A delicate hand wipes the fog away from the mirror, revealing her own reflection staring back at her – a sight that she still found to be a little shocking, not being able to fully grasp that this face was hers. There was a reason she was called ‘The Rose of the Kingdom’ and her looks did live up to all the rumors about her beauty. The cat-shaped eyes, dazzling hazelnut pupils, a sharp jawline, flawless face free from any acne and plump pink lips – she was the standard that all the noble girls her age strived to match against.

However, the girl could only give out a sad smile as she traced the outline of her face in the mirror. Though she was pretty, her attitude was the complete opposite of what people had hoped she would turn out. She had become such a haughty, selfish, and cruel person that her beauty was the only thing that made her stand out among the other nobles. Her pretty face couldn’t save her from getting the karma that she deserved for her past actions.

Then came three knocks from the door and a familiar voice sounding a little concerned.

"Milady? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure you know how to take a bath by yourself? I can assis-"

The girl throws herself to the bathroom door and locks it shut, "No, no! Don't come in - I'm perfectly capable."

Josette goes quiet for a moment before she speaks again, "The fresh towels are on the shelf and your usual fragrances and soaps are in the cupboard if you wish to use them. I'll be nearby so if you do run into any trouble at all-"

"Thank you, Josette. You may be excused now," the words roll off of her tongue so naturally that she shocks herself with her mannerisms at times. There's no answer from Josette except for the sound of footsteps walking away from the door. Finally, Roseline lets out a relieved breath as she's left alone at long last and turns to the bathtub.

After picking out some of the gentler fragrances, she pours them into the warm water before she lets her body sink and relax. A good bath always helped her get her thoughts into order and this would be no different - she needs to relax, devise a plan and execute it properly if she didn't want to see herself end up in the bad endings she's seen one too many times.

What was her plan, you asked? Well, it's very simple - it's to not die and live a long good life.

"The second year in the academy is only beginning so there's still plenty of time before things get too difficult," she closes her eyes, looking through Roseline's memories and they're all so in detail and clear, making her feel as if she was there to witness them herself. Perhaps this was the divine knowledge that the Gods gifted her with - being able to remember both Roseline's current memories and memories of her past life to make her journey slightly easier.

Though she did feel a little weird with herself... She felt as if she wasn’t Roseline completely but rather, she was a mix of both her current and past self. A complicated weird sense that she had yet to fully familiarize herself with. She needed to analyze both Roseline and Daeyeon’s memories to be able to plan a proper strategy to gain a better reputation and avoid following the same path in the game itself.

But as she soaks herself in the nice bath, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh as she felt her muscles unwind after being stuck in bed for some time. There was too much sitting, resting, and thinking that it even made her brain bored and tired from just looking at the same room over and over - Josette had restricted her from going outside while she was recovering after the maid had noticed how frequent Roseline's headaches were at the time. Thinking about her situation now, she didn't think it was that bad. If she played her cards at the right given time, everything would work out fine and she wouldn't have to worry about losing her head before graduation.

"Just don't lose your head -" she notes to herself as she hears Josette knocking on the door to remind her that she should be done by now, "- don't lose your head and everything will be fine."

"You have Practical Fire Training, Fire Theory and Spells, History, and Mathematics classes for today," Josette reminds her of her schedule for the day as they're about to walk out from the lady's dorm. Roseline looks over at Josette and notices how the maid seemed to be carrying her bag and a few books in her hands. Ah, right - the previous Roseline would never bring her books by herself.

"If it's alright, I'd like to bring my own bag from now on, Josette," Roseline stops her right at the door, her hand outstretched as she waited for Josette to hand the bag containing her books for the day. She felt bad enough that Josette had to meet up with all the ridiculous demands she had done in the past so perhaps starting today, she could learn to do the regular stuff by herself than expect others to do it for her.

Josette's eyes widened in surprise as she saw how the lady showed no sense of mockery or joking around - Roseline's request was genuine. The lady really did seem to want to bring her items on her own which was unusual for noble ladies her age or for Roseline, in fact.

No matter how much Josette was suspicious over Lady Roseline's sudden request, it was her job to follow what she was ordered to do by the girl and this strange The maid takes off the straps and cautiously hands it to Roseline, expecting her to break out into loud laughs and "-You thought it was true?"

Instead, Roseline takes it without a fuss but not before exclaiming on the weight of the bag itself.

"Ah, it’s quite light,” she chuckles and catches herself from saying, 'Unlike how my bag was back at high school.' Clearing , Roseline takes the books from Josette's arms without waiting for the woman to snap back to reality. Did she spook the maid so much that she was malfunctioning?

Roseline waves her hand up in front of Josette's face which managed to jump her out of her thoughts.

"Are you feeling alright, Josette?"

"Y-yes, fine. Apologies," she's quick to return back to her normal stoic face and looks down to her pocket watch. "We should be heading out now, your class starts in 45 minutes," she opens the door and quietly, Roseline follows her.

It certainly does feel weird to be that person who people tend to stare at when you're walking which was exactly what Roseline was feeling at the moment. Gone was the usual feeling of pride and glee that came whenever she felt eyes on her. Now, she just felt burdened by multiple faces glancing at her - she still needed some time to get used to being a well-known figure who had plenty of fans and enemies. Instinctively, her hand reaches up to as she recalled memories of being beheaded in one of the Super Sweet Ending of the game. It made her saliva taste bitter that she found it difficult to swallow down and the air around her felt heavier with each step.

Thankfully, her mind doesn't wonder any longer as she hears a familiar voice calling out to her.

"Roseeeeee~"

She doesn't even have enough time to react until the figure literally jumps in front of her, radiating such intense and giddy energy. It doesn't take a genius to guess who it is exactly - his outfit gave him away almost instantly. She'd seen them enough to memorize ever stitching of the very clothes he wore.

"William," the slight sound of surprise is evident in her voice, "You're bright as usual. Joint classes today, I assume?"

He bobs his head up excitedly. Since he was a year below Roseline, they barely had any classes together except the few times they joined classes for Fire Training as both of them were affiliated with Fire. Though he doesn't do much during practical lessons, he would always be there to watch Roseline and even prank some of the other students while he's at it. Really, the boy plays pranks on a daily basis that Roseline made a mental note to herself to always be alert whenever he’s around – who knows what kind of trouble he was going to mix her into if she wasn’t careful.

She can’t help but wonder since when did it began that she had become agitated over William’s pranks rather than join in on the laughter? Surely, she can at least remember playing pranks with him long ago but her memories are fuzzy and jumbled – it could be an effect of having two memories combined together, she left it at that and didn’t probe into it much further.

"I bet the teacher's gonna have you go up to demonstrate as usual," he teases her with a playful smirk on his lips. Usually, Roseline would agree and say something along the lines of “-only a complete idiot would think I’m not the best Fire user in this academy-“ since the lady had always viewed herself as superior to anyone else.

However, she wasn’t the same Roseline as she once was so before she could even properly think it through – her elbow is already nudging William’s sides and she lets out a chuckle. “The teacher should really have other students demonstrate instead of picking the same person over and over again. There’s plenty of other talented Fire users in my class, I don’t see why they don’t have the chance to show off once in a while.”

A puff of air comes out from his mouth due to the sudden impact but it's followed by laughter soon after, "You know you love it when everyone's eyes are on you, Rose. They don't call you the Fire Whisperer for nothing." It doesn’t seem that he’s caught onto Roseline’s change in behavior.

"Oh, do shut up," she can't help but let out a giggle from how infectious his laughter is as they step into the courtyard where she could already see a few familiar faces here and there but a specific one caught her attention. Roseline wonders if it would be a good move to try and get on better terms with the main characters that she was familiar with - the ones that play