Seraphina was just about to tell Dr. Sniffles the most upsetting part of her day, when someone interrupted her therapy with a knock on the door.

She had been in the middle of explaining to Dr. Sniffles that her day had taken a terrible course when the kitchen staff did not have her favourite breakfast served this morning. Now, Seraphina was a very reasonable girl, of course. She had politely sent her plate back and asked them to prepare her toast with cream and figs instead, but her mother had shaken her head in disapproval regardless of her pristine manners and reasonable request.

“Seraphina, you mustn’t be this difficult.” She had remarked. 

But Seraphina was hardly difficult. She simply wanted the best the world had to offer and she did not see anything wrong with that at all. 

Another knock sounded from her bedroom door and Seraphina sighed most dramatically as she went to open it. Her father stood on the other side, the daily paper in his hand, and a wide grin lighting up his face.

“I am so sorry to interrupt your session with Dr. Sniffles, sweetheart, but I bring wonderful news.” 

Seraphina glanced back to see if Dr. Sniffles had heard and accepted her father’s apology, and instead found her fluffy white cat already fast asleep at the foot of her canopied bed. 

“You shall have to apologise to him at a later time, father, he is otherwise occupied at the moment. Do tell me of the news you bring.”

Her father eagerly handed her the paper, seemingly anxious for her to read the good news herself.

Before she could even move past the first word, her father announced, “The university of Andon is finally opening its doors to girls.”

Seraphina’s eyes shot up at him before looking back down at the headline. 

‘University of Andon to allow women above the age of one-and-twenty to sit for the entrance examination.’

Her eyes widened as hope bubbled up inside her, but she forced herself to read the entire page before jumping to conclusions too rapidly—as she often tended to do.

‘After months of continuous protests and debates, the University of Andon has finally decided to let women above the age of one-and-twenty take the infamously rigorous exam and be allowed the chance to enjoy an education in its hallowed halls. 

This marks a very special occasion in history, as it is the first university in all of Andon to accede to these demands. 

An inside source tells us that not all board members agreed to this decision. 

Some believe that allowing women to “breach the walls of the Academy” will result in a muddling of the sexes and lead to chaos within society.’

“At last!” Seraphina could barely contain her excitement. She wanted to twirl around the room and shout from the window. “I can hardly believe it. Who knew those silly protests would move the board to such a decision?” 

Her father cleared his throat. “I did tell you that the protests were going to make a change, Seraphina.” 

Seraphina nodded solemnly to appease him. “That you did, father.” 

A genuine smile took over her face. “Oh, I must tell mother. We have to prepare my wardrobe, for Cassidy Landon always has an insufferably long waiting list. I cannot leave for university without a proper wardrobe. I simply refuse.” 

But the most pressing matter on her mind was not her wardrobe, in fact, the true excitement she felt came from the opportunity she now had to rub this in a certain person’s face. She couldn’t wait to see his expression of utter devastation when he found out that his precious university walls would be breached by none other than his arch nemesis herself. 

James Woodbury would rue the day he was born soon.

Eleanor Winthorpe watched as Seraphina tried on dress after dress and instructed the seamstress on the precise way she wished the fabrics to fall and hug her body. Although Cassidy was the most talented seamstress in all of Andon, Seraphina’s demands tended to be very particular as she had a very high appreciation for fashion and did not accept any deviations from her vision. 

Fortunately, Cassidy was very familiar with the Winthorpes and had made many dresses for Seraphina before. None of her demands were too difficult to meet, as Cassidy’s love for fashion matched Seraphina’s own nearly perfectly. 

“I think this colour suits my pale skin tone well, does it not?” Seraphina asked her mother. “If you pull the silk up higher on this side, will it look too indecent, Cassie?” She asked, looking at herself in the mirror. 

She was glad her mother had been able to arrange this appointment for her. No one understood her wardrobe needs quite like Cassie did. She had a special gift that only Seraphina knew how to truly appreciate. 

“Mother, do you think grandmother would roll over in her grave if she saw me in this?” Seraphina pulled up one side of her dress in a way that exposed her leg the tiniest bit. She had always loved more risqué fashion, but she never wished to disturb her poor grandmother’s eternal rest. Her mother often told her that their ancestors were always watching them silently, judging all their decisions. Whenever she tried on a dress that was too scandalous, her mother reminded her that her deceased grandmother would have had a conniption had she still been amongst them. 

Unfortunately, her mother tended to err more on the side of practicality and did not care as much for the latest fashion trends. 

“I think your grandmother would be fine with that, dear.” 

Seraphina tried on two more dresses before deciding that she would take four of Cassie’s designs with a few alterations and have her make ten new dresses completely to Seraphina’s own taste. 

Mother and daughter left Cassidy’s shop and wandered over to the bakery on the other side of the street to buy some pastries for the twins. 

As soon as they walked inside, Seraphina felt indignant that her peace was to be disturbed so soon, because there stood the devil himself, buying bread. She silently hoped that he would choke on the loaf as he ate it. Oh, how she would cackle and dance the day tragedy struck him.

“It smells wonderful in here as always, Lucas.” Said her mother to the baker as a form of a greeting. 

Seraphina was too busy glaring in James Woobury’s direction to greet anyone. 

“Your Grace! What a sight for sore eyes you are. And Seraphina, you look especially dazzling today.” 

Seraphina tilted her head in the baker’s direction with a smile. “Why, thank you, Lucas. You’re too kind.” She returned.

Her mother roped poor Lucas into a conversation about the twins whilst Seraphina looked at all the baked goods on display. She loved Lucas’s little bakery. She had been coming here ever since she was a child and had always loved the sweet, warm scents that hung inside, almost feeling like an embrace on a cold morning. 

The warmth rapidly turned to hellfire when she felt an evil presence sidle up next to her. Seraphina suppressed a shudder. 

“You have heard the news, I assume?” His voice was like velvet, deep and smooth.

“Of course I have.” Seraphina continued her inspection of the bakery. There were about twenty different flavours of cake and pie on display and about thirty loaves of bread in various shapes and sizes. The shelves were filled with baskets of tarts, creams, puddings, and rolls that smelled and looked divine. She decided to buy an apple crumble pie for herself before they left the shop to satisfy her sweet tooth. 

“So you’ll be sitting for the exam?” 

“Absolutely.” She said, finally deigning to look at him, a small self important smile on her face.

He was looking down at her in a way that made her feel smaller than she was, which was how James Woodbury always made her feel. It was one of the many reasons she could not stand the man. 

“You know the exam is extremely difficult.” He lifted an eyebrow at her as if to insinuate that that the exam would be much too difficult for her in particular, and Seraphina wished she could slap that smug expression off his face. 

“What is it you want, Woodbury?” She said coldly.

He grinned. “Nothing in particular, I’m just making conversation.”

“Well, I wish you wouldn’t.” She turned her back to him and wandered to the other side of the shop. 

“James!” Eleanor walked up to the pair and wrapped the devil in an embrace. 

“Hello, Eleanor.” He said softly, smiling at her mother. “It’s lovely to see you.”

Seraphina glared daggers at him. 

“Won’t you join us for dinner tonight, dear? We’re celebrating the good news in honour of Seraphina.” 

“But mother!”

“I would love to, Eleanor, thank you.” James winked at Seraphina and she had to dig her nails into the palms of her hands to keep herself from inciting violence inside the bakery. 

Oh, that two-headed spawn of Lucifer! 

Seraphina was seething. 

Once again, James Woodbury had managed to worm himself into her family’s presence and ruin her day.

In an attempt to protest his presence at their dinner table that evening, Seraphina refused to leave her room when she was called down for dinner. Her parents could have their terrible visitor all to themselves. She would sneak down into the kitchen later that night to eat. 

Of course, she did not know how long that would take and her stomach was grumbling quite loudly at it was. Alas, she had a cause and it would not do to abandon it. 

If her parents preferred to dine with James Woodbury over their own daughter then they could do so, but she would not make it easy for them to betray her. 

A hunger strike would tell them exactly what she thought of their treacherous conduct.

She abhorred the fact that her parents loved this intruder to the point of including him in their private affairs—their family dinners for goodness’ sake! He was supposed to be nothing to them, yet they treated him as if he was their own son. It disgusted her. 

“Seraphina, darling, please come down.” Her mother said with a soft knock on her door. “You have to eat something.”

“Not until you throw that rat out of my house!”

“Seraphina, you are much too old to behave this way. You have to be courteous to our guest.”

“I will never be courteous to that man. Never!”

She heard her mother sigh on the other side of the door. “If you come down to have dinner with us, I promise to take you back to Cassidy so you can buy three more dresses.”

Seraphina sprang up and flew to the door where her mother stood with a weary smile, shaking her head. “You are impossible, child.”

“What are we having for dinner?” Seraphina asked as she made her way to the dining room, her mother following behind her.

As she entered the room, Seraphina’s anger rose to the surface again. 

He was sitting in her chair. Hers. Not his. 

What right did this mongrel have to steal her place at their table?

Deciding to do the mature thing, she forged a smile on her face and sat in the chair right across from her worst nightmare. 

“Good evening, everyone.” She said politely. 

“Evening, princess.” James replied with a smirk. 

Seraphina ignored him as she filled up her plate with chicken and roast vegetables. 

It was not her preferred meal, but it would do just fine. 

“Are you ready to take the exam next month, darling?” Seraphina’s father asked. 

“I believe so.” She answered confidently.

Nathaniel Winthorpe was Seraphina’s greatest advocate in her quest to attend university. Where Eleanor felt overprotective and wished to keep her daughter safe at home, Nathaniel had always pushed Seraphina to study as much as she wished, hoping it would eventually lead to her dream of studying at the University of Andon. 

Her mother was proud of her, but she was afraid to let her daughter go. In this, Seraphina preferred her father’s perspective. He was never truly afraid of anything. He even encouraged the twins when they were up to no good, all for pushing boundaries and finding one’s path in life. 

“You must prepare well. The University of Andon is a serious institution.”

“Much too serious for some.” Said James, hiding an evil smile behind his cup. 

Seraphina swung her leg as hard as she could and kicked him in the shin. 

Instead of keeling over, however, James Woodbury laughed. Or cackled, more like.

If Seraphina’s parents and siblings had not been sitting at that table, she would have thrown her plate at his head.