Like a Fairytale

T W E L V E

"What do you want, Lady Lesso?"

Armes crossed, Alice sat on the chair in front of Lesso's desk - the redhead behind it.

"I want to talk about what happened today, Ali-"

"Oh. Suddenly it's Alice? What happened to Princess?" Alice asked sarcastically. She was mad and only wanted one thing: Answers. Clearness.

Lesso sighed. For a moment, the dean seemed to be exhausted, tired and guilty all at once. She was leaning on the desk with her elbows and slightly massaged her temples before looking at Alice.

"I wasn't myself today. I didn't want to say those things to you."

"Why did you then?"

"I-"
Lesso stopped, before she stood up and walked around her desk. Then, she knelt down next to Alice.
Alice in return, turned moved so that she now faced her dean.

For a moment, both of them stayed silent and just looked at each other. Studied each other.

Then, Lesso again started to talk.

"When you woke up today, you asked me what had happend while you were absent, right?"

Alice nodded.

Lesso seemed to struggle to continue speaking.

"Hester and Sophie were facing each other. But before Hester could win their little fight, a swarm of bees made its way into my classroom and started to hurt Hesters little demon. The injures of the demon were transferred to Hester, similar to how you got hurt at the ceremony. It nearly killed Hester and I told Sophie to stop it. Then, the bees transformed themselves into a... man-"

"Rafal?"

Lesso hesitated and looked at Alice with widened eyes.

"How-?"

"I'll tell you later. Now it's your turn to speak!" Alice commanded.

She indeed was surprised as Lesso did what she wanted. Alice thought that the dean would start yelling at hear for being cheeky.

"I... uh."

Lesso's hands stiffened and Alice noticed how uncomfortable the redhead got. She watched as Lesso swallowed, how her whole body tensed and how pale her face got.

"What is your relationship with Rafal?" Alice asked and at that point Lesso flinched and got even more paler.

"I... When I was student myself... I've got visited and trained by Rafal in every night. He told me that I could make Evil win again. That I was the one who was destined to be one of the most powerful villains the world'd ever seen."

A sad undertone mixed into Lessos voice. She seemed to be close to start crying.

"I-"

"You fell in love with him."

Lesso stayed silent but that was answer enough for Alice.

But Alice didn't mind.

On the outside.

Inside of her, she screamed and cried. But also, she felt anger growing inside her. Anger towards Rafal. Because if she guessed right, Lady Lesso's feelings weren't reciprocated.

She saw how a single tear escaped Lesso's left eye and run over her cheek. Gently, Alice wiped it away.

Surprised, Lesso looked at her student. She'd never expected her to act the way Alice did.

"What'd happend when he came to class?" Alice carefully moved back to their original topic, her hand still on Lessos cheek.

The redhead took a deep breath before she finished her report. She also told Alice what she'd said to Sophie afterwards.

Alice listened carefully to every word Lesso said.

"That's why you were so aggressive earlier... right?"

Lesso looked up to Alice.

"You were angry. You felt betrayed and jealous, didn't you?"

Lesso bit her lip before she slowly nodded. Alice saw how embarrassed the dean was.

Gently, she stroke Lesso's cheek. She didn't knew from where she took her courage to do something so intimate to her teacher but in this moment she felt like it was the right thing to do.

"How... How did you know about... Rafal?" Lesso asked after a moment of silence and stroking.

Alice briefly considered telling Lesso everything that had happened in her room today, and finally decided to do so.

She told Lesso everything. Every little detail, every single word Rafal'd said to her. And Lesso listened.

"Alice?"

The blond haired girl gazed at the dean.

"You do know that I won't hurt you again like I did today... right?" Lesso asked and stroke carefully over the bruise on Alice neck.

Alice hesitated for a moment. Did she know that Lesso wouldn't hurt her again?
But then she thought about what Lesso'd told her about Rafal and how manipulative he was.
She believed in Lesso and was willed to give her a second chance.

"I know, Lady Lesso." she said and gave Lesso a soft smile. After a short moment, Lesso returned the smile.

Slowly, Alice rose from her chair and sat down beside Lesso. The smell of oranges and cedar wood filled Alice' nostrils and a warm feeling flooded through Alice' body. She felt safe.

"You're strange, little Alice." Lesso said after a while in which both of them just sat next to each other. Questioning, Alice turned her head to look at the redhead.

Lesso chuckled slightly and returned Alice' gaze.

"You're the daughter of one of the most dangerous and cruelest villains who'd ever existed but you're still so kind towards the people you like. You... you-"

Lesso seemed to search for appropriative words.

"Just say it the way it comes to your mind. The things that happen in this room, stay in this room." Alice tried to help Lesso. Thankfully, Lesso nodded.

"You make me soft, Alice. Even though I called you princess, tried to make you embarrassed like I do with the other students... I just-"

Lesso stopped again and took a deep breath. Alice could tell that it was hard for the dean to speak about her feelings and she felt kind of proud that the redhead did open up to her.

"You showed me a side on me I forgot I had. In addition: you're still here. After what I've done to you today, you're still here. You should hate me, Alice!"

Alice shook her head.

"At first... yes... I kind of hated you. But you showed me a side of myself I didn't knew I had as well. I always used to be the one to shut people up. I used to be the one people were scared to talk to. I've never learned to deal with emotions rightly. You make me feel like I wasn't only the Dark One's daughter. You make me feel like a normal human being."

While Alice talked, she didn't pay any attention towards Lady Lesso.

The redhead watched her, a warm smile stuck on her face and a warm feeling around her used-to-be cold heart. She didn't knew if she could name her feelings love but she definitely knew that she was going to protect her girl with her whole life.