That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 2 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2:

Earl Offrey and His Family

WHILE LEON AND MARIE enjoyed their time in Bartfort territory, Olivia was on campus in the girls’ dorm. She sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She’d drawn her curtains shut tightly; the room was pitch black, although the sun was high in the sky outside. She’d also drawn her blanket up over her head. Tremors ran through her entire body.

Olivia’s room was a complete mess. The other girls who’d remained on campus for the summer had taken to ransacking her room whenever she left it. However thoroughly she tidied up, they’d sneak in the moment she went out and trash it just as badly as before. It didn’t matter that Olivia locked her door every time she went out. The culprits seemed to have access to the master key.

Olivia had repeatedly broached the issue with her professors and the dorm supervisor, but no one took her seriously. Unlike everyone else at the academy, she was a commoner. That was the root of the problem, really.

The academy ordinarily educated the sons and daughters of nobility; it was the institution that reared them into proper members of high society. Only pure luck and happenstance had allowed a common girl like Olivia to attend as a scholarship student. 

The other students couldn’t stomach the thought of sharing these grounds with someone like her. And it wasn’t just them. Some professors treated her with cold spite. None acted against her openly, but they ignored any students who picked on her.

As Olivia sat in the darkness of her ravaged room, she muttered to herself, “It’s all right. I’m still fine.” 

There were dark circles under her eyes. Her fingers clutched a letter from her hometown.

“I’ve just got to keep pushing ahead. Ma, Pa, and everybody else are cheering for me. I’d feel real sorry to ’em all if I let stuff like this get me down.” She dissolved into her hometown accent as she spoke, tears trickling down her cheeks.

This letter from home was the only real support or comfort Olivia had right now. In truth, she wanted to return there. The only reason she hadn’t was that she lacked the money for that trip. It was expensive to journey all the way back by airship, and she couldn’t easily get her hands on such a sum, given her poor background. Olivia was fortunate that her scholarship fully covered her tuition, but she hadn’t been awarded enough money to return home anytime she liked. That was why she’d spent the summer at the academy.

Being unable to return during each break wasn’t an issue; she’d prepared mentally for that before enrolling. No, the real problem was her present circumstances.

She’d wanted to use this summer break to immerse herself in her studies, in hopes that her learning might better match her classmates’. Reality hadn’t been so kind.

Olivia wiped away her tears, dragging herself out of bed. It was time to pick up the pieces—or pick up the mess in her room, rather—and do the studying she’d planned. No sooner had she made this decision than an impatient knock sounded at the door, sending a cold shiver down her spine.

“Eek!” Olivia cried in surprise. Her hand flew to her mouth.

“Miss Olivia,” a professor’s irritable voice boomed on the other side of the door. “The crown prince is waiting for you outside. Please get ready quickly and go receive him.” The second they’d said their piece, they angrily stomped off, their footsteps echoing down the hallway.

Olivia could guess why they were in such a foul mood. It was probably difficult for a professor to accept that Crown Prince Julius Rapha Holfort had become enamored with a commoner like Olivia.

She’d only just stopped crying, but fresh tears now streaked down her cheeks. “Why won’t he leave me alone?” she wept. “Why?”

Julius was only one of the highborn men who’d made a habit of spending time with her throughout summer break. It wasn’t their intention, but their interest was causing her trouble. Their regular visits only made other female students more indignant, which was a huge problem for Olivia.

The worst part was that the men’s constant visits meant she couldn’t secure the necessary time to spend on her studies. Mornings were the best chance to hunker down and focus since there were fewer girls on campus. Once evening crept in, they started returning to the dormitory. They would pound incessantly on Olivia’s door, heckling her, or confront her when she tried to go outside. That made studying impossible. Thus, Julius and his four friends were stealing Olivia’s precious review time. 

“All I want is to study more.”

In truth, Olivia wished to reject their invitations, but she wasn’t at liberty to do so, given their difference in status. True, she’d been brazen enough to slap Julius during their first meeting, but she hadn’t known who he was. She did now. A commoner couldn’t refuse the crown prince.

The same went for the other four prestigious heirs. They all outranked her dramatically, as distant and removed as stars in the night sky.

Olivia recognized that they were trying to be nice to her. Unfortunately, the closer they got, the more the other girls at the school resented her for it. It had become a vicious cycle.

“What am I supposed to do? What am I…”

It’d be much easier if she could just be honest and admit to Julius and the other boys that they were a burden, but she wasn’t in any position to. It was the kingdom’s crown prince she’d be chastising—the next king. She wasn’t just worried about herself. If she offended him, there was no telling what might happen to her family back home.

Olivia pulled herself upright and hurriedly wiped her tears away. She set about gathering her things and getting ready. If she didn’t clean up properly, Julius would notice she’d been crying and worry about her. If she told him that the other girls were harassing her, things might improve, but there was a good reason she couldn’t.

When Olivia stepped out of her room, two girls were already hovering outside, waiting for her. Their muscular beastman servants stood behind them. Olivia froze, and her eyes widened quickly, which seemed to amuse the girls. They snickered.

“You commoner girls are so talented at sucking up. I’m almost jealous.”

“I wonder just what you did to win Prince Julius’s favor.”

Olivia dropped her gaze to the floor, unable to respond.

One girl approached, leaning in to whisper in her ear. “Your hometown’s on a floating island on Holfort’s outskirts, right? Out in the middle of nowhere?”

“Huh? Um…er…” Flustered, Olivia struggled to respond.

“We looked into it. I thought it’d be a good idea to inform you. You know—just so you’re aware that we know exactly where you come from.”

Why would they want to know that? Olivia didn’t have to wonder long.

“You’d better not go tattling to the prince,” the other girl said. “We already warned you, but this way, you under­stand how serious we are. If you rat on us, we’ll wipe your whole hometown off the map.”

Olivia digested their words, her imagination conjuring the most horrifying vision of what they threatened. She kept her eyes on the floor and nodded to show she understood, trembling. Satisfied, the girls again snickered as they turned to leave, taking their servants with them.

Nobles possessed more than mere status. The main difference between them and commoners was military might. That was true in any world, but especially in this one. Airships here were armed with cannons, and all armies—private or otherwise—had enormous mobile suits known as Armors at their disposal. In contrast, commoners had only farming tools and hunting guns. They’d be no match for a real army.

The ruling class of nobles was unopposable—a lesson Olivia had learned since enrollment. The local magistrates appointed to remote areas, such as the one where she’d lived, changed frequently—usually every few years. Thus, Olivia had thought rarely of the aristocracy while she lived in her village. That had changed once she came to the academy and the capital. She’d seen the might of Holfort’s military firsthand. Now, the nobility terrified her.

“If I don’t suck it up, they’ll kill everyone,” she muttered. “My entire village.”

She clenched the fabric of her skirt tightly, trying desperately to hold back a fresh wave of tears.