Cecilia Greymont's Point of View:
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My name is Cecilia Greymont. Queen of this kingdom. Wife of King Marko Greymont. Mother of Eliel, of Calithia, and now, of Aito.
But before all that, I was simply Cecilia, just another student at the Royal Magic Academy.
I belong to the noble house of Valdris, a family with lineage, but without the luster of royalty. Important enough that my marriage to the king wouldn't be a scandal, but discreet enough to go unnoticed among the second-tier nobility. That, I believe, is what saved me. I was able to study at the academy without everyone knowing who I was, I was able to live as just another student, I was able to experience the world without the weight of a huge title on my shoulders.
I remember that day as if it were yesterday. I was seventeen years old and my biggest concern was whether I would pass the final exam in Theory of the Elements. I considered myself a diligent student, yes, but I was never the brightest in my class. Neither the most talented, nor the fastest at learning complex spells. I was... normal. A girl from the middle nobility in an academy full of prodigies from more powerful houses.
So when I received the news that Prince Marko Greymont had set his eyes on me, I couldn't believe it.
—Are you sure this isn't a joke? —I asked the royal messenger, an older woman with a serious expression who was looking at me from the doorway of my room in the academy dormitory.
—Completely sure, Miss Cecilia —she replied patiently—. His Majesty the King requests your presence at the palace. There are matters of utmost importance to discuss with you.
Matters of utmost importance. What an elegant way to say "I want to marry you."
My roommates, upon finding out, could hardly contain their envy. Some congratulated me sincerely; others, through gritted teeth. They didn't know that my presence had been requested to marry the prince.
But I didn't care. I could only think about one thing: how was I going to justify an absence of over a month in the middle of the semester?
The Royal Magic Academy was not a place that lightly permitted absences. Its rules were strict, almost severe.
And there was a reason for that: the young princes and princesses attended this academy, even though no one knew it.
You see, in our kingdom there is an ancient tradition, one that my in-laws explained to me much later. The heirs to the throne, the princes and princesses of royal blood, must attend the academy under false identities. Fictional names, discreet backgrounds, no luxuries or privileges. They must earn their place, live as just another person, learn firsthand how the world works outside the palace walls.
They get to know people. They learn about their joys and sorrows. They make friends who seek not their favor, but their company. They discover that the world is much larger and more complicated than what one sees from a throne.
And in the end, when they return to the palace and reveal their true identity, they are no longer the same ones who left. They have grown. They have learned. They have earned the right to rule, not by blood, but by experience and understanding.
But I was not a princess. I was just Cecilia Valdris, a second-tier noble, and I needed permission to leave.
With my heart pounding, I went to the director's office. Old Master Aldric, a man with snow-white hair and eyes that seemed to see through lies, received me with an inscrutable expression.
—Miss Cecilia —he said, without looking up from his documents—. I have heard that you have urgent matters to attend to.
—Yes, Director —I replied, swallowing hard—. I need to be absent for... a while. Perhaps more than a month.
I expected a sermon. I expected him to talk to me about responsibility, about dedication, about how my grades, although decent, did not entitle me to such prolonged absences.
But Director Aldric looked up and smiled at me. A warm, almost fatherly smile.
—I have reviewed your file, Miss Cecilia —he said—. Your grades are good. You are not the best, certainly, but neither are you among the worst. You are consistent, hardworking, and have never caused any problems. —He paused, and his eyes sparkled with a glint of complicity—. Besides... I understand that your matters are of utmost importance to the kingdom.
My heart skipped a beat. Did he know? Did he know that it was the king who had summoned me?
The director said nothing more. He simply took a parchment, wrote a few lines with his quill, and stamped two seals: the academy's and his own.
—Take this —he said, handing it to me—. With this, when you return, you will have no problems or misunderstandings. Have a happy journey, Miss Cecilia. And... my best wishes.
Years later, I understood that Director Aldric had known everything from the beginning. That's how the academy worked, really. An open secret that everyone guarded jealously.
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The wedding was a dream. Literally. There were moments when I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't asleep.
Marko was... is... the most wonderful man I have ever known. When he looks at me, I feel like I'm the only person in the world. When he speaks to me, his voice is like a balm for any worry. And when he smiles... well, let's just say that even today, after so many years, his smile still makes my knees tremble.
But the honeymoon didn't last forever. Within a few weeks, I had to return to the academy. Marko understood the tradition better than anyone, since he was living it himself. So I returned to my studies, to my classmates, to my life as Cecilia Valdris, the second-tier noble who studied diligently.
Three months later, I noticed the first symptoms. Morning dizziness, unexplained fatigue, that aroma of coffee that suddenly became unbearable.
I was pregnant.
My joy knew no bounds. But I also knew that my time at the academy was coming to an end. They didn't let me continue. "For your health," they said. "For the baby's health," they repeated. Marko was firm: he wanted me to rest, to take care of myself, to prepare to be a mother.
So I left the academy, though only temporarily, and settled into the palace to wait for my first child.
Nine months later, amidst pain and tears and an immense love I had never felt before, Eliel was born.
He was small. So small that he fit in the crook of my arms. He had his father's eyes, that deep blue that seemed to contain entire skies. And when he cried, his crying filled every room in the palace, as if he wanted the whole world to know that he had arrived.
Those were difficult months, but beautiful ones. Learning to be a mother, to understand his cries, to decipher his gestures. And when things finally calmed down, when Eliel began to sleep through the night and I began to regain my strength, I knew it was time to return.
To the academy. To my studies. To finish what I had started.
Returning wasn't easy. My classmates looked at me with curiosity, with questions in their eyes that they didn't dare to formulate.
—Where were you all this time, Cecilia? —some asked me, the closest ones.
—Family matters —I would reply, with a vague smile.
I couldn't tell them the truth. I couldn't tell them that I had married the king, that I had had a child, that my life had changed radically while they continued studying, worrying about exams and spell practice.
It wasn't because having a child at eighteen was wrong. In our kingdom, that wasn't unusual among the nobility. What was wrong, truly wrong, was having one without being married. The scandal, the dishonor, the disapproving glances. But I was married. To the king, no less. And still, I couldn't say it.
So I kept silent. I smiled. I nodded. And I continued with my studies, now with an extra motivation: to finish, to graduate, and to be able to openly live my life with my husband and my son.
My classmates, meanwhile, had advanced. They were in a higher grade than me, learning spells that I was just beginning to study. I watched them practice in the courtyards, laugh in the dining halls, complain about exams as if the world were ending.
And I watched them, and I smiled to myself. Because they might be more advanced in magic, they might have better grades, they might be more talented. But their happiness, as genuine as it might be, could not compare to mine.
I had a husband who loved me. A beautiful son waiting for me at home. A future that, though uncertain, shone with its own light.
They only had exams.