CHAPTER 59: STAGE PRESENCE 9

"Now, kiss me, my love!"

Aegis dipped Miheyra backwards, one hand supporting her back while the other clutched her waist. Miheyra’s copper braids dangled toward the floor as she squeaked.

"A-Aegis, I don’t think Queen Rosanna would—"

"She absolutely would." Aegis winked at the small audience gathered in the empty classroom. "Trust me on this one."

Ellis adjusted his spectacles from where he sat on a desk.

"Based on historical accounts, Queen Rosanna was actually quite reserved in public—"

"Ehhh, the historical accounts were written by prudes who wanted to sanitize her image."

[Her words, not mine.]

Aegis pulled Miheyra back up, spinning her once before releasing her. The poor girl stumbled back to lean against the wall, fanning herself.

"The real Rosanna? She fucked a maid in an alcove during her own coronation ball."

"Language!" Tam whispered, though their eyes sparkled with interest.

"What? We’re all adults here." Aegis hopped up to sit on the teacher’s desk, crossing her legs. "Besides, if I’m going to sell this romance with Princess Ice Queen, I need to match Rosanna’s actual energy. Not the watered-down version they teach in history class."

Jona looked up from his notes.

"You really think you can make Princess Talia believable as someone in love? She looks at everyone like they’re dirt on her shoes."

"Especially you," Ellis added helpfully.

"Especially me," Aegis agreed with a smile and a nod. "Which is what makes it perfect. All that tension has to go somewhere, you know?"

The door burst open.

Professor Loralei floated in, her hair streaming behind her like she was underwater. Her usual dramatic flair seemed dampened though, her expression tight.

"Aegis, darling, we need to talk." She glanced at the study group. "Alone, if you please."

The scholarship students filed out, Miheyra still pink-faced and Ellis muttering about historical inaccuracies. Once the door closed, Loralei’s theatrical mask dropped entirely.

"We have a problem."

Aegis stayed on the desk, swinging her legs.

"Let me guess. Someone’s spreading rumors about me?"

Loralei’s eyes widened.

"How did you—" She shook her head. "Never mind. Yes, that’s exactly it. The more traditional families are making noise about it being inappropriate for someone with your... condition to play such an intimate role opposite Princess Talia."

"My condition." Aegis snorted. "They make it sound like I have the plague."

Of course, Aegis had anticipated something like this.

[It’s either Varyn or Talia. 100%, one of them would try to stop the play from happening. Or, well, stop me from being in it.]

"To them, you might as well." Loralei began pacing, her feet not quite touching the ground. "They’re calling it a corruption of Valdria’s most beloved historical figure. Saying that having a ’cursed’ individual portray Rosanna’s lover is an insult to her memory."

[Oh, if only they knew Rosanna herself has been teaching me aether magic while casually mentioning her various sexual escapades and being all for my participation in this play.]

"And naturally, these complaints started organically. No coordination whatsoever."

Loralei sighed.

"The Duskbane family has been particularly vocal," Loralei said carefully. "Young Lord Varyn has been making rounds, expressing his deep concern for the princess’s virtue."

[Ah, there we go.]

She was relieved that it seemed Talia wasn’t the primary cause of this.

"Her virtue." Aegis laughed. "Right. Because making out with me on stage would somehow taint her pure noble essence."

"This isn’t funny, Starcaller. They’re gathering signatures for a formal petition to have you removed from the production."

Aegis hopped off the desk, stretching her arms above her head. Her uniform shirt rode up slightly, exposing a strip of skin.

"How many signatures?"

"Forty-three as of this morning. They need a hundred to force a review."

"Mmm." Aegis walked to the window, looking out at the courtyard where students milled about between classes.

She spotted Varyn down there, surrounded by a cluster of minor nobles, his violet eyes animated as he gestured dramatically. Probably spinning tales of how she’d corrupt poor, innocent Talia with her commoner cooties.

[Little shit really doesn’t know when to quit.]

"The production is in five days," Loralei continued. "If they get those signatures before then—"

"They won’t."

"You sound very confident."

Aegis turned back with a smile that made Loralei take a half-step backward.

"That’s because I am. See, Varyn made a critical error."

"Which is?"

"He’s fighting this battle on moral grounds. Traditional values, purity, protecting the princess’s reputation, all that nonsense." Aegis cracked her knuckles. "But he forgot one tiny detail."

Loralei tilted her head.

"What detail?"

"That I have Charisma, and I’m not afraid to use it."

"I don’t follow."

"You will." Aegis headed for the door. "Professor, I need you to do me a favor. Call a meeting of everyone involved in the production. Cast, crew, everyone. Tell them it’s mandatory."

"When?"

"Tonight. After dinner." Aegis paused at the door. "Oh, and make sure word gets out that it’s happening. I want the whole academy talking about it and speculating."

"Hm... Aegis, what are you planning?"

"I’m going to remind everyone why Queen Rosanna fell in love with a commoner in the first place." She glanced back over her shoulder. "And why that story deserves to be told properly, curse or no curse."

Loralei watched her leave, then floated over to her desk to start writing notices. Whatever Aegis was planning, it was bound to be interesting.

---

The dining hall buzzed with gossip that evening.

Aegis sat with Scarlett and Lune, deliberately ignoring the stares and whispers from other tables.

"So you’re really going through with this?" Scarlett asked through a mouthful of bread. "Taking on all those stuck-up nobles at once?"

"It’s not about taking them on. At least, not directly." Aegis pushed her vegetables around her plate with very evil genius-ly. "It’s about changing the conversation."

Lune looked up from her sketchbook where she’d been drawing Aegis’s hands.

"What do you mean?"

"Right now, Varyn’s controlling the narrative. Poor Princess Talia, forced to lock lips with a cursed commoner. The horror." Aegis took a sip of water. "But what if the story was different? What if it was about honoring Queen Rosanna’s actual legacy? About showing that love transcends class and tradition?"

"Pretty words," Scarlett said. "But those nobles don’t give a shit about any of that."

"No, but they care about looking good." Aegis spotted Talia across the hall, sitting rigid between her mother and some duke’s son. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second before Talia looked away, jaw tight. "And they care about not looking like assholes in front of the whole academy."

"You’re going to shame them into backing down?"

"Shame? Me? Nooooo... I’m going to give them a choice." Aegis stood, gathering her tray. "Stand with tradition or stand with art. We’ll see which one they pick when everyone’s watching."

As she walked past Varyn’s table, she heard him saying, "—simply trying to protect the princess’s dignity. Surely everyone can understand that."

She kept walking, but made sure to sway her hips just enough to draw attention. Several conversations stopped mid-sentence.

[That’s right, boys. Get a good look at the cursed commoner who’s about to kiss your precious princess. With LOTS of tongue.]

The meeting room was already packed when she arrived.

The entire cast was there, along with the stage crew, costume designers, and even some students who were just curious. Professor Loralei floated at the front, wringing her translucent hands.

"Thank you all for coming—"

"Why are we here?" demanded a noble girl from the chorus. "If this is about the petition—"

"It is," Aegis said, walking to the front. The crowd parted for her, some stepping back more than necessary. "I wanted to address the concerns some of you have about my involvement in the production."

"Concerns?" Varyn stood from where he’d been lurking in the corner. "That’s a mild way to put it. You’re asking us to watch a cursed individual corrupt one of Valdria’s greatest love stories."

"Corrupt?" Aegis faced him directly. "Interesting choice of words. Tell me, Varyn, have you actually read Queen Rosanna’s personal journals?"

"What does that have to do with—"

"Because I have." It wasn’t entirely a lie. Rosanna had shared plenty of stories during their midnight training sessions. "And do you know what she wrote about her lover? The commoner who captured her heart?"

The room grew quiet.

"She wrote that their love was considered impossible. Scandalous. That nobles of her time called it a corruption of royal blood." Aegis swept her gaze across the room. "Sound familiar?"

"That’s different," Varyn protested. "You’re—"

"Cursed? Yes, we’ve established that." Aegis walked slowly through the crowd, making eye contact with as many people as possible. "But here’s what you’re really saying. You’re saying that someone like me doesn’t deserve to tell this story. That my body, my existence, somehow taints it."

"Nobody said that," the chorus girl muttered, but she wouldn’t meet Aegis’s eyes.

"No? Then what exactly is the problem? My acting skills? My interpretation of the role?"

Aegis stopped in the center of the room.

Several people shifted uncomfortably. Someone coughed.

"The play is about love crushing barriers," Aegis continued. "About two people from different worlds finding each other despite everyone telling them it’s wrong. And you want to cancel it because the actress playing one of those roles doesn’t fit your narrow definition of acceptable?" Aegis let that sink in. "The production goes on in five days. You can either be part of telling this story properly, or you can be remembered as the people who tried to censor history because it made you uncomfortable."

She walked back to the front, standing beside Professor Loralei.

"I’ll be at rehearsal tomorrow morning, as scheduled. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome. Anyone who doesn’t..." She shrugged. "Well, I’m sure future students will find it interesting when they read about how a group of nobles tried to shut down a play because they were scared of a commoner with a curse."

The silence stretched. Then, from the back, Liora stood up.

"I’ll be there."

A few scholarship students stood as well. Then some of the stage crew. Slowly, more people rose, until over half the room was standing.

Varyn’s face flushed purple.

"This is ridiculous. You can’t just—"

"I just did." Aegis smiled sweetly at him. "Unless you’d like to explain to the Headmistress why you’re trying to sabotage a production she personally approved? I’m sure she’d be fascinated to hear your thoughts on fertility-cursed individuals, considering she is one."

Varyn’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Several nobles who’d been supporting him suddenly found the floor very interesting.

"Rehearsal. Tomorrow. Nine sharp." Aegis headed for the door. "Don’t be late, everyone."