Special: The Impenetrable Fortress (Part 3)

(A/N: Slight Trigger Warning! Do not read if you are sensitive to violence, a little gore, and attempted sexual assault.)

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Cordelia POV

"Shhh! That's enough, class!" the teacher finally called out to put an end to all the whispering.

But it was already too late.

"Murderer...!"

"...shh...if she hears you..."

"...we'll be cursed..."

"...to die..."

There were a few snickers as the classroom whispered to one another, completely disregarding the teacher's orders to quiet down.

"...and if you're not careful..."

"...she'll sneak up on you..."

"...and your neck will go..."

One of my classmates, who I could not remember the name of, twisted her neck backward in an unnatural way, which caused the rest of the class to roar with laughter.

I blinked my eyes at my classmates' obvious display of contempt for me.

It had been so many years that I had forgotten how it felt to be ridiculed like this...to be singled out from the rest of my peers...

But...

Maybe it was because I had gone through so much more extreme pain in the other world that...something like this seemed much more amateur and immature than I remembered.

"Hey, Clara! You aren't gonna kill us or anything, right??" the girl, who had playfully twisted her neck earlier, called out to me.

"..."

I turned my head to look at her without the energy to even crack a smile or frown.

"...That's not funny," I said.

The girl seemed a bit surprised that I responded to her properly and sat up straight from her seat to stare at me straight in the eye.

"What's not funny?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"Joking about murder...it's not funny," I murmured.

"Oooooh, so whatcha gonna do about it?" the girl asked with a sarcastic frown.

"..."

"Are you gonna kill me or something?" she chuckled.

"..."

Then, for the first time today, my stoic face changed into an innocent smile.

And I opened my mouth to speak.

"Someone like you wouldn't even be worth killing but...if you want me to do it that much then...maybe I will," I said as my smile darkened.

"...?"

"Your head will go all twisted and bent...like this...by the time I'm done with you," I said as I snapped my head backward and twisted it sideways, exactly the same way the girl had done from before.

I gave a wide grin at the girl, holding my head in the same position.

"What the hell is wrong with you—"

"Hmm...? What's wrong with me...? Ah...Did you not find it funny?" I asked.

"..."

"Oh...if that's the case, I'm sorry. I thought my joke would suit your sick sense of humor," I sighed apologetically as I glanced up at her with dark eyes.

"Hey—"

"I guess murder isn't very funny after all...right?" I said, erasing my smile, at the girl before turning away from her.

I rested my head against my palm and stared at the teacher.

"Isn't it about time we get started with the class?" I asked without a hint of patience.

The classroom was silent for a second before, suddenly, everyone burst out into even louder laughter than before.

"SHE UTTERLY DESTROYED YOU!" a boy laughed.

"OH, SHUT UP! I DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS GONNA TALK BACK LIKE THAT!!" the girl, who I had just spoken to before, complained.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!"

I flinched.

I had forgotten...the culture in this world was extremely different in comparison to the other world...

In the other world, my comeback would have been considered very normal and simplistic.

But here, it seemed like people weren't as equally passive-aggressive in comparison to noble ladies of high society.

"...thinks she's so cool..."

"...probably watches too much TV..."

"...nah...someone like her doesn't watch TV..."

"...bet she has no life..."

"...nerd...always studying..."

"SHHH! QUIET, CLASS!" the teacher, who had finally run out of patience, screeched.

Within moments, the class had become deathly silent at the teacher who was fuming with anger.

And, for the rest of the class period, not a single person said another word.

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A While Later

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Soon, the bells rang and I could see everyone pack their backpacks, getting ready to leave the class.

According to my schedule, the next period was lunch and I was grateful for the small break.

I was just about to stand up and leave when I heard a pair of girls talking to one another nearby.

"Hey, did you guys play that game everyone's been talking about?"

"Which game?"

"You know...that game..."

"What's it called again?"

"Love, Love in the Super Cool Magic Academy of Incredibly Hot Guys."

I froze.

"Oh my god, yes I played it!! It's so good!!"

"OMG...Right?! The name is a little stupid but it's the best game I've played so far!"

The otome game...

Yes...that's right...

"The storyline is so good! And the main character is so sweet!"

"And the male leads are literally to die for!!"

"But...some of the characters are really annoying."

"Like who...?"

"Who else would I be talking about? Obviously, it's that stupid b-tch, Cordelia! She always messes everything up!"

"Hahaha~! I hate her so much too! It's so satisfying to see her die in the end though."

"My favorite ending is the one with Mattius! The one where the villainess gets tortured and goes insane in the woods."

"Dang, that one is the darkest ending though!"

"And that's why it's the best one~"

"But my favorite one is the one with the twins! The one where they stab and beat her up until she becomes a pile of bloody pulp."

"That one was also pretty good...even though it made me a little queasy to watch."

The girls laughed as they discussed the game and the numerous routes where the evil villainess, Cordelia de Boren Cyllia, would meet her worthwhile demise.

I felt like throwing up, but I held it in.

"But the best male lead is Florence, hands down. He's such a flirt, but he's so sweet!"

"What? I prefer Wolfe~ He's always so sleepy that it's cute! I just want to cuddle with him all day..."

"If we are talking about cuteness, Ash is the best! He's such a tsundere!!"

"But the sexiest man is easily Grey...sometimes I forget that he's a 2D character with the way he always talks dirty..."

I wanted to click my tongue at the way they were describing the male leads.

After all, they had no idea how annoying and problematic all of them actually were...

"I wish that I was Lilly...she's so lucky with all the male leads surrounding her..."

"Yes, OMG, she's just like a queen!!"

For a moment, I was confused.

Lilly...?

Who was she...?

Suddenly, I felt a piercing pain in the back of my head that forced a groan out of my lips.

A rush of memories flowed into my head without warning and I could remember the figure of a charming girl with flowing ashy blonde hair.

I panted heavily as I tried to recover from the mental shock.

That's right...!

Lilly!!!

The heroine!!!

How could I have possibly forgotten about her?!?!

How...could I have forgotten her...?

I bit my tongue.

This was strange.

Very strange.

It was as if my memories of her had been forcefully locked away...

...As if someone had forced me to forget.

"I'm so close to finishing all of the routes now! All I need is to complete the very last hidden character's route."

"Who?"

"Hmm? Don't you remember the fourth hidden character?"

"I thought there were only three hidden characters though. The mysterious prince, Wolfe, and the twins, Lin and Min...right?"

"Nope, there's another hidden character. Apparently, his route is the hardest one though. You can't even meet him unless you've captured the hearts of all the other male leads."

I froze.

A...fourth hidden male lead...?

There were...four hidden male leads...?

But...who...?!

"What? I didn't know someone like that existed. What's his name?"

"Well, the game won't even tell you his name unless you're able to meet him...and I haven't been able to get that far yet..."

"Did you search it up online?"

"Yeah, I did...The game makers were really secretive about it though and they took down any post that revealed his name..."

"Oh..."

"But. I was able to find one comment that the game makers weren't able to take down before I read it."

"What is it then?!"

"I don't know his real name...but..."

"But...?"

"Apparently, the fourth hidden male lead's alias is Gideon."

I shot up from my desk with a bang.

Gideon...?!

Holy Priest Gideon was a hidden male lead?!?!

I couldn't believe it.

"Hey, are you serious?" I asked angrily as I turned my head sharply to the two girls.

The girls blinked at me as if they couldn't understand why someone like me was talking to them.

And, instead of answering my question, they just shrugged their shoulders and ignored me as if though I were just a speck of dust in the air.

"Answer me. Are you serious about Gideon being a fourth hidden character?" I asked again, even louder.

"...Why are you talking to us? Please stop," they said coldly.

I gritted my teeth.

"I won't ever talk to you again so just answer me. Is Gideon the fourth hidden male lead?!" I asked.

"Like I said. I don't know what the fourth hidden character's real name is. I just heard that his alias was 'Gideon' from a single comment online. It might be right or it might be wrong. I don't know," the girl said with irritation.

"And now please stop talking to us," the other girl's friend said.

Gideon...?

Holy Priest Gideon was a hidden male lead...?

And more than that, 'Gideon' wasn't his real name and was just an alias...?

If that's the case...then what is his name really...?

"Alright...bye," I said to the girls as I left the classroom and walked as fast as I could to the cafeteria.

Maybe...

Maybe replaying the game might give me some clues on how to get back home...!

After all, I don't remember ever capturing the final hidden male lead...

What if I am...missing something really important...?

But, unfortunately, I didn't have a phone, a laptop, or any device I could use to play a game on...

The only reason why I was able to play the otome game in my past life was because the hospital that I was admitted into had old game consoles in storage that they let dying patients borrow, like me.

Tch.

This was annoying...

I walked as quickly as I could down the halls, carefully thinking about what I should do...

...Until I bumped headfirst into a person in front of me.

I fell to the ground and I felt pain radiating from my tailbone.

Ouch...

In comparison to my body as Cordelia, this body's senses were horribly dull and its limbs were much longer than I was used to as well, so I couldn't control myself well.

"Sorry," I quickly apologized for my clumsiness as I looked up at the person I bumped into.

It was a male student that I didn't recognize.

And he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well if it isn't Clara...my best friend..." he chuckled as he lifted me up from the ground and patted the dust off from my clothes.

...Huh...?

My best friend...?

That's strange...as far as I could remember, I didn't have any friends in this life to speak of...sadly...

Although, I did have plenty of bullies—

Wait...

I could feel my face grow pale.

Now that I think about it...this man's face seemed a little familiar somehow...

"Hey, Clara, you wanna help your friend out, right?" he whispered quietly into my ear.

With my weak arms, I pushed him away and gave a sharp glare, which visibly surprised him.

"I don't have time to deal with someone like you," I growled as I took a few steps away.

"Oh...? I'm hurt, Clara...I thought we were the bestest of friends..." he said with a frown as he gripped my arm.

"Let go of me," I said as I gripped his ear with my nails and tugged down as hard as I could with the intent of completely ripping it off.

Unfortunately, I had very little strength, so his ear, in fact, did not fall off as I wanted it to.

But, instead, he yelled in pain for a quick moment and let go of me.

"I don't know what you want, but I can't help you. I'm busy," I said with a frown.

"You aren't normally like this, Clara...Do I need to retrain you or something...?" he asked as his face grew dark.

"I'm not a dog," I spat.

"...Oh? I don't know why you're acting so differently, but I don't like it. I don't like it at all," he scowled as he dragged me to the nearest janitor's closet and threw me inside.

It was dark and the ground was moist with a thin layer of water.

There was an uncleanly smell as well.

But before I could stand up from the ground, the man pinned me down from behind with my face planted into the ground.

This man's body weight was probably three times more than mine and I struggled to even breathe underneath his grip.

"Did you think you could talk back to me and get away with it? Huh, Clara? Did you?" he asked in a scary voice as he gripped my hands above my head and pinned my neck to the ground as harshly as he could.

"Stop. You'll regret this," I growled.

"Regret what? I regret the fact that I've never beaten you up properly before. Hey...where's your backpack? I ran out of lunch money today," he said threateningly.

"...Hah. Sucks to be you, but I forgot it at home, you see," I said with a sneer.

Suddenly, I felt a heavy blow to the back of my head and I almost went unconscious.

"You think this is funny or something, huh?! Someone like you has no right to talk back to me. Isn't that right, Ms. Murderer?" he asked with a wide grin.

I held back my tears of pain and gave the boy another sharp glare.

"I'm not a murderer," I growled.

"Hah...Why are you lying? There were even witnesses too," he smiled at my anger.

"..."

I bit my tongue.

Everything...all of this was because of one big stroke of bad luck that I had as a child...

I never did anything wrong...

But no matter what I do...I'll only ever be known as a murderer...

Why...

"Hey, answer me! I asked you why you were lying earlier!!" he roared as he pulled my head up by my hair.

"..."

"Are you not scared of me anymore?! F-CK, you b-tch. I'll kill you...but first...I'm going to have to teach your body why it's bad to fight back..." he smiled as his breath tickled my ear.

(A/N: The next few lines are definitely going to make some of you uncomfortable. Just a warning.)

It felt slimy and gross.

He tugged on the hem of my shirt and lifted it up with his free hand.

I widened my eyes as I realized what he was about to do.

"Hey-! Wait, back off!!" I yelled as I squirmed around underneath his iron grip.

"Haha...let's see what you've been hiding under here~" he chuckled as he pulled off my shirt, without tearing it, and tossed it over into the corner of the room, leaving only my bra on.

A rush of cold air bit my skin and I shuddered.

I felt tears naturally flow from my eyes...

And I thought that...

"...Wait...wait a minute...what is...what is all...what is all of this...?" he gaped in shock and horror as he took in the sight of my body.

...this was absolutely perfect.

I chuckled.

"You messed up," I grinned.

"Huh...?"

"HELP!!! PLEASE!!!" I screamed as loudly as I could.

"Wait, shut up—"

"THIS MAN IS...HELP!!!" I screamed louder in the most pitiful voice I could muster.

And sure enough, after a few long moments, the door of the janitor's closet opened with a bang as a teacher rushed in to see what was going on.

"What is going on here—" the teacher was about to yell before she froze and gaped at the scene.

What she had witnessed the moment she walked through the door was the sight of a large man forcefully pinning a small girl down on the ground...

And that the girl on the ground had black, blue, and purple, bloody skin that covered every single last inch of her body.

Yep...

That's right...

Every single last inch of me was covered in fresh bruises.

Where did they come from, you might ask...?

Well, they came from my dear father last night, of course.

"Please...help...please..." I cried as pitifully as I could as the tears naturally flowed out on their own.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?! GET OFF OF HER!! GET OFF OF HER NOW!!!" the teacher screamed as she tugged the boy off of me.

The boy looked utterly shocked.

He didn't remove his gaze off of my body even once after he took my shirt off.

After all, the number of bruises I had underneath wasn't something a regular high school student would be able to look and laugh at.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL HER?!" the teacher yelled so loudly that my ears began to ring.

"Wait...no...I swear I didn't do that...I wasn't planning on going that far..." the boy gulped in a shaky breath as he tried to defend himself.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" the teacher screeched as she moved over to my side to check how I was.

"Please...help me...it hurts...it hurts so much," I wailed in tears.

It was easily my best performance.

After all, my tears and pain were 50% real.

"I swear! That wasn't me!! I just smacked her on the head a bit, that's all!" the boy yelled as he shook the teacher's arm.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK I'D BELIEVE THAT?! SHE LOOKS HALF DEAD! SHE'S EVEN BLEEDING OVER IN THIS CORNER!!" the teacher shouted as she pointed to a spot where my father had hit so hard that my skin burst a little.

"...it hurts...help me...please...I thought I was going to die..." I cried.

The teacher, who looked overwhelmed at the moment, quickly stood up.

"I'm calling for the cops...it's okay, Clara. It'll all be okay," the teacher reassured me as she ran out of the janitor's closet, dragging the boy behind her.

But, before the boy fully left the room, he turned around once to look at me.

I took the chance to smile and stick out my middle finger at him.

"Do you know? This is exactly how I felt when you all accused me of murder," I whispered.

The boy widened his eyes but could do nothing at all as the teacher pulled him away.

And then I was left alone in the janitor's closet for a moment by myself as they tried to find me help.

Haha...

If it weren't for my scary-looking bruises and taunting, the most that would have happened to that boy would probably be suspension from our school.

I doubt he would've gotten a criminal charge since he was a minor with a pretty clean record.

But simply getting that boy expelled wouldn't have been enough for me.

I wanted him gone.

And I wanted him to suffer.

After all, I finally remembered who that boy was...

He was my worst bully, Zack Reaves, who made me contemplate suicide more times than I could count.

"You finally got a little bit of revenge, past me," I sighed as I recalled my trembling, weak self who accepted so much abuse in her past life.

Originally, after last night, I had planned on revealing these bruises to convict my parents of abuse...

But...in the end, having both of my parents in prison would only make my life much harder than it already was.

I shuddered as I tried to imagine what sort of things people would say...

"You seem happy for a person who just got beaten up," someone said from behind me.

I whipped my head around sharply to see a boy with his nose buried into a book.

He wore a pair of glasses and had expressionless blue eyes as if he could care less about my bruises.

It was someone that I recognized almost immediately.

After all...this boy was...my first ever crush.

A crush...

...from a time before I had met the male leads...

...before I had met Ace...

This boy was...

Alex Ward.



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A/N: Alright! That's it for this chapter~ There is only ONE part left of 'Chapter 86. The Impenetrable Fortress' after this! I will be updating the last part next week, so keep a look out~

Ohohoho~ And it turns out that Gideon *might* be a hidden character in "Love, Love in the Super Cool Magic Academy of Incredibly Hot Guys"! What could this possibly mean?!?! ;)

Also...who do you guys think Alex Ward is?? Is he someone important?? Or is he just here to develop Cordelia's tragic backstory...? Well...Who knows~? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

MWAHAHAHA...may the plot thicken...! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Anyways, I'm a bit hungry for writing so long today, so I'm going to go grab something to eat...something delicious...like your pain from reading this chapter— ≧☉_☉≦

Yum.

Thanks, again, to all of my readers/voters/commenters! You guys always manage to make my day and I hope you all have a great weekend~

Stay safe, everyone!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 3687