Once she’d read everyone’s name off the list, Professor Greene instructed the students to stand up and go to their assigned partner.

  Rising to his feet, Noel scanned the classroom as if in search of Blythe. Naturally, since he was only looking around at his eye level, he didn’t notice her.

  “I’m here,” she said, raising a hand to catch his attention.

  He glanced down, appearing startled by her sudden declaration.

  “Right,” he said, turning his chair around to face Blythe’s desk. “I hadn’t noticed.”

  She nodded. Obviously.

  All around them, students got up and walked across the room in different directions.

  They were to ask about each other’s favorite place, ideally using the vocabulary they were supposed to have learned over the summer. Professor Greene set into a leisurely stroll past students to listen in on their conversations.

  “My favorite place,” Noel started in Kirmilese without preamble, staring flatly into Blythe’s eyes, “is the library at home.”

  She already knew that. He’d invited Daisy to his house and shown off the massive library in his own route.

  And of course he wasn’t going to ask her where her favorite place was.

  Instead of sharing her own favorite place, she asked, “Is there something wrong with the school library?”

  Thankfully, the original Blythe’s knowledge of Kirmilese was up to scratch as well.

  He pushed his silver half-rimmed glasses up his nose, the shift from disinterest to confusion instant.

  “No, it’s not that. It’s simply that there are more rare books in my father’s collection than in the school library.”

  “Oh, so that’s why. I thought it would be the quieter atmosphere you preferred. You can have the whole library to yourself at home after all." That was merely a guess on her part. Although he could often be found in the library in the game, Noel had never mentioned preferring a quiet environment.

  He shot her a strange look.

  Anxiety tore into her nerves like acid corroding skin.

  Before she could think it through, she blurted out, “Did I say something wrong?"

  "No," he said slowly, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “You didn’t. With the exception of shouting, the quietness of the environment has little bearing on my preference. I will concede that the school library is my second favorite place, however.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  At his second weirded-out glance, she hastily wiped the knowing smile off her face. Her tone had been overly familiar.

  Blythe had to remind herself that this was her new reality; this wasn’t a game she could progress by clicking a few choices. She could no longer hide behind the screen as a player and smile whimsically at the things her favorite characters said without being discovered. She was part of their world now.

  “I love libraries,” she said, hoping to distract him from her earlier remark. “They’re a wonderful source of information and entertainment.”

  Back in her original world, whenever Riley wasn’t with her, she would spend lunch periods and free periods at the school library. It was a conducive environment for doing homework, studying, or escaping into the world of books.

  She wondered if the school library here also stocked novels. Daisy mostly went there for academic purposes, so she didn’t narrate much about the other sections of the library. Considering Blythe no longer had her phone with her, physical novels would be a great source of entertainment.

  Noel’s eyebrows drew together. “I’m at the library every day. I don’t believe I’ve seen you there before.”

  Blythe tightened her grip on her textbook to the point that her knuckles whitened. She was a complete idiot. It took every ounce of her willpower not to clobber herself over the head with it. A thought suddenly hit her.

  This was salvageable. The new Blythe was studious for the sake of her own future rather than to impress Magnus. Yes, she could work this angle.

  “From now on, you likely will. I’ve discovered how wonderful libraries are over the summer.”

  He blinked a few times, and a fresh notification popped up.

  “I see. That’s good.” The awkward pause lasted for a couple of seconds before he asked, “What is your favorite place?”

  The original Blythe’s favorite place would likely have been the imperial palace. She’d stated multiple times in her diary entries that she wished she was living there so she could see Magnus every single day even during summer breaks.

  But she would rather be viewed as suspicious than to give that as an answer.

  “I suppose it would be my bedroom,” she said, opting for something lame but safe enough. “I can be comfortable there.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Thanks to Sophie, she knew that having her own bedroom at home was one of the reasons Blythe chose to remain a day student. It was a fairly reasonable thing to say.

  Somehow, Noel appeared confused by her answer. “Is the imperial palace not your favorite location?”

  She managed not to roll her eyes. “No, it isn’t. I prefer the comfort of my own home.”

  Blythe pressed her lips together to keep from gaping at the new system notification.

  “It’s a good answer,” he admitted with a nod. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. I might change my answer to my own room as well. Since I'm staying in a dorm room, that would be my current favorite place.”

  She stared. “Why?”

  “As you’ve mentioned, your own room is where you’re most comfortable. I feel the same way. Additionally, I can bring as many books as I need to my room to peruse at my leisure.”

  “Cool. I mean—it’s great you’ve realized that.”

  He eyed her like she had sprouted two other heads from her neck. She could feel beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead.

  Thankfully, he chose not to question her uncharacteristic behavior, instead consulting the textbook for a follow-up prompt. It asked them to describe their favorite features of the location, which was a little awkward given they’d both chosen their own bedrooms as the answer to this question. The example locations in the textbook were things like a garden or a well-known town attraction.

  Blythe would’ve thought it would be considered too personal to go in-depth about their own space at home, but Noel had no such reservations.

  “When I moved in, I brought my sheepskin couch with me and put it at the bay window. Most times, I sit there to read. The morning sunlight streaming in from the window provides a comfortable lighting for the room."

  She raised her eyebrows. Did every dorm room have a bay window? That sounded fancy. Then again, this was the ‘royal’ academy after all. Daisy hadn't gone into much detail when describing her dorm room in the game, so this was new territory for her.

  "The chair at my study desk is very comfortable. I could read there for hours." That was technically true. Sure, she hadn't done it yet, but she definitely could. The moment she'd sat there last night, Blythe realized it was a chair she could easily lounge in for hours at a time.

  “The biggest advantage about staying in the dorms as compared to my room at home is that nobody bothers me when I’m in my room here.”

  A wry grin tugged at the corners of Blythe's lips. They sounded like two recluses exchanging their life experiences on their solitary activities. It was silly.

  Out of all the game characters, Noel was the most like the real her in terms of personal habits. Back in her original world, all her hobbies could be enjoyed from the comfort of her own room. The only times she left it was to go to school or to hang out at Riley’s house. More often than not, Riley came over to hang out in her room.

  “What do you mean? Who bothers you when you’re at home?“

  Noel wore a sour grimace. “My older brother. He constantly attempts to lure me out of my room.”

  “My sympathies.” She genuinely didn’t know what to say to that. The humorous mental image of Noel being dragged out of his room by a lively older brother popping up in her head forced her to clear her throat to avoid snorting. “But why?”

  She was pleasantly surprised to see a new system notification.

  In the game, Noel’s older brother had been mentioned in passing, but the player didn’t get to see what he looked like.

  “He’s insistent that I need more fresh air. Does Reuben do that to you?”

  She thought back to the diary entries she’d read. “No, he’s much too busy for that.”

  “Norbert’s supposed to be busy with work as well,” he said bitterly. “Yet he always finds time to pester me.”

  “Doesn’t that mean he cares about you?”

  “I hear enough of that from my father.” His voice was gruff.

  It was clearly a touchy issue for him.

  “Sorry,” she said, lifting both hands to signal that she meant no harm. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  He gazed at her for a long moment. "You seem different today.”

  Even if it was at a superficial level, Noel had known Blythe for years by this point. Going off his reaction, along with what she'd read in the journal, she doubted the original Blythe had ever mentioned anything about enjoying reading. Besides, she’d slipped up a couple of times by speaking too casually.

  She held his gaze, her polite smile frozen on her face. Her plan was to ride this out and allow everyone to become accustomed to the revamped Blythe. There was no point rushing to backtrack every time she made a mistake. It was better to make everybody think she was truly trying to prove herself, hence becoming a different person in the process.

  “Do I?”

  Nodding, he lowered his head to his textbook again. “I won’t probe further, since this isn’t my business.”

  There he was—the cold guy who didn’t care about anyone until Daisy came into his life.

  “Thank you for respecting that,” she said, pleased not to be interrogated for once.

  To her surprise, she received another flash of green light.

  He lifted his head, staring at her with wide eyes.

  I’m the one who should be surprised, she wanted to say. Why did I get favorability points for that?

  ???

  Blythe had PE for second period.

  As they strode down the hallways together, Sophie bemoaned the existence of PE. Blythe was just glad to have a friend with her in class.

  “It makes sense for the knights-in-training or people going into careers that need physical strength, but why do we need to run around and get sweaty and gross? This could’ve been an elective!”

  In response to her friend’s complaints, she nodded and made sympathetic sounds.

  Upon arriving at the training hall, Sophie sighed again.

  “At least we have each other,” Blythe said, gently nudging her arm with her shoulder.

  That brought a reluctant smile to Sophie’s lips. “You’re right.”

  It also increased her favorability, albeit by a miserly quantity of one point.

  “Blythe! Soph!” Jessica’s voice called out.

  Blythe spun around to look for her, finding her waving near the corner of the training hall.

  “Jess!” she called back as she approached her, with Sophie in tow.

  When she finally stopped in front of Jessica, she realized the latter was standing near the girls’ locker room.

  “I’m so glad we’re all in the same PE class this year,” Jessica babbled as they pushed through the door and went into the locker room. “This way, we’ll all have company when we sit out.”

  Nonplussed, Blythe reflexively scrunched her face up. “Sit out?”

  Both Jessica and Sophie whirled around in one swift motion to stare at her like she was an alien.