My Retainers and Entering the Dormitory

My Retainers and Entering the Dormitory

My Retainers and Entering the Dormitory

The teleportation circle filled with mana before shining with black and gold light, the feystone embedded in my brooch shining along with it. I saw the air in front of me begin to shimmer, and for a brief moment, I was hit with a feeling of dizziness. Rihyarda must have noticed my head wavering, because she reached out her hands and hugged me against her.

Just as I sighed in relief, I realized that the shapes of those standing in front of me had started to twist about like they were caught in a whirlpool. The sight made me blink in surprise and then rub my eyes as I tried to process what was happening. A few seconds passed, and by the time my vision was back to normal, everyone who had gathered to see me off was gone.

“Welcome to the Royal Academy, Lady Rozemyne. This is the Ehrenfest Dormitory,” came a voice.

In front of me was a wide-open pair of doors with two knights standing on either side to monitor the magic circle. The teleportation circle beneath me was the same as before and the room looked fairly similar, but I could tell this wasn’t the same place by the chairs positioned near the knights, the assorted magic tools nearby, and the fact that all the people who had seen me off were no longer there.

“If you aren’t feeling well, milady, let’s hurry to your room,” Rihyarda said, placing a hand on my back and gently guiding me out of the teleportation room. “Lord Wilfried cannot teleport until the servants have brought your things to your room.”

Once through the doors, I found myself standing in a waiting room similar to the one in the castle. This was where those wanting to use the teleportation circle would bring their belongings and wait their turn, though only Angelica and Cornelius were here right now, having come to greet me.

“It is good to see you have arrived safely, Lady Rozemyne.”

We left the waiting room together and stepped into a corridor lined with doors. It looked so much like one of the castle’s hallways that I genuinely doubted whether I had actually teleported to the Royal Academy.

“The Royal Academy’s dormitories were made using the creation magic of archdukes who have long since passed, so the aesthetic of a given duchy’s dormitory tends to resemble its castle,” Rihyarda explained. Each duchy’s dormitory apparently had its own style, with some being fancy, some rustic, some rounded and elegant, some sharp and crude, and so on. “That said, as you cannot enter the dormitories of other duchies, you will only see their exteriors when you are flying on your highbeast.”

It seemed that the brooches we were given during the gifting ceremony were specialized magic tools unique to our respective duchies, such that even if one was stolen, it couldn’t be used to enter the dormitory of another duchy.

“This way, Lady Rozemyne. Your tea has been prepared,” Cornelius said.

“Angelica, Cornelius, where exactly are we going right now?” I asked.

“The common room has been prepared to welcome new students.”

Those who teleported from the castle to the dormitory were unable to enter their rooms until their attendants had finished preparing them, so they waited in the common room in the meantime. Here, the senior students, whose rooms had already been prepared, would welcome their juniors.

“I’m leaving milady in your care,” Rihyarda said when we reached the stairs; then she went up to put away the luggage the servants had brought in.

“Lady Rozemyne has arrived,” my guard knights announced, prompting some upperclassman apprentice attendants to begin preparing tea and serving me sweets. When I looked around, I saw some of the other new students in my year nervously sipping their own tea.

“Please feel free to sit over here, Lady Rozemyne,” Brunhilde said with her amber eyes narrowed in a warm smile, her crimson hair fluttering slightly as she came over. She had been nine when I first debuted in the winter playroom, so she was now a twelve-year-old student in her third year. “My... Your outfit is simply magnificent. It plays on the Royal Academy’s current fashion trends while incorporating flower ornaments of your own design.”

“It was made based on the information you provided, Brunhilde. Your help was much appreciated, as I am not familiar with the trends of the Royal Academy.”

“It is my wish that your clothing designs and hair ornaments grow in popularity here in the Sovereignty. I would like for Ehrenfest fashion to dominate for at least a brief period while I am attending the Royal Academy,” Brunhilde explained. As a fashionable archnoble who stayed on top of trends, she apparently found it quite humiliating for her home duchy to be considered a backwater.

“I am certain that the trends you established in Ehrenfest have the potential to be just as popular in the Sovereignty,” she continued. “I previously asked the archducal couple whether I could spread them myself, but they forbade any such actions until you were attending the Royal Academy. I have been waiting oh, oh, oh so eagerly for you to arrive. This year will certainly be the best one yet.”

Brunhilde’s smile remained just as bright as she spoke about spreading sweets and fashion throughout the Sovereignty, her eyes burning with the same naked ambition I so often saw from Elvira. In all honesty, I found it a little overwhelming—I only ever made things when the thought struck me or when I needed something in particular, so all this business about trends was pretty much beyond me.

“Lady Brunhilde, you mustn’t just speak of your own interests. How can you expect Lady Rozemyne to relax?” one girl chided as she quietly stepped forward. Locks of emerald-green hair framed her face, with the rest tied into a long braid that rested over her shoulder. She was a bit shorter than Brunhilde, and the fact that I couldn’t remember speaking to her meant she had probably already entered the Academy by the time I joined the playroom.

“Very true, Lieseleta. Do forgive me, Lady Rozemyne. It seems I was so overjoyed that I forgot myself.”

“Think nothing of it, Brunhilde. I understand well that you are determined to strengthen Ehrenfest’s influence. That is an important trait for any archnoble to have,” I said reassuringly.

Brunhilde stepped back with a sigh of relief, at which point Lieseleta stepped forward to take her place. “My apologies for the disturbance, Lady Rozemyne. Please enjoy your stay,” she said with a polite smile before quietly leaving.