TVRWS 37

37: Blood Scandal (1) Mega Chapter!

(Part 1)

This was supposed to be the night we, the students of the Academy, should cherish as the most memorable and one of the most precious moments of our lives. Graduating from the First Royal Academy meant so much to many people: success, honor, prestige, and the start of our metamorphosis into adult and professional lives. Some of us had our weddings planned right after that event, some of us were going to be dispatched to other parts of the world to establish our own names, and some of us just wanted to embrace our lovers and dance for our last night as children, for tomorrow we will wake up as the men and women who carry the future on their backs.

Yet evil resides within every soul, and in some, it takes away most of the good they can do and turns it into eldritch malice and impure maleficence.

That night in the academy, I watched two lives get ruined. A student was murdered and a girl's life was shattered to ruin. I was on the sidelines, watching how it unfolded in disgust while fully realizing that I knew nothing before.

This so-called noble high society is just the construct of man, and such a thing can be flawed and filled with evil.

————————————————————————————————————————

—Earlier that Night—

It wasn't as expected for certain characters how the day would pass.

Like many, the performance of Prince Liam and Lady Matilda has captivated many with its celestial theme and holy aura. And while Vivian wasn't expected to live up to the challenge of being the following performer of those two talented individuals, her performance alone swooped the crowd off their feet and left them dazzled by her charm.

Her vocal skills weren't in any way, shape, or form superior to those of Matilda, and her piano skills, while they could rival the best pianists, were slightly above the Prince's skill. Regarding skill, she is right there among her peers, standing out only a little.

But her performance was truly remarkable, and the combination of her singing, playing, and emotive delivery was nothing short of flawless. She took a masterpiece from a legendary musician and reinterpreted it in a way that resonated with her own personal narrative.

The moment Vivian took her seat among her peers, she was no longer seen as the antagonist of the dream-like relationship of Prince Liam and Matilda, but rather someone who has been through a tough experience and threatened by powers no one would dare face. She was even acknowledged highly by Theodore Nightingale, who, despite his unexpected jokester attitude, is a very serious man about music.

And so it was over, the 21 student performances of this year's graduates. While it was up to the standards on every front, the musical performance captivated everyone this year and set the bar way too high for the following years.

But now was the time to relax and let the steam cool off. Provost Albert Morgan took to the stage in the VIP area once again and spoke to the crowd.

"Thank you for giving our students your patience and precious time. With these outstanding performances, I hope the junior students learn from their seniors and once again next year, showcase our prowess and culture to the rest of the world.

And with that, I think everyone deserves to stretch a bit. We have been seated for more than two hours now. Until the grades are ready to be revealed, you can have fun."

The provost clapped and rows of servants and musicians started to flow into the hall. The musicians carried their instruments and the servants carried liquor. A few open buffets were even revealed in various places of the hall.

The performance court was now opened to be accessed directly to the seating areas and the students were encouraged to gather down for the dancing ball.

The male students were to gather on the eastern side of the hall while the female students were to gather on the western side. The two groups would face each other and the couples would elegantly walk up to each other and join hands.

The music started.

At the forefront of the male students was Prince Liam, who stepped forward with a very elegant style and footwork, facing him was Matilda, who stepped forward just as elegantly and joined him.

The two faced each other and bowed slightly before joining arms and dancing slowly. Four young men moved after that and faced four young ladies from the other direction who moved simultaneously with them.

Later, the young men and women flocked towards each other on the dancing court and the music kept moving them with its smooth classical motions.

Back on the western side, Vivian stood among the other female students who still waited for their partners to come and she was then joined by Edith.

"Congratulations on your performance, senior." Edith spoke with obvious glee and a wide smile.

To that, Vivian turned to face her in a stiff manner.

"Yes. Thank you." She replied.

"What's wrong?" Edith asked.

"I'm worried." Vivian said, "Now that I cooled off, wasn't my performance too bold?"

"Oh, it was the boldest." Edith replied with a serious face.

"Oh, boy!" Vivian stiffened even more.

"Well, I wouldn't worry if I were you. Being bold is not being rude. Nobody was offended and it was a performance for the ages." Edith added.

"Thank you, Edith. I guess." Vivian nodded.

"And don't worry about the dance. I am here all by myself too. We can just slip back and nobody will…"

"Here you are, my ladies." 

As Edith was insinuating Vivian skipping the party, two young men approached them. To the dismay of Vivian, one of them was Richard Marshall, the one on the top of her hit list which recites every night once or twice. Along with him was his partner from the performance, third-year student, Reginald Ashcroft.

From what it seemed, Reginald was the one driving Richard here against his own will. Reginald had his arm over Richard's shoulder and the latter wasn't even looking towards Vivian.

"Lord Reginald." Vivian spoke to the man she could at least tolerate.

"Lady Vivian, that was a performance to remember. I clapped until my hands went red." Reginald said and showed his red palms to Vivian.

"I am glad my humble performance was to your liking, my Lord." Vivian replied with a bashful bow.

"Lady Edith, I assume you are this guy's fiancée." Reginald said and nudged Richard's side.

"I happen to be." Edith replied without making eye contact with Richard, whom she was mad at.

"Splendid! I don't know what he had in mind but that guy is clumsy enough to not bring a date with him to the dance, and so I deliver him to you safe and sound." Reginald said with a cheerful attitude while patting Richard hard on his back.

Bothered by Reginald's happy-go-luckiness and chummy attitude, Richard followed his senior's instructions and stepped ahead towards Edith.

"Dear Edith." Richard spoke while keeping the coolest attitude he had and facing her.

"Dear Richard." Edith faced Richard in return.

"Will you honor me with this dance?" He asked politely and offered a hand.

Edith looked between Vivian and Richard since she was planning to skip the dance with Vivian but now as she had a dancing partner, even Vivian encouraged her to go.

It wasn't that Vivian was okay with Richard being with Edith, her first friend after transmigration, but rather she didn't want to be seen as someone who was getting between two betrothed people. On the other hand, Edith was hoping for Vivian to activate her villainess mode and smite Richard with some nasty lines but knowing that Vivian has just restored part of her public image, she didn't want to burden her either and decided to go with Richard.

As for Vivian, she found herself standing alone with Reginald Ashcroft, who smiled in a friendly manner by her side. 

"Something funny on my face, Lord Reginald?" Vivian asked. 

"Oh, excuse my rudeness. It is just that no one could have ever expected you to be such a musician." Reginald said.

"Such a musician?" Vivian asked with her brows up.

"Such a great musician." Reginald rephrased his line with an index of indication.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you, my Lord. I may have not witnessed your performance but people praise it royally." Vivian said, returning the courtesy. 

"Are you being serious? Nobody is talking about anything that happened before your performance except that of His Highness. Practically nobody remembers us now." Reginald complained with a tired face that conveyed how wronged he must have felt.

"Cheer up, my lord. At least you are confident in your ability." Vivian said.

"Indeed. But against that Richard…" Reginald said and let out a sigh, "Sometimes I feel he goes easy on me."

"Can't say I am fond of your choice of friends." Vivian replied while looking away.

"I know. But he's a good person when you get to befriend him… and his father is my father's liege lord. So he will be my liege lord one day." Reginald stated.

"I assume that makes you his biggest fan by default." Vivian said. 

"We're just good friends." Reginald said before facing Vivian and offering her a hand, "I hope my friendly manners and good attitude have earned me a dance."

"What about your dancing partner?" Vivian asked.

"Let's say that Richard wasn't the only clumsy one. A lot of us, boys, actually didn't get to invite a girl." Reginald said without a hint of being ashamed.

"Fine. I'll be honored, my lord."

Vivian agreed to join Reginald on the dancing floor and they slowly joined the crowd. Being a knight apprentice, Reginald was taught in all the refined arts from a young age and so was Vivian. The two danced beautifully and attracted attention until the music was slowly ending.

Each dancer faced their own partner and greeted each other with a polite bow before all turning around to face the VIP second where Provost Albert Morgan took to his stage once again.

(Part 2)

"Young students." The Provost called and his voice echoed to every corner in the hall, "In my hands there are a handful of official sealed scrolls. These are the students' log of codes, the performance grades given by the esteemed judges, and finally, the final exams' grades."

It was the moment everyone was waiting for. Nobody even dared to breathe loudly.

"Only the third-year students remain in the center of the court please." The Provost said making every other student move to the side while all the third years remain in the spotlight.

"First of all, let me congratulate the 88 students who passed from the total of 110 students. Making this year's success rate higher than any previous year despite the difficulty. As for the 22 students who will not be hearing their names mentioned tonight, you will have to report to the Second Royal Academy within the limit of three days to undergo your re-evaluation. With that out of the way, let's begin announcing the grades."

88 students passed while 22 failed. In other words, one of every five students has failed this year. The students who weren't confident in their grades were already falling apart from worry and could be noticed quite easily.

Some academy servants brought in a gigantic blackboard on wheels and a table was already drawn on it. That table had three rows of information, one for the students' code numbers, another for the students' names, and the last for the grades.

Many professors started gathering around the table and the Provost himself descended to join them as well. He handed two of the official papers he had to the right and left Deans and the younger teachers were readying themselves to record everything on the board.

"Manifistus!"

"Manifistus!"

"Manifistus!"

Three professors, who seemed proficient in Magic, cast a magical spell as they vocally called its name. "Manifistus" is one of the weakest yet most used spells known to man, also known as the Magic Hand Cantrip or Mage's Hand. It covers the hand with a faint aura and conjures an aberration of that hand that floats in the air. Just as proficient and skillful as its owner's dominant hand, these magic hands picked up the chalks provided on the blackboard and followed the instructions given by the provost.

The Provost started with the student's code from the lowest grade to the highest. It took a fair ten minutes to get all the codes and grades in order.

The students at the 88th rank scored 97.03% and the grades kept going, increasing only by 0.01 to 0.05 points. It is worth noting that this ranking disregarded the difference between the subjects each student picked since it was expected of every student to be nothing less than perfect.

It was also known that if the difference between two students was greater than 0.1 point, the student of lower grade, anyone lesser than them, would automatically fail.

It was then time to reveal the names.

"Starting from the 88th rank, Timothy Brown…"

The professor standing near the board adds a plate with the name of Timothy Brown to the board.

"Alan Talbot, Thomas Spenser, Evelen Firzwillaims, Fredrick Percy…"

Name after name, the list was being filled upward, and many faces were seen triumphing, humiliated, and hopelessly desperate.

With grades being this close, there was no point competing on a specific rank. What the students had to compete over was petty superiority. Relationships of rivalry and camaraderie would form in such an environment and the students created a system to bet on themselves and against each other.

Bets would involve money, possessions, and collectibles of all sorts. The academy encouraged this kind of behavior even and didn't forbid students from gambling with grades. 

Vivian had no such bets going on but it seemed that some people had bet A LOT against her.

It was to be expected since her situation was a bad one and despite the names reaching rank 40, her name was not mentioned just yet.

Can it be that the Prince's influence has reached so deep into the Royal Academy to the point where she was eliminated regardless of her efforts?

The notion was scary for Vivian to think about, especially when she had a lot hanging on the balance.

"And now we move on to the top 10 students." Provost Albert Morgan said, "Before that, let me remind you that the top from each year are the only ones allowed to participate in post-graduate studies here in the Academy, which guarantees them the position of Assistant Teacher in the future if they wish to pursue the academic career. With that out of the way, here are the top 10 students."

At that point in time, most of the students were already sure about some faces in the crowd who in no way in hell can't be in the top 10.

"Scoring 99.34, Aleister Crowly." The name of the 10th-ranked student was announced.

"Scoring 99.36, Rebecca Stirling." The 9th.

"Scoring 99.37, Stephania Habsburg." The 8th.

"Scoring 99.41, Vivian Moore." The 7th.

And here it was… the names everyone was already sure wouldn't be heard since the ranking reached the top 30s.

The 7th ranked student in this year's finals. Only then would the facade shown by Prince Liam fall instantly as he looked towards Vivian with eyes wide open.

She made it!

She survived everything and persisted in the top 10, even though she was a candidate to be in the top 5 from her performance during the school year. All his effort only pushed her two ranks backward.

"Scoring 99.42, Valentine De Clare." Then the 6th was announced.

"Scoring 99.44, Kevin Law." The 5th.

"Scoring 99.45, Ansley Byron." The 4th.

"Scoring 99.48, Cornelius Morgan." The 3rd.

"Scoring 99.49, Octavius Morgan." The 2nd.

"And finally with the score of 99.51. His Highness, Crown Prince Liam Harland." And the 1st.

That final bit was pretty wild since two members of House Morgan reached the second and third ranks while it was expected for the Prince to reach the first rank.

But was it over?

Absolutely Not!

These are the grades before the bonus from the performances was added. The students would duel for these performance positions all year long just to get the chance to boost their grades at the end of the year and there are only 21 spots available for all 110 students.

"First, the marital performance, Student Reginald Ashcroft was awarded 0.3 points for his performance, leading to a score of 99.63. Second, student Percival Wentworth was awarded 0.21 points…"

The situation kept going and every student from the martial performance was awarded between 0.1 to 0.3 points at best. This toppled even the Prince's rank in the lead but not for long, of course.

The magic performance bonuses were added and the score got even wilder. Even Vivian and Valentine were already out of the top 10 at that point and other students replaced their spots leading Cornelius and Octavius Morgan to be the new 1st and 2nd ranks.

Finally, the music performance scores were added and it got wild. Many of the faces that were in the top 10 started to return to their rightful position and Prince Liam's turn was up.

"... sixth, his highness Prince Liam Harland was awarded 0.5 points for his performance, awarding him a score of 100.01 points. This is by far the highest grade ever given to a student in our academy in all of our surviving records."

100.01 points is already insane enough for the score to be a world record and it made many people congratulate the prince with insane fervor. The Prince, however, was solemn and worried.

"Finally, Vivian Moore was awarded…"

The Provost halted his words at that moment and looked at the paper he just opened before looking towards the music performance judges as if he was trying to argue, the three judges seemed to have figured out this would happen the moment they saw the score on the board.

"She was awarded 0.6 points which is legally the highest combined score that can be given by the judges, as everyone can give 0.2 points each." Provost Albert Morgan seemed to be trying to get this off his shoulders and blame the judges for it in front of the Prince, "This rewards Vivian Moore the total of… 100.01 points."

(Part 3)

This was the most frightened some people have ever been.

Vivian Moore survived the unfair treatment and got the judges of the music performance to her side with her awesome solo, granting her that much grades. While 0.6 is a measly number, it means that every judge awarded Vivian with 0.2 points, which is the highest one is allowed to give.

And now she is not only the top student, she is in a draw with the Crown Prince himself.

"A tie situation is not a precedent in the academy." The Provost tried to contain the situation as fast as he could, "Usually, two students would… engage in a debate… or a quiz… to solve this draw and…"

What a situation!

A showdown between the Prince and his ex-fiancée.

But after all that happened, was this fair?

The Prince, with all his princely prowess, only had 5 subjects in his finals, while Vivian had 11 of them.

To get her initial score, Vivian had to have done so well in most of the exams, her grades must have reached 100 on some of them, which is a miracle all by itself.

In the grading system, a very tiny amount of grades is always reserved for all students unless they provide a creative answer, so creative in fact, they may actually contribute to the advancement of the field of science they were tested in.

So is it fair to make the two compete on something that would have been given to her if her effort was treated fairly?

But then, Vivian Moore seemed to be raising her hand, requesting to speak.

"Young Lady Vivian, I am afraid there is nothing you can do no matter how you complain." Provost Albert Morgan spoke, trying to shut Vivian up before she voiced her opinion.

"Nothing of the sort, the Right Honorable, Count Morgan. Rather, if you may allow me, my Lord, I can solve this dilemma for you logically and gracefully." Vivian spoke eloquently and bowed respectfully.

"Go ahead then, young lady." Provost Albert looked at Vivian dismissively but in his heart, there was a strange feeling he shouldn't shake off.

"The first place should undoubtedly be for His Highness since his overall grades are the highest. I only got to rank up that high thanks to my performance." Vivian said. 

The Provost was actually impressed that such a solution was presented by Vivian herself.  He would do it if he could but then he'd face the protests of House Moore all year long.

"This sounds splendid." The Provost said and was about to order the ranking to be finalized but another raised his hand.

"Excuse me, Lord Albert Morgan." The Prince himself was the one speaking this time.

"Your Highness?" The Provost started to feel distressed as he foresaw what the Prince may have seen from his expressions.

"I think going against the traditional means to simply pursue the easy way out of a problem may raise unforeseeable issues in the future. I have nothing against having a quiz or a debate against Lady Vivian." The Prince said. 

"How can I do that, your Highness? With your excellent grades, it will be pointless to compare the knowledge we have." Vivian immediately replied to the Prince without going through the Provost.

None could tell but the situation wasn't just about the two being stubborn. From the sidelines, Edmond Black was watching this conversation with a concerned face.

"I only think it is unwise to abandon the traditional procedure. I thought you understood that, my Lady." The Prince said.

"If something is pointless or no longer of use, it is only natural to discard it." She replied and then had a sly smile, "I thought you understood that, your Highness." She retorted.

"Shit!" Edmond shut his eyes as he was the only one understanding what was happening.

Everyone in the Hall thought the Prince and Vivian were having one of their usual public quarrels from the time they were betrothed. The two always found something to argue over and that seemed to be the case right now.

But this wasn't the usual thing they would argue about in Edmond's eyes. Vivian has never dared to use this kind of argument against the Prince and this time, she was using a dirty underhanded move that would only work on the Prince.

"Your Excellency, I suggest we continue with a quiz rather than this pointless argument. It is pointless to hear Lady Vivian keep saying the same thing over and over." The Prince ignored Vivian's provocation and went to the Provost directly.

Seeing how stubborn the Prince has become, Vivian couldn't hide her intent anymore.

"In that case, I guess I can give up a portion of my grade. According to the rules, the loser in a quiz or a debate must voluntarily submit a chosen number of points when a debate is lost. This means that giving up on some grades is allowed and so I give up on a 0.01 grade and His Highness can take this victory home."

"This is not possible!" The Prince said.

"I'm afraid, your Highness, young Lady Vivian has the right to do so. This concludes this year's ranking ceremony." Provost Albert Morgan spoke up and quickly wrapped up the whole thing.

Even if he were to go against the Prince's preferences, the Provost preferred to finish Vivian's way, unaware of the consequences of his actions.

While it seemed like Prince Liam had maintained his composure, Edmond was already wracking his head to solve this messy situation.

Vivian managed to do what upsets Prince Liam the most. She has played with his ego and messed with his pride. While the Prince may seem like the most sociable butterfly in the garden, there's an ugly facade that even Vivian, who poked the hornet's nest, knows nothing about. But she knew damn well how big his ego can be and where to kick it where it hurts.

As for the Provost, he was already happy to get this over with.

"With that, the first position in this year's finals goes to His Highness Liam Alexander Edward Harland III, Duke of Gleamshire and Crown Prince of Great Elgard."

The whole crowd applauded the Prince for 5 seconds according to etiquette and the Provost continued. 

"The second place goes for Lady Vivian Keone Moore, the third for Octavius Morgan, the fourth…"

The Provost listed the top four ranks, which were altered greatly thanks to the results added by the performances. After he was done, he happily announced.

"Today marks an important milestone for all of you, as you, the 18-year-old lords and ladies, transition from youth to full-fledged members of our prestigious society. This spring festival serves as your official debut, symbolizing your coming-of-age. From this moment forward, you are no longer mere youngsters but esteemed members of our ranks. Traditionally, His Majesty King August III would address you on this occasion. However, due to unforeseen international circumstances, the honor falls upon me, your senior, to extend a warm welcome on behalf of His Majesty. As you embark on this new chapter, loyalty, honor, and unwavering service to the crown are paramount. Uphold the legacy of your families and your ancestors. Reverence the Holy Seven, remain steadfast in your allegiance to Great Elgard, and above all, dedicate yourselves to serving the interests of the crown to the utmost of your abilities.

With that said, everyone can now retreat to the outer garden. I believe that we missed the sunset but the celebration is yet to begin. Have fun until midnight."

The graduation ceremony was over, all the guests stood up and the gates were opened.

Reginald approached Vivian once again and greeted her.

"Congratulations on the Second rank, Lady Moore." He said and bowed slightly holding Vivian's hand, who didn't mind letting him part her with a kiss.

"Congratulations on the Seventh rank, Lord Ashcroft." Vivian accepted his courtesy.

"Senior. Congratulations." Edith also joined the two of them right away.

"Thank you, I hope you do well by next year, Edith." Vivian replied.

Following Vivian was Richard Marshall, who kept staring at Vivian blankly.

"Senior Reginald, I wanted to ask you about something." Richard said.

"Sure thing." Reginald listened to Richard immediately and turned to Vivian, "Will see you later in the garden?"

"I will be waiting, my Lord," Vivian replied.

As Richard and Reginald left, Edith immediately noticed someone coming from behind Vivian and respectfully bowed.

"Vivian." Count Julian spoke.

"Father." Vivian turned and looked at her father with a proud smile.

"You have done well. I am proud of you." Count Julian said.

"Thank you, Father." Vivian smiled but the moment she saw the faces behind her father, her smile gradually and uncomfortably disappeared.

It was, of course, Saskia and Robert. As per his usual attitude, Robert hated Vivian's guts and couldn't even congratulate her. As for Saskia…

"Vivian, dear, the performance was… amazing. I can't wait to show you off at the Novarkian Ambassador's birthday next week. And the Gala after in at the River Palace, you must be there!" Saskia said with an excited attitude.

"I am afraid I wasn't invited and I have no plans to attend a party next week." Vivian rejected Saskia respectfully.

"Pardon? H-How about the week after it? There's a party at the Chemin D'Or wine company. I can introduce you to…"

"That would be impossible. I already made plans for the entire next month."

"How sad! Fine, next month there is a party your Father is hosting at the mansion." Saskia seemed disappointed but her brain filled with nothing party schedules soon found one Vivian couldn't miss.

"Right! I managed to invite the one and only Morris Van Brosa to our mansion." Count Julian's eyes brightened up right away at the mention of that party.

"If it is for the sake of our house, I'll attend a hundred parties, Father." Vivian said.

"Splendid!" More than anyone, Saskia was the one excited.

"Edith and I will join the party outside if you excuse us, Father." Vivian said.

"It's alright. You can go." Count Julian let his daughter retreat with Edith to the outside.

The atmosphere inside the ceremonial hall was already sleep-inducing since it was all etiquette and pleasantries, unlike the outside where the air doesn't smell like old wood and leather hoarded from all the colonies across the world. Vivian was pleased to see that many people were willing to approach her while praising her incredible effort in the exams and the performance as well as showing courtesy and giving up on the first rank for the Prince.

While it seemed that most of these people were two-faced and only fixed their attitude with her after she got her reputation improved, Vivian was in desperate need of connections and acquaintances for the rest of her plans afterward and those people may serve a purpose one day.

While it all seemed like going well and fine, Vivian noticed that neither the Heroine nor any of the seven capture targets were present in the garden celebration, which seemed oddly weird as this was the game's outro.

For her to interrupt their happy ending scenario this badly and hijack the good things that come out of it, kind of made her worried. Then, her worries were made a reality in front of her eyes.

« You have completed the quest "Karmic Thief". »

« You have been awarded "Karmic Sensor". »

« You will be notified of any Karma fluctuation in close vicinity from you that may affect your Karma in the future. »

That quest!

Vivian totally forgot about it and it made her mind freeze. Just now, a very terrible feeling began to crawl under her skin.

« You sense Bad Karma fluctuation nearby! 151 meters! »

« You sense Bad Karma fluctuation nearby! 79 meters! »

There was no need for a message to appear. Vivian feels as if she has grown a sixth sense of her own and now can feel something ominous from the main building of the Ceremonial Hall.

"Shit! I can't get any rest, can I?"