I nodded and took a deep breath before speaking, "As you all might already know, Alcrima and Fang seceded from the empire together when it fractured a long time ago. The two different clans of metal and earth, due to their symbiotic relationship with each other decided to unite as one nation under the palatinate. But a few hundred years ago, the Monarchy of Fang heard the calls for a more democratic government by the Alcrimans, thus granting them independence. However, they also demanded to keep the special relationship between the nations. I guess Cady can carry on from here.""I will, Arcelon," she agreed and continued from where I left, "As he said, my people wanted more democracy but not to the point of existing on our own because we are so used to be with our Fangian brothers and sisters. So our forefathers and mothers adopted a viceroyal type of government to still be technically under the palatinate's sphere of influence while getting the democracy we wanted all along without c
"...the country is stagnant, our military is behind even the viceroyalty, and the madame palatine is still stockpiling government funds as if there's a coming catastrophe that we all cannot foresee but her...""More rice, Arcelon?"I looked up and saw a smiling woman looking down at me before raising the pot of white rice under her arm.I nodded and smiled, "Yes, mama, thank you.""Here you go. Eat as much as you want. Your sister really filled the food stores to the brim when she heard that you would come for a visit," she said earnestly before sitting next to me in front of the dining table, fully laden with my favorite foods and sipping from the glass of wine comfortably.I nodded and continued eating ravenously as the news reporter commented on the television ceaselessly while we listened silently."...tensions along the border with the castle, the empire demanding more industrial output from the palatinate, the archduke announcing a raise of tariffs from Fang's goods, and all the
"Why not just go to a finishing school here in the capital, Arcelon?"I stopped throwing things at my luggage and looked up to see a distraught woman walking toward me, followed by at least half a dozen cats of all colors and sizes that began playing with my things scattered on the floor and bed.She always said I looked like my father, but our messy and curly hair was a dead giveaway from what I got from her. Not to mention our noses, eyes, and, sadly, personalities.We are always at the other side of the spectrum all my life. If I stand up for something, you can expect that she firmly disagrees with me."I want to go out of Fang, mother," I said simply as I carefully removed her fat ginger cat, making himself comfortable on top of the clothes that I was about to put on my bag, "I'm already sixteen and legally mature enough to make an educated decision in my life.""Rules and law don't apply to us, my son..."I shook my head and held my ground, "I will go as an Alcriman then. Papa al
"So, where are you going?"I smiled as I hailed a coming bus on our side of the street, "Crysalia Military Academy. I will try my luck with the scholarship. How about you?""Funny you should ask," she simply replied as she proceeded to get on the bus before me, dragging her rugged backpack and duffel bag with her, "We are on the same boat.""Or bus," I said pointedly, making her chuckle as we settled down on our seats and the bus began speeding its way towards the central part of the city."My mentor warned me not to take the examinations lightly," she said in a whisper as we enjoyed the scenes of the holy city, "I am actually lucky that he used to work there and didn't have a family of his own, so he passed his privilege to elect a scholar enrollee to me.""My father also used to work there, so here I am," I answered before glancing at my new acquaintance worriedly, "Is it that difficult? The examinations, that is, Cady?"She nodded and massaged her temple, "That was what the old man
The moment we sat down, a bell rang, and as if on cue, a woman suddenly appeared in a blast of ice crystals on the stage in front of the room.She reminds me a lot of my mother.Definitely not the kind of woman you willingly want to cross and expect to get away unscathed.Wearing a silver and gold blazer and black pump shoes, she looks very imposing and probably younger than what her curt expression and tight bun of brown hair suggest.The woman looked around imperiously among the hundreds of boys and girls before her and raised her head proudly, "Vice Principal Metis of the Crysalian Military Academy. I will cut to the chase since this will be a very busy day for all of us. You are all here as either the very best your respective schools can produce or someone who has the privilege to be related to one of our current or previous colleagues in this school. Commoners who don't have the financial means to enroll using the normal means and have to rely on the scholarships or are hoping t
"You two, you also passed!"I glanced at my companion, and she just inclined her head in my direction nonchalantly, implying that there was no way the vice principal was talking to the two of us, and I wholeheartedly agreed wordlessly as we continued following the last stragglers like us who are hurrying back to the entrance with their bags.When we were about to go through the door, the potted bonsai plants along the way suddenly grew exponentially and blockaded our path, which shocked me."What the...""Unless you two are deaf, you will come here."We slowly turned around and saw Vice Principal Metis with the man who collected our test papers waiting for us on the stage.My companion and I walk in their direction with our luggage in tow."Cady Ravier and Arcelon Mcreinen?"We both nodded at the woman who glanced at the man next to her who spoke next."You two passed."I blinked and let out a hollow laugh, "That's impossible. If we did, we would've been called earlier among the twent
We all stood up together with everyone in the auditorium to offer our rapturous applause to the principal, who was joined by the school staff and teachers on the stage before dispersing quickly."Now, where do we go from here, Arcelon?""I am wondering that myself, Cady," I said as I looked down when the students around us realized that we were wearing uniforms utterly different from theirs, "Preferably away from the crowd."My companion nodded, and I followed her lead as we walked briskly towards the exit, only to be blockaded by a second year, judging by the ram emblem that is different from the lamb one of the first-year students."And here I thought I will get into trouble this early in the school year because I cannot, for the love of the elements, find you two earlier," she said in a relieved voice before beaming down on us, "Azalea Leilee, President of the Student Council, Second Year Noble."Cady and I bowed our heads as she let out a giggle."My, my, how cute you are. Actuall
"Well, now that you are all introduced, let me tell you who I am in case your snootiness has forgotten already," our adviser sarcastically said before bowing with no hint of respect on it, "Lycus Lycourgos, a vagabond mercenary from the Empire of Fenris' Imperial Garm Dominion and sadly, both for you and me, the Eighth Class' homeroom adviser and field instructor. A pleasure."Loki, the imperial crown prince, didn't even bother hiding his annoyance, "First they got all the heirs and heiresses to the thrones of Crysalia in one class and now hiring a mercenary from the boondocks to lead it. My father's council might be right. This school is going downhill.""While I don't have any qualms with having you as my adviser, I have a few questions about the academy's, how can I say, prudence, into putting all future leaders in one section," Godiva piped in, and Ester followed suit."Given the close proximity of Alcrima with Brigansys, our cultures are not that different, I am sure I can have a
I nodded and took a deep breath before speaking, "As you all might already know, Alcrima and Fang seceded from the empire together when it fractured a long time ago. The two different clans of metal and earth, due to their symbiotic relationship with each other decided to unite as one nation under the palatinate. But a few hundred years ago, the Monarchy of Fang heard the calls for a more democratic government by the Alcrimans, thus granting them independence. However, they also demanded to keep the special relationship between the nations. I guess Cady can carry on from here.""I will, Arcelon," she agreed and continued from where I left, "As he said, my people wanted more democracy but not to the point of existing on our own because we are so used to be with our Fangian brothers and sisters. So our forefathers and mothers adopted a viceroyal type of government to still be technically under the palatinate's sphere of influence while getting the democracy we wanted all along without c
She then looked at me and Cady, who was sitting next to each other at the back of the class, expectantly, "Before I begin my lesson, I would like to advise you all that in case some of you are not aware yet, Ms. Cady and Mr. Arcelon scored the highest on theoretical and practical applications of political studies during the scholar examinations respectively. I and Sir Trajan checked the paper ourselves and we are thoroughly impressed.""Coming from a commoner background, that is impressive," Ester remarked in approval as my companion smiled shyly."You are giving me too much credit, really. I am instructed by my benefactor months before I was sent here for the scholar examinations," she then deflected the praise to me, "If there is someone who is impressive here, it's Arcelon. I actually have been meaning to ask this yesterday but never really got the chance to do so. Where did you learn about politics?"I brushed off her and gave the answer papa instructed me to deliver if they asked
I stood up and put the used clothes that I removed into the wicker basket next to my bed and opened the cabinet to see the things I haphazardly packed neatly organized inside before I pulled out a boxer, short and white sleeveless undershirt for me to wear.There is a sound of running water inside the closed door on the southern part of the room, which I guess is the bathroom, so I quickly dressed before His Highness saw me butt naked.True enough, after I sat down on the edge of my bed, the door opened, and out came Loki, who was only wearing his boxer briefs, dripping wet and drying himself with the red towel he was scrubbing his hair with.And here I thought I wouldn't get amazed at how "perfect" he is.His body is not as bulky as Aquilo's, but certainly an athletic one.He had bulging biceps and pecs, six-packed abs, and he clearly didn't skip any leg day. He was surprised a little to see me sitting right in front of him and stared at me for a while.I guess he feels good about h
The two of us remained quiet as he continued speaking."It is given that our other classmates, scions they are, to profess their absolute faith in the religion, or at least give a lip service to it. What I wanted to know is what the Crysalian Elemental Religion is for you Cady and Arcelon? Are you devout? A believer or non-believer?"I blinked when I heard his last word, "Non-believer? Is that word even legal?""It isn't technically speaking. But it is a reality all the same. As much as the religious lay ministers around us want to hope, not all Crysalians are faithful to the church. That is what His Holiness has confided to me confidentially. The times, the people, the world are changing and we are slowly but surely losing sway over the people."Cady took a small breath as she tried to tread carefully on the topic, "Are you sure you should be saying that to us? We just met, and we are commoners as well.""The more reason I can trust you to understand where I, no, where we are coming
"Krios will, of course, handle the cooking. Godiva, will be our public representative while Himiko will take care of our finances as a treasurer. Aquilo will be in charge of our security, Loki our consultant and Cady as our logistician."Ester then looked at me kindly, and I knew that look.I have seen that so many times in my life that I've grown used to it.But it doesn't mean that it became less painful, though."Arcelon, we have already covered all of the important tasks. What you can do to help us all at least is to act as our runner," the mistress said ever so carefully as not to offend me, and I appreciated her doing that despite our differences, "If we need someone to buy things, we don't have or contact our teachers and staffs at school, you will be the one who will do it. Also, if any one of us is struggling with our own tasks, you will lend assistance as well."I nodded in agreement, as raising an objection would be futile anyway.That, and I think I am best for that partic
Aquilo blinked and inclined his head in my direction pensively, "Now that you said it, I never have given that much thought.""About what, Aquilo?" Zeo asked curiously."About our privilege and what it looks like from outside looking inside."Ester took a deep breath and sighed, "Well, the reality is we are born high above the social pyramid. Father said that we exist technically on a different plane of reality from the rest.""My own father said the same thing," Himiko followed and smiled a little, "Try as hard as we might, we are just different from other people.""You really do," Cady agreed as she glanced at me quietly before continuing, "Honestly speaking, when I first met you all earlier, it's like I am in front of someone so near yet so far. Like there's this huge invisible wall that separates you all from the real world."Loki grunted loudly as if she was woefully ignorant of a fact, "That's because that's what it should be. We, monarchs, are separated from the common folks by
"...very excited for you being there, brother.""Yes, I was still surprised about it, to be honest.""Surprised? What, are you saying you are not expecting to not pass at all?""Well, yes...""Seriously, I will honestly be more surprised if you didn't.""Still expecting too much from me, Lythena.""Because you can't, that's why. Anyways, I bet mama and papa will be very pleased when I relayed the news.""You think?""I don't think, I know. This is just too much for me to take in. I am literally hyperventilating.""Really, you are overreacting, sister.""Me, overreacting? Please, if it's just some random school in Fang or Alcrima, then yes. But this is Crysalian Military Academy we are talking about which only accepts the best of the best of the cream of the cream of the crops! Only heirs and heiresses have free pass to study at that school. Celebrities are a no-go!""Speaking of that, I am put into a class together with them as well.""No way! Did they...""It is highly unlikely, sist
"You're not going to freeload on us, are you?"I looked in Loki's direction and raised an eyebrow, "I will not ask for money, especially from the likes of someone who don't even know its value."Aquilo laughed aloud as Cady smiled despite herself while the rest of the scions looked offended by what I had just said.All of them, except Himiko, giggled loudly, "If I am an heiress of another nation, I will take your words as offending and discriminatory. But, alas, that's the truth. Most of those born from the monarchies or the top of the nobility food chain are ignorant of how important currency is.""And you are not?" Ester asked pointedly as the baronetess winked at her meaningfully."Of course, I am not. A scion like you I may be, I am from Vosque. The land of commerce where crys is the real ruler and we members of the ruling family are merely there to make sure the cash flowing for everyone else. I definitely understand where our commoner classmate is getting from and his reaction a
"I think it is actually better now that I have to tour you after sundown here in Valeria, the sub-urban town well within the Crysalian Military Academy," Caileane said excitedly as she toured us around the busy streets full of students buying things for their dorm rooms, "You will find stores that cater to both commoners and nobles alike. Branded and general goods are overflowing. Here is my favorite shop for just about everything I need inside my dorm room."Our group stopped in front of a rather quaint and cheap local store full of students from the lower classes, literally taking everything off the shelves because of the new school year sale."I thought you are from the House of Azalea, one of the most prominent noble families of the empire?" Godiva asked, and Loki nodded quietly as he looked at the student council president with a bit of curiosity in his eyes, "Why are you buying in a general goods store?"Our guide just laughed off the question, "Yes, I am from a well-known noble