Melrose had some knowledge of the Camberlan Family’s situation as a princess. A young lady from such a minor noble family—soft-tempered and far from home—should have been easy to manipulate. That had originally been her target.
However, after their chance encounter that day, Melrose discovered that Xiliya’s personality was not as she had imagined. She turned out to be quite tough instead. That made her a poor choice to target.
Melrose had her own standards for selecting a “toy”: someone with a softer personality who was easy to “tame,” or better yet, someone with a weakness or vulnerability she could exploit.
Someone like Xiliya simply did not fit after their first interaction. Perhaps she should switch targets?
Melrose pondered as she flipped past Xiliya’s student file. The next one happened to be Ximo’s.
Hm… Melrose’s fingers drummed on the desk.
She had encountered plenty of people who tried every trick in the book to get close to her as a princess. She had not paid much attention to Ximo’s actions at first and had no intention of figuring out her motives.
But now, thinking about it, turning the tables and using that to her advantage seemed rather interesting.
No matter what Ximo’s goal was, if she let her draw closer step by step only to spring a trap of her own at the end… that sounded pretty fun.
—
At that moment, Ximo was enjoying her new school life alongside Xiliya.
“Could you say that name one more time?”
Ximo stared wide-eyed at the small, rectangular object in her hand, her tone full of disbelief.
“This is called a Student Terminal. It’s like your student ID, but with way more functions. Do you need me to explain it again?”
The senior student in charge of orientation knew these were only available at the academy, so she explained patiently. But the way this freshman handled the Student Terminal… why did she seem so proficient?
Of course Ximo was proficient. As a modern person, she would have been a ghost if she couldn’t use a touchscreen phone!
Ximo’s fingers deftly swiped across the Student Terminal’s screen a few times. The little device had quite a few features: it could be used to eat at the cafeteria, scan into dorm buildings, and even had a campus map marked especially for new students… Meow, are you sure this thing wasn’t called a phone?
Xiliya operated it proficiently too, though that was because she had encountered one in her previous life.
After a few more reminders about key points, the senior who had completed her orientation duties left the dorm.
“So this is the dorm at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy?”
Ximo curiously surveyed the room. The Imperial Capital Magic Academy lived up to its reputation as Roland Empire’s top academy—the accommodations were luxurious, and the room was three or four times larger than the single room she had stayed in back at the Camberlan Family home.
Though in truth, Ximo had hardly ever slept in her own room afterward; she spent every night in Xiliya’s instead.
“Looks like we got lucky. I didn’t expect we’d end up in the same dorm.”
Xiliya had originally worried that Ximo might be assigned elsewhere, since dorms were randomly allocated. She had been concerned that Ximo might get bullied by certain students.
After all, most students at the academy were nobles, and it was common for them to look down on or even bully commoners.
Especially the imperial princess Melrose… Thinking of that woman made Xiliya’s expression darken.
“Looks like this is the one. Bring everything in.”
A muffled voice came from outside the door—the new roommate had arrived. But when the door opened, it was not a new classmate who entered first, but several servants carrying large and small packages.
The new roommate strolled in last, looked around, and curled her lip.
“This setup is just average. I thought the Imperial Capital Magic Academy’s dorms would be something special.”
Ximo could not help sighing. Conditions she considered luxurious apparently fell short in the eyes of these noble young ladies. But that new roommate’s voice sounded a bit familiar…
Before Ximo could place it, the new roommate stared at them with wide eyes.
“It’s you two?!”
“Looks like our luck isn’t that good after all.”
Xiliya commented coolly. She had not expected to be roomed with Mira either. In her previous life, they had not shared a dorm.
It must have been some butterfly effect. After all, there had been no Ximo at the academy in her previous life.
Xiliya had not interacted much with Mira before. She only knew that Mira was a headstrong noble young lady who usually followed Melrose around… And that alone was enough for Xiliya to dislike her.
Faced with Xiliya’s icy gaze, Mira started to get angry but held back when she recalled that she had been the one in the wrong during their last conflict. Instead, she directed the servants to move her things into the room.
The other two had far less to unpack. After all, it was more practical to buy new things here than lugging luggage all the way from Border City.
“Let’s go buy some daily necessities. The academy has a commercial street.”
“…Hold on!”
Xiliya grabbed Ximo to head out, but Mira stopped them.
“What is it? Something else?”
Xiliya turned back, her gaze on Mira intimidating. If Mira wanted trouble, Xiliya did not mind giving her a proper welcome-down.
But Mira bit her lip and hesitated for a long while before stamping her foot in frustration.
“Here… a meeting gift, for you two!”
Mira pulled out two exquisitely wrapped small boxes and handed them over, her face flushing red from the gesture.
She had originally planned to use the meeting gift to bond with her new roommates, but they turned out to be these two… Did that even count as a “meeting gift” anymore?
“These are cookies I baked myself…”
Mira kept her head down, avoiding their eyes. It was not like she wanted to give them gifts—the cookies were already made, and it would be a waste not to hand them out… It definitely was not because she wanted to give them to these two!
Xiliya raised an eyebrow in surprise. She had assumed Mira and Melrose were partners in crime, both the type to bully others with their status. She had not expected Mira to bring meeting gifts.
Naturally, she had never learned about this since they had not been roommates in her previous life.
“Thanks.”
Xiliya softened her tone a bit and pulled Ximo out of the room.
The Imperial Capital Magic Academy was absurdly huge. Ximo never would have imagined it had an entire commercial street—and one that seemed no less bustling than those in the Imperial Capital.
At the center of the commercial street stood a large stone statue of an old man with a white beard, dressed in a mage’s robe. It looked rather out of place amid the shops.
“That’s a statue of the Great Sage Gandalf,” Xiliya glanced at it. “They say he founded the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.”
