In the kingdom of Platina, the eldest sons and daughters of royalty and aristocrats were required to attend the academy when they turned sixteen. Drossell, who had turned sixteen this year, was no exception. She had attended the entrance ceremony at Lucrezia Academy about a month ago, so why did she look so puzzled while asking him questions about things every citizen should know? His stomach was starting to hurt from all the whiplash he’d endured that morning.
Oblivious to Ruvik’s internal anguish, Leticiel thought about what going to this “academy” would entail. Such a thing hadn’t existed in her time. Knowledge had been passed down orally from generation to generation, and there hadn’t been any need to go to others in order to learn certain things. Your grandparents would teach you about history if you asked them, and if you asked all the adults who were more experienced than you in sorcery, you could master it in no time. The same went for etiquette, reading, writing, arithmetic, and everything else.
In fact, in a time when enemy countries were vigilantly waiting for opportunities to weaken each other, building schools and gathering children—the future of the country—all in one place was like asking for their enemies to kill them.
Yet this country had an academy. Was information not passed down orally here? Although Leticiel thought it was inefficient to have a stranger teach her when she could simply ask her relatives, it seemed like she had to go to this “academy.”
“Well, whatever. All right, I’ll go to the academy.”
“Um… Please wait, miss!” Leticiel got off the bed and started to leave her room, but Ruvik stopped her.
“What is it now?”
“W-Well… You must wear your uniform at the academy, so please change into it.”
“Ah. I see.”
“Also, don’t you need your bag? I believe you need your textbooks and other things for class…”
“My bag?” Leticiel looked up at Ruvik, who was wearing a rather rude expression. An awkward silence fell between them until Leticiel finally averted her gaze and looked around the room. A high-quality leather shoulder bag sat on the shelf next to her desk. Yet another pointless luxury…but she assumed that was what Ruvik had meant when he referred to her bag.
“Where is my uniform?”
“Miss…you wore it yesterday.” Leticiel followed Ruvik’s gaze to a basket of neatly folded clothes next to the door to the dressing room. In it, she found a short black jacket that went down to her waist, a white shirt with a slit at the hem, and a checkered skirt. There were also brown lace-up boots next to the basket, which she assumed went with the outfit.
What are these black pant-like things for, then? There was a ribbon for the shirt and a badge for the jacket, but a piece of black fabric mixed in with the outfit caught her eye. Though they were shaped like pants, the fabric was too thin and they were far too small.
“Hmm, so this is the uniform.”
“Yes, that would be correct.”
Leticiel had no way of knowing why Ruvik looked so troubled, so she simply went into the dressing room to get changed. Setting aside the pant-like thing, as she wasn’t sure what it was used for, she put on the uniform as she had been instructed. Immediately returning to her room, she stared intently at her so-called “bag” and grabbed it before leaving her room as if she hadn’t had any setbacks at all.
“Errm, Ruvik…”
“Yes?”
“How do I get to the front door?”
“Miss! Honestly, what is going on with you?!” Leticiel tilted her head as Ruvik held his in despair. She felt like he had been yelling a lot this morning; perhaps it was something he enjoyed doing? Although it was a nice morning, Ruvik looked haggard as if he hadn’t slept for an entire week as he guided Leticiel to the front entrance.
When they stepped outside, three carriages were parked in front of the manor. In front of them, the girl who had been in the dining room chatted with another silver-haired woman.
“Ah! Good morning, Drossell,” the red-haired girl said, noticing Leticiel and greeting her with a smile as cute as a blossoming flower. She was most likely Drossell’s younger sister.
“It’s already getting late. Christa, I have to go. And you’d better hurry into your carriage or you’ll be late for school.”
“I know. Have a good day, Sally.” So this Sally woman was Drossell’s other sister. She seemed to be the oldest of the three.
Unlike her younger sister Christa, Salinya only glanced at Drossell expressionlessly, quickly looking away before climbing into her carriage. Watching the carriage drive off, Drossell noted that Salinya also seemed to dislike her, but she didn’t spare the realization much thought as it didn’t really matter to her.
“Take care,” Ruvik said, seeing the remaining girls off after Leticiel had climbed into her own carriage—rather, the one Christa hadn’t gotten into. Leticiel kept her eyes on him until the carriage left the manor grounds. Then she rested her elbow on the windowsill, chin in hand, and gazed out the window.
Outside, a bustling town spread before her, bathed in morning sunlight. Women came and went, doing their morning shopping, and stores along the street opened one after another. A man was setting up a stall near the sidewalk, and the town was quietly waking up in the morning light.
It was a beautiful city seemingly untouched by conflict, filled with peaceful faces of people who had never experienced war. The country truly did seem to be at peace.
Now that I think about it, didn’t I wish to live a leisurely and comfortable life right before I died? Leticiel didn’t know why she had been reincarnated, but she decided to interpret it as God having granted her wish.
Suddenly, the carriage rocked with a strong impact, the horses neighing as it came to a halt. Wondering what was wrong, Leticiel rushed outside and saw the driver crouched down by one of the wheels. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.
“Ah, my lady… Well, it appears that the carriage’s wheel is broken,” he answered, voice faltering. He must have thought that she would be angry because he looked terrified.
“Is that so? Let me see it.” Making the driver back away, Leticiel ran her hand across the wheel to see where it was broken. It seemed like the carriage had slipped in the muddy grooves between cobblestones, causing a crack in the exterior of the wooden wheel.
“Drossell? Is something the matter?” Christa’s carriage stopped beside Leticiel’s and she peeked out of the window, looking puzzled.
“There’s just a slight problem with the wheel,” Leticiel answered. “I’ll follow as soon as it’s repaired, so you can go on ahead.”
“Really? All right. I’ll wait for you at the academy then.” Christa’s gaze was somewhat worried as she looked at Leticiel, but she eventually gave a slight nod and told the driver to keep going. The sound of a whip echoed and the carriage carrying Christa set off once more with a rattle.
“U-Um,” the driver started, “I’ll run back to the manor and let them know—”
“There’s no need.” Leticiel stopped the driver from going back and held her right hand over the damaged wheel. Light collected in the palm of her hand in various shades. Green, golden, and silver light all mixed together and sank into the wheel, spreading like a ripple throughout the carriage and the horses pulling it. When the light disappeared, the wheel was as good as new.
“Huh? Uh…”
“It should be fine now. Please head for the academy,” Leticiel said, quickly climbing back into the carriage.
“Eh? Oh, uh, right. Will do.” The driver, left behind, glanced troubledly between the wheel and Leticiel’s shut door. But since he couldn’t make his young mistress late for school, he reluctantly returned to the driver’s seat. He swung his whip, and the carriage started to move but at a much faster clip than it had been going at before the wheel was broken.
That was only natural. When Leticiel had repaired the wheel, she had cast a structural reinforcement spell on the carriage and a stamina enhancement spell on the horses. That was why the sorcery she had used earlier was a mix of different colors.
The magically enhanced carriage sped down the main street, overtaking Christa’s carriage in no time and leaving them in the dust.
“What?! Uh…” The coachman driving Christa’s carriage looked on in shock, rubbing his eyes in disbelief as Leticiel’s carriage drove by at twice the speed of a normal carriage.