A vase flew at her face.

She barely got out of it’s way. It crashed into the wall behind her, showering her with the water that was in it.

She was cut. Not physically, but her pride. The shards of poisonous words rained down on her exposed heart.

“You’re useless.”

“Why are you still here?”

“A failure.”

“You’ll never become the Sword Saint.”

The last one hurt the most. It trampled on who Cecilia Havenheart was, what she aimed to become. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes, but she held on.

She held on.

Eventually the other girls got bored and just left, as they always do.

Life, then, began to continue.

Lia picked up the remains of her things, scattered as they were on the floor. Around her were only malevolent whispers, the occasional sneer. Still she remained poised and outwardly calm, thanking her education as the daughter of a duke. That was, at least, an advantage her political background gave to her.

After making sure her things were all in order, Lia made her way to the door as quickly as she could. In her haste, she did not notice the foot stuck out in front of her. She tripped over it. Her things again rained down on the floor. Again, laughter abound.

“Hey princess, you should watch where you’re going.”

The sheer hatred that bubbled inside her… She swallowed it and gave a neutral look towards the speaker. She would not succumb to their tricks. Additionally, a lady ought to avoid consorting with petty people. Continuously she reminded herself as she turned from the aggressor and, again, picked up her things from the floor.

Where did she go wrong? Ever since she had enrolled at the premier military academy St Margaret’s, she faced an avalanche of enmity from her fellow peers. Indeed, her political rather than military background meant that she had a lot of catching up to do. Yet instead of a helping hand, she was dealt a stinging slap at every turn. Not only was it a burden to her heart, but she lacked the opportunity to develop herself.

Turning away from the contents of the classroom, she made way to her only teacher here in the academy: the library. Here she could hide in a secluded corner without bothering anyone, and it was here that she would hungrily devour the knowledge she needed to pass her classes.

Unfortunately, it was an inadequate teacher. Theory only made up thirty percent of the overall grade; the rest was practical skill. With how many times she had dropped her greatsword due to its weight, it was clear that she was failing. The only one in her class to boot.

She knew she needed an actual teacher, someone who could personally tailor training regimes to her level. Not the teachers in the classroom who she knew from their glares that they wish she would drop out.

She only had one more chance.

Tomorrow they would be assigned to experienced soldiers as their tutor. The pairing was strictly up to the soldiers themselves, but if she could impress them in some way, that might sway them to choose her as their protege.

She was failing in her practicals. So she would have to use academics to bedazzle the soldiers.

That’s why she was at the library: to study about anything military-related she could find. Whether it was the military history of the country’s army to the physics of martial arts, she could almost recite it at heart. Where her peers would be out at the fields practising their swordsmanship, she would be in the library polishing her knowledge instead.

Deep down though she knew…

No, she couldn’t be pessimistic. Not when she was so close to this opportunity. That’s what she told herself as she picked up the enormous book on military history.

She studied it until her eyes hurt, which made her look up.

Evening rays from the high windows lit up the specks of dust in the air and seemed to form a halo around the boy who stood looking up at a book. He couldn’t be more than twelve, dressed as he was in a plain shirt and khaki short pants. Then he tried stretching as far as he could, but whatever book he was looking at remained out of reach.

She really didn’t have the time to help children out. What was one doing in the library anyway? She had thought that only students, teachers and soldiers were allowed on campus, but it seemed this boy had managed to sneak in.

Yet still, she sighed and closed her book. What kind of a person would she be if she didn’t even lend a hand to children?

She walked up to the boy and followed his gaze to the book he was aiming for. She removed it from its shelf and handed it to him with a kind smile.

“’The History of Sword Saints’? You’re interested in reading about Sword Saints?” she asked. The boy took the book in hand and looked up to her.

There was something odd about the boy, and when she saw his smile, she figured it out. He looked like he knew something she didn’t.

“I just thought it would be interesting,” he explained. “I’m pretty bored waiting for tomorrow.”

(Is he the son of one of the soldiers?) she thought.

“Well this book is a little heavy in words for a boy your age. How about you read this one instead?” she took down another book. “It’s also about Sword Saints, but everything is in bullet points and the pictures are very useful.”

He put aside the book to take this new one. Holding it in hand, he swiftly fanned out the pages and nodded when he got to its end. “Yes, this is a better reference book. I prefer useful illustrations to technical words at any rate.”

His usage of language was better than she expected.

“If you want to borrow a book, you need a library card. Did you bring one with you?” He flashed the back of a library card at her, then returned it to his pocket. She nodded. “Okay, then you need to go to one of the counters in front. Do you need me to follow you?”

“There’s no need for that.” Again, that smile. “Don’t let me keep you. You’re studying for tomorrow, correct?”

“I am, actually,” she was caught surprised.

“Well, I hope it proves fruitful,” he waved goodbye and disappeared behind another shelf.

Her opinion was that he was an odd boy, but that was as far as it went. She returned to her furious studying.

Night fell, the sun rose, and it was time to meet the soldiers.