The café door was swung open slowly.

Light footsteps could be heard as the Marquis escorted his wife into the building.

They were laughing.

And smiling.

Ah...

My hand was twitching for some reason...

Was it because...I wanted to kill them now?

"Welcome, dear customers. Please take a seat at this table," the waitress from before said politely to the noble couple.

"Thank you, darling~!" the Marquess replied with a snobbishly high-pitched voice.

I forced myself to look away from them.

Getting involved with the Marquis and Marquess now was not the best choice of action.

I took a sip of my tea and tried to get rid of my bloodlust.

I needed to control myself.

"Are you alright...?" Ace whispered to me.

I simply gave a nod.

My throat was too tight with anger to properly speak.

"Oh...What a coincidence~! Lady Cyllia is here too~" I could hear the splitting squeals of that woman scratch my eardrums.

My entire body tensed up.

"If it isn't...Marquis and Marquess Scott...It's nice to meet you too," I forced a smile as I looked upon the two again.

"Would you care to sit with us, Lady Cyllia?" Marquis Scott asked me with a wide grin.

No.

If I could have chosen, I would have immediately screamed no.

I bit my tongue.

Ace gave me a glance as he noticed my discomfort.

"I'm sorry, but I'm currently dining with Cordelia. It'd be quite rude of you to take her away," Ace spoke up, grabbing the attention of the two of them.

I stayed silent.

"Oh? And who are you?" Marquess Scott asked, clearly unhappy from Ace's interruption.

"I don't believe I need to answer that," Ace replied coldly.

She looked flabbergasted for a moment by his curt reply.

In her anger, the Marquess scanned Ace with her glaring eyes up and down before her gaze landed on his bright green eyes.

You could see her expression change within moments as she came to the conclusion that Ace was royalty.

"Dear, me~ It seems like I have been quite rude~! I'm so sorry for being like that~ I hope you won't take it to heart, darling~" she suddenly squealed with fake joy.

"Ah, yes. My wife meant no harm. She was just upset that she wasn't able to snatch away one of her favorite little girls," Marquis Scott also changed his attitude as he noticed Ace's green eyes.

I felt like puking.

Did he just call me one of their "favorite little girls"...?

As far as I was concerned, they wanted me dead.

It was disgusting to watch them act like this.

Ace, on the other hand, stayed silent as he assessed the couple and formed his own opinion of them.

Even without him saying anything, I knew he was starting to dislike them as much as I did.

"Lady Cyllia~ How in the world were you able to be acquainted with such a fine fellow~? You're already engaged to such a lovely prince~!" the Marquess cried as she fanned herself with her hands.

Could this woman just leave me alone already?!

Hearing her voice made me nauseous.

I hated it.

"She doesn't need to answer that either," Ace sighed as he stopped the woman from talking any further.

"Aww~ You don't have to be so rude~! I was just trying to make some small talk, you know~? Hahahaha~" she laughed.

For a while, there was empty silence.

Neither Ace and I wanted to talk back to her.

"...Hmm...I can't see your dragon anywhere. Where has your familiar gone, Cordelia?" the Marquis asked to start a conversation as he used my name casually.

"...I am Lady Cyllia of the duke household and am engaged to the crown prince...Please keep that in mind when you speak to me, Marquis Scott. I won't tolerate any impoliteness," I said through my tight throat.

Due to my status, no one except for those close to me were allowed to say my name.

And, obviously, I have never permitted this man or his wife to utter my name out loud.

"..." he stayed silent.

"And, in reply to your previous question, I believe it would be best to hold my tongue," I smiled.

"Haha...You seem quite vivacious...I'm sure that you, Lady Cyllia, must get along with everyone quite well. If only my son, Mattius, were still alive...I'm sure he would have become great friends with you," Marquis Scott smiled through clenched teeth.

...

How dare they?!

How dare they even speak of Mattius' name as if they actually cared for him?!

How dare they even pretend that they loved him when they mutated his body and turned him into a human bomb?!

How dare they act like they knew their own child?!

How dare they?!

"Ah, yes...I've heard of your son's death, Marquis Scott...It's quite unfortunate...I'm sure he's taking a well-deserved rest after everything he has gone through," I muttered.

"Oh...He was such a lovely boy~! I always become filled with pride and regret at the same time whenever I think of him~! He was so handsome as well~! Although, he wasn't as adorable as Lady Cyllia, of course~!" Marquess Scott cried in her obviously fake tears.

"...Haha...It's a shame that you were only his stepmother though, Marquess Scott. He wasn't able to inherit your beautiful hair genes," I smiled as I imagined ripping her hair out with my bare hands.

"Oh~? You think my hair is beautiful~?" she asked loudly in a pitched voice as she began to twirl her hair around with her fingers.

"Of course I do. I absolutely love you've done with your hair...How were you able to grow it out of your nostrils like that?" I asked as I pointed to my own nose.

Marquess Scott stared at me as if I had grown two heads.

It was absolutely lovely watching her face grow pale like that.

"I'm just kidding, Marquess Scott. Please don't take it to heart," I smiled, suddenly feeling refreshed after watching her grow upset.

"Oh...Hahaha~ Of course~! I'm glad you find my hair fabulous~! Aren't my lovely locks just to die for~?!" she faked a laugh.

"Haha...Please, Marquess Scott...If I wanted to kill myself, I would climb all the way up to your ego and jump down to your IQ level," I responded with a chuckle.

"..." she stayed silent now.

"...Ahem. It seems we have caught you in a bad mood...Perhaps it is time for us to retire to our rooms," Marquis Scott coughed as he realized the awkwardness of the situation.

"Of course, if you are tired from talking to a little schoolgirl like me, feel free to return to the zoo you came from," I smiled.

The Marquis stared at me with cold eyes as my insults sunk into his thick skull.

"...Lady Cyllia, I hope you spend the rest of your school days happily while you still can. For some, the school year ends much sooner than one hopes for," the Marquis said to me as he stared down at me intimidatingly.

"The way you say that...makes it sound like you plan on interfering with the rest of my time here. If I didn't know any better, I would have taken that as a threat," I laughed without showing any happiness in my eyes.

"I never knew you had such an active imagination, Lady Cyllia. It would be best to learn to live in the realm of reality from now on," the Marquis responded.

"Please, forgive me for misspeaking like that. It's quite difficult to act refined and serious around clowns attempting to act dignified..." I sighed as I feigned self-pity.

"I wonder what clowns you are referring to..." the Marquis said through gritted teeth.

"Why, of course, I'm talking about the two clowns in front of me who don't seem to know their place!" I said loudly as if it were obvious.

"The real question at hand is which one of us truly doesn't understand their place."

"Haha...Actually, I know my place quite well, Marquis Scott. And, I know where your place is at as well--in the lowest pits of hell."

"I suggest you better your manners, Lady Cylli-"

"And I suggest you leave here soon before any ounce of your remaining dignity is ruined."

"..."

"Goodbye, Marquis and Marquess Scott. I hope you have a lovely day," I said with cold eyes as I watched them walk away.

But before they could leave the building completely, I decided to place a convenient tracker on them.

"...Marielle..." I whispered under my breath.

Almost immediately, the shadow rose from the ground in response to my call.



(A/N: Here's a picture of her in case some of you guys forgot ^^^)

"...Follow them...and report back to me later tonight," I whispered quietly.

I watched as the shadow nodded and quickly sunk back into the ground, sliding across the floor before she attached herself onto the Marquess.

Thankfully, neither of them noticed the tracker I placed on them.

When the Marquis and Marquess were officially outside of the cafe, I was finally able to sigh in relief.

"Cordelia...What was that...?" Ace asked.

"It was a shadow that Grey gave me a while back. I've never made use of it before, so I thought it would be a good time to start now," I said as I finished drinking my tea completely.

"Was it necessary to let the shadow follow them though?" Ace wondered.

"I don't know where they are staying. I need to figure that out before..."

"Before...what?"

"I'll tell you later."

...I didn't feel like elaborating.

I was just...too mentally strained to think about anything.

"I see...Let's go back to the dorms then so you can get some res-" Ace was about to say before the waitress interrupted.

"I thought you two were going to go back to class after you finished eating...I always knew you two were lying," the waitress laughed as she picked up my finished plate.

"Oh...haha...Yeah...It looks like class is just about to end anyway, so there's no point in going back anymore..." I said awkwardly.

"It's fine. I don't mind. Just make sure to be in class tomorrow. I better not see you two walk through the door again during class hours tomorrow, okay?" she laughed as she walked to the back of the cafe to put my plate away.

"Let's go back. I'm sure you want to take a nap," Ace said as he offered his hand to me.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

I took his hand as he led me out of the cafe slowly.

He opened the door for me, just like a gentleman would, and began to walk with me all the back to the dorms.

.

.

Half an Hour Later

.

.

I was laying on my bed when I heard the school bells ring, indicating that the first day of school was over.

Today was an awful day.

Too many things happened that I didn't even know what to think about.

I closed my eyes.

Sleep.

All I needed now is sleep.

But before my consciousness could fully slip away, I heard a huge explosion coming from my dorm's door.

In a rush, I sat up and ran over to see what was going on.

M-My door...was completely unhinged from the doorway...

I looked up to see everyone on the other side of the hole in the wall.

"Look, the cow is here," Lin and Min said together as they pointed at me.

"Lia~ Did you miss me?" Florence, the sadistic jerk prince, said with a huge smirk as he enjoyed my look of shock.

"How the heck are you so lazy, brat? It's the first day of school and you're already exhausted?! You didn't even take the time to see me this whole day..." my brother, Ash, said as he blushed.

I could see Ace and Deux give a small nod of hello from outside the door as they separated themselves from the rowdy boys.

"Milady...I've brought these boys here. I hope you don't mind," Grey said with a dark smile as he watched the show unfolding in front of him.

Evil.

Grey was evil.

Without a doubt...he did this on purpose...

Whyyyyyyyy...

"C-Cordelia...Are you alright in there?" Lilly, our innocent heroine, said to check on me as she peeked her head in from the outside.

"...I want to be okay...but I'm not okay..." I groaned as I smacked my head with my hand.

"I can help you feel better though, Lia," Florence smiled as he reached out his hand to me.

"There is nothing you can do," I said with a childish pout.

"How about...I treat you...to a secret buffet that's meant for the student council?" Florence smirked.

What.

"A-Are you talking about...t-the...annual...Moonlit Feast????" I asked loudly before Florence took his hand to cover my mouth.

"Shh...We can't let anyone know about this...can we..." Florence said with a grin as he watched me.

I nodded my head in agreement.

In front of me, I could hear the humorous sighs of everyone else.

"Looks like the cow just got baited with food..." Lin and Min said as they chuckled to themselves.

"Say...another word...and I'll kill you," I thought very loudly in my head so that they could hear with their telepathy.

The two of them shut up immediately.

"How did you even get an invitation to it though? The Moonlit Feast is only for the student council and administrators for the first day of the school year..." I asked him.

"...Well, it's because I'm the crown prince...I can do anything," he said as he looked away from me.

"...This country...is corrupted..." I muttered under my breath.

"Milady, either way, I don't think you'll care as long as you get to taste the food they offer there," Grey said with a sigh.

"Will you guys get to go too?" I asked as I looked at everyone.

"Uh...Well...I was kind of hoping that we'd go together alone as like a date...But it looks like...that's not going to happen..." Florence sighed as he messed with his hair.

"Great! Let's go enjoy dinner, everyone~" I squealed as I stood up sharply.

"Didn't you hear anything that I just said?" Florence asked slowly.

"Hmm?" I questioned.

"...Nevermind. I pity myself..." he sighed once more.

Jeez.

Why was everyone sighing so much today?

.

.

A Few Hours Later

.

.

Food.

I had never seen so much food before in my life.

From meats...to seafood...to soups...to noodles...to pasta...to salads...to bread...to desserts...to everything you could imagine.

Everything here was cooked to perfection by top tier chefs and was just waiting to be devoured by me.

Oh...yes...

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

"Mwahahahaha..." I chuckled to myself evilly.

"Go ahead...We won't hold you back," Ace said as he gave me a small pat on the back.

"YESSSSSS!" I screeched loudly as I charged to grab plates and pile endless amounts of food on them.

Everyone around me looked at me weirdly as I grabbed more food than what was supposed to be possible.

I was honestly blessed to be in the villainess' body, Cordelia, to be honest.

No matter how much I ate, I never gained a single pound.

Yes...it must have been a blessing sent down by the gods.

For the next few hours, the rest of the gang and I were eating and having the time of our lives.

There was plenty of food to go around and we were causing a ruckus like the group of crackheads we were.

It was a nice change of pace.

After today, I desperately needed time to enjoy myself, so this was just absolutely perfect.

I'm sure the other people at the Moonlit Feast were not amused by our party antics, but I didn't care at all.

It's their fault for letting us all come here in the first place.

"Can you pass me that plate with the roasted turkey on top?" I asked Ash from across the table.

"...You're planning...on eating...the whole turkey by yourself?" Ash asked as he picked up the plate with both hands to hand over to me.

"No duh," I replied as I ninja-sliced the turkey in the blink of an eye and consumed the entire thing within a second.

"...You're actually a cow," Ash blinked as he nodded to the twins.

"Hahaha~ The cow's older brother agrees!" the twins yelled.

"Are you calling me a cow too?" Ash asked slowly.

"Nope. You can't be a cow. You're already a sis-con," the twins said in reply.

"WHAT?!" Ash suddenly screamed loudly out of nowhere.

"I told you that you were a sis-con! Finally, someone agrees with me!" Florence laughed out loud.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I THOUGHT YOU TWINS WERE CHILL???" Ash screeched as he tossed some salad at their faces.

"Young master...Everyone thinks you're a sis-con. Don't take it to heart," Grey sighed as he caught the bowl of salad mid-air without letting a single leaf of lettuce touch the ground.

"Deux!!! Do you think I'm a sis-con too?!" Ash asked loudly as he turned to the only quiet person of the group.

Deux stared at Ash for a long time...before giving a small nod.

"WHAAAAAAT?! BUT HOW??" Ash screamed.

"...haha..."

Everyone froze for a moment.

We all turned to Deux at lightning speed.

Did...Deux...just...laugh...????

Deux stared at us questioningly before going back to eat his food peacefully.

"Hmm...Maybe we just imagined it," Ash sighed as he slumped back down in his chair.

"You call seem to be quite the energetic group," Lilly laughed as she watched all of us.

"...Don't even get me started..." I sighed.

Lilly began to stretch her body before she stood up.

"Where are you going, Lilly?" I asked her.

"I think tonight would be a lovely night to take a lonely stroll through the school grounds," Lilly responded as she stared upward at the moon.

"...Do you want me to go with you?" I asked her.

"No, it's quite alright. I wouldn't want to take you along with me when you're already having so much fun with them all," she smiled.

"O-Okay then! I'll see you later tonight," I responded with a warm smile as I saw her leave.

"Do you want to finish off this plate of scallops?" Florence asked me after she left.

"Heck yeah!" I yelled as I grabbed the plate and consumed it all.

.

.

Half An Hour Later

.

.

"Sorry guys, but it looks like I ate something bad...I'll be right back after getting some fresh air," I said to excuse myself as I stood up and left.

When I was far away enough from the group, I gave a small sigh.

It was about time that Marielle, the shadow I sent to the Marquis and Marquess, came back to me.

"Are you alright, Cordelia?" someone said behind me.

I gave a little jump of surprise before I turned around and realized that it was Ace.

"Did you follow me all the way here?" I asked with a small amused sigh.

"I-I'm sorry..." Ace said guiltily with a stutter.

"No, it's fine. Did anyone else follow me?" I asked.

"As far as I'm concerned...no," Ace replied slowly.

"That's good then. I was planning on meeting up with Marielle here," I said.

"Who's Marielle?" Ace asked.

"She's the shadow I sent to track the Marquis and Marquess earlier...remember?" I responded.

"Oh...so the shadow's name was...Marielle?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, Grey named her," I replied.

As soon as I said that, I could see a dark figure glide across the floor toward me.

"Marielle," I said out loud.

The shadow flew upward from the ground in response to my call.

"Did you find out where the Marquis and Marquess are staying?" I asked it.

The shadow gave a small nod.

"Alright. Take me there now," I said.

The shadow nodded again and was just about to lead me to them before Ace held me back.

"Where are you going?" Ace asked as he held onto my hand without letting go.

"I'm just going to go check out the place where those two are staying and I'll come straight back. Don't worry about it," I replied.

"Even if you tell me to not worry...I'll still be worried," Ace sighed as he tightened his grip on me.

"Trust me. I won't get myself killed," I smiled.

"That's not the point..."

"If you're so worried, why don't you go along with me?" I asked.

"...Okay then," Ace responded immediately with a smile.

I sighed.

There was no point in arguing with him.

.

.

A Few Minutes Later

.

.

After running for a while after the shadow, we finally made it to the outsides of a tall building.

"What floor are they on?" I asked the shadow.

Marielle raised all ten of her fingers in reply.

"The...tenth floor? That's the very top of this building then..." I muttered.

The Marquis and Marquess were obviously getting some special treatment.

"How will we get there without them noticing?" Ace asked.

"That's easy. We'll just climb the wall until we get to the roof," I replied.

"...Hmm...I see. Well then, let me help you with that," Ace said as he used his plant magic to create sturdy vines from the roof all the way down to us.

"Welp. That makes everything a lot easier. Thanks. Let's go," I said as I immediately grabbed onto a vine and started climbing.

Within moments, we were on the roof of the building.

I held my finger up to my lips to indicate that we needed to be quiet and used some of my destruction magic to melt away a small hole in the ground below us.

The hole was so small that it would be hard to notice.

I peeked through it, and to my surprise, the Marquis and Marquess were right below me.

They were talking to someone.

But...who?

"Remember. Under no circumstances should any harm come to Cordelia's dragon. He, alone, must be kept alive and healthy," Marquis Scott said to the unknown person.

"But where is the dragon?? I didn't see it with her at all today," Marquess Scott sighed.

"She may be hiding him," Marquis Scott said.

"Does she know what our plans are then?" Marquess Scott gasped.

"...Perhaps...We should be careful," the Marquis sighed.

After a moment of silence, I could hear the voice of a familiar, yet unknown, person.

"...What about Lady Cyllia then. What should I do with her?" a feminine voice said from somewhere in the room that I couldn't see.

"It doesn't matter what you do to her. Just make sure to not arouse suspicion and get as much information as you can out of her. As long as she's alive, everything is fine," Marquis Scott replied.

"Yes...If only she didn't make a contract with the dragon. It makes it so much more difficult now that we know we can't kill her without ending the dragon's life too..." the Marquess groaned.

"It's your job to keep the two of them alive. Make sure to report back to us if you learn anything new," Marquis Scott said with an authoritative tone.

"Yes...I will do my best..." the girl replied.

"Well, I have a good feeling that you'll do fine. After all, that man himself trained you and sent you to us. You must be quite capable to have made it this far..." the Marquis chuckled.

"...Thank you..." she said slowly.

Who was this girl??

And why did they need Ace??

"You are doing quite well though. You're already friends with her, I assume?" the Marquess maniacal laugh hit my ears harshly.

"Yes...She seems to trust me quite a bit..." the girl said.

"Good. It was a lot of hard work to find a way to make you her roommate..." the Maquis chuckled.

I froze.

...My...roommate...?

"We'll see you again tomorrow then, Lilly..." the Marquis said.

Then, I heard a door open and close from below, probably indicating that she had left the room.

I removed my ear from the hole and sealed it back up with my creation magic.

I stared blankly at the night sky for a while to process what I had heard.

Lilly...was working with the Marquis and Marquess...?

"What's wrong, Cordelia? What did you hear...?" Ace asked slowly.

Every part of my mind was sounding the alarm that something was terribly wrong.

Lilly...was a...spy...?

-------------------------------------------

A/N: I know some of you guessed that Lilly was either innocent or was a man-hungry woman after all of the male leads...but did any of you guess this? Tell me if you did!

This chapter was incredibly fun to write, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it!

The next chapter will be updated soon like always, so keep a lookout for it~

I hope all of you are doing well nowadays! Stay safe, everyone~

Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters! You guys are all amazing~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 3879