Hmm, the snow’s gone, huh?
I sat alone by myselves, staring into the now lively scene of the capital’s lower squares. No longer were people wearing heavy clothes or resorting to carriages for travel. Children were playing around, friends were hanging around… The capital was starting to beco crowded again.
Spring was coming sooner than I thought.
It had been quite so ti since I visited the Grand Square to take a look at my scores. Since then, I have been spending my ti training and pondering.
To be honest, I did admirably.
Both of .
I wasn’t the only one shocked by the results.
I still rember the talk Mother gave to on the carriage back ho.
—
“Good work.”
—
And that’s it…
Yeah, seriously.
But she wasn’t exactly being apathetic. Rather, she couldn’t seem to keep her smile contained. What resonated with more was that smile of hers as she stared out into the skies above as the carriage rattled forth. Seeing that smile made believe that this was all truly worth it.
Father’s reaction wasn’t as subdued, though.
—
“The first and sixth??!!” a booming voice echoed down several halls of the Sareid estate.
—
Even though Mother opted in to deliver the news herself, his reaction easily carried across the estate even without Feyt’s ears.
I felt slightly proud of my results ever since that day. Father had imdiately prepared a feast as a celebration for both of us that night.
I heard our chefs worked their asses off for the sudden feast demand, but when push ca to shove, they sure delivered.
They brought out dish after dish, their expressions not out of annoyance, but rather expectancy, perhaps waiting to hear how they all did.
Amazingly, the feast itself was impeccable. But Father’s beaming face, and Mother’s less-subtle-than-before smile… they were the true highlight of the day.
Ever since that day, I had been waiting. But it didn’t an I hadn’t been busy.
The regular classes started back up again, and with that were the introduction of so old faces and so new ones.
I, as Carine, started my regular schedule once again. While the other keeps up the training from Mother.
In my free ti, I would train on my own, like always, or just ponder out in my room. I would sotis head out to the library as Carine, which Mother had started giving more leeway for, and thankfully, I didn’t co across any royalty hogging the place for themselves there.
Unfortunately, my research on what my Talents could be hadn’t borne any fruit. I had scoured most of the library’s catalogue of Talent Identification books ant for scholars. But perhaps, once I get into the academy, the library there might hold so answers… Maybe.
I also started sending letters, starting with Mom and Dad. I had written about my score in the rankings and how I will try my best to learn as much as I can in the academy.
I didn’t know if Fray was ho or not, but I ntioned her in the letter anyway, thanking her for training back ho.
I’d also sent several letters addressed to those who helped in the practical exam. Eveliana, Kyro, Clarissa, and Phil-man, or rather, Villius. They all basically contained the core ssage, which was my sincerest thank you for their assistance, and my deepest apologies for the consequences it had brought on their scores.
I know it probably wasn’t enough for what they did for , but I hoped it would at least ease things out when we et again.
So yes, despite the results already announced, things were still a little busy. But today was a different class of busy, and I was… not feeling it.
You see, a few days ago, letters announcing our acceptance into the Royal Knights Academy had arrived. The letter had our nas written in thick letters in the middle, complete with a basic congratulatory ssage on being accepted.
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It was a relief to finally have confirmation that I really was accepted. Even with my high score as Feyt, I wouldn’t put it past them to find so loopholes to fail . Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
But along with the letter ca two other things. First was a piece of parchnt showing each of my class placents.
For Carine, it read as follows:
—
[Carine Sareid]
Class: First Year, Honors
“Congratulations on being accepted into the Royal Knights Academy. Your dedication, courage, and excellence have distinguished you among your peers and have earned you a place in the Honors class. May your continued dedication bring honor to the Kingdom of Setus.”
Signed—Director Mayarre
—
I managed to get into Honors. I didn’t want to say that I expected it, since I was top of the leaderboards and all, but yeah… it still felt surreal.
As for Feyt’s:
—
[Feyt]
Class: First Year, Class A
“Congratulations on being accepted into the Royal Knights Academy. May your days with us in this academy bring forth your true potential.”
—
Yeah… it was a lot less theatrical. It wasn’t even signed by anyone. But hey, I passed! That was all that mattered.
Though… considering I finished in sixth place out of, like, hundreds of others… I was a little disappointed I wasn’t in Honors like Carine. It seed that the Honors class was exclusive to the gilded track.
But yeah, both of my goals were achieved. Entering Honors as Carine and passing the exam itself as Feyt. It was only a matter of ti before the Third Prince fulfilled his part of the deal, and I couldn’t wait until he did. But things didn’t end there.
The last thing that was included with the ssage was two small pieces of high-quality, rigid paper.
The paper with Carine’s na on it was written in gold ink. Feyt’s had standard black ink instead. But they both functioned the sa. It was an invitation to a ball, a celebration for those who have been accepted into the academy, and a proper mont to network with fellow students.
After Mother and Father learned of the ball, a new training was added to both of my schedules.
Knocks ca from both of my doors.
“Sir Feyt, it’s ti for the lesson,” Eliza said gently beyond the door.
“Lady Carine, it is ti,” Leila said on the other door.
““Coming!”” I said at the sa ti.
—
Both of stood before a quiet little structure known as the Sareid estate’s one and only dance hall, AKA, the place I was holed in for safety during that incident.
It was recently refurbished and cleaned to a usable state. Not enough for public showing, but enough for today’s schedule.
Leila and Eliza both stood behind my respective selves. They then approached the two grand doors and opened it for us.
“Thank you,” I said as Feyt, doing it almost subconsciously.
As we entered the building, we reached the small but cozy entrance hall. The desk ant for reception and the stairs leading to the upper floors were still there, but less dusty than before. Still void of people, though, that was about to change.
Leila and Eliza made their way into the room, closing the grand doors behind them gently. They quietly made their way forward and opened the door leading to the main dance hall. As light poured in from the gaps of the two doors, two figures stood tall within the hall, nearly silhouetted due to the light from the windows.
Both of them widened their eyes at the sight of . First was Mother, here to observe and assist in today’s lesson.
The second was… my dance instructor. Miss… uhh… yeah, I still couldn’t catch her na, even though this was her second eting with Feyt; she hadn’t said her na once for so reason.
Now, nas aside… I believe you already pieced together what training this was going to be.
That’s right… a private dance lesson.
“Ah, just in ti,” Miss Whats-her-na called out to us, waving lightly. “Co here, let’s start our training post-haste!”
This was our second eting with the instructor together. The first had just been a quick introduction for Feyt and a discussion of terms with Mother. Today was the real start lesson.
Holding back an anxious sigh, I walked to the center of the naturally illuminated dance hall, approaching Mother and the dance instructor.
“Greetings.”
“Good afternoon.”
Both of them nodded at my greetings. Then, Mother cleared her throat.
“As I was saying, how would you propose we train both of them?” she asked the instructor.
“Actually… I believe Carine would do well enough without further training…” she said, almost dejectedly. But then, a smirk crept on her lips as she turned Feyt. “Him, though? Considering how close the ball is, I’m afraid we’ll have to be a little… intense.”
Intense? On a first-tir? What are you, a sadist—
“Intense is fine,” Mother said.
Hey! Don’t enable her!
Before I could protest, the instructor closed the distance to Feyt in two quick strides. “We’ll start with so fundantals. Let’s see what we’re working with, shall we?” Without another word, she grabbed my right hand, placed her other hand firmly on my shoulder, and pulled into a starting position.
“Wait wha—?”
“Now, follow my lead! One, two—!!”
You haven’t even told what steps we’ll take!!
She tried to step forward, intending to push back into a push-and-pull. Do that to any rookie, and they’ll land squarely on their butts. Thankfully, I wasn’t a rookie… well, this body was, but my other self wasn’t.
The mont she moved, Carine’s muscle mory—the years of training my footwork and positioning—flared brightly. I reacted on instinct, letting her forward step be t with a smooth entrance by taking a backward step.
The instructor stopped dead, her smirk replaced by silent blinking.
“W-Wow, that was lucky. Then, let’s go for another. One, two—!”
She pulled us to the side with a quick motion, and I imdiately recognized that she was doing a spin. So, I followed her steps closely, my foot landing precisely where they needed to be. As we stopped, she was dead silent for a mont.
“A-A fluke, that was a fluke, right?” she mumbled to herself. “A-Another!”
And so, she continued to take step after step, and each ti, I responded perfectly thanks to Carine’s muscle mories. Years of practicing the sa moves over and over again weren’t a waste after all.
When we finally finished, her shoulders were slumped. She released my hands and took a step back, before turning to face a window with her head held down.
I blinked, reaching out to her. “Umm, miss? Are you alright?”
She didn’t respond. Instead, I heard her quiet mumblings.
“How? How is this possible? What? Are all kids these days born a prodigy? Why am I even here? Are they just trying to show off?”
A—Ah… Maybe I was a bit of a try-hard…
And so, with a demoralized, basically naless instructor and a looming ball dead ahead…
My dance lessons were officially underway.
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