“I think we should do this one, Aurelius and Cassienne. The name is a bit long, though, so we will change it to something a bit more euphonious.”
This was a famous classical work that featured a tragic love story. It was similar to Romeo and Juliet in that it was a story of two people from opposing families falling in love. President Albert planned to change up the story and simplify it.
“It’s going to be called Alec and Eliza?” I asked, looking at the papers. “That’s a very short title. Wait...it has a happy ending?!”
The classic tragedy had been completely changed to have a happy ending. Was this really all right?
“If there’s going to be singing and dancing, it makes more sense for the story to have a happy ending,” President Albert argued. “The show will end on a high note, which means the performers will receive more applause. I also believe the theater club will have tragedies covered. They’re probably going to pick something gloomy for their performance.”
Princess Margaret was also furrowing her brows as she read through the outline.
“You’ve turned a famous and tragic tale of love into a trite romance,” the princess remarked. “Is this really all right with you?”
President Albert continued to insist that everything was good.
“More importantly, you mentioned that you know someone in dance club, didn’t you, Lady Margaret?” Albert said, changing the subject. “Do you think they would help with choreographing the show? It would be even better if some of them would participate as background dancers.”
Albert really is fervently trying to help the glee club. Something stinks about this!
“I don’t mind talking to them, but just what are you thinking, Albert? It’s strange for you to be so kind.”
Yeah, I agree.
“Nothing is strange. I’m simply friends with the president of the club, Marcus...”
“You’d better tell us what your plan is, President Albert!” Rupert demanded, closing the distance between Albert and himself.
“How rude of you, Rupert. Like I said, my friend Marcus is the president of the glee club, so I’m just trying to provide them with some new songs they can perform.”
That would have been believable coming from any other student. But in the case of President Albert, who loved nothing but music, it sounded incredibly shady that he would do anything for a friend.
“How long have you been ‘friends’ with Marcus?” Rupert asked, beginning to interrogate Albert. “I know you two are classmates, but you used to make fun of him for being in the choir club. Wait... Were you the one to suggest to Marcus that he split from the choir club and create the glee club?”
That totally sounds possible. Albert was really mad when the music club was arguing with the choir club during last year’s Festival of Verdure.
“Marcus was fed up with the choir club and how they continue singing antiquated songs,” Albert argued. “He also kept complaining that the male students were the minority in the choir club and that they didn’t have any say as to what goes on in the club. I simply gave him the friendly advice to create a new club if he was upset.”
Everyone held their head in their hands.
“Albert, if the choir club finds out about this, we’re going to be in the same situation as the knight club,” Princess Margaret said.
Despite the princess’s words, President Albert maintained his brazen attitude.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. Marcus decided on his own to start the glee club. And besides, that isn’t a bad thing, is it?”
It was difficult to tell whether Marcus had only created the glee club because of what Albert had said, or if he’d been unhappy for a while and that had simply been the final push he’d needed. Regardless, if the choir club found out, they would definitely resent the music club.
“Because of this incident with the knight club, everyone has become more aware of the student council guidelines,” Princess Margaret pointed out. “This is something that absolutely mustn’t be discussed outside of this room.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Never meddle with others like this again, Albert,” the princess said sternly to our president.
Though her tone was harsh, it was unclear whether Albert had actually understood her.
The aftereffects of this storm have been terrible.
The knight club was having a harder time collecting signatures than Princess Margaret and I had anticipated. Many of the boys who weren’t in the knight track had refused to sign their petition.
“Most of the students in the knight track are already in the knight club, but they don’t make up a majority of the student body,” Princess Margaret remarked.
Year 1 Class A of the senior division had five students enrolled in the knight track, and I’d figured that there would be more of them in Class B and Class C.
“I didn’t know that the sons of chevaliers don’t all enroll in the knight track,” I commented. “I had no idea that there were more of them in the civil service course.”
This revelation showed me that Prince Keith’s class, which had enrolled in the academy last year, was irregular in comparison to the rest of the academy. Most years, the civil service track would be the most popular among students. A majority of female students enrolled in the home economics track, which made it the second most popular. After that, the mage track and the knight track were competing for third place.
I’m surprised that the mage track is so popular. There’s barely any students from Class A enrolled in it, so I’d assumed it was the least popular.
“I get it now,” I muttered. “Those tracks must be popular because you can get all sorts of certifications, like novice apothecary, novice alchemist, and novice court mage.”
Many of the students in Class C, which was made up of non-nobles, chose either the civil service track to become a bureaucrat or the mage track, which provided opportunities to obtain certifications.
That’s right—becoming a knight is something that nobles do. It must be rare for a commoner to aim to join the knighthood. They probably need to be incredibly skilled to even consider it.