| “ | "Lainecest Academy's alumni holds the kingdom's future-and Headmaster Cornelius intends to keep it that way. He gives upstart Professor Verdilia a final chance before termination, tasking her with two problem students: the mystery-shrouded "Princess," Amaryllis, and the rebellious idol of the Independents, Lyelth. All the while, tensions rise between the campus's two study tracks, with Verdilia's younger sister Castelle caught near the heart of an unfolding murder mystery.."
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Lessons from Lainecrest is the 17th chapter of Story Mode, taking place in Lainecrest Academy. It takes place after The Empyrean Inn: Last Resort. It follows the story of Verdilia, Lyelth, Amaryllis and Castelle with Verdilia's having branching paths to one conclusive destination.
The story opens up with a girl named Alicia running late to the morning orientation. She just barely arrives and professor runs down about the orientation entails and how important those within Laincrest come to be. She explains the East Tower supports the normal curriculum while the West Tower has the independent study track with Lyelth and Lilium found within it. As the professor concludes the tour, Alicia approaches a shy Castelle in hopes to be her friend. Unfortunately, later that night, Weiss kills Alicia and word reaches Verdilia. Before she can ask for details, she gets assigned to teach the problem students of Lyelth and Amaryllis while also investigating Alicia's disappearance.
Making her way to the West Tower, Verdilia asks Lyelth to join her class, but he accepts readily, confusing Verdilia. He lists a number of outrageous things, but Verdilia counters with a duel to win Lyelth to her class. As Lyelth is ready to fight, Verdilia states she needs time to prepare and heads out to Cornelius to ask him questions. Verdilia deduces Lyelth is Cornelius's son. Afterward, Verdilia comes up a plan with a Guided student to see Lyelth's magic for herself. Lyelth showcases it, but Verdilia is unable to deduce what exactly it is. To gain more information, Verdilia heads to the library to grab Cornelius's biography and returns to the West Tower. Verdilia and Lyelth talk between themselves about her findings which then angers him when bringing up his late mother.
What Verdilia hadn't known was his mother was very caring, but very sickly. Cornelius was almost never around, but Lyelth had impressed him with his knowledge. As Lyelth showcased his magic to his mother, she quickly took a turn for the worse and then his magic was gone. Cornelius was quick to abandon him and then his mother had passed. Cornelius was quick to use her for his undead army and Lyelth ran away in terror with the gift his mother left him. After he arrived to Laincrest years later, Lyelth put on the mask of the perfect student for his peers and needed a way to prove himself. By some divine chance, his chance came when a professor came to shut down the class he was teaching and he quickly defeated him in a duel.
Next, Verdilia go searched for the fabled "Princess" within the confines of the library. She ends uncovering a secret pocket dimension with Amaryllis and a Dragon guarding her. After getting thrown out, Verdilia questions Lilium who Amaryllis had mentioned briefly. Lilium mentioned they were both childhood friends who both attended the same orphanage and enrolled to Laincrest together. Lilium states their picture book, The Princess and the Wyrmwitch, will help Verdilia overcome the barrier. She manages to learn the incantation to get past the dragon and invites Amaryllis to her class. As they get ready to leave, Amaryllis's curse activates and begins to suffocate Verdilia. As she exits, she questions Lilium once again about the curse. Lilium explains she uses creation magic as The Wyrmwitch and is the reason Amaryllis is locked away in the barrier. When she's questioned about her goal, Lilium simply states she's chasing after their happy ending.
In reality, Amaryllis was taken to an experimental camp without a name to call her own. One day, she encounter Lilium whom both gives her a name and invites her to read books every evening. Before it was time for Amaryllis to be called for the orphanages experiments, she and Lilium read The Princess and the Wyrmwitch. While Amaryllis felt sad about the book, Lilium was ecstatic about it, so Amaryllis went along with it. As a result unknowingly, Amaryllis became sickly and became cursed. As she got called over, the men writhed in agony as Lilium escorted her away. Fast forwarding to Laincrest, a student unknowingly encountered Amaryllis but gets thrown out. Lilium caught word of this and transforms the unlucky student into her Dragon.
Lastly, Verdilia conducts her investigation into Alicia and Castelle's name pops up as one of the people she talked. She quickly finds Castelle in one of the classroom with Castelle happily jumping into Verdilia's arms. Verdilia questions Castelle as to how she arrived in Laincrest and for what purpose. Castelle simply explains that she came to see Verdilia and got escorted by someone from the academy. She also mentioned she was also looking for Alicia, but she never found her. Before they leave, they make open plans to eat together.
Back in the past, Castelle was always being protected by her sister while she herself was regarded as weak sibyl. She always loved her sister for how caring, strong and kind she was to her. However, with how powerful Verdilia was, it left no time to spend with her sister. After pleading, the two go out together to patrol the deep woods, but Castelle gets caught within Verdilia's power and passed out. As Castelle woke up, Verdilia comprised with their parents to ensure Castelle's safety to work even harder. Castelle blamed herself for getting Verdilia in trouble and getting more work thrown at her. Castlle was forced to endure their parents who spoke ill will of Verdilia and the loneliness that came without Verdilia. As the years passed, Castelle caught word that Verdilia is on the run and quickly chased after her. Verdilia explains she's stealing the Goddess of Cycles from their blessed tree so no one will have to bend over backwards for a tree. Verdilia gave her farewells and despite Castelle's pleas to stay it didn't work. As time accelerated back to Laincrest, Castelle finishes recounting her past to Weiss and shows a keen interest in her.
Verdilia begins to plan out how to tackle Lyelth, Amaryliss and Castelle, but Weiss comes in suddenly. Verdilia asks why Weiss teaches he explains he's eager to teach new minds and have them try new things for change. Once he leaves, Verdilia begins making her way to everyone one at a time.
She starts by tackling Lyelth for their duel. She breaks down that Lyelth is using puppets for his attacks and they engage in battle. After a long drawn out fight, Verdilia succeeds in their duel.
After her victory, Verdilia makes her way back to the hidden library to Amaryllis. She tries to get Amaryllis to voice her own opinions and feelings, but the discomfort summons Lilium's Dragon. Her attacks seem to have no effect, but after she is not her Knight, but her Professor, she is able to defeat it. She deduces Lilium infects people with roles such as the defeated Knight or the sickly Princess. Amaryllis denies these claims, but Verdilia isn't quick to give up on her. After a back and forth, Amaryllis rejects her role and eagerly awaits to be in her class.
Finally, Verdilia stops by to see Castelle, when she noticed Weiss is the one teaching her class. Weiss weird comments dip Verdilia off and she has to cancel her plans with Castelle. As Verdilia tries to confirm more suspicions about Weiss and Alicia, but stumbled upon a rumor of "The Angel of Death". Later that night, she catches Weiss ready to attack another student and two begin their clash. In between their fight, Castelle catches them and gets ready defend Verdilia. In the end, Weiss retreats and Verdilia follows suit.
After completing all her tasks, Lyelth and Amaryllis arrive in her classroom. Amaryllis excitedly greets her new classmate while Lyelth is put off by the messy classroom and how off putting Amaryllis is. As they kick off their self introductions, Lilium and Cornelius get ready their own plans.
