“Mnh…”

I drowsily opened my eyes, using my hand to block the morning light that sneaked through the blinders, shining directly into my eyes. I wipe my eyes with my pajama sleeve and slowly sit up.

“Oh, you’re up. Good morning Selene.”

My eyes wander over towards the direction of the voice and see Mary sitting on the sofa, folding clothes.

“Good morning~ Mary~” I lazily respond.

“You can sleep some more if you’d like. We aren’t scheduled to leave for another few hours.”

I search around for a clock and spy one hanging on the wall. It was already past 9 in the morning. Scanning the room one more time, the only people in the room right now was Mary and me.

“Mary~ Where’s teacher?”

“The mistress is currently visiting the Mage’s association in town. She mentioned needing to send a message to the capital.”

“I see.”

My brain is still taking its time waking up, as usual, every morning I would lazily roll around for at least 30 minutes before finally getting up. I stretch to get my blood flowing and pull the blanket off my body. Noticing one more person missing, I walk over to Mary while wiping my eyes once more.

“Mary, where’s papa?”

“Ab-...Sir Abel is currently attending the marquess’ morning training. If you want to take a look, they should still be training right now at the academy training grounds across the street.”

“Mmh. Okay, I’ll go take a look.”

I strolled slowly towards the door until suddenly Mary pulled my arm and yanked me back.

“Where are you planning on going looking like that young lady?”

“Huh?”

I look down and notice that I’m currently in my underwear and pajama shirt.

“Ah.”

“‘Ah’ you say? Selene, if I hear about any unladylike behavior at the academy, don’t think that you’ll be able to stay for long.”

“Eek! I-I’m sorry, Mary! I’ll be careful, I promise!”

“Haa.”

Mary gave a long sigh and picked out a dress from the stack of clothes she has in front of her.

“Come, let’s take a shower first and then I’ll help you get dressed. Arms up.”

Mary quickly undresses me and take me into a bathroom directly connected to the room I was sleeping in. After a swift but comfortable shower, Mary takes me back into the previous room and sits me down by the tea table and dries my hair with a towel.

“Mary, I’m really gonna miss you at the academy…” I say as I enjoy my typical pampering.

“Unfortunately retainers are not allowed at the Amarande Royal Academy, however, you should take this time to become more independent. You don’t want to grow up to be a useless blob do you?”

“N-no, I don’t.” I shyly answer.

I truly will miss this time between us, but Mary is right. I might have gotten a little bit too used to this.

Mary swiftly dresses me in a light greenish bell-sleeve dress after drying my hair and preps me for the day.

“Okay. You’re all set.”

“Thanks Mary!”

I give Mary a big hug and run off to the door. After grabbing the door handle, I turn back, with a thought coming to my mind.

“Oh, Mary, are you busy? Do you want to come too?”

Mary pauses while looking at the pile of clothes that have already been neatly stacked in a small suitcase and then answers me.

“Alright. Let’s go together.”

“Yay!”

Mary seals up the suitcase and places it on the table. Then walks over to me and holds my hand. I smile and then we exit into the hallway. On first glance, it seems like this was the same guest room that I was waiting in with teacher yesterday. From the balcony, we could see the first-floor lobby down below and the exit to the mansion. We venture down the stairs, greeting various servants along the way.

As we exit the mansion, I saw the figure of the little girl I just met yesterday, hunched over and sitting by a small bed of flowers in the garden. Mary notices my pondering expression and stops.

“Why don’t you go say hello? You’ll be classmates soon after all.” She says with a smile.

“Okay! Be right back.”

I trotted over to Astrid’s location and she notices me on approach and smiles.

“Good morning Selene. I heard about what happened yesterday, I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Morning Astrid! Yeah it was a little scary, but kinda exciting at the same time. I’m glad I was able to go.”

“What was the beast like? I’ve only read stories about them in books.”

“Well, it was big like a bear, and it had a really creepy aura. Oh! Also it could use magic! That really shocked me.”

“Eh…? A demonic beast that can use magic?”

Astrid pauses upon hearing my retelling, with visible confusion on her face.

“Yeah, it was really strong too. Sad to say, but my spell was completely useless in blocking it... Teacher stepped in and helped at the last second, and we were able to beat it.”

“Hm…”

Astrid continues to ponder my tale. Since it seems that she’s in deep thought about something, I think of something to say to change the topic to something lighter.

“Hey Astrid! Mary and I are going to go watch your grandfather train with my dad, wanna come?”

Astrid props up, with a look that she had heard something strange.

“Hm?” I utter.

“Oh, sorry. It’s just, I’m already so used to grandfather training every morning that I hadn’t actually been in a while. Sure, I’d be glad to accompany you.” She answers with a smile.

“Okay! Let’s go together then!”

I put out my hand to help Astrid stand up and she slightly hesitates before grabbing it. With a light yank, I help her get to her feet and together we walk back to where Mary was standing, by the stone path leading to the exit of the complex. I wave as we approach.

“Mary, Astrid is gonna come with us!”

She simply answers with a nod and a smile.

“Greetings, young miss. Although Selene is a little tomboyish and uncultured, I hope you will be able to be friends with her.”

“Hey, I’m not that...bad…” I sulk.

“Hehe, good morning, miss Stockwald. I don’t mind at all, I think Selene is quite cute actually.”

“Astrid…!” I lightly utter with a twinkle in my eye.

“Now, shall we go? Selene.” Astrid finishes.

“Yes! Let’s!”

The three of us walk along the stone path to the gate of the mansion. Astrid carefully explains to the standing guard where we were going and he answers with a bow. Then, we set off a short distance to the large complex situated on the other side of the road, directly facing the mansion.

As we enter, the sounds of people training steadily made itself apparent. A group of men in leather armor were doing laps, running in sync along the inside wall of the training ground. Most of the complex was large open-air dirt fields, there was one large building near the back, directly straight from the entrance, which seems to be the barracks. Several buildings are also placed around the edges of the complex as well. Looking around, I spy the marquess and papa together with a group of knights in the central ground off to the left.

Our group continues onward to their location, with the occasional knight trainee stopping to bow at us as they go about their daily duties.

“Ooh! Astrid! And young Selene as well! Welcome to my training field! Everyone, five-minute break.”

The marquess greeted us as he noticed our approach. The cadets pause their sword practice and collapse on the ground, panting with exhaustion.

“Good morning grandfather.” Astrid greets neatly with a bow.

“Good morning your grace.” Mary follows suit.

“Good morning, marquess Vrynn!” I say, using their actions as a guide.

“Hohoho, no need to be so formal here, this area is practically my second home!”

“Oh, okay! Marquess, where is papa?”

I relax upon hearing the marquess’ suggestion, but for some reason, I can feel Mary drilling a hole in my head with her glare.

“Sir Abel is currently in the indoor training ground over there, helping some of my men train.”

The marquess points to a building in the far left corner of the premise, not too far from where we are right now.

“Okay, thank you!”

Just as I signal Astrid to come with me, the marquess suddenly raises a suggestion.

“Wait, actually I’m just about to finish up here. Why don’t I guide you there.”

“Ooh, that would be gr-”

“We wouldn’t dare impose upon you any further, I’m afraid having your grace as our acting guide would be rather improper…”

Mary cuts me off before I could finish.

“Hohoho, nonsense. You are our guest. Also, this would allow me to repay my thanks to young Selene who helped out my men in the battle last night.”

Mary looks a little conflicted but then gives in.

“Very well, I understand. We greatly appreciate your generosity.”

Mary glares at me with her head down with a stare that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Y-yes! Thank you very much, marquess Vrynn!” I quickly bow.

“Hohoho, one moment please. Oi! You guys! Break’s over, go run 10 laps around the field!”

“Y-yes sir!” The trainees answer with fright in their voice.

“Now, let us go.”

We make our way to the indoor training ground with the marquess in front, Mary in the middle, and Astrid and me in the back. I slightly sigh with a tired expression and Astrid looks at me with an inquisitive expression.

“Ahaha, Mary gets really mad when I forget my manners… Which kinda happens a lot.” I shyly say in a small voice.”

“Hehe, don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. It took me a long time to learn as well and I’ve been receiving etiquette classes from when I was born.”

“Astrid… you have to help me! If Mary finds out I did anything I shouldn’t have at school… she’s totally gonna drag me back home!”

“No problem, I’d be glad to help you.” She chuckles.

“In return, how about you help me once in a while with my rune research?”

“Yeah! Sure, no problem!”

Pretty soon, we arrive at the entrance to the indoor training ground, once the marquess pushed the door open, I could see papa inside standing with someone on the training mat in the middle of the room with a couple of other people sitting around outside the mat area.

Papa and the other trainees notice us as we walked in and everyone got up to salute the marquess.

“Greetings, sir!”

“Your grace, Selene, and Mary as well?”

“Papa!”

I run up to the mat and hug papa. He catches me and gives me a head pat.

“Welcome, Selene. Did you come to watch the morning training?”

“Yeah, Mary said we wouldn’t be leaving for another few hours, so I came here to pl- I mean see what you were doing.”

“Ahaha, I see.”

Papa then greets Mary with a nod.

“There are some benches over there, feel free to watch us from there. Right now I’m currently doing some light sparring with the marquess’ knight cadets.”

“Okay!”

I wave at Astrid and Mary, then I point at a large bench situated by the wall. Mary bows to the marquess and then takes Astrid over to the bench, and I join them. Once I got settled in, I notice the marquess walking up to papa.

“Sir Abel, I hope I didn’t trouble you with my request.”

“It was no trouble at all sir. Your cadets are quite well trained and I’m learning quite a bit.”

“Hoho, is that so? Well, since I’m already here, I might as well check up on their progress.”

The cadets perk up upon hearing the marquess’ statement. Clearly not in excitement either.

The marquess’ training must be really tough for them to be so frightened of him, even though he’s so nice.

“Alright, Marcus, you’re up!”

“Yes sir!”

The cadet named Marcus saluted and then walked up to the mat.

“I look forward to your instruction!” He says with a bow.

“I as well.”

Papa and the cadet start a few feet apart and put up their stance with their wooden swords. Once the two of them were ready, the marquess gave the signal to begin.

“Begin!”

“Haa!”

Marcus charges in with a downward strike, but papa easily dodges it with a step to the side. As he dodges, he swiftly slashes at the hilt of the sword Marcus was holding, the force of the strike causes Marcus to drop his weapon.

“Stop! That’s it.”

The entire spar ended within one second.

“Thank you for the match!” Marcus says with a bow.

“Thank you as well.” Papa answers.

As soon as the match ended, I felt Astrid tugging at my sleeve.

“Wow Selene, your papa is super strong indeed. I knew it from watching yesterday, but that was crazy.”

“Hehe. I didn’t know until yesterday either! Mary, did you know papa was so good?”

“It is my duty to know about all the staff employed by the mistress. Though, I guess he is better than I thought.”

Mary seems to have a slight blush as she uttered that last part, I wonder if she’s getting sick? I hope not. Look back upon the aftermath of the match, I spy the marquess giving Marcus a lecture.

“Marcus, what did I tell you about using so many wasteful movements to start the match? Haymakers are not going to help you in actual combat.”

“Yes sir, I apologize. It’s just, I didn’t think he’d be so fast.”

“And that’s why you have to prod your opponent’s capabilities and range before committing to attacks. Don’t forget what you learned today, I’m going to be moving you to a separate menu so you can improve your battle strategizing.”

“Affirmative, sir.”

“Alright, next! Sophie!”

Upon hearing her name called, a young female knight cadet stood up and walked to the mat. This was my first time seeing a female knight. She had a slender build, short hair, and dressed in basically the same outfit as everyone else.

“I look forward to it, sir!”

“I as well.”

Rehearsing the same greeting as before, the match began.

“Begin!”

***

An hour later all the sparring matches were concluded. Almost everyone lost within a few seconds of combat, the female knight cadet Sophie lasted the longest at 15 seconds before getting her weapon disarmed as well.

Papa received a towel from one of the cadets and wiped off his sweat as he began to walk towards us, suddenly I heard a message in my head.

‘Abel, Mary, Selene. I’m finished with my business. Meet me at the entrance to the mansion. We will be departing soon.’

This was teacher’s Shadow Whisper without a doubt. I look at Mary and Papa, both of them giving me a nod confirming that they also got the message.

“Hm?” Astrid uttered.

“Teacher just sent us a message, she wants us to meet with her outside. It looks like we are leaving soon.”

“Oh... I thought we would have more time.” Astrid lightly sulks.

“Don’t worry, we can play lots together once you get to the school too!”

“...Okay. It’s a promise then.” She smiles.

“Let’s go inform the marquess for we set off, Selene.”

Mary takes to the mat area where the marquess was still giving a lecture to all the cadets.

“Oh? Is there something wrong?”

“Not at all, your grace. The mistress has just informed us that she wishes to depart soon, so we have come to give you our regards.” Mary answers.

“The duchess is leaving so soon? She never changes, not even a notice beforehand so that I can send her off properly! Thank you for informing me, madam.”

I chuckle upon hearing the marquess’ complaint, teacher is teacher after all.

“Everyone, go finish off your morning training. I’ll be back later!”

“Yes sir!”

“Come, I’ll accompany with. It’s the least I can do for our esteemed guests.”

“We appreciate it very much, your grace.”

We quickly exit into the training ground and swiftly made our way to the entrance of the complex. Once there, I could see teacher’s carriage already set up with her standing next to it talking to miss Sylvae. It didn’t take long before we arrived at her location.

“Ah, you’re all here. Alphonse and Astrid as well?”

“Duchess, I would really appreciate it if you could inform us of your departure plans earlier, what kind of host would I be if I didn’t send off my own guests?”

“Ah. Well, it’s an urgent matter you see…”

“I understand,” he sighs. “Don’t worry, I should be used to this by now if anything. Astrid, pay your respects.”

“I wish you a safe journey to the capital, Duchess Babylon.”

“Mmh,” teacher nods. “Oh, that reminds me. Here.”

Teacher stretches out her hand and a book suddenly appears in her grasp. Must be from within her storage ring.

“This is some of my compiled notes for intermediate level runeology. I’m sure you will find it a useful accompaniment to your studies.”

Astrid’s eyes light up upon seeing it, but then she shys back and glances at me.

“Are you sure, your excellency? Shouldn’t this be something Selene receives instead…”

“Fufu, fret not, I have my own plans for teaching Selene. Besides, I did promise you didn’t I?”

“Then…”

“Yes, feel free to take it.”

“! Thank you so much! I will do my best to repay you in whatever way I can in the future!”

Astrid happily receives and hugs the notebook from teacher. The marquess shows a face with mixed feelings upon seeing Astrid so elated by the gift, but he rests on a glad expression.

“Thank you for this gift, Duchess. Our Astrid has always been very invested in the pursuit of runeology.”

“It is no problem. Now, we must be setting off now.”

“Very well, I wish you a safe journey, my lady.”

As teacher and Mary climb into the carriage, I walk over one last time to say goodbye to Astrid.

“I will see you at the academy, Astrid!”

“Yeah! See you there, Selene!”

I hop on over to the carriage, and Mary extends a hand to help me on. Once we all got situated, Papa took the reins of the horses and we set off for the capital.

“Wait, where’s miss Sylvae?” I hurriedly ask.

“Oh don’t worry about that work-a-holic. She’s around.” Teacher says, pointing her finger upwards.

“?”

I stick my head out the windows and see miss Sylvae standing on the roof of the carriage, unaffected by the moving vehicle at all.

“Wow!”

She gives me a small wave upon noticing my gaze, I then feel myself getting pulled back in by someone.

“Hey! What did I just tell you this morning? One more offense and I’m taking you home.” Mary scolds me.

“Eek! I’m sorry! I seriously won’t do it anymore, I promise!”

“Fufu, relax Mary, she’ll be fine. If anyone dares to make fun of my student, I’ll burn their entire territory.”

“Mistress, that didn’t seem like a joke, so I advise against it.”

As I sit down and accept Mary’s lecture, we peacefully continue our journey to the capital, Amarande!