A/N Continues straight on from the previous chapter!

That was the day that Saryhn finally found out Czarynah's secret: sneaking out disguised as a boy. She dragged her all the way back by her collar, evading servants and butlers effortlessly, all the while muttering under her breath about rascals and poor etiquette. So ruthless.

Sitting Czarynah in front of her rarely used vanity (desk with a mirror), Saryhn began to rearrange Czarynah's appearance. She floofed out her "skirt", straightened her blouse, confiscated her glamour, all while still rattling off. Then she loosened her hair and combed it through thoroughly, ignoring the gleaming white showing at the roots. Sigh. Another round at the sink with that tube of dye.

Saryhn then started to gather Czarynah's hair into a clever bun, secure but covering the majority of her face at the same time. Czarynah, bored, watched with complete fascination at the almost-magic, memorizing every twist and tuck of hair. She had no idea why she was so mesmerized.

When she finished, Saryhn turned Czarynah around on her little stool.

"Little one, " her tone was serious, yet loving. "You are so often left alone at home, and don't think I haven't suspected you fiddling with the ground's creatures!" It was true. Sometimes, she would catch birds or insects or small mammals, inspecting them gently, memorizing their anatomy, checking for injuries, later showing what she had found out to the boys.

"Since you're always alone at home, what do you think of asking your parents to go to school?"

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Once they'd raised the idea to their parents, mother latched onto it. Father was more reluctant to further reduce the time he had with his only daughter, as there were only boarding schools around for nobles, but he too gave in eventually.

Which was how Czarynah ended up with a mile-long checklist for applying to classes. In the end, she chose what she considers her hobbies during Yifei Zhao's life: painting, sculpting, sewing, mechanics, music, cooking, and even a triple language class (Yifei Zhao was a quadrilingual, at least). Of course, basics like maths and literature were included. 

Despite practising so many arts and skills, she could only classify herself as an amateur, branching far but thin. She was going to be busy at school.

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Stalking silently through the woods behind the Nahmayhn house, she arrived at the sheltered clearing where she'd first met Oryn, the same place that the trio usually met at, and also the place they left their notes, in case either party was unable to sneak off. From what she knew, they appeared to be nobles too.

This may be the last time that she comes to this clearing, the last time her feet touch the grass here. She walked slowly to their little proud "messaging" rock, enjoying her last moments in the area before she joined the school.

She drew a letter from her blouse, pretending that the small teardrop on the paper didn't exist and that her hands weren't shaking when the placed the folded note on top of the moss-covered boulder, that she didn't feel the need to break down into pieces right there and then. Instead, she held herself together and straightened her blouse, squared her shoulders, took a breath.

The letter should explain everything, from her moving into the boarding school to her identity crisis, and even the goodbyes, just in case. In just over a year she'd grown close to them, shared a fleeting friendship, a small hope of freedom every week or so often. She just hoped that they felt the same.

Taking one last glance around the place, Czarynah walked out of the woods, back to the Nahmayhn house.

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"Young heir Cedric of house Dufort, to plane Rotwald"

She was currently standing in line to be accepted into the Academy at the entrance outside, waiting for the front person to be confirmed and called out to a separate table that decided which of the five "planes" you would be sorted into.

"Young heiress Wilhelmina of house Michel, to plane Sulzbach."

Kind of like the four houses that Yifei Zhao had in her old school. Or like the Hogwarts sorting hat, but she was pretty sure that these planes had already been pre-decided.

"Young heir Edward of house Conleth, to plane Scevola."

Czarynah was just behind the person after Edward. Since the school consisted of higher rank nobles, she wondered if the royal heirs were going to be there - or more accurately, her fiance.

"Young heir Daniel of house Skagorsky, to plane Tömörbaatar."

She sure hoped not.

"Young heiress Czarynah of house Nahmayhn, to plane Himmler."

Czarynah walked over to the table draped in cerulean cloth, observing the group of people standing behind. Around fifty were already gathered behind the receiving prefects, waiting for another twenty or so to arrive.

"Young heir Frances of house Elouan, to plane Scevola."

She joined the small crowd, taking in the four other tables, each decorated with a different colour. Sulzbach was a dark royal purple-blue, Rotwald a deep green, Scevola flaming amber and Tömörbaatar a metallic silver. Pretty.

Droning out the "Young heir" this and "Young heiress" that, she glanced around at the students already at the Academy since they supposedly joined late. 

Everyone seemed to be wearing uniforms, and similarly to the short few years that Yifei Zhao spent in England, people pushing the boundaries of the rules: from her viewpoint alone, Czarynah could see that most of the few girls there were wearing their skirts just a little too short, the boys with questionable piercings, both parties sometimes boasting bold hair colours and styles, although that was probably the anime-world-thing and not hair dye.

Actually, that hair dye is going to be difficult. She was going to need a stronger glamour in case she wasn't able to keep to her usual routine. Czarynah patted her pocket where the enchanted necklace was currently resting.

Thankfully, the ranting finally stopped. The prefects at the table end beckoned the newcomers to follow them, a stream of nine-to-ten-year-olds pouring into the front gates. Then, they were led to the different buildings for each plane, the Himmlers up the grand staircase, where the genders split.

Down the ladies' corridor, the girls were left to find their prepared rooms, rushing into doors hoping that their maids were inside. Pretty chaotic, it was.

Czarynah walked up and down the hall, scanning through already opened doors, searching for the room with Saryhn. Finally spotting the knot of golden yellow tied with a simple headband, she sighed with relief. The maids had their separate uniforms and badges in the Academy to fit in, and talking about that, Saryhn handed Czarynah her one set own new uniform from her bunk, smiling at her hairstyle.

"Decided to keep the bun, have we?" smirked Saryhn playfully, turning back to resort the flower arrangements, transforming the overly elaborate bunch into a simple few blossoms. Czarynah smiled thankfully at her, knowing that she was minding her hobby of collecting flowers and drying them out or pressing them for bookmarks.

"It's practical and draws the attention away, so it's obviously my favourite hairstyle now!" Czarynah said, swivelling back to her own pile of unfinished business, picking apart the clothes and inspecting them closely.

She had been given a pair of tights, calf-high boots and slightly elongated gloves of the same vantablack shade, a neutral grey jumper, a soft, pale blue shawl and lightly puff-sleeved blouse, a fairly long skirt that reached just above the black boots, and a victorianized blazer embroidered with the school's logo. The blazer's embellishments, blouse and shawl were of the Himmler plane's cerulean, as were the hair ribbons, bootlaces and embroidery.

There was also a little instruction leaflet on how to wear the thing without breaking any rules, basically. Czarynah walked over to the provided privacy screen and pulled it behind her, confident that she could grasp the basic ideas, at least. But one glance at the paper and her jaw would have hit the floor if this world followed the limitless restrictions of the 2D world.

"U-ugh, Saryhn?" Czarynah called feebly.

"Yeah?" amusement coloured Saryhn's voice. Again.

"Could y-you help me with th-this?" 

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Walking out of town, looking for a be - sorry. Ahem.

Walking out her room down the girl's dormitory hall, Czarynsh felt very sophisticated, but ridiculous at the same time, as if she was a duck in a peacock's feather cloak. Who knew that clothing could possibly be so complicated. The main pieces of clothing were fine - gloves, tights, boots, blouse, blazer all simple enough. But the problem here was the shawl, one of the pieces of clothing whose colours varied by plane.

A few dozen ways to wear it, and another pile of rules on how not to wear it - in the end, they settled for a simple sailor's uniform kind of style. Passing several other Himmler's girls also wandering around, seemingly familiarising themselves with the building, Czarynah turned another corner. Angry voices marked the situation.

In view were a group of girls cornering a green-haired beauty, throwing insults and mocking laughs her way. From the passive look in her large ruby eyes, this was not the first time. As Czarynah's footsteps halted, the troupe turned to her. Seriously?

"Oooh, does someone want to play hero?" One particularly pretty girl with a rose plait down her back stepped out, clearly used to playing leader. Were they really that bored?  "Just look at her, it's the weirdo with her mummy's surname! What a shameful family!" They couldn't even hide it very well.

The pastel-haired ringleader advanced on, swiftly invading her personal space. It turns out to be a mistake, as she was just that tiniest bit shorter than Czarynah, the difference big enough for the invader to need to look up in order to see her properly. Blue eyes? Oh yeah! She remembered this girl from her time playing the game. She was one of Czarynah's lackeys, Courtney Skagorsky, and this was the scene where Czarynah was meant to join in on the bullying. 

This is . . . ridiculous.

Czarynah stared ahead at the girl's forehead, just above her perfect eyebrows. A psychological trick, to make someone feel unsure about themselves or to make them rethink their actions, or even to make somebody feel ignored. Nasty little party tricks, they were.

The girl flushed red immediately, but thankfully for her, a tall, purple-eyed brunette stepped to stand beside her. Her elaborate knot of hair was very similar to the shade of russet that Al and Oryn boasted, but without the glittering gold streaks and tinted with magenta, like a ripe Lychee fruit . . .  ? Don't tell me it's Opal Wynthair, that distant cousin to Albertos by marriage, and going after that guy too!

"May we know why, of all reasons, you have displayed such rude mannerisms toward Lady Skagorsky?" Her voice was that of a modern singer's, huskier and powerful. Too bad she was shaped like that from her childhood. Opal, a rival character, had not ever experienced true friendship or any form of genuine love before she met the heroine, so naturally, she quickly succumbs to the protagonist's charm as well and gives up her chasing Albertos.

But then, she raised her voice, thinking that Czarynah was ignoring her.

Smack.

"HOW DARE YOU, INSOLENT WRENCH!" She paused, composing herself. "Know your place, peasant." Opal finished, still seething. Then she swished around the corner, leaving the rest of the gaggle to stumble after her, hastily agreeing to her grumbles.

Sigh. This was going to be a very long day.

"Uhm, h-hello, m-my name is -" Czarynah's eyes widened. The poor girl's words were drowned out by her realisation.

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A/N Cliffhanger . . . I guess . . . ?