Forcibly Volunteered for the Academy - 1
Tall stature, long silver hair, sky-blue eyes shimmering like the heavens. If someone told me the illustration I'd seen to death in the game had come alive in reality, it'd look exactly like the figure before me. Even the face of the girl I'd seen in Dreamland. Despite the dirt and disguise, I'd thought she was pretty in that romance-fantasy protagonist way. But her true appearance was worlds apart.
And... had she grown even more since then? The Donnesia in Dreamland had looked like a kid around fifteen. But the one in front of me now had shed every trace of youth, flaunting a mature allure like a full-fledged adult. What the hell happened? Had she molted like a snake in the meantime? Or more importantly, why the fuck was Donnesia here right now? It hadn't even been ten minutes since we'd parted in Dreamland.
"Ian?"
Maybe those brief thoughts had dragged on longer than I realized. Donnesia called my name with a look like something was wrong. Was I thrown off by the lightning-fast reunion? Or because she didn't recognize me? I'd figured my musing lasted a split second, but apparently not. Her voice was aimed at me, her eyes fixed on me, but there was zero emotion in them. Not like we were reuniting—no, more like she was just seeing the same old sight. Like she knew me not as her Quixote from Dreamland, but merely as Ian de Logres.
Suddenly, questions flooded my mind. Back when we'd parted in Dreamland, I hadn't given it a thought, but now that we'd crashed back together like this, curiosity bubbled up out of nowhere. I'd assumed she'd have tons to ask me, but nope—turns out I was the one dying to interrogate her.
"Sorry for keeping you out there so long. Come on in."
For now, I decided to let her inside and sort my thoughts.
A silent room where not a sound pierced the quiet. The only noises were the faint clink of teacup meeting saucer and the soft slurp of tea passing lips. Donnesia, who'd barged in claiming she had business, just sat there sipping away. And I? Too busy pondering the existence across from me to speak, organizing my thoughts. In the end, the emptiness was filled only by those tea-related sounds.
Why the hell was Donnesia sitting right in front of me? It'd been less than ten minutes since I returned from Dreamland. Why was this girl—who'd been a fifteen-year-old in the forest there—now plopped down here as a goddamn adult? She should be agonizing over whether to leave those woods, not slurping tea in my face.
Insight Eye
Subject has awakened Spirit Affinity.
Her level had shot from 10 to 31, and she'd even completed adoption procedures—surname switched from Kihano to de Logres. Had Donnesia been part of the family since I possessed this body? No matter how many times I rewound Ian's memories, there was no trace of her in Logres before possession. She wasn't there.
If this world's Donnesia was a totally different character from Dreamland's per the setting, fine—but the cursed item and Sealed Carnwennan in my inventory nagged at me. And that wouldn't explain her awakening Spirit Affinity, her exclusive stat. You only get that by dodging the bad ending.
In the game, sure, you could brute-force the thugs with controls. But in reality? A squishy Donnesia without spirits couldn't clear it. Even if she somehow smashed them, could she find the hidden dungeon? Separate character theory debunked.
That left her being the same person as Dreamland's Donnesia. No way that passing notification was real—the one right before blackout, with the level-up chime, saying I'd altered the past five years back. So Dreamland Invitation tickets weren't teleports; they were time travel devices.
By using the ticket, I'd changed Donnesia's bad ending five years ago. Now, five years later, she's a Logres family member. That explains the ducal estate's calm too—no disappearance for two days; she never vanished to begin with.
I glanced at Donnesia. She'd come in, said nothing, just sipped tea. Didn't she barge in claiming business? Yet here she was, not a word, just slurping away. It pissed me off a bit. Like she was giving me space to collect my thoughts. Still, couldn't just let her sit there nursing tea after inviting her in, so I spoke first.
"So, what's the business?"
"Are we the kind of people who need 'business' to meet?"
Were we? Kinda felt like it... or maybe not. Not some fake memory, but a real possibility. Maybe I just didn't remember. In romance fantasies with family or adoption tropes, the protagonist usually charms her new family first, turning them into lackeys—that's the cliché. In-game, post-adoption, the first characters to build affection with were the family head and Cassian. If things played out like the game, Donnesia being Logres's mascot by now wouldn't be weird.
Even without forced affection mechanics, by academy enrollment, you'd easily hit mid-tier 'liking' unless you actively acted like a dick. No way crazy Donnesia pulled asshole stunts, so per romance-fantasy logic, Logres might be in her pocket now. Time to shift the straw from Cassian to her?
Problem: Ian doesn't exist in the game. Not a routeable target, not even a talkable extra—he's background air with one line of setting. But with reality updated, we'd at least crossed paths. She couldn't have been total hikikomori.
Yet Ian's memories had zero Donnesia. Possession-before stuff? No clue if we'd even met, let alone talked. Wait—past rewritten, so memories should've updated too. Why no trace? Did I avoid her or something? Ian wasn't a total fuckup, so probably just casual chats at worst.
"You're the one who said you had business and came looking."
"Well, yeah."
Clink. She set down her cup.
"The business is about the academy."
"The academy, huh..."
Only one academy she could mean: Dawn Star Academia. Heart of the Astoria Empire, the continent's largest and greatest educational institution. Center of the Dawn Star Academia story routes. Launchpad for countless heroes and geniuses who'd lit up the empire. Merit-based despite class system—takes anyone talented, even commoners, no status discrimination inside.
Or so it seems. Really, just a political arena for noble factions to schmooze. Commoners? Shrimp caught in whale fights. Merit-based entry is true, upward mobility possible—but near impossible. Social isolation from cliques aside, think: lifelong noble with family secrets vs. self-taught commoner. Who rises faster? Hereditary secrets aren't bullshit; nobles rule for a reason. Starting lines differ.
Still, talent pool's top-tier—grind studies, get stupid strong. But this is romance fantasy, not academy slice-of-life. Everyone wastes time on romance. Somehow ace credits anyway. Dirt-poor like me? Jealousy fuels the fire.
"But why the academy?"
Me and academies don't mix. If it's Logres academy business, talk to Cassian, not me. In Logres, it's Cassian who normally goes—not Donnesia. In her route, she enrolls as student; other heroines' worlds, Cassian goes as teacher.
Cassian's reason: that year, foreign VIPs—our male leads—enroll. Global eyes on academy. Foreign powers dispatch guards under pretexts. Empire counters by embedding watchers, Logres included among the five dukes—founding heroes, stepped back from politics, steadfastly guarding north per imperial decree. Reputation precedes; sky-high favor abroad.
Who fucks with a Logres-affiliated academy? International beatdown. So Cassian preps teacher exam. But surprise adoption: Donnesia joins. No need for Cassian now. Ducal house can't spare heirs; teacher gig's a loss. Swap: enroll Donnesia instead. Empire doesn't care who; just needs Logres rep there. Logres blocks Cassian drain, protects Donnesia under academy umbrella. Win-win.
Thus, Cassian prepped exams despite dropping out. Better ask him—he knows process—than clueless me on enrollment.
But Donnesia tilted her head like I'd spouted nonsense.
Had I said something weird?
"Why the academy... nya?"
"Why? I'm not enrolling."
"Huh?"
Her expression shifted wildly. Then.
"What do you mean? In Logres, the ones enrolling in the academy are me and Ian—you—right?"
·······?
Huh?