Chapter Text
<Rae’s P.O.V.>
I lifted my head from the desk and looked around. The air smelled fresh and my previously lethargic body felt light again. My surroundings were also different, them being a classroom with older furnishing similar to older school buildings. Among all of these new things there was one that caught my attention, a girl with long blonde hair, perfect curls framing her delicate face, was standing in front of me.
This made no sense. The place I was at was a classroom set up in an open university style. Long windows framed the left side of the room with a large black board with fundamentals of etiquette written on it. To my right was this blonde who seemed to be getting angrier by the second. Looking down at ‘my’ text book I saw a language I knew but didn’t at the same time.
That's when I started to panic. Everything was supposed to end! Why am I here? Where am I? I felt my breath quicken and my pulse started to race. I had to get out of here. This is a school right? I’ll just go to the nurses office. Looking up at the girl in front of me I asked her a question.
<Claire's P.O.V.>
“Excuse me.”
I called out to this commoner only for them to rise slowly. They looked around for a second and then she went pale. How strange.
“I need to pass you to get to my seat. If you would be so kind as to make room for me to pass by you.”
Instead of moving, or even listening to a word I said, she seemed to be in a state of panic. Did she have a nightmare? Wait! Why do I care for some Commoner? Never mind that. I scoffed.
“Excuse me are you de-”
“Do you know where the nurses office is?”
She asked in a very shaky voice, as if something terrible had just befallen her. I know I shouldn’t be worried but she looked so very pale. But what was a nurses office? That was quite a peculiar thing to say.
“Do you mean the infirmary? If so, follow me.”
Despite how much it irked me to be missing my lessons something felt too off here. The commoner was white as a sheet and seemed… unstable, to say the least.
The weather outside was beautiful today. The flowers freshly bloomed wavered in the breeze and hanging trees framed the walkway we were currently using. The sun above was at the peak of its ascent and was starting to move toward its set position. All in all it contrasted greatly with the commoner who seemed to be shivering, hugging their body as they did so. What was so wrong with her? Deciding to ask, I tried to play it as nicely as I could, not trying to pry information out of her. I stopped walking.
“Commoner, what exactly is wrong with you? Ever since you woke up you have appeared to be in a state of shock. Did something happen?”
Ok, maybe I was trying to pry, but something here seemed deeply wrong. The commoner opened her mouth to speak but she gave no response. Knowing I couldn’t really continue this conversation I decided to continue walking her to the infirmary. As if sensing the mood the wind also ceased, clouds covering the sun, leaving us in silence.
After bringing her there she laid down onto the sheets and curled up into a ball. The sterile smell left the white space seeming especially isolated. The commoner's frame seemed especially small and fragile underneath the sheets and the sheets themselves did nothing to hide her distress.
“You can leave now. I’ll be fine.”
She was putting up her best front now, her voice sounding much more cheerful than before but it was clear obvious it was a ruse. I decided I will not leave this commoner’s side. It was strange of me to think but something in me felt as if leaving would make me never see her again. So I sat there in silence and waited for her to drift.
“I said you can le-”
“Commoner. You will watch your tone when speaking with me. I’ve decided to stay of my own accord so you will have to deal with it. Lene?”
That shut her up. Just sleep already, stupid commoner.
“Yes, Miss Claire?”
I called my maid Lene. To be honest she was my closest confidant and friend. Almost like a sister to me. That is why I did not have to worry too much about my image at that moment. But that's beside the point.
“Please make me my afternoon tea. I will be staying here to enjoy it today.”
“Understood, Miss Claire.”
<Rae’s P.O.V.>
I wanted to be left alone but she was adamant on staying. If only she knew I was gay… things would be much different then. I’m just so tired. Let’s just sleep if she’s going to be here and watch.
As I slept I dreamed. Well, more like I remembered my life as Rae Taylor. A blank slate of a girl at times who rarely showed any initiative unless some force called upon her to act. I gained memories I never had: playing with Misha and Louie, my doting parents, and how I was picked up off the road.
Here I wasn’t sad and things were actually going pretty well for me. I was able to get into the Royal Academy, the most prestigious school in the Bauer Kingdom. Here I was a scholarship student, a commoner, who had gotten in on their own merit.
Funny how I thought things would be over. I thought I could finally slip away from it all. I thought I could Di-
I just want to sleep. Sleep forever.