10 The Evil: She Who Speaks Through Riddles (2)

January 9th, 1941

After Ines received the twin-white lily brooch from Madam Lilian that night, the days passed by quickly.

Every day had been the same since the moment she began residing in the White Lily Dormitory; every morning, Ines would wake up and be met with the sight of her now roommate, Charlotte.

At first, Ines didn't know what to think of her.

Though it was obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that Charlotte was just trying to be nice to her, Ines couldn't help but to feel primal fear deep within her heart—the urge to run and hide.

"Good morning, Ines." Charlotte would politely greet her every morning, her voice sweet as honey.

In response, Ines would smile and then go right back to sleep.

However, after the four days they've spent together due to being roommates (Ines didn't understand why the Sisters and Madam smiled and giggled whenever she and Charlotte spoke and paired up for activities), her opinion of the older girl had somewhat shifted.

For many reasons, the younger girl now found Charlotte's presence to be comforting. She was like a breath of fresh air, and she had a warm personality.

"Are you alright?" Speak of the devil, and she will arrive. Standing in front of the entrance, Charlotte gently shut the door behind her.

Compared to how Ines woke up every morning with the appearance of a street rat: eye crust in the corner of her eyes, her skin dry some mornings and oily the next, her hair an absolute rat's nest—Charlotte seemed to be prepossessing and perfect no matter the situation at hand.

How pretty, Ines fawned, her attention caught by a head of wavy, light auburn-brown hair. Sitting up, she wearily rubbed at her eyes, exhaustion coloring her face an unhealthy color.

"Good morning, Ines," Charlotte greeted as usual as she sat down on her bed, a hairbrush in her left hand and a face towel in the other. "Did you have a nightmare last night? You don't look so well."

"I did," Ines confessed, frowning, "Though, I don't remember what I dreamt about."

"Why don't you visit Madam Clèmence if that's the case? Though she looks quite scary sometimes, Madam Clèmence is a kind woman at heart."

"…Well, I would rather not bother Madam Clèmence for trivial matters, such as a nightmare. What if she gets mad at me?"

Hearing this, Charlotte put her hands over her mouth, shaking. Seeing Ines' reaction to her action, she shook even harder.

Finally, Charlotte could no longer contain her laughter, and she doubled over. Her giggles quickly became loud, vociferous chortles; her ears even turned red from how hard she shook and laughed.

"Don't- Don't laugh! It's a genuine concern, have you seen how scary Madam Clèmence gets when she's mad?" Ines stammered.

"I didn't know you were that afraid of Madam Clèmence," Charlotte giggled.

Leaping off her bed, she put down her hairbrush and face towel and smothered Ines in her embrace.

Before Ines could even react, Charlotte whisked the younger girl off her feet. She spun Ines around and loudly cooed, "Look at you; oh, you're just adorable! If you ever have any nightmares, you can sleep with me; I've always wanted a younger sister!"

Though she didn't know what having a family felt like, Ines thought perhaps an older sister would be like Charlotte.

Ines said nothing in response to Charlotte's words; instead, she clung tighter to the older girl. Like a baby quail of sorts, Ines buried her head into Charlotte's shoulder in an attempt to hide her reddening face and moist eyes.

'Charlotte reminds me of her.' Ines despondently mulled as she recalled the past, particularly, a girl with unique tri-colored hair. She smiled the same way Charlotte did, and they were both stubborn as a rock.

Not noticing the mood fluctuations she was going through, Charlotte gently patted her back and set the younger girl back down on her feet, giving her space.

At that moment, Ines thought Charlotte's smile was simply winsome.

Time after time, she could feel her heart opening up the second she was given kindness. At first, she was wary of the older girl the first time they spoke as she was in a new environment. But, now, her heart had already accepted Charlotte.

"It's almost 8:00, the doors should be opening soon. Let's head to the dining hall and get breakfast. If you need to use the restroom, you should go now; the others will be waking up soon," Charlotte suggested, paying no mind to how tightly Ines clung to her.

Subsequently, as if she were debating on something, Charlotte lowered her voice and quickly added, whispering, "I also overheard from the Sisters that tutors and well-known scholars will be coming today to give tutelage until the next season or so."

"Tutelage? For what? Would that make us all apprentices, disciples, or students? Would it benefit us in the future? What would we learn? Do we get to choose our preceptor, or would they be the ones choosing who they want to teach?" Ines asked, her voice rising as she fervently fired questions one after another.

Compared to how spaced-out Ines usually was, she now walked with a bounce and skip in her steps. After hearing the word "tutelage," a burning flame seemed to be lit in her eyes, and her heart set ablaze.

"Well, I don't know the specifics," Charlotte shook her head.

A beat later, Ines pouted and muttered, "....Oh."

"Well... I'm sure we'll be informed on this matter later on, perhaps after breakfast during noon."

Thinking it over, Ines nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," She said, "Then, you can head on first. I need to head to the washroom."

"Alright! I'll save you a seat. I'll be at the same place as usual," The older girl said. Waving as she left, Ines watched as Charlotte skipped away

Finally, after she could no longer see Charlotte's figure, Ines headed into the washroom. She unlocked her assigned cabinet and grabbed her hygiene products and face towel, her movements were fluid and quick.

. . .

Up ahead, Charlotte slowly came to a halt as she turned the corner, her smile slipping off her face.

Her face now taut and blank, she let out a sigh and cocked her head sideways. Her eyes locked to the statue down the corridor and she said, "What is it now, Noémie?"

"You knew? Since when?" The statue said. The "air" cracked as the illusion of the statue faded, revealing a young girl's small and bandaged figure in the corner.

It was an abnormal sight, one that would make anyone stop dead in their tracks.

However, this was the norm for Charlotte.

"Of course I did. When was the last time you practiced? That illusion of yours is lacking; it's a miracle that you haven't been discovered yet. Why don't you practice with Odette? I doubt she would oppose the idea of helping her dear older sister who she looks up to," Charlotte scoffed, twirling a stray strand with her pointer finger.

"Me? Lacking?" She snorted in disbelief and sneered at Charlotte. She looked the older girl up and down before saying, "You know I'm not here to discuss my aptitude and prowess. What are you up to now? 'I've always wanted a younger sister'? Bullshit!"

"Noèmie," Charlotte warned, her face darkening. Silver scales slowly emerged beneath her skin, and her bones crackled, piercing through her flesh in a synchronized manner.

Etched on her spine, beneath her flesh and muscles, a golden symbol of a scale of order was carved into her bones.

But as though Noémie had not noticed—or perhaps she had—she ignored the ever-growing malice, and the younger girl continued speaking, her voice rising as veins popped out from beneath her skin.

"Poor, poor Elodie," Noémie muttered, shaking her head. A smile crept on her face as Charlotte's shoulders shook, the corner of her eyes red.

Despite seeing this, she didn't stop. Stepping closer, Noémie leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "You brazenly say the craziest things. To think you dared to your younger sister with your own hands, now, you claim to your dear roommate that you've-?"

"Enough! Get out of my sight!" Charlotte shoved Noémie away, her breathing ragged. She stared down the younger girl like a rabid beast on the verge of exploding, her tone dangerously low, "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing-?"

"Yes, nothing." Noémie shook her head, "I was merely caught off guard by that stupid smile of yours before and those falsities you spat out with such confidence. After seeing that, I got sidetracked. Well, I originally wanted to tell you that you shouldn't hang around with that roommate of yours."

Charlotte took a deep to calm her boiling nerves before rasping out, "And why should I trust you?"

"It's up to you, really. However, Eugéne's intuition is never wrong."

"…"

"No matter, you don't have to trust me," Noémie said as her body abruptly crumbled, her voice vanishing into the far distance.

Seeing this, Charlotte wordlessly lept towards Noémie's crumbling body.

Reaching out to the beaming lights that shone through the glass windows, she materialized a small blade and slashed toward the younger girl's chest only to no avail.

It was like punching a wall of cotton.

"Not even a clone, but a damned voice medium," Charlotte exhaled as she ran her hand through her hair.

Letting the blade vaporize, she stared at what remained of where Noémie stood seconds before, a pile of sand and dirt.

"I suppose I was wrong before. She did get better with using that ability of hers."

Several corridors away, Noémie stood back up with a smile on her face.

"Let's head to the dining hall and get breakfast, Odette."