The Heroine's Best Friend

Chapter 7 Part 1: Life Path Unlocked

"By the way, what color handkerchief did you get?" I ask Maria. 

"Oh! Look!" she pulls out a light pink handkerchief from her pocket. 

"That's definitely Prince Levi's," I comment. 

"You can't be sure of that!"

"Ah, yes I can. One: he told me to choose a pink handkerchief. Two: You're the heroine. There is no possible way for you to not pick a capture target."

Maria pouts a little. "Ok, I guess you're right. But I wanted a pink one even before you told me!"

"Yeah, that doesn't matter. Destiney is holding your hand." 

"What about you?" 

"Heh....Well about that....." I grab the black handkerchief I've been burdened with. 

"Oh!" Maria looks at it wide-eyed not saying anything more. 

"Yeah, bad luck I know." 

"What are you going to do?" she askes me concerned. 

"Well not stress it. I ran into Professor McGreggor and he reassured me that Archduke Wintergard is a reasonable man. I should be ok as long as I don't piss him off - oh! speaking of which - I met the first prince!" 

"Really?! What is he like?" 

"Cheerful and cheeky. He has an affable sense of humor." I purposely omit telling Maria about his request. While I was happy enough to play along in the moment, I am not embroidering a penis on his handkerchief. 

"Did you meet anyone else who might be capture targets for the sequel?" 

"No. I only ran into the Professor, Prince Levi, and Sir Grey briefly. I was mostly hiding from the chaos." 

"Bummer. I am really curious about who they might be!" 

"Me too. But we may still have our chance at the hunt. They will have to be there, and since it shouldn't be as insane, it would be a better opportunity to do some reconnaissance." Maria nods along in agreement. "Although, I could use your help." 

"Sure. For what?"

"I have no idea what to design! While I was pleasantly surprised I actually could embroider, I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. Plus, since the Archduke is an elite noble, I need to give at least a certain amount of effort." 

"Oh.....right. He doesn't seem like the kind of person standard floral designs would be appropriate for." We both sit in silence while we think.  "What do you know about him?" 

I go over my conversation with Profesor McGreggor in my head and I realize I didn't really gain much information. "Nothing. I only know the obvious. He's a warrior of great talent and he's from the north. That's it." 

"What about checking the library tomorrow? We can find some books about the northern territories and see if there is any inspiration."  

"That's a good idea. I don't think we should rule out flowers, but use them in conjunction with something else. Hmmmmm, maybe like an animal or a famous landmark?" 

"A landmark?" Maria asks obviously confused. 

"Yeah. For example, if someone said he was from Paris, I could put the Eiffel Tower on it. Or like you're from Japan, so Mount Fuji."

"Ah! Statue of Liberty!" 

"Right!" I snap my fingers at her.  "It might be a little generic, but could work." 

"No, it's a good idea! I don't think I've seen buildings or mountains used in handkerchief designs since I've been here. We may think it's generic because where we are from that kind of picture is all over tourist areas, but it might be a new idea here." 

"Good point! Ha! I almost forgot we can freely rob ideas from our past lives!"

"Yep! There is a lot of manga in Japan where that exact thing happens. Sometimes they build business empires and stuff!" 

"Well, I doubt I have the skill or knowledge to become a business tycoon, that's a little extreme. But where I may lack in refinement I can make up for in ingenuity!" 

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Despite having an exhausting weekend, I was able to wake up feeling refreshed and attend classes without much trouble. Which is more than I can say for most of the girls I ran into. The ones in Maria and my general studies class looked completely devastated. It was obvious they did not get much sleep. Even Maria seemed more lethargic than usual. My second class for the day was what I was more interested in, or rather not the class, but having a chance to speak to Professor McGreggor again. I had a mission to glean a bit more information from him this time. I took my seat next to the window as usual and moments before becoming late, Duke Victor slides into the seat next to me. While I've gotten used to him slipping in last minute, it annoys me that he won't sit next to any one of his adoring fans AND that he has to pester me all throughout class. 

"Chickadee! I heard a rumor -"
"It's likely true," I cut him off.  "Please be quiet." 

"But how did you know what I was going to say?" he askes with mock offense. 

"I don't live a scandalous life, unlike some people, so it's not hard to guess what the content of this rumor is." 

"So sad. I gave you a perfectly fine recommendation and yet you snub me so decidedly!" He says with the timbre of a very bad actor while placing his hand over his heart. I give him, what could only be called, the bitch please face. 

"Recommendation or not, I didn't have the luxury of choosing. I just grabbed and ran. Had I known what to expect, I would have suited up in full armor instead of a dress!" 

"Ha!" Duke Victor lets out a bark. "Now THAT I would LOVE to see!" 

"I know everyone had an exciting weekend, but please let's focus on class now," Professor McGreggor speaks up to get everyone's attention. I have to admit I did form too strong a prejudice against him at first. While I am not excited by the prospect that a 30-year-old man would "fall in love" with a teenager, he hasn't shown any predilection of it being a pattern. And he is is a pretty good educator. He has just enough sternness in his voice to calm the class down and get them focused on class, but not so much so that he becomes a tyrant teacher. It's a fine balance that only great teachers master. He even manages to command enough respect that Duke Victor stays mostly quiet. Although that doesn't mean he doesn't attempt to annoy me in other juvenile ways. 

"Don't worry, I am not here to dampen your spirits, but rather to carry forward the excitement. Today we are going to performing practical spellwork." Excited murmurs and clapping erupt. 

PRACTICAL?! Like DOING magic?! We've spent the first few weeks just learning out of the textbook.

Chuckling slightly Professor McGreggor continues. "Open your books to page 28. We are going to start with elemental summoning. Each year a few students find out their elemental affinity when tasked with using magic for the first time. So I am very excited to see what kind of results we have this year!" 

Ah heck yeah!