over again, but somehow more heart-fluttery.

... her brain short-circuited at some point. 

As Rina's mind attempted to gain any kind of traction, she wondered distantly how a simple merchant's daughter such as herself could deserve such a beautiful moment with someone as amazing as Maria!

She should really be paying attention, though. Maria was saying something. 

"You mean so much to me, Rina Clayton. I want to stay by your side forever," the blonde spoke softly against the evening breeze, eyes filled with emotion.

Rina meant so much to her. Rina meant so much... to her?

"I. I. Uhhh... " the brunette needed a moment. That sounded like one of the confession lines from the game! How could anyone expect her to keep her heart under control after hearing that?

"You mean a lot to me too, Maria...  I wish... I wish I could stay here forever, too!" Rina replied, feeling her heart break as she remembered Maria would be attending magic school while she would be stuck travelling with her family's company! She bit her lip, "But you're going to go off to the academy and fall in love with someone, and I'm going to keep travelling with my family since our merchant company moves around a lot!" 

Maria pursed her lips, seemingly deep in thought. 

Rina tried her very best not to faint. Did... did Maria like her? As a... like, really close friend? Like, in the same way Sofia liked Princess Emerald? As a best friend? 

Somehow, what Anne said that time felt oddly fitting here, "I'm not quite sure that would be friendship, my Lady."

But... if it wasn't friendship...?

After some time passed, Maria spoke again, rousing the brunette from her tumultuous thoughts, "Rina, I'm going to do my best at the academy, I promise. And one day, once I graduate, I'll be able to be by your side all the time!"

"Th-that's great Maria! I know you'll do amazing!" Rina felt quite sure of that. She just knew the light mage could fly as high as the stars if she so chose! 

Still, she felt like something was being left unsaid. That's it! She needed to tell Maria how much she cared for her!

Leaning in, she tapped Maria's heart (a gesture she picked up from Sofia and Princess Emerald), and softly murmured, "And I'll always be... here for you." 

Was that the right thing to say? Rina didn't know.

All Rina knew was that she hoped she would be able to keep in touch with the light mage and stay her friend, even as her family's merchant company traveled throughout Sorcier.

On some level, Rina Clayton felt as if she were forgetting something when she and Anne left Maria's cottage that night....

---

Katarina airily wandered the halls of the academy, brimming with wary excitement. 

She was finally here. This was where the game began.

Sorcier Magic Academy. A place where Maria would meet the man she loved. A place where, with any luck, Katarina would avoid death, exile, or some other as of yet unknown bad end.

All she had to do was keep a low profile, stay out of Maria's way romantically, and let the heroine get her happy ending! 

(Of course, she would be supporting Maria as a friend the whole way!)

Katarina had told Geordo again, right before school began, that she was willing to break the engagement if he found someone he loved. He'd brushed her off again, apparently still content to use her as a shield from other women who wished to marry him. Oh well. It was only a matter of time until he met Maria.

And, as far as keeping a low profile went, she scored 70th on the entrance exams for the academy. That was about average, right? That way, she wouldn't stand out at all! All the better for avoiding doom flags!

Speaking of doom flags... Maria should be bumping into Prince Geordo about now, assuming the game was unfolding as it should. How sweet! Soon, the light mage would fall for him, or maybe one of the others, and they'd fall in love.

(Katarina had prepared for that her whole life. Why did the thought of Maria and one of her friends ending up together feel so hollow all of a sudden?)

Still, she was excited to see Maria again. She felt like there was something she forgot to tell her. Huh.

Somehow, she didn't feel as nervous as she'd expected. 

This was the place, right? This exact hallway was where she would meet her doom in the game! Where Geordo would cut her down after she attacked Maria with a knife!

And yet, it felt like that wouldn't happen. She would never hurt Maria! And, somehow, she didn't think Maria or Geordo would hurt her either! 

It was odd. She was here, living out a real otome game as the villainess, and she just couldn't for the life of her picture Maria condemning her to exile. The brunette tilted her head, trying to imagine it.

Nope! Katarina just couldn't picture Maria doing that. That didn't mean she could just ignore the doom flag, but somehow, it didn't seem quite as dangerous....

As she rounded a corner, someone bumped roughly into her before toppling over backwards from the shock.

It was Maria!

"Oh, hey Maria," Katarina greeted her cheerily, hoping she hadn't bumped her too hard.

There was a long beat of silence before Maria finally looked up to meet her eyes. Katarina felt that weird fluttery warmth she always felt around the blonde again.

"Rina?" Maria asked breathlessly.

"Maria! How's your first day so far?" Katarina noticed her friend had dropped some of her muffins on the ground when she tripped, and knelt down to grab one.

"Wha... wha... wha... " Maria looked a bit rattled. Oh no! She hadn't bumped her too hard, had she? The blonde looked her up and down several times before whisper-shouting, "What- what are you doing here?"

"Eh? Why wouldn't I be here?" Katarina was confused. And hungry. She nibbled the muffin in her hand.

Anne appeared at her side then, seeming slightly annoyed, "My Lady, please tell me you didn't forget to tell her?"

Katarina blinked.

"Tell her? Of course I told... wait," Katarina froze. 

Oh no! 

Oh no no no!

That was what she forgot! 

She never told Maria her real name! Or her status! Or that she was attending the academy!

"Ah! Oh no! Anne! I forgot to tell her!" Katarina wailed, grabbing her maid by the shoulders. Anne covered her face with her hands as the brunette turned back to Maria who was still crouching on the floor, "Maria, I'm actually Katarina Claes, daughter of Duke Claes! Sorry I forgot to mention it!"

Maria made a little noise.

Oh no! She didn't hate her now, did she? 

Oh gods, this was such a mistake! She kicked herself for trying to play this game of secret identities! Lying to the heroine was surely the behavior of a villainess, wasn't it?

Katarina was about to try to explain herself when Maria slumped over.

"Maria!" the brunette cried out, reaching out to catch her friend as she fainted.

---

And thus, after many, many years of deceiving and tricking the heroine, Katarina Claes, the villainess, paced back and forth outside the academy's infirmary, nervously awaiting her judgment.

She bit her thumbnail, heart pounding in her ears, as the minutes ticked by. 

Maria had passed out.

The nurse said it was a result of a sudden shock.

Katarina pressed her hands to her cheeks, scrunching her eyes closed.

This was bad!

A part of her was worried Maria might think Katarina lying to her for so long was some kind of bullying directed at her. She might even think she was a villainess!

More than that, though, she just didn't want Maria to be upset!

The blonde was so kind and gentle! Surely she deserved a better friend than one who would lie to her face for so many years!

"Lady Claes?" the voice of the school nurse shook her from her thoughts, "Miss Campbell is awake and asked to speak with you."

Katarina felt a pang of dread as she entered the infirmary. She knew the day would come when she would reveal her real self to Maria... but that day was supposed to be yesterday, not today!

Maria sat up on the little bed as Katarina took a seat next to her.

"H-hey, Maria," the brunette started shakily.

Maria's beautiful eyes met hers. She felt her heart skip a beat.

Just last night, those sky-blue eyes of hers had been gazing so deeply into Katarina's soul she felt like she might melt. It hadn't even been a full day since Maria's adorable little lips placed a kiss upon her cheek as they sat in the old oak tree behind the Campbell's house.

Somehow... that all felt a world away now. As if it had happened in another lifetime. 

(Katarina was quite familiar with that sensation, so she'd know.)

"Hello... Ri-- um. L-lady Claes," Maria couldn't meet her eyes.

"Just Katarina is fine, really!" she assured.

Oh, please don't hate me, Maria! Katarina prayed internally.

"Lady Katarina," Maria began, still seeming a tad too formal for Katarina's liking, "I--"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you who I was, Maria!" the brunette blurted, cutting off whatever Maria was going to say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to lie to you and deceive you or anything! I really wanted to be your friend, and I love hanging out with you and you're really nice! I'm sorry! Please don't hate me!"

Katarina squeezed her eyes shut as she rambled. She interrupted Maria, which may not have been the best thing to do during an apology, but whatever. The guilt she felt when she realized she hadn't told Maria the truth last night was overbearing.

After an eternity, the brunette chanced a peek through her fingers. Maria was staring at her curiously.

"Katarina," the blonde started.

Katarina gulped.

"There is no one in the world I care about more than you. Of course I don't hate you. I don't think that's even possible," Maria said slowly and quietly, but confidently, "You are... you are the one I would stand beside through anything."

Katarina blinked (and blushed). Well. She wasn't mad. So... that was something. 

"May I ask, though, why you didn't tell me who you really were?" Maria asked a question the brunette had been expecting.

She knew she had to own up and explain the truth now (no more lying to the heroine!), but she didn't really want to explain all of the truth. Namely, the part where she had literally forgotten who she was after Maria kissed her.

After some fidgeting, Katarina eventually tried to reply, "Well... that's because... "

"Because...?" Maria prompted her after she trailed off.

"Because I forgot," Katarina said simply.

"... you forgot?"

"Yeah. That was such a tearful goodbye scene! It slipped my mind with everything else going on," Katarina tried to explain.

"'Everything else'? We were just sitting on a tree branch!" Maria gave her a look.

"Yeah, but then you... " Katarina touched her cheek where the blonde had kissed her.

Maria looked like she'd seen a ghost. She went white as a sheet, averting her eyes sharply, "I! That was...! I didn't mean... I didn't know you were engaged to a prince!"

The blonde covered her face with her hands, voice getting softer with each word.

"Ehhh? It's no big deal, really!" Katarina sounded more confident that she felt. That little, chaste kiss on her cheek felt like a huge deal for some reason she couldn't quite place. Quickly, she added, "And don't worry about that engagement thing! I'm sure Geordo will call it off when he meets someone he loves for real!"

Someone like you, Katarina thought.

"He said I reminded him of someone. I... I get the sense Prince Geordo is quite... " Maria trailed off. Katarina looked at her curiously, before she added, "I-it's nothing. Never mind."

The brunette tilted her head slightly. What sense did she get from Geordo? Also... they had met? So, things were going like in the game, huh?

"But... I can kind of understand you... forgetting last night. But why did you use a fake identity from the very beginning?" Maria's brows knit together adorably. She didn't look upset, just confused.

Katarina took a breath.

She explained everything as best she could. Not the Fortune Lover stuff, but about how she needed to go out and play in the country so her family wouldn't be so annoyed by her antics around the estate. She explained how her mother wanted her to use a fake name so she wouldn't embarrass the Claes family, and how she was afraid Maria might not want to stay friends with her if she found out she was a noble. Maria nodded along, asking little questions every now and then, which the brunette did her best to answer.

Eventually, Katarina got caught up to the present, filling Maria in on her side of what had been going on for the last six years.

Luckily, and Katarina thanked the gods many times over for this particular bit of fortune, Maria didn't seem upset or angry with Katarina at all by the time she got done explaining herself. In fact, she seemed grateful for Katarina's friendship over the years!

"Thank you for everything, Rina--" Maria clasped her hands over her mouth, "L-Lady Katarina, I mean."

"Ehhh? You can call me 'Rina' anytime, Maria!" Katarina beamed at her. Somehow, Rina felt nicer coming from the light mage.

"That... that wouldn't be proper! Not to mention, I'm a commoner!" Maria was blushing again. 

"So what? If anybody has any problems with it, they'll have to talk to me!" Katarina retorted. And then, a sad thought occurred to her, "... unless you don't want to call me 'Rina'?

"I-I don't mind calling you that! Really! It's just... a bit informal for a place like this, isn't it?" Maria was still hesitant.

"I like 'Rina' though!" the duke's daughter replied, "You can call me that when we're alone, if you want. It can be our little secret!"

Maria's face reddened at that, "O-okay. Rina."

---

Katarina found her friends chatting around one of the tables on the green around the campus.

Geordo and Keith were talking to each other under the tree, both of them wearing big smiles as the spoke like the good friends they were. Nicol was writing in a notebook as Sophia read a friendship novel next to him, Alan and Mary were giggling about something.... 

Ah, it was going to be a good year! Katarina could feel it! She really had such great friends! She just had to put together the final piece of the puzzle... adding Maria to her friend group.

In her mind, it was quite simple. 

She would introduce Maria to her friends, and, sooner or later, Maria would select the capture target she wanted to fall in love with, and they would all live happily ever after.

After being let out of the infirmary, Maria went back to her dorm room to get settled in. Katarina asked if she wanted Anne to tend to her until she was feeling batter, but Maria insisted she was fine. After apologizing profusely for making Maria miss her first class, she told the blonde she would be meeting her friends at a certain table on the campus green. Katarina told Maria she was welcome to join them, so she should be showing up here soon.

Katarina made her way over to her friends an took a seat at the table.

"By the way, there's someone I want you guys to meet!" Katarina said after talking with the others for a little while, "She's a student here, Maria Campbell! She's one of my best friends!"

"One of your... best friends? What do you mean, sister? I've never heard of her," Keith asked skeptically.

"Yeah! Maria's one of my oldest friends!" Katarina explained, resulting in even more confused looks from her friends.

"O-oldest? In what way?" Mary tilted her head, "Do you mean she's elderly?"

"No, no," Katarina laughed, "I've known her since I was nine!"

"Ehhh?" Mary looked dumbfounded, "But... I've known you since we were both nine, you never mentioned anyone named Maria!"

"Yeah... it's kind of... a long story," Katarina rubbed the back of her neck.

"She probably just forgot to tell us," Alan chuckled, focusing on writing something in his notebook.

"Right!" Katarina agreed happily. She couldn't admit she didn't tell them about Maria because she didn't want to break the game and get in the way of Maria's happy end!

"Tsk!" Mary clicked her tongue, "There's been another rival this whole time?"

"Rival?" Katarina arched an eyebrow. What did Mary mean by that?

"Miss Maria Campbell... is the common-born light mage attending this year, correct?" Geordo gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Yeah!" Katarina grinned.

"And you have been... friends with a commoner for nearly six years now?"  the blond prince narrowed his eyes at her.

"Y-yeah... " Katarina felt a little nervous under his gaze, "I went to Maria's house to hang out every weekend."

"Ehhh? You--! That's where you were going on the weekends, sister?" Keith looked surprised.

"Oh, wow! You're friends with a commoner!" Sophia's eyes twinkled, "This reminds me of--!"

"Of Sofia and Princess Emerald, right?" Katarina finished for her.

"Ehh? W-well, they were more than friends... " Sophia trailed off. 

Katarina blinked. Why did she always feel like she was missing something about that book?

Nicol didn't say anything (he usually didn't), but he looked curiously as Katarina spoke. When she looked at him, it felt like he knew something she didn't. Huh.

"I know you guys will love her, trust me! Every time I see her, I just feel like I'm flying or something! She makes me feel fluffy inside, and I never want to not be around her!" Katarina wiggled slightly, just thinking how amazing it felt to be around Maria!

There she was! Maria walked onto the patch of grass as the sunlight shone down on her, twinkling off the locket Katarina had gifted her. 

Katarina clasped her hands, eyes sparkling as she watched Maria approaching her. 

"Hmm," Prince Geordo tilted his head back, eyes narrowed at the light mage.

"S-sister?" Keith asked, as if something was worrying him.

Mary opened her mouth, then closed it again. Sophia and Nicol shared a look. Alan just gave her a little wave of greeting, before glancing back down at the music sheets he was scribbling notes on.

Katarina hardly heard them. Seeing the light mage here at the academy was just so amazing! Maria was so beautiful, and the way the sun was streaming through her hair made her look like an angel!

"This is Maria!" Katarina exclaimed, running over and taking the blonde's hand as she presented her to the group.

"Um... Hello! Nice to meet you, I'm Maria Clae--!" Maria went red all of a sudden, clapping a hand over her mouth, "Campbell! Maria Campbell!"

"Mm-hmm... " Mary pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at the blonde. An odd smile crept up her face.

Katarina looked back and forth between Mary and Maria. The copper-haired girl was scrutinizing the light mage very closely. Was Mary... already considering Maria a friend? How lucky! She was happy they would get along so well!

Now that Maria was here, it would be easier to explain everything! Soon, Katarina started rambling off the tale of how she'd gone off to Maria's every weekend to play in the country, and how she'd used a fake name the whole time. Maria chimed in occasionally, adding little bits here and there, and correcting Katarina on some of the details of her stories. 

By the time they finished, the others seemed to understand everything as much as they could.

"So... you really forgot to tell her you were a duke's daughter the whole time?" Alan asked, smirking slightly.

"It-it slipped my mind!" Katarina blushed, "And... I didn't want to scare her off or something...."

Alan leaned his head back and laughed heartily.

"Why exactly would telling her your status scare her off?" Prince Geordo asked, recovering from whatever it was he had been thinking about, "If you were friends with her for several years, surely she wouldn't mind knowing who you really are?"

"Exactly," Maria sighed, "I just told her that earlier."

"Well, I know that now!" Katarina huffed, pouting slightly.

She really had forgotten! It was an honest mistake! Surely stuff like that happened all the time, right?

"But Maria's amazing, I'm sure you'll all get along great!" Katarina smiled warmly at the blonde, who looked away with a blush. Oh no! She hadn't frightened her with her villainous looking face, had she?

"Y-yes, I look forward to contributing to the academy however I can with my light magic," Maria smiled at the group.

"You don't need magic for that, Maria!" Katarina grinned at her friend, "You'd outshine the sun even if you weren't a light mage!"

"Ah," Keith murmured, leaning his head back a bit.

Maria made a little noise Katarina couldn't quite identify. She almost looked like she would faint again! Honestly, was she really fine? Did the nurse release her too early?

Katarina tried to change the topic, hoping to calm her down.

"Plus, you make amazing sweets!" the brunette added. She would make sure the light mage could use the academy's kitchens to bake! She had gotten herself quite addicted to Maria's treats!

"Big brother knows how to cook too--!" Sophia started. Nicol tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a look, to which her shoulders slumped a bit.

Katarina grinned. Maria was sitting with all of her other friends at this little table at the academy. No more secrets, no more lies, and no more problems! Except for her doom flags, but she didn't feel afraid of those with Maria around. 

Soon enough, everyone fell into a comfortable and familiar feeling conversation. Maria fit into the group rather effortlessly, and Katarina was surprised at just how natural this all felt. The light mage would surely win the heart of one of her friends by the year's end! 

After some time, Katarina had to leave, along with Alan and Sophia. It was time for their next class, Introduction to Spellcraft.

"Miss Campbell, a word?" Prince Geordo called Maria over as Katarina stood up.

Maria's eyes widened in surprise as he pulled her aside.

Ah! Was this...? It was! An romantic event flag!

Well, she wouldn't get in their way! Soon, she was sure Geordo would come to her, asking to end their engagement. Katarina hoped she could at least stay friends with the prince, she really did enjoy hanging out with him, after all!

Walking away from the table, Katarina did her best to ignore the odd sensation in her heart as she considered the idea of Maria and Geordo falling in love with each other.

---

Katarina was sad to say she saw very little of Maria for the next few weeks. 

It seemed the light mage was quite preoccupied with her classes, as she always seemed to have something to do whenever Katarina wanted to hang out alone with her. A few members of the Student Council were doing their work on the balcony on the third floor of the academy one day, when Katarina finally got another moment with her.

Katarina was nibbling on one of the delicious, handmade cupcakes Maria had prepared for the council when Alan announced that the headmaster of the academy wanted to speak with the princes about something. He and Geordo headed off to the main office, leaving the brunette alone with Maria.

"So... Maria," Katarina started awkwardly. She'd been meaning to ask her this ever since Maria met her friends, but actually asking her felt like she was saying something wrong for some reason. She took a breath, "Do you have anyone you like?"

Maria's brow furrowed, "'Like'?"

"As in... someone you're interested in?" Katarina pushed.

"I'm very fond of you, Rin- Lady Katarina," the blonde murmured, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.

Katarina blinked. Well, yes, obviously she was her friend and all, but she didn't mean that kind of like!

(Maria didn't mean that kind of like. Right?)

"T-thank you, Maria!" the brunette reddened a bit.

The blonde quirked her lips to one side, as if contemplating what to say next.

"I'm grateful to be by your side," Maria glanced around the area furtively, "I... really was not expecting to see you here."

"Yeah... I'm sorry about that again," the brunette bit her lip, silently cursing herself for letting that charade go on so long, "How have you been liking the academy so far?"

"It's nice here!" Maria gave a sunny smile, "Everyone is much kinder than I expected at first!"

Well, that was nice! But still, Katarina remembered something from Fortune Lover that made her think otherwise....

"Maria, have any of the ladies here been picking on you?" the brunette asked tentatively. In the game, Maria often got picked on by the noblewomen (chiefly, Katarina) at the academy.

"No, not really," Maria answered a bit more casually than Katarina would have expected, "A few days after the semester began, a group of ladies came up to me at lunch and started harassing me. One even threatened me with fire magic."

"Eeehhh?!! How is that 'not really'? That's awful, Maria! Who were they? What were their names?" Katarina instantly took Maria's hands in hers.

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise at Katarina reaction. After a beat, she continued, "It wasn't much of a problem for me," a smile crept up Maria's lips, "I told them if they attacked me, they would have to deal with you. They backed off pretty quickly after that."

Katarina blinked, taken aback. 

In no route of Fortune Lover that she could recall had Maria ever stood up to her bullies. Normally, one of the capture targets would save her. But here, Maria actually told the bullies to leave her alone? And she did so by saying Katarina would defend her?

The duke's daughter felt her heart swell. Maria... really trusted her, didn't she?

Wow. She really shouldn't be so moved by that. But she was.

Without thinking, she pulled Maria into a tight hug. Surprisingly, the blonde didn't seem shocked by the sudden embrace, and even leaned into it. Still, she was a bit flustered.

"Aah! Rina! This is--!" Maria squeaked, "Err, I mean, Lady Katarina."

"I told you before, Rina's fine," Katarina said, drawing back slightly, but not breaking the hug, "And, if you call me Katarina, you can drop the 'Lady'. I'm a monkey girl, remember?"

"I-I really don't think I could bring myself to call the fiancee of one of the nation's princes 'monkey girl'."

"Too late, Sunshine. You've called me that a few times already," Katarina smirked at her, recalling the nickname she had dubbed Maria with some years ago.

"I thought I said not to call me that!" Maria blushed, but didn't break eye contact.

"I will as soon as you stop being my sunshine," Katarina murmured, surprising herself by leaning in closer, "So, probably never."

Maria opened her mouth to respond, but something caught her eye. She turned and found Prince Geordo had stepped out onto the balcony behind them. Maria let out a little squeak of surprise when she noticed him standing there.

The prince's eyes zeroed in on the way Katarina's hands rested on Maria's waist for a moment.

"Ah... so. That's how it is," Geordo murmured quietly.

What did he mean by that? Katarina wondered.

---

Katarina sat opposite Prince Geordo, nibbling lightly at one of the sweets he'd offered her. She was visiting him unannounced in his suite at the academy dorms, how lucky he happened to have spare macarons prepared!

The weeks at the academy came and went. It was already more than halfway through the year! 

As Katarina chatted idly with her fiance, she contemplated what she had to do. It was clear by now that Maria was on the Geordo route. He was constantly shooting little looks at the blonde, and, although Maria was clearly on good terms with the rest of the council, she didn't seem to have hit any romantic event flags with any of the others.

Eventually, Geordo sighed, "Lady Katarina, may I ask why you have come to visit me at this hour tonight?"

Well. Here it went.

"Um, I just was going to say... since the scar on my forehead has healed, you don't have to stay engaged to me any longer. You're free to pursue whatever relationship you want!" Katarina blurted, suddenly becoming very interested in the patterns on her boots.

Geordo paused, the smile on his face faltering. Katarina glanced up at some point, and waited for him to say something, anything. He stared into her eyes for what felt like an eternity. Katarina sensed he was thinking something she didn't understand again.

After a long pause, the prince let out a long, withering sigh. He gave her what almost looked like an apologetic smile, "Very well. If that is what you wish, then I suppose our engagement shall be ended."

Katarina blinked. Wait, really?

"Lady Katarina," Geordo leaned forward to take her hand in his own, "I hope you... I truly hope you can find your happiness. I will always cherish the time we spent together, and I hope that you can find your place with someone you cherish as deeply as that."

Katarina blinked away tears. Why was she crying? She knew this day was coming! She'd known her whole life!

Ugh! Why couldn't she just... know how she felt? About anything!

"Ohhhkay, umm," Katarina rubbed at her eyes, "I... I really cherish our time together too! I really like hanging out with you, Prince Geordo! But! I... I wanna stay friends with you, okay? I want to see you and spend time with you like we always have. Is... that okay?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," the prince gave her an almost sad smile, as he pulled her hand close, kissing her lightly on the fingers. He held her for a long moment, before eventually letting her hand fall from his, "I shall wait until after the graduation ceremony to make the annulment public. I wouldn't want to dampen your academic experience by having wild rumors circulate whilst we are all still here at the school."

"R-right," Katarina breathed. That made sense. The graduation event was where he and Maria would hook up anyways, right?

As she stepped into the hall, she thought over what just happened.

Geordo... agreed to end their engagement. After all those years. In the game, Geordo wanted to annul the engagement so he could be with Maria. 

So... did that mean Geordo was in love with Maria?

They talked a lot, and he always smiled at her. She made cookies that he liked. He would often chat with her when she was sitting on a tree branch, studying runes.

But... that was fine. That was fine! She promised to support Maria in whatever relationship she chose to pursue!

Even if the thought of Maria and Geordo getting together made her feel weird and cold and kind of empty.

Katarina felt a sliver of ice in her chest. She didn't know why.

It was fine.

(But it really wasn't.)

---

A few weeks later, Maria disappeared. 

It happened shortly after a group of noblewomen confronted Katarina in the cafeteria in what seemed to be a bizarre, real-life reenaction of one of the doom flag events from Fortune Lover.

Katarina had spent her entire life preparing to avoid doom flags.

And here she was, actually facing one that was straight out of the game... and she didn't feel nearly as scared as she expected to. 

In fact, after the initial shock of it all wore off, she felt a huge relief wash over her when Maria and her friends appeared in the cafeteria. In the game, Maria showed up at that even to condemn her for her crimes, resulting in her being exiled.

But, the moment she met Maria's eyes across the hall, her fear melted away.

(Somewhere deep down, she knew Maria wouldn't condemn her.)

She wasn't Maria from the game, was she? She was just Maria.

She wasn't a heroine. She wasn't perfect. Even though, somehow, that made her more perfect to Katarina.

Maria was a light in her life. A beacon of happiness and warmth and love and kindness that always seemed to fill her heart more than anything or anyone else.

And then, she was gone.

Katarina felt like her world turned upside down, like she'd lost part of herself.

Maria vanished. That wasn't in Fortune Lover, not in any of the routes she played.

It left her with a feeling of dread worse than when she confronted her own doom flags.

She needed to find out what was going on here. She needed Maria. She needed to be by her side.

A few days later, President Sirius cast a dark spell on her, sending her into a trance that lasted for two days. Katarina wished she could help the redhead. He looked so sad when he hexed her....

When she awoke, having been informed by Acchan where Maria was being kept, she needed to get there immediately.

Anne told her she should stay in bed and rest. Keith and Mary tried to hold her back. 

She wasn't going to stop.

Katarina burst into the basement. 

Maria was sitting on a cot with a shackle around her leg. 

"Maria!" the brunette called out louder than she probably should have. They were trying not to alert Sirius, after all.

"Rina!" the light mage's face lit up as she entered the cellar.

Katarina strode over to her and pulled her into a hug. The blonde let out a little squeak of surprise as she did so.

After some time, she broke their embrace, letting Maria step back.

But... something was off. 

The others were giving them an odd look. Maria was pressing her fingers to her lips, face burning red.

Oh.

Katarina didn't just hug her, she realized. She may have, sort of, kind of... kissed her. 

On the lips. 

Somewhere, deep in Katarina's mind, one of the members of her Inner Council flipped a table.

"Ah! Maria, I-- !" Katarina started, fumbling her words, "I-I-I... uhhh. are you alright?"

Maria looked up at her, eyes full of... Katarina didn't quite know what. But it was a good look on Maria, really!

"I'm quite alright, yes," Maria basically whispered, but her face was close enough to Katarina's that she could hear.

"Oh. Good," was all the brunette could murmur in response, "S-sorry I kissed--"

"Don't apologize, please," Maria said, staring down at the floor. 

Suddenly, the blonde took Katarina's hands in her own. She leaned in dangerously close to Katarina. Her heart did a flip. She thought for a second she was going to fall back asleep for two more days. Or perhaps that she'd never woken up.

The look in Maria's eyes changed after a second. She pulled back hesitantly. 

Katarina almost felt disappointed.

She didn't have time to linger on it though. She needed to help the Student Council President!

---

After Sirius-- no, Rafael, had defeated the dark spirit that had been possessing him, he went off with some workers from the Ministry. Some other investigators with the Ministry stayed behind to interrogate Katarina and the others.

Katarina told the officials everything she knew about what had happened, which wasn't really all that much. She made sure to tell them that Rafael seemed like a really good person at heart, and that he didn't seem like he wanted to hurt anyone, which Maria corroborated.

It was then that Maria told her half of the story. How she had gone after the President, seeing the traces of dark magic coming from him after those noblewomen accused Katarina. She told them how he had used some kind of drug to knock her unconscious, and how she had woken up in the basement of the shed.

Katarina was more and more horrified at each thing Maria said. It didn't seem like she was hurt in any way, physically or emotionally, but the thought of Maria being kidnapped...! Katarina couldn't bear it!

After some time, the investigation concluded, and everyone returned to their dorm rooms. Katarina pulled Maria into her own dorm, eager to have a moment to speak with her about everything. 

Anne looked quite concerned as well. The maid quickly set out to get some refreshments for the girls, worried that Katarina hadn't gotten enough to eat or drink after being unconscious for two days.

That left Katarina alone with Maria. She really hoped Maria wouldn't be upset about the brunette accidentally kissing her earlier!

Actually, no. That wasn't the problem. Katarina was the one who was upset now.

"What were you thinking? Going after a dark magic user by yourself? Maria, you scared me to death! Just think, you could have gotten hurt!" Katarina scolded the blonde, fixing her with a firm stare.

Maria giggled.

Any tension Katarina had felt melted away at the sound. 

(The villainous look on her face must not faze the heroine, she realized.)

"I... I don't like the idea of you getting yourself in trouble for my sake, Maria," Katarina continued, though the intensity in her voice had ebbed, "I'm really not worth the trouble."

"Yes, you are," Maria replied firmly. She kept her gaze  fixed for a moment before her eyes widened, "I mean, um. I wasn't really in any danger. The President took care of me and gave me food and everything while I was down there. It really didn't seem like he wanted to hurt anyone."

Katarina relaxed as Maria explained what had happened.

It seemed Rafael had done his best to tend to Maria while she was in his custody, and was quite reluctant to harm her or anyone else, despite the dark shadow that hung over him trying to convince him otherwise.

"Anyways, are you really in a position to criticize me about doing dangerous things? You walked into a dark magic circle, Rina!" Maria put her hands on her hips.

"Of course I did, Rafael looked so sad and lonely! I wasn't just going to leave him there!" the brunette shot back.

"That's not the first dangerous thing you've done, though!" Maria narrowed her eyes, "You're always leaping headfirst into things! You shouldn't be complaining to me that I tried to save you for once!"

"Yes, I should complain to you, Maria! If anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do!" Katarina blurted, "You mean everything to me!"

"Well, you mean the world to me too, Katarina Claes!" Maria fired back, not missing a beat, "If anything had happened to you when you stepped into that magic circle tonight, I'd be totally lost without you!"

"Right!" Katarina agreed.

"Exactly!" Maria confirmed.

What exactly did they just agree to? Katarina didn't quite know.

Anne returned at that moment, pushing a cart full of energizing foods and beverages.

Katarina happily indulged herself, obviously sparing the best bits of the meal for Maria. The blonde nibbled on her snacks next to her, as they sat on either side of the desk in Katarina's room. Her desk was about the size and shape of the Campbell's dining table, she realized. 

Katarina hadn't had a night like this in far too long.

Maria agreed to spend the night in her room after that.  

Anne prepared another small bed for the blonde in no time. She clearly remembered just how casually Maria had disappeared the first time, how the blonde's receding form as she walked away across the campus green was the last she saw of her until tonight.

As Maria snuggled into the bed next to her, Katarina felt a wave of relief wash over her. Maria was safe. Everything was okay.

The tension in her shoulders didn't deflate completely, however. Next week was the graduation party, where she might very well meet her doom.

---

Katarina took a deep breath, taking one last look around her dorm room to make sure everything was ready for her to flee to exile, should the need arise.

Earlier this year, she'd felt confident that she'd dodged all her bad ends, but then Maria vanished and she started to doubt herself. What if there was some hidden route, some secret ending not even Acchan had unlocked? Some other capture target Katarina had never met could show up and send her to her doom out of the blue!

Her best case scenario here would be the friendship ending, right? 

That one didn't end with Katarina meeting her doom. As long as she was good enough friends with Maria, she could still potentially hit that ending, right?

But even more than that, something weighed on her mind.

This was it, the graduation event. This was where Maria would choose who she wanted to end up with, who she loved.

Maria... was in love with someone. She had to be. And she'd kiss them and go off to live happily ever after with them. The person she loved.

Katarina had been ready for Geordo to leave her for Maria ever since she first met him. So why, now that the day was finally here, did the idea of Maria falling in love with him (or any of the others for that matter) feel like a shard of ice was twisting in her chest?

Katarina milled aimlessly about the graduation party for a while. Anne's advice not to overeat went by the wayside as she gorged herself on treats as she skimmed the crowd.

Eventually, her eyes landed on Maria. The blonde was standing off to the side of the party under a weeping willow.

Katarina made her way over to Maria. 

As she did, she noticed Mary clasping her hands together and watching her intently. Sophia was there too, giving her a sweet, encouraging smile. Nicol gave her a heart-stopping smile too, one she tried not to look at very long, as it was blinding. Keith flashed a supportive, brotherly smile at her as well. Alan was standing with Geordo by the stage; Geordo exhaled slightly, before nodding politely at Katarina, Alan just looked a bit confused.

Katarina felt confused too. Why was everyone looking at her like that? 

She shook her head, she needed to talk to Maria about which capture target she would choose, or if she would go for the friendship ending.

"Maria," she began firmly.

"Yes, Rina?" the blonde looked at her with illegally adorable wide eyes. She stood in the sunlight, framed beautifully by the willow behind her.

"Is there anyone you are interested in? Romantically?" Katarina cut right to the chase.

"Yes," Maria responded immediately.

"Oh," Katarina felt her heart sink, "Are you sure you... love them?"

"Yes, absolutely. With all my heart," Maria cupped her hands to her chest, fingers brushing the locket Katarina had given her a couple years ago. The brunette felt her heart flutter.

"R-really? It's true... love, then?" she pressed. She had to be sure.

"'It's the type of love that sweeps me off my feet. That fills my heart and makes me feel complete'," Maria smiled at her, quoting one of the friendship novels they'd read at her cottage back when they were kids.

"You should tell them how you feel!" Katarina hoped she sounded more genuine than she felt. Why did she not want Maria to confess to Geordo now?

"I'm trying to!" Maria blurted.

"Eh?" What did she mean by that? She wasn't trying to confess, she hadn't even gone near Geordo so far!

"Unfortunately, they're a bit dense," Maria added with a huff.

Dense? Were any of the Fortune Lover capture targets dense? Alan could be a bit lacking in perception, but he still knew Maria liked him at the confession scene!

"I've tried confessing to this person before...but they just don't seem to hear me," the blonde continued.

Whoever this dense person was didn't deserve someone as wonderful as Maria! Surely anyone should be able to see how amazing she was! How could anyone miss a confession from her?

"Y-you should just go up to them and tell them you like them, Maria... " Katarina rubbed the back of her neck hesitantly.

"I've tried that too. However... the person I love is quite oblivious. She did, in fact, forget to tell me she was a duke's daughter for the almost seven years I knew her, you know? So I really shouldn't expect her to understand something like a love confession," Maria gave a dramatic sigh, shoulders slumping.

Katarina had to take a minute to work her brain through everything that had just been said.

Wait. 'Her'? 'Her' who? Also... Maria liked girls? Was there a hidden route?

And what was the other thing she said? That the girl she likes forgot to tell her she was a... duke's daughter....

Alright, yeah. That one was pretty specific.

Were there... were there any other girls who were duke's daughters who forgot to tell Maria their real identities after knowing her for seven years at the academy?

The brunette glanced around skeptically.

No. What Maria just said... she meant....

"Um... Maria... the person you like... " Katarina felt the strangest cocktail of hope and fear swirling around inside her as she asked, "Is it me?"

Maria nodded.

Katarina almost fainted. 

"Yes, it is you, Rina," the blonde took her hands, "The only one I want to stay beside for my whole life... is you."

"Whoa... " Katarina breathed.

She hadn't been ready for that. 

(Even if, on some level, she kind of had.)

Actually hearing the heroine... no, not the heroine, Maria... confess to her? 

She might need to lie down for a minute.

Oh. Ohhhhhhh.

That thing she felt when she was around Maria. It wasn't friendship.

It was....

"Is... is that okay, Rina?" the light mage asked, alerting Katarina to just how long she'd been staring into empty space.

"Eh?"

"I... like you. You don't have to answer right now, if you don't want, but could you tell me if you feel the same?" Maria seemed to be waiting with bated breath.

"I do," Katarina answered before the words she was saying even registered in her mind, then added,  "I think. I... I really like you a lot too, Maria. And I want to be with you all the time, and kiss you... on the lips, and climb trees with you and...."

The duke's daughter rambled on for some time, before warily asking, "Does... does that mean I like you?" 

"Yes, I think it does," the light mage smiled warmly at her, cheeks pink.

"Oh. Good," was all Katarina could think to say.

"But... can I kiss you?" Maria asked tentatively, adorably.

"Eh?" Katarina went scarlet.

"I... " Maria glanced randomly about the courtyard. Suddenly, she closed her eyes tight. When she opened them again, they were filled with rigid determination, "I want to kiss you, Katarina Claes."

"Okay," Katarina breathed before she knew what she was saying.

She was about to be kissed. By Maria. She wished she weren't so dizzy right now, so she could enjoy it more. She really hoped she wouldn't faint.

Maria leaned in.

Katarina leaned in.

The brunette held her breath. Surely Maria would pull back, right? 

Or something would interrupt them? That always happened in anime, right? The characters would be about to kiss, and something would come and break them apart right before--

Maria's lips touched hers.

Katarina's heart stopped.

She heard a ringing in her ears. Or maybe it was an angelic choir, signalling her arrival in heaven.

Maria deepened the kiss after a few seconds. Their noses bumped together. Katarina wrapped her arms around Maria's waist, pulling her close, never wanting this moment to end.

Her heart felt light and fluffy. So did her head.

And...

"Kuh!!!" Katarina gasped, lurching back.

"Ah! Rina, are you alright?" the blonde stared at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just... " Katarina huffed, regaining her breath.

Maria was looking at her, concerned.

"I forgot I needed to breathe," the brunette admitted, embarrassed.

Maria held her gaze for another moment. And then she started giggling. It was the most beautiful sound Katarina had ever heard.

Whatever else happened at the graduation party that day faded into a blur. 

Katarina loved Maria. And Maria loved her back.

And, Katarina was quite sure, this was much, much better than the friendship ending.

---

Katarina held Maria's hand gently.

Sitting at the table in the Claes estate must be a bit off-putting for Maria. She looked really nervous. Katarina couldn't blame her; she was nervous too! Maybe even more nervous, considering she was much more familiar with the intense, scrutinizing stare the Duchess Claes was casting upon the pair.

Much like when she first asked to go to Maria's place all those years ago, Katarina thought this would be a much easier situation if she only had to explain things to her father. Unfortunately, when Katarina returned from the academy with the news she had fallen in love, the Duke had eagerly run off to the capitol city in a carriage to make preparations for a party in celebration of his daughter's love.

That left Katarina and Maria alone at Claes manor. 

Alone with the Duchess, that is.

The brunette squeezed Maria's hand under the table, comforting her as best she could.

"You do realize the rumors that will spread as a result of you terminating your engagement to a prince?" her mother narrowed her eyes like a hawk.

"Yes," Katarina squeaked.

"As well as the complications that come with a noblewoman entering a relationship with a commoner?" her mother continued.

"Yes, mother, I know," the brunette's chest was tight under her mother's intense scrutiny.

"All of that isn't mentioning the fact that you are both women, something that makes for an... unconventional relationship under even the very best of circumstances?" the Duchess concluded, voice firm and cold.

Yes, yes, Katarina knew all that! She knew she wasn't supposed to be a capture target! She knew their love wasn't really one of the allowable options! The heroine and the villainess weren't supposed to get together, obviously! But... Katarina had no intention of letting the game tell her what to do. Not anymore.

Katarina took a deep breath, "... so. Do you support our relationship, Mother?" 

"Of course," the Duchess replied without missing a beat, "I just wanted to make sure you understood the ramifications here. Yours won't be a simple relationship, so, as a child of this house, I do expect you to take responsibility for any complications you may cause for Miss Campbell."

Maria's eyes widened. She looked up at Katarina's mother for the first time, "Ehh? Lady Claes, you... you're really okay with... me?"

The Duchess pursed her lips, "I suppose if Katarina was willing to give that to you," she gestured to the locket around Maria's neck, "you must be quite special to her, yes?"

"Ehh?" Maria lifted the locket carefully, eyeing it with wonder, "Wh-what is this, Katarina?"

The brunette blinked. She hadn't really wanted to tell the story of that thing right now.

"W-well, that's just... I mean, it's not really a--" Katarina waved her hands frantically, trying to find a way to change the subject.

"I made that locket myself," the Duchess cut her off, "Katarina came up to me one day, begging me to make her a necklace. She said it had to be the most 'beautiful, perfect, amazing necklace in the whole world, for the most beautiful girl in the world'."

Katarina went scarlet, "Mother! You-you don't need to tell this story!"

The Duchess Claes was an expert at crafting jewelry with her earth magic; she had refined her skills to cut and shape gems and precious metals to near perfection. Naturally, when she needed a gift for Maria's birthday, her mom was the first thought she had. Of course, mustering the courage to ask for her help was another story.

"At the time, I thought she was talking about herself," her mother continued, "But I suppose she had someone else in mind all along, hm?"

Katarina buried her burning face in her hands. That was too much!

"K-Katarina?" Maria whispered next to her.

The brunette looked up, and found Maria's eyes swimming with emotion, "Ah! Maria, are you alright?"

"Mmm," Maria nodded, pinching her lips together, "I'm fine!"

"Hmm," the Duchess hummed across the table.

"Wh-what?" Katarina asked, turning her focus back to her mom.

"Oh, nothing," her mother smirked at her, "Nothing at all."

Katarina tilted her head. What did she mean by that?

Some time later, Katarina led Maria to the second floor of the Claes estate, stepping outside.

Maria followed her onto the balcony.

The spring wind spread the scent of the little lilies she had woven into her golden locks. Katarina resisted the urge to tuck a strand of Maria's hair behind her ear.

"You know... I really find it hard to believe you grew up here," Maria mused, resting against the banister.

"Ehh? Why?" Katarina turned to her.

"I just can't picture someone who would fight a raccoon over a boot living in this giant mansion," the light mage gave her a little smile.

"Okay, first of all, that raccoon stole my boot, and Anne would have been mad if I let it get away," the brunette tried to explain.

"You shouldn't have taken your boots off then!" Maria countered.

"I wanted to test how deep the quicksand was!" Katarina shot back.

"It wasn't quicksand! And why would you test that by standing in it?"

"I liked how squishy it felt!"

Maria held her gaze for a moment before Katarina burst into a fit of giggles. 

This was... perfect. Heroine or not, Maria was someone special. The most special, really. She made Katarina not care how badly she broke the game as long as it meant being next to her.

Maria leaned in, and Katarina closed the distance. 

It was weird. No matter how many times they kissed, it always felt like Katarina was going to go dizzy from it. Even when she remembered to breathe! 

As expected of an otome game heroine, she supposed.

"I.. is this a secret route?" Katarina whispered against her lips.

"You do know that, one day you'll have to tell me what all those odd things you say mean, don't you? 'Secret routes' and 'doom flags' and 'the Maria in the game' and whatever else it is you are always murmuring about," Maria gave her a smile the brunette had definitely never seen her character wear in the game, the kind of smile that made her heart flip-flop in her chest.

Katarina sometimes forgot how clever the light mage was. She had mentioned a lot of Fortune Lover stuff around her over the years, and it only made sense she'd wonder what it all meant.

Maria was probably right, anyways. Someday, she'd have to tell her the whole bizarre tale of other worlds and reincarnation, of Fortune Lover and doom flags.

But right now, she just wanted to tell Maria....

"I love you."