In her usual calm, Charlotte left her dormitory for the lecture hall, her mind wandering and saying everything her cursed throat could not.

"Good morning, Calamity Charlotte. I hope your night went well."

Three young men approached, making way for her through the hallway, but it was clear they had more to say.

Charlotte offered a gentle smile and nodded.

The men looked fairly pleased, as though a response hadn’t been expected.

The tall one scratched the back of his head, an awkward smile forming, words already leaving him before Charlotte could slip away to morning class.

"You may not know us, Calamity Charlotte. We are in the third class, and it would be an honor to join your faction."

Charlotte paused, confusion crossing her face. ’My faction? But I don’t have any. I am part of Leomaris’s faction. Wait, should I add them? We already don’t have many members.’

She turned it over in her mind as hard as she could and at last settled on something. She nodded gently.

"Okay. Afternoon. Me. There."

Like a toddler learning to speak, the words left her as she gestured toward the first-class lecturing hall. The men began smiling, teasingly.

Charlotte was confused for a moment, wondering why they would laugh. She’d already assumed they were well informed of her situation.

"Alright, Calamity Charlotte. We’ll meet again soon enough."

His taunting smile as he spoke said everything his words didn’t about Charlotte. These men weren’t just after a faction, they wanted an opportunity to mock her, to press down on her with enough weight.

None of it touched her, though. She knew being a Calamity meant needing others as much as they needed her, and everyone below second-class was practically a pawn when missions came around. She wasn’t going to waste her breath.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

’I have to talk to Leomaris today. There are too many things I want to ask him.’

A soft smile accompanied the thought as she headed to class. A few hallways later, it seemed the gods had heard her. Speak of the devil...

To her left, the hallway leading to the hall. To her right, the grand library. And there, in a small altercation with the librarian, stood Leomaris. Charlotte moved to approach before holding her step after a thought or two.

Not much came from Leomaris, and the strikingly beautiful librarian wouldn’t stop her scolding. The anger on her face gave Charlotte a decent idea of what the exchange was about.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

’Normal cadets can’t take books out of the library, but Calamities like us can as long as we pay for every day the books stay outside. I’m pretty sure Leomaris borrowed some and refused to pay. Miller always gets mad when cadets do that.’

She let out a disappointed sigh.

’Approaching Leomaris under these circumstances would disgrace him. I will have to speak to him another time.’

What Charlotte didn’t realise was that Leomaris had already seen her and was desperately hoping she’d come over so he could exploit her goodwill for money. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Three books were borrowed and never returned. The fine had grown beyond what he had on him.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

His silent desperation reached no one, Charlotte was long gone, and even a shout wouldn’t have made the distance. But as if her day couldn’t grow any stranger, something bizarre caught her eye at the entrance of the lecture hall. Her dark eyes grew more soulless than usual.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

’Lucius and Raine? Since when were those two acquainted?’

The pair talked idly, the ease between them that of long-time friends. When Lucius’s silver-blue hair came across as slightly unrefined, Raine reached over and tidied it with a smile.

Charlotte didn’t look twice. She only quickened her pace and left the scene behind.

’I’ve never seen her talk to any boy except Leomaris. Even her maid is confusing. The hair makes them look like a boy, but they wear a maid outfit... so probably a girl? Unless he’s just a cross-dresser.’

She settled into her seat, thoughts already shifting elsewhere. Soon enough, Instructor Abigail entered, took her place at the podium, and set her sheets on the lectern.

Every student outside was quick to file in, Leomaris among them. But something was off about him this time. He smiled at the cadet who’d dragged his name through lies for days.

"Hey, Emerald," Leomaris smiled calmly.

Emerald paused, turning to him with a confused expression and adjusting her glasses in the process. As though that was the cornerstone of her helpless girl act.

None of that mattered to Leomaris. The girl was making his life miserable, but he had no time for her little hatred. He’d decided to ally with her.

He wanted to make her pay for everything she’d caused him, and she clearly wanted the same from him.

As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Leomaris dipped his head in politeness and open submission.

"Would you be willing to join my faction? It would truly be an honor to have you, Emerald."

Genuine confusion crossed her face. Her eyes swept from one face to the next and found that most people were equally bewildered. Even Instructor Abigail, who loathed Leomaris just as deeply as she did.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

She gulped back bile. The answer was harder than it appeared. Leomaris clearly had something planned, but walking away from such a trap wasn’t simple.

Over a week ago, she’d deliberately gone out of her way to paint him as a bad person, trying to bring him down. And now he was using the very same tactic to back her into a corner.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Refusing meant she bore a personal grudge against Leomaris, which would undermine any rumour she’d spread. Accepting, though, meant walking straight into his trap.

A moment of deliberation, and then a decision. The smile that followed said everything before she even opened her mouth.

"Really? Then it would be my pleasure to join your faction, Calamity Leomaris."

Leomaris let out a relieved breath. "Thank you for accepting, Emerald."

Respectful regards exchanged, Emerald took her seat, and Leomaris was quick to take his. He needed to keep an eye on her.

That smile, though, had said something. She had plans of her own. He may have made a bad decision after all.