A few days later, I was riding in a carriage on my way to the academy. I reflected on all the days that had led up to then since the banquet, and before I knew it, I had arrived at the campus.
The academy was on the edge of the capital and was attended by children of nobles. They received a proper education, of course, but it was also a place where they could make connections and build friendships with other nobles.
Once I arrived, I let Anna take care of my luggage while I headed to the auditorium. I ran into Louis on the way there. He was talking with a group of his friends, but it didn’t look too serious, so I just went ahead and approached him casually.
“Hello, Louis.”
He looked up when he heard his name, said goodbye to his friends, and walked over to me. “Welcome to the academy. I heard you’ve been quite busy lately. Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m quite confident in my stamina. Thanks for worrying about me.”
After Lady Aurelia had given me a passing grade, I continued to visit her about once every three days. There was still a lot of things I had to learn, but more than that, I just enjoyed spending time with her. However, I was so busy answering invitations lately that I hadn’t been able to go see her at all. Of course I let her know that in a letter, and she told me not to worry about it.
But it seemed as though I had greatly worried the Armelia family after all.
“All right… Well, I’m sure things will calm down once classes start, but make sure not to push yourself too hard.”
“Okay. I won’t.”
It was frustrating not to reach out and touch him like I wanted to—people were watching us, so I had to maintain a certain level of politeness. If no one were here, I would’ve jumped into his arms. I was just that happy to see him.
“That uniform looks nice on you,” he leaned close and whispered into my ear.
I felt my cheeks flush, and I bet they were bright red. “Thanks, Louis. You look good in your uniform too. So smart and dashing.”
From this distance, surely no one else could hear us, so I spoke normally to him.
“Th-thanks.”
Just then, two boys from the group Louis had been talking to came up to us.
“Louis, we have to go get ready soon.”
“Hey, Doruna. You shouldn’t interrupt,” a boy with greenish-blond hair said to the red-haired boy, who was apparently named Doruna.
Louis and I looked at each other and chuckled sheepishly.
“Please meet my friends. This is Doruna Kataberia, and this is Phillip Sagitalia. They’re my classmates as well. And both of you, this is my fiancée, Merellis Reiser Anderson.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Louis’s fiancée, Merellis Reiser Anderson,” I introduced myself as was proper and bowed my head deeply.
When I lifted my head, for some reason they stared at me, frozen. I gave them puzzled looks and glanced over at Louis for help.
He let out an exasperated sigh and said, “Doruna, Phillip, come on.”
The young men jolted, snapping back to reality.
“Pardon me. Lady Merellis, you’re just so beautiful, I was speechless. I am Phillip Sagitalia. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” He politely took my hand and planted a kiss atop it.
Phillip Sagitalia… He must’ve been the son of Count Sagitalia, the Minister of Finance.
“I-I’m honored to meet the daughter of General Gazell, Lady Merellis. My name is Doruna Kataberia.” Doruna took my other hand and kissed it as well. If I recalled correctly, he was the son of Count Kataberia, who was the Minister of Defense.
“Thank you. I’m honored. I’m looking forward to getting to know you both.”
Neither of them could say a word.
“Lord Louis… Didn’t Lord Doruna here say you needed to be going…?”
“A-ah, yes. Sorry, we have some final checks we have to do before the ceremony. I’ll come see you again.”
“Okay. I’ll be waiting.”
Louis had to practically drag the two still-frozen boys away into the auditorium.
Now that I was alone, I took a good look at the building from the outside.
There were five main structures at the academy. There was the academy itself where the classrooms were, the auditorium, the cafeteria, the library, and the dormitory. From the ground floor entrance of the academy building, one could walk straight through to a long quadrangle. There were several archways supported by columns lining the pathways, giving it an austere feeling.
Then, there was the auditorium, where many events were held such as entrance and graduation ceremonies and balls. The cafeteria and the library were also as one would expect.
The dormitory was split up on either side of the academy building into two wings. The west wing was the girls’ dormitory, and the east wing was the boys’. They were connected by a very long hallway that cut through the main academy building.
I stepped back and looked at the scenery before me.
There was a courtyard right in the center of the quadrangle. The sun shone down on the green lawn, contrasting sharply to the plain white pathways constructed around it. I let my eyes wander around the courtyard and to the buildings I could see between the columns.
Finally, I noticed students were beginning to pour into the auditorium. I supposed it was time for me to go as well, and so I joined the crowd. The auditorium was plenty large enough to fit all the students inside with space to spare.
There was a podium situated in the front of the room, beyond which sat colorful stained-glass windows. The new students all sat near the front in no particular order.
“Welcome, students. We are so pleased to have you at our academy.” The ceremony began, and the headmaster gave a speech. It contained all of the typical language you would expect, like how this would be a place where we would learn many things and make many important connections, grow as individuals to serve the kingdom, and so on.
Once his speech was over, orientation began. I was surprised to see Louis step up to the podium.
Why is Louis up there? I wondered, but my question was soon answered. The academy had a student council, and Louis was its president. Now I understood why Doruna had urged him to hurry up and get ready.
Louis imparted a few tidbits about what life would be like here at the academy and what else the students would be doing today after this ceremony. I could hear impressed murmurs and even shrieks from the audience at his dignified presence—though all at a volume which wouldn’t disturb his speech, of course.
It made me glad and proud to see how popular he was here—but I was also a tiny bit jealous.
After that, orientation was over, and we moved into the academy building. There were four divisions of study here at the academy: the scholars, the knights, the clergymen, and the ladies’ courses. There were also general education courses everyone took, which included Tasmerian language, history, and classes on other subjects as well.
If you were interested in classes outside of your course of study, you could take them unless you were a woman—they were not allowed to take outside courses. And the opposite was true as well, as the boys were not allowed to take any classes inside the ladies’ course. In other words, the only classes that anyone was permitted to take regardless of gender were the general education classes.
Supposedly they didn’t take social status or grades into account when dividing up the classes, but I wasn’t sure how true that was. After I left the auditorium, I picked up my class schedule, reviewed it, and then went to my first class.
More than half of the students were already there. I recognized many of the others…and Prince Edgar was one of them. When I saw the son of Count Dilitry and the son of Count Dungley with him, I had a feeling the class rosters weren’t random at all.
It was likely that I was placed in this class because of my father’s name. I looked around and made eye contact with the prince and gave him a little bow. I then took a seat. A few moments later, our instructor entered the room.
“Congratulations on your first day at the academy, everyone. My name is Eldran, and I’m the instructor for this class. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. You’ll be with this same group of people for three years, so why don’t we begin with introductions? Let’s start from the front right seat.”
We then introduced ourselves, one by one. Everyone shared their name, house, and a few short sentences about themselves. I followed suit with the rest of them. After we were all finished, the door opened, and another staff member came in and exchanged words with Mr. Eldran.
“Thank you, everyone. We’ll now go on a tour of the campus, so I’ll be showing you around. Be prepared to walk for a while.”
We all stood up and formed a line behind Mr. Eldran.
“The first, second, and third floors are all normal classrooms. As Lord Louis explained during orientation, each course of study has their own classrooms. After each lesson, please use your time to continue promptly to your next class. If there are ever any changes in room assignments, you will be notified during break times on this bulletin board.”
The classrooms were identical except for the nameplates beside each door.
“The fourth floor has special classrooms with laboratories for mechanics and science courses.” Mr. Eldran opened a door to one of these to show us, and the room was filled with all kinds of strange research equipment.
Biology, mechanics, and science were classes that were part of the scholar course of study. There weren’t many people who chose those courses in an average year, but for a second or third son of a noble family who would have no chance to inherit a title or wealth, being a scholar was a good future career choice. The academy was a wonderful place for those people interested in these subjects.
Every year, there were one or two students who were very devoted to the scholar path. The most knowledgeable people in the kingdom became teachers, so it seemed like almost a waste. But from the students’ perspective, I’m sure it was a dream to have such a small class size. And from a teacher’s perspective, with so few students, they’d have more time to devote to their own research.
After we saw the labs, we went back down to the first floor and walked through the quadrangle in a clockwise fashion.