This Villainess Shall Vow to Live Humbly and Frugally this Time Around

Eleven: Repeat after me, 'Sanity is a luxury.'

(A/N: The video above shows an example of a kabedon for those who doesn't know what it is.)

***

Our school, Ryuusei Gakuen, had the history of being an exclusive nobles' school in the past. Then time passed by and eventually the school started to accept commoners. When the commoners came in, the nobles in the school separated themselves from those of lower status than them. It was an act of power. This was the roots of the Regalia.

Soon after, the Regalia became official, not just an unspoken custom or rule, but an actual organization of students. Time again did it's muddling and the Regalia, which just started out as a club for nobles, was saddled with new rules for qualification. These rules brought out the two kinds of Regalia: the Regalias of Prestige and the Regalias of Merit.

The Regalias of Prestige were said to be the descendants of the nobles which founded the Regalia. At least that was the prevalent rumor. I think 'Prestige' was more based on power, wealth, and influence now rather than bloodline. But that's what I think. After all, the current Regalias of Prestige all have that in common. And hey, maybe our school did dig up our genealogies. Who knows.

The Regalias of Merit were simply the most exceedingly talented people in school. The elite crop, so to speak. They consisted of the students who made it in their grades' top ten rankings and those students who had widely recognized talents.

Anyway, I was considered both. A Regalia of Prestige and Merit. I started out as a Regalia of Prestige having received my brooch the moment I started elementary. Then I also ascended within the top ten rankings of our grade. Last year, Ryuugamine and Homura shared the number one spot. They both coincidentally had the same exact grade. Kisaragi was second and I was third.

Since the ranking doesn't really care if you're a Regalia of Prestige already, those who wanted become a Regalia this way had lesser chance. The only other way was to excel in sports or art, be it visual, musical or culinary but then again, the standards were a bit high.

There were about ten to fifteen Regalias per grade. Every grade had about five sections with, more or less, thirty students each. Our grade had twelve Regalias mainly because of Ryuugamine and Homura sharing a spot last year and the other one was a Regalia of Prestige who did not make the rankings. Including me, Ryuugamine, Homura and Kisaragi, there were only five Regalias of Prestige in our grade.

Speaking of, the symbol of our status as Regalias was the iris brooch on our chest. The iris flower was the symbol of our school. Apparently, the meaning of iris in flower language was associated with royalty.

And the reason why I'm breaking into this tedious exposition is because of my current location.

One of the most desirable privileges of being a Regalia was access to the Regalia exclusive facilities in school like the 2nd floor cafeteria but at least the 2nd floor allowed the partners of the Regalia. The Crown was strictly for Regalias only. Imagine an unnecessarily fancy cafe suited for elementary students with bookshelves on the side, a few shelves filled with board games and a counter filled with free pastries and cakes. That was pretty much the Crown. It's technically a glorified hangout place for privileged kids and it's also a nest for the elite students to build connections for the future. It has a counterpart for the middle school and high school division too.

I usually wait here for my brothers so all three of us could go home together. Homura, Kisaragi and Ryuugamine joined me a few times. More like, at least one of them was with me every single time I'm in the Crown so I was never alone in here and no one else could really approach either. In my past life, a girl or two would have approached and joined me for tea but with Homura's oblivious intimidation and Kisaragi's seemingly unwelcoming silence, the other kids were too uneasy to approach. And for some troublesome reason, whenever it was only me and Ryuugamine, it was like everyone took a majority vote not to approach and subtly watch carefully. Needless to say, elementary kids lacked subtlety so the sneaky glances and pretentious chatter was so obvious it was painful.