[POV: Liselotte]

  The first official dawn as students of the Academy of Whirikal arrived with an expectant silence, broken only by the song of a few birds nesting on the marble cornices of the dormitories. I rose much earlier than the others, feeling the ocean of energy within me sway with a deceptive calm. After a quick stretching routine to prepare my muscles—a habit that reminded me of the fragility of my human vessel compared to Tiara’s power—I faced the object resting on the mahogany chair: the uniform.

  Although it wasn’t mandatory, Leah had insisted we wear it to “feel the full experience.” I put on the white silk shirt, adjusted the fitted ash-gray jacket with golden trim, and straightened the pleated skirt that fell just above my knees. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt a strange dissonance. Edward Celium would have thought this a fever dream; Liselotte, on the other hand, saw a young woman with delicate features and silver hair, exuding an aura of dangerous elegance.

  “Lotte! I’m rea—!” Leah stepped out of the dressing room and froze, her mouth falling open.

  Chloé, who had already put on her jacket (though she refused to part with her adventurer’s boots), also stared at me, her wolf ears giving a small twitch of surprise.

  “Lotte… you really are…” Leah stammered, her cheeks tinged with a soft pink. “I knew you were pretty, but in the uniform… you look like one of those heroines from ancient books. You have an elegance that’s a little intimidating, but at the same time… you look radiant.”

  I felt myself dying of embarrassment. In my past life, I would never have imagined receiving such compliments while wearing a skirt. But then my gaze drifted to Leah. The blue of the uniform enhanced the color of her eyes, and the golden crown of her hair seemed to shine with its own light in the morning glow. The contrast between silk and her fwless skin made her look like the most precious jewel in all of Whirikal.

  “You… you’re very beautiful too, Leah,” I said without thinking, a knot forming in my throat. “That uniform looks like it was designed exclusively for you. Truly… it’s hard to look away.”

  Leah blinked, surprised by my frankness, and we both quickly averted our eyes, suddenly fascinated by the stitching on our sleeves. The atmosphere in the room grew strangely warm and heavy.

  “Alright, that’s enough staring at each other like museum paintings!” Chloé barked, breaking the tension with an impatient snort. “If you don’t move those feet right now, we’ll be te on the first day. And I’m not taking the bme alone for your syrupy nonsense. Move it—I’m hungry and I want to see the cafeteria!”

  We rushed out of the room, almost running through the white-stone corridors. We crossed the main campus, where hundreds of students were already heading toward their respective cssrooms. When we entered the first-year lecture hall, the murmur of voices fell silent for a moment. We were the center of attention: the returned princess, the wolf girl, and the enigmatic silver-haired guardian.

  “Hey, over here! Princess! Miss Guardian! There are free seats next to us!” a cheerful voice called from the middle of the hall.

  It belonged to two girls who contrasted sharply with each other. One had short brown hair and lively eyes that never stopped moving; the other was more reserved, wearing round gsses that gave her an intellectual air, clutching a thick book to her chest.

  “Hi, I’m Maya,” said the brown-haired girl, rising slightly to make room. “My father is a fabric merchant from the southern district, so believe me when I say those uniforms look amazing on you. And this is my best friend, Elina.”

  “N-nice to meet you…” Elina murmured, adjusting her gsses shyly. “My father is a royal librarian in the secondary archives. It’s an honor to meet you in person. We’ve heard so many stories about your journey…”

  Leah sat down with a relieved smile, grateful for the ck of rigid protocol. “Thank you, Maya. I’m Leah, and these are my friends and protectors, Lotte and Chloé. It’s a pleasure to find friendly faces so soon.”

  Maya leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk conspiratorially. “Don’t worry about the others’ whispers. This css is full of sons and daughters of counts and marquesses who think they own mana itself. They say you shouldn’t be here because you ‘disrupt the bance,’ but I think it’s awesome to have people who actually know what the real world is like.”

  “Is it really that bad with the nobles?” I asked, scanning the room.

  “Oh, you have no idea, Lotte,” Maya replied, rolling her eyes. “Especially Valen’s group. They think they’re the elite of the elite just because their families fund part of the gardens. Elina’s had to put up with being called a ‘book rat’ all morning.”

  “It’s just that… they don’t like it when talented commoners outperform them on theoretical exams,” Elina added quietly. “But now that you’re here, they seem nervous. They feel their status is at risk.”

  “Let them be nervous,” Chloé cut in, propping her feet up on the desk to Elina’s horrified look. “If anyone tries to bite, they’ll find my fangs are bigger.”

  “Chloé, feet down!” Leah scolded in a whisper, though she couldn’t help ughing. “Sorry about her—she’s still adjusting to… furniture.”

  Maya burst into a clear ugh. “I like you! If you ever need to know who’s who in this academy, or which professors are the strictest, just ask. Elina knows the regutions by heart, and I know all the rumors.”

  However, the friendliness of our new companions was interrupted by a group of three boys approaching us. Their leader was a dark-haired youth with an arrogant expression named Valen, nephew of an influential count.

  “Well, well. It seems the Academy has lowered its standards by allowing pets to sit with humans,” Valen sneered, looking disdainfully at Chloé and then at me. “Princess Leah, you should be careful about the company you keep. These… adventurers will only stain your reputation.”

  Maya stood up, indignant. “Valen, leave them alone! They haven’t done anything!”

  “Shut your mouth, merchant’s daughter,” Valen spat. “This is a conversation among real nobility. And you, silver hair—what are you? A guardian, or a doll the King bought for his daughter?”

  I felt a spark of irritation, but before I could reply, the main door of the cssroom smmed open.

  “Everyone to your positions, unless you want me to use you as training dummies!” boomed a massive man with a barrel-wide torso and a scar running down his left cheek. “I’m Professor Korg. I don’t care about your surnames or your castles. If you want theory, go find the bookworms. Here, you’ll learn how not to die on a battlefield. Everyone to the coliseum, now!”

  The training field was a vast sand coliseum surrounded by stone stands. Professor Korg divided us into groups of three. Naturally, Leah, Chloé, and I formed a unit. Maya and Elina ended up in the group behind us, sending encouraging looks our way.

  “Listen up, pups,” Korg shouted, pointing to a rack filled with wooden swords, spears, and maces reinforced for training. “First lesson is three-on-three close-quarters combat. Golden rule: the use of any kind of magic is forbidden. No fire, no ice, no mana reinforcement. I want to see pure technique, physical strength, and coordination. If I detect a single spark of magic or even a gram of mana flowing through your weapons, your group is disqualified and you’ll be cleaning the stables for a month.”

  Leah paled slightly. She relied on her fire to compensate for her physical strength, and Chloé usually used mana-boosted speed. As for me, I felt an icy calm. My body—trained by Edward and reinforced by my recent awakening—was a weapon even without magic.

  “Professor,” Valen raised his hand, fnked by his two bodyguards. “Since we are the css’s honor group, we’d like to choose our opponent. We challenge Princess Leah’s group. It will be educational to see how they perform without their… magical tricks.”

  Korg arched an eyebrow and looked at us. “Do you accept the challenge, or would you rather admit you’re weak before we even start?”

  Leah tightened her grip on her wooden sword, her eyes bzing with real fire. “We accept, Professor.”

  We took our pces in the center of the arena. Valen and his ckeys twirled their swords with fshy, pretentious movements.

  “Lotte, be careful,” Maya whispered. “Valen is an expert in cssical fencing.”

  “Leah, Chloé… stay back,” I said, stepping forward. “I don’t want you ruining your new uniforms. I’ll handle the three of them.”

  “What? Lotte, it’s three against one!” Elina excimed, but she fell silent when she saw my gaze. My eyes were no longer those of a student; they were those of a warrior bearing the will of a pnet.

  Professor Korg gave the signal to begin.

  Valen lunged forward with a fast thrust toward my shoulder, aiming for a quick, humiliating victory. To my heightened senses, his movement was slow, predictable, and reeking of arrogance.

  I didn’t block. I simply shifted my body a few centimeters, letting his weapon pass by, and with a sharp motion of my free hand, struck the base of his wrist. His wooden sword flew through the air. Before he could even process the loss, my own weapon smmed into his sor plexus, knocking all the air from his lungs.

  “One,” I murmured.

  His two companions, seeing their leader doubled over in the sand, attacked simultaneously from both fnks. A basic tactic. I ducked with inhuman agility, sweeping the legs of the attacker on the right with a low spin. As he fell, I used the momentum to rise and deliver an upward ssh that struck the chin of the attacker on the left.

  The sound of wood against bone echoed throughout the coliseum. The first attacker y stunned on the ground, and the second colpsed backward, eyes rolling white.

  It all happened in less than ten seconds.

  Valen, desperately trying to catch his breath, attempted to draw a small training dagger hidden in his boot to strike me from behind. Without fully turning around, I feinted backward and delivered a side kick to his chest that sent him flying three meters back, nding none too gracefully at Professor Korg’s feet.

  I stood there, alone in the center of the arena, my breathing steady and my uniform immacute. I hadn’t used a single drop of magic. I hadn’t even broken a sweat.

  “Looks like your cssical fencing is useless if you don’t know where your opponent is, Valen,” I said, lowering my wooden sword with an indifference that froze the entire css.

  Leah and Chloé approached, their expressions wavering between astonishment and absolute pride. From the stands, Maya and Elina cheered enthusiastically.

  “Lotte… that was… incredible,” Leah said, her eyes shining with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat.

  Professor Korg nodded, jotting something down on his ste. “Well now… seems we’ve got a real warrior among us. Princess Leah’s group, victory by absolute dominance. Valen, get up and go to the infirmary—you’re an embarrassment.”

  We walked back as the nobles’ murmurs shifted from mockery to reverential fear. I knew this would bring trouble, but as long as Leah was by my side and my fists were ready, anyone was welcome to try. The academy game had just begun—and I already had control of the board.