Classes began in earnest the following day.
Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to force through my unreasonable demands regarding the class assignments, so Alicia and I ended up separated. The "classes" here were organized similarly to Class 1 or Class 2 back home, essentially further subdividing the students within the Special Class itself.
As expected, even the prestige of a House of the Duke had its limits. Alicia remained in the S Class alongside the Prince—the primary Capture Target for the Heroine—while I was relegated to one of the "mob" classes.
It was a mystery why they used an S, A, B, and C ranking system instead of simple numbers. The Prince’s class was S Class; perhaps they just wanted to give it a sense of exclusivity? It was baffling, but I’m sure if I asked, they’d just brush it off as a tradition established by the Ancient Sage.
I don't get it.
Now, since the game never actually depicted what went on during lectures, I had been curious to see how they handled things. It turned out to be quite ordinary. The sight of the instructor displaying their expertise at the podium was no different from my previous life.
However, there was one major miscalculation. To my utter surprise, the Heroine of the game, Mariana Ocean, was in the very same mob class as me.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Event progression usually happened outside the classroom. The Heroine would suffer terrible discrimination in places away from the teachers' eyes, only for the Prince and the other Capture Targets to gallantly appear and save the day. If they were in the same class, the Heroine’s knights would be around her constantly, and those events would never trigger.
It was logical, in a way.
As the Heroine, Mariana was supposed to be a beauty with dazzling blonde hair and blue eyes so clear the Prince famously praised them, saying, "Mariana, your eyes are as beautiful as this cloudless blue sky." Her name was Mariana Ocean, so I'd always wondered why he compared them to the sky instead of the sea. That idle thought from my past life surfaced as I watched her now.
Contrary to those memories, however, her presence in the classroom was nothing like I had imagined.
"While the Ancient Sage was most proficient in the four elemental attributes, which type of magic did he use most frequently?" the instructor asked. "Please raise your hand if you know the answer."
"Yes!"
"Mariana Ocean, go ahead."
"It was non-attribute magic! Because the Sage, having mastered every element, traced the truth to its roots and reached the pinnacle of nothingness!"
"Correct. As expected of the Sage’s Disciple, you aren't misled by trick questions."
After her hand shot up to answer first, she sat back down with a look of immense satisfaction. A smug little giggle escaped her lips as she used a finger to click her thick, bottle-bottom glasses back up the bridge of her nose.
...Is that the Heroine?
...Is it really okay for the Heroine to be like that?
I was shell-shocked by her "grind-student" energy. She was light-years away from the protagonist of a school romance. Hypothetically, if I were the Prince, would I find that attractive? The prescription in those glasses was so strong that her lovely eyes were completely distorted. On what grounds did the Prince call those eyes a "blue sky"?
Wait, was it a "gap" thing? Was it the appeal of a hidden transformation? Perhaps when she took the glasses off, her eyes became breathtakingly beautiful, making the Capture Targets' hearts flutter.
"Ah! M-my glasses...!"
Apparently, the glasses were quite flimsy. As a result of her constant adjusting, the frames snapped with a sharp pop and fell to her desk.
My jaw dropped.
Without her glasses, Mariana’s eyes were pinched into little horizontal "3" shapes.
"Oh no, what do I do? They were so expensive... I wonder if I can still use them if I tie them together with string?"
She was beyond nearsighted. I thought those eyes only existed in the world of gag manga. This wasn't the kind of character setting that should be allowed in an Otome Game.
"She broke them again..."
"How many times is that now? It’s like once every three days."
"That’s honestly pitiable. Someone should just buy her a new pair."
"I heard someone tried, but she refused. Said she couldn't accept charity."
I could hear the surrounding nobles whispering. A Heroine who broke her glasses every three days... I was just starting to feel exasperated by her excessive "quirks" when I noticed something odd.
As the Heroine, Mariana was fundamentally supposed to be an outcast. She was a commoner who had grown close to the Prince and the other elite Capture Targets, effectively ousting a Duke’s daughter in the process. Naturally, she should have been treated like a pariah.
In the story, she was meant to be lonely until she eventually befriended a few nobles who were sympathetic to commoners. And yet, for some reason, she was drawing sympathy from everyone in the room. Even if she was a pariah, she wasn't an object of jealousy; she was an object of pity.
I felt like burying my face in my hands. I wanted to bang my head against the desk right then and there, but I restrained myself because the furniture was far too fragile.
"Ah, the lens is scratched... If I knew this would happen, I should have asked for a seat in the front row because of my vision..."
"Hey, do you want to swap seats with me?" a kind-looking student suggested with a wry smile.
"I-I'm fine!" Mariana said, shaking her head vigorously. "Thank you for the offer! H-however, I don't need any special favors within this Academy! I can manage on my own! Please, don't worry about me!"
She shook her head so violently that her broken glasses went flying.
"O-oh... well, if you say so..." The noble who had tried to help looked utterly bewildered. Instead of being offended that a commoner had rejected their mercy, their confusion was clearly the dominant emotion.
"Mariana Ocean, pick up your glasses," the instructor sighed. "At the next seat reshuffle, your desk will be moved directly in front of the podium. Is that acceptable?"
"Y-yes, sir! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"
It was hopeless. The more I watched Mariana, the further she drifted from the image of the Heroine in my memories. I felt like I needed to have a long talk with Alicia when I got home.
Alicia... who exactly were you fighting against in the original story?
Also, you—the idiot noble in the seat behind me who’s been tearing up his notebook and flicking paper balls at the back of my head this whole time. I’ve memorized your face and your name, you know.
A noble shouldn't stoop to such pathetic, petty harassment.