Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

“My lady, what should I do to help her then?” Kayla asked. “I can’t just leave her like this. I mean, it can affect her future, her career and a whole lot of things in her life!”

The archduchess smiled fondly at her former student and subordinate.

“…What? Why are you smiling?”

“You’re good at this.”

“Good at what?”

“This… Being a teacher. You’re quite good.”

“Are you kidding me? I am totally unprepared for something like this. I can teach them literature and… and how to fight a monster and how to survive when attacked by one, but dealing with something like multiple personality disorder is not my forte!” Kayla rambled.

“You’ve got the heart of one. I mean, you had long cut off our relationship and considering how prideful you are, you swallowed that and sought me for advice. If that’s not the heart of a teacher, then I don’t know what that is.”

“You’re joking.”

“Just compare it to my performance when I was raising you. Just how dense are you? I’m giving you a compliment.” the archduchess clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Oh. Th- thank you then.”

“You’re welcome. Now, I can’t do something for this student of yours if I don’t meet her myself. I have to assess her to come up with a way to help her… I suppose. But, as you know I am the prime minister of this nation so I’m quite busy. I can’t help you with this one.”

“But- but-“

“But if the person we’re talking about is a student of the Imperial Academy then I can have Luna help you.”

“Luna? Why?”

“The specialty that you sought me for, I taught it to her. Well, she was quite talented in this field herself so I helped her become… better I guess.”

“Luna Hysi? She’s already a monster. But you actually taught her your skill of understanding other people’s minds? What kind of person are you raising?” Kayla asked.

“See? Even you’re worried at a kid who can probably destroy half the school if she wants to. You really do have the heart of a teacher.”

“Milady, stop joking.”

“Fine. Anyway, I recommend Luna to help you out on this one. After making her diagnosis and assessment, tell her she can talk to me if she ever snags on a wall or something.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“This particular student kind of… sort of… hates her.”

Kayla watched as the archduchess sigh, like she already knew it and was tired of hearing it. “Of course. It’s a really interesting case too.”

The archduchess glanced at the drawings once again. One was a green tree standing tall in the middle of a plain under a cloudless blue sky. The other was another tall tree, but the sky was colored gray. The third drawing was a leafless tree drawn in black with its background a static of color. The fourth drawing was a dead brown tree with the background of a raging storm. And last drawing was a thin dead tree in the middle of a black void.

“This is my first time coming across a D.I.D. case in Afasia. What a waste.”

“Milady…”

“Five personalities, including the main one. Luna’s the only person inside the school that can help you. If you ask for her help or not, it’s totally your call.” Archduchess Zaira told her. “But you better do something about that student of yours soon.”

The archduchess picked up the fifth drawing.

“This one looks very ominous. If each of these drawings is the representation of the different personalities, this one is the most troublesome. You do not want to confront the owner of this drawing.”

Kayla was at a loss.

***

It had been a few months since school started. The quarterly exams had passed as well and even without meaning to, I still ended up first rank in the magic arts department first years. I was third rank in the overall though. My friends and family were somewhat happy about it, but there was a certain fellow who wasn’t as festive as them.

“You probably cheated, didn’t you?” growled Freya as she blocked my way to the practical class.

“Cheated? Like there was any way that I can. You’re just being paranoid Freya.”

“I’ll get you for this.” she sneered and purposely hit my shoulder as she passed by me.

“Are you okay?” asked a classmate of mine, Margaret.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

We continued our way to the practical class location.

The past couple of months, Kai wasn’t attacked by any assassin or troublesome people. We were able to relax and focus on our studies, which was a student’s purpose since the beginning. But we still did not let our guard down. I knew that whoever sent the assassin last time was only waiting for the right chance. The security within the academy had been tighter after all.

I was halfway to my class when Professor Tresde suddenly barged into the classroom.

“Professor Noria, I’m borrowing Luna Hysi for the rest of your class.” she said and made her way to where we were huddled.

“May I ask for the reason, professor?”

“It’s quite private, so I hope you will let me. And besides, it’s not like she’ll fall behind right?”

I could feel the tension between the two teachers. Professor Noria sighed in defeat and gave her approval. Professor Tresde brought me to her office where she offered for me to take a seat.

“Why did you bring me here professor?”

“I have a small problem. And Archduchess Zaira told me you can help me.”

“Auntie did? What kind of problem is it?”

She handed me a brown envelop. I accepted and slowly opened it. I saw five different drawings of a representation of a tree. I was very surprised when I saw the name scribbled behind all of it…

“Freya?” I inquired.

The professor nodded. “Your aunt called it D.I.D. What did it mean again…? Uh…”

“Dissociative Identity Disorder.”

“Yes, that one. It’s also called as-“

“Multiple Personality Disorder.” my jaw hardened in disbelief. “That Freya has it?”

“The archduchess said you would know what to do.”

“Really? Something like this needs closure. I have to talk to the patient myself and assess her situation. And once I have the necessary information I need, then I can diagnose her and come up with a method. That’s how psychology works.” I explained.

“Huh. So you really do know about it. She said you would, I just did not believe her.”

“So? Freya has multiple personalities. And from what I can see, there are five of them and two are quite troublesome in particular.”

“The archduchess already gave me the rundown. Luna, I need you to observe Freya for a few days.”

“Pardon?”

“I know you two hate each other’s guts, but Freya’s… Freya’s mentally disturbed right now. So you have to understand.” she said with a worried look.

“Fine.”

“Anyway, I need you to observe her for a few days. Study the different personalities that she has and compare it to the drawings she submitted. Also, try to see if you can figure out what triggers the personalities to emerge from her subconscious.”

“Aunt Zaira’s words?”

“Totally. Also, try to figure out how she developed such a condition in the first place.” I nodded.

“Hmm… I can think of a few psychotherapy methods already, but observation is still necessary.” I mumbled. “Very well. I will observe her.”

“Thank you Luna. One more thing, nobody else must know. Freya… Freya’s mind is fragile right now. And this kind of situation needs some privacy. Telling you and the archduchess is already a breach of that privacy.”

“You told me to help you assess her better and as well as help you treat her. That’s in no way, a breach of anything.” I told her with a smile. “Freya and I may not see things eye to eye, but it won’t leave a good taste in my mouth if I defeated her and yet she’s in such a condition. I might as well throw chivalry and honor out the window.”

“Good. I’ll ask you for any updates from time to time. As a return, you’re exempted from any paperwork in my subject, except for a pop quiz.”

I just nodded my head with a smile on my face. “I’ll take that offer.”

And so, I became Freya’s stalker. My friends were quite confused about my actions, especially when I would leave them when we were in the middle of something. But they were already quite used to it. Anyway, I tried to keep Freya in my sight at all times ever since Professor Tresde asked me to keep an eye on her. Good thing we were in the same class most of the time. The only time I would not be able to see her was during lunch and after school. She would hang out with her circle of friends somewhere in the academy grounds, so I would send Vyfal to monitor her if it couldn’t be helped that I had to be away from her.

Three days later, it looked like my suspicious actions caught her attention.

“What do you want with me?” Freya asked, irritation written all over her face.

“What are you talking about? I just happened to be here.” I said.

“Really? That’s your excuse? You think I haven’t noticed you tailing me the last few days? I may be a rank below you, but I’m neither naïve nor stupid.” she retorted.

“No, just a little dense and thick-faced.”

“Ugh! You’re unreasonable! How did a girl like you become our year’s first rank?”

She stormed out of my sight. But I did put a little of my energy on her. That way, I could track her and she wouldn’t notice it.