Chapter 5: Inversion
"Ah! Councilwoman! You are late."
Katarina pants lightly as she hitches up her skirt and moves to her seat. "I had some trouble getting ready."
Keith glares at her and rolls his eyes. "Our third-most senior member, everyone."
She turns up her nose at him as she lowers herself into the chair. "If you must know, I was spending time with my fiancé."
The other council members glance at her, and then glance at Gerald. They then turn back towards her with confused expressions.
"Prince Gerald was punctual," states Lord Ascart. The corners of his lips are ever-so-slightly turned-down.
"I had to get changed afterwards," she offers. Their inquisitive expressions don't abate. If anything, at her phrasing, they only
intensify.
Gerald sighs and nods. "My fiancée, despite my warnings, made the mistake of training in her dress."
"Training?" inquires Sirius, silver eyes alight with curiosity.
Katarina holds out a gloved hand to interject. "It is a private matt—"
"Sword fighting," Prince Gerald interrupts. He turns to her with an all-too-innocent smile.
She feels her eye twitch as she lowers her hand. Touché, Gerald.
"Sword fighting!?" exclaims Keith, looking at her with concern. He then turns toward Gerald with an indignant expression. "You're teaching her how to use a sword?"
"I don't see why it concerns you what I do," she snipes.
He faces her, dark blue eyes wide. "Concerns me? Considering what you did with a
wooden one, I—"
"Councilman,
please!" interrupts Sirius. "We have gotten far enough off track."
Keith glares at him, but Sirius' grin doesn't waver. Something about it sends a shiver down her spine.
Lord Ascart breaks the tension. "Where is Miss Campbell?"
Katarina turns towards the light mage's seat. It is indeed empty.
"Oh, yeah. That's a good point," says Alan, "Shouldn't she be here by now?"
"Perhaps she has finally realized that a commoner simply does not belong in such a prestigious position?" she offers, trying to not seem too happy at the thought. Judging by the frowns of the other council members (bar the President, who looks as chipper as ever), she doesn't do a good job.
Keith looks at her suspiciously. "Did you do something to her?"
"No." Not directly, at least. "I have not seen her since my Theory of Magic lecture earlier today."
Keith leans back in his chair, but his suspicious glare does not abate.
"I will go check on her," says Gerald.
He pushes out his chair and moves to his feet, only to reel back in surprise as he finds his fiancée standing next to him.
"I will go as well, Prince Gerald," she replies, smiling at him sweetly.
She isn't about to let the two of them meet alone if she can help it.
Especially considering what day it is.
Prince Gerald stares at her with a strange expression. After several moments appraising her, he opens his mouth to speak.
"Ah! That won't be necessary!" interrupts the commoner as she rushes through the door.
The third prince is once again startled as he finds the space next to him empty. He furrows his brow in confusion as he turns and sees his fiancée now back at her seat. "How did—"
"Thank you, Prince Gerald. Thank you, Lady Claes," says the commoner, nodding at each as she says their name.
Gerald's glances between the light mage and his fiancée before frowning and lowering himself into his seat.
"What kept you, councilwoman?" offers Lord Ascart, his stoic face showing just a hint of concern. "It's not like you to be late."
Katarina grits her teeth. Look at them, fawning over her already! And the audacity of Lord Ascart's remark! She will not overlook his barb.
It's only when she sees what's in the commoner's hands – or rather, what
isn't – that her anger fades.
She fights back a grin as the light mage moves to her seat, nary a basket in sight. Her plan worked. Without her cooking, the others will not as easily fall to the peasant's charms. Perhaps she will even be able to prevent Gerald from breaking off the engagement!
Her mind screeches to a halt. Wait. Doesn't she
want him to break off the engagement?
She shakes her head and pushes the thought aside. Whatever. It is irrelevant. The less that blonde harlot has to use against her, the better.
"Ah, sorry for being late," says the light mage as she pulls out her chair. "I just had trouble remembering where the chambers were."
It's an obvious lie, and everyone knows it. The chambers are in the central building just off to the side of the main hallway, clearly marked by signs. Unless someone spontaneously lost all sense of direction, they'd be able to find them with ease.
Keith and Gerald both frown. No-one challenges her on it, however, as it's clearly a matter she doesn't want to discuss.
"President," Katarina says, moving onto more pressing matters. "What is our first item of business?"
Sirius tilts his head to look at a slip of paper laid out in front of him. "Ah. That would be the division of students for the practical magic exams later this year."
"I'm glad you brought that up, actually," says Keith, leaning forwards in his chair. "Why are we grouping by grades? Does it really matter how well someone did on the placement exams?"
"Well, I think it's an excellent idea," she fires back, knowing that his objection must somehow relate to her unexpected performance.
Keith looks at her with an annoyed expression. "Would you actually listen to what I'm saying before you automatically oppose it?"
Her confidence wavers at his muted response. Is there something she's missing?
"Perhaps it would be best to clarify," offers Sirius. "In the past, students have been divided by year and sorted into groups of sixteen based on past exam performance. These groups of sixteen are then subdivided into groups of four, also based on exam scores."
She blinks. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Well, the faculty has asked us to review whether the group subdivision is actually necessary, seeing as there's no way to enforce it once students have entered the testing grounds in the ruins." He pauses and brings a finger to his chin as his smile actually drops for a moment. "They gave us a fair bit of latitude in this matter, actually. If we wanted, we could probably even add arbitrary students to each test group, regardless of their grades."
"I still don't see the issue," she replies, a bit less forcefully this time. "Okay, the groupings can't be enforced inside the ruins. Why does that matter?"
"I agree with Lady Claes," says Gerald. "There's no reason to abolish group subdivision. What should be changed is the number of members in each group."
"And what would you suggest?" asks Alan, glaring at him for some reason.
Gerald smiles. "Three."
Keith frowns at that. "Of course you would."
Katarina finds it all very confusing. Why are they getting so worked up over a number?
"Sixteen is not evenly divisible by three," says Lord Ascart. "We would have students left over."
"We could simply have a single group of two or four in each test group," Gerald offers.
Lord Ascart shakes his head. "Would that not complicate test scoring? A case could be made that the uneven group would be graded unfairly."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Lady Ascart speaks up to affirm her brother's decision. "I agree," she states quietly. "Groups should be divided evenly."
"Um, I don't really mind either way," chimes the light mage, clearly uncomfortable with the conflict. "I'll vote for whatever everyone else decides."
Gerald's smile sags ever-so-slightly. The discussion is clearly not heading in the direction he'd hoped. "Very well. I withdraw my suggestion."
"Perhaps we could shrink the group size to two?" Keith offers. "I think that would be a compromise
all parties could agree with." He then turns toward her, as if expecting her to concur.
Why is everyone treating this like a big issue? For that matter, what gives Keith the
audacity to expect her support? She doesn't really understand the conflict, but that alone is enough for her to come to a decision.
"No," she replies, practically hissing at him. "Four is fine."
Keith looks as though he wants to strangle her. "Are you even listening to me?"
"You heard my fiancée," Gerald interrupts, looking extremely amused for some reason. He then turns toward Sirius. "Mister President, it appears there is a consensus for maintaining the subdivision of groups by four."
Sirius looks around the table and grins. His eyes linger on Katarina for an uncomfortable moment. Then the moment passes, and he raises his gavel. "All in favor?"
Everyone except Keith raises their hands. "Aye!"
"All opposed?"
Keith crosses his arms. "I abstain," he hisses, sending a glare her way.
Why is he so upset with her? Katarina does not understand it at all. It's just a number.
"The ayes have it." Sirius slams the gavel down. "Now, onto our next item of business..."
At the conclusion of the council meeting, as Katarina is walking out the door, someone shoves her. Hard.
She stumbles forwards and drops the papers she's holding, but quickly regains her footing and spins around to give the assailant a piece of her mind.
The words die on her lips when she sees who it is.
Keith stares at his hands, looking shocked. He recovers quickly, however, and shoots her a hateful glare before turning down the hall and continuing after the others.
Katarina's blood runs cold. Never in her life, neither in this one or the last, has her so-called 'brother'
dared raise a hand against her before. She has grown accustomed to thinking of him as the sniveling boy crying in the rain as she brought her toy sword down on him again and again. That Keith had never retaliated against her. She never even considered that he
could retaliate against her.
However, she is not dealing with that Keith. The boy who cried and begged for forgiveness is a distant memory. No, she is dealing with the Keith of the present, heir-apparent to the Claes family, whom her father (in his foolishness) hand-picked for his prodigious command of Earth magic. That Keith very clearly hates her as much as she hates him.
An inky feeling of dread crawls up her chest as she watches him disappear around the corner. It appears Prince Gerald is not the only threat she has to watch out for.
"Ah! Councilwoman! You are late."
Katarina pants lightly as she hitches up her skirt and moves to her seat. "I had some trouble getting ready."
Keith glares at her and rolls his eyes. "Our third-most senior member, everyone."
She turns up her nose at him as she lowers herself into the chair. "If you must know, I was spending time with my fiancé."
The other council members glance at her, and then glance at Gerald. They then turn back towards her with confused expressions.
"Prince Gerald was punctual," states Lord Ascart. The corners of his lips are ever-so-slightly turned-down.
"I had to get changed afterwards," she offers. Their inquisitive expressions don't abate. If anything, at her phrasing, they only
intensify.
Gerald sighs and nods. "My fiancée, despite my warnings, made the mistake of training in her dress."
"Training?" inquires Sirius, silver eyes alight with curiosity.
Katarina holds out a gloved hand to interject. "It is a private matt—"
"Sword fighting," Prince Gerald interrupts. He turns to her with an all-too-innocent smile.
She feels her eye twitch as she lowers her hand. Touché, Gerald.
"Sword fighting!?" exclaims Keith, looking at her with concern. He then turns toward Gerald with an indignant expression. "You're teaching her how to use a sword?"
"I don't see why it concerns you what I do," she snipes.
He faces her, dark blue eyes wide. "Concerns me? Considering what you did with a
wooden one, I—"
"Councilman,
please!" interrupts Sirius. "We have gotten far enough off track."
Keith glares at him, but Sirius' grin doesn't waver. Something about it sends a shiver down her spine.
Lord Ascart breaks the tension. "Where is Miss Campbell?"
Katarina turns towards the light mage's seat. It is indeed empty.
"Oh, yeah. That's a good point," says Alan, "Shouldn't she be here by now?"
"Perhaps she has finally realized that a commoner simply does not belong in such a prestigious position?" she offers, trying to not seem too happy at the thought. Judging by the frowns of the other council members (bar the President, who looks as chipper as ever), she doesn't do a good job.
Keith looks at her suspiciously. "Did you do something to her?"
"No." Not directly, at least. "I have not seen her since my Theory of Magic lecture earlier today."
Keith leans back in his chair, but his suspicious glare does not abate.
"I will go check on her," says Gerald.
He pushes out his chair and moves to his feet, only to reel back in surprise as he finds his fiancée standing next to him.
"I will go as well, Prince Gerald," she replies, smiling at him sweetly.
She isn't about to let the two of them meet alone if she can help it.
Especially considering what day it is.
Prince Gerald stares at her with a strange expression. After several moments appraising her, he opens his mouth to speak.
"Ah! That won't be necessary!" interrupts the commoner as she rushes through the door.
The third prince is once again startled as he finds the space next to him empty. He furrows his brow in confusion as he turns and sees his fiancée now back at her seat. "How did—"
"Thank you, Prince Gerald. Thank you, Lady Claes," says the commoner, nodding at each as she says their name.
Gerald's glances between the light mage and his fiancée before frowning and lowering himself into his seat.
"What kept you, councilwoman?" offers Lord Ascart, his stoic face showing just a hint of concern. "It's not like you to be late."
Katarina grits her teeth. Look at them, fawning over her already! And the audacity of Lord Ascart's remark! She will not overlook his barb.
It's only when she sees what's in the commoner's hands – or rather, what
isn't – that her anger fades.
She fights back a grin as the light mage moves to her seat, nary a basket in sight. Her plan worked. Without her cooking, the others will not as easily fall to the peasant's charms. Perhaps she will even be able to prevent Gerald from breaking off the engagement!
Her mind screeches to a halt. Wait. Doesn't she
want him to break off the engagement?
She shakes her head and pushes the thought aside. Whatever. It is irrelevant. The less that blonde harlot has to use against her, the better.
"Ah, sorry for being late," says the light mage as she pulls out her chair. "I just had trouble remembering where the chambers were."
It's an obvious lie, and everyone knows it. The chambers are in the central building just off to the side of the main hallway, clearly marked by signs. Unless someone spontaneously lost all sense of direction, they'd be able to find them with ease.
Keith and Gerald both frown. No-one challenges her on it, however, as it's clearly a matter she doesn't want to discuss.
"President," Katarina says, moving onto more pressing matters. "What is our first item of business?"
Sirius tilts his head to look at a slip of paper laid out in front of him. "Ah. That would be the division of students for the practical magic exams later this year."
"I'm glad you brought that up, actually," says Keith, leaning forwards in his chair. "Why are we grouping by grades? Does it really matter how well someone did on the placement exams?"
"Well, I think it's an excellent idea," she fires back, knowing that his objection must somehow relate to her unexpected performance.
Keith looks at her with an annoyed expression. "Would you actually listen to what I'm saying before you automatically oppose it?"
Her confidence wavers at his muted response. Is there something she's missing?
"Perhaps it would be best to clarify," offers Sirius. "In the past, students have been divided by year and sorted into groups of sixteen based on past exam performance. These groups of sixteen are then subdivided into groups of four, also based on exam scores."
She blinks. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Well, the faculty has asked us to review whether the group subdivision is actually necessary, seeing as there's no way to enforce it once students have entered the testing grounds in the ruins." He pauses and brings a finger to his chin as his smile actually drops for a moment. "They gave us a fair bit of latitude in this matter, actually. If we wanted, we could probably even add arbitrary students to each test group, regardless of their grades."
"I still don't see the issue," she replies, a bit less forcefully this time. "Okay, the groupings can't be enforced inside the ruins. Why does that matter?"
"I agree with Lady Claes," says Gerald. "There's no reason to abolish group subdivision. What should be changed is the number of members in each group."
"And what would you suggest?" asks Alan, glaring at him for some reason.
Gerald smiles. "Three."
Keith frowns at that. "Of course you would."
Katarina finds it all very confusing. Why are they getting so worked up over a number?
"Sixteen is not evenly divisible by three," says Lord Ascart. "We would have students left over."
"We could simply have a single group of two or four in each test group," Gerald offers.
Lord Ascart shakes his head. "Would that not complicate test scoring? A case could be made that the uneven group would be graded unfairly."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Lady Ascart speaks up to affirm her brother's decision. "I agree," she states quietly. "Groups should be divided evenly."
"Um, I don't really mind either way," chimes the light mage, clearly uncomfortable with the conflict. "I'll vote for whatever everyone else decides."
Gerald's smile sags ever-so-slightly. The discussion is clearly not heading in the direction he'd hoped. "Very well. I withdraw my suggestion."
"Perhaps we could shrink the group size to two?" Keith offers. "I think that would be a compromise
all parties could agree with." He then turns toward her, as if expecting her to concur.
Why is everyone treating this like a big issue? For that matter, what gives Keith the
audacity to expect her support? She doesn't really understand the conflict, but that alone is enough for her to come to a decision.
"No," she replies, practically hissing at him. "Four is fine."
Keith looks as though he wants to strangle her. "Are you even listening to me?"
"You heard my fiancée," Gerald interrupts, looking extremely amused for some reason. He then turns toward Sirius. "Mister President, it appears there is a consensus for maintaining the subdivision of groups by four."
Sirius looks around the table and grins. His eyes linger on Katarina for an uncomfortable moment. Then the moment passes, and he raises his gavel. "All in favor?"
Everyone except Keith raises their hands. "Aye!"
"All opposed?"
Keith crosses his arms. "I abstain," he hisses, sending a glare her way.
Why is he so upset with her? Katarina does not understand it at all. It's just a number.
"The ayes have it." Sirius slams the gavel down. "Now, onto our next item of business..."
At the conclusion of the council meeting, as Katarina is walking out the door, someone shoves her. Hard.
She stumbles forwards and drops the papers she's holding, but quickly regains her footing and spins around to give the assailant a piece of her mind.
The words die on her lips when she sees who it is.
Keith stares at his hands, looking shocked. He recovers quickly, however, and shoots her a hateful glare before turning down the hall and continuing after the others.
Katarina's blood runs cold. Never in her life, neither in this one or the last, has her so-called 'brother'
dared raise a hand against her before. She has grown accustomed to thinking of him as the sniveling boy crying in the rain as she brought her toy sword down on him again and again. That Keith had never retaliated against her. She never even considered that he
could retaliate against her.
However, she is not dealing with that Keith. The boy who cried and begged for forgiveness is a distant memory. No, she is dealing with the Keith of the present, heir-apparent to the Claes family, whom her father (in his foolishness) hand-picked for his prodigious command of Earth magic. That Keith very clearly hates her as much as she hates him.
An inky feeling of dread crawls up her chest as she watches him disappear around the corner. It appears Prince Gerald is not the only threat she has to watch out for.
This was a way more dialogue-heavy chapter than I'm used to. But I suppose that's only fitting, considering the subject matter.
One of my questions coming into this chapter was how the hell that exam where they go into the ruins in the anime worked. Like, why would the first years be taking this exam with a single second year (Nicol) at the same time, and why was Bakarina there with them? This lead to the only obvious conclusion: The student council abused the hell out of the rules so they could all be with Bakarina. Thus, the genesis of the idea behind the second half of this chapter.
Notice Katarina's mistake?
