Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 243: Picking Sides

The knife was cold against Aegis’s throat.

Sylceris’s face was inches from hers, close enough that Aegis could see the flecks of gold in her dark eyes. Her arm wasn’t shaking. No hesitation, no nerves.

[Okay. Think. You’re not spurting blood from your jugular, so this isn’t as simple as it seems.]

Aegis didn’t move. She didn’t flinch, didn’t reach for Ruby or Sapphire, didn’t try to activate Aether Step. She just stood there, tilted her head slightly to the side, and let the silence hang for a beat.

Then two.

"Hell of a first impression," Aegis said.

Sylceris didn’t laugh. She didn’t smile. But she didn’t press the blade harder, either, and that told Aegis everything she needed to know.

This was a threat, not a kill order.

[Good. I can work with threats.]

"You’ve got some nerve," Sylceris said, her voice low, "calling out a shadow mage while standing in a hallway with no guards and no weapon drawn."

"Oh, I’ve got plenty of nerve. Surely, you’ve done your research on me, right? It’s kind of my whole thing."

"..." The knife pressed a bit harder.

[Okay, not amused. Got it.]

"Now, if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you took that knife off my neck. I mean, if you were going to kill me, you’d have done it already. So, could you perhaps give me some breathing room?"

Sylceris’s jaw tightened. Her eyes flicked down to Aegis’s neck, then back up. After a long second, she pulled the knife back.

"You’re right about one thing. We haven’t made our minds up on whether you should die or not yet."

"Lucky me."

"You’re a shadow mage," Sylceris said, putting her knife away and crossing her arms. "But you stopped us from killing those Stone bitches. With you having married the princess, we could have achieved victory in an instant if you hadn’t done that."

Aegis raised an eyebrow.

[So, that was their idea?]

"It would have looked pretty suspicious if I did nothing while my wife was being attacked. It can’t be helped that I sold the act too well."

"... We know." Her eyes narrowed. "What we don’t know is if you intend to step aside now and let us do our job or if you plan on continuing to interfere."

And there it was. The actual question underneath all of the knife-waving.

Suddenly, dialogue options appeared.

DIALOGUE OPTIONS

1. "I’m on your side. Just tell me what you need." [SUBMIT]

2. "I’m not your enemy, but I’m not your soldier either. I’ll stay out of your way if you stay out of mine." [NEGOTIATE]

3. "That depends entirely on what your ’job’ actually is. Because if it’s more assassination attempts at my events, we’re going to have a problem." [DEFLECT]

4. "Try me and find out." [CHALLENGE]

[One is stupid. I’m not pledging loyalty to people I just met. Even with 100 charisma, there’s no way she’d buy that either. Four is tempting, but if I kill this girl here, I won’t know who else is in with her. Two sounds nice but it’s too passive. Besides, if I’m not with them, they might still treat it as being against them.]

She settled on the third one.

[Three. Three keeps me in control.]

Aegis crossed her arms, mirroring Sylceris’s stance.

"That depends entirely on what your ’job’ actually is," she said. "Because if it’s more assassination attempts at my events, we’re going to have a problem. Not because I have any particular fondness for the Stones, mind you, I’m just using them to gain power, but because I just spent five weeks building a reputation and I’m not about to let anyone blow it up. Literally or otherwise."

Sylceris studied her for a long moment, her dark eyes scanning Aegis’s face like she was trying to find a tell. A twitch, anything to give her a reason to raise her knife again.

Aegis kept her expression relaxed, open, maybe a little bored. The expression of someone who genuinely didn’t care that much.

"So, what," Sylceris said, "you’re telling me you don’t give a shit about the Stones and you only intervened because it was bad for business?"

"I’m telling you that I’m a shadow mage who married into the royal family and is currently being ’monitored’ by half the Noble Consortium. My position is complicated. Whatever you and yours are planning, I need to know about it ahead of time so I can make sure it doesn’t blow back on me."

[Hopefully, this answer gives me some wiggle room here.]

Sylceris uncrossed her arms. She didn’t look convinced, exactly, but she didn’t look hostile anymore, either. More like she was filing Aegis away for later, deciding how much of what she’d just heard she actually believed.

"I won’t."

"Shocker."

"Not until you actually pick a side," Sylceris said. "Thanks to you, our attack was unsuccessful. That fact remains unchanged. The church is already moving. If we’d taken out the Stones, Rosevale would be in enough chaos to remain hidden safely. We won’t give you the luxury of sitting on the fence forever."

She half-turned, like she was ready to move away.

Aegis’s eyes narrowed.

[... No, I can’t leave things off on a note like this. They might get bold around me again later.]

"I’ll keep that in mind."

"You do that."

"But, also..."

Aegis inhaled sharply and closed her eyes.

Then, she used Aether Step.

In an instant, she brought out Ruby from her spatial storage and put the knife up to Sylceris’s neck. To her credit, Sylceris managed to get her own weapon halfway up to Aegis’s body, but, well, teleportation was still simply faster.

Sylceris looked shocked. There was a pause.

"I don’t do well with threats. You and your partners would do well to remember that." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Sylceris glared back at her.

"... Noted."

On that note, Aegis stepped back.

Sylceris turned and walked away without another word, her boots echoing down the empty hallway until she rounded a corner and was gone.

Aegis stood there for a second. She reached up and touched her neck where the blade had been. No blood. Not even a scratch.

[So. Shadow mages confirmed at the academy, like the scandal shop said. That was fast, though. The Umbral Blade isn’t just lurking anymore, they’re making moves. And apparently, I’m on their shortlist.]

She exhaled, rolled her shoulders, and started walking toward her first class.

[Fun.]

---

Second year meant a new schedule, and whoever had put it together either hated Aegis personally or hated the concept of free time.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday:

Advanced Magical Theory (Professor Nazraya)

Strategic Warfare & Command (Commander Korvo)

Political Dynamics (Duchess Valemont)

Tuesday/Thursday:

Divine Magic (Sister Mirabel)

Combat Applications (Commander Korvo)

Courtly Arts & Diplomacy (Professor Loralei, back from leave)

Today was a Tuesday, which meant Divine Magic first. Aegis made her way through the corridors, dodging stares from students who still couldn’t decide if they wanted to talk to her or run away from her, and pushed open the classroom door.

It was half-full already. Talia was in the second row, her black hair pulled back, and she gave Aegis a look when she walked in. Not a smile, not in public, not with this many eyes on them. Just a look. The kind of look that said "I see you" and "sit down" at the same time.

[Love you too, wifey.]

Aegis dropped into the seat next to her and leaned back. Her neck still felt cold where the knife had been.

"Long morning?" Talia asked without turning her head. "You look tense."

"You have no idea." Aegis sighed. "I had to deal with a new transfer student before breakfast. Turns out she’s... opinionated."

Talia glanced at her sideways, her yellow eyes narrowing, and Aegis could practically hear the follow-up questions stacking up behind them. But before she could say anything, the classroom door opened again.

The room went quiet.

A woman walked in.

White hair, cut short and neat. Blue eyes, pale and sharp. She wore white armor, polished and spotless, with the sigil of the Church of the Divine Light stamped across the chestplate anda black cape behind her.

She wasn’t academy staff... and she was definitely not a student.

Aegis held back the urge to groan.

[The church.]

She was smiling, though. A pleasant, warm, approachable smile. The kind of smile that you’d see on a woman handing out free samples at a market.

"Good morning, everyone," the woman said, her voice bright. She walked to the front of the room and set a leather satchel down on the desk. "My name is Selene. You’ll see me around the academy often, so I figured I’d introduce myself and get the questions out of the way."

She let that sit for a moment, still smiling.

"I’m here on behalf of the Church of the Divine Light to assist with... let’s call it quality assurance." Her blue eyes swept the room, pausing on each student for just a second. "Given recent events, the church feels it’s important to ensure that Rosevale Academy remains a safe environment. Free from, well..."

She paused and tilted her head, still smiling.

"Suspected shadow mage activity."

"..." Silence.

Selene’s gaze moved across the rows, slow and deliberate, and when it reached Aegis, it stopped.

One second. Two. Long enough for Aegis to notice. Long enough for probably every single person in the room to notice.

Then, the smile widened as she clapped her hands.

"I look forward to getting to know all of you," Selene said. "I’m sure we’ll get along wonderfully."

And just like that, she left.

[Well.]

Aegis sighed, finally.

[That’s not good.]