“... Who was the first Emperor of Lalaria to help the Empire’s farmers with new laws?” Katrina asked to Lyra, only to be met with a perfect answer after half a second, just like the previous dozen questions that the red-haired girl had given.

“Drear the First, named the Courageous.” Answered with no problem Lyra. Such a method had brought Katrina to ask questions that she didn’t even know the answers to, but it hadn’t fazed the noble girl at all. At some point, the girl had even asked herself if those were correct answers or if Lyra was just making them up by that point.

What really made a huge difference, though, was the way the crowd looked at the Sandcastle heiress.

Everyone was gasping left and right at her supreme knowledge of history and art and politics alike, which didn’t leave a good mark on the still young Katrina, but was actually effective in the great scheme of things.

Why? Because the Crown Prince was anything but happy about what was going on.

For the first time in his life, Dzer Aerbach experienced the feeling of not being the center of attention, but rather being forgotten in favor of Lyra. At first he couldn’t explain by himself how he really felt about that, but the more Katrina didn’t look at him and the crowd moved away from him to meet the gaze of his fiancée, the more he wanted to remind them he was the protagonist.

“How dare she...” His feelings, that once were pride for having such a beautiful fiancée, had easily become hate. He disliked the thought of being forgotten completely.

“Don’t worry, we’re here for you.”

“I know, exactly as it should be. But you don’t satisfy me. Everyone needs to see me, everyone needs to care.” The Crown Prince explained, not an ounce of evil intent in his words. Just the truth, what he believed in.

“I can forgive it for now. I am a merciful Prince.”

And so, that night nothing happened and Lyra kept talking to Katrina until the latter, embarrassed by how every question she gave had an immediate answer and the nobles were all either jealous or attracted by Lyra, had to leave along with everyone. The time the young noble wanted to spend with Dzer was actually spent with his obsessive friend, but she did not mind at all because she thought he’d be proud.

“It’s still progress in our relationship.” Lyra reasoned to herself. “But those questions were way too easy. I truly wonder if she had sympathy for me.”

The noble girl would realize that sympathy was most certainly not what Katrina felt towards her.

Still, there was no way that Dzer and Lyra could meet in a short amount of time.

Kept in his environment, safe from outside influences, the Crown Prince went on to spend two years in peace without ever meeting his fiancée. This led to the feelings of hate and despair that he had felt on that particular night to disappear completely from his young mind as he grew more mature.

But ten years old, in the country of Lalaria, especially if they’re nobles or extremely talented, do tests to enroll in their first private schools. Commoners that don’t have such skills are instead sent to public schools.

“It’s an unfair system at best. Hiding behind the facade of preferring only the best students, private schools favor the nobles who can receive prior education to excel in tests, while only the most talented commoners can pass through skill alone a test that a middling noble would have no problem succeeding in.”

Those words were being said by the commoner’s representatives in front of an enormous hall that shared the white and golden colors that the royals seemed to love so much.

It was a conversation that Lyra couldn’t care less about.

Just two months after her tenth birthday, in fact, there was another event of huge importance: the admission of the new students to the Royal Academy.

This year was rumored to be the best in years for the ancient education system that kept the best and the richest nobles from the age of ten to the age of eighteen, teaching them all about this world, about magic and about the manners they should have.

After all, everyone held the highest expectations for Dzer Aerbach, the rumored new Crown Prince, Ashao Liyan, the son of the Emperor’s Counselor, Herien Arnai, the Crown Prince’s best friend, and Lyra Sandcastle, the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

Without even being in the school yet, Dzer Aerbach had acquired a spot as the most popular student in the Royal Academy.

“I can’t wait to see the Prince’s performance. I imagine he will be so good!” Said a young girl from a small noble family. While nobody really paid any attention to her, her words conveyed the general thoughts that every person in the Academy had, even seven and eight years.

“Who do you think will top the rankings of the Academy Entrance Tests this year?” Asked another voice.

“Of course it’ll be the Crown Prince. Who do you think will come second? That’s the real question!”

“I’ve heard that Katrina Shisa Liyan and Almerin Aerbach have come to watch their brothers... I bet they must be proud.”

“It’s interesting how nobody talks about Lyra Sandcastle, huh? I think she’ll show up very well.”

At that the young noble blushed a bit. Watching how everyone was talking about anyone but her made her feel more at ease with her own performance, after all.

But she couldn’t fail.

“My father and mother’s pride depend on this result. At least second, huh... they truly don’t expect me to be better than the Prince.” Thought Lyra while listening to the voices. “I suppose Dzer Aerbach doesn’t think he’ll be defeated by me in the standings either. That’s another reason to prevail.”

It wasn’t like the noble girl had pride or wanted to defeat him to feel superior. She had been told to do whatever it took to keep the engagement and, as such, Lyra expected that to gain the Prince’s trust she could simply get achievements that would make her worthy of being his equal.

“Silence!” Said a voice in the distance to the countless ten year olds that were stacked up by the closed entrance of the Royal Academy.

Immediately all kinds of children, ranging from nobles to commoners and even the Crown Prince himself, stopped their chatter.

“My greetings to the participants of the new tests for the Royal Academy. My name is Zekaia Ainsein and I’m the Principal of the Academy. I suppose this year will be majorly different from the others as there is such a great number of new talents, I’ve heard. Still, if they don’t pass the test...”

“They’re not part of the Academy. It’s vital to do it and do it right. No matter the age, social standing or affiliation to the Empire. This will be a fair test based on three different subjects.” Kept explaining Zekaia.

Lyra noticed that the old man speaking with a long white beard covering most of his face had a look that was not terrifying, but definitely called for respect. A strict but loving figure to his students - that’d be her final evaluation of this character.

“The first one is the Theoretical Knowledge Test. You’re going to receive a test with questions talking about history, geography, maths, science and much more. Of course, there’ll be a threshold of 80% correct answers to pass. It doesn’t matter if you pass the other tests - so long as you even get a 79%, you’ll be out of the Academy.”

“The next one is the Practical Magic Test. You’re going to show your magic power, mana and spell knowledge by using your magic to hit a target or to complete a challenge. Again, if you can’t complete the task or the magic’s too weak you’ll be out of the Academy.”

“Lastly, there’s the Surprise Test. While you cannot fail this one, it is going to be the deciding factor on your mark. Last year it has been a Theoretical Magic Test, but it can really be anything. We want to see how well the best contenders can adapt to unforeseen circumstances.” Explained at last Zekaia.

“Now, you can start heading into the Academy for the first Test. The doors will open.”

As he finished saying that, the enormous doors of the Royal Academy opened on the spot, letting in the ten years old children that were soon to contend for a spot in the Academy.

The first room they were sent in was gigantic and prepared perfectly for the Theoretical Test. In fact, desks and chairs were all extremely far to avoid any copying while there was a blank paper and a pen on every single one of them.

There were no names on the desk, so Lyra just took the nearest seat to her and looked towards the spots near her.

There were no people she knew, so the noble girl just shrugged it off and watched the blank paper with a blank face. With an expression that showed nothing about how nervous she was.

Trying to remember all the hours she had spent studying for this event while reviewing the previous years’ Theoretical Tests and Practical ones, Lyra prepared for the oncoming questions with a nervous smile on her face.

“And these will be the questions.”

After that voice, the blank paper was suddenly filled in half with the questions that the candidates needed to answer.

Expecting this, the noble girl didn’t spend any time excited by the choice of questions and decided to start answering them on the spot.

“Good questions, nothing I’m really afraid of.” Pointed out Lyra with a nod to herself. The time that the candidates had at their disposal passed without a single hitch after that.

Or, that’s what she thought. She didn’t see the Crown Prince behind her look for a second at the paper next to his for answers, nor the troubled face that Dzer’s best friend had made. And something that she definitely didn’t notice was the poker face made by another candidate at the back of the Test Room.

After just two hours, without anyone talking, the papers all disappeared from the tables thanks to another magic spell. 
It was now time for the second round of the Test, the Practical Test.

”I hope nobody feels too sad because of the outcome of their Theoretical Test, because now we’re going to have a much harder Test. The Practical Magic one. Whenever you’re ready, follow that corridor. It’ll all bring you to different rooms so that nobody will be bothered by anyone else during the Test.” The voice that had said that was again Zekaia’s.

As if they were all completely used to such a thing, the candidates didn’t bother asking a single question to the respectful old man and, while some of them waited a bit to collect their thoughts.

Due to the decreased length of the Practical Test when compared to the Theoretical one, it was over much sooner. Nobody was particularly upset about that one, especially because of the current inability to know if the spells they had shot at the target over the wall were more powerful than others, which would decide a big part of the mark.

”If my calculations are correct, I should already be in. Now, I just need to do well on the Surprise Test to get a good spot in the standings.” Lyra Sandcastle thought to herself, not caring much about the despaired faces she was now used to seeing in the corridors where people would wait for the next test. After all, her goal was only to marry the Crown Prince and she could not care less about how they had placed, much less feel compassion about it.

“Well then. For the Surprise Test today, we’re going to check your endurance.”