Ch 40 – I’m the only one who gets to bully Lilis, don’t you know?

Lilis stepped through the large open door of the classroom first, with me just a couple of steps behind her. Unlike her previous “class,” this one seemed to be a much more normal one, with the standard chairs and small desks that the academy used. The main difference was that this one also included a number of large cauldrons per every two seats, and it was one of the few classes above ground rather than in the underhalls. The extra space that the cauldrons took up in the room limited the number of desks considerably, making it a fairly small class compared to most of the ones that I’d been in. Filling up much of the edges of the room were rows of various plants, reminding me of mine and Lilis’s room. It was rather obvious what sort of class this was.

To make that fact even clearer was the fact that the vast majority of students were ladies, with only a couple of boys present.

A hush fell over the room as the students noticed my presence, and I couldn’t help but hover close to Lilis. It seemed that she’d been serious about us being late if we’d delayed further, as most of the students were already here. Professor Fell stood at the head of the class, her arms crossed as she stared us down with a scowl. It was clear that she wasn’t happy about our presence, and while class hadn’t started yet, judging by the chatter of the students around us, it was likely a close thing.

Fell was of course the professor who’d taken me to Lilis’s room in the first place and dropped me off there for her to deal with. She’d been quite vocal about the fact that she liked neither of us—me because of what I’d become, and Lilis because of her family. And now here the both of us were, attending her class together. In a way, she only had herself to blame for that.

My roommate led me down one of the aisles toward the right side of the room and paused in front of a familiar face. Galia greeted us with a smile, looking quite a bit better after a night of rest. Then Lilis turned to me, her bright green eyes full of conflict. I immediately realized the problem, given that there was only a single empty chair. My eyes wandered the room, briefly meeting the gazes of other students and realizing that there weren’t any free chairs to be had. Given the limited space along with the popularity of witchcraft, there was likely some amount of competition to attend a class like this. Unless the professor or someone else went out of their way to squeeze an additional desk in for me, there wouldn’t be any extra seating.

Bringing my gaze back to Lilis, who looked conflicted, I made a decision. My arms crossed as I tilted my chin high and marched by both her and Galia to the wall just to their right. Careful not to touch any of the plants, as there was no telling what any of them might do even through a simple touch, I faced the room once more. My eyes stared everyone down, tail swishing behind me as I dared anyone to comment.

A soft chime signaled the beginning of class, almost inaudible from its origin somewhere on the other side of the academy. I watched the professor’s narrowed gaze travel from our group to the rest of class, and the quiet chatter turned to full silence. Thankfully choosing to ignore my presence, she began class, immediately diving into the subject of the notable plants that could be found in the Daloui Kingdom to the south. Her words might have been more interesting if I had a better idea of what she was talking about, but without anything visual to look at, the dense terminology went entirely over my head.

My mind instead wandered as I began to stare out across the students in the class. Once again I was struck by just how much I was wasting my time here. If only Lilis had trusted me enough to leave me in our dorm on my own. Of course, she was right not to. I would have immediately left the moment her class started. But this was still incredibly irksome all the same.

“What reading?” Lilis suddenly asked under her breath, breaking me out of my thoughts. She was staring at Galia with a heavy look of concern. “I don’t remember this from last week.”

Professor Fell was still lecturing about something, though I paid her no mind.

The other girl leaned closer to her, whispering, “The professor sent it over the weekend, didn’t you get the—”

“Lilis,” Fell interrupted, “Since you and your friend seem so eager to talk about the text, why don’t you share what you know about revid thale ferns with the class.”

My roommate cleared her throat. “I—I’m sorry, Professor, but I don’t believe I received a writ about any assigned readings over the weekend.”

“Truly? So you’re admitting to not having read it, then. I’m quite certain that I remember sending one to everyone, yourself included. Surely you aren’t intending to call me a liar?”

My eyes narrowed. A magewrit wasn’t something you could just miss. They weren’t subtle in the slightest.

“Of course not, professor.” To my surprise, Lilis sounded apologetic of all things, though I could see her fist tightening beneath the table. “That was not my intention at all.”

“I don’t believe anyone else in the class missed my writ somehow, did they?” Professor Fell looked across the room and was met with silence. She then stared Lilis down, lips curling into a cruel smile. “Perhaps you were simply too busy with your new toy to remember to do the reading.”

Several students chuckled. The sounds tickled my ears as both of my hands balled into tight fists. A low growl began in my throat, but the professor ignored me, not bothering to even give me a glance. This was beyond petty. It was quite obvious what was going on here. I didn’t believe for a second that Lilis simply forgot or was “too busy” with me, as the professor boldly claimed. But why was she letting this woman talk down to her like this? The Fell family was far beneath the Espir, and the professor was practically a nobody. No professor of her status would have dared spoken to me in such a way, at least back when I was my old self, and I would have made them regret it if they dared to try.

As Lilis struggled to reply, her body turning increasingly tense, Fell continued, “Come now, admit it to me. I want to hear the truth from you, not some feeble excuse.”

“I…” Lilis began, before freezing up once again.

“Really, this shouldn’t be that difficult. Has that demon sucked the brain out of your head? All you need to do is—”

“Stop this at once!” I shouted, finally losing my temper.

I stepped forward, moving around the desk to stand protectively in front of Lilis. I wasn’t sure why she was taking this verbal abuse without complaint, but I was done listening to it.

“R-Ruby? What are you…” Lilis said as she tried to reach out and stop me, her eyes widening in horror.

She wasn’t quick enough to grab me. Nor was I willing to let this go on. The professor sneered at me. To think that I’d ever actually looked up to this woman at all. It was obvious I’d had no idea what she was like until this past weekend.

“So the unbound demon finally causes a disturbance,” she said. “I knew that allowing you into the class would cause no end of problems. But the provost insisted.”

“I care not what you think of me, but you will end this assault on Lilis’s character. I believe it's quite obvious that you never sent the writ to her. Does your pettiness know no limit, professor?” Sure their families despised each other, but this was ridiculous. And this was assuredly only happening because Lilis had allowed things to go this far without standing up for herself.

Professor Fell’s eyes narrowed, before she glared past me at Lilis. “Perhaps you should collar your pet before I’m forced to do so for you.”

I crossed my arms. “I’d like to see you try you dumb c—”

Lilis shot up out of her chair, almost falling over the table to get to me. Her hand clamped around my mouth as she said, “I’m very sorry professor, perhaps it’d be best if we left.”

Fell parted her lips to say something, only to pause, her mouth curving back up into a smirk. “I don’t believe I’ve given you permission to leave. No, the first thing you will be doing is apologizing for your demon’s disrespect.”

As if I was going to allow that.

Removing the hand from my face, I interrupted, “No, I do believe we are in fact leaving. It’s clear you have nothing of value to say here.”

I grabbed Lilis’s arm, and dragged her with me toward the door.

“How dare you, insolent fiend! Get back here this instant!”

Despite her words, she didn’t move to stop either of us, something that I’m certain she could have done easily with a simple spell or two. That she didn’t was quite telling. I doubted that she feared any backlash from my family, given my present circumstances, but the Espir were another matter entirely. Just how had Lilis managed to get into such a situation? Were things this bad in her other classes as well?

I slammed the door as I stormed out, dragging Lilis with me. Luckily she didn’t fight me on it, as it would have made our exit much more difficult. I wasn’t certain in my ability to overpower her.

With the door closed and the halls empty, I turned to her with a glare.

“What was that?” I demanded, red tail swaying behind me with anger.

“That’s exactly what I want to ask you,” she hissed back. “Are you trying to get me removed from the class?”

I scoffed. “As if a woman like her has much to teach you. Why do you let her treat you in such a way? Do you have no spine when it comes to the professors?”

“That was the first time she’d done something that blatant,” Lilis admitted. “And it doesn’t excuse how you behaved in the slightest. She’ll assuredly remove us both from the class now.” Her hands reached up to rub her face.

“She will not,” I declared. While it wasn’t as assured as I was making it out to be, I highly doubted she would. “The provost himself told her that I would be attending her class with you. And she would not dare insult both him and your family over something so minor.”

“Why would she not? The woman despises me and my family. It would be the perfect way to spite us. And I see no reason why she wouldn’t simply bar me from the room, leaving you to have to attend class on your own in the future.”

I shook my head. Was she serious? “Lilis, she is from a minor family. She cannot afford to ban you from her class, rivalry or not. It would simply give the excuse your family needed to come down harder on theirs. You are both from families full of witches. Even what she did today was bold beyond belief.”

Lilis moved to respond, only to frown as she considered my words.

I continued, “I can only assume she has gotten so bold because you have allowed it.”

“It’s not as if I wanted this to happen. I simply wanted to keep my head down and hoped that she would give up.”

I sighed once again. “If you do not stand up for yourself, Lilis, then who will? Has your family taught you nothing? The professor has only grown to be so petty because she believes she can get away with it.”

“My parents…are different from most.” She looked away, not meeting my eyes. “They have always been kind to me, and avoid the brutal politics of the other shadow families.”

“And so they have not prepared you at all for dealing with such things at the academy,” I concluded.

“That…is not entirely true, but also not entirely inaccurate.”

It was odd to see Lilis be so vulnerable. It made me want to reach out and pull her into a hug.

“Allow me to go to the lavatory, and perhaps we can discuss this more,” Lilis said.