Chapter Text
Garreg Mach Monastery: a grand, imposing structure despite its old stone and dreary walls, Dorothea mused to herself as she scanned it on her way back from her outing to the village. Really, they could do with a little more upkeep to spruce it up because it was nothing to write home about—not that she could do that. It was much like the stuffy noble boy she'd just had the displeasure of meeting for an afternoon she'd never get back, in fact.
Oh well. She could hardly complain. A roof over her head, the guarantee of a meal, and something she could focus her efforts on were not something to sneeze at, no matter how dusty the old school was. The presence of the finest class of nobles in years reared itself temptingly, a golden opportunity to shed her old life and find the security she so desperately sought. Although, only a week or so into the school year, her attempts already exhausted her. Not only did a daunting task lie ahead of her, but the reminder that she was the only commoner in her house, let alone one of the few enrolled in the prestigious academy to begin with, followed her around from the shadows, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
She didn't even remember the name of the boy that had so rudely consumed an afternoon she could have spent studying. By the way he prattled on about horseback riding and his ‘expansive’ land back home—she could not tell if he kept meaning to say expansive or expensive with how much he bragged about money—she found it difficult to keep her attention, only offering a breezy giggle or a well-timed flutter of her eyelashes here or there to keep up her facade.
She’d already assessed him fully halfway through, a fun little minigame to keep herself entertained:
- Appearance 3/5 - not horrible to look at, actually, one of the higher ones lately, but sort of bland in that generic rich boy way.
- Security 2/5 - not incredibly well known, decent territory and money to his name, some minor crest. Workable… if she put in a little effort.
- Tolerance 2/5 - as far as obnoxious and arrogant went, he was annoying, but far from the worst. Also very far from the best.
- Respect 2/5 - for the most part, he at least let her get a word or two in, but the amount of boasting about himself was disproportionate to all he had to offer.
- Happiness 1/5 - at first, she thought this would be the most important, but it was becoming clearer and clearer lately that she wouldn’t be able to prioritize this. She almost gave him a 2/5, but when the inevitable question came about her own status and territory…
Dorothea grimaced as she remembered how that conversation had gone, shoving the less than polite words thrown her way into her growing collection of insults she was beginning to amass. At this point, they no longer bothered her—or so she wanted to tell herself. At least these nobles kept their loathing relatively reined in, restrained mostly by arrogance and disgust.
Much harder to take out the trash when it's a pretty girl enrolled at the academy than a down-on-her-luck street rat, isn't it?
If only she knew some of the things then that she knew now. It'd taken more effort than she’d ever spent, but scraping together the influence, money, and skill required to even be considered here hadn't been luck. No, that was earned and fought for by her own scheming, and while she wasn't proud of it, the results spoke for themselves. Now, the little swordsmanship and magic she'd taught herself for entry would not only serve her in the future, but grow and thrive here. Being the best she could be truly was her goal.
…But there was nothing wrong with having an additional, just as important goal, she figured, giving some new, hapless boy a flirty wink and promising to meet him tomorrow evening. This was her opportunity to find that security. Surely she could handle anything with enough money and resources to last her a lifetime?
When she imagined that future, a hollow loneliness echoed in the emptiness of her mind. Was that what she wanted?
No. No time to second guess herself now. She was here, surrounded by more nobles she could want who more or less weren't aware of the truth of her upbringing, and she would not let this opportunity escape her. Especially when this year's batch of students included the three most noble nobles in all of Fódlan.
Her first meeting with her house leader, she’d prepared herself for the worst. The Imperial princess, from a distance, looked stern and cold, not to mention very fancy and collected. Dorothea knew her type, or so she thought, having to deal with uptight girls who considered themselves better than her purely because of a crest or a family name. She was aware the leaders would know about all of them, too, so she expected to be in for a rough time.
Edelgard, however, had only glanced at her, nodded with something like approval, and said, “I look forward to working with you this year.” The exact same reaction to all of their more noble and important classmates. Except perhaps the tall, vaguely familiar orange-haired boy named Ferdinand, whom she gave a slight frown to. Dorothea would certainly not complain and instead opt to sit back and enjoy the drama she anticipated between those two.
Then came the princess’s line about not being a fan of the nobility or the crest system. That unintentionally secured her more loyalty than Dorothea ever expected to give such an important person. All things considered, she and the rest of the Black Eagles seemed tolerable, so far, a blessing she’d take advantage of while she could. Only time would tell how the bonds between all of them would either strengthen as allies or deteriorate and dissolve. Throw together a handful of different people with different ideals and they’d tear themselves apart—she had some experience watching that.
On no particular day, she found herself with nothing else to do and no desire to read about territory acquisition a thousand years ago. Their professor had been unsettlingly absent recently, though nothing had really been done about it. Not a good sign, if that was an oversight by the faculty…
A few of her classmates milled about the classroom, and she settled into a little innocent eavesdropping, one of her many hidden skills. Between her good ear—which she had to have, being an opera songstress—and her nosy curiosity about other people’s business, what better way to gather information on people? Information was power, some of the only leverage she’d be able to get here. Anything she learned about someone could one day be used to charm them… or against them.
Nothing particularly exciting was going on, though. Hubert, the tall shadow that tailed Edelgard all the time, discussed something very quietly with Petra about her unique ‘situation’. Interesting, but also kind of concerning. Not quite the juicy gossip she was hoping for.
Ferdinand had managed to persuade a very frightened Bernadetta into conversing with him, though mostly by cornering her and beginning a grand speech on the duty of their respective houses. Boring. Next.
The other two boys, Caspar and Linhardt, were fighting—rather, Caspar was arguing, Linhardt was fighting to keep his eyes open—about food. You should both be lucky you have food, you ungrateful…
Well, if things kept on like this, she could easily focus on her studies, find some noble man foolish enough to keep her around, and be set for life. Simple, right?
Still, everyone else at least had someone to talk to. A friend already. Or at least, someone who wanted to speak to them about something important. Here she was, lurking in a corner and straining to catch a snippet of anything worth hearing. So far, she hadn’t made too many friends here, not that that was a priority but it would have been nice, at least. She’d never tell anyone, but she craved company beyond the fake pleasantries that came with inviting boys out for dinner.
The sound of footsteps behind her alerted her to a new presence immediately, something she locked onto with the urgency of prey being stalked by a predator. It was a habit from her early days, having to keep track of her surroundings all the time for the sake of survival.
Flashes of memories, of moving in the dead of night, of staying hidden from guards, of running from authorities all blurred together in the back of her mind, and she shoved them away. Now was not the time to remember all that. Especially not as someone entered the classroom.
A young woman strode into the room, simultaneously confident and cautious as she surveyed her surroundings with deep, sapphire eyes, an unnerving sense of acuity hidden just behind them. Dorothea felt her eyebrows knit together slightly as she studied the stranger from her spot near the wall. She didn’t look like everyone else. Not in a school uniform—whatever she was wearing was definitely a choice—but also not like one of the pretentious nobles she was far too familiar with by now.
Her first thought was that she really needed a hairstyle that better suited her face. And maybe a wardrobe update, because she could easily pass for elegant and high-class with a few touches… though the sort of scruffy, scrappy look was almost charming in its own way, if she was going for that.
What was important, though, was if there was money or status there, because if there was, that made her valuable. While Dorothea rarely tried her tactics on women due to the fact they were simply more complex creatures and often less susceptible to her charms than men, it was a game, after all. The stakes of her game were clear: win and survive, or fail and end up back with nothing. So who was she to discriminate, really?
Besides, they probably weren’t even going to cross paths. Wrong room, or bad directions on the way to the knights, or something. That or she was suddenly one of their new classmates, but what were the odds of that? She kept the newcomer in the corner of her eye, watching her drift between other students like she was asking for directions or something until those piercing blue eyes met hers.
Something about them made her feel seen—no, judged felt like the right word there, like the goddess wanted to remind her of her place, of how everyone would see her for who she really was. The guilt at her ulterior motives had to be kept shoved down deep if she was going to survive here.
Plastering on the most fake, charming smile she could possibly muster just in case the stranger now coming closer fit her goals, she greeted her pleasantly. “Well now, you don’t have a familiar face. What brings you here?” When that was only met with an impassive stare that lasted longer than she felt comfortable with, she only went on, “Oh, my name is Dorothea. Before I joined the academy, I was a member of an opera company in the Empire. You should hear me sing sometime.” Widening her grin, she flashed a playful wink, hoping that was a good first impression. Sometimes, that was all she got.
The accustomed responses when she was remotely flirtatious were generally either flusteredness if she was lucky, polite disgust, or arrogance. This stranger, however, just dipped her head solemnly as if to acknowledge her, saying nothing before she excused herself from the conversation to address another curious student watching nearby.
Now that’s a new one, Dorothea thought, both fascinated and puzzled. Well, it was worth a try, and now it was just one more person to cross off her list of potential spouses. Easier for her in the long run, and better to be ignored than looked down upon. Though she wasn’t sure if being overlooked as little more than a street rat was a big improvement…
News traveled fast about the old professor and the unfortunate circumstances regarding their disappearance. It was no shock to her when their house was called to meet with the archbishop about the replacement for the year. So, assembled with the rest of the Black Eagles as they gathered in their classroom, Dorothea awaited Rhea’s arrival as if she cared about whoever would be teaching them history and maps and weapon techniques and whatever else they’d do at the academy.
Her attention landed first on Rhea as she waltzed in with her usual otherworldly air of authority, but then she saw who was behind her and her stomach dropped.
Oh dear.