Chapter 11: The School of the Doomed (6)

Simon should have known that Anna’s ‘study session’ was just an excuse to drink with friends.

She lulled him into a false sense of security by only inviting him and Casval to her and Tiella’s bedroom, which turned out to be more of a colossal suite with separate bedchambers, a waiting hall, and an expensive salon adorned with scandalous portraits of frolicing dryads, fairies, and satyrs. Simon only had to take a look to notice the stark difference in standing between an imperial bastard and a true princess of pure blood.

Simon guessed something was up when Anna insisted that they eat dinner before studying and then ordered all the servants and men-at-arms out of the suite, but it was only when she brought out the Navarran wine bottles that his faint hope of doing anything academic died inside his heart.

The things I do for her, Simon thought as they sat on a wolfpelt carpet near the suite’s fireplace. The foyer’s flame and the moonlight filtered through the window reflected in their filled glasses. At least she’s enjoying herself… maybe a bit too much.

“Alright, here’s the plan!” Anna slapped her hands together, then raised a stick of chiseled wood. “This is my wand of truth, and it lets me ask any one of you a single question that you must answer truthfully. Refuse, and I shall curse you with a dare and a full glass of wine!”

“Joke’s on you, I’m immune to curses,” Simon joked. Anna and Tiella laughed while Casval merely chuckled.

“Daring, are you? In that case, you shall be the first to suffer my magic!” Anna smiled from ear to ear. “Unfortunately, my wand of truth has only one charge, and I must grant ownership to the person to my left to recharge it.”

“Who will then ask a question?” Casval guessed with the most deadpan look possible.

“I knew you were the smarter of the two,” Anna replied while Tiella giggled. “And we shall continue this trial until we are too drunk to hold the wand of truth.”

“I knew this evening would end like this,” Simon complained. “I knew it, and I still let you trick me.”

“Cry me a river.” Anna pointed her ‘wand’ at him. “By the power of my stick of truth–”

“I thought it was the wand of truth,” Casval cut in.

“Whatever,” Anna replied. “Simon, I compel you to reveal to me the secret that frightens Thalas so much!”

Gee, who could have seen that one coming?

“Dare,” Simon replied immediately.

“You’re no fun, everyone is speculating!” Anna complained. “Let me guess: the Overlord slept with Antonine!”

“What?” Simon scoffed. “Father, with his daughter-in-law? What makes you think that?”

“Because she’s a whore,” Tiella said. The way she struggled to hold her glass of wine and spoke up without being talked to first suggested she had already taken a little too much alcohol tonight. “She’s a gold digger who would cheat on her fiancé in a heartbeat if it benefited her.”

“I heard she tried to seduce Louis and settled for Thalas when she failed,” Anna said before studying Simon’s expression. “It’s not that… did Louis sleep with Antonine then?”

“I won’t say anything about the matter,” Simon replied. “I’ve picked my poison.”

“Fine, then dare. You have to kiss someone here on the lips, your pick. And don’t forget your glass of wine. You have to drink all of it.”

Simon rolled his eyes and drank. The wine was good at least—very good—but he didn’t feel the alcohol doing much. Maybe his innate poison resistance diminished its effects?

Simon glanced at the others. Anna was all but daring him to pick her, because she would relish the scandal; Casval stared at him with a blank, neutral expression, and Tiella anxiously clutched to her robes, hoping to be picked. Simon thus strategically picked her, much to her joy.

He had little experience kissing girls, and Tiella stank more of wine than flesh, but he would be lying if the feeling of her lips on his own wasn’t pleasant enough. He thought she would pull back in embarrassment, yet she pressed against him even harder than he did, and blushed red when he pulled back.

“I’m disappointed in you, Simon,” Anna said. “I’m very disappointed. I hoped you would go for the scandalous route of kissing your lovely honorary cousin or this handsome friend of yours, and yet you go for the safe route.”

“We’re not blood related, Anna,” Simon replied. “You can’t make this weird.”

“I didn’t mind either,” Tiella replied with a giggle.

“Tough luck, now the wand is mine,” Simon replied upon seizing the stick. He quickly confirmed it was a perfectly normal piece of wood. “Are we going to study tonight, Anna?”

“Truth, and the answer is no,” Anna replied while sipping her cup anyway. “I’m not here to study.”

“Yes, I figured as much.”

“No, I mean, I am not really at the academy to study,” Anna replied. “I’m here to find myself a husband.”

“A husband?” Casval asked with interest. “Why’s that?”

Anna gave him a rather salacious look. “Offering yourself?”

“I am simply curious, Your Highness.”

“Such a bad liar, yet too handsome to chastise.” Anna played with her glass. “I am looking for a husband because Father said I could either pick someone this year or he would marry me off himself after graduation. I’m a good pick, being the Overlord’s niece, the heir to the Berwick Islands, and the loveliest woman in all the realm.”

“Debatable,” Simon replied, everyone else laughing at his words. Why? It wasn’t a quip; it was the honest truth.

“Tiella, do you see how he treats me after I saved his life? He’s too bold by half.” Anna sipped from her cup again. “Anyway, I would rather make my own choice and enjoy myself beforehand with the boys of this fine institution. Maybe try them all until I find the right one.”

“A vast selection,” Tiella joked upon seizing the wand for herself, which was something rare enough to be noted. Alcohol truly made her more sociable. “Casval, do you have a girlfriend?”

“No, I do not have a mate,” Casval replied flatly. “I do hope to find one one day.”

Anna exploded in laughter. “Who says mate nowadays? But good to know.”

“Your turn, then,” Tiella said upon giving Casval the wand.

“Thank you.” Casval immediately pointed the evil artifact at its new target. “Simon?”

“Yes?” Simon replied.

“Do you have a Class?”

It took all of Simon’s willpower not to shake or drop his glass of wine. He thanked the fact that his Class’ poison resistance had diminished the alcohol’s effect and let him keep his composure. Was he suspecting the truth? What gave Simon away? Was it just an innocent question after seeing Anna use her own against Thalas?

No time to think!

“No,” Simon lied through his teeth. “I wasn’t allowed to have one as a bastard. I hope to gain one when I graduate.”

“Understandable,” Casval replied with a nod. Simon had no idea if he believed him or not. “Do you have a Class, Tiella?”

“Rulebreaker!” Anna pointed a finger at him. “Only one question per person! You get an extra dare for your trouble!”

“I don’t have a Class either, though I hope to get the same as my brother,” Tiella replied. “That or a spellcaster-type Class, so I can do magic.”

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“I see.” Casval nodded and drank his cup. “What punishment must I suffer?”

“Such a dutiful boy.” Anna turned to her handmaid. “Tiella, your pick?”

“He has to kiss me on the lips,” Tiella decided immediately.

“Greedy girl,” Anna said with a chuckle. “You’ve heard her, Casval.”

Simon watched Casval moving in to kiss Tiella without any particular enthusiasm. So many questions came to mind. Had he guessed that Simon somehow had a Class, or was he just curious? Maybe his paranoia was leading him astray.

Whatever the case, Tiella seemed much less into the kiss than the one she shared with Simon earlier. She exchanged a glance with Anna, and Simon could have sworn they somehow talked with looks alone, that they had agreed on a plan.

What’s going on here? Were they all in on it?

Simon spent the rest of the game on edge, even after the questions moved from intimate to childish, like their crushes, their friend circles, who wanted to sleep with whom, and other frivolities. Simon answered honestly and kept away from the bottle even as alcohol continued to flow, until an inebriated Anna eventually pointed her wand at Casval and asked–

“Do you want to fuck me?”

Simon blinked in surprise. It was as if he had been struck by lightning. “What?”

“Uh, sure, Your Highness,” Casval replied. He looked rather well for a man who had drunk over two bottles on his lonesome.

“Wonderful, then carry me.” Anna had Casval help her get up, then blew Simon and Tiella a kiss. “We won’t come back.”

Simon watched as the two left for Anna’s bedroom in utter confusion. He turned towards Tiella in search for an answer, only to find the young woman smiling back at him with the expression of a person whose plan had begun unfol–