Olivia awoke that night still feeling sluggish. Her fever had dropped a bit, but she knew she had to take it easy if she wanted to fully recover. Alas, she had little reprieve; Kyle began filling her in on what’d happened as she slept through the day, including how he’d chased off two groups of female students. His actions themselves were quite understandable since Olivia had been sick in bed all day. The issue was how he’d gone about them.
“You used Prince Julius’s name?!” Olivia asked, her voice growing shrill.
Kyle lifted his chin. “Thanks to that, they backed off without any further fuss.” He didn’t look the least bit ashamed of what he’d done.
Olivia, on the other hand, felt heat rush to her head, as if the fever she’d nearly recovered from was returning. “Why would you use his name?” she demanded.
Kyle scowled like a petulant child who didn’t understand why he was being scolded. “Everything I said was true, wasn’t it? The crown prince favors you.” Mentioning Julius was an easy way to get most students off Olivia’s back.
Olivia understood that, but she didn’t like it. “Never drop the name of the prince or his friends again!” she warned Kyle. “We’re dealing with aristocrats. If you upset them, we’ll be in hot water.”
She recognized how handy name-dropping seemed, but they were trying to handle the upper crust. All traces of the Offrey and Lafan holdings had been completely wiped off the map not long ago. That had been the example Olivia needed to recognize that standing up to someone with their own private military—which most aristocrats possessed—was too dangerous.
It was bad enough that the other students didn’t want her at the academy. Olivia could just imagine the consequences if any found out that Kyle was throwing Julius’s name around. The first face that popped up in the back of her mind was Angelica’s.
Terrifying, Olivia thought. All the aristocrats here are terrifying.
Angelica was Julius’s betrothed, so once she heard what Kyle had said, Olivia couldn’t imagine that she’d sit quietly by. Yet despite the obvious repercussions, Kyle had used Julius’s name without compunction. He really didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the matter.
“You can consult Prince Julius and the other lordlings,” Kyle tried to reason with her. “Tell them these miscreants keep hounding you, and ask for help. That would solve all your problems, so why do you hesitate?”
Olivia could picture that. Going to Julius would only worsen the already messy situation. A shiver ran through her as she said shrilly, “That’s absolutely out of the question!”
Shocked at her intense reaction, Kyle was left speechless.
“S-sorry,” Olivia said quickly. “Would you mind bringing me some water?”
The elf frowned, obviously still displeased with her stance, but dutifully answered, “Certainly.”
Kyle was perfectly competent at his job and rather clever to boot. His biggest flaws were his bluntness and condescending attitude. Those were partly because he was still young and immature, although he was probably leagues beyond others his age. Nonetheless, Olivia wasn’t sure they could easily resolve his grave mistake.
“Since he used Prince Julius’s name, I’m sure it will get back to Lady Angelica,” she muttered to herself. “At this rate, my hometown will be eradicated.”
Bartfort, a mere baron, had helped wipe out two other houses. If he wielded that much power, how much greater was the power of a duke’s daughter? Olivia couldn’t begin to imagine, but the mere thought of her hometown going up in flames brought tears to her eyes.
“I thought life here would be so much easier if I just had someone to talk to,” she whimpered.
She hadn’t wanted a personal servant. Olivia had felt so isolated at the academy that all she’d hoped for was a friend she could talk to. Instead, Kyle was cross that she wouldn’t take full advantage of her privileged position. However much she tried to explain herself, he couldn’t understand.
“If I’d anticipated this, I’d have felt that I was better off alone.” It was too late to rectify the situation, but she regretted signing Kyle’s contract.
Olivia’s fever had returned in full force. She flopped onto her bed and shut her eyes, sending tears racing down her cheeks. “All I wanted to do was a little studyin’,” she mumbled, slipping back into her hometown accent.
Her books, textbooks, and notebook sat untouched on her desk in the same place as yesterday. She was anxious to get back to them, but her body wouldn’t let her. She was at her mental limit. Even if she tried to read, she knew none of it would stick.
“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry…”
Her door rattled as someone pounded violently on it.
Olivia was so startled that she leaped up. She realized instantly that it wasn’t Kyle on the other side. Could it be those girls from this morning?
She grabbed the knob and cracked the door open, her stomach twisting in fear. “Can I help you?”
Dolly and Donna were outside, their faces stoic. Their personal servants stood behind them, silent but strangely intimidating.
Dolly glanced over Olivia’s shoulder into the room. “Looks like that cocky, annoying brat isn’t with you, huh?” she observed. “Well, whatever. How about we go have some fun together?”
Olivia sensed immediately that Dolly’s invitation wasn’t genuine. She averted her gaze. “Sorry. I’m under the weather today, so I’d rather not.” She tried to yank the door shut.
Donna shoved her foot into the gap, forcing the door to remain open. “We’re going out of our way to invite you. Like, I don’t get why you’d refuse. Just come along like a good girl.”
She grabbed Olivia’s arm and managed to drag her outside. Even if Olivia had wanted to shake Donna off, the fever had drained all her strength.
Dolly pressed her face close to Olivia’s. “This cruise ship has its own casino. We don’t get many opportunities like this, so why don’t I teach you to gamble?”
She and Donna wore wicked grins, but Olivia was too scared to resist. Her feverish mind couldn’t pull a proper thought together, so she let them drag her along.
What should I do? Somebody save me.