In the game, Damion and Zacard met in the prologue which took place during the Orientation.
There, the both of them would be assigned to the S Class but Zacard being the son of a duke did not take kindly to a commoner being in the same class as him and so he picked a fight with Damion which resulted in them both being demoted to the A class as punishment.
Zacard would then hold a grudge against Damion because of this incident despite it being his fault and he would continue to pick fights with Damion until the sudden large scale invasion of the Legion filled with it's undead and demons swept the continent and school was cancelled and all of the powerful personnel were sent to the front line.
There, he would find himself thriving and building a name for himself. Of course, as a asshole good guy who had beef with the protagonist there was only one fate for him. He would die in a heroic sacrifice.
But, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Zacard was supposed to hate Damion with a passion only letting up on his hating in his final moments so seeing him here listening to the protagonist crack jokes even if he didn't seem receptive of said jokes was mind boggling.
It was obvious something had been changed again and Lucas couldn't use the memories his predecessor had of the Orientation to figure out what might have changed then because there was no memories of the event.
This was because, both in the game and now in real life, his predecessor had caught a severe stomach bug and had had to miss the event as a result.
But as he tried to recall anything his predecessor might have known about this situation he realized that his predecessor knew nothing about anything much really and was very much an isolationist.
Very different from his in-game version.
It's fine, I'll ask Lydia when she comes back.
As if on queue, he heard footsteps approaching. Lydia was returning from her dormitory with a stack of books in her hands and behind her was a very attractive girl who was staring right at him.
She had long blonde hair that reached past her shoulders, straight and glossy. Her eyes were bright green with flecks of gold near the centers and her skin was clear with a light tan and she had high cheekbones and a narrow nose.
Her lips were pink and curved in a slight smile along with small gold studs decorated her earlobes and her fingernails were painted pale pink and filed into neat ovals. She was tall and moved with quick, light steps making her seem like a fairy.
Lucas immediately knew who this was. Marie Zellivan, the number one student in second year in both looks and academics who was very strongly related to the Royal Family of Noclies Kingdom.
She also happened to be Lydia's only friend and a very important character in Aquestius and most importantly of all, someone who should absolutely not have appeared before him today.
Seeing his stare, Lydia decided to speak up.
"Oh, you noticed her staring. This is my friend Marie," Lydia said with a little smirk as she walked over. "When I went back to my dorm to grab the books, I found her waiting outside my door. She wanted to hang out, but when I told her I was busy and explained what I'd be doing..." She gestured toward the blonde girl next to her.
"I decided to tag along," Marie said cheerfully. "I had nothing better to do right now, and I wanted to spend some time with my friend. Besides," she added with a grin that made Lydia's cheeks turn pink, "I was curious to see who could make this little bookworm get out of her room and go on a date."
"It's not a date!" Lydia protested, her face turning an even deeper red. She hugged her books tighter against her chest, completely losing her cool because of Marie's teasing. "It's just... it's tutoring! Academic help! Nothing more!"
Lucas found her flustered reaction unexpectedly cute. The way she stammered and blushed showed a side of her that he hadn't seen before.
Even in the game, Lydia had always kept her sharp-tongued cool, but here she was, blushing like any normal teenage girl being teased about guys.
"Of course, of course," Marie said with fake seriousness, though you could absolutely see the amusement on her face. "Just a very private, one-on-one study session. I totally get the difference."
"Marie!" Lydia said and shot her friend a warning look that only got a little giggle from the blonde girl.
"Well," Lucas said, hoping to save Lydia from more embarrassment, "should we head inside? The library should be quiet enough for studying."
Marie clapped her hands together. "Great idea! I promise I'll be super discreet during your... tutoring session."
As the trio walked toward the library's doors, Lucas thought about the implications of what he was witnessing. Marie Zellivan shouldn't be here at all according to the game's timeline.
In Aquestius, she didn't become close to Lydia until much later in the story - specifically after Lydia transferred to Class A and proved herself during a major magical theory examination that impressed even the royal family members.
Yet here she was, already established as Lydia's "only friend" and comfortable enough to tease her about guys. This meant their friendship had started way earlier in this reality, which raised even more questions about how much the timeline had gotten screwed up.
First Lucas Estellan being in C class, then Damion and Zacard acting like buddies, now Marie showing up months early, Lucas thought as they walked into the library.
What else has changed? And more importantly, what the hell caused all these changes in the first place?
The library's inside was just as impressive as the outside looked. Tall shelves packed with books stretched up toward a high ceiling painted with constellations and magical symbols.
The place was indeed quiet, with only a few other students scattered around the reading tables, studying hard.
A pretty young but serious-looking female librarian sat behind the book checkout desk sitting perfectly straight, her dark hair pulled back in a tight bun.
Her face was narrow and sharp, with thin lips pressed into a straight line and wire-rimmed glasses sitting on her nose. She was wearing a long-sleeved gray dress that buttoned all the way up to her collar.
She was looking down at her lap, totally absorbed in some book she was reading.
Unfortunately, the book was small enough to hide partially behind the stack of ledgers on her desk so Lucas couldn't see exactly what she was reading.
"This way," Lydia said, leading them to a quiet corner where a round table sat surrounded by cushioned chairs. "We should be able to work without bothering anyone here."