Anna's carriage stopped in front of the girls' dormitory. She isn't the only one—several nobles from the same trumpet call arrived the same way: transported in a magnificent carriage; belongings carried by servants; family present to support them.
Yelo, the only family member who accompanied Anna, steps out first. And because of his beauty and charm, he draws glances, and it isn't unpleasant for him at all. He gives instructions to the servant to be careful with Anna's belongings. But Anna herself hasn't stepped out of the carriage yet. So he begins to worry.
— "Hey, chick, why aren't you getting out of the carriage?"
— "Dad, stop calling me chick here, it's too embarrassing."
— "Yes, now come out. It's the most important day of your life, after all."
— "Okay... anyway."
And then Anna steps out of the carriage. Her face remains blasé. She walks calmly toward her room, looking around at the atmosphere of the people going to the academy for the first time. And indeed, her father is right. The girls are excited to be there.
After some walking, Anna arrives in front of the door and stops, the servant stepping out just ahead of her.
Inside are Miit's family and that of another girl Anna doesn't know yet. So Yelo gets down to her level and whispers:
— "Are you sure you still don't want your own residence in town? I could personally recommend servants to take care of you."
But Anna answers:
— "No, it's fine, Dad. I'm staying here."
Anna and Yelo enter the dormitory, and Miit bows before her. Seeing his gesture, his parents follow, then the other family does the same.
As is her habit, Anna stops people from bowing before her.
— "Please, stop bowing before me, it makes me uncomfortable. Miit, please, we're friends."
And so, Anna and Miit hug. Anna takes her parents' hands one by one. And seeing her gesture, Yelo does the same, though he was a bit hesitant at first.
— "Hello, my name is Anna..."
— "Anna Fort de Rush."
Anna smiles.
— "Yes, Anna Fort de Rush. But please, make yourselves comfortable with me."
— "W...We...We are honored that... well, that our daughter is in the same room as you."
— "The honor is mine to have such a wonderful roommate."
Then she moves on to her other roommate.
— "Viscount of Manttara, at your service. This is our daughter Adash. She's very shy, but I assure you she won't cause you any trouble."
— "And I don't doubt it for a moment," Anna replies with a big smile.
She approaches Adash and holds out her hand. And Adash does the same.
Then Adash's parents approach Yelo.
— "Your Excellency, you don't know how honored we are that our child could be your daughter's roommate. And that's without even counting your title—Miss Anna is the top scorer of the exam par excellence."
— "Anna is particularly brilliant. Do you know what the headmistress considers her as a special candidate? If it were up to Mariane, Anna could already be in her second year right now."
— "Don't listen to that nonsense. Honestly, I didn't think I would pass the exam. But by stroke of luck, it turns out I'm the top scorer."
Adash said nothing. She just smiled.
...
The girls' apartment is large, with three distinct rooms: one for showering and toilet; another for cooking and eating; the last for sleeping. Thanks to Yelo, they were able to decorate the place nicely, giving it a unique and warm charm: mirrors here and there, tables, chairs for resting, and even paintings.
And in the evening, once everything is finally set up, Miit takes over the kitchen. She takes some fish and vegetables of all kinds. And she prepares them on the table. They start by heating the stove. You just need to activate the magic circle that powers it, and the heat level is then adjustable by swapping a specific key.
Anna comes to adjust it. Anna has never cooked a single time in her life, so she's curious.
—"Oh! Anna, I only put in fish, but honestly, we're not at the exam anymore. I can make you something else if you want."
"No, no, it's fine. Actually, I want to learn to cook."
"Oh, really? But cooking is a task reserved for commoners. You..."
"No, that's not true. And the exam immediately made me realize that without you all, I could have really struggled on my own."
"But that's just it—we were on the same team. You have to work together to get good results."
"Yes, you're right, but on a mission, we're more likely to be alone. And there, even if I can provide for what I can eat, without adequate cooking quality, I'll be torturing myself. That's my aunt's experience from her first missions."
"General Rubi?"
"Yes. You know, she wasn't always so flamboyant. There was a time when she really struggled as a mage knight. And she never stops reminding us of it."
— "Really? Even the White Knight struggled? And yet they say she's the best mage knight the academy has ever had."
— "She was quickly caught up by her own arrogance. She still hasn't quite digested her defeat against Majiid."
— "Majiid is in a league of her own. No one can beat her."
Anna says nothing. She couldn't tell the girl in front of her that Majiid had crossed paths with a mage so powerful that it took both a Majiid and an Elisabeth to eliminate her. And although that battle lasted only a few minutes, it took everything they had to win. And Inamia alone knows about the threat they're trying to resolve.
But Anna just smiled.
Once they've finished preparing, they sit at the table. That's when Adash finally shows up. She went to the kitchen, and it immediately caught Anna and Miit's attention.
— "Adash, where are you going? Come, we're eating."
Adash is confused. She's still wondering what she should do. She looks left, then right. She approaches slowly and takes a chair.
And that's when the girls eat. The meal Miit prepared.
—"Alright, I think we need to organize ourselves in our flat. We'll take turns cleaning based on our respective schedules."
— "What? No, I'm the only commoner here, I can..."
— "Miit, please. Stop putting us back on our titles like that all the time. You're going to make me perplexed."
— "Yes, but... still, Anna. You are..."
— "You, Adash. What do you think?"
Adash is just stunned. She's disarmed. She doesn't consider herself as someone who has a say in this.
—"Ah, me? I accept whatever Miss Anna decides."
— "No, but... are you at least comfortable with cleaning?"
— "Me? Ah..."
Adash takes a long pause. Her cheeks turn red and her head lowers.
—"So?" Miit asks.
Then she says:
—"Yes, I can do the cleaning."
Anna is relieved.
—"Ah, you really gave us quite the suspense."
— "Yes, me too, I thought she'd prepared something scarier for us."
Adash is surprised. But all she can do is smile.
—"And Anna, do you know how to clean?"
— "Don't take me for a snob. I used to help my servant friends when I was young. Besides, when my sister and I made a mess at home, our father made us put everything back in place."
— "Wait, you're not always young."
— "Touché."
— "And you, Adash? You're okay with me using the informal 'you' at least?"
Once again Adash is confused. She first looks at Anna, with whom Miit uses the informal 'you' very casually. She nods slowly.
—"Okay. So, Adash, where did you learn to clean?"
And Adash looks at Anna once more. Anna is starting to notice something, but she's curious—she reinforced Miit's request.
—"I admit I'm curious too."
Adash sighs first, then begins to speak softly:
— "The Viscount of Manttara is only a viscount by title, by the glory of our lineage. But we aren't rich enough to afford servants. So I, my sisters and brothers tend to do all the typical tasks on our estate."
— "I see. How many of you are there, brothers and sisters?"
— "We are ten. I'm the fourth. And I'm the first to have been admitted to the academy. Still as a scholarship student, because my parents are already very busy supporting my older sister's tuition."
— "Wow. Glad to have you with us, Adash."
— "So if I understand correctly, we're all scholarship students in this apartment."
— "That way we can work on exercises together."
— "You mean we can copy your homework?"
— "Why mine?"
— "Well, you're the top scorer. It's obvious."
— "No, but it was an accident."
...
And Adash is just there watching the girls bicker. Stunned that a noble of as high a rank as Anna doesn't judge her for her mediocre status. And Miit, who is an ordinary commoner and yet is at ease with Anna. And she also wonders why it isn't always like this.