The Garden of Benedict Academy
Even in early March, cherry blossoms bloomed prematurely through magic and scattered prettily across the garden of Benedict Academy. Beneath the trees, groups of children who had grown close gathered in threes and fives, chatting as they strolled along. It was the unmistakable atmosphere of a new semester.
“……”
Arina walked through the garden, watching them with a faintly envious gaze.
‘At first, I was just happy that I’d been chosen as the freshman representative.’
Perhaps because the honor had been so unexpected, she had been visibly delighted when she received the text message and even bragged about it to Kain. Kain had merely replied in his usual indifferent tone, “At your age, reaching 2-star means you’re obviously the freshman representative,” brushing off her excitement. Still, she had accepted the role gladly, only to discover its unexpected downsides far sooner than she had anticipated.
While it offered advantages—being easily noticed, leaving a strong impression on the professors, and potentially aiding her future career—the opportunity to mingle shyly with the other freshmen in the auditorium had vanished the moment she stepped onto the stage alone to read the prepared speech. She knew that most students only grew close inside the classroom anyway, and she was also aware that many others walked alone just like her. Yet because she had never had the chance to make friends her own age while growing up, she couldn’t help feeling a small pang of regret. A part of her had always held a quiet romantic notion of school life.
‘Still, the uniform is pretty.’
She had thought so when she first received it, and now, seeing the backs of the students walking through the garden, she could tell real care had gone into the design. A pure white base accented with blue—cool, clean, and elegantly understated. The fabric was no less impressive. As expected of the continent’s foremost academy under the Magic Sovereign’s directorship, the uniforms were distributed practically for free yet made from the highest-grade materials. The smooth, soft texture was almost addictive.
Comforted by that thought, Arina continued her leisurely walk.
‘So I’m in Class A, right?’
Recalling the class assignment sent to her smartphone earlier, she headed toward the main building where the first-year classrooms were located. The path was simple; the white building stood right ahead, and even someone with no sense of direction could simply follow the other students.
‘Goal: make ten friends.’
While others dreamed of becoming great mages or reaching lofty heights, Arina had never harbored such ambitions. Having learned magic purely as a hobby, her goals were quite different from everyone else’s.
“Hello.”
Just as she was walking with that firm resolve, someone tapped her shoulder.
“You’re Arina Grant, the freshman representative, correct?”
Being the freshman representative wasn’t so bad after all. Thanks to standing on stage and becoming recognizable, someone had actually approached her. Delighted by the thought, Arina turned around.
“Yes?”
Then she froze.
The girl smiling brightly at her had flowing golden hair and clear blue eyes like the sea—features Arina distinctly remembered seeing somewhere before. More precisely, she had glimpsed this very girl passing by at Grant Department Store just a few days ago. The unpleasant memory surfaced, and Arina’s face turned pale for an instant.
‘I thought I’d forgotten about it.’
Without realizing it, her fists clenched. Then, as if trying to release the tension, she repeatedly opened and closed them, sending blood to her fingertips. Color gradually returned to her cheeks.
“Look, it’s Princess Marily.”
“It’s true. I heard she was enrolling this year.”
“They say she’s never formally studied magic before, yet she scored nearly perfect on the written exam.”
“That’s impressive.”
The murmurs and stares from the surrounding students made Arina blink rapidly. So she really was a princess? This girl?
‘No, that can’t be right.’
It had to be a misunderstanding. The princess had simply happened to walk nearby. There was no way the actual princess of this kingdom would speak to her directly.
“I’m Marily Raymond. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Arina Grant.”
“……”
That hope shattered the moment the girl introduced herself. Raymond was both the name of the capital and the surname of the royal family. The princess had actually spoken to her. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was undeniably overwhelming. More accurately, it was nerve-wracking. After all, the girl before her was one of the highest-ranking nobles in the entire kingdom.
“Y-Yes! H-Hello! Your Highness! I’m Arina Grant!”
“Ahaha, why are you so tense? You can relax. We’re classmates, after all.”
Unlike the Emperor of Hwan, who likened himself to the heavens and demanded reverence, or the sole Empress who stood at the pinnacle of absolute power, the Raymond royal family did not cling so tightly to authority. While they would not tolerate outright rudeness, in special circumstances like this they preferred to set aside formalities regardless of status. They were, at their core, a nation of benevolent rulers who believed true dignity arose from one’s own character and conduct rather than from enforced hierarchy. In that sense, the Raymond family had fully inherited the ethos of Ern Benedict, the continent’s absolute ruler. Marily herself had been raised with those teachings from childhood. That was why she had naturally approached Arina first, partly to satisfy her own curiosity.
“By the way, may I ask you something?”
“Yes……”
“Have we met somewhere before?”
At the question, spoken with wide, curious blue eyes, a cold sweat ran down Arina’s back. Ever since the Grant Department Store incident a few days ago, she had carried a small doubt. The event had been widely reported, yet she had somehow slipped away from the scene without issue. She had only learned later that she was not the only one carrying trauma from that day. Victims had received psychiatric care, and the families of the deceased had held collective funerals. Even now, people wearing memorial ribbons could be seen throughout the capital. Yet her name had never appeared on any victim list. Of course it hadn’t—Kain had taken her out of the department store before the police could compile their reports.
When she had voiced her confusion to Kain, he had answered calmly.
“I erased everyone’s memories, so it’s fine. No one knows you were there.”
“……”
“It’d be annoying if people came looking while you’re trying to rest at home.”
Still, the fact remained that Marily’s question was impossible from Arina’s perspective. According to Kain, all memories of her should have been wiped clean. Perhaps the princess had simply felt a sense of déjà vu and approached her by chance. But then—
“For example, at Grant Department Store.”
The follow-up struck like a bolt of lightning. Arina flinched.
“I see.”
Marily had not missed her reaction.
“I may not look it, but my memory is exceptionally good.”
It was the ability commonly known as perfect recall. Even now, she retained every detail of that day down to the second. That was how she had noticed the anomaly—the subtle blank space in her memories. While others experienced the events as naturally continuous, Marily alone had detected the gap.
“I kept feeling like I’d seen you somewhere, but I couldn’t remember. And if there’s a missing memory in my mind, it has to be from that day. If this feeling is real, then you were there, weren’t you?”
“……”
This was bad. Her uncle had ruined everything. Listening to Marily’s sharp deduction, the worst possible scenario flashed through Arina’s mind. The princess had realized she was present at the department store. But her memory was gone. Missing memories meant someone had erased them. The most likely culprit was the person who had been at the store and then vanished. In other words, Arina had become the suspicious individual who had tampered with the princess’s memories.
Her face turned deathly pale, her eyes trembling. She felt ready to faint at any moment, yet her strong will as a 2-star mage kept her upright.
‘In that case, I’ll just have to deny it desperately.’
There was no evidence anyway. She could simply claim she wasn’t involved. Just as Arina was about to put that plan into action—
“Ah, I’m not trying to blame you or anything.”
As she had done from the start, Marily read Arina’s reaction and spoke first. She waved her hand lightly and smiled.
“The part I can’t remember feels like someone definitely saved me. Since it’s the same gap, I actually want to thank you. Thank you for saving me that day.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s be friends from now on. You can call me Marily. I’ll call you Arina.”
“Ehh?!”
Good heavens. To think her very first friend at the academy would be the princess herself. This was all thanks to her uncle. In less than ten seconds, her thoughts had shifted from “because of Uncle” to “thanks to Uncle.”
Marily boldly took Arina’s hand.
“So? Which class are you in?”
“Class A……”
“I told you to speak casually. Well, I suppose suddenly switching isn’t easy. My consideration was lacking there.”
“N-No, it’s…… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. We’ll be together for a whole year, so we’ll naturally grow comfortable with each other.”
“……”
“In a way, I also had a romantic notion about entering the academy. My father, even as king, still speaks casually and laughs with his academy friends in private. I wanted to have friends like that too. That’s why I ended up being a bit impatient.”
In that sense, Marily’s reason for entering the academy was remarkably similar to Arina’s.
“It might be difficult now, but once we’re closer, feel free to speak casually then. We’re both in Class A, so we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
Watching the princess confidently pull her along, Arina gave an awkward smile.
“Ah, yes. I mean…… okay.”
“Good. That’s enough for now.”
Thus, an unexpected coincidence blossomed into a connection. On her very first day at the academy, Arina succeeded in making her first friend—a friend far more prominent than she could have ever imagined: the princess of the kingdom.