The wildflowers Sebastian left in front of her room door yesterday were still sitting on her desk. Alice adjusted the ribbon on her uniform while glancing at them sideways. Small, white flowers with a name she didn't know. The fact that she hadn't thrown them away was honestly the most troublesome thing about herself. "[cold]Just be quiet today, okay?" She told herself this in the empty room before leaving the girls' dormitory, Lilienhaus. --- The hallway of the main building, Luxhall, was bustling with students from early morning. Spring sunlight fell on the red brick walls—normally a pleasant morning. Normally, that is. The moment Alice entered the hallway, she noticed something different. The quality of the gazes directed at her had changed. Not the curious looks she'd grown accustomed to this past week—"Lady Claire's sharp tongue struck again, how amusing." Today's stares carried something else entirely. Confusion. Sympathy. And from some, unmistakable coldness. Alice's pace slowed slightly. "Lady Claire." A young noblewoman from her class appeared beside her, lowering her voice and leaning close to Alice's ear. "[whispers]Have you heard? At the Grand Nobility Council Faervalting... your family's name came up." The Grand Nobility Council Faervalting—an advisory body composed of the twelve most prominent noble families of the kingdom. They advised the king on policy and involved themselves in major matters of high society. "[whispers]Apparently there's an agenda item saying you've bewitched the crown prince, manipulated a knight candidate and a servant, and disrupted the kingdom's order... though it's just rumors." The young noblewoman's face was apologetic as she disappeared into the crowd. Alice turned her back to the hallway wall and took a deep breath. Her face remained perfectly composed. Only her insides were racing at full speed. Social exile decree. The game's memories unfolded instantly—a permanent banishment from high society that activates with the approval of one royal and three or more major nobles. If exiled, the Claire family would face a ten-year suspension of their peerage. Her father's mining rights, the livelihoods of thirty servants—everything would vanish. The fact that rumors had reached the Grand Nobility Council meant that movements to gather the conditions for activation were already underway. According to the game's progression, the Vilmont family would move to push for the exile decree from here. But the current developments had already diverged from the game in some places. If it had diverged, maybe she could stop it— Before she could reach a conclusion, the bell for class rang. --- After morning classes, Alice returned to her room in the girls' dormitory, Lilienhaus. A sealed letter was placed on her desk. The moment she saw the sender's name, Alice's hand froze. Heinrich Von Claire. Her father's name. She opened the envelope. There was only one sheet of paper. The contents were brief. He had received a report that his daughter's name had become a problem at the Grand Nobility Council. She was to cause no more trouble. She was not to disgrace the family name. Two lines. That was all. Her father's usually gentle handwriting looked colder than ever. Alice stared at the letter for a long time, unable to move. The Claire family was one of the twelve great noble houses. They had maintained their status through casting and mining rights. If Alice faced social exile here, all of that would end. In her previous life—when she was just an ordinary high school girl in Japan—she had hardly ever caused anyone trouble. There was no family to protect, no family name to tarnish. It was her own fault that she'd become popular through her sharp tongue. It was her own fault that Lucas had started chasing after her. It was her own fault that Edward had dropped his wooden sword, that Sebastian had started leaving flowers. All of it was because of her. Alice folded the letter and put it away in a drawer, then headed to the great dining hall, Mirabelle. She had no appetite, but staying in her room would only make her thoughts louder. --- The three-hundred-seat great dining hall, Mirabelle, was crowded at lunch time. Today's set meal was stuffed cabbage rolls and black bread. The steam smelled wonderful. She had no appetite whatsoever. Alice sat in her usual window-side seat. She always felt watched here, but today the stares were particularly intense. The hallway rumors from this morning must have spread. The moment she set down her tray and picked up her fork for the cabbage roll, the chair beside her was pulled back. It was Lucas. Soft, disheveled silver hair. Odd eyes—blue on the right, red on the left. His usual gentle smile—but today his eyes were different. Serious. The surrounding students stirred. The crown prince was at Lady Claire's table again. The usual kindling for rumors. "[gentle]Alice." His voice was slightly quieter than usual. Alice looked at Lucas while still holding her fork. "[gentle]The time I spend with you is the most enjoyable. ...I just wanted to make sure you knew that." The murmur of the dining hall seemed to thin for just a moment. While Alice was searching for a response, the chair on the opposite side was pulled back. Edward was standing at rigid attention. Black hair with red streaks. A black eye patch. His neck flushed red. Clearly nervous. But his eyes were serious. A deep breath was audible. "[serious]Lady Alice. I speak to you as a knight candidate." He continued while maintaining his rigid posture. "[serious]Protecting you is my mission. Not as a duty—but as my personal will." The silence in the dining hall deepened. In the space of three hundred seats, time seemed to stop around Alice alone. Then. Sebastian was there at the edge of the table, having brought Lucas's dishes. Silver-white short hair. Clear, pale blue eyes. He alone moved and stood with his usual quiet composure. But he didn't leave. When Alice's gaze turned toward him, Sebastian took a small folded piece of paper from his pocket and gently placed it in front of Alice. His eyes averted, he silently stepped back. Alice unfolded the paper. A short sentence was written in calm, steady handwriting. —Your sharp tongue saved me. Because you exist, there is meaning in being at this academy. That was all. Three voices had converged at nearly the same moment, gathering at a single point. Alice received these three declarations while her mind performed entirely different calculations. If she chose one person, she would hurt the other two. But. No matter who she chose, the destruction ending wouldn't change. However it turned out, the Claire family would remain under the threat of the exile decree. The more serious these three were, the more the future ahead held only pain for everyone. Should she laugh? Should she get angry? Neither felt right, at least not now. Alice quietly set down her fork. She looked at Lucas and Edward in turn, put the letter away in her pocket, and stood up. "[cold]...I'm sorry." She said it to no one in particular and left the dining hall. --- That afternoon, in the second floor back corner of the library, Sternbiblio—a place that seemed like a secret, where Alice had been gathering information using her game knowledge. Today she couldn't bring herself to open any books. This place was simply her only refuge. Before Lucas could find her. Before Edward insisted on escorting her and chased after her. Before she could meet Sebastian's pale blue eyes. She gazed at the book spines on the shelves, trying to organize her thoughts. The more she tried, the more her escape routes disappeared. Because these three were serious, she didn't know how to respond to them. Answering them, clearly refusing them—everything seemed meaningless in the face of the great wall of destruction that awaited. Alice slowly decided to minimize contact with all three of them from now on. If Lucas tried to talk to her, she would brush him off. She would ignore Edward's insistence on protecting her. She would not write back to Sebastian. It wasn't about being cold. Just maintaining distance. Even as she told herself this, she noticed how increasingly pathetic her excuses sounded. Within a week of the next day, people began to disappear from Alice's surroundings. The window-side seat where the venomous young lady had been treated as a landmark now had no visitors. A strange atmosphere began to drift among the young noblewomen she had been friendly with. The area around Alice in the academy was quietly hollowing out. No one had been mean to her. No one had come to hate her. Alice had simply built a wall herself and stepped inside it. --- The hallway of the girls' dormitory, Lilienhaus, became quiet after lights-out. Alice sat with a blanket over her knees, looking out the window. She couldn't sleep. In the spring night sky, thin clouds drifted across the moon. From down the hallway, she heard young noblewomen whispering. "...Is it true the Vilmont family is moving?" "Apparently they're gathering supporters at the Grand Nobility Council... my brother said..." The voices continued in hushed tones, then faded away. Alice's eyes remained fixed on the dark window glass. The Vilmont family. Just as the game knowledge had indicated. If the Vilmont family moved, it wouldn't take long to gather the support of the remaining two families. The royal approval needed for activation—where that would come from wasn't explicitly shown in the game, but. A single tear fell onto the blanket on her knees. She had tried to hold it back, but it wouldn't stop. I'm a villainess. No matter what I do, I'm destroyed. Even when I try to distance myself with sharp words, I end up being liked. The more I'm liked, the closer I get to destruction. I shouldn't have gotten close, but I've dragged everyone into this. While thinking this, Alice suddenly remembered the letter. The paper Sebastian had left today. That handwriting. For a servant candidate of a great noble house, the characters were oddly composed. No flourish, no unnecessary movement, just the necessary words. The game knowledge she had about Sebastian Alvin's setting—a modest, shy servant candidate—seemed to be transcended by something in that letter. Handwriting that was too composed. She still couldn't put into words what that was. Alice wiped her tears and looked beyond the dark window glass. The Vilmont family was moving. The game's destruction ending was taking on a real form. But—there were already parts where the current developments had diverged from the game. If it had diverged, maybe she could change something. She still didn't know what that "something" was. Only that the composed handwriting of that letter kept catching in her mind.