The rattle of the carriage shook Maerie awake.
Blinking slowly, Maerie's eyes glazed over as she registered the area around her. The inside of the carriage looked plush and expensive, giving her a sense of familiarity. Her thin, pale hand reached over to touch the cushion of the seat she sat on, slowly rubbing it as if to confirm it was really there.
This carriage was a symbol of the Kingsley Royalty. She was in this exact carriage when she was fifteen years old, on her way to the Atelia Academy welcome ceremony. Her family, the Dukedom of Doll, and the Kingsley Royalty were in talks of setting up an engagement. The Kingsley Royalty had sent this carriage as a show of goodwill to Maerie's father, Duke Demir Doll.
'It's so... surreal,' she thought, eyes downcast as she focused on the seat.
Faint memories of the heaven-like realm and the mischievous Spirit swam around in her mind, her face becoming taut as she tried to remember.
'Was that not a dream?'
Suddenly her head pounded uncontrollably, causing her to feel nauseous. As she placed a hand over her mouth, she squeezed her eyes tightly. The urge to vomit threatened to ring true as the carriage continued to sway. To prevent it, Maerie used her free hand to pound on the side of the carriage.
The driver became alert by the noise and pulled the reigns, lurching the carriage to a stop. Maerie was suddenly propelled forward, colliding with the empty seat in front of her. Though the seats were considerably soft, the unexpected force still causes her already pounding head to worsen.
As the carriage pulled to the side of the road, the attendant that sat next to the driver jumped down and quickly opened the carriage door.
"Lady Doll, are you—?" started the attendant, but his sentence was caught off as he was aggressively shoved to the ground.
Maerie, forgetting her noble dignity, scrambled to get off. She was a few steps away from the carriage before she collapsed to her knees, heaving in an agonized way. Anything that she had to consume before and during her carriage ride was immediately regurgitated.
As she hacked and coughed, the attendant recovered from his initial shock. Slowly, he got up and patted the dust off his clothes before making his way towards Maerie. He knelt beside her in an elegant manner, his tone worried as he addressed her.
"Lady Doll, as your personal attendant, I am apologetic for inconveniencing you during this ride. I hope that you would punish me as you see fit."
At the closeness, Maerie was irritated at the lack of respect this mere servant was showing. In between breaths, she gritted her teeth and said, "Back away, you idiot."
"Pardon?"
"I said, back away you bast—" Maerie snapped, turning her head to glare.
The first thing her eyes saw was the electric blue eyes of the attendant. His thin eyebrows were arched in a teasing way. His smile, which seemed polite at first, held a slight mocking grin upon a closer glance. The lift of his mouth showed off his pearl-white canines nicely.
His face clashed with the Spirit's face from her memories.
"Lady Doll?" he asked. He had noticed her hesitation and properly made his expression look anxious.
Maerie frowned. His false care made her narrow her eyes.
"Nevermind," she said after a moment, "help me get up."
She reached out her hand in an arrogant manner. The attendant seemed to be earnest as he carefully raised Maerie to her feet. While she was busy dusting herself off, he bowed towards her in a respectful manner.
"Lady Doll, I will tell the driver to be more careful on the roads. Our Lady is delicate, so we must be especially careful," he promised.
She didn't even look his way as she replied dismissively, "I would expect nothing less."
Turning around sharply, she paused as another wave of nauseous washed over her. Once it passed, she took a breath and made her way back to the carriage. The attendant followed behind her, maintaining a polite distance. When they reached the carriage, he diligently held open the door for her.
She gave a huff as she stepped in. Before he left for the front, she held him back for a second.
"You," she began slowly, "I don't recognize you. What is your name?"
The attendant seemed surprised at this. However, his surprise eventually morphed into his previously teasing expression.
"How could Miss Maerie not recognize me?" He told her in a low voice. "It wasn't too long ago when we had met."
She stared at him in silence. Searching his face for any form of lying, she eventually relaxed as she detected the underlying honesty. Thus, her eyes flashed in understanding.
So... it was real after all.
"Hmph." Indifferent to his words, she closed the curtain.
He stood in place for a few more minutes. Only when he heard a quiet, "Let's get going," did he chuckle and went to his place next to the driver.
Nothing else eventful happened when they continued their way to the Academy.
Maerie was able to use this time to reminisce about her past life, frowning severely as she pondered.
—
From birth, Maerie was spoiled.
As she was the one and only child of the already old Duke and Duchess Doll, she was constantly rained upon with gifts and attention. She grew up to be haughty and demanding, sheltered by her parent's love. She didn't know the meaning of her actions, nor of the consequences that were caused by them. She didn't care to understand them, either.
She did what she wanted, took what she wanted, and paraded around like she was the child of a Goddess. She even looked like one, with fair skin and silver-white hair. Her lavender fox eyes stood out along with her thin face. The small nose she had paired well with her pale pink lips. Like many other noble girls, she kept her figure well maintained.
She was the Maerie von Doll.
Chasing after her high ambitions were second nature to her. She had a heightened sense of wanting to conquer. Anything and anyone she wanted was hers.
With her tantrums and stubbornness, she was able to get engaged to the third son of the Royals, Noah Kingsley. She could only settle for him since the first two had already received engagement offers. Though, he was not considered bad looking to Maerie, so she was satisfied.
She did end up severely berated and abused his cousin, Christopher, who constantly followed Noah around. He was an eyesore, to say the least.
Even when she entered the Academy, she did not get along with the nobles she went to school with. She looked down on commoners that managed to make it in, such as the Captain of the Royal Knights' son, Fredrick. His family was originally commoners before his father earned the promotion, so she viewed them as dirty, false people that pretended to be those of noble blood.
She even viewed Noah's two aides, Henry Fitzgerald and Allen Carter, as people who always got in the way of her relationship with the Third Prince.
Despite these pests, she continued to live her life at the Academy as if she was already the Queen of Atelia, ruling over the students with an iron fist. What she said, goes.
This worked well, up until she appeared.
The commoner turned Saintess, Nielle Warren.
—
"My Lady, we have arrived."
Quickly, Maerie snapped out of her thoughts. She leaned towards the door and pulled back the curtains, viewing the grandeur of the Academy building with disinterest.
"It seems we have," replied Maerie, retreating from the window.
With a click, the door to the carriage opened. A white-gloved hand emerged from outside, offering assistance. Not one to be shy, Maerie openly accepted and stepped down with even steps.
Before Maerie even arrived, there was already a crowd of nobles that were gathered around the entrance of the Academy. Their eyes eagerly looked at the stream of carriages that came and went, hoping to catch a noble child of high status in order to butter up with.
So far, only Fredrick Reynolds and Henry Fitzgerald had arrived. They stood at the back of the crowd, patiently waiting as both girls and boys alike tried to strike up conversations with them. Henry, who was raised in this type of atmosphere, was a polite and considerate socialite who understood how to foster connections with other nobles. Fredrick, a newly turned noble, could only humbly and honestly make conversations with the students who surrounded him despite being uneducated in matters like these.
Maerie had noticed them within the crowd, narrowing her eyes at them for a moment before assuming her usual arrogant demeanor.
Many in the crowd had recognized her, whether it was because of her infamous horrible personality or the rumored beauty that she was. Even though they openly stared at her, forgetting their behavior as nobles, Maerie didn't feel like making any small talk for now. She only wanted to make her way to the ballroom that the ceremony was being held in.
As the carriage behind her pulled away, she called out to her attendant.
"Raijin."
Immediately, Raijin appeared by her side. "Yes, my Lady?"
Eyeing his neatly pulled back silver hair, she offhandedly pointed to the crowd.
"There is no path," she stated, "make one."
Raijin gave her a smile before turning to the crowd.
"Please make way for Lady Maerie von Doll, daughter of Demir von Doll."
At his words, the crowd murmured and gasped. Noticing the stare from Raijin, they rushed to make a division amongst themselves. Eventually, a cleared path was formed.
"Not bad," she muttered before holding her head high, years of noble training exuding from the posture that she walked with.
"I hope my Lady is satisfied," answered Raijin.
"Mm." She didn't pay him any attention, only focusing on the path to the ballroom.
As she passed the last few of the crowd, someone shouted, "It's the Third Prince's carriage."
Excited screams and talks suddenly erupted from the previously quiet atmosphere as people clamored to the front to catch a glimpse of the Prince.
Perhaps it was out of habit, but Maerie hesitated when she took her next step. She stopped and turned to look back, barely being able to see the lavishly decorated carriage. One of the two knights that were assigned to it hopped down and opened the door to the carriage, bowing respectfully to the Prince and his cousin as they stepped down. Allen Carter was there as well, following behind.
The chattering of the crowd grew even louder with sounds of girls fawning and boys attempting to appeal to the Royals as they were escorted through the frenzy. The Third Prince seemed indifferent to those around him, while his cousin Christopher nervously looked at the people who surrounded them.
It was sad, really. Christopher only lived in Noah's shadow, people only turning or even just noticing him after they've gotten no response from the Third Prince himself.
"My Lady," Raijin prompted, eyeing the clenched fists at Maerie's side, "the ceremony."
With his words, Maerie realized she had the urge to walk up and directly murder the Third Prince, so she took a few breaths. Forcing her hands to unravel, she continued her way towards her original destination.
Not once did she feel the need to look back.
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