Villainess 3: Rosalie Strikes Back

Red Pill 11: Setups, Witnesses

Despite Janet’s initial impressions, Periods 1 and 2 had come and gone without much trouble, save for her new classmate nodding off every fifteen to twenty minutes during lectures in both classes. In each case, Janet kept shoving Sir Sydney awake with one hand while continuing to listen to her professors’ lectures and taking notes with the other. While her seven clones in the corner parodied Janet’s movements to comedic levels, Janet herself faced no comment from Viscountess Durham as she went on about King Bartholomew Kaden’s efforts to resist a trade embargo from an enemy kingdom.

Yet her Period 2 Government Studies professor, Count Drake Cosgrove, a middle-aged man with a receding widow’s peak and sharp boring eyes, cleared his throat in the middle of his lecture and said, “Excuse me, Lady Fleming.”

Janet looked up from her note-taking after her latest jab at Sir Sydney’s shoulder jolted him awake again and said, “What is it, Professor?”

“Please refrain from pestering your neighbor,” he said, nodding at Sir Sydney who was now yawning.

“But Professor Durham,” Janet said, “asked me to keep Sir Sydney awake during class.”

“I realize that,” he said, “but there’s a difference between keeping him awake and pestering him and distracting the rest of the students in class.”

Janet looked around her at the faces of several of her classmates looking her way, then said, “Sorry.”

“That’s all right,” he said. “Just don’t overdo it,” and with that, he went on with his lecture about the functions and duties of a bicameral legislature of nobles.

So for the rest of Period 2, Janet stopped ‘pestering’ Sir Sydney with shoves to his shoulder every fifteen to twenty minutes and started poking his sides only when his snoring became too loud. As such, after Count Cosgrove concluded his lecture and assigned textbook readings for tomorrow’s class, he approached Janet’s table with his apologies for putting Janet on the spot during class, and Janet readily accepted. As for Sir Sydney, he just shook him by the shoulder, till he woke up with another start.

“Please, don’t sleep in class, Sirrah,” Count Cosgrove said. “It’s unbecoming, even for a knight.”

“I’ll do better, Professor,” Sir Sydney said.

The count nodded and went on his way out of the class, greeting Viscountess Durham at the double doors and allowing her to pass first, before going out himself to his own Homeroom in another part of the campus building.

Meanwhile, there came six of Janet’s clones, all of them passing through Count Cosgrove and Viscountess Durham without their noticing, all of them talking with Janet’s suicide clone amongst the other clones keeping a lookout in the corner of Janet’s current classroom. All six clones were huffing and puffing and complaining, all of them saying something about Janet’s old homeroom class causing another stink involving her, but when her suicide double asked them to calm down and be more specific, one clone cleared her throat. She said that Rosalie entered the classroom crying and saying that Janet had hit her earlier this morning, so Prince Blaise went out to tell their homeroom teacher Baron Palmer about it.

(“She hasn’t crossed paths with her all morning,” her suicide double said. “We made sure of it.”

“Yeah, well, she’s making shit up,” one clone said, “and they’re buying into it, including the professor.”

“Damn that bitch!” another clone said.

“Fucking liar!” said a third.)

Then all thirteen of Janet’s clones passed through tables and seated students alike and gathered around Janet’s table, followed by Viscountess Durham walking through her clones and saying, “Lady Fleming, come out with me for a moment.”

“What is it?” she said, getting up and following the viscountess through the double doors back into the hallway, where she found Baron Palmer and Prince Blaise around the corner consoling a crying Rosalie Edgeworth near one of the classrooms in the main corridor several feet away, while the rest of her clones followed in silence and waited their turn. “What’s going on, Professor?”

“I talked with Baron Palmer about the Prince’s misconduct yesterday,” the viscountess said, “but that doesn’t give you the right to take it out on Miss Edgeworth like that.”

“What are you talking about?” Janet said.

“You tell me,” she said.

“Look, all I did was give my engagement ring to her,” Janet said, “but his Highness grabbed my wrist.”

“I’m not talking about yesterday,” Viscountess Durham said. “I’m talking about this morning.”

“What?” Janet said, wondering what she was going on about when all she did this morning was talk to her about what happened yesterday and discuss her new schedule with her. “I don’t understand, Professor.”

(Then Janet looked towards her thirteen clones in the hallway and said, “What’s going on?”

“It’s a setup,” her suicide clone said. “That bitch has been running her mouth.”

“You can’t be serious!” she said.

“We are,” her clone said and looked over her shoulder at the Prince, then turned back to Janet. “You need to get back inside the before the Prince sees you.”)

So Janet went back towards the double doors of the classroom, but Viscountess Durham grabbed her wrist and said, “Please don’t make this worse, Lady Fleming. Just tell me the truth. Did you come across Miss Edgeworth before you came to me?”

“No, I didn’t,” Janet said. “I just went straight to the Office when I received your letter at my dorm.”

“Are you sure that’s what happened?”

“Of course, I’m sure,” Janet said, yanking herself free of her professor’s grasp, and looked back over at the crying Rosalie wiping tears from her cheeks and looking oh-so-innocent and pitiful, till she caught Prince Blaise’s eyes flashing at her with a basilisk fury. Icy adrenaline exploded through her chest at that momentary flash, in which Janet bore witness to the Prince grabbing her wrist and wrenching down on her forearm as she screamed for him to let go, yet he wouldn’t let go even as Baron Palmer and Viscountess Durham pulled him away from her, till Janet’s wrist was swollen and bruised.

“Stay right there, Lady Fleming!” he said, snapping Janet out of her vision. “Don’t even think about running away!”

So Janet stood behind Viscountess Durham and said, “Keep him away from me.”

The viscountess looked back at her, gaping, then said to Prince Blaise twenty paces away, “Don’t come any closer, your Highness.”

Yet the Prince kept walking, and Baron Palmer ran to catch up to him and said, “Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t do it, unless you want to get suspended.”

Prince Blaise halted ten paces away, turning around and saying, “Then punish the one who hurt Rosalie, or I will!” And he pointed at Janet for emphasis and added, “One way or another, her tyranny ends today, and I mean today, Baron! I’m tired of having Rosalie come to me in tears.”

That’s when Janet looked past Viscountess Durham’s arm and saw that fucking Rosalie looking right at her with a smirk on her face before resuming the tearful expression the moment Prince Blaise turned her way.

Then he turned back to Janet and said, “Listen here, Lady Fleming, and you better listen up. I’ve had it up to here with your bullying,” and he motioned his finger across his neck like a guillotine.

Which brought back the lugubrious details of Janet’s beheaded clone after she had been convicted of treason, which then set her off wondering how she could turn this whole thing around on that two-faced vixen standing in the hallway.

“Stay away from Rosalie,” he said, “or by God I’ll—”

“You’ll have me killed, is that it?” Janet said, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. “What’s going on, your Highness? Is this a setup?”

Both Viscountess Durham and Baron Palmer stared at Janet as if she had just gone insane.

“What did you say?” the Prince said.

Then Janet clamped her mouth shut, wondering why she even said those words, and waited for her clones for guidance.

(Yet her thirteen clones egged her on with her suicide clone saying, “Go for it. Just go for it.”

Then her poisoned clone said, “Say what’s on your mind.”

And then another clone: “Put him off balance.”)

Janet gulped down her qualms, stepping out from behind Viscountess Durham, and said, “Is this your doing?”

“What are you talking about?” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “This was your doing, not mine.”

“It’s been over a month, your Highness,” Janet said. “You were never there during any of the altercations between me and Miss Edgeworth, yet you’ve gone out of your way to defend her every time at my expense!”

“That’s because you’ve—”

“If you refuse to believe me even now,” Janet said, stealing a glance at Rosalie, “then I’ll submit myself to a test from Father Giles Robinson during Homeroom 3 and take a truth potion,” and she noticed Rosalie drop her act and stare. “If I’m telling the truth, then you’ll know for yourself, and if I’m not, then you can just banish me or confine me to my dorm or whatever you like. I don’t care anymore!”

The Prince gaped at her, saying, “You’re insane!”

“You’ve said it yourself, your Highness,” Janet said. “One way or another, this madness ends today,” and she dashed to her new homeroom through the swinging double doors—

“Hey, I’m not finished with you!” Prince Blaise said, storming after her when Baron Palmer hooked his arms around his shoulders, restraining the Prince and dragging him out of the room. “Unhand men, Baron! I swear I’ll have your job for this! Unhand me, I say! This is an . . .”

—amidst a silent classroom full of gaping and thunder-stricken classmates standing up from their seats and staring back at the open double doors still echoing with the Prince’s threats against the baron, while six of Janet’s clones tailed after them. Then Viscountess Durham entered and shut the doors and headed towards a sweating Janet walking to her table and said to her, “Are you okay, Lady Fleming?”

Janet nodded, even as her tears told otherwise.

“My goodness,” Viscountess Durham said, putting her hand on Janet’s back and rubbing circles as Janet herself was trying her best to regain her composure. “I’ve never seen his Highness act like that. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll be okay when this accursed day is over,” Janet said and put her head down in her arms on the table, trying to shut out the evil basilisk flash in Prince Blaise’s eyes from her mind, trying to quell the icy pulses thumping in her chest, and wondering to herself if she should have revealed her hand to her nemesis like that.

Then the viscountess asked Sir Kevin Sydney to look after Janet, and the knight promised that he would. After that, Viscountess Durham headed back out of the classroom into the hallway to go and talk to Baron Palmer, while the seven remaining clones passed through the viscountess on their way to where Janet sat resting her head in her arms.

(Janet’s suicide clone put her hand on her shoulder and said, “How are you holding up, dear?”

“God, I hate that fucking vixen,” Janet said in her mind.

Then another clone said, “We know she’s a menace—”

“—and her classmates are a bunch of lemmings,” said a third.

“Then keep me updated, okay?” she said.

“We will,” her clones said.)

Then the seven clones headed back to the corner of the classroom, and Janet’s suicide clone ordered one clone to go out and monitor the situation in Classroom 1-3C and come back with an update in fifteen minutes. That clone nodded and exited the class, passing through the double doors into the hallway on her way to that nefarious classroom. When fifteen minutes passed, the clone came back and gave an update on Rosalie’s doings with the classroom, saying that Baron Palmer was absent from the class as he was reprimanding the Prince on the way back to their classroom. When the suicide clone asked what Viscountess Durham was doing, her clone said that the viscountess had pulled the Baron aside and said she wanted one of his exemplary students to accompany Janet wherever she went.

(“Not from that class, I hope,” the suicide clone said.

“No, it’s not,” her clone said.

“Then who is it?”

The clone whispered it into her ear.

The suicide clone looked at Janet still resting her head on the table besides Sir Kevin Sydney and said, “That makes two viable witnesses. Let’s hope that’s enough to keep Janet out of trouble for now.”

“Knowing Rosalie,” her clone said, “she’ll stir up something else for us to deal with.”

“Then keep a close eye on her,” the suicide clone said, “and keep me updated.” So the clone nodded and went out of the room again, while the suicide clone spoke with Janet’s other clones, discussing more things related to Rosalie and that damn classroom full of lemmings.)

Time passed.

And near the end of Homeroom 2, Janet felt someone shaking her right shoulder, so she raised her head at Sir Kevin Sydney sitting next to her and said, “What is it?”

“She’s awake, Professor,” he said.

Janet turned her head and saw Viscountess Durham leaning over her shoulder, so she straightened herself in her chair and said, “Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right, Lady Fleming,” Viscountess Durham said, “but I’ve got good news and some bad news. Follow me,” and she led the way towards the corner of the classroom, where Janet’s six remaining clones were standing.

So Janet followed and said, “Please tell me it has nothing to do with whatever that vixen said this morning.”

All the while, Janet’s six clones came out of the classroom and eavesdropped on the conversation.

“It does, and I’m inclined to believe you,” the viscountess said. “After Baron Palmer and I questioned his homeroom class if any of them had seen the altercation between you and Miss Edgeworth, none of them said they did. In fact, all they said was that Miss Edgeworth came into the classroom saying you hit her, so I told Baron Palmer that you were with me at the Professor Commons Office before Homeroom 1 to discuss your new schedule, but the Prince said you must have done something to Miss Edgeworth beforehand.”

“Of course, he’d say that,” Janet said.

“I asked the Prince if he’d seen what had happened,” the viscountess said, “but he said he didn’t. So I had Baron Palmer and Prince Blaise and Miss Edgeworth follow me out into the courtyard towards the dorms, where we entered Guinevere House. I questioned the maids and servants there, asking them if any of them had seen you looking for Miss Edgeworth this morning, but none of them said they did. In fact, the only maid who saw you this morning said that you were running towards the school just before Miss Edgeworth exited Guinevere House.”

At her words, Janet wondered if Prince Blaise had noticed or even cared about such a contradiction, then said, “What did Miss Edgeworth say to that?”

“That’s the weird part,” Viscountess Durham said. “She wanted to drop the whole thing before we even reached her dorm, but Prince Blaise was hell-bent on finding out.”

“And what did his Highness say?”

“He wanted to make doubly sure,” Viscountess Durham said, “so we went to Mariana House, and I questioned the maids and servants there. They all repeated the same thing, that they saw you going out of the dorm to meet someone, and your own maids said you went out when you received a note from me requesting your presence at the Professor Commons Office. His Highness wanted to see the note, so I showed him what I had sent to your dorm earlier this morning, and guess what he said.”

“What did he say?” Janet said.

“He wanted to make triply sure,” Viscountess Durham said, “and asked permission to witness the test you’ve mentioned you would take in Father Giles Robinson’s homeroom during Homeroom 3. I was shocked, and so was Baron Palmer, and Miss Edgeworth seemed mortified. I’ve never seen the Prince so hell-bent on disbelieving, but that’s not the weird part.”

“Was it Miss Edgeworth?” Janet said.

“Yeah,” Viscountess Durham said. “She was begging the Prince to stop all this, but Prince Blaise wanted to get to the bottom of it. That’s when Miss Edgeworth started crying, and the Prince became so lovey-dovey, it’s disgusting. I’ve never seen the Prince act like that. It’s almost as if . . .”

“She’s charmed him?” Janet said.

The viscountess stared at her and shook her head, then bent over Janet’s shoulder and whispered into her ear, “I don’t think it’s to that extent, but she’s got the Prince too wrapped up around her finger to make him trustworthy, especially when it comes to you and Miss Edgeworth.”

“So what happens now?”

“Prince Blaise compromised,” Viscountess Durham said, “and said he won’t pursue the matter any further for Miss Edgeworth’s sake, but he wants someone to accompany you wherever you go, while the Prince will accompany Miss Edgeworth. I’m sure it’ll be a bit inconvenient for you, but I think it’s for the best.”

Janet then glanced at her six clones, who had been listening to their conversation (unseen) the whole time.

(“It’s as she said,” one clone said.

“This is in our favor, Janet,” another clone said.

“With someone accompanying you and that vixen,” her suicide double said, “you’d have someone else to back you up, and that vixen won’t be able to do much, at least for now.”)

“Lady Fleming?” Viscountess Durham said.

And to both her clones and to Viscountess Durham, Janet smiled with a demonic flash of her red eyes and said, “Then that’s good, isn’t it? At least his Highness won’t have much reason to accuse me of anything he’s never seen.”

The viscountess sighed.

To Be Continued