Chapter 26: Preparation

My eyes flutter open from a fragrant smell of roses beside me. I look over and find Emma putting a bouquet of pink roses in a vase on my bedside table.

"Good morning, Princess."

"Good morning Emma. Where did those flowers come from?"

"It seems like they are from your His Highness Ren, Princess."

The pleasant surprise of the bouquet of flowers plasters a smile on my face. A small note was hanging from the stem of a rose; I picked it out and opened the small letter.

Congratulations on being accepted to the academy, Lili.

I'll see you soon,

Ren

I smile at the short but sweet note on the paper and put it away in my desk drawer. I glance towards my changing screen and see my school uniform on a hanger. I ring the bell and Admaris and Earlene came through the doors, bowing and proceeds to help me get ready.

After I got out of the bath, they start changing me into the uniform. A white collared shirt, a plaid blue long skirt and a red ribbon at the collar. The school emblem was pinned right above my heart. I put on the white socks and the brown heels the Academy provided. The black belt was put on as well, where there were three golden chains that would magically attach the magical gems onto them. I stuck my gems on while Lene braided my hair into a fishtail braid. I put on the black cape that came with the uniform and went downstairs to have breakfast with mother and father.

"Good morning, mother, father."

""Good morning, Liliane.""

Both my parents replied at the same time. Emma pulled my chair out for me I sat down. As I started to eat, I asked mother about a topic I was wondering about for a while.

"Mother, I wanted to discuss something with you before I leave for the Academy."

"Yes dear, what is it?"

"It's about the cosmetics that we use in this country. Does it perhaps use any lead?"

"? I believe so. Is there a problem?"

"Yes, I believe that the lead used in the white powder and lipstick, as well as many other cosmetics may result in lead poisoning."

"Lead poisoning?!"

Mother stopped eating and stared at me with a surprised face.

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"It's just that I read up in the library that the lead is harmful to the body if consumed in large quantities. This is a hypothesis and I'm not an expert in that area, so I was wondering if mother could look into it."

"Of course! I'd be happy to!"

"Thank you mother, you're the best."

Mother smiled proudly and shot a gloat full look to father and then he suddenly spoke up.

"Liliane, you can ask me anything as well. I can do anything!"

He gestured himself and exaggeratedly exclaimed. This father of mine is really something.

"Then, if I can trouble father, -"

"Yes?"

"- I was wondering if I could study under you during the break."

"...Of course! I-is that all?"

"Yes?"

"Oh."

"Well, thank you. I look forward to the break."

We happily conversed during our last breakfast together for a while, until it was time for me to leave.

Emma was already at the doorsteps of the castle entrance with my brown suitcase.

"Goodbye, Emma. I'll see you soon."

"Have a safe trip, princess."

"Goodbye mother, father. I'll see you at break."

"We'll miss you! You must write letters to us, okay?"

Mother and father both said their goodbyes and I hugged both of them before I left. The rapier was sitting at my waist. The crystal earrings glisten as the light hits on them, giving off an ethereal beauty.

I turned around to my family and the whole castle personnel that came to see me off. I waved my free hand to them and sent some mana to my emblem.

In an instant, I was taken to the front gate of the school. I was let by the guards after everything was verified and I walked towards the results posted in front of the school. The area was crowded so I had to nudge my way through to see.

I peeked at the academics section and found that 2 people were tied in first place. It was me and Prince Alexander from the Cornerius Empire. Ren was second with 99/100 and Lucas was third with 95/100. Clara was in sixth place with 86/100.

I moved on to the combat exam; it seemed like all capture targets applied except for Clara. Ren was first with a perfect score. Second was someone called Jarod Celt, third was Alexander, fourth was Lucas and I was in fifth. I thought I did well, but I never expected that I would do this good.

The technical exam, there were names I did not recognize in the first and second spot. Lucas was in third place and Ren was in fifth. Fourth place was me and Alexander got...ninth? Well. I did not expect that that the Prince Charming barely made it in the top ten; I thought he would get into the top five at least. Clara didn't take this test either, it seems.

In the magic test, Alexander got first, Lucas got second, Ren got third and Clara got fourth. Surprisingly, I was not in the list anywhere. I scanned the list again and again, but I could not find my name.

Since more and more people were crowding around the results, I escaped the crowd. Once out of it, I was face to face with Ren. He was also holding one suitcase in his hand. He also had a katana like sword strapped to the left side of his waist.

"Good morning, Ren."

"Good morning Liliane."

We greeted each other as usual and talked about trivial things. I congratulated Ren on getting first in the combat exam and he congratulated me on getting first in the academic exams.

"I was looking at the results earlier, but I didn't see your name on list for the magic exam. Was there a mistake?"

"I-"

I was about to respond, but a gentle voice from behind interrupted.

"I'm sure it wasn't a mistake, right Liliane? You probably didn't get a good enough grade to get in the list. But I'm sure you'll get there once you work hard enough! Oh, I know! Why don't I help you with your magic studies?"

She sounded genuinely nice and helpful, but I could hear a bit of ridicule coming out of her words as well. I turned around and found Clara standing there with three suitcases behind her.

Clara kept smiling as she suddenly closed the distance between the two of us and whispered in my ear,

"I guess I win."

She stepped back, with an innocent smile on her face.

I was about to respond, but a voice from behind interrupted me.

"That's not exactly the case."

"Headmaster Riff!"

I exclaimed, surprised to see the headmaster here. I was so distracted with Clara, I couldn't feel his presence.

"I was simply looking at the new batch of students this year. I thought I might visit you on the way as well."

"Thank you headmaster."

"About your magical exam, the instructor pleaded me that you would be trained by a master here from the start."

Ren, Clara and I froze on the spot. This Academy was well know for being detached from the rest of the world and never messed in any politics or war. But, there was another well known fact. On this small island, there lived masters of all kind living as residents, eventually being able to take a disciple from the Academy if they found a worthy student. Usually, masters would start choosing their disciples when students graduate with all the basics learned. But this headmaster is saying to start learning magic with a master from the beginning of the year. Anyone could know how rare and ridiculous that was.

"But I just enrolled. I'm not sure if the masters are willing to teach me."

"Don't worry about that. You will know when the time comes."

"...alright. If Headmaster says so."

"Well, I'll be taking my leave now. You three should hurry along to the entrance ceremony."

"Thank you."

As Headmaster Riff turned around and walked away, I turned to Clara and said,

"I guess it's my win?"

"You..."

She was about to say something, but she glanced towards Ren who was looking at us with a look of confusion.

"I guess so."

I stepped forward this time, whispering in her ear.

"My only demand for you is to not bother Ren and I during the week we promised. Good?"

"Of course! I'd be happy to do that!"

Clara put both her hands together and pretended to be happy as if she just received a request from her best friend. She said goodbye right away and left Ren and I still behind the crowd of people checking their results.

"Do you want to head to the entrance ceremony?"

"Okay."

We both headed to the large gymnasium where the combat exam was held yesterday. The doors were wide open and rows of luxurious chairs could be seen. We both went down the lines and lines of chairs and sat down the second row from the front. I could see a few third years, shown with a dark green ribbon around their necks. A few students with light blue ribbons were here as well; probably those were second-year students.

Once we both settled in, the lights dimmed and the headmaster walked up onto the stage.

"Greetings, new students. Some of you may already know, but I am the headmaster of this Academy. I welcome you to this school. Here, you will learn many skills you will apply in the future. By the end of graduation, we hope that you will be able to use those skills in the outside world. But, I will tell you in advance that social status does not matter here. You will be simple students learning from teachers. There is no exception. I would like to introduce you to a few of the staff members."

Four men and women stepped up on the stage, all seemingly powerful in some way.

"These people are the head instructors of each department. From the right, this is Roland Cane, head of the Magic Department. Elisa Laurent, head of Combat Department. Chase Vincent, head of Technical Department and Oliver Schulz, head of Academic Department."

The men and women were all recognized by all the students. They were the examiners of the exams yesterday. The large magician, the woman knight, the redhead teacher and the young instructor.

The headmaster finished his short speech and representatives of the second years and third years gave their welcomes as well. The representative for the first years was surprisingly yet not so surprisingly the heroine, Clara. I guess some things from the game won't change.

"Hello fellow students of the Academy. My name is Clara Viermera. I hope from the bottom of my heart that we can be friends and learn from this marvellous institution together."

She was talking on and on about something, but I couldn't bother to listen. Once the speeches and introductions were finished, we were handed out our dormitory keys and schedules then dismissed for the day.

The dormitories were indeed on the second level of the island, but they were still passageways so no one needed to go through the main gates. One side of the second level was filled with training grounds and the other side were the dormitories. The dormitories were like tall cylindric towers and were separated by grade. There were three grand dormitories; one for first years, one for second years and one for third years. The dormitory was mixed, so the room assignments would be random. Luckily, you get a room to yourself, so there's no worry of sharing a room with a stranger.

The first floor was a simple lobby/lounge and the second floor was the dining hall. The third floor were the public baths and the fourth floor until the one hundredth floor were the individual rooms for the students. I was on the ninetieth floor, room 905. Coincidentally, Ren's room was 904, right next to mine. One floor held five rooms, so the living space was supposedly really big. As expected of a prestigious academy. I'm not sure who occupies the other three rooms, but I hope that Clara's not on this floor. That would be dangerous. For me, and Ren. Especially Ren. In the game, there was an event where the heroine 'accidentally' walked into the capture target's rooms because of her 'horrible sense of direction'. They had different situation when they were walked in on, but Ren was just changing out of his uniform and there were abs and 'tripping' and blah blah blah. I don't even know why the doors weren't locked, but it's 'game logic', right?

Originally, the heroine and the capture targets all occupied the one hundredth floor with a vacant room. But since I'm with Ren on the ninetieth floor, I'm guessing that this part is changed from the game, so there's still hope that Clara won't be on the same floor.

Me and Ren looked at our detailed gold keys with our room numbers engraved in them and smiled.

"Please take care of me for the next year, Ren."

"Likewise, Liliane."

We both shook hands and laughed. While we carried our luggage and headed towards the staircase that connected to the second level. The stairs had a roof over it, so it was blocking the sun out, which was a relief since it was really bright today.

Once we reached the end of the staircase, we found the three tall towers. We walked towards the tower of the first years, and showed the guards in front of the gates our keys and emblem. We were let in after they were verified and then we got onto the elevator. They were not the same from ones on earth, though. They were not complex pulley systems, but a big magical device. It was a transparent glass box framed in gold with a levitation enchantment of it. As long as the buttons which were gems had mana sent to them, the box would take them to the corresponding floor of the gem. Really, it was just a fantasy version of the elevator.

When we arrived on the ninetieth floor, we opened our new homes for the next year. The rumours were true; it was very spacious. There was a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, lounge and even an empty room. There were closets and spaces to put our things in, as well as many essential magic devices. I quickly put in my clothes in the closet and my books and stationary on the desk in the corner. I grabbed my key, schedule, purse and left the unit. When I locked the door shut, I saw that Ren was waiting for me.

"You're going to buy your textbooks, right? I have to too."

"Yup. Then let's get going."

"Cool."

"Wait."

"What?"

"Did you lock the door?"

"Yea? Of course I did."

"Okay. That's good then."

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