After I was done dealing with the seniors, I went back to my dormitory. I sat down on a sofa in the parlor and sipped my tea that I’d ordered from the café. Perhaps it was rude of me to say it, but I knew those girls didn’t stand a chance against me. I had a feeling it would end up like that when they were foolish enough to call me out in front of everyone outside the classroom. Lady Aurelia had told me all about spats among young women, and the ones she described were much more cunning and dirty.
I closed my eyes and surrendered myself to a sea of my own thoughts. Louis seemed to be quite popular with the girls indeed. And they didn’t like the fact that he had a fiancée. After all, who could blame them when you thought about his family’s money and power? All I could do was be grateful that the older girls were stupid enough to come directly to me already. It was still possible there would be girls more cunning than them too, just as Lady Aurelia had said.
“I have no intention of running away though,” I murmured out loud. I opened my eyes—luckily no one else seemed to have heard me.
“May I join you, Lady Merellis?” Suddenly Sharia came over to me.
“Hm? O-oh, yes. What is it, Lady Sharia?”
“Thank you. I was just hoping to chat with you for a bit… It’s kind of a private matter.”
“Would you like to come to my room?”
“May I?”
“Yes, of course.” Has she guessed my secret? I couldn’t think of what else it could possibly be as I led her to my room. “Come on in.” I gestured to a seat and sat down across from her. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I’ll just get right to the point… You’re Mer, aren’t you?” Her eyes were filled with certainty and resolve.
“It sounds as though you’re very certain, so I suppose any denial on my part would be pointless.”
“So then…”
“Yes. As you guessed, I am both Mer and Merellis,” I answered with a sigh. “When did you guess?”
“From the very start.”
“That soon?” I said with surprise.
“Yes. From the very beginning.” She smiled at me.
“But how…?”
“Thank you so much for protecting me. That’s the only reason I’m here today. I honestly cannot thank you enough,” she said, echoing the words she said after she was kidnapped. “I could never forget you. Even though you said Mer was just your body double, I felt from the moment I laid eyes on you that you and Mer were one and the same. I just knew it.”
I had to laugh. So that was why she had looked so bewildered when we first talked at school. “I’m sorry for the ruse. You knew the truth and yet you still went along with my story, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did! I owe you my life.”
“Well, if you knew the truth, why did you want to confirm it with me? As I said, you were so certain that me denying it would have been silly.”
“Actually, I have to admit that I happened to see your exchange with the older girls earlier… I know you don’t need me to be, but I was worried about you, Lady Mer. I was prepared to go call a teacher if things got too ugly.”
“Oh, I see… It’s fine. Thank you so much for being concerned about me.”
“Of course… But as I said, it was clear that it wasn’t needed. Also, there was one other person who witnessed the exchange.”
“Was it Prince Edgar?”
“You knew?”
“Yes. For some reason, it feels like he’s investigating me. Although I can’t think of why a prince would have any interest in me.”
“Was he looking for you?”
“It seemed like it, but I have no idea why he would have business with me. Well, no matter. You came to confirm it so you could tell me that too, didn’t you? Thank you.”
“Of course.” She smiled softly after I thanked her.
I gazed at her, thinking about how pretty she was.
“Forgive me for being selfish, but… Do you think this means we can become even closer now? You said you wanted to become friends with me, and yet here I was, practically deceiving you,” I said, after I pulled myself back to reality. Having this conversation with her just solidified my desire to be her friend.
“Oh, I never thought you were deceiving me! In fact, I don’t blame you at all! I’m sorry for being so forward and revealing your secret. I’d love to be close friends with you!”
And so after that, Sharia and I became fast friends. When we weren’t in class, we were always together. I could be myself in front of her, just as I could with Louis, and it was tremendously freeing. To be honest, she was my first female friend. I was so thrilled about it that I quickly introduced her to Louis.
“Still, Merellis, what do you think the prince has up his sleeve?”
“I have no idea. It’s been some time since then, and he hasn’t said a word to me since. I’m stumped.”
“Interesting…”
“By the way, Sharia, what are you planning on doing during our break from school?”
“It’s too much trouble to go home to Telrose, so I think I’ll just stay at the mansion in the capital. How about you?”
“Oh, really?! Well, that means we’ll be able to see each other! I was planning on staying in the capital too.”
“I can’t wait! There’s this café I’ve been dying to go to. We can go together!”
“In that case, leave it to me. I shall protect you, my lady.”
“He he he… You sound like a prince. Actually, you’re more dashing than any prince!”
“I’m honored to hear that.”
The two of us burst out laughing.