In fact, she knew who he was.

  Like all the other love interests in the game, Jude Warrick’s appearance was very distinctive. Tallest in their year, Jude's sharp and striking facial features, contrasted with his simple haircut, drew the attention of many of the girls in school. In the game, Daisy had witnessed one of the swordsmanship competitions where girls had been positively screaming in support of Jude's victory. He was also often followed around by girls who were too shy to approach him but too infatuated to stay away from him.

  Because he was the 'strong and silent' type, he came across as intimidating to many girls who would otherwise be falling over themselves to talk to him.

  Although Jude was her least favorite love interest in Waiting for Fireflies, it wasn’t because he was an uninteresting or outright annoying character. He simply stood out the least among all the 'loud' personalities thanks to his all-around calm and stable attitude. Fans of the game who preferred green flags all chose him as their favorite love interest.

  In fictional media, Mira enjoyed the more adventurous characters, living vicariously through the player character. Of course, she was literally Blythe right now, so ...

  She had bigger fish to fry than to spend time considering which of the game characters had the most green flags. She needed to figure out whether this was her new permanent life and how to deal with it.

  Mira pulled herself out of her thoughts to hear Sophie say, “And he’s the son of the famous Sir Arcturus, too!”

  “It’s a shame he’s so unapproachable,” Jessica said, still looking down at the training hall underneath them.

  When spoken to, Jude always responded in an amiable and mild manner. It was his resting solemn face that was intimidating. His expression also changed to become more open once he started talking, too.

  “He’s not that unapproachable.” The words slipped out before she could process them in her brain.

  She froze at her huge mistake. Sophie and Jessica gaped at her.

  “What?” Jessica caught her slip-up, eyeing her with the interest of an eagle noticing its prey. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Do you know him?”

  The original Blythe wouldn’t have had much opportunity to encounter Jude, given that he was the son of a knight and not quite nobility—he wouldn’t grown up knowing the rest of them who frequented the imperial palace for the royal balls and other similar social events.

  “No, no, no. Of course I don’t know him. I just, uh, have seen that he does seem open to our other classmates talking to him, you know? So he’s probably more approachable than you think. That’s all I meant!”

  That pulled dramatic gasps from both her friends’ throats.

  As if she’d just heard the best news of the year, Sophie’s grin spread across her face. “You’ve been noticing him!”

  “You’ve been watching him?” Jessica leaned forward, her eyes wide as saucers.

  The only small mercy was that they knew how to keep their voices down when discussing topics like this.

  Mira stared at them, panic seizing all the muscles of her face. Them thinking she had a thing for Jude was the absolute last thing she needed, especially since Blythe was betrothed to Magnus and was supposed to be madly infatuated with him.

  “No! I haven’t been watching him.”

  “But then how would you know that about him?”

  Having painted herself into a corner, Mira spluttered and buried her face into her hands, much to her friends’ delight. They giggled like they were exchanging love stories at a slumber party.

  “Don’t worry. We won't tell anyone."

  "Yeah," Jessica agreed. "I had no idea you thought he was cute. I used to always think you couldn't possibly find anyone other than Magnus attractive. You feel more ... relatable now."

  "That's great and everything, but you've got the wrong idea. I'm not interested in him at all."

  "Oh, no, of course not!" Sophie said, quickly straightening up. "You're betrothed to His Highness after all. There's no way you'd be interested in him."

  Jessica nodded aggressively. "We're just talking about the fact that some people are conventionally good-looking, that's all."

  Exasperated, Mira hung her head and sighed. "Okay, as long as I’ve made it clear that I'm not interested in him."

  "Crystal," Sophie replied solemnly.

  She eyed them both, relenting only when they looked back with sincere gazes.

  "Glad we're on the same page."

  They echoed the sentiment back to her, and she picked up her Beucian textbook again. As if taking her cue from that, Sophie also grabbed her botany reference book to continue reading.

  The rest of free period passed quickly. It was surprisingly easy for Mira to concentrate on her textbook while listening to the sounds of the guys practicing their swordsmanship and the other girls squealing as background noise.

  ???

  After their free period, Mira had Accounting I for her last class of the day. Neither Jessica nor Sophie were taking it with her, so they mournfully parted ways in the hallway of the classroom building.

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  “See you tomorrow,” Jessica said, pouting at Mira.

  “I so wish you were staying here like us.” Sophie’s eyes were pleading. “I guess your bedroom is just too comfortable to give up.”

  Jessica shook her head, grinning slyly at Mira. “I’m sure your bedroom isn’t as important as His Highness coming over for breakfast with you every morning.”

  The revelation punched Mira in the gut, leaving her breathless. So that was why Blythe wasn’t a boarder at this school.

  She had to find a way to get out of this arrangement.

  “I’ve been thinking,” she said, casting her mind around for a reply that would make sense, “that it would be perfect if all of us could have breakfast together in the mornings. I just enjoy being with you two so much.”

  Even though she had zero interest in having breakfast with Magnus, it would make them suspicious if she said she only wanted to have her meals with them. For now, she had no choice but to include him.

  As they beamed widely at her, the favorability notification popped up.

  “That would be so wonderful!”

  “I would love that! The three of us could spend more time together.”

  “I’ll ask about becoming a boarder,” she promised, thinking about the infinite amount of favorability Blythe had with her parents.

  She doubted they would deny her any reasonable requests. Still, she had to see what the dynamics were between Blythe and her parents.

  Mira safely made it to her Accounting I classroom all by herself, exhaling in relief once she made it through the doors. Most of the desks were still vacant. She chose one at random. People trickled into the classroom one by one.

  Upon getting her accounting textbook and notebook out, she leaned back in her seat and attempted to organize her thoughts.

  If this was her new life, she needed a plan.

  In nearly all the web novels she’d read about girls who'd transmigrated into a villainess, they managed to turn their lives around by changing the way they treated the people around them, especially the original heroine. Had she not been bodily forced to act out that first in-game bullying scene against Daisy earlier, it would have been plan A.

  Still, Mira wasn't being compelled to bully Daisy every second they were in the vicinity; Mathematics IV and Art IV had been proof of that. She could try to be friendly with Daisy, show she wasn't intending to be a threat anymore.

  But what if she was forced to act out her role as the villainess again when it came time for the next in-game bullying scene? How could she convince people she was turning over a new leaf if her behavior signaled the opposite?

  First, she needed to recall as many of the canonical bullying scenes as she could.

  If I can remember when and where they will take place, maybe I can stay away from those places during those periods?

  She resolved to do that once she had some privacy and time to herself.

  The classroom door opened again, and Mira automatically looked over with little interest, expecting it to be another classmate or perhaps the professor. Instead, she was greeted with the sight of Daisy trudging in with heavy legs, her eyes fixed warily upon Mira’s face.

  She’s in this class too?! Wait, this could be my chance to show her I don’t mean to be a bully anymore!

  Forcing a smile onto her face, she raised her hand in a light wave at Daisy.

  The wariness on Daisy’s face gave way to utter bewilderment. She stopped just in front of the first row of desks she’d been walking past, her entire being tense as she stared back at Mira.

  After what she’d done earlier, she couldn’t blame her.

  She wasn’t sure how effective her next move would be, but Mira stood up anyway and walked towards her. She didn’t have many options. Daisy tensed up even more, like a tightly wound rope, edging away inch by inch as if afraid any sudden movements might cause Mira to attack her.

  “Daisy.”

  At the first word out of her mouth, Daisy gaped at her.

  Mira dipped into a low bow. “I’m so sorry! I hadn’t meant to pour my food onto you! It was an accident!”

  Daisy’s shock became more overt; her sparkling blue eyes widened even more.

  “W-what?”

  In the game, Daisy was extremely wary of Blythe. As a duke’s daughter, Blythe could exercise her influence and authority to make the life of a daughter of a poor baron miserable at school. Upon realizing she’d incurred Blythe’s ire simply by virtue of existing—their male classmates were drawn in by her beauty and Blythe became excessively insecure and worried that she would win Magnus’ affections because of it—Daisy had kept to herself whenever Blythe was in the vicinity. Unless the situation necessitated it, she avoided interacting with her at all.

  Taking advantage of Daisy’s shock to further plead her case, Mira added, “I did some self-reflection over the summer. In the past, I was too unreasonable and petty. You simply minded your own business as a fellow student, but I …” She bit her lip. The next line was tough to get out of her throat, because it wasn’t how she felt at all, but she had no choice. “There is no easy way to put it, but, in all frankness, I was jealous, and I treated you unfairly because of it. I am truly sorry for all the trouble I have caused you. As for what happened in the dining hall, I don’t know what came over me. I shouldn’t have done that, and I apologize.”

  Honestly, it was a pathetic defense, but what else could she say?

  If I say I got possessed in that moment, they might try to get me exorcised or something. And I doubt they'd believe me. And if I tell them about the game and how I think it’s the game’s powers making me do that, they could lock me up for mental instability. I need to find some way to explain that away.

  “I … I thought it was strange that you screamed ‘no’ when you tipped your tray over, but …”

  Daisy’s gaze sharpened and turned wary once again. She glanced around the classroom. When Mira followed her gaze, she discovered several classmates spectating the scene as though watching a thrilling play. She snapped her eyes back to Daisy, wishing she could tell what Daisy was thinking.

  For a second there, it’d seemed like her attitude towards Mira was softening. But now, Daisy looked at her with renewed caution.

  The original Blythe would likely have felt humiliated for having to apologize in front of a bunch of people, but Mira felt not even a hint of embarrassment. Her biggest priority right now was to make amends with Daisy and show that she wasn’t a bully anymore.

  “Thank you for apologizing,” she said, her tone and expression mild but polite, nodding once at Mira. “It means very much to me. I accept it and forgive you.”

  Then she proceeded to stride down the aisle of desks and sat at one furthest from Mira’s. She’d obviously said that in front of their audience to end the interaction rather than out of true forgiveness.

  At least her favorability with Daisy hadn’t dropped. In this aspect, she was certainly a lot more forgiving than Magnus.

  Regardless, Mira’s uncharacteristic apology would probably get Daisy thinking about whether she’d grown as a person. Or maybe she wouldn’t. Daisy had her hands full with school work and the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

  Mira went back to her own desk. The stares burning holes into the sides of her face were hard to ignore, and she lifted her head to meet them. While her female classmates were looking at her with undisguised admiration, her male classmates seemed to regard her with newfound respect.

  She wasn’t accustomed to getting so much attention all at once, but this didn’t feel bad.