Chapter Text
“Katarina Claes! We are going to expose all the evil deeds you have done, here and now!”
The sudden declaration caught a certain duke’s daughter off-guard as she entered the Academy cafeteria one chilly autumn day.
This moment… it was straight out of Fortune Lover! This was the moment where the villainess faces her judgment!
Katarina felt the pangs of dread as her doom finally reached her. Standing there in terror, she could do nothing but fidget awkwardly as her accusers read out a list of her crimes.
Well… they weren’t actually her crimes, were they? They were things Katarina did in the game, but she hadn’t actually done any of that stuff! This must be a fixed event from the game, she supposed.
Although… in the game, it was either Geordo or Keith who did the condemnation event. Here, she was currently faced with a handful of noblewomen, most of whom she hadn’t really interacted with at all, as far as she could remember. Why were these girls accusing her?
She was shaken from her thoughts by a sudden commotion by the cafeteria entrance.
“What is all this?” a familiar voice called out. That voice… under different circumstances, she would be glad to hear it, but right now, the voice of her fiancée, Geordo Stuart, just made her freeze with fear.
This was just like the game! He was here! She turned around and found Keith was here too! And Maria! And all her other friends!
This was really it, wasn’t it?
The noble ladies were explaining her crimes to them, and soon enough, Maria and Geordo and Keith would condemn her and send her to exile!
“All of this…” Maria started.
Katarina bit her lip, trying to stop herself from crying.
“…is complete rubbish!” Maria finished.
This was it! It was over! She was… wait, what?
“Please don’t besmirch someone so dear to me with these false accusations!” Maria stood defiantly against the ladies who surrounded her.
Katarina could only look on in surprise as her friends, one by one, went around, defending her, telling everyone that all the ‘crimes’ she had allegedly committed were entirely wrong.
Her racing heart had nearly returned to normal by the time Maria scared the ladies off out of the cafeteria. It was hard to believe, but… had she really done it? Had she really avoided her doom?
“Are you alright, Lady Katarina?” Mary asked, bringing her back to her senses.
“Ah… I’m fine!” she admitted, relieved.
“Sister… what happened here? Why did those women do this?” Keith still sounded concerned.
Katarina did her best to explain everything that had just happened (leaving out the part about it being her doom flag from the game, of course) as the others led her out to the patio for a delicious lunch.
Afterwards, as they walked back to the academy, the others still seemed preoccupied with the fact that those women had all presented a list of false accusations against Katarina out of the blue. Katarina herself was mostly thinking about the delicious meal she’d just eaten. If there was one thing she was really grateful for at this school, it was the top quality food!
At least, that was what was on her mind, until she caught a glimpse of Maria out of the corner of her eye. The young light mage looked as if she’d seen a ghost!
“Hey, Maria, are you alright?”
“Ah, yes, Lady Katarina, I’m fine,” Maria tried to reassure her, but kept her gaze fixed on the far end of the courtyard, “I just… remembered something I have to do. I’ll see you later, okay?”
Katarina paused. Something wasn’t right here.
“Maria… do you want us to go with you?”
“No, no, you shouldn’t trouble yourself, Lady Katarina! Go on ahead without me!” Maria said a little more confidently.
Katarina almost would have let her go, but something held her back, “It’s no trouble, Maria, I’ll go with you!”
“Eh?” Maria’s eyes widened. She looked concerned.
“Miss Campbell, are you sure you’re okay? With all that mess back in the cafeteria, it might be best to stay with us for a bit,” Geordo offered, seeming to pick up on Maria’s worry.
“Ah…” Maria bowed her head a bit, “I… suppose you’re right, Prince Geordo.”
She didn’t say much else as she followed the group along. Katarina took her hand in an attempt to comfort her, it was clear she had something on her mind. Maria looked up with a blush as Katarina held her hand, but didn’t say anything. In fact, her attention still seemed to be elsewhere, staring absently at the far end of the academy courtyard.
She was about to ask Maria if anything was wrong, but before that, she followed Maria’s line of sight to the edge of the courtyard. Her sharp blue eyes zeroed in on something at seemed out of place.
It looked like… red hair? It almost reminded her of….
Hmmm. Katarina pursed her lips as she thought where she might have seen that hair before.
---
Later that day, she made her way to the Student Council room, an inkling of suspicion drawing her forward.
“Hey, President,” Katarina greeted Sirius with a smile as she entered the council room. It was after hours, and he was the only one there.
“Lady Claes, hello,” the redhead greeted her with a courteous smile, “What brings you by the council room so late?”
“Oh, uh,” she looked around awkwardly.
Why was she here anyways? She thought she saw Sirius in the courtyard earlier, but… so what if he was there? It had been lunchtime, right? He could be in the courtyard for lunch if he wanted to.
“Could I offer you some tea?” he proffered a cup and saucer.
“Oh, thanks!” Katarina accepted it kindly. Taking a sip, she remembered how delicious the president’s tea always was. She let out a breath, and asked, “Did you hear about what happened at lunch today?”
Maybe she was imagining it, but it looked like Sirius stiffened a bit at that, “About Lady Grice and Lady Ettiene falsely accusing you? I’ve heard a bit. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“R-right,” Katarina shook her head, a lingering thought came to the forefront of her mind as she blurted, “Were you involved with that somehow?”
There was a beat of quiet, before her eyes widened once she realized what she had just said. Now she’d done it!
Sirius stared back at her curiously; his eyes looked wide and innocent as he asked, “Involved? What do you mean?”
Katarina took a breath, mentally kicking herself. Of course he wasn’t involved in that, she was just being paranoid.
“Ah, sorry, forget I said that!” she waved her hands a bit, taking a half step backwards.
“Hm,” the council president chuckled slightly, stirring his own tea for a moment, “It’s quite alright.”
He sounded polite and genuine, the same as ever. Even still, she couldn’t quite place it, but… something felt off.
The orange sunlight poured through the windows, casting long, strange shadows across the room. It was nearly dusk, and the wind was rustling through the autumn leaves outside.
Katarina had a sudden feeling that she really should have told someone she was coming here. Nobody knew she was here. No one at all.
She felt a chill as the president stood from his desk.
“Um… ehe, it’s kinda late, I guess I should be getting back…” she motioned toward the door, suddenly very nervous. Was the air in this room always so chilly?
“Well, I guess you have your suspicions now, so there’s no use playing pretend any longer, hm?” Sirius’ voice froze her in her tracks. He stood from his desk at the front of the room and stepped between her and the doorway.
“P-President?” she gulped. Something was really wrong here. He took another step towards her, closing the gap.
“Katarina Claes, I absolutely hate you!” Sirius seethed through gritted teeth, “Watching you infuriates me to no end! Seeing you trick those lonely people into thinking you’re their friend, but in reality you’re nothing but a hypocrite!”
Katarina looked up at the redhead, perplexed. He was angry… angry at her. And yet… he looked so sad.
His eyes were filled with a distant sadness, a loneliness that made her heart ache to see in anyone’s eyes.
Unconsciously, she raised a hand to his cheek as if to wipe away a tear.
“Are you okay?” she asked him softly, “You sound so angry, but you’re crying.”
There was a quiet moment as he stared into her eyes, before….
“Hah?” Sirius drew back sharply in surprise, “I’m not--”
-not crying. She could tell that was what he was about to say.
“On the inside, you are,” she found herself saying to him without a thought.
His eyes clouded over. It was as if he was looking somewhere far beyond her.
Suddenly, the room was dark. Dark coils of smoke- no, not smoke, something more like living darkness itself- started to fill the air.
“Katarina Claes… just go away. Someplace far, far away, where you’ll never bother anyone again,” the redhead spoke quietly, blinking back the tears in his eyes.
A dark fog rolled out from Sirius’ sleeves, covering her vision…
---
… and then the fog vanished.
And she was on a boat.
“Eh? EHHHH!?!” Katarina flinched back instinctively from the railing on the boat, the sudden appearance of the churning waves throwing off her sense of balance.
She landed sprawled out on her back, a few meters from the railing.
Eyes spinning, Katarina sat herself upright, taking a look around. She was on a boat. She was definitely on a boat.
But… how did she get here?
What was the last thing that had happened? She was in the cafeteria, and those other noble ladies confronted her with her crimes, and then… and then….
She drew a blank. Everything after that was a blur, a haze of dark fog and confusion. And… red hair? Why was red hair important? Katarina couldn’t quite piece together what had happened after she left the cafeteria that day.
“So… I guess I got exiled anyways, huh? The game must have reset, since I was dodging too many doom flags,” she murmured, walking back toward the edge of the boat.
It was the only thing that made sense, right? She faced her judgment, and the next thing she knew, she was on a boat out of the country.
It was dark. The clouds obscured the moon and stars. She couldn’t see the shoreline. She didn’t even know which direction Sorcier was from here, or where the boat was heading.
“I just hope Maria got her happy ending,” Katarina sighed wistfully, gazing out over the rushing seawater, “Aw man, I hope my attempts to dodge my bad end didn’t stop Maria from getting together with one of the capture targets! I can’t even be a villainess right!”
The brunette clicked her tongue. She’d spent so much time focusing on avoiding her own doom, even trying her best to set Maria up with the capture targets, but Maria never showed much interest in any of them. Hopefully, at the very least, the heroine could get together with any of her dear friends!
Katarina ran her thumb across the rough, salt-saturated oak railings of the boat. The wood was coarse and splintery from years of exposure to the elements.
She quirked her lips to one side. Was this really how it all ended for her? The villainess finally meeting her doom, just like she did in the game? Just like she deserved? Had the time truly come for her to fight with all she had to survive in exile?
Still, it wasn’t as if she was unprepared!
Katarina Claes was hardly the type to do anything halfway, and she’d spent her entire life preparing to be exiled! Pumping her fists, she resolved herself- it was time to put her years of doom flag prep work to the test!
The brunette looked around. She didn’t have any of her farming gear, nor did she have her overalls.
Still, if she got a job on a farm, she should be able to make do with whatever equipment they had on hand.
She gazed out at the dark sea, absently wondering how far this boat was from its destination. And what its destination was. Her stomach rumbled, and she hoped wherever she was headed would have some good food she could snack on before finding a farm.
Actually, now that she thought about it, she’d probably need some pocket money for snacks.
Hm. Glancing down at her wrists, she wondered how much she could get for her bracelets. And maybe the gold gem thingy around the neck of her dress.
Right then, it was a plan. Her first step after reaching wherever this boat was headed would be to sell off some of her useless jewelry for spending money. From there, she’d just need to find a farm to work on, and then it would be smooth sailing!
A sudden, violent wave rocked the boat sharply, almost knocking her off balance.
“Hah,” she exhaled, regaining her feet.
Looking to the front of the ship, Katarina wondered again where it was headed.
She sure hoped they had a pawn shop there. And a good restaurant!
Meanwhile, across the sea, in the highlands of Ritallia, a pair of expensive shoes marched across the polished floor of a large, ornate mansion.
“Terrible! Absolutely unacceptable! The utter incompetence of that wench! Who in their right minds would hire such an imbecile?”
A sharp female voice rang out as a tall, blonde figure stormed into the main office on the upper floor of her estate.
Malicia Baudelaire was the de facto heir to the Baudelaire Archduchy, a prominent figure among the Ritallian nobility, and one of the wealthiest people in the entirety of the nation!
And she wasn’t happy. Not one bit.
Why should she be, anyways? She had just fired yet another 'slovenly, incompetent maid', or so she said. That made three so far this year!
Her long blonde curls bounced as she tapped her toe on the floor of her father’s office.
Her father, however, was not in his office this evening. In his stead stood a tall, elegant looking man with short, black hair and a sharp black suit. Lawrence Morgan was his name, and he served primarily as an intermediary between Lady Malicia and her father on an as-needed basis.
In short, he was in charge of handling Malicia’s behavior when her father was too busy. Or when he just didn’t want to deal with her (which was most of the time), not that he would ever tell her that.
“Well, that’s on you,” Lawrence sighed, rubbing his temples as he prepared for yet another headache.
“Eh? Lawrence?” Malicia shot him a warning glare.
“You are in charge of vetting your own staff, my lady. If you wish to find a maid you can… ahem, tolerate, perhaps you should sit in on the interview,” Lawrence explained wearily, “I do my best to hire maids who I feel would be up to your exacting standards, my Lady, but if you would like to have more input on the matter, you should take the time to oversee their interviews yourself.”
Malicia gaped at him, “You… Are you truly taking that tone with me Lawrence?!”
The dark-haired man took a long breath as his employer’s daughter prepared for yet another of her tirades.
“I’ll tell father about this! He’ll hear how you are enabling the incompetence of the terrible staff you hire on here!” she pointed a sharply manicured finger at him.
“Oh?” Lawrence tapped his finger against his sleeve, “Then you would have no problem if I called your father in here?”
Malicia’s eyes widened at that. She opened her mouth, but then closed it again.
She was always like this, Lawrence thought to himself. She talked big in front of him, but never in front of her father.
“The Archduke has his hands full with the commoners’ troubles as it is,” Lawrence stated clearly, “He doesn’t have the time for simple matters like an, ahem, incompetent maid. And, for that matter, neither do I. I think it’s nearly time for you to begin making these decisions for yourself, Lady Malicia.”
“L-Lawrence?” Malicia sounded a bit confused by his words.
“Your father informed me a few weeks ago that he does not wish to continue to waste this estate’s funds on the constant comings and goings of staff members who aren’t up to your standards,” Lawrence revealed. He had known it was only a matter of time before Lady Malicia grew tired of her newest choice of hired help, so he chose to wait until such a moment to inform her, “As per the Archduke’s request, you’ll have to find and hire your own maid. And if you can’t keep her for more than three months, you won’t be getting a new one.”
---
Malicia fumed as she thought over what she had just been told.
Her father had tasked her with hiring a new maid. Surely such a thing was beneath her station! That was what Lawrence was for, after all! Well, technically, he was meant to be her father’s aid, not her own, but still. He really must just be getting lazy, mustn’t he?
Still… hiring a maid.
The blonde huffed in annoyance.
She looked out the window in the direction of the port. It would be well past her bedtime on any other day, but of course she had to sacrifice her precious sleep this evening on the account of a terribly inept maid. She sighed as she stared out the window; sometimes, the late night air could cool her head.
Even this late at night, the lights from the harbor were still lit.
She shook her head; it was useless thinking about such things now. She needed to find a new maid, hm?
Well, then, if that was how it was, she’d figure it out herself. Malicia had always been a problem-solver, so something as basic as this shouldn’t prove too much of a issue for her.
After all, with a family name like hers, how hard could it be?
