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Chapter Text

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄

"Hah.. "

I sighed.

The day that cheeky commoner suddenly declared her love for me marked the 5th month ever since it happened, I would randomly think of it. I thought maybe she was being sarcastic-but no. She sounded genuine. A few days after that incident she suddenly became my maid, continuing to falter me with her unnecessary flattery words that I hear every second. I used to confidently say that it was maddening, but slowly I had never expected to warm up to her, let alone a commoner.

I attempted to bring back affection, but slowly I started to notice the commoner was slowly getting more dry. I started to wake up expecting her annoying voice, but instead met with a dry morning greet, it was unlike her. Then it 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥. Day by day she hasn't declared her love for me at all, it was like she switched personalities.

We were walking towards my dorm, the hall was empty with only us two as it was nighttime already. I found it as the perfect time to address her recent behavior. "Commoner, I have noticed your out of yourself today. Pray tell, is something bothering you? " I softly murmur as I glance to the maid that hadn't made any noise at all. She glanced back, looking a bit surprised at my worrisome question.

"Ah, no, Lady Claire. Nothing is bothering me at all, but thank you for answering." She flatly said as she continued looking ahead, i continued to look at her in worry. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘙𝘢𝘦? I put my thoughts aside for later as I stopped looking at Rae. I stopped to a halt when I noticed the familiar door was now in front of me, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬. Rae respectfully opened the door for me, leading me to my dorm room.

My roommate Catherine was on vacation, so the upper bunk bed was empty. "Lady Claire, I will get your pajamas. Please sit on your bed as you wait." I listened, I felt the soft cushion satisfy my comfort, Rae is good at preparing beds isn't she? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. I stand up as soon as I saw my maid grip onto my comfortable pajamas, as she helped me wear it, she spoke. "After this, you must rest as soon as possible."

"I know, commoner, thank you for reminding me even if it's unneeded." I felt something twist my heart, she sounded so dry to the extent it made my heart ache. As Rae helps me prepare for bed I couldn't help but ponder about why her behavior suddenly switched. "Rae." I spoke, called her by her name to hope for a reaction.

"Uh, yes Lady Claire?"
"I.. lo.. "
"?"

I tried to confidently gather my courage, as I am perfectly fit to lay down in my bed, Rae reminded. "I think you should rest and finish the sentence tomorrow. You must be tired." I couldn't believe it, she just threw it off, not even her poker face budged when I called her by her name. She suddenly started walking to the door, almost taking a hold of the door knob. 𝘕𝘰- 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦!

"I love you."
".. Eh?"

My heart started to spin everywhere as I got a reaction out of my maid, she turned to me eyes widened. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦.. 𝘚𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬?
"Sorry, I can't.. Accept it."

My heart suddenly dropped as I felt shock all over me, the commoner that used to drown me with her flattery had changed. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? My eyes widened, my fist balled to a fist out of instinct as I looked at her petrified. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯? 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴.. 𝘕𝘰, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. Thoughts spiralled through my mind as I try to find the solution to her nonchalant behavior.

Before I could even respond, the maid had already closed the door with a click. I stand there, with mixed emotions, a feeling of solemn slowly crawled to me at the same time I also felt confusion. I couldn't believe it, I clench my jaw as I felt sudden determination to get the Rae I wanted back. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

I lazily slump on my bed, hitting my face on the comfortable pillow. It smelled earthy and mostly like strawberries. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘢𝘦. I thought, smiling. But it suddenly dropped when I remembered we weren't on such normal terms, she has been acting out of herself.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵.

----- skip time to morning -----

Me and Rae were sitting next to each other at lunch, just as I hesitantly expected she is still bland as usual. Her face which used to be glowing with happiness, was now replaced with a gloomy poker face. I kept staring, mindlessly observing her face features. 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺?! 𝘊𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴! I look deep inside her eyes, it was focused on the food she was eating. I notice she has eye bags. Has she been sleeping properly?

"Hey, Rae, did you sleep last night?"

I asked, I haven't realized that Misha was with us, when I asked that I didn't expect her to answer for Rae.

"Lady Claire, did your relationship with Rae evolve or something? Since when we're you worried about her?" I stop my staring session. I was also suddenly surprised when I felt Rae look at me with surprised eyes, yet again I felt happy seeing emotions squeeze out of her.

"No- no! It's my job as her master to check up on my maids at least." I tried defending myself, I can't bring up the fact that I was worried for Rae. And it seemed they haven't notice I address my maid as her first name. Mishas expression already answered for me, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

"Thank you for asking, Lady Claire, but I slept fine myself." I missed her assuring voice, hearing her assure me she had slept fine was already comforting enough, but it doesn't help that she had lied. I knew she didn't sleep well and it pressures me to the core that I dont know why. "Hm."

Ever since then it was a routine for me to worry for Rae, sometimes she would blush slightly which got my hopes up--but suddenly forcefully drop it as she stops blushing immediately. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥?!

This commoner who used to chase me, is now running. And it's my choice to chase her now.

Chapter Text

It was a silent day yet again, Claire felt a pang of guilt and heavy rain just above her. She missed Rae's annoying flattery, but feared on admitting it. 𝘏𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣?! She thought. Remembering that back then Claire would always push her away, but then suddenly she just became an important area in her heart. It was unexpected, Claire couldn't almost believe it.

Before she could blink it was then she retreated to her dorm room, now feeling her maids hands scatter at the ends of her blonde slick hair. Rae gently brushes it with a faint smile she wore. It didn't even feel like a smile, it was more like a fake one. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?! She silently yelled at herself, crossing her arms silently as she looked at the amulet Rae gave her.

That day--right. The day Rae gave her the amulet. Claire felt a strong desire to hug her there and now. But she can't fulfill that desire, her belief of nobles and commoners prevents it. Her thoughts continued to grow, until a voice popped the clouds she was floating around in.

"Lady Claire, your ready to go to bed now. I must leave now, thank you and goodnight."

"Wait, Rae.."

Claire said, tiptoeing quickly towards the door blocking the exit. She fiercely looked at the maid as she locked it. "Let's talk, shall we?" Rae immediately flinched coming from the stab of serious in Claire's tone, but instinctively straightened her posture wearing a bland face. "Okay, what do you want to talk about, Lady Claire?"

Claire immediately pulled her maids hand, forcing her to sit at a nearby chair Claire had sat on earlier. "It's been.. A month ever since you've been acting cold. Just say what happened, do you even know how worried I was?!"

The noble had her arms crossed, matching with her legs also crossed with one another sitting at the edge of her bed. Glaring at the maid who looked unfazed by the confrontation, if this was the Rae from the past she would knock her off with her-- "𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦?! 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵! 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥!"

Past flattery.

Claire wished she said that, it was at least better than the heavy silence the two was between in. Rae sighed, before standing up with a stone face. "I apologize Lady Claire, I'm afraid I can't tell you--"

"Tell me, Rae!"

".. Cut this conversation this instant, I apologize--I really can't."

Rae's voice sounded desperate, like a tone of needing to get out. Does she really not wanna talk about it? Statics formed inside Claire's mind. 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦..! Claire followed, standing up facing Rae the whole time. She felt a mix of surreal pride when she saw Rae's surprised face once again.

Until then she saw Raes expression contort into a grimace, gritting her jaw as she tried to get out. I followed, attempting to force her to get her words out. "Why are you scared to tell me?!"
The noble finally got her finger tips gripped onto Rae's sleeve, trying to pull. She grunted as she felt Rae fight back, getting her gravity back on her.

The two were at a tugging war at this extent, the time way past Claire's supposed bedtime. 𝘙𝘢𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘳! She angrily yelled mentally as she pushed her strength to the limit, ending up on the floor as she realized Rae purposely let herself get pulled and get Claire to fall down flat.

"Urgh.. -?! " she grunted, immediately sitting up as she watched Rae helplessly unlock the door and run in a look of panic and distress. She sighed in disappointment, failing yet again to talk with Rae. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭?.. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. Claire thought, mustering up her motivation to stand up and lock her dorm door.

Catherine, her roommate, was still at her enjoyable vacation. So the room felt more empty--she had no one to talk to.

Claire dropped flat on her bed. Feeling the sensation of failure and rejection as she thought about the actions and decisions she did.

"Rae.. "

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Rae ran, finally letting her blush get the best of her. She had been holding a lot of emotions back at Claire's dorm. She really, really wanted to tell Miss Claire everything, but she couldn't and Rae knew that if she did--her beloved noble would look at her differently. She panicked, as she clumsily opened her door, immediately shutting it as she stepped foot inside. "I-.
..Misha your still awake..?" She breathed out as she stood still at her dorm, her room mate Misha, was sitting up from her bed. "Why are you avoiding Claire like a virus? You used to be really into her." The sudden question hit Rae like a truck.

"I can't tell you that, Misha, you know how it is. Privacy."

Rae immediately avoided eye contact with her best friend. Misha, sighed. "Hm. Fair, but I have to warn you. Lady Claire has been slowly acting like your old flattery self.. Soon enough she will forcefully push her desires to you. Please, be open to her before it's too late." Misha turned her back on the commoner, who looked dumbfounded.

Before Rae could react Misha was now dead asleep, it was only her and the dark silence that placed in this dorm.

The actual reason Rae had been avoiding Claire is that--nightmares had been crawling up to her. It was mostly about her past life and she can't really open up to anyone about it, since nobody knew Rae wasn't even Rae. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦. Rae exclaimed. She had been restraining herself from doing an unhealthy coping mechanism, she mostly just forced herself to nap but it would make it worse.

.. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧..

Rae looked at the drawer nearby, it had a lock on it. Rae mostly placed her private belongings in this very specific drawer. Misha always questioned what was in it, but her answer was mostly money. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦. She slowly pulled out the key that was meant to be clicked in the drawer. 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺. She gently opened the drawer, a few clinks of metal razors and cigarettes plugged into each other like glue. She swallowed her saliva nervously. She hadn't done this type of coping mechanism in awhile.

Back then in her past life, she used to cope with smoking and.. Doing harmful stuff to herself, it was mainly because of her depression. She hadn't done it in awhile, ever since she has moved on from her past. But then now that it was haunting her, she felt the urge to.

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵.

Rae made the cigarette using her own knowledge, so no surprise that she made many. It was thanks to the simple magic system, it just made it easier. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥. She thought as she smoked, leaning against the window outside to let the smoke fly free.

She was underage--not old enough to smoke. But no one had to know now. As she smoked, she recalled the memories. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝙝𝙚 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦. Rae immediately flashed memories from the day the stench of rotten beer and blood scattered her nose, the taste of metal air as she gasped upon seeing her friends corpse just hanging from the air, the rope carrying his weight by the neck. The stab of betrayal when Misaki exposed her for confessing to Kosaki--everything.

She gasped, accidentally dropping her cigarette out of the window as she felt a huge gallon of vomit suddenly building up on her throat. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. She silently cursed those memories. She didn't wanna remember--but it's thanks to the stupid nightmares.

She sighed, taking out a mint to consume to discard the smell of smoke. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. Thinking to herself as she brushed her teeth, getting ready for bed.

As she laid in bed, she immediately felt tears forming. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦. She thought.

She finally felt her eyes close peacefully.

Little does she know, tomorrow is going to be really hard for her.

Chapter Text

Rae had been greeted with a crowd just right outside of her school, confusion alerted herself as she started becoming more and more curious. "Hey, Misha. Why is there a huge crowd?" She said as she kept eye on the murmuring crowd. Misha looked at her, sighed, as she glanced at her best friend. "There's a new transfer, and her name is.. Manaria Sousse." Misha kept her face unfazed as she spotted Rae flinch slightly.

Rae knew who Manaria was, and is well aware of her sheer power. It was shown in the game that the person Manaria sided with the protagonist, Rae Taylor. The commoner stayed chill with that knowledge, but something dug deep in her stomach that something bad was gonna happen. "I see, I've heard rumors about her. Quad-Caster, am I right?"

"It is not a rumor, it is simply a fact." Misha replied.
"I see."

The crowd that was formed in a ball was changed by a whole line, showing the person itself. Manaria Sousse, with greyish tilted hair spiked at the ends with red colored pupils that matched her fierce smug face. Rae never felt anything romantic or platonic towards her, you could say she only found the noble cool because of her complex personality and how powerful she is. The maid felt Manaria's gaze stabbing through her head. Suddenly, she felt uncomfortable.

Rae tried to walk away to at least try and avoid the uncomfortable feeling growing in her stomach. "Halt, Rae Taylor. Right?" She stopped moving her feet. A boulder of statics intruding the commoners mindset. She heard footsteps slowly come up to her, but was stopped by a voice. "Onee-sama?"

Rae knew the voice too well. Claire Francois.

Claire and Manaria are said to be very close, in the game lore they were said to be sisters. Well, sister like best friends. Rae knowing that just made her blood boil a little, but she didn't wanna show it. Loud pangs in her chest suddenly raided her as she eyed both of the nobles happily chatting and greeting each other, Rae huffed in annoyance. "Stupid nobles." Deep down she really didn't mean that.

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Claire chatted about how her school life was going as she sat elegantly at the gazebo with Manaria. It all seemed going well for the both of them, as they were aware together that their very close to the extent of their bond growing tough as a brick wall. Along with Manaria ranting about her life at Sousse, both were being happily entertained.

It wasnt the case for Rae.

The poor commoner had to put up with thoughts of negativity from last night, jifeeling her energy fall down like a piece of a fragile cookie as she poured her tea for her master, Claire Francois. The blondie had noticed the new normal of how Rae was acting, so she decided to confront her in front of Manaria.

Bad idea.

"Rae, are you sure you've been sleeping well? Eyebags are starting to form under your eyes." Claire asked worryingly as she politely obliged in drinking her tea, eyeing the commoner the whole time. Manaria had taken interest in this commoner, ever since she first laid her eyes on the brunette, she just felt like she was 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩a𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳. Rae sighed, nodding off Claire's question as she refilled Manaria's cup.

"Say Rae.. If I were to hire you as my maid, would you accept?"
"--!?"
"Onee-sama!"

Rae placed the teapot on where it belonged, eyeing back to the girl who smirked at her. No charm worked on the commoner.

"Im sorry, Miss Manaria. But I already serve Lady Claire, I'm afraid I can't serve you." Rae coldly said as she stood between the two nobles, the whole time Claire was silently bickering about the sudden request given to 𝘩𝘦𝘳 Rae. But felt a bit glad her maid declined it. At first, it almost felt like she was about to lose her too, and that was the last thing Claire wanted to happen.

Awkward ambience creeped up to the scene. Air getting thick slowly as sounds of glass were made due to Claire's tea drinking. "Onee-sama, I'm afraid we have to go. I had fun talking to you." Claire said wearing a fake expression, Rae pondered. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦.. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

Claire stood up, the chair she sat on screeching back as she stood with her usual pose, arms crossed with her blonde curls flowing with the wind. Rae admired her silently, she can't bring herself to physically admire her with words in this state. 𝘐𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐? 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵.. 𝘕𝘰, 𝘙𝘢𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. The commoner followed the noble in silence. Claire felt Raes footsteps weakly slowing down, she slowly grew worried. "Walk faster, Rae." It seemed that snapped the maid from a distraction, as she heard her foot steps come closer quickly.

As they walked away from the gazebo, Rae could feel Manaria staring at her. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦?! Rae thought as she finally took a sharp turn to the right, a weight of a heavy stare lifted off her shoulders knowing a wall known of being made by concrete covered Manarias gaze to Rae. She felt sweats fall down to her chin. She slowly gripped on the side of her maid dress as she bit her bottom lip in secrecy showing signs of being uncomfortable, gladly for Rae, Claire hasn't noticed.

With Claire walking forward keeping her eyes at her front, there was no way she would know. Rae looked down at the pathway meant to go for their destination, feeling grubby at this uncomfortable feeling that sucked on her gut like a leech as they walk. Rae and Claire were unaware, but a wind of green puff surrounded the commoner's ears for a split second, before anyone could realize, Manaria could hear Rae's thoughts.

"Interesting." Manaria murmured to herself, feeling a burning desire of something bad.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything was going slobber, Rae thought as she gripped onto the cigarette. "Just one." Rae silently assured herself as she smoked. The place she was in was a more secluded place where there was barely anyone. A secret place shown in the game lore called 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨. You only get to explore it if you complete the game 20 times, and of course Rae has access to it. Weirdly enough, no one in the school has knowledge of this place, even the staff doesn't go here.

"Guess I'm just lucky enough to know this knowledge. Just one smoke won't be bad here." Rae murmured to herself as she parted her lips, huffing out a huge puff of smoke, almost looking like a cloud. She suddenly remembered, she used to have a bad habit on smoking alot. Wasting 5 boxes of cigarettes a week, turning to 10 boxes, it was also one of the reasons she had died and reincarnated here.

It was before she knew the cigarette she huffed on was about to run out. She sighed in disappointment as she buried the dried out cigarette deep in the ground with a spell. "Dang it." She said as she took another mint, fleeing from the scene without a trace without suspicion intruding her day.

As she walked through the hallways on the way to Claire's room, she felt the need to not to. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. Rae flinched. But pushed away the thoughts aside as she politely entered her masters room, who was just studying. It was about time that dinner will be served, so good that Rae arrived in time. "Lady Claire, I will serve you your dinner soon. Please prepare for the meal while I'm at it." Rae bowed to Claire, sitting across the other room as she gripped onto her ballpen. "R-right.." She murmured.

As Rae opened the door, exiting the room, Claire went back to her usual writing. When suddenly, the door slapped opened loudly with a bang, Manaria breaking in. Claire jumped at the sudden sound of her dorm door suddenly opening along with the sounds of foot steps tiptoeing in. The blonde turned around with an angry expression flushed all over her face. "Onee-sama, what's with the sudden break in?! That's unnoble like of you, be gentle opening the door next time!" Claire scolded as she stood up gripping her amulet, glaring at Manaria who remained smug.

"Ah, I'm sorry Claire. But I just wanna talk to you about something."

"Eh?" Claires eyes furrowed, what would she want to talk about at this time?

"About that cute maid of yours, Rae Taylor."
"Nnh!? W-what about her?"

Claire was shocked about how Manaria suddenly had interest with 𝘩𝘦𝘳 Rae. But then, she knows that Rae wouldn't run away from her master. Claire was one of the reasons Rae is still intact after all, or at least 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵.

"I want her to be my maid, Claire." Manaria said boldly as she took a few steps closer, closing the door gently. As it produces a thud, Manarias expression contorted to a poker face. Claire stood still, balling her hand in a fist as she felt a stab of jealousy and possessiveness in her. A huge desire to yell at the person in front of her, but held back. "Manaria, you know I cannot fulfill your wants. Rae said herself she can't serve you, and its my decision to keep her as my maid."

"Interesting. You seem to not want her away from you, huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean..?"

Claire fully trusted Manaria, that was a fact. Her whole life she admired Manaria the moment she was comforted by her after her mother passed, till then they stayed close. Claire realized the difference between Manaria back then and now, she tried connecting the dots.

It was weird, Claire noticed that Manaria had been looking at Rae too much, also weird for her to suddenly want Rae as her maid. ".. Do you.." Claire murmured.

"Hm?"
"Do you like Rae in a way?"

Manaria chuckled loudly, before her eyes darkened. "Yes, I do in a romantic way, and Ill win her." Claire heard something crack, feeling her nails dig in deep into her palm as her eyes creepily darken, much creepier then Manaria. "Ohh? Well. I respect your feelings." The blonde knew herself that no, she didn't respect her feelings. She only wanted the maid for herself only, but she can't bring herself to admit that.

Manaria smiled seeing Claires reaction. "Do you somehow.. Also like her?"

Claires face calmed down, too calm. Too plain even, it almost looked like she was turning into a face of a doll.

"That is I cannot answer." Claire said in a cold tone.

Manaria was about to part her lips to mutter out another sentence, but was interrupted with the sound of the door opening. Presenting Rae, holding a tray of what seemed to be Claires dinner. "U-uh.. Miss Manaria?" Rae asked, confused written all over her face. The maid heard her master huff sounding more like a relief. "Commoner, you may place my tray at the desk." Claire commanded. Rae normally obeyed the commandment, walking past Manaria as she gently placed the tray of food at Claires desk.

Manaria sighed in amusement at the switch up of Claires tone, before saying her goodbye. "I'll take my leave now, thanks for the talk. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦."

Claire wore a plastic smile that covered her true colors, opening her mouth to greet her back. "I also had fun with the small talk. You may take your leave now, good bye."

Claire felt weight get removed from her head as she watched Manaria leave, quickly averting her attention to the commoner right after. "Thank you, Rae. You may take your leave now." Claire said as she smiled.

Rae felt herself blush for a moment, seeing Claire smile at her--
"Y-yes M- I mean, Lady Claire. Excuse me.." Rae quickly exited the room as blush flush to her face.

Claire watched her beloved maid exit her room blushing. "I'm not letting Manaria steal you away." She said, accidentally snapping the ballpen she was obliviously gripping on the whole time.

Chapter Text

Misha mostly didnt care whenever it was about Rae and Claire.

In her opinion, when its about Rae and Claire it would mostly be about how they got into a childish fight and then make up after in a weird way, nothing to worry about. So when Rae suddenly got distant from Claire--Misha couldnt help but worry. of course, they will make up soon right?

Last time she asked herself that was 6 months ago.

It was then she found out from accidentally eavesdropping that Manaria was trying to steal Rae from Claire, making her best friend her maid then sending her to Sousse to who knows what to do with her. And Misha cant just let it fly by. She fled hallway to hallway, taking sharp turns on the way to the place Rae is mostly at whenever she has a day off. Their dorm room.

"Rae--!" Misha panickly opened the door seeing the brunette feeding a familiar a biscuit.

"Misha? Whats with the panicked look? Did something happen?"

"We need to talk."

Misha put her humongous novels down at her nearby desk, closing the door as she took a seat near her best friend who eyed her the whole time. "Rae, i will warn you. Do not attempt to run away as soon as this talk starts seriously--got it?" Misha firmly held Rae's slim fingers, it was weirdly cold to the touch, giving Misha a hint that Rae was nervous. "You love Claire, right?"

"Uh..Yea i do-"

"Then why are you distancing from her?" Misha tightened her grip, preventing the nerve-wrecking commoner from standing up and possibly run. The chairs knocked down at the side as Rae suddenly stood up unsuprisingly wriggling and fighting Mishas grip onto her fingers, who then moved to gripping her wrist strongly. "Tell me Rae!.." She grunted. Rae eyed on her familiar, sending an eye-looking message that Misha knew all too well. "Fuyoo!!" Ralaire yelled as it charged at Misha, helping Rae get off the silver haireds grip.

"Misha..Let me-..go!" Rae took a step forward to the door, still mentally and physically trapped.

The familiar climbed and took over Misha's eyesight, covering her whole perspective with a color of blue overlaying the whole world. Misha struggled to breathe, "Damn familiar--" she cursed the hell out of the familiar and Rae silently, slowly loosing the cold sensation of Raes hands. The moment Ralaire jumped on the commoner's shoulder was the only time Misha could breathe before seeing her best friend run past the dorm door to run away again--"Oh you wont get away this time--get back here!"

"Eh?!"

Misha pushed the door open, her eye locked onto the brunette running away from the left side. Misha then ran-- ran as fast as she can without a single care in the world whether it was bedtime or not. Rae took turns left to left as Misha followed fastly, feeling her breath start to shorten as her steps got more wider and faster--she yelled. "Rae Taylor! Dont run away like a coward!" The wind user started to feel exhausted. Rae's familiar had already sucked most of her mana out--now wasting the rest by chasing this brunette who helped her since the start.

She remembered the times she felt down due to her insecurities, but thats when Rae had politely entered her life and made her day better. Rae was stupid--really stupid and reckless. But she was kind, to everyone she has talked to--she was polite. And that alone is the reason why Misha couldnt just give up-it was because she was kind-hearted and no one was able to help her with her problems. Not even Claire could push Rae to spill out her honest feelings.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I WONT! NOT UNTIL YOU STOP!"

At this point Misha couldnt help but tire herself to the limit, putting the effort in chasing Rae. "Rae, dont you want someone to help you?! 𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮?!" Misha yelled out as she swung her arms to speed up her pace, pushing her legs to stomp faster--harder--- anything to catch up with this fast brunette. "And how are you so--fast.." Misha opened her eyes wide to see Rae panting heavily. It seemed Rae pushed her mana to the limit too. Misha sighed as she slowed down, stopping eventually as she took a huge breath of relief knowing they won't have to run further.

"What did you say?"

"E-eh?" Misha lowered her posture a little in an attempt to get stamina, the wind hitting the side of her face as they both stood in the middle of a hallway past curfew. The moonlight perfectly bright enough to lightly shade the side of both of their figures. "W-what do you mean, Rae? I s-"

"Repeat what you said just now."

"Dont you want someone to- give you a taste of comfort and reality?" Misha panted out as sweat seeped in her clothes, making Misha feel a swirl of dirtyness and disgust. She wouldnt care less though--it took that much effort to chase this commoner whom she called her best friend. Misha just stayed looking at Rae who faced forward, turning her back at Misha the whole time.

A slight giggle from Rae was heard, and Misha couldnt help but worry if she said something bad or not. "Rae..Why did you giggle? Did i say something wrong--"

"A taste of COMFORT and REALITY? Your actually pretty humorous Misha. In what way would someone actually make me feel better by making me taste COMFORT AND REALITY?" Rae balled her hand in a fist, digging her nails in her palm. Misha shivered just by the tone of anger she hadnt heard before but--maybe what she said took effect on Rae. "i DONT NEED SOMEONE TO DO THAT! I ALREADY TOOK A HUGE BITE OF IT. SO QUIT THIS, WHY EVEN CHASE ME?! ITS NOT LIKE--"

"BECAUSE SOMETHING IS OBVIOUSLY BOTHERING YOU?! Dont deny it Rae, distancing from Claire..talking so coldly, isolating yourself from everyone--and dont even think i wouldnt notice you inhaling those--weird orange white things! Smoking cigarettes Rae?! Are you humoring me and the others right now?!" Misha was teary-eyed as she yelled at the commoner, whos now facing Misha with a perplexed look. "How-...How did you even-"

"AND EVEN IF YOU DENY IT, ILL SAY PROOF TO YOUR STUPID TEAR-PROOF FACE! I SAW IT ON YOUR DRAWER RAE. YOU WERE SLEEPING AND I OPENED IT- I SAW IT. I THOUGHT MAYBE YOU DONT EVEN USE THESE BUT I SAW YOU ACTUALLY SMOKING IN THAT UNKNOWN GRASS AREA-- WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING, DESTROYING YOURSELF LIKE THAT?! AND THIS ISNT ABOUT CLAIRE, RAE!" Misha continued, unconciously not realizing tears were down to her chin. Rae kept her mouth shut, she didnt expect this--

"I opened your drawer because i took your keys. And now i know what youve been doing- underage smoking?! Rae thats ILLEGAL! And ive been seeing your pillow too- tear stained pillows Rae? Really?"

Rae shivered, her hands are more cold then usual. She felt statics deafen Rae's ears again, the memories reliving--'stop.' she mumured. Seeing the sight of an angered person--'stop it.' she parted her lips to interrupt Misha's angered speech, only to be left with more of the flashing unpleasant memories growing at the back of her mind. A sensation of a pained slap that was kept mentally as a scar.

'Wow, Rei's a lesbo. Cant believe it.'
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵.
'HAHAHAHA! Imagine liking the same gender, ever wonder how your parents feel about that?'
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵..
'SHUT UP! DONT EVER TALK BACK TO US LIKE THAT AGAIN YOU DAMN HOMO!'
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵..!
'Look at her face.. Drop in more water on her, she deserves it!'
𝘚𝘛𝘖𝘗 𝘐𝘛!

Rae inhaled a small amount of oxygen holding it.

The reliving hell of the year she was exposed as a lesbian back then in elementary school, people slapping and hurting her left and 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵--𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳. Rae still felt the huge scar even after all of that. Rae opened her eyes slightly and lazily stared at the one that called her, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙.

Misha kept talking and talking-- her mouth everso continuing to shove her words into Rae's throat. She took a deep breath before sharply speaking. "Misha." Misha stopped herself, wiping her tears using her wrist. "What now?! Gonna crack a charade sentence out of this one?!" She weakly sniffed as her face darkened due to the tears.

"If ill--actually tell you. Would you believe me?"
"What are you blabbering about? Of course I will. I went all the trouble to go this far after all."

Rae leaned against the window near them, eyeing the moon. "Your correct. Something is bothering me--and it's the reason ive been avoiding Miss Claire too." Rae said, massaging her temples as she closed her eyes showing a sign of her being uncomfortable about this topic.

"See, back when I was in elementary I was bullied for.. Guess what, for being a homosexual. Lesbian, infact. It was to the extent I'd get punched left and right and come to the conclusion I was getting bullied by most of my classmates." Rae felt a warm wet sensation as she explained. "At highschool--i stayed low. I never talked to anyone or anybody, I was lonely. But it was better than getting bullied."

Misha was shocked. 𝘖𝘩--𝘯𝘰.. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴..

"Then I met two people, Misaki and Kosaki. They were called the Saki Duo back then and I hung out with them, turns out maybe high school wasn't so bad."

Rae gulped her own saliva.

"𝘛𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭. Her name was.. Shiiko. Just, Shiiko. She was also a homosexual like me but--she was weirdly open about it. Misaki then unsurprisingly picked on her, just.. Saying stuff to her. That time I also liked Kosaki."

Rae felt her hands shake, her breathing starting to quicken.

"One day she went absent--so a teacher assigned me to go to her house and give her the review papers. Then--thats how I started my unexpected friendship with her. We talked about how we're both actually homosexuals and going through all that-"

Rae stopped to a halt.

"Then I left the school, confessed to Kosaki and boom. The next day at school I got exposed because I was a homosexual that confessed to Kosaki."

𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵-

"I then- wanted to gift Misaki something. Since I wanted to apologize to him. I went into his home and I saw him commit-"

Rae stopped, then sighed.

Raes tears dropped down to her chin, her hands unconsciously shivering. "All of that happened in the past but now--nightmares about it haunt me till this day and I just didnt want Miss Claire to give me fake pity." Misha sighed, putting a hand over the brunettes shoulder. "Rae, have you gone oblivious? Lady Claire obviously cares for you. Has she not sai-"

"How would you know it isn't just pity?" Rae snapped back as she gently put down Misha's hand as her blood pupils eyed Misha's. "Rae.. Try not to push Claire away tomorrow, that way you'll know it isn't 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺." The ex-noble said boldly as she took her own hand to herself.

Rae sighed, feeling a mixture of feelings.

"Fine. Thank you.. Misha." The commoner smiled, and it was the first genuine one after 6 months. Misha was glad that she made her smile like that.

"Always." She replied, lightly grinning.

Rae grinned back, knowing she left a few details behind that she didn't want Misha to know.

Not that it mattered.

T. B. C

Chapter Text

Rae walks, her heels that she gradually hated came in claps with her steps, walking forward to a huge crowd that blocked the way. "Huh..? Wonder whats with the commotion. This strangely gives me a huge deja vu, somehow." she murmured as she tried stuffing her own figure against the small spaces of the crowd that screeched metal with a mix of murmurs and whispers. "Who might that be?!" "I dont know, but she really looks unelegant with that hair." "But you have got to hear my plea! She may look a bit dull, but thy shall hear my word. She certainly looks beautiful and handsome at the same time!" A nerve hit. "The three of them are my light!! I need them to be my Romeo!"

Rae paused, scoffed as she heard the weirdly optimistic shakespeare praise, immediately backing up from the crowd. More romantically charming' people enrolling in the Bauer academy, its like every week now a person or more just enrolls in and manages to charm a bunch of girls. She sighed in a stagnant mood, now walking away from the huge crowd on her way to find a more unique path to go to Miss Claire.

She walked as usual, still feeling a bit bummed out from last nights events.

Badump.

As she walks, she reviews the events that happened in that exact night. Who couldve thought, her nonchalant best friend Misha wouldve made Rae snap out of it? It was certainly suprising, but Rae was glad for what she did. Maybe, just maybe she didnt need to hide from Miss Claire anymore. Why was Rae avoiding Claire? Why was she suppressing her actual emotions? Why cant she trust anyone? Not even Claire? The one she called her soulmate, wife and the reason she lived?

Badump. Badump. Badump. Badump.

It was something Rae had wondered ever since that incident happened, Rae slapped herself. "Misha already comforted you, why are you still sad..!" said as she felt her chest feel heavier.

Badump.

its fine.

Everythings okay, im fine, Misha's fine, Lene-san is fine, Lady Claire is fine. Everything is going to be fixed somehow, and she doesnt need to open up to them, its a better way and its less hassle..

its fine..

Badump.

Her body was getting weaker and weaker, her legs felt heavy. Everything did- did it? Or was it just Rae not wanting to walk anymore? No. What was happening? Why is she so overwhelmed? She just needs to arrive at the cafeteria no problemo.

its fi-

BADUMP.

Rae stopped walking, she was standing still now zoning out. Was suppressing her own feelings the only way she knew how to cope? Was it that easy to open up to one another? Rae's mind started to run. In every way what wouldve happened if Misha had spread it, her heartbeat was fast as static moved, her breaths starting to increase normally to abnormally. Regret, Rae felt regret twist the knife in her stomach. Had she told Misha too much? Why? Why did she have to say her own feelings?

Rae snapped out of reality the moment there was a loud bang from the nearby cafeteria

"When did i arrive outside the cafeteria..?"

Actually, when? Just a moment ago Rae was just staggering with heavy breaths, holding onto the wall seeking for support as her mind ran into different places as fast as her heartbeat then she stopped moving forward. But suddenly she arrived here? Everything felt weird, everything was heavy.

Rae's heart was heavy.

She took a normal deep breath in, walking in the same time she exhaled it. The scent of medium cooked steak took over her senses, her ears hearing the sound of sizzling food and pans scratching the sides to the table in a rush, her eyes looking for the food to devour, and the huge urge to barge in the kitchen and snatch a slice of really cooked steak. She felt her stomach growl.

"Ah, Rae! over here!" Rae turned to look over seeing Lene sitting with the usual two, Misha and Claire. The moment she set her eyes on her morally gray haired best friend her heart automatically set off to a really heavy weight,

again. Rae did still feel very bummed out from last nights events, who knows. Misha has that information and it could be used against her. Rae hesitated.

then gave in.

"Yes, Lene-san."

As the three talked, Rae kept silent. Dead silent, not a sound has come out of her mouth ever since she walked over. Obviously nobody noticed, except for one. Claire, who had been keeping on eye on the commoner the whole time, pretentiously sipping on her tea as she secretly takes a glance. "Rae, id like to ask was it you that made this tea?"

Rae stopped for a moment, kept on a poker face replying a simple 'yes.' though Claire had her own opinion that it was too dry, too unlike Rae. "Hmm..your going to assist me to my room, correct?" Claire had her face lightly red from the thought, but it was well hidden thanks to her cup covering the most of her features, although the container being empty. "Yes, that is the case. I will assist you in getting you ready for the exam, Lady Claire."

Misha wasnt sure, but she felt like she took a glance of Claire smirking. But she shoved it off.

"Oh, have you three heard of new transferees?" Misha asked as she devoured her steak elegantly. Rae flinched, but proceeds with her own business. She most likely didnt wanna talk about the transferees as shes mostly not that interested.

"New...students? But just last week Lady Manaria just enrolled! Its like people are tailing her by transferring here." Lene exclaimed as she broke a sweat, sarcastically adjusting her voice to a whiny dramatic tone. Claire looked just as bad as Lene's dramaticness, just pure amusement in a bad way. "Well, it helps our academy grow more potentially strong students to help serve our kingdom.." Claire did have a point, more students equals to more people to help serve and protect their kingdom. But she just had to add one more question.

"..right, Rae?"

Shoocker...

Rae fiddled with the teapot almost spilling the whole table, turning around. "Yes, Lady Claire. I agree with your take, you are very thoughtful." Rae coldly praised Claire, to her it was genuine. But to Claire.. It felt at most off, but somehow a bit genuine. Everything seemed normal, atleast for Rae now. Maybe she can trust them after all- for once, Rae felt the need to speak up. "Miss C-"

Badump.

"Oh! This is the extraordinary commoner ive heard about!"
"She looks kinda cute, not going to lie."
"AAAAHH! LOOK AT HER SERIOUS FACE! Such a determined looking commoner!!"

Badump.

"May i help you three..?" Rae suspiciously asked without turning around to make eye
contact. Lene, Misha and the overly confused Claire just eyeballed the situation thats growing into a possibly stupid situation. Black hair with sharp glocks in every edge looking like a frizz bush, brown haired with a face that stabbed Rae, and the biggest hit in the damn face. A short haired someone that hit Rae's trigger like a truck.

Rae's breath shivered sharp, it was then she realized, the moment she turned, the moment she laid eyes on the three..
it was then she knew her life in this otome sim game couldnt get any worse.

"H-HUUUHH?!?"

Chapter Text

Raes face lost its color, with a fragment of spark disappearing from her crimson eyes she knew she was cornered. 𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤? She crumbled slightly, the faces she thought could escape from were here, and shes clueless of how and why. "Hmm, you know you do look a bit adorable face to face, you almost remind me of someone!" The one, with glasses and ruffled black hair happened to be Shiiko. The one, with short haired, roughly looking like a boy is Misaki. While that girl, one specific girl.

Kosaki.

Them three had managed to just enter here in Revolution, out of all games they could've entered it had to be in where Rae is!

The maid was in disbelief, mentally preparing herself for whatever their gonna ramble about. All she knew was 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. And it was pretty much worse, also. Since she told Misha a bite of her past, her known best friend would definitely feel a sense of familiarity. "I'm Shiiko, that's Misaki and that's Kosaki! Nice to meet you, Rae!" Shiiko grinned, with her sharp teeth out of expression that the maid hadn't seen in months.

That smile.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦.

Now it felt all familiar, she had seen that smile many times in her past life whenever Shiiko was rambling about PrayLove, it was mostly about her favourite character and how much of a good representation of wlw it was. All that bond was crumbled.

"Nice to meet you three, I didn't know I was that known around here, huh?" Rae exclaimed, 𝘯𝘰, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

A few minutes had gone by and the whole conversation felt like an interview, a dreadful session of interviews. Each three of them shooting Rae with such questions, like "How are you so good at magic?!", " Are you aiming to become the top?!", "Why did you sign up to be Lady Claire's maid?!"
𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘱.. 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥.

It was a lot, but she can't just cuss them out to leave them alone.

Hearing their voices again though.

Oh
𝘖𝘩

Oh it was a pain in the ass. Though it happened awhile back, it still struck Rae sensitively. To be blunt her adult life after highschool wasn't exactly good either, seeing Misaki hit her like a truck. Rae suddenly remembered, 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦?

Now another memory had grew a sharp vine. It was apparently back then, Misaki was bullied due to being transgender. It was to the point of him committing suicide, overdosing and drowning himself in beers and drugs. That sheer memory was enough to make Rae have her final straw till she'd possibly snap.

"Oh, and you look familiar.. Did we meet before?"

That did it.

As the interview went, Rae suddenly stood up making a huge noise that silenced everyone in their tracks. "I.. Need to go! I have to do something very important, we can talk later, eh?" Rae smiled in a cherishing way that anyone would've believed she was truly happy. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘏𝘶𝘩? 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘳𝘶𝘯. 𝘐 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯, 𝘐 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐'𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵.

𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵.

𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. Raes mind was racing again, hopefully Misha hadn't noticed. Hopefully Rae didn't look noticeable to anyone. 𝘕𝘰--𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴?! 𝘐𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

𝘎𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.

It's getting bad, to the point the words in Raes mind were sprinting with nonsense she would've never thought. But It just kept going.

The words repeated in Raes mind as she bowed, walking away from the scene that was silenced. Though everyone looked shock, they continued going on. All except, Claire. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵.. She slowly stood up, giving Misha a knowing look. Though, for others they look like they hate each other. "I'm going to the bathroom, please excuse me." She huffed as she stood, going to the pathway the commoner had went. But knowing the three, they noticed the noble going to the wrong way..

"Wait but.." Before Kosaki had finished her sentence of an attempt of telling Claire she'd been going to the wrong path, Claire already disappeared. "Hmm, I guess that's a shame huh? Oh, it's time for us to go Misha. We had fun meeting you guys, see ya!" The three stood up as Misha watched them leave without letting the grey haired say goodbye back. "Goodness gracious." She murmured as she took a sip of her tea.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘙𝘢𝘦, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩.. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴? She worringly thought. But whatever comes out of the situation, she'd watch over. Though, Misha had to admit. Claire has some guts if she dared to chase after Rae, knowing how fast of a runner her best friend is..

Claire really must care for her, huh?
Misha giggled.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is bad. this 𝘪𝘴 bad. Her brain was hurting again, tossing her over and over, her arms itching, her bad habits catching up on her really bad. This is something Rae didn't want when realizing she reincarnated in Revolution, she hated this, she hated everything. Rae ran all the way to the area she kept going to the most, for coping, right? Coping. All she needs is one cigarette, and she can reflect on what she did. It's alright, it's okay. Claire wouldn't notice either way, as long as--

"RAE!! -- HOW ARE YOU SO.. FAST--!?" A knowing voice caused Rae to slow her pace and look behind, in the sight she felt her face widen in horror.

What. The. Hell.

"CLAIRE-SAMA?!"

Rae felt pity on what Claire looked like right now, the noble was using magic on herself to keep her pace going to catch up to Rae since she wasn't used to running fast. 𝘏𝘦𝘤𝘬, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮! This was a sight to see, since Claire was chasing Rae in the empty hallways, she's just glad it was empty. Otherwise students would've been wondering what was going 𝘰𝘯 between them.

"Stop..! Stop, this is an order! Stupid Rae!" Claire yelled with her last breath as she stopped, trying to catch in rhythm with her breath. Rae stopped automatically, walking up to the noble she'd admired to check up on her condition. "Miss Claire..! You shouldn't be running, in this condition your not used to run that far, and--ah?"

"Got you, idiot."

A pair of arms trap Rae towards Claire, the familiar warmth almost close to home. "It's been awhile since you called me Miss Claire, idiot, what's going on with you.. Running off like that when you should've expressed to them you felt uncomfortable... Idiot, idiot, IDIOT!" Claire exclaimed as she punched Rae in the stomach, causing the other to stumble over. Though it's cruel, it's how Claire expressed her way of giving her commoner a reality check.

"I've noticed awhile back you seem off these days, your always somewhere unknown, and then I hear from others they see you going to random places that could be dangerous, and you.. You--you always make me worry! It's stupid, stupid Rae! You and your heart being locked in, I hate it!" Claire yelled out as she kept holding Raes hand tightly. Her face obviously crunched in anger, but still flustered.

Rae missed that look didn't she..?

"And then now--now I have to chase after you! Because I care for you, Misha cares for you, why.. Why do you run off on your own?! You know I'm not even athletic! You know yourself that you have something there killing you yet you let it grow! Your so stupid! Stupid for trying to damage yourself, stupid! Stupid!"

Claire was gripping Raes hand, but the other kept punching Rae lightly. A dreadful punch that seemed to slowly snap her out.

Rae was taken back by this action of Claire, what was happening? Why is she saying this, why is Claire-sama doing 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

"And you.. I care for you, and your pushing me away, and I choose to chase you, because your so stupid, your my maid, obviously I have to care for you, I told you I love you, dang it! But you--you just pushed my confession away! Your so dense, Rae! Dang it!"

Rae kept silence as Claire continued rambling, about how she'd never look at Claire.

"B-But- Claire-sama..I dont get it. I thought you loved me out of pity..?" Rae held Claire's shoulders gently as she wore a face of confusion and need of answers, as she did, Claire's face scrunched into mere anger and frustration. "It's not pity, dense idiot! I.. I love you, your so stupid, thinking my attempt of love and affection was just out of pity..! This isn't very 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 Rae!" Claire punched Rae once more in the stomach, causing the other to fully stumble over and land flat on the concrete floor, with a grunt coming out of Rae.

Rae attempted to stand up, but as she tried doing it on her own Claire dragged her back to her feet. "So why.. Why can't you open up to me?! I want to know your problems, I want to help you with whatever stuff you have down there, I want to know why your stopping yourself from saying what you want, so why, Rae..?" Raes eyes were wide, Claire was 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. She's actually crying about her, and it's right in front of Raes face.

Oh
𝘖𝘩.

Now Rae suddenly remembered. It was like when Misha was chasing after Rae, also desperate to know the situation. Rae didn't tell Misha the full truth--but apart of her wanted to. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰. But it was like what Claire had exclaimed sadly, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. Rae sighed as she held Claire's hand in hers, attempting to comfort her in the best way possible. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦.

"Miss Claire.. I'll tell you everything in somewhere private, okay? For now let's go to where it is so I can properly explain everything." Rae calmly said as she faintly smiled, it was the first genuine smile she'd had in ages. She smiled more when Claire looked up, tears dried with the eyes expressing relief and a fragment of happiness. She wiped the remaining tears as she followed Rae, hand in hand.

𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨? Rae thought.

As they walked, Claire had a sudden realization that she didn't even knew what pathway this was, she grew here in Bauer all her life but she has never seen this pathway before. There was a pattern of withered dead flowers, with dull grass and a smell slowly lingering in Claire's nose. 𝘞-𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭?! Claire's face scrunched, immediately taking a glance at Rae's face to see if she's the only one smelling it. Only to see that 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭! Claire huffed, tolerating the negative demeanor in this area.

When they arrived, the whole thing looked so.. Beautifully sad. The dull grass, the sky almost loosing it's blue and the smell that had a mix of smoke and nature. It fitted to whatever Rae was feeling, which was why she came here a lot to reflect on herself. "Miss Claire.. This is where I reflect on myself."

Claire cleared her throat as she tiptoed over next to Rae. "All of this.. Seems.."

"Dead? Haha, I know. Its comforting for me, atleast. Which is why I just go here whenever I have something bottled up, then I go on and smoke or drink.." Rae airdropped that so casually, she had forgotten Claire didn't know she smoked or drank.

"S-smoking? DRINKING?! COMMONER, That's unhealthy! You shouldn't be doing that--are you even old enough to do tha- eh!!" Claire's scolding was silenced by Rae's finger covering over her lips, as her color shaded in crimson she asked. "Why would you, Rae..?"

Rae chuckled lightly, clearly a force. As she cleared her throat and started to explain. "Well where do I start, it was back then.. I'm actually not from this world, Miss Claire. I'm from another world, I just happened to.. be here, for some reason I have an assumption I died due to lack of sleep and self-care, and now I'm here."

(I am not wasting my time writimg the whole backstory so pls js imagine rae telling claire everything😞)

Claire was shocked, 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.. 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨? As she nodded more to Rae's explanation, about her school.. why she felt off about the three, and how this whole world their in was a 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 in Rae's supposedly original world. It didn't sound much realistic, but weirdly enough Rae sounded 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦. Also opening up the fact she'd been smoking and that's probably also apart of the reason she died. "And.. I guess I didn't let go of the fact I didn't stop Misaki from committing, and I blamed myself. I guess that's the reason why I started to drink, sleep late, and smoke? I guess? Haha, i was unhealthy.. But I guess those bad habits came back to me the moment I felt rough." Rae said as she gripped on her skirt, seemingly a bit upset about her situation.

"I didn't open up to you, because I thought I looked like a weak, frail flower that could be destroyed. I guess, I still looked like one till the-"

"THATS STUPID TO THINK!" Claire interrupted Rae, wide-eyed, eye contact with each other as Claire gripped onto Rae's hand. "Just because you have your own problems, your own emotions, it doesn't make you look weak and frail..! Your so dense and stupid, idiot Rae!"

"If--if you ever have any problems.. As your master I shall know and help you with it..! Because your my Ra- maid! Maid.." Claire continued off as she kept her eyes steady down with Rae. 𝘖𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥. Rae thought as she smiled, hugging Claire in the process.

"Pfft.. Miss Claire, thank you for considering my emotions, I should tell Misha this huh..?"

"Hm.. You.. Should actually."

Rae stared at the noble in awe, as she hugged Claire randomly. "HAHAHAH! I still remember you being worked up over Manaria being interested in me, though, you really care for me huh, Miss Claire?" 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦..!

"HUH?! ME?! WORKED UP?! NO! AND STAY AWAY FROM MEEE!!!" Claire shrieked as she tried pushing her 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 Rae away from her, blushing mess.

"NO! I LOVE YOU MISS CLAIREEE! YOU SAID YOU LOVE ME, EARLIER!" Rae smiled with hearty eyes.

"NO! NO! FORGET ABOUT THAT!!!"

Misha looked at the twos bond in awe, she heard everything. And is pretty happy about it. 𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥. Misha smiled lightly as she crossed her arms looking at the two acting like themselves again. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵. She sighed, as she left to do her duties.

Rae finally felt free, after months of emotional suppression. Though she didn't cry over it, she didn't feel the need to, there were people that cared for her and now she can look at them whenever she needs help. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. Rae exclaimed.

<3 4 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵.