UNKNOWN DATE

UNKNOWN TIME, UNKNOWN PLACE

 

If you are reading this, it probably means that something bad has already happened to me. 

Or maybe I probably don’t exist in this world anymore.

So, if you are reading this. Please. I beg you.

Please, somehow, bring the truth of this matter to light, no matter what!

To get started, I have to give you a bit of a backstory about myself.

My name is Mary Rose, the only daughter of Darius Rose. My family is a new and “upcoming” baron that only got our title starting from my father’s generation. But, unlike others, our land is peaceful and the people there are very kind, so my life was always peaceful.

Because I have a little bit of talent in magic, I enroll in the Elizabeth Magic Academy starting this year.

Elizabeth Magic Academy!

Could you believe it?

This is like the most prestigious magic school in the kingdom! Only the son and daughter of a high-ranking noble could attend there. But I could attend too. Only from the baron house, yet here I am. 

I really wonder how my father could get me in here?

So, there are 4 persons in this school that I really need to pay extra attention to.

The first and the most important one is the second prince of the kingdom, Arthur Sorcera. He is in a year ahead of me. Rumor is that he is the most introverted one of all the princes, and that should be true from what I observe so far. I mean, I haven’t seen him even once until now… so…

The second one is also the year ahead of me, Ethan Miller. Unlike others in school, he is actually a commoner. He was granted the exception to enroll in this school because he has a unique physique of Violet-Thunder god. From what I have heard so far, he is actually an easy-going person. But probably because of his commoner background, he seemed to face some ostracized in class sometimes.

The third one is in the same year as me, Wilson Myles. He was the eldest son of Duke Waylon Myles, so he was the one likely to inherit his title. He had a strong aptitude for magic and currently train in the way of a knight.

The last one is the only woman on this list, Alice Claude. She also has a top-class talent in magic. I hear that she reached the advanced stage of magic accumulation phase at the age of 10! Which such talent and such background, of course, I have to pay attention to her.

These 4 probably didn’t have any association with me anyway. The only thing I had to make sure is to stay away from them and not to attract any of their attention.

But!

Fate always made fun of people in a time like this.

I actually got put in the class with 2 of the 4 people I vowed to avoid immediately on the first day. What kind of bad luck is this!?

The class in this school was tiny, so there was no way to avoid speaking to her all year long at all. This meant that my plan to avoid them had failed before even I start…

I had to change my plan from avoiding them to try to not earn their irk.

But the truth was all my worry was very pointless after all.

Alice was actually not haughty at all. She was polite and kind. She didn’t treat people badly, even if the status was very different. One time she even noticed that I failed to follow the class, she even lent me her note directly.

I really respected and admired her.

She was like a princess from the novel I read.

I couldn’t believe that I could become a friend with someone like her even to this day.

After that, some bad thing happened.

Alice somehow always failed to make a breakthrough. And slowly, she dropped from the first in the class to the last place. There were even some rumors about her floating around in the class.

Of course, I tried to confront all the people that gossiped about it but one voice could never fight multiple. My protest always got drowned in the sea of insult.

After that, Alice changed… forever.

While she could indeed make a breakthrough in the end, something about her was different.

Alice looked very distracted all the time. She skipped some classes, which never happened before during the time I got to know her. She sometimes made random excuses to go to a restroom, only to disappear for hours. Some morning she went to class as if she hadn’t slept at all…

I heard that she even got into a fight with some demon recently!

Alice… What is happening to you?

This cannot continue.

Today I will follow her no matter what happens! Surely, she has got to be associating with some bad people!

I have to find the reason and try to stop her.

It is my duty as her friend.

And if I somehow do not come back alive…

Please continue to—

 

 

---

30, Month Fall-Quatre, Year Elizabeth 402

16:30, Elizabeth Magic Academy

 

“If I somehow do not come back alive… Please continue to expose this matter for me! …really, Mary?” the girl with the long blonde hair said. Her beautiful blue eyes were looking at the paper in her hand. She looked cold and expressionless, like something ominous waiting to erupt.

The oppressive aura made the other girl that currently seated on the opposite side of the desk gulped uncontrollably. This girl was in a distinct style compared to the other. If one was cold as snow in winter, this one was like a spring breeze. She had long wavy brown hair that looked unkempt from running around all day. Her blue eyes were currently looking down at the floor, for fear of look into the other girl’s eyes.

Even though it was still evening, the inside of an abandoned classroom that the two were occupying right now was dark. It was probably from the fact that all the curtains in the classroom were drawn shut and all the lights were off.

“So this is why you were following me all day long?” Alice Claude continued after seeing that the girl in front was not going to answer.

“But you are really making me worry, Alice! You randomly disappeared all the time. You even skip many classes! I couldn’t help think that you are being tricked by some bad person...” after gathering some courage, Mary finally spoke. While the start of her speech was strong, the ending of her weakened down a lot after seeing the expression of the girl in front.

“Hah...” Alice sighed excessively before gave the paper back to Mary. “No. That doesn't happen at all.”

“Then, what exactly was happening to you?” Mary didn’t take the paper back instantly. Instead, she continued to interrogate her friend. “Why do you change so much after the breakthrough?”

“…” Alice didn’t answer immediately. She looked into Mary’s eyes for a few seconds before she continued. Her voice was soft as if it was a whisper.

“…Do you really want to know?”

Mary gulped at the question. Alice's question was very serious. Mary felt like she was at the crossroad of her life and either of her choices was going to change her life drastically.

“Y.. Yes.” Mary answered that in the end. Her curiosity won.

“Okay.” answered the girl. Alice then stood up and slowly walked toward her friend. When she arrived in front of Alice, she then whispered softly.

“I will show it to you then.”

“A… Alice…”

Alice only smiled sweetly as a response. She then sat down on Mary’s lap gracefully.

“Alice!”

“Shh!” Alice silenced the girl with another sweet smile. “Don’t you want to know?”

“Okay…” Mary tried to calm down her heart as it was beating very fast right now. As a mage herself, her body was very strong. While there was another girl currently sitting on her lap, Mary didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

Alice is really soft… so this is what a true lady feels like… And she smells really nice even though she isn’t using any perfume at all...

“Here, look at this.” Alice, ignoring Mary’s inner turmoil, reached into her bag and pulled a strange object out of it.

“W… What is this?” Mary asked the girl in her lap. She didn’t why, but she gulped unconsciously for another time. The object that Alice pulled out was in white color. And it was an objected that Mary never had seen before in her life.

“Don’t rush.” Alice whispered softly and sweetly. “I will slowly teach you everything, okay?”

Mary gulped again, this time bigger than before.

“So you start by touching here…” Alice then slowly taught Mary. Her voice was gentle. She was also very patient, so Mary could follow along easily even if this was the first time she had done it.

Mary felt as if a new door had opened for her.

She had now become closer to her friend than ever before.