“Orbelesia Grace, do you know anything about it?” Hanzel asked. Aediva thought to herself at first.

“I think I read about it somewhere…” she said.

“Orbelesia Grace is a celebration day for those who revered the Crimson King. It’s the very first event, every year. Traditionally, students of Efren Dorm handle the preparation down to the very enactment of the day! You noticed a lot of the students in the dorm disappeared once class ended. It’s because of the event!” Fay explained.

“Crimson King?” Aediva asked, tilting her head. Fay mirrored her, then turning to both Arthur and Eden who flinched at her sudden stare.

“Geez! You never told her anything about anything at all, do you?” she berated them. Arthur scratched his head.

“We… uh…” as the two boys fumbled with their words, Hanzel let out a chuckle.

“Fay… Stop teasing them” he said, turning back to Aediva.

“Well, do you know the story of ‘the Frost’?” he asked. Aediva flinched the moment she heard the word ‘Frost’ but quickly turned impassive.

“Uh, yeah. A bit” she answered.

“At the end of the Frost, there were Six Great Magus and one Dragon God. Each of them become legendary figures to this very day. Seven schools built to their honor, seven dorms in each school named after them. In Iduryce, two of the seven schools stood proud on its neutral grounds. All seven Dorms in every school do not carry the same name but their foundation is very similar to each other” Hanzel said, placing one stick on the bread.

“Efren Dorm, dedicated to the Crimson King, Orbelis whose ‘austerity’ looked high upon his people”

“Alfala Dorm, dedicated to the Sage of the Desert, Khaijura who embodies ‘bravery’.”

“Sirenia Dorm, dedicated to the Tempest King of the Seven Seas, Triton, the ‘benevolence’ of the Seas”

“Gavrel Dorm, dedicated to the Sacred Ailes, Nufhiel, who carries ‘purity’ from the skies”

“Hydel Dorm, dedicated to Marzanna, Availla who bestowed ‘peace’ to the fallen souls”

“Fyerbius Dorm, dedicated to the Queen of Roses, Dinelle Pristea, who brought ‘order’ to the people”

“And lastly, Kazbelius Dorm, dedicated to the Dragon God who forsake destruction and chaos to battle the Frost, Kazbel, his‘ferocity’ that steels every being in the world.”

Suddenly, Arthur and Eden sighed.

“The names of all the dorms are still as confusing as the first time we learned about it” Arthur said with a defeated smile. Eden scratched his head, nodding at what Arthur was saying.

“Ehehe~ Don’t worry about it! You’ll end up remembering about it even if you don’t wanna” Fay chirped at the two boys. Hanzel chucked.

“Just like you’ve witnessed during the ceremony, the Black Mirror decides what dorm you’ll belong to after looking into your soul. Most of the time, the dorms really reflect the student’s characters” the senior male student said, glancing at the students who are also having lunch in the large greenhouse, particularly down the platform where they are sitting at.

“Alfala students, for example” he paused, gesturing for Aediva to look at the group of female students that seemed to rather stand out than ordinary students around the place. Mainly because some of them literally are with physical traits similar to that of beasts like their ears and fluffy tails. Not to mention some of their ornate accessories they are wearing with them. But Aediva didn’t only notice their clothing or physical appearance. The feeling they exude…

“They looked really strong. Even the one without the animal ears or/and tail” the girl said. Eden immediately pouted, giving Arthur a blue 5 Fels note while grumbling under his breath.

“Wow~ You’re incredible! You just know what sort of people they are from afar?” Fay asked. Aediva didn’t answer suddenly feeling a little annoyed.

“Students from Alfala Dorm are mostly athletes and they have plenty of brawns. Of course, not to say they’re all brawny. Their current Dorm Leader is very smart but he’s always sleeping…” Fay explained.

“That’s not entirely correct either, Fay. Those of Alfala are strong in both brawns, true. But there are those who wouldn’t even go near sports or the likes. It’s safe to say that they are either jocks or brilliant strategists. Actually, maybe Fay is right. They are strong when they are at the fields after all. Either way, they wear dark yellow and black” Hanzel said.

“Hm… So what about those fishy-looking people?” Aediva asked, pointing at a group she had been noticing glancing her way since earlier. Fay and Hanzel almost spurt their drinks when hearing what Aediva described - instantly knowing who she was asking about. Fay giggled.

“They’re fishy alright. Hehehe” she giggled. Hanzel cleared his throat.

“Those would be students from Sirenia Dorm. They’re wearing light blue embellishments on their uniforms, right?” he asked. Aediva nodded.

“You don’t really want to mix with those from that dorm, if I say so myself. They’re good at picking up dirt on people” Fay sighed.

“I would like to say I disagree but Fay’s right. Students from Alfala and Sirenia have a very fierce competition in both academic and extracurricular fields. Sirenia, especially, is actually a lot better when it comes to academic scores but you can never underestimate their prowess in sports” Hanzel explained. Aediva hummed, nodding along to what he said when Fay suddenly spotted something down their place.

“Look look! See those students with halos?” the blonde female senior said - prompting all the first-years to look over the platform.

“Whoa! Those are”

“Halos?”

“Too bright”

Eden, Arthur and Aediva commented.

“Probably not the first time seeing them, I supposed. Maybe you’ve never approached them before. Anyway, those are students from Gavral Dorm” Hanzel said as Aediva rubbed her eyes.

“Noisy people,” she said, responded with Fay giggle. It is true that they are noisy. The moment they enter the greenhouse, it gets a little rowdy in there.

“Gavrel students are very lively, that’s true! You’ve got to attend one of their parties. It’s lit” Fay chirped. Aediva and her two friends looked at Fay with an unbelieving face.

“Party at the start of school? How wild are they?” Aediva asked. Hanzel chuckled.

“Most Ailes reside in Gavrel Dorm and yeah… They are just party animals. You’ll always see them with members of the Hydel Dorm” he said, pointing at the gloomy student eating silently beside the noisy bunch of angels.

“Uwa. I thought it was just the light but that student really got some heavy air around him. Creepy” Eden commented, earning a smack on the head by Aediva.

“Ouch!” the raven hissed.

“It’s people like you who really makes those timid shrooms even more scared of people” Aediva said with a frown.

“You’re quick to adapt, huh?” Hanzel chuckled.

“But don’t judge those gloom-shrooms on face value alone. Gavral and Hydel Dorm may be both rowdy and reclusive but they are those with creative talents. Those in Hydel especially are extremely good with technologies and creating machines. These two dorms combined, they are indeed the exact opposite of Efren Dorm. By the way, Gavral students wear cream yellow colour and Hydel wears green” Hanzel explained. Aediva who was about to stuff her face with the last sandwich she bought earlier, suddenly paused.

“There’s two dorms left, right? What about those annoying divas who kept fixing their damn clothes and their makeup? Those are plenty in the class” Aediva sighed. Arthur looked up from his food - finally joining the conversation.

“They are from Fyerbius. You don’t really have to see what colour they’re wearing most of the time too. They are always obsessed with beauty and knighthood. Aren’t I glad to not enter that dorm…” Arthur said, mumbling under his breath on his final sentence.

“Fyerbius students are well… They take their beauty routines very seriously, true. But most of their students excel in alchemy and charms” Hanzel said.

“But I agree with the diva part~ Most of them are pretty arrogant too. They don’t want to mix with plebs like me~” Fay pouted. The other simply let out a dry chuckle after hearing her complaint.

“And that left us with the last dorm. The star of the academy dedicated to Kazbel himself. Kazbelius Dorm” Hanzel said, suddenly turning somewhat serious.

“Oh~~~ Kazbelius Dorm~” Fay cheered.

Aediva raised an eyebrow.

“Well simply put. It’s the dorm full of magically talented students wearing golden. Many came from the Valleys of Dragons. Hmm… How do I put it…” Hanzel thought to himself. Fay quickly came in.

“Kazbelius students really have this… Super celebrities kinda feel to them! So it’s very hard for us commoners to approach them. And they’re the kind who stick to their own kind as well” Fay said.

“Huh…? Really?” Aediva responded, sounding rather skeptical.

“Well, many of them are creatures of the Dark after all. Even if we wanted to be near them, they’ll end up ditching you for their own kind” Hanzel said.

“Dark creatures…” Aediva idly murmured to herself. Fay nodded.

“Especially their Dorm Leader! Senior Allergard is definitely on the top tier of the academy’s most unapproachable person! He rarely shows himself around common campus grounds and it’s hard to find him unless it’s class time. He’s like among the most powerful mages in the world and one of the few Fire mages left, you know! Ah… How cool would it be if someone came out saying he’s their boyfriend or something~ The charm of ‘The Prince of Darkness’ is hard to resist” Fay blurted out long. Aediva gave a skewed smile, seeing Fay sudden giddiness.

“Ah, but Hanzel is in the same class as the Dragon himself. Why don’t you tell them a bit about the star of the academy?” Fay piped at Hanzel who only fixes his glasses in response.

“Oh Fay…” he sighed but compiles anyway.

“Well, I honestly had no idea either… He’s not exactly a talkative guy. He always sits the furthest back in the class and keeps to himself. As soon as the class ends, he would leave. How can I say this…” Hanzel said.

“He got this very heavy air around… It’s a bit suffocating to breathe around him or something. It keeps making me feel like running away from him” he described.

“Isn’t that just a normal flight or fight response?” Aediva asked.

“I supposed it is. It’s a bit unsettling to be in the same room with someone who could turn into a dragon after all” Hanzel laughed. Aediva munched the last of her sandwich.

“A dragon huh…” she murmured to herself when noticing Fay and Hanzel standing up all over the sudden - patting the crumbs off their skirt and pants. At that instant, Aediva felt the shift of airs among them.

“Now that we’ve basically told you all a bit of what we know about the school… Time to go!” Fay said cheerfully. Hanzel fixes his glasses, smiling calmly as he usually is but there was something a little sinister about it.

“...‘Drag back the two boys who broke the rules and the one who helped them.’ Sorry, kids. Dorm Leader’s order” he said.

Arthur and Eden almost throw up what they’ve eaten as Aediva zipped her sweater after stuffing Cath into it.

“RUN!!!” they screamed, leaving everything at the platform and running down the stairs, Aediva jumping off the platform and landing right on the path leading straight to the exit.

“OI AEDIVA!”

“YOU TRECHEROUS WOMAN!”

Aediva bolts out of the conservatory with no restraint, bailing her two friends who had unknowingly dragged her into their mess.