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Michela Ivywood, Avelynn's childhood friend.

A dear girl that acts younger than she's expected to be, Michela is a supportive girl that roots for everyone's love life. But when it came to her own love life, she was utterly hopeless.

Being engaged to Terren, my older brother, was the greatest joy in her life.

She was a simple girl. A simple girl with a hardcore crush on her best friend's older brother. As devastating as her story is, I honestly do not believe Terrence truly loved her.

After all, there was only one ending in the game where they would manage to achieve their happily ever after. The ending of the hidden character, simply because in that story, neither Avelynn, Nicolli or Michela are involved with the conquering route.

She was a tragic villainess.

The precise opposite of Avelynn, the despised villainess.

"Is the tea to your liking, Ava?"

I whirled out of my trance, smiling back in timed perfection as I told her how much I loved it.

Luis nervously nursed his cup of tea beside me, smiling awkwardly as he kept silent, not one to begin conversations or engage in them.

Frankly, I'm a coffee person.

But it apparently isn't ladylike to consume that too much, so Papa said no.

Screw nobility. Or dukedom, whatever they call it. If I was anything less than a princess-to-be I would be flinging pillows out the window for it.

"Brother Teri will be enrolling for the Academy soon, I believe," Nicolli said, gingerly placing her cup on the table, "will you be enrolling with him, Mica?"

At that, Terren leaned back on the chair, an arm snaking around the backrest of the couch behind Michela. 

"Of course," Michela smiled. Despite being a year younger than Terren, she would be obliged to enter the academy in the same year as her fiance-- that was the customary procedure. 

In the same way, I would be attending the Academy two years later than the traditionally required age, because of the age gap between Luis and I.

"I have been considering," Terren shot a smile at his fiance, "perhaps, Father would allow me a year's leeway in attending the academy."

At that, Michela flushed red, "is- is it because of me? No, I could never hope to--"

"It would pain me if Michela struggled in her studies for my sake," Terren assured her, a trained, expertly considerate smile gracing his perfectly proportionate face. "I could attend a year late. It would be a minor issue, after all."

Turning away from the scene I glanced at Luis, who fiddled with his teacup nervously.

"I-" he stuttered out, and all eyes turned to him, which made him squeak at the attention. His eyes darted to anywhere but anyone else and his cup of tea, "I... I... I want to attend the... to attend the academy, maybe, a year earlier... too."

Eyes hovered toward me.

Luis was probably incredibly concerned by the fact that he would be dragging my own education two years late. Surely, I didn't mind-- I scorned the idea of academics after an entire lifetime of them. This time I won't have otome games and manga to keep me occupied in between, after all.

And now I began to wonder.

Was Luis a grade skipper in the original story as well?

I nursed my cup of tea, and promptly decided--

"It's impossible for you."

He made a strangled sound, oddly resembling the noise made by a kicked puppy.

I could see Victor wince on the other end of the table, ready to step into another one of our notorious bullying scenes-- so I sighed, and dropped the teacup on the table with as much grace as I could clumsily muster.

Turning to Luis with only a stern warning in my gaze, I emphasized my point.

"Unless, of course, you're willing to study."