The big day had finally arrived the first day of school. Catherine idly watched the scenery change via her carriage window. She wouldn't've admitted this to anyone but she was a bundle of nerves.
It's customary to be nervous for your first day of school, but Catherine's worries were far from standard.
Most people would be focused on their studies, or perhaps making friends. But instead, Catherine was weighing her options on whether or not she was going to become arch enemies with a stranger.
Even though Catherine hadn't met said person yet, she was well aware of her, and her circumstances.
It didn't occur to Catherine until this very moment that she didn't know her potential rival's name or what she looked like.
Ninety percent of Love and Malice took place from a POV perspective, and even when it did show the main character her face was always in shadow. This was a pretty common thing to do in otome games, the reason for it was simply to immerse the player more.
As for the name. It was customary in any game of this sort to allow the player to input their own. There was a default name assigned if you didn't make one but-
If only I could remember what the hell it was! Thought Catherine.
She sighed, it didn't matter anyway. Love and Malice was full of tropes, and the meeting between the heroine and villainess was no exception.
It was the classic situation of the lead tripping, and sending all of her books and papers flying. Catherine then made her appearance to make fun of the poor creature for her folly.
This was to take place in the main courtyard. Catherine supposed she could just avoid that location entirely in order to bypass the situation.
But what's the point? She's in the majority of my classes. I would just be delaying the inevitable.
No, she figured it was best to rip the band aid off and get the whole thing over with. If she felt no ill will toward the girl, great. She could safely just ignore her, and hopefully get some sort of consolation prize from the prince.
Maybe she could get her father to squeeze the royal family for some money due to the inconvenience of calling off the marriage.
However, if Catherine felt the irresistible urge to bully the heroine, that would be fine too. She would get her kicks in, all the while being careful not to get too overzealous. Lest she be imprisoned for the rest of her life.
After she was rejected and "embarrassed" by the prince. She would retire to the Blackwood estate in "disgrace." Where she would play piano, read, eat expensive food, and buy whatever she wanted for the rest of her life.
A suitable punishment if I say so myself.
After thinking it over Catherine realized there wasn't anything to worry about, there was a confidence that however things played out it would be ok.
Catherine was jarred out of her thinking, as the carriage jerked to a stop in front of the large gates of the Avalon Academy.
Excited to get things underway, Catherine exited the carriage herself. It was customary for the driver to open the door, but she was far too impatient for that. The coachman hadn't even bothered trying, he was used to the young ladies' quirk by now.
Catherine eyed a good number of other nobles exiting their carriages. Each dressed to the nines, no doubt in a bid to try and outdo all of their classmates.
She was also well dressed, but not as extensively as some of her female peers. Comfort was just as much of a concern as looking good, and she didn't feel the need to show off.
There were also a handful of carriage-less students, dressed in uniform. This was a drastic quirk of the school, and most would say a fairly bad idea.
This is how it worked. The standard uniform was the default option, and it was provided via the tuition. The uniform wasn't cheaply made either, anyone could tell that it was of a high quality.That being said, it wasn't exactly "fashionable".
The boys wore slacks, a dress shirt with a tie, and a blazer. The girls wore a skirt paired with leggings, and like the boys, they also wore a collared shirt. However, instead of a blazer they wore a vest, and they lacked the tie.
However, if your family was so inclined (and if they were rich enough). They could pay an exorbident amount of money to allow their children to wear whatever they wanted to.
The obvious issue with this system was that this immediately caused a tangible divide between the well off noble families, and the ones who couldn't squander the household's yearly gains on a whim, and as far as whims went this was a fairly pathetic one.
Regardless of how petty it was, the Academy was well aware that status symbols meant everything to nobles. The choice between the general well-being of the less affluent students, and a ton of money. Well, the choice was obvious.
Not that it particularly mattered to Catherine either way. Although, she did happen to know a certain someone would be adorned in said uniform.
Best I go wait to greet her.
Catherine smirked as she made her way to the courtyard.
***
The young Blackwood girl had found a bench near the center of the courtyard. A tree provided shade, and it was all around a good vantage to wait for her potential prey.
The heroine was different from all the other students, as she was the only commoner in attendance.
Technically the academy had been open to the general public for three years now, but once you considered the steep admission fees it was effectively an impossibility for anyone in the working class to attend.
This was a way of garnering goodwill from the public without actually doing anything, it was a cheap trick but it worked.
Even if the fees to get in were cheap, it made more sense for lower class people to go to work as soon as they were able. In the end most commoners didn't even glance at the prices. The idea that they could hypothetically attend the same institution was enough to sataite them.
In a further effort to smooth out the nobility and lower-class relations, the sly cats in charge had another trick up their sleeve.
If a commoner bothered to look into the costs, they would be left with the correct conclusion that they were being priced out of attending. However, if they cried foul the people in charge could simply point to another policy.
That being the coveted "Entrance exam." If you scored high enough on this, you got a full ride minus extras like the aforementioned uniform exemption.
This was enough to silence the rest of the critics, but this too was nothing but a dirty trick.
Even for educated nobles the exam was extremely difficult, the richer ones didn't even bother taking it. It was too much of a hassle. After all, could they spend their days lavishly indulging themselves if they had to study all day?
There were cases of students that came from poorer earldoms who couldn't have afforded the tuition managing to pass it, but there was no hope for a commoner.
The resources available to the general public just weren't up to snuff. So whether they were being barred for a lack of money, or knowledge the outcome was effectively the same.
For this reason in the three years that the academy "allowed" commoners to join, none had done so. At least until now.
Because now plot armor is involved. Thought Catherine.
Yes, as Catherine so astutely surmised, it wouldn't have been much of a game if the main heroine couldn't attend. But, this had the side effect of making the main character a super genius.
The developers mostly glossed over "this small" fact. They wanted to make the heroine special, however, it seems they underestimated how smart one would have to be to beat the odds in this scenario.
The MC didn't particularly carry herself like someone with a supreme intellect. Her academic aspirations, something you'd think would be at the forefront of her character were kept intentionally vague.
On top of all this, attending class in the game was glossed over in favor of steamy romance.
Was this whole elaborate setup with the entrance exam just an excuse as to why the main character wouldn't have to worry about doing well in her classes?
At this point, Catherine was beginning to wonder why Love and Malice was set in a school in the first place if so little care was put into the aspect of the actual schooling.
Catherine had become lost in thought, forgetting that she was supposed to be keeping a lookout for the person she was currently mulling over, but it didn't matter. The characteristic sound of books dropping snapped her out of her daydream.
Immediately looking towards the noise, she saw a girl kneeling on the ground about 50 feet in front of her. The girl's back was to her, but there was no doubt in Catherine's mind, it had to be her!
It's now or never. She thought, jumping up from her seat.
Maybe psyching herself up was a bad idea. Coming across too strongly would have been awkward if messing with the girl didn't strike her fancy.
A mix of emotions was brewing, and butterflies were forming in her stomach.
Being the villain did sound fun, but Catherine had already decided that she wouldn't force herself to do anything she didn't want to.
Catherine quickly covered the distance between herself and the girl desperately trying to get her books and papers in order. In a matter of seconds, she was upon the subject of the pitiful display.
"Having some trouble there?" Catherine asked.
The girl stopped frantically trying to gather up her things. She slowly turned her head around, looking up at the tall white-haired woman who had just spoken to her.
The look on her face reminded Catherine of a lost puppy. She was washed over with a feeling of pity, scorn was the last thing in her mind.
Well, bullying her is certainly out of the question…actually, she's kind of cute.
Catherine's face flushed as soon as she finished the thought, and pity was replaced by an entirely different emotion.
A thought permeated her mind, it would no doubt massively complicate things, but no matter how hard Catherine tried she couldn't push it away.
Forget cute, she's beautiful…