It was supposed to be just another quiet walk.
I had been dismissed from etiquette class early—Lady Mircia claimed I was "too cold to teach," though I suspect it was because I corrected her pronunciation again.
So I walked alone.
Down the garden path, past the marble fountains and into the Academy's west courtyard, where the roses grew in wild tangles and even the professors rarely visited.
And that's when I heard it.
Laughter. Cruel. Small. Sharp.
Followed by a thud.
---
I turned the corner—and froze.
Three girls stood in a half-circle. Two of noble birth, one of lower. They towered over a single child, a girl with mud-streaked hands and a scraped knee.
Her uniform was too big for her. Her shoes were scuffed. And her braid had come undone, leaving wild strands of chestnut hair sticking to her cheeks.
She looked… fragile.
Like a wounded bird.
And yet she didn't cry. She glared up at them, lips trembling but defiant.
"Say it again, commoner," one of the noble girls hissed.
The girl on the ground clenched her fists. "I didn't take your ribbon."
"Liar."
Another kick sent her small satchel tumbling open—books, bread, and a cracked ink bottle spilled onto the stone.
The nobles laughed.
I stepped forward.
---
My voice was quiet. Cold.
"Pick that up."
The laughter stopped. The girls turned, startled.
Their eyes widened the moment they recognized me—Duke Ardent's daughter. The Crown Prince's fiancée. The villainess with a heart of frost.
"M-my Lady—"
"I said pick it up."
They scrambled to obey. One girl slipped on the ink. Another burst into tears. Within seconds, they had fled, tripping over their own skirts.
I walked forward and knelt beside the girl.
She was shaking.
Not from fear.
From pride.
"You didn't cry," I said.
She blinked up at me, startled. "I… why would I?"
I paused, then handed her the ribbon they'd taken. "Because most people do."
She took it slowly. "I'm not most people."
---
Her name was Elisse Vianne. Daughter of a seamstress and a carpenter. Accepted into the Imperial Academy on scholarship. No title. No power.
But as I looked into her amber eyes…
Something stirred.
Something familiar.
You saved her this time, a voice whispered in my heart. Now hold onto her.
Because in the last life, I let the world crush her.
And in this one, she would never face it alone again.
---