Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“L-L-L-L-Lord Cyril?” Monica’s eyes widened at his suggestion.

Cyril cleared his throat. “Of course, it is only if you wish so. However, I thought this might pose a reasonable … deterrent. After all, it seems unlikely he would ever back off if there was not another man.”

Cyril had just suggested to Monica that they get engaged. His reasoning was simple: the new student, Robert Winkel, might finally stop proposing if he was believed she was already engaged.

‘Of course, I only intend to protect my under-classmate from his constant barrage of proposals.’

Thinking, or rather, telling himself that there was nothing else about it, Cyril continued explaining.

“Back when he first proposed to you, he asked whether you were engaged. I know you said you could not get engaged, but… this would only be to ward him off.”

Yes, just to make sure Robert would stop pursuing the ever-shy, easily overwhelmed Monica. After all, he seemed not to care about how she felt in the least, not even considering that he was making her consistently uncomfortable.

What Cyril failed to consider however, was the degree to which his suggestion overwhelmed Monica. “B-b-b-b-but”, was all that she managed to say before someone else entered the student council room. It was Neil.

“Oh? What have you two been talking about?” he asked, glancing worriedly at Monica who was still stuttering and shaking.

Cyril cleared his throat. “I merely suggested …a solution to a certain problem to Monica. But,” Cyril looked at the girl, who was still struggling to get the words out, and sighed. It was clear that he had made the exact same mistake as Robert – he’d overwhelmed her.

“I think it was not the best idea, so Accountant Norton, please, forget about it.”
Neil glanced at him suspiciously before approaching Monica.

“Lady Monica, would you like for me to mediate?” Monica shook her head, finally managing to get out of the “b-b-b-but”.

“N-n-n-no, I think, I will be finph.” She had done a great job and only stumbled over the very last word. Cyril remembered the day she rang the Alteria chimes. Since then, she had been keeping up with her promise, getting better at social interactions, overall.

This situation, however, was entirely his fault. Cyril made a discarding hand motion. “Let’s get back to work before the prince arrives,” he suggested, aiming to end the awkward silence.

However, the prince had already arrived – right in time to hear Cyril’s last suggestion. “Oh? Have you been talking about something you’d rather not have me hear?” he asked teasingly.

Monica’s shoulders sprang up. “N-n-n-no”, she said, while Cyril went pale. “Of course not, Your Highness!” Felix smiled softly at both, and turned to Neil, who simply smiled back at him noncommittally. After all, he hadn’t heard Cyril’s suggestion, either.

“Well, then in that case,” Felix approached Monica, still with his teasing smile, “perhaps, we should plan how to get Robert Winkel out of your hair?” With that suggestion, he reached out, seemingly to put an escaped strand of hair behind Monica’s ear.

Cyril felt his chest tighten. The prince was simply engaging in his normal behaviour, but Cyril suddenly noticed something about it made him uncomfortable.

After all, playing with a shy, easily overwhelmed girl just like that when she already spent every day being hunted down by a man who only wanted her to play chess with, and would even propose because of that, just seemed off to him – much like a cat playing with a weakened mouse, or squirrel, in Monica’s case.

Cyril cleared his throat once more, focusing his attention on the tasks at hand. “Regarding Treasurer Norton’s job, it might be reasonable to focus on teaching her a few more things beyond the treasury.”

***

Cyril and Neil were on their way from the library back to the student council. Neil had wanted to check something, and so they had gone, only for Neil to suddenly remember he had already checked it the day before.

The two had just reached an empty hallway when Neil spoke up. “I know I asked Monica before, but you also seemed a bit out of sorts. What exactly happened between the two of you?” he asked. He was wearing a kind smile.

Cyril intended to brush it off, when Neil continued talking. “I figured that you would, at the very least, want to keep it a secret from the prince. Of course, I would do that – no questions asked, we all know you adore him – but I can’t help but wonder.”

Cyril sighed. Perhaps it would even be good to tell someone, even if he knew it had been a horrible idea. “Neil,” Cyril started, his voice lower than usual. “I may have… mishandled something with Monica earlier.”

The two moved into an empty classroom. It was best nobody else heard Cyril’s story, and so he told Neil all about how he had suddenly suggested the fake engagement.

“But Cyril, didn’t she say she can’t get engaged?” Cyril sighed and nodded. “I told her that it was fine – after all, it would be just a fake engagement. Whatever the reason is, whether it’s her family’s approval, or her status… I simply wish for this man to stop his endless barrage of proposals.”

Neil looked at him in doubt. “Cyril,” he began, then hesitated. Cyril looked up. Neil seemed as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t. “What is it? Spit it out.” Neil glanced away from him, apparently thinking, before looking at him again.

“Is it possible that the reason you’re so vehemently intending to protect her from the proposals…” he took a deep breath before continuing, “perhaps less because of what she might feel and more… because of what you might feel?”

There was a certain neutrality in his question. Neil’s tone made it clear that no matter Cyril’s answer, he would not judge him for it. Cyril’s throat went dry. He tried to clear it, only to break into a fit of coughing. Neil simply sat there, with a concerned but otherwise friendly expression. “Please excuse this display,” Cyril muttered as soon as he’d managed to stop coughing.

He decided against clearing his throat before rebuking Neil’s suggestion. “Of course not,” he said, in a tone befitting a proper noble, and continued. “It is clear to see that Monica feels uncomfortable. As her upperclassman, it is my task to ensure that she can focus on her duties fully, without being torn every which way due to some guy’s proposals.”

He conveniently ignored the fact that he himself had, by then, become one of those guys. Neil didn’t know that, however, so he simply nodded and moved on in the conversation.

Unfortunately for Cyril though, not very far. “So, you would propose to her so that she could ignore someone else’s. Even if you meant to have a fake engagement to protect her, you know that this would have consequences in noble society as well, right?”

Cyril sighed. “I know. It was a bad suggestion that I made on a whim. I knew the second I said it, but…”

“But you still went through with it, because something inside of you wanted to know how she would react.”

Cyril took a sharp breath. He wasn’t used to Neil calling him out so directly.

And unfortunately, something in his words rang true.

He leaned against the chair in a very un-noble-like way. “I mean, when seeing her reaction, it was also clear that it was a bad idea. It’s just… it was a bad idea all around.”

Neil nodded in understanding.

“Well, if either of you ever do decide that maybe, being engaged to the other wouldn’t be that bad of an idea…”, he grinned at Cyril, “then you can count on the Lineage of the Mediators. I’m sure we could work something out between the Marquess of Highown and the Count of Kerbeck.”

Cyril gave a wry smile. “Thank you, Neil.”

He still wasn’t sure what it was about Monica – why he’d blurted out that suggestion – but knowing that Neil was on his side gave him a strange sense of security.

***

Later that night, Monica was in her attic room, lying on her back, staring blankly at the ceiling. Nero was lying next to her, sleeping. Cyril’s suggestion was floating around in her mind. Getting engaged to Cyril to avoid Robert’s proposals seemed absurd, but there was a certain logic to it. In both cases, she would be engaged, but only one of them would have been made seriously, while the other was just a way out – a fake engagement, as Cyril had called it.

She thought back to it.

Monica had just practically run from her classroom to the student council, mostly to avoid Robert’s proposals, or suggestions they play chess. She quickly entered the student council room and closed the door behind her, taking a deep breath and almost sinking to the floor.

Unfortunately for her, she was not the only one in the room.

“Treasurer Norton.” Cyril stood up and walked towards her. Her heart started pounding in her chest. Would he be scolding her for undignified behaviour?

She began to apologize. “I’m s-s-s-so-” He looked at her with a concerned expression but interrupted her before she managed to get the words out.

“Is Robert Winkel still regularly proposing to you?” he finally asked. Monica looked up at him in surprise.

“I’ll take this as a yes.” Cyril looked at her, seemingly thinking about something. He’d already asked if he should tell the homeroom teacher, but Monica had refused. She didn’t want him to have more work just because of her.

There was no way she could have prepared for his next words.

“Would you consider entering a fake engagement with me to get him off your back? There are no other ties to it – just claim that we’re engaged, and that’s why you couldn’t get engaged to him. If he then said anything else, you could tell him to discuss this with your fiancé – which would be me – so there’d be no need for you to handle it yourself.”

Monica had been overwhelmed. The idea itself was surprising. An engagement, fake or not, only to get rid of an unwanted suitor – this sounded more like something Nero would tell her after having read it in a Dustin Gunther novel.

And then, Cyril suggesting it was even more surprising. He was diligent and serious, aiming for ever greater heights while supporting those around him.

But Cyril could not have been serious about the fake engagement, after all – this would have major implications. It would make the rounds far beyond the school – both Cyril’s father, Marquess Highown, as well as Count Kerbeck would learn of it. And, naturally, everyone else. Including a certain Barrier Mage.

Monica shivered at the mental image of Louis hearing of her fake identity’s fake engagement with Cyril. “Hahaha, you seem to have forgotten your mission, fellow Sage! Perhaps you need a reminder? You recall that Monica Norton is simply a fake identity, correct? Or perhaps did you intend to get engaged with Cyril Ashley as Monica Everett? Did you perhaps forget that this mission is secret, then?” It was certain that sooner or later, his fist would come tumbling down on her, grinding on her head, whether the engagement was fake or not.

She shuddered again. “No, it is better if we don’t get engaged, fake or not,” Monica told herself. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

But all she could see was Cyril’s face when he originally asked her. He hadn’t smiled when he said it, and he hadn’t scolded her before or after, either. He had been serious, asking earnestly. Of course, it had been only to offer her another solution – well, something other than either ignoring it or going to Robert’s homeroom teacher. Although, perhaps going to his homeroom teacher would have been less work for Cyril than if he did go through with the fake engagement idea.

Monica shuddered at the thought of having Cyril take on even more work because of her. She respected Cyril. He wouldn’t be using the proposal to make fun of her, or to hurt her. But something still felt wrong about his reasoning. Suggesting a fake engagement just to get rid of one guy?

Monica suddenly was wide awake. Cyril must have had ulterior motives. Just, what were they?

Had it been anyone else, she might have assumed that he liked the girl. But someone like Cyril liking her, that was impossible.

Even if he was haughty and prone to anger, he was kind. He would voluntarily take work on himself if it meant helping someone else. At the end of the day, he had a great personality. And so, he was no fit for her.

She barely managed to introduce herself, rarely without stuttering, and did a horrible job at being a friend to others. Even now, she was lying to every single one of them. The only thing she was remotely good at was mathematics. She might have had a more advanced understanding of magecraft than him, but he’d easily catch up, long before she ever figured out how to be better at talking to people. Meanwhile, Monica was best at being a shut-in.

From a logical perspective, there was no reason why Cyril could possibly view her as anything but an underclassman whom he wanted to support.

Monica looked at Nero, curled up in a ball. “Ah, how I wish you were awake,” she muttered to herself. She stood up and looked out of the window once more. It was dark, but the moon and the stars shone beautifully.

“This is Monica Norton – for six more months, at most. After that, this life ends.” Monica took a deep breath. “There is no place for Monica Norton once I return.” Monica turned around, huddling back under her blanket.

There was no use in thinking about Cyril’s intentions. She would soon be back in her mountain hut, alone, back with her maths and her magecraft research. This had to be enough. She closed her eyes and finally managed to fall asleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Monica opened her eyes and immediately remembered the fake proposal – or rather, the proposal of the fake engagement.

“Nerooooo! I can’t take this anymore!” she grunted, even though it had not even been a full day since his proposal. Nero, of course, did not respond. He was still asleep.

Monica sighed and prepared her coffee. “Maybe I just dreamt it,” she muttered to herself. She yawned, remembering that it had taken her a really long time to fall asleep yesterday.

“Just a dream.”

Still, she might have believed herself more if she hadn’t spent half the night awake thinking about Cyril.

“Maybe he also decided to forget all about it. I just hope we can still continue being friends,” she muttered, then downed her coffee. She felt a bit more prepared to face the day.

***

At the same time, Cyril stared a hole at the ceiling in his room. How would he go about meeting Monica tonight? Would it be enough to simply act as if nothing happened? Or should he apologize?

He sighed, still unsure, and got up. “Time to make sure everyone’s awake.” He went to wake up Glenn, since that boy had shown little self-control recently. ‘I wonder how close he is to Monica’, he thought as he knocked at Glenn’s door. He hadn’t forgotten the way Glenn had just taken and lifted Monica to find the band’s conductor, even if it was to help Cyril find the latter. It was behavior not fit for a noble – nor any student of this school.

“I’m up”, came the answer, though obviously sleepy. “Then step outside. You will be late.” A groan was the answer.

A question sprang up in Cyril’s mind. ‘What if they’re so close that she told him?’

All of a sudden, worries began to cloud his thoughts.

The two went to eat breakfast. Glenn, acting quite like a commoner in almost all daily situations, openly yawned while stuffing his mouth with food. Once he began to act more energetic – more typical of Glenn –, Cyril subtly broached the topic of the student council and even discussed Monica’s satisfying performance as an accountant. Glenn did not do so much as blink.

Cyril’s worries mostly dissipated. ‘She probably hasn’t told him – I cannot imagine this one to be a good enough actor to not jump on me talking about her.’ Satisfied with his own conclusion, Cyril continued elegantly consuming his breakfast. He avoided considering the possibility that Monica might tell Glenn about it later on.

He did not notice, however, that both Neil and Elliott were looking at him – Elliott with furrowed eyebrows, and Neil with a mostly neutral, but curious facial expression.

***

Usually, Monica had to put in a certain amount of effort into her classes, especially since she wasn’t born, raised, or educated, as a noble. And so, she would usually spend the class doing her best at listening, at the very least, even if there was the risk of sometimes failing to understand something since she was lacking the background that noble kids had.

This time, however, it was getting a bit more difficult.

“And so, as the engagement between Princess Anastasia and Prince Edward the Second fell through, diplomatic tensions rose significantly, and the trade between our two countries dropped to an all-time low.”

Why, of all possible topics that they could discuss in a history class, did they have to talk about engagements? ‘Why today, of all days?’ Monica thought, silently screaming on the inside.

Hearing of engagements simply made Cyril’s face come to mind, and Monica was intent on forgetting all about yesterday.

The lesson continued, and the topic turned to trade. Monica tried to focus again. The flow of money was of great interest of her – mostly regarding the numbers themselves, and the relevant mathematics, though they were not as complex as magical formulae – but she had never cared much about political implications or societal aspects of trade. Of course, the history class tended to focus on the latter.

‘This is hard’, Monica thought. Her head was filled with new information about this very specific time period, most of which she could not immediately sort, though luckily, this also meant that she did not have any space to think about Cyril.

That was, until another student raised his hand to ask a question.

“Sir, may I ask why exactly they broke off the engagement?”

Monica paled. 'No! Talk about trade! I beg of you!' She would of course never say these words out loud, all the more in a class scenario like this.

The teacher smiled at the student and nodded. “Why, yes! It is a very complicated backstory, but in essence: The prince had fallen for another woman. He was intent on continuing the political marriage, of course, but the princess had been informed of his, uhm, love towards the other woman, and thus pleaded with her father to break it off. Her father, of course, had been getting on friendly terms himself with another country – which we will talk about later on, so keep this in mind – and seemed to feel rather remorseful about already having his daughter engaged. So, he originally intended to spread the rumor of our prince’s unfaithfulness. Thankfully, we caught wind of it before it spread too far.”

The history teacher took a short break from talking, his expression turning sterner than before, furrowing his eyebrows slightly, his smile vanishing entirely from his face.

“So, our monarch’s solution was, in fact, quite commendable: He realized that he couldn’t convince the other country’s king to keep the engagement, and suggested a counter-rumor, essentially claiming that his son was of ill health, and thus a bad fit, so they could break off the engagement. This was not the best option, either, but it was much better than having the prince be seen as a cheater by other nations. The monarch reduced his status to that of the woman he loved, allowing him to be together with her. This would serve as a punishment to his son, who had allowed a rumor of his own infidelity to spread to a neighboring country, but also to save his own country’s reputation – after all, one prince’s behavior may reflect badly on the whole country, and engagements are quite an essential part of someone’s reputation.”

A shiver ran down Monica’s back, and she started fidgeting with her hands, staring at the teacher blankly.

The teacher broke out in a calm smile, the sternness entirely replaced with a gentleness. “Of course, you need not worry – all of this country’s princes are, of course, immaculate, and would never dishonor their country like so.”

Monica wasn’t entirely sure if a teacher was meant to say things like this, when she remembered that Serendia Academy was not politically neutral – in fact, it was perhaps more surprising that the teacher had included all three princes, rather than focusing on Felix, or him and Albert, the third prince who was now also attending Serendia Academy. Then again, if he were to exclude the first prince from a list like that, that might also be interpreted as an insult.

But with this last addendum, at least, her thoughts weren’t running all around Cyril anymore. Once more, that didn't last for long.

“It’s just incredible what kind of consequences can come from an engagement – and breaking it rather than marrying, don’t you think?” Lana asked, seeming eager to discuss the topic of “love” with Monica.

Monica, of course, felt entirely overwhelmed. “U-uhm, y-yes?” she ventured.

Lana giggled. “Well, I get you. Engagements are so far away, are they not? And yet, so many of the students here are already engaged.”

She looked around, sighing. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to marry for love, rather than what your parents have decided for you?” Monica did not know how to answer. There was nobody who would force her into an engagement – well, nobody who actually had the power to. Though Robert would probably do it if he could.

Additionally, she couldn’t quite relate to the feeling of “love”, either.

Monica shot Lana a glance. There was a simple sentence at the back of her head: ‘What about an engagement to protect someone?’ But she didn’t manage to say the words. What if Lana would ask for clarification? Perhaps engagements to protect someone were rather rare. At least, Monica had never heard of that before Cyril had made his suggestion. She did not want to expose it – for his sake, and for hers, not entirely certain what it was that she wanted to protect.

Lana seemed to notice that her conversation wasn’t going anywhere. She smiled gently at Monica and changed the topic.

“Today, you will have work at the Student Council again, right?” Monica jolted.

“Y-yes, we’re meeting today.”

Lana smiled sadly.

“I wish you had more time. I want to have more tea parties with you, but you’re so busy that it’s pretty difficult.”

Monica smiled back at her. “I, uhm. I also want to have more t-tea parties with you, Lana.” Although admittedly, right now, Monica would have preferred most things to having to face Cyril again.

‘Though I guess I will be fine once I get started on the books again’, she thought to herself. Unfortunately, the discussion of the Student Council meant that she automatically imagined Cyril.

Usually, she would have thought of the expression he usually had – a bit haughty and harsh, but mostly just focused on doing the best possible job for the prince.

This time, however, the gentle, caring expression he had on his face when he proposed came to mind. Monica suddenly noticed her heart throwing itself at her ribs, and her ears immediately heated up. She covered them with her hands, fearing that they might be turning red.

“Monica? Are you okay?”, Lana asked, worried. Monica nodded, hands still covering her ears.

“Y-yes, I’m fine! I’m sorry!”

Lana looked at her, doubt clearly showing on her face, then she nodded. “If you say so!”

She then smiled gently. “Would you like to plan a tea party, after all? I’ll make sure it works with your schedule, so just leave all that to me.”

Monica allowed her hands to naturally go back down to her sides. Meeting Lana for a tea party sounded nice. It wasn’t quite that she could talk to her about Cyril’s suggestion, or rather, all her problems with it, but a part of her told her that, especially with Nero currently asleep, she might feel better after.

“I-in that case, yes please!” Monica almost shouted and immediately covered her mouth with her hands.

Lana giggled. “Perfect! In that case, await my invitation.” She smiled at Monica again, who nodded happily and then left for the Student Council.

***

Monica stood in front of the Student Council office. Behind it, she strongly assumed everyone to already be – after all, she had walked very, very slowly on her way here, hoping that it would maybe help dealing with Cyril.

But standing right in front of the door, knowing that he was on the other side? ‘It’s not like he told anyone, though? At least I doubt it. After all, that would make things really hard.’

What she had not noticed, however, was that Cyril had had the same thought – try to get more time to think about how to handle things with her while walking from his classes to the Student Council. Though he had decided to simply take a detour, walking longer than usually.

And so, he arrived at the door after her, watching her fidget instead of opening the door. “Accountant Norton”, he said, and she jolted. Her eyes and head both turned in his direction, though she seemed not quite able to meet his gaze.

“Are you feeling well? Shall we go inside?” Her head turned back, face towards the door rather than him, and she looked at the floor, still shaking a bit. “Y-yes”, Monica muttered.

Normally, Cyril would have scolded her, but right now, he didn’t quite feel like it was appropriate. ‘These are probably still the consequences of my own actions.' Cyril suppressed a sigh.

They entered and went to take their respective places. Everyone else was already there, and from the glint in his eyes, Cyril could already guess that Neil was preparing to grill him later – about having entered together with Monica.

“Before we get started: Someone needs to go over to the drama club – they are requesting more funding.” Felix turned to Cyril. “Could you handle this?”

Cyril nodded. “Of course, Your Highness!”

The fact that the prince had asked him before their meeting began seemed to imply that he should go about it immediately, so he turned around and walked towards the door. Halfway there, he suddenly stopped.

Going over to the drama club was simple enough, and negotiating would not be a problem.

But he did make a promise.

‘Would it be too weird?’, he wondered. ‘With what happened yesterday…’, Cyril turned around, and his gaze wandered, until it reached Monica. She stood there, hunched over, eyes glued to the floor. Probably waiting to throw herself at the books again.

Cyril felt a smile slowly forming on his face, even though he wasn’t sure of the reason.

“What is it, Cyril?”, Felix asked. Cyril turned to look at him. His gaze focused, and his smile disappeared.

“I will be taking Accountant Norton with me.”

Monica’s shoulders jerked up and she looked up at him. When their gazes met, she quickly looked away.

“Why’s that?”, the prince asked.

“I promised I would teach her negotiating before we left. This should be a good opportunity for her to watch and learn.”

Felix nodded. “Alright, then. Please do that.” Cyril nodded, slightly relieved, and turned to Monica. “Let’s go”, he said to Monica, and the two left the Student Council club room together, shortly after entering together. He ignored the feeling of more than one gaze on his back.

Something about being alone with her felt odd – perhaps the fact that he had just yesterday suggested an engagement between the two, and while he had at the end told her to forget it, something about it was bothering him. Something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Monica walked with him silently, though that was no surprise. He cleared his throat, and her shoulders jolted before she looked up at him.

‘My suggestion really must have thrown her off her balance.’ Cyril almost started to wish not having made that suggestion - not if it were to make things between them weird. But it was too soon to throw the towel, and so he decided to focus on the negotiations and hope for the best.

“They most likely want more money, especially given their performance at the school festival.” Monica nodded, fidgeting with her hands.

“As our accountant, you of course know how much money we have, correct?” Monica nodded again, now stopping to fidget.

“Do you think we have any spare to give to them?” The girl tilted her head and started to think. Her previously shy, slightly overwhelmed expression was gone, replaced with a calm, or rather, stoic expression. Cyril watched her intently as she considered his question.

Then, Monica came to a conclusion and shook her head. “No. It might have been possible had they not destroyed the stage, but we can’t give them any more than they already get right now.”

Cyril nodded. “Excellent. The play was a huge success, but it came at a huge cost, too – a lot of the materials were either destroyed or damaged. Besides, I’ve heard that a mage had to step in to ensure that nobody was hurt.” Cyril expected this reveal to be surprising, but instead, Monica nodded absentmindedly. It was almost as if she’d already known about it.

‘Or maybe she’s thinking about numbers again.’ Cyril wondered if she had already sunk that deep in her thoughts that he’d need to shake her to get her out of it.

“Either way, we’ll be rejecting them while showing our appreciation for their art. If they hadn’t destroyed as many supplies, then we could have at least considered upping their budget.” Monica nodded again, and the two continued walking towards the drama club room.