Mary sat down in the student council room with a sigh. Everyone tried to ignore her, but she sighed even louder. Then even louder.

Finally Millie grew so irritated, she turned to her with a gentle smile, "What's wrong Mary?"

Mary pouted, "Seri ran away from me again."

"Hmm. I wonder why." Millie said in a gentle tone. The two boys familiar with her knew that under that gentle voice was someone who was incredibly irritated.

Mary slumped over in her chair despondently, "I just want to befriend her. Why is that so hard to do?"

Millie continued to smile, "Do you have other friends? Perhaps you could ask them what to do."

Translation: Stop bugging us with your idiotic problems.

Mary responded bluntly, "Nope. I don't have friends."

William muttered under his breath, "Is this really a group of friendless losers?"

Millie turned to him, "I'm not friendless. I have Seri."

"Other than her."

Millie paused.

She turned back to Mary, "Perhaps you should just give up? You should try to make other friends."

Translation: I don't want to share Seri.

Mary made a determined fist, "I will never give up! True love never backs down in the face of adversity!!"

Everyone was rendered speechless. Mary thought for a moment. Then her face lit up. She turned to William, Dante, and Millie.

"You three are her childhood friends right? What is Seri like?"

Millie thought for a second, "Seri huh... Well Seri is a very unique person."

William nodded, "She's the kind of person you either hate or love. There's no in between."

Lucius raised his hand, "Hate. I definitely hate her."

Artie joined in, "Really? For me I love-"

Dante's pencil snapped in half as he glared menacingly at Artie. Artie gulped in fear and didn't dare finish his sentence.

Mathias brought his book closer to his face and whispered, "I... Don't... Hate..."

Mary sighed, "So many people love her then... Just as I thought."

William frowned, "I didn't say that."

Millie giggled, "She definitely has much more enemies."

The three grew silent as they recounted just how many enemies Seri managed to make in the past. Not only were there several, but they also tended to be high ranking nobility.

Mary pouted, "But I heard that extreme hate was just another way to show love. So that must mean everyone loves her."

Lucius frowned, "Nope. I definitely hate her. There is absolutely no love involved."

Mary ignored him, "After all, why would anyone dislike such a pure hearted and good person?"

Millie tilted her head, "Pure?"

William raised an eyebrow, "Good?"

Mary nodded and looked off into space dreamily, "Yes. She's like a benevolent angel. Completely selfless, understanding, and kind even to her enemies."

The three exchanged glances. They broke out into rambunctious laughter. Mary looked at them feeling offended.

"What? Why are you laughing?"

Millie was the first to speak, "Calling her benevolent... I don't think I ever heard such a thing associated with Seri."

William clicked his tongue, "It's more like malevolent."

Mary frowned, "Oh? Then how would you describe her?"

Millie nodded, "Selfish."

William added, "Disobedient."

Dante finished, "Destructive."

Mary's face twitched, "She can't be that bad."

Millie spoke, "She is always stealing people's cakes at lunch."

William shivered, "She had deer attack me and is always throwing bugs at me."

Dante spoke in a deep voice, "She tried to set a carriage on fire."

Millie added, "When you make her mad, she doesn't just ruin your reputation, she destroys it."

William spoke, "She freed a lion from the circus and let it run around town." He added, "Which it still hasn't been caught."

Dante added, "She forced two cooks to eat poison."

Lucius's face paled as he looked at Dante, "She did what?!"

Mary's face twitched, "Oh... Well... That's... N-No! I'm sure she had good reason to do those things. It was probably for the greater good."

Millie giggled, "Oh my. You really are optimistic aren't you?"

Translation: You crazy, delusional airhead.

Mary grabbed Millie's arm, making Millie's smile darken. Mary spoke, "Millie! You're close to her most of all! How can I get her to like me?"

"Get your hands off of me." She growled with a dark expression.

Mary quickly pulled her hands off. She gulped and scooted closer to William. "Millie can be quite frightening... Can't she?"

William sighed, "You have no idea."

Millie gave him a smirk, "Perhaps William knows how to befriend her? Oh wait. That's right. She won't admit that they are friends."

William deflated from defeat.

"Food." Dante interrupted, causing everyone to look at him.

Mary's eyes sparkled, "That's right! That must be why Prince William always gives her his cake."

William frowned, "I don't give her it. She steals it."

She ignored him, "But what should I make? What does she like?"

Dante shrugged, "She will eat anything. Even if it's poisoned."

Mary ignored the last part, "Then I will go to work and cook all of the sweets I can think of."

Lucius interrupted, "I'm sorry. Could we go back to the part where you said she fed two people poison?!"

William looked at him apathetically, "The two cooks were trying to feed us poison. She found out about it ahead of time."

He blinked, "Okay but... Instead of telling an adult, she just let it play out?"

"Yes."

"And then she just forced them to eat it?!"

Dante nodded, "She likes to show off."

Lucius shouted, "Why do you like her so much?!? She sounds like a villain to me!"

The three of them thought deeply. Millie shrugged, "Well that's because... She's fun."

William nodded, "I'd hate to agree with Millie, but it's true. Everything got much more exciting with her around."

Artie joined in, "I don't dislike her or anything... But, the way you talk makes her seem like a bad person."

William shook his head, "She's not a bad person... She's just..." He tried to think of the right words.

"She's a good person." Dante said firmly, causing the room to get quiet.

He traced his finger along the permanent bite mark he concealed under the "cursed" handkerchief tied to his wrist. He gave a faint smile that was so charming and gentle that everyone in the room felt their breath catch in their throats.

He continued, "If you have her back, she will have yours. She won't turn her back on those who are good to her."

William blushed, "She did help me out when I wanted to get out of my engagement with Ilene. And whenever I was upset, she would cheer me up."

Millie also blushed while smiling, "She also taught me right from wrong. No matter how much I misbehaved, she still kept me around."

Mary fell back into her chair, "Ugh. Looks like I have really tough competition."

Just then, the door flew open. The room grew quiet instantly as everyone looked to the person in the doorway with guilty consciences.

Seri quickly scrutinized their faces with narrowed eyes. She slowly closed the door without entering the room. She turned to walk away, "I think I should stop by the cafeteria and look for extra cake."

William jumped up from his seat and ran out, "DON'T JUST WALK AWAY!"

_____

I was dragged back to the student council room by William. I sat in my seat and crossed my arms in annoyance.

William pushed papers in front of me, "Do your work. You can't run away."

I rolled my eyes, "I only ran away because you all seemed to be talking about me." I paused, "And I didn't run away! I was just wanting to eat more cake."

William looked away guiltily, "W-We weren't talking about you."

I gave a mischievous grin. I leaned onto him and ran my fingers through his silky hair suggestively. I spoke in a coy voice, "Oh? You weren't talking about me?"

William turned bright red as he shook from the sudden assault. Everyone looked at him with faces that said: No! Don't give in! Stay strong! Don't tell her we were talking about her!!!

However, William's maiden heart was too pure and was bursting from being fawned over. His mouth trembled, "I-It wasn't anything bad."

I pulled away victoriously, "That's what I thought."

Everyone shook their heads in disappointment at William.

I spoke with an arrogant grin, "You were probably just talking about how great I was."

Lucius shouted, "You killed two people!"

My smile turned from one of arrogance to one of mischief. "Oho? Only two? There was much more than that."

William was brought back to Earth, "What?! More than two?!"

I blinked and scratched my cheek guiltily, "Uhhh. Well. Not directly." I cleared my throat, "Well! Time to go back to work!"

Dante snickered as he shook his head. William sighed, "If you have any questions, just ask."

I paused for a moment. I looked around as everyone was doing work so diligently. The sun shined in through the window illuminating William's hair.

I pulled out my book and suddenly recalled a scene from the original novel. Mary had reached into her bag to discover all of the contents had been destroyed and defaced by Ilene. This should have happened by now.

I pulled on Mary's bag and looked at the contents. She blushed, "S-Seri! That's mine..."

"I know. Shut up."

My face grew serious. It's... Normal.

Is she not being bullied at all? Ilene shouldn't have changed that drastically in those three years. Even though she's not engaged with William, she's not the type that would stop being jealous.

Now that I think about it... I haven't heard about her at all.

I looked up, "I was wondering something... Where's Ilene?"

William, Dante, and Millie looked at me in surprise. William spoke with a startled expression, "Ilene?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I haven't heard from her at all. Usually she wouldn't wait this long to try to annoy me."

Millie looked at me, "You haven't heard?"

I looked at the three of them completely confused, "Heard what?"

William answered, "She went missing."

"Missing?" I furrowed my eyebrows. Well that's new.

He nodded, "After we went home, my parents started the procedures for the trial. But before we could apprehend her, she disappeared. Everyone thought that she left town in the middle of the night to escape."

Millie frowned, "How did you not know Seri?"

I forced out a dry chuckle and scratched my cheek, "Well that's... I was a bit... Preoccupied with other matters after that incident."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Dante give me a look of concern. I ignored it and pretended not to notice.

William raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

I nodded, "Really really. I was clueless the entire time."

William sighed, "Well that's a bit of a relief. I was worried you had something to do with it."

I glared at him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He changed the subject quickly, "Anyway... Wasn't Bertram supposed to attend school with you as a bodyguard? Your father requested my father and the headmaster to allow it because he was worried something might happen to you again. But I haven't seen him at all."

I looked over the papers in front of me nonchalantly, "Yes. He's here with me."

"Where?"

I pointed up to the ceiling without looking. Everyone else in the room slowly lifted their heads.

Bertram was attached to the ceiling, wedged between two support beams. His face was scowling from concentration.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"