It was just like any other day. The sun was up the birds were singing, and I was snuggling into my nice, warm....sheets? No somethings not right. As I opened my eyes a few questions came to mind, why is my bed moving? Why is my bed made of leather? And why does my room look suspiciously like a carriages interior.
Never mind, I remember now. I got into this carriage if my own free will. It's taking me to the place I've always dreamed of going, and no it's not Lillian's bedroom you perv....I've already been there.
It is of course the knights academy.
I have recently rediscovered that shame is irrelevant when you're a child. So if I were to say, I don't know, throw a tantrum in the front hall, I'd probably get what ever I wanted. It of course helps when you've got a dad with a soft heart and a mum who's tired of your shit.
I know... not the most dignified method, but I was desperate ok!? If I don't graduate before Lillian joins the magic academy then all my dreams will shatter! Contacting her will only get harder as she gets older. She'll be forced to take on responsibilities, go to more social events and not to mention the marriage proposals that would flood in! Anyone would take one look at her and fall head over heels. Besides, I have to be there to make sure she doesn't go down the path of a villainess, and no that's not some lame excuse to stick to her! Jeez get off my back.
I propped my face up with my hand and stared blankly at the passing scenery. Unlike the magic academy which is located in the city, the knights academy is burried deep within the countryside. Presumably so they have more room to work us to death. Most of the professors are retired knights but there are the occasional few who are younger. The younger ones usually have been injured in battle and no longer have use as a knight. So tragic...if I ever get injured in battle just having Lillian by my side, worrying, cheering me on the get better, I think I'd recover instantly.
Sadly for me, the professors at the knights academy are infamous for being incredibly harsh on new students. It doesn't help that I'm guaranteed to be the youngest there and one of the only females. The academy has always has an impressively steep male to female ratio. Last year there was one female for every sixty two males, and there's only fifty one per class....
Oh well, I can deal with this later. I just have to think of this as a three year long holiday from all capture targets. The only person I told about my escape was Lillian, duh. But she probably told her brother, I don't think that little problem wants much to do with me though. The main point is that neither of those princely brothers know where I am or how to contact me.
I swear if I hear anything about a search party I'm gonna destroy them...
Hm, I suppose there's also the guys at the guild... but honestly they expect me to do my own thing at this point. I've gained their trust more or less. If anything they'll be relived to not deal with my chaotic mess every day. Guess I'll just have to be extra problematic when I get back to make up for it.
Well, it's not my problem anymore, especially since I've just arrived.
I was greeted with tall stone walls with a rusted silver gate. Moss was beginning to form on the bricks and floral weeds grew along the occasional sunny patch. Beyond the walls was an ancient looking building, vines grew up the loose brickwork and the spires looked like they'd fall over with the slightest breeze.
I'm conclusion: it's a shit hole....
But at least it's a pretty shit hole.
Trying to compare this place to the magic academy was futile. The entire building was about a quarter of the magic academy's size and it looked like it hadn't been maintained in a very long time.
The magic academy was known for its impressive architecture and lavish decor. It's truly a place for the rich and beautiful. That's probably my why around eighty percent of high class noble children end up there. The other twenty percent usually have no chance at inheriting or were just fighting freaks like yours truly.
Plus, since the majority of students here were the children of merchants or lucky commoners, no one saw much purpose in keeping it well kept.
However, what the academy lacked in luxury, it made up with its expansive training area. Miles of country, all contained within the walls. All of the money put into creating this place was put into sculpting various landscapes. Mountains were created, sand was relocated and exotic plants were imported all to give the students the different expiriences they would need to become the best knight possible. What's the point in having a knight if they can't fight in every situation?
As the carriage pulled up to the front door we passed by a group of kids sparring each other with wooden swords. Mercilessly knocking each other down to claim victory. As we came to a stop their attention was brought to us though. Seeing such a high-class carriage in this place could only mean that someone important was here to visit. Well, it's either that or an impulsive moron wants to become the perfect lady knight for her princess...
Without waiting for the coach driver to fully stop I leapt out of the door, squealing like a pig as I went. I'd held my excitement in all this time but I'm finally here! All my dreams and plans are coming together!
The coachman sighed, used to my antics and began to unload luggage. The stares from the sweaty youths only became more curious as an unladylike lady with a strangely attractive aura emerged, acting like she just arrived at Disney land.
Its at times like this that I wished I didn't have the heroine halo. Is being invisible that much to ask for...? Please my subjects, do not stare! Even though I'm perfect, stunning and flawless I'm human like you!
Yup that's enough self love for today, back to self-deprecating jokes.
I quickly snapped back to reality when a short old lady waddled towards me. She had one of those cute old faces that you just wanna squish, but luckily my self control is godlike. Once she was standing in front of me I could clearly see that she only just reached my shoulders, and I had yet to hit my growth spurt so I was on the shorter side for my age. Not that I get much taller, another cliche by the game developers. If only I was super tall, then I could really impress Lillian by reaching the top shelf for her, or maybe tease her by holding things out of reach just to see her make a frustrated expression to hide her enjoyment.
The little old lady cleared her throat seeing that my mind was wandering,
"Welcome dear to the knights academy. I am one of the heads of this establishment, you may call me Madame Fearal."
She gestured with shaky hands to the worn building behind her,
"This establishment, as you know, will be brutal in shaping you up to be a knight the kingdom can be proud of."
Her cute old lady smile dropped for a moment and coincidentally so did the temperature, I felt a chill run down my spine,
"Don't expect us to go easy on you just because you're a young lady of a noble house."
I gave a nod of determination, trying to shake off the intimidating aura of the little woman. She then looked me up and down before returning to her soft expression and muttering a "good" under her breath.
She turned on her heel and began to show me around the building. She showed me the main areas I'd need to know, where I'd be sleeping, where to wash up, where to eat and most importantly places to sit and think of all my terrible life decisions.....I have a feeling I'll be back there later.
I was then left on my own again as she left to take care of other things. Standing in a room much smaller than any of the ones in my house. The academy gave nobles no special treatment, so what I got was the same as every other person here. There were two, tattered, wooden frame beds with a decently sized mattress on each. The sheets were a faded white but smelled fresh. At the end of each bed was a chest for storage and a set of stone bookends that I'm almost certain were just slabs of stone dug up from the ground. However, although there were holes in the floorboards and the room smelled slightly damp, I couldn't have been more excited to be here.
I felt comfortable here, like I could sit with my legs open, slouch on the bed and leave my stuff where ever I wanted. I wasn't constricted to rules of high society and it was liberating.
After unpacking I lay face first down on the bed ready to sleep after the journey. I hadn't slept last night and it was all beginning to catch up on me. So I decided to take a nap, ensuring myself that I'd be up in time for dinner.....except I wasn't.
When I opened my eyes again the moon was high in the sky and I would be began to tell at it like a crazy person if it wasn't for the new presence in the room.
A girl, a few years older than me, was sorting through my stuff that I'd lazily thrown into my chest. I was about to call her out, before I realised on closer inspection, that she wasn't curiously poking through my things, she was looking for something.
I'm this close to permanently immobilizing her, but remember that godlike self control? Still godlike!
After watching her for a while, I became more interested in who she was. Was she a side character? Or just someone not in the game entirely? I don't recall there being any female knight characters, if there were I'd be the first to notice.
"Uh, hi?" I said trying to play it cool. If this really was a lady knight in training I could gain some expirience from her. Plus making a female friend should help balance out the sausage fest that's happening here....
Startled, she glanced up at me, before standing up straight with her hands tightly behind her.
Now that she was in the moon light I could make out her features and she started to look strangely familiar. Red hair slicked back to her head in a tight bun, brown sharp looking eyes and a stern expression that looked to be permanent. I wracked my brain to figure out where I recognised her. Aha! She's an NPC, Knight #3. Not the most exciting name but what can you do when the writing team for your game isn't all that great at original ideas.
"I'm Charlotte Wince, your roommate for the foreseeable future." A harsh voice pierced through our momentary silence, "I hope you will treat me well."
Even if I was stunned I've dealt with enough bullshit in my two lives to collect my thoughts quickly, "May Rosewell," I said "but, more importantly, why were you going through my stuff?" I asked, trying my best not to sound irritated.
Charlotte hung her head in shame a little and wrung her fingers together behind her back. She thought for a moment, contemplating whether or not to say anything, "I'll tell you since you have a right to know, but you can't laugh. Oh and if you tell anyone I won't be able to guarantee your safety...."
Mildly threatened, but what's new?
I'm really good at keeping secrets I keep Eddie and Will's secrets all the time, like that one time Eddie cried while reading a romance novel and Will thought he was dying. Apparently Eddie hadn't cried much even as a baby, so it was a pretty big deal to Will. Eddie won't let me tell anyone because according to him it's "unmanly", and no matter how many times I tell him he wasn't manly to begin with he won't believe me! I think he should cry more often any way, it's not healthy to bottle it all in but he's stubborn as ever.
"Hold on.....I said all that out loud didn't I?"
Charlotte slowly nodded.
"Damn it, sorry Eddie."
"You're talking about the two princes right? They must be amazing..."
"Yeah that's one way to put it, one is amazingly stubborn and won't falter until he gets his way, while the other is amazingly gullible and will jump off a cliff if you ask nicely."
Charlotte chuckled slightly before recognising it as a mistake and quickly correcting her stern expression.
"Right, about your things." She got back on topic trying to remove the mental image if the two childish boys.
"You're a noble right? And a lady too. So I thought that you might have brought some....dresses ....with you."
She found great interest in the dusty floor as she refused to meet my gaze. She had a great polker face that was almost as good as Stephen's, but you could clearly tell she was embarrassed by the tips of her ears and fingers turning bright red.
"Hm, I didn't think I'd need them so I left them all behind. Why, are you interested in them?"
"My mother past away when I was very young so my father raised me along with my seven brothers. I never got the chance to do anything girly even wear a dress. Since I always had to do work and we didn't really have the money for buy nice things. So I thought that since now my roommate was a noble lady, she'd have something I could try." Her voice became quieter and quieter as she spoke and as she ended she was speaking in only a whisper.
I feel genuinely bad for this girl! Forever wanting to embrace her femininity but never having the chance! No wonder she acts so serious, trying to cover up all her feelings... I swear on my honour as a future knight that I will nurture you into a fine lady!!
After accidentally exciting myself I leaped off my bed and over to the chest. Rummaging around I found what I needed. A blue and pink silk ribbon with white lace around the edges.
"Since I don't have any dresses with me I guess we'll have to start you off with this." I grinned at her as handed her the ribbon.
She looked entranced by the soft little accessory. The first thing she received that wasn't a hand me down. The ribbon didn't have a purpose other than to look sweet, but that's what made her happy.
She gave me a small smile, then silently went back to bed looking satisfied.
We continued to talk back and forth until the sun came up again. She'd tell me stories about her brothers and the scenarios that she had to rescue them from. I told her all about the guild and the people who worked there. I thought that topic would be a lot more relatable than talking about the princes or the fancy gatherings I had to attend, though something tells me she wanted to know all about them.
Once we realised the sun was up, I accepted my fate as a tired pile of shit, but Charlotte forced me to sleep even if it was only for a little while.
We managed to get a quick one hours of sleep before a trumpet blared from outside our window giving us a rude awakening.
We both got dressed and slumped our way to the canteen. On arrival we saw some teens that were excited and energized, along with others who looked just as tired as we were. They looked like they were thirty seconds away from digging their teeth into the preppy ones. Mood.
We found two seats, barely standing, but fairly far from all the noise. We gave each other looks of disdain. Charlotte drank her coffee like a shot and suddenly reverted back to her uptight self....what's in this shit? I just mentaly compared the colour of my coffee to my eye bags and drank it like a normal person...except I might have gone through four cups to feel human again. Now I can feel my face again, but using exclamation marks seems like too much effort right now....
Charlotte apparently didn't have any friends at the academy, all of her classmates thought she was too serious and couldn't really get a conversation going with her. So people were shocked to see her getting along with the new student, even going as far as playing along with her teasing. Maybe she wasn't as strict as they originally thought...
Personally, I didn't mind sitting alone with her. One close friend is more than enough for me, and I have a feeling that me and Charlotte will become very close. Maybe I'll make her a bridesmaid at my wedding, then she'll have an excuse to get all dressed up.
I don't think I'll need to write that down to remember it, I usually remember everything involving Lillian. That's how I study maths, I replace all the variables with Lillian, then pretend im trying to figure out how much she loves me or how many frogs we will own.....Maybe I've got a problem....nah.
Before I could drift back into the wonderful world of my future with Lillian a large, muscular man came stomping into the room. This man, I guessed, was the other head of this academy. He was the complete opposite to the little old lady from before. He was so tall he had to duck through door frames, his face was in a permanent scowl and he walked everywhere with purpose.
He started barking orders at us,
"All first years report to training area 3C for morning rolecall! Of any of you brats are late I'll issue you a personal punishment!"
Most of the kids didn't move and the few who did didn't look all that enthusiastic to get there quickly.
The giant sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose,
"Fine, if you're late I'll have Madame Fearal issue the punishment."
At just the mention of the friendly little lady's name all of the younger looking teens scrambled to the doorways, some electing to bring their breakfast with them, others leaving it behind in desperation.
I glanced over to Charlotte in confusion, but she was already rushing to return our plates. She then grabbed me by the wrist and marched diligently, yet quickly, to where I presumed the training area was.
We passed many interesting areas along the way, but area 3C was rather plain. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It was just a large, sandy square, with a wooden tally board. On the board was my name alongside the other fifty student's names.
The head gave us a glance over, nodding in approval at our straight posture,
"Since there is a new student here with us today we shall be having a tournament to see where you'll all be placed." He paced back and forth, "be sure not to underestimate each other and demonstrate your skills to the best of your ability."
......
This is the best! I get to beat up kids on my fist day, and I'm not even going to get in trouble for it? I think I might be in heaven.....
I rubbed my hands together in anticipation while I sized up the competition. I recognised a few doubtful glances my way but I don't know whether they're doubting my ability or if they're terrified by the 'distant uncle at a family gathering' vibe I'm giving off.
If they're not expecting me to kick their asses it'll be even more fun, I don't think anything can be better than Eddie's reaction but who knows maybe we'll find a rare gem in the mix.
Charlotte gave be a worried glance, but what she doesn't yet know is that I'm an ass kicking, war machine of destruction and death!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heyyy sorry about taking 17 years, but I've got a quick question.
I know you're mainly here for fluffy scenes between May and Lillian so would you prefer her time at the academy to be a short thing so we can get back to Lillian and all that junk,
Or
Write about her time at the academy while exchanging letters with Lillian
There wouldn't even be a massive difference, maybe just 2 or 3 chapters :/
I'm totally chill with both and I have ideas for either soooo, I thought I'd ask and go with what the majority of you want :)
But anyway, thanks for reading this far in general~