Suspicion

A few hours later I was standing in front of the door to Celeste's room. I still had no idea what she wanted from me.

Maybe she hoped that I would tell her how Chloe committed those impossible murders.

I would've needed to be really carefull with what I said to her.

I didn't need Sophia's warning to understand that I couldn't really trust Celeste.

"Well, here goes nothing."

I knocked.

«Come on in, the door is open!» the cheerful voice of Celeste answered immediately.

When I made my entrance into her room I was immediately stunned.

For a moment I thought I had passed through aportal that had transported me back in time to my old bedroom.

Aldric's attractive face stared back at me from the numerous portraits with which Celeste had adorned the walls of her room. I recognized several that I myself owned.

And that frame on her bedside table... That was the picture I had made so many sacrifices to obtain!

Celeste, who was waiting for me sitting at a small table, giggled.

«You're not the first one to give me this reaction. I know it's a bit over the top... My friends say I'm obsessed...»

I was certainly surprised, but not for the reasons she thought.

After all, my old room was even worse. The only thing it lacked was an Aldric shrine.

No, what had surprised me was the fact that Celeste was also a fan of his.

From what I knew Aldric was not well regarded among the noble class. The fact that the most powerful wizard in the kingdom was a commoner without a drop of noble blood had turned many aristocrats' noses up.

That Duke Fitzroy's daughter was an admirer of his showed for the umpteenth time how strange that girl was. Perhaps today I would have a chance to understand why.

«It's not excessive at all! I was just amazed because I'm a big fan too.»

«Oh girl, sit down, sit down! We've already found something we can chat about for hours! No one I know here likes Aldric...»

That was what I expected. After all, the girls who gravitated around her were all from noble families.

I approached the small table and took a seat opposite Celeste. The latter placed a steaming cup of tea in front of me.

«How come you have these things in your room? I mean the coffee table and the tea?» I asked her.

Our rooms were all identical after all. And food and drink, outside of water, were provided to us from the magic table in the dining room.

«Oh this one? Magic! I duplicated the desk and changed its shape a bit,» Celeste replied nonchalantly, «as for the mugs and tea leaves, they are from my collection that I brought with me. I don't sleep at night thinking that sooner or later I will run out of them. Duplicating them causes them to lose their flavor, as you well know.»

"I don't think I'd ever put running out tea among my main concerns in this situation."

Nevertheless, I sipped it with pleasure. It was delicious.

«So...» began Celeste.

There it was, after those pleasantries it was time to get down to business.

She was going to tell me what she invited me here.

«Aldric!»

Celeste began to sing his praises.

At first I was taken aback.

"Does she just want to chat after all?"

Soon, however, as a die-hard fan, I couldn't help but join her.

We ended up talking about him for several minutes.

«... And you don't know how much I cried when Father told me I couldn't marry him!»

"Oh, so she's one of those....".

Celeste seemed to sense what was going through my mind.

«Hey, it's not what you think! Don't you take me for some skank! Sure, he's handsome, tall, muscular.... But I'm interested in what's in his head! Think of how many spells he could teach me.»

«Mmmh...»

She had a point. However, I did not know whether, despite my admiration for him, I would want to marry Sir Aldric. Maybe I was a bit idealistic, but I thought marriage was a step to take only with those you loved.

And by the way...

«Aren't you engaged?»

«Oh yes, with Phil,» Celeste nodded, «I was supposed to get married in a year, but well now I don't know if it will happen.»

Thanks to Amy, I knew that by "Phil" she was referring to Philemon Hargrave, son of a powerful marquis of the northern regions.

«Well, wouldn't he be upset hearing that you would like to marry someone else?»

«Nah, I don't think he would care that much, after all it is an arranged marriage,» Celeste pushed the thought away with a wave of her hand.

«Oh...I'm sorry.»

«Don't worry about it. That's the way it is between nobles. And, honestly, I don't mind too much. Philemon is a good guy and we're friends. Imagine if I'd been saddled with an old man like my cousin!» smiled Celeste, «what about you? You're so cute, you're bound to have a boyfriend!»

"Is this what they call girls-talk?"

Things were going much differently from what I expected.

«Me? Never had one.»

"Not that I haven't been hit on."

After all, I had been challenged for that reason the first day I had arrived here. Even in my old town there had been no shortage of suitors, but I had turned them all down.

I wasn't closed to the idea of dating, but, so far, no guy had ever caught my attention.

«Well, you have all the time in the world. And with your pretty face you'll be spoiled for choice,» Celeste winked at me, «but make sure you stay away from Aldric. If I can't have him, then no one will!»

We both burst out laughing.

After a moment, however, I became serious again. Something had occurred to me. Celeste was the perfect person to talk to about this.

«Celeste, do you think that Aldric, when he was at the Academy, was in the same situation as us?»

For once the girl's expression became serious.

Without her usual smile, she looked almost like a different person.

«You thought about it too, huh? I don't see any other alternative. The situation we're in perfectly explains why he's the only one who graduated in his class. All his classmates have disappeared into thin air.»

«But then... Why didn't Aldric say anything when he got out?»

«Yes that's the problem, the most obvious explanation is that he wants to cover it up. He doesn't want to let it be known that he killed his classmates to become what he is.»

The smile returned to her face.

«But I refuse to think that! That's why I have two other hypotheses.»

«Tell me, tell me.»

I wanted nothing more than for her to give me a reason to believe that my idol was not a coward or, worse, a ruthless murderer.

«Number one! Unfortunately, he may just not remember anything. No one has any memory of his classmates. It is evident that there is a powerful spell behind this. The school may simply have erased his memories. Of course, doing such a thing to someone as strong as Aldric must not have been easy, but they might have tricked him.»

«Number two! And my favorite,» Celeste continued energetically, «Aldric is waiting for the right opportunity to reveal everything. The king supports the work of the Academy, doesn't he? Even someone like Aldric can't go against the Sovereign like it's nothing. But one day, when the time is right, he will strike. He will reveal the crimes of the crown, unleashing an unprecedented revolution!»

After uttering these words, she stood up abruptly and, putting one foot on the chair, pointed forward as if she were giving the charge to an invisible army.

The daughter of a duke was the last person I would have expected to cheer for a revolution.

But infected by her enthusiasm, I could not help but rise from my chair and imitate her gesture.

«Unprecedented!»

We both burst out laughing.

"I kinda like this girl..."

But there was something still bothering me about her.

So when we sat down again, I decided to ask her:

«Celeste, can I ask you a personal question?»

«Shoot!»

«How can you always be so... happy? You know, with what is going on...»

Celeste's kind brown eyes lit up with astonishment.

«I'm sure you're not the first one to wonder about it... but no one had ever asked me directly.»

She paused.

«Um, see, you'll probably think I'm crazy, but I'm kinda glad to be here.»

"Huh?"

«Before I came to the Academy, my life was so boring. Lectures and etiquette classes, parties upon parties. Not to mention all the visits from other nobles where I had to stand in a corner and look pretty,» Celeste told me with a sigh.

«Here, however, I can finally devote myself to my greatest passion: magic. Of course the whole "whoever is last in the rankings dies" part is not nice, but honestly, I've never felt so alive...»

Maybe she was a little crazy. But I understood her a little bit.

If not for the deadly competition we were trapped in, these days would probably have been the happiest of my life.

That was also why I was determined to make the Academy pay for what they had stolen from me.

Celeste and I continued to chat for another hour. By now I understood that there was no ulterior motive behind her invitation, she just wanted to spend time with me.

Apart from Amy, I had never felt so comfortable with a girl my age. With Sophia after all, my conversations were anything but relaxed.

So I decided to take advantage of this newfound friendship. Celeste was the perfect person for what I had in mind.

«Say Celeste... Would you like to spar with me sometime?»

«Oh?» the girl immediately seemed excited by the idea.

«You see, my fight with Chloe made me realize that I can't always rely on brute force. I need to learn new spells and ways to use them in battle. And you...»

«Oh, my friend, we're going to have so much fun together!» said Celeste, putting a hand on my shoulder, her eyes twinkling, «but don't expect me to go easy on you just because it's training.»

After a few minutes we finally said goodbye, with a promise to meet on the weekend.

I walked through the corridors of the school headed for my room.

I was still thinking about Celeste, which is why, for the second time, I did not notice that around a corner someone was waiting for me, lurking.

«You sure took your time in there...»

«EHH?!» I screeched.

Of course it was her!

«Will you stop ambushing me!? Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?» I scolded Sophia, «and what the hell are you doing here? Are you stalking me?!»

«No...I was just a little worried. What did she want?»

I relaxed. Sure she had given me a scare, but she seemed to mean well.

«Nothing much, we just chatted...»

«Just chatted...» Sophia gave me a suspicious look, «I told you to be careful about her.»

"Huh?"

«Why this animosity toward Celeste? I know she's an high ranking noble, but she seems really nice...»

«You said it... What is someone so influential doing in here? Do you think the king could really have sent his right-hand man's daughter here to die?»

I had already thought of something like that, but what other alternatives were there?

«What do you mean?»

«Haven't you thought that the Academy might have a mole among the students? To nip any attempts at rebellion in the bud... Fitzroy seems like the perfect person for something like that. This is probably why she is trying to approach you.»

"Hmm..."

She could have been right. It was not impossible that among the students there was someone on the Academy side. That way Skylark could have had a spy among us.

And certainly someone whose father was particularly close to the Sovereign would have been the ideal infiltrator. But...

«The first part of what you said may be true, but I'm sure it's not Celeste. You don't know her, she's different from all the other nobles. And anyway, we haven't talked about anything important...»

Of course there was the possibility that she was a very good actress and had deceived me, but I could not imagine that there was any trace of malice behind that perpetually cheerful face.

«If you say so... I warned you... do whatever you want,» Sophia huffed.

"..."

A thought flashed through my mind.

"Could it be that..."

«You're not jealous, are you?» I asked amusedly, giving her a playful nudge.

«Jealous? Of what?» blurted Sophia, shocked by my accusation.

I put my arm around her shoulders:

«Don't worry, we can spend all the time you want together! Now that I'm done with Celeste, you can have me all to yourself!»

«You idiot! Let me go!»

Bickering as usual, we headed together to the common room.

In the recesses of my mind, however, Sophia's warning continued to ring loud and clear.