Episode 2

Faerchester Academy—the oldest institution of higher learning in the country and the nation's most prestigious school. With world-renowned faculty, Faerchester aims to educate and shape the heir apparents of nobility. If you were a descendant of a powerful aristocratic family, your enrolment at Faerchester would have already been decided on before your birth.

The school uses marks from large-scale examinations to hierarchically rank its students, but status was just as important as one's level of performance during these exams. As it went in this world, there wasn't anything you couldn't get if you were a noble.

If you were a noble with money and power, then you were automatically granted a Black Coat. Although receiving a Black Coat is considered an impressive accomplishment, for nobles, it was something you could get with just your name.

Contrastively, a Grey Coat was known as the lowest level of entry one could be granted. For commoners, being granted a Grey Coat was a favourable situation, since Faerchester is rigged to favour nobles. Even if you were the smartest of the smartest, if you didn't have a noble status, a Grey Coat was the most you would get.

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A Red Coat was only given to nobles who scored at or above the 98th percentile on the examinations—something that was nearly impossible. Students who graduated with a Red Coat lived on to be the smartest people in history.

'Although, seeing as how Faerchester rarely distributes Red Coats, I don't think I'll make it that far.'

Dylan let out a dejected sigh, flipping the rundown pages of an arithmetics textbook. She glanced out the library window at the evening sky. The sun was setting, staining the horizon with breathtaking hues of orange and red.

"I should take a walk in the garden before I return to my room," she muttered to herself, admiring the scenery from where she sat inside.

For the past two weeks, the girl spent every passing moment inside the library studying. She buried herself beneath soaring piles of rundown books, absorbing the information like an empty sponge to water.

She allowed her eyes to melt into the beautiful display beyond the window, ignoring the way the maids whispered behind her back.

"Why is she even studying? She's a noble, so she'll automatically be granted a Black Coat."

"Even the heir apparent didn't study to this extent."

"Furthermore, young miss is a lady! Won't she be taking the exam for women?"

"Maybe she doesn't know that because she was a commoner. Her status is different now, but maybe the young miss doesn't want to take any risks!"

Dylan clicked her tongue, refusing to address the way they gossiped about her. For an adopted child with no blood relation to the Duke, the maids and servants treated her pretty well. They gossiped behind her back, but remained professional in front of her.

'I can deal with this much. I went to high-school once, so gossip doesn't hurt me.'+

Most female students at the academy would spend their time learning how to dance and ride. Noblewomen would be enrolled in courses that taught them the required skills for marriage, shaping them to become most favourable towards these marriage conditions.

Dylan had no intention of doing the same. In fact, she specifically applied to take the exams on arithmetics and natural sciences. 

Her reasoning was simple: if she stayed at the Duke's mansion, then she would die. In order to run away and stand on her own two feet, Dylan needed an education that would help her get a decent paying job. 

'Of course, none of this would've been possible if I hadn't remembered that day.'

Dylan remembered that day vividly. The rain fell in thick droplets against the ground and the sky was lined with heavy grey clouds. She remembered shivering, hugging the thin dress she had tighter around her as if it would offer some protection against the scary weather.

It was when her mother first fell ill and developed a harsh fever. Dylan was only ten at the time—a small child who couldn't even walk through the streets on her own. She couldn't wake her mother and rushed out during the rainstorm in bare feet to find help.

The floor was muddy and slippery, making it difficult to walk even a short distance. She lost her footing and plunged head first into the rain-soaked road. It was then when it all happened.

The memories, emotions and even resentments of another person flooded through her mind all at once. The world from the memories was far more advanced both technologically and socially than the one she currently lived in. It was also then when she realized her fate was sealed and her mother was going to die.

Dylan was the antagonist in a novel she had read in her past-life called "Faerchester's Flowers". As the adopted daughter of the Duke, Dylan used his money to indulge her extravagant tastes. She also used his influence to get whoever and whatever she wanted. 

When she entered the academy, Dylan followed the heroine around and harassed her out of jealousy. She was eventually expelled and sent to the Dukedom's borders to repent. 

When Dylan returned to the capital from her punishment, she ended up being killed by her very own brother. Axil de Beaumon, the heir apparent of the Duke, was madly in love with the heroine. Since he hated Dylan's origins and existence from the beginning of the novel, he didn't hesitate to remove her for pestering the woman he loved. 

"Milady," one of the maids called, interrupting Dylan's train of thought. "Perhaps you should eat. It's getting late and you skipped lunch again."

"Ah," Dylan let out an exasperated sigh, closing the textbook she had been staring at in a daze. "I did?"

The maid nodded. "Milady shouldn't skip meals," she said, "since she is already too skinny."

Dylan frowned, glancing at her bony wrists. Even though it's been four years, she still had a difficult time stomaching extravagant dishes. As someone who grew up with nothing, she was used to going several days without a meal. 

"Alright," she said after a brief moment of silence. "I'll eat something in my room."

The maid's expression brightened instantly. "Of course," she said, "I'll have the chef prepare your favourite soup and salad."

Surely she knew about Dylan's condition. The death of Dylan's mother left her with a shadow of guilt that darkened her eyes and expressions. The girl, who had starved alongside her mother for years, felt too guilty to eat proper food. It was a sort of psychological trauma that affected her eating habits. 

"Thank you," Dylan said with a gentle smile. "You always take good care of me."

A faint blush spread across the maid's cheeks as she scurried off to inform the kitchen of the order. 

Dylan was quite pretty, especially for a sixteen-year-old. Her smile was like a fading flower—the kind of smile that indicated a sadness or nostalgic feeling. It was a wistful expression that made people catch their breaths when they saw it. Whenever she smiled, it looked as if she was longing for something or someone. 

Nobody, with the exception of the girl herself, knew why the Duke adopted Dylan. Rumours about her spread like wildfire throughout society, further deepening with the heat of time. Since Dylan chose to not appear in society, her existence remained a mystery. People assumed she was his illegitimate daughter, but their guesses were far from the truth.

Dylan was the love child of her mother and Marquis Ruenz, a respectable man who passed away from a terrible disease. Having inherited his warm brown eyes and golden hair, Dylan was a spitting image of her father. The Duke, who was very close with the Marquis, fulfilled his friend's dying wish—to find his child that he had abandoned. 

One of Dylan's childhood friends had once asked her, "Why are you so afraid of loving other people?"

For Dylan, the answer was simple. Everyone had a monster in their life—someone who ruined the idea of love, forever. This person was her father. Marquis Ruenz was the cause of her trauma and problems. He was the one who dragged her to the hell she currently lived in, and continued to haunt her even after his death. 

Episode 2 end~

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