The Sixth

Darlin always had a talent for dancing, one even Heinrich is forced to acknowledge. It's not gentlemanly to stare at your partner during a dance, but it was somewhat accepted in high society that when your partner is Darlin Rayne, you can't really help yourself. 

Contrarily, Darlin keeps to the rules of etiquette and does not spare her partner a glance unless they are speaking. 

Heinrich finds her boring most days, but not when they're dancing, because Darlin is more than appealing when she dances. 

Even as her partner, Heinrich felt like any other onlooker observing her bloom magnificently on the dance floor.

His hand on the middle of her back could feel the fluidity of her movements. Her steps were light, yet purposeful, and her eyes... Heinrich gulped. Darlin's rich, blood red eyes always seem to be in a haze, one so thick nothing and no one can reflect in them. 

Coupled with her perfunctory smile, Heinrich finds himself unnerved by them most times, but, sometimes, like when he dips her, he dares say they're a little enamoring. 

A dip is the only time Heinrich is moved to please Darlin. Theirs is done differently than normal. Heinrich does not guide her into it, for that's no fun for Darlin. He merely positions himself and she takes the plunge all on her own. 

Darlin's smile is different, it's beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time. She's excited by the fall, eager to plummet. Her eyes will narrow in bliss, and the moment she lands in his hands, her smile turns devilish, the outer corners of her eyes curving mischievously. 

Oh... Heinrich realizes, she's been leading. Darlin always takes control without him noticing until it's over. 

As soon as they are apart and off the dance floor, fellow graduates swarm them. 

"You've somehow become even more elegant, Lady Darlin!"

"As expected of our valedictorian!"

"Sir Heinrich was also charming~!”

"Oh dear, are you alright, Sir Heinrich?"

Heinrich's cheeks are an obvious red, his breaths slightly labored. 

Fucking weakling. Darlin hides her curled lips behind her fan. She used the perfume lightly, but Heinrich had taken more alcohol than she anticipated, making him more susceptible to the aphrodisiacal effects of the combination. 

"Heinrich?" Knowing her importance to him, the people around Heinrich part to reveal a beautiful maiden no different from butterflies and honey. Her soft blond hair is littered with small, jeweled flowers, and her big pink eyes regard her sister's fiancé worriedly. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Flora..." The softness with which he calls her name, the heat in his eyes, makes one wonder whom Heinrich is actually engaged to.

Darlin barely keeps from rolling her eyes. At this point it is common, yet unspoken, knowledge in high society that her fiancé holds special feelings for Flora, and Darlin is simply the more suitable candidate chosen by his parents. 

Let’s end this farce, shall we? With a laugh, Darlin draws attention to herself, "It seems Sir Heinrich went a little heavy on the drinks now that we have come of age. Dear Sir, might I suggest getting some air on the balcony?"

Heinrich nods, and just as he turns, Flora latches onto his arm. "I-I'll go with you!" Realizing how untoward she's being with her future brother-in-law, she steps back, a cute blush spreading over her fair face. "I— Ahem! Just to make sure nothing happens to Heinrich... in his drunken state..."

Darlin bites her bottom lip to keep from howling with laughter. If you don't want to look suspicious, how about not calling him so informally, you empty headed hussy! Ah, but it was none other than Heinrich who had Flora throw away formalities, Darlin recalls.

Without consideration for his fiancée, Heinrich smiles and offers his arm to Flora, "Please forgive the disturbance, my Lady."

Flora shakes her head. "It's no disturbance at all." Hooking her arm through Heinrich's, they take their leave.

Darlin huffs softly. They’re shameless. 

"Our Lady Darlin's benevolence never ceases to amaze me." The sarcastic compliment comes from a lady reputable for her snideness. 

"Lady Tabitha," Darlin faces her without acknowledging the backhanded compliment. "congratulations on your graduation."

"And to you." Lady Tabitha's fan snaps shut, her telltale sign for when she's ready to pick a fight. "But I do worry how our dear valedictorian will manage in a world where books and formulas won't prove one's worth." Her caring expression is marred by the mockery in her eyes, "There are just some obvious things school can't teach you about, you know?"

Cocking her head as though intrigued by Tabitha's words, Darlin urges, "Oh? Do regale me on these "obvious things"."

"I would, but... looking at the state of Lady Darlin's engagement, I am afraid you might just be hopeless in this area."

Where there were once praises are now snickers and whispered taunts at her expense. Darlin is no stranger to humiliation, this level of insult can't put so much as a scratch on her composure.

In this life, she determinately played matchmaker for Heinrich and Flora, while also defending the innocence of their relationship more than anyone else. 

Some pity her, some call her a fool, nonetheless it's all for a purpose, and the opinion of others will not stop her.

Darlin wears an innocently troubled look. "Lady Tabitha, I am a bit confused. Then again, your speech has always been a little... crass, to be honest."

"Excuse me?!" Tabitha glowers. "Are you calling me uneducated right now?!"

"Oh, please do not misunderstand me. What I mean is; maybe with a pen and an open heart I might better understand you."

Tabitha frowns in confusion, then pales upon recognizing the line from her own love poem; "With a pen, and an open heart, let my feelings be better understood."

The idiot even signed it with her initials. Unmoved by Tabitha's trembling, Darlin's eyes remain soft and distant, while her words cut like a blade. "By the way, I hear your fiancé is quite the collector of literature. I recently came across an anonymous poem, perhaps an aficionado like him might be familiar with the writer?"

Tabitha's proud shoulders cave under an invisible weight, her eyes begging Darlin not to follow through with the tacit threat. She shakes her head, her words spilling out as hapless whimpers. 

In her second life, Darlin grabbed Tabitha by the hair and slapped her in the face when she found the letter. This is infinitely milder yet she looks like she might faint. 

A love letter to another's fiancé, while being engaged yourself... It's amazing how I can still say she's not as bad as Flora. Letters and gifts to a man you admire from afar are one thing— unhidden romantic relations with your sister's betrothed are another. 

In comparison to all that’s been, and all that will be, Tabitha is the mildest of inconveniences. 

"Set your heart at ease, Lady Tabitha. I may still be lacking, but I assure you I am more astute than you give me credit for." Darlin warns. 

"Y-Yes!" Tabitha nods so fast she looks like her head might fly off. "I completely agree! I... I a-a-apologize for my crude words, p-please forgive me…”

Darlin might be one of the most gossiped ladies in high society, yet her beauty, grace, and ability to bring those who confront her to quickly heed have kept her from being the most mocked. A far cry from my other lives. 

She helped raise Tabitha from her apologetic bow, pretending not to notice when she flinched under her touch. "What a shame not everyone can experience Lady Tabitha's sincerity. Then again, we can not all be your beloved fiancé." Darlin did not take much joy in triumphing over a mere twenty year old when she herself is quite an old soul, just that  Tabitha sure has a nose for sniffing out trouble. 

"Yes, I am... sincere to… Sir Dylan." Tabitha never imagined that letter would find its way into Darlin's hands! Bowing again, she made a hasty excuse and fled from the hall. 

"Oh my, did Lady Tabitha not look like she was going to cry?” Another lady asks. She seemed to pity Tabitha, but the glee in her voice was evident. 

The multi-faced nobles switch sides once more. 

"She has always been quite the arrogant little thing."

"I pity Sir Dylan. I fear Lady Tabitha will be too much of a hassle."

"Lady Darlin really has such a benevolent heart."

"Lady Tabitha is always saying the most horrible things about you."

"She must be jealous of your beauty. I hear she asked Madame Gisselle for a white wig."

"Ha! Don't they say imitation is the highest compliment?"

Darlin took nothing they said to heart. Picking a young nobleman at random, she requests, “Sir, do you have the time?"

He scrambles for his pocket watch. "O-Oh! It's… 11:54."

"Much appreciated." With a curtsy to the group of young nobles, she said, "I have one final announcement to make. Everyone, please excuse me."

As Darlin makes her way to the stage, graduates, teachers, and invited guests attending the royal academy's graduation ceremony greet her warmly, or congratulate her achievement as valedictorian. 

It made Darlin feel hollow. This was the first life where she attained such an achievement— but it's not like she was a bad student in her other lives.

No, too many people expected too much of her, and without fail she was always within the top ten. 

The only life she failed to do this was when she didn't attend the academy in her fourth life, as her parents didn't dare show their deranged daughter to the world. 

So, if not academic achievements, what changes how the world treats her? Her gaze is drawn towards one of the balconies made private by thick curtains, a sad glow within them. Ah, that's it... it's me. 

The Darlin who does not struggle for Heinrich's attention, rage at the sister who takes everything without effort or thought, nor yield under derision, is worthy of being treated as human. 

Taking the stage, she wonders why her prior reactions were not valid. "Good evening again, everyone. I hope you are not sick of seeing me already." The audience laughs at her joke, and Darlin’s mind paints a sick and distorted image.

Her fiancé is cheating on her with her sister, while his and her parents dismissed her.

"Heinrich isn't that sort of man!"

"Can't you tolerate your sister a little?"

"Why do you have to be so insecure?"

"Do realize how insane you sound right now? It's unbecoming."

"I just want to get along with my future sister-in-law, so stop overreacting."

"Sister, I only admire Heinrich, you're the one engaged to him."

They weren't deaf to the rumors, nor how she was being treated as the person who got in the way of Heinrich and Flora's love. 

11:57. 

"Let’s always remember tonight as the night we become true adults— nobles who will pave a brighter future for our glorious Empire and leave our marks on history!"

Darlin found the cheers silly as a majority of them will go on to live normal lives and die in mediocrity.

"I would like to thank every teacher, parent, and guest who are here to join in our celebration.” 

11:58. 

Her feelings may have been unbecoming for a noblewoman, yes, but to what extent is one so noble they stop being human? 

Flora was unfortunate because she loved someone she could not have. Why were her tears worth wiping? Why is her broken heart worth comforting whilst Darlin's remains a shame to her peerage and the family she is honored enough to marry into? 

"With the Headmistress' permission, I have prepared a gift to commemorate this momentous day." 

Her gaze finds her parents, and not far from them are the Duke and Duchess of Fritz. 

Darlin wanted to ask them; as a daughter, a human— Does my heart not matter? 

If not, then I can't be noble. I will be human. "Everyone, please enjoy the fireworks!” 

12:00. 

The butlers, who'd gotten into position during Darlin's speech, pull on the ropes, lifting all the curtains demarcating the balconies. 

Excitement quickly turns to shock, alarm, disgust even. 

Flora is seated on the balcony's railing, the front of her dress dragged halfway down her impressive bust, hair a mess, and her dress rolled so high the ribbon of her stockings are visible. 

Heinrich is between her legs, waist coat and jacket discarded on the floor while his shirt was completely undone in front... as were his pants…

As the light from the hall bathes them, the heated bubble pops, and a cold reality washes over them. 

Flora shrinks into Heinrich's chest with a scream. Heinrich could not choose between shielding her or covering up his own shame, turning into a stuttering, clumsy mess of a man. 

With everyone in shock over the scene, Darlin let a feral glee paint her face. 

Humanity is ugly.