Agatha and the rest of the class got their scores a week later after the midterms. She held on to the paper, which contained such scores, with a mixture of mounting dread and expectation, as the whole study group gathered in the library.

  “I do not want to look at it,” she said as she put so much force on the paper that it was one gesture away from being torn apart.

  “I can look at it for you,” gorgeous Christie offered, but the petite girl swayed her head in negation.

  “I must do it myself… But I would appreciate it if someone started before me.”

  “Must I remind you that these scores do not influence your academic stay?” Mateo informed with his pedantic scholarite speech. Agatha would have been at his throat if it weren’t for the fact that Shayla could get more tedious. But at least the girl was cute, and the boy couldn’t even be called handsome.

  “Then, if you are so sure, how about you show yours first?” Agatha offered.

  Without any type of hesitation and only a sigh that was clearly directed at her, the scholarite read his scores.

  “Highest score in academics, dreadful one in physical education, and a surprisingly competent one in Agatecraft,” he informed as he slid the paper on the table for the rest to see.

  “I guess Teacher Dago has had mercy on you,” Shayla – on cue – said with a snide remark. “I guess that is more about the performance than about being eliminated in the first round.”

  “If you are so confident, then feel free to have the stage,” Mateo replied.

  “Gladly,” the Intaksolfani smiled at him with confidence. She didn’t bother to read the paper and just slid it open on the table for everyone to see.

  Everyone here knew that Shayla was a solid all-rounder. Whilst she didn’t have any strengths, the merchant’s daughter also didn’t have any weaknesses either. In all subjects, she placed in the top five, barring arithmetic where she was in the top three.

  How does she do it? Instead of envy, Agatha couldn’t help but feel admiration. The confidence the Intaksolfani portrayed wasn’t an aggressive and nauseating one like that of the noble girls, but a more refreshing one. She knew she was immune to failure, and Agatha found it somewhat attractive. Well, she also found other things attractive about the girl like her soft dark skin, those citrine eyes, that thin and flowing neck that she always left exposed…

  Agatha coughed. As of recently, she felt more comfortable with being herself, but she knew better than to express it openly. And even more so, when she had someone else in her heart. But it’s true that there are a lot of passing trysts in Christie’s novels… Her rose-tinted thoughts were brought to an end as Christie started speaking.

  “As I expected…” The redhead sighed and slid the paper across the table. “Still bottom in physical education…”

  “Christie…” Agatha interjected. “You realize that there are more subjects, right?”

  “I only cared about that,” her roommate shrugged with a hint of sadness.

  Snooping around a bit, the dirty-blond girl looked at the scores only to squint at the redhead with a hint of envy and rage. I kinda prefer when people boast about their high scores better than when they ignore them. In that sense, Christie was worse than Shayla. Her roommate was top three in every academic subject, and barring physical education, her scores were top-notch as her Agatecraft score was also in the top 5 after her overwhelming wins against the rest. Perhaps it also contributed that she had forced Agatha’s hand in their duel.

  “It is your turn, girl~” Shayla said melodiously and mockingly.

  “Yes, yes, Fran?ois,” Agatha mocked back.

  “Who in the depths is Fran?ois?” She replied in confusion rather than offense.

  “My stoneshell,” Christie revealed.

  “Did she just compare me to a stoneshell?” There it was. The offense.

  “To be fair, Fran?ois is a very mocking turtle,” her roommate giggled. “But yes, Agatha, you cannot set this aside for eternity.”

  “I know,” the villager sighed and opened the paper with the scores, but before she could read anything, she covered the section where all the scores in academics were with her palm.

  “What are you doing?” Shayla arched a brow.

  “I want to first get the good news so I can take the brunt of the bad ones.” Agatha moved her eyes downward, and then she saw them. “First in physical education and Agatecraft,” she let out a sigh of relief.

  “Yeah, no shit,” the Intaksolfani said.

  Christie and Mateo looked at the girl as if she had eaten literal shit, but Agatha couldn’t help but giggle. This academy was too formal for her, and that was what she needed in her life: a bit of informality and rudeness. Perhaps that was why she found Shayla so compelling, because she could fill up that hole in her.

  Agatha then took a deep breath, preparing herself the best she could for the bad scores. She partially regretted that the physical education scores were segregated by gender as she wanted to see how good she had performed against the boys, a lower score would have unironically helped her self-esteem. You can do this, you can do this.

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  She removed her palm from the paper and read it.

  “Yes!” The petite girl jumped out of her chair and threw the paper on the table.

  The curious snoopers arched their backs forward as they spied the contents of Agatha’s scores.

  “I mean, you are not last…” Christie started.

  “…but should you be happy with this score?” Mateo ended.

  “Of course!” Agatha did a little hop. Which was funny, because the bunny was Christie. “Several fifteen and seventeenth positions! I am in the middle of the pack! That feels so good!”

  Agatha was drowning in happiness. All her efforts and study hours filled with pain and migraines paid off. She was in the middle of the pack, the supreme average, but the pool size was that of nobles instead of commoners. She was so happy she could cry!

  Oh, she was crying.

  “Agatha!” Christie shrieked and grabbed her by the forearm. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I am! These are tears of happiness.” She smiled at the lovely Christie. It was all thanks to her. If she hadn’t helped her study or assembled this study group, she would still have been drowning on her misery. Oh, she wanted to hug her. She wanted to kiss her! It took a lot of restraint, but she simply hugged her. “Thank you, thank you so much!”

  “You are welcome,” the tall girl caressed her hair, slightly pushing the petite girl’s head into her bosom.

  Ah, Agatha shrieked internally. Why can’t we spend the rest of the time like this?

  “What about us? Where are our thanks?” Despicable Shayla interrupted her happiness, and Agatha threw her a nasty glance. “Uh-huh,” the dark-skinned girl mused in amusement.

  “There is no need for thanks when she looks this thankful,” Mateo covered for her, and for the first time, she dedicated a smile to the boy. The poor soul blushed.

  Ah, you are as unfortunate as me in this regard, Agatha giggled internally and pushed herself out of Christie’s cleavage. She did her best not to show too much sadness for the separation.

  “So,” she clapped in a semblance of Teacher Dago. “What now?”

  “What do you mean?” It was Christie who asked the question.

  “Like, what will happen with this study group?”

  “Well,” Mateo started. “The midterms are over, but the final exams still remain, and there are only around three months before them, so I propose that we continue these sessions, at least with a more relaxed itinerary.”

  “I agree,” Shayla said to everyone’s surprise. “What?” She spat. “I would have taken the midterms far more laxly if it were not for you all, and these sessions help to refresh the syllabus. But I definitely do not want to do this every day. How about once a week?”

  “That makes sense,” Christie said. “At least until the final exams are around the corner, we can just use these study sessions to review that week’s classes and also do some homework together.”

  “Then it is settled!” Shayla clapped, though this gesture was more of her own style rather than a recreation of René Dago’s. “Now if you excuse me, this lady has a reservation on a bathhouse in Knight’s Ascent. Sechelua!”

  Agatha had no idea what the Intaksolfani had said at the end, but she guessed it was a farewell. That, or she was mocking them. Both were equally valid and likely.

  “A trip to a bathhouse sounds nice,” Mateo blabbered dreamily. “But alas, I think I will just lie on the bed myself with a book and spend the rest of the day lazing around.”

  “Huh,” Agatha mused, and the boy gave him a look. “Nothing, nothing. I just thought that you would be more of an ‘I must continue studying’ type of person. Considering your faith and all.”

  “The Preserver places great emphasis on rest and mental well-being. Most people seem to ignore the latter, yet it can be said that it is far more important than physical health. A good rest will just give me more strength and allow me to tackle new challenges with ease!” He said with a raised fist, an adult aura surrounding him.

  “I will take it into account.” And perhaps I should. Health she had aplenty, but her mental one… well, that one was severely lacking.

  The scholarite exchanged his goodbyes and also made his way out of the library. Agatha and Christie exchanged a gaze with each other. The petite girl almost laughed as she thought that the tall one was bound to have completely different thoughts from hers right now. Yet she wished that wasn’t the case. Oh, how much did she wish it.

  “I feel a bit lost now without the study group,” Agatha admitted, if just to break the silence. It was comfortable as she shared it with Christie, but she preferred to hear the redhead talk; hear her velvet voice.

  “I must reciprocate the feeling,” Christie smiled, revealing quartz whites. “Alas, I fear I am without ideas. This last fortnight it has been all about studying, and I have forgotten what it is like to have free time.

  “Same,” the dirty-blond girl sighed softly. “Maybe…” She whispered, she couldn’t believe she was saying this herself, yet a tingle spread throughout her body. “…I could make you a dress?”

  “Really?” The redhead clasped her hands together, and her agates of eyes shone as if commanded by Light.

  “Yes,” Agatha nodded, a smile drawn in her visage. “It has been a while, has it not? I have already had some ideas from my sketches, so I would try to do something.”

  “Can I do something to help?”

  “Uh…” She blubbered dubiously. “There is something… but I am not sure if you want to do it…”

  “Nonsense, let it out!” Christie pressed a hand on her chest as she puffed it out.

  “I would need some specific textiles, and to get them… well, you would need to get down to the city,” the seamstress-in-training felt bad for even saying that to her roommate, considering how much she hated heights.

  And yet… the tall girl was laughing? “Oh, mock sapphire. That is not an issue!”

  “What?” She was at a loss for words. “Are you sure? You know, you need to get down to the city with the lift.”

  “You truly are a mock sapphire, eh?” Christie grabbed Agatha by the cheeks like how she did with Fran?ois, yet because she did it with only a hand for her head was way smaller than a stoneshell’s, so the redhead was mostly grabbing the petite girl by the chin. “How do you think I discovered the spot I took you to last week? I have gone down to Knight’s Ascent by myself several times now these months to jog as the landscape of the academy got a bit stale for me.”

  “Oh,” Agatha said softly. Very softly. “I guess I never thought about it.”

  Christie removed her hand from Agatha's face and walked toward the entrance of the library. “Come on, what are you waiting for? You need to make me the shopping list.”

  “Right…” Yet Agatha remained petrified on the spot, her cheeks threatening to burn her alive.

  Mock sapphire, the petite girl recalled those words Christie had said as she grabbed her by the chin. Her whole body was itching, but it was a good kind of itch. She wanted to feel it again, as it was already fading. She wanted to feel herself in Christie’s grasp once more, to be grabbed by her as she forced her to look into those gorgeous, lithic eyes of hers.

  The nameless darkness had receded from her happiness and her status as a successful student, yet it was now substituted by another one. This one was a screaming darkness, one that begged to be put out of its misery. Agatha wanted to be put out of her misery too, for she knew she couldn’t say a word about herself. That is fine, she told herself as she turned on her heels and followed Christie out of the library. If I maintain the status quo, she will continue to be Christie. And that is fine. She couldn’t threaten to lose their current relationship just because she wanted to gamble on a different one. It was more than enough to be around the gorgeous redhead as her friend and roommate.

  That is fine.

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