The speech was… shorter, more to the point than what Misa had been expecting. Surprisingly so, given who was giving it. How long had the empress reigned? She must have the political cunning of, well, actually she probably<em>was</em>the person you were compared to when someone wanted to compliment your acumen. This felt like a… commencement address. Which, she supposed, was appropriate, this being the beginning of a school term and all, but it added a certain level of surreality to the entire proceeding. Except for the illustrious standing of the speaker, it felt like they were going into the academy.<br/><br/>Which, come to think, they were. Misa chewed her lip, her brows furrowing as she thought and listened. It didn't capture the magnitude of the situation, though. Competing to become a literal<em>goddess</em>under the watchful eyes of an empress.<br/><br/>She couldn't help but glance around at that thought, a sigh coming to her lips unbidden. Do not become lax indeed. Misa suspected this was going to involve some of the most fierce and vicious competition ever seen in the academy. It was a pity so<em>many</em>were involved. While she was fairly certain that she could find some drawbacks to being a goddess of lust, but it would have been nice to have a real chance to be the one picked.<br/><br/>On the other hand, someone had to be picked, and there wasn't anything she could think of that disqualified her. Just things that made it unlikely.<br/><br/>…and if her mother was to be believed, she was perfect for the position. The furrow of her brow deepened. Couldn't the woman just be happy for her for once?<br/><br/>She pushed aside the thought, forcing herself back into a more pleasant expression before raising her hand. She had plenty of questions of course—where would she be staying, who was paying her tuition—but most of them were details for the administration later. She had had to reach a bit to formulate something related enough, unwilling to pass up the opportunity to be noticed like this, even if it would be trivial in the long run. Moments passed before she was called upon. "Yes, thank you, Your Majesty," she said, dutifully respectful, if not entirely certain of the finer points of imperial protocol. "Will we be personally assessed by the goddess herself, or by someone acting in her stead?"