The Academy Enrollment Notice Has Arrived
I caught the young girl nodding in agreement to the words I had muttered, and a question immediately popped into my head: why is this spirit here? I blinked twice, and by the time my eyes opened again, René had silently approached. She glanced back and forth between me and the spirit, narrowing her eyes.
“Kidnap? What kind of way is that to talk about a person…”
I shook my head vigorously, insisting I knew nothing about it and looking thoroughly wronged. René let out a small snort of laughter. The moment I realized she had been teasing me on purpose just to watch me squirm, I frowned. She quickly apologized and raised her hand in greeting to the spirit, who copied the gesture exactly.
Figuring it would be best to hear it straight from the person in question, I asked. But the spirit simply waved at me with an innocent face and kept smiling brightly.
It looked like I wasn’t going to get an answer. While my sister and I were grinning at the adorable little spirit, a voice suddenly spoke up right behind us.
Startled by Aran’s silent approach, we both screamed.
“Ouch, my ears…”
“N-nothing!”
“Yeah. Just messing around. Just a prank.”
After taking a few steps back from our ear-piercing shrieks, Aran tilted his head at our frantic hand-waving and hasty excuses. Instead of pressing for details, he simply warned us not to cause too much trouble outside the house, then left. Soon after, the servants brought out the lunch they had prepared.
“Thank you.”
“No need to be so formal with family.”
Aran smiled at me as I bowed my head in thanks, then lightly smacked René on the head for not greeting him.
“Ow! Why’d you hit me!”
“You should at least say thank you.”
“But you just told me not to be so formal!”
“That doesn’t mean you should be completely rude either!”
Watching the two siblings bicker like polar opposites despite being twins, I shook my head. The spirit mimicked my motion, so I whispered to it that since things had turned out this way, we should try to get along from now on. Even though it couldn’t speak, it seemed to understand; it nodded in reply. I smiled back, then sat down on a handkerchief I’d spread out nearby. While I ate lunch, I watched the childish fight between the two brothers.
“Ah, it’s cold now!”
“Why are you blaming me for that?”
“It’s all your fault, big brother! I hate you!”
After finishing their now-lukewarm soup and bread amid the argument, René sulked until I secretly handed her some dried fruit I had saved. Her face lit up immediately and she began munching happily.
“By the way, René.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Where on earth do you keep hiding all that stuff?”
On the way back to the carriage as everyone prepared to set off again after lunch, I showed the curious René the inner pocket of my coat, telling her it was no big deal. Only then did she realize her own coat had one too. She looked shocked, then started puffing her cheeks again. I quickly apologized and managed to soothe her mood.
After that, we watched flocks of migratory birds flying south against the crimson sunset and fields rippling in the breeze. Once we returned to the mansion, we secretly played with the spirit we had unintentionally brought along.
“Wait, the wind is so chilly… why do the leaves still look so full of life?”
Even though autumn was nearly over, the grass and trees in the garden remained unusually vibrant. The gardener and everyone else in the mansion found it strange. René and I had a pretty good idea who was responsible, so we asked the spirit—who always stayed within our line of sight—whether it had done something. When it nodded in confirmation, we thought for a moment before asking it to stop, saying this wasn’t okay.
“What the… can this really happen in just one day?”
The next day, the gardener expressed confusion again upon seeing the now-withered plants and trees. But since it was more natural than the previous phenomenon, everyone quickly lost interest.
Time passed, and soon we were expecting the first snow. That was when an enrollment guide for the Imperial Academy—the main stage of the original story—arrived at the mansion.
“Our little Arlan is already heading to the academy… Hoo, how time flies. You’ve really grown up.”
Mother and Father, suddenly reminded of how much time had passed, looked emotional. Arlan scratched his head awkwardly while Aran and I smiled quietly. René, however, tilted her head in confusion.
“Academy? What’s that?”
“You heard about it when we studied before.”
“Uh… I don’t remember!”
When I sighed at René’s bold declaration that she had completely forgotten, the spirit on my lap simply shrugged. Mother laughed and said it was understandable, then kindly explained what the academy was.
As was typical for such institutions, it was a blend of high school and university. According to imperial law, one could enter from the age of eighteen. It was a place where those with talent could further refine and study their abilities. Once enrolled, everyone—from commoners to nobles—was treated equally as students until graduation. René listened with her mouth slightly open, blinking rapidly.
She barely understood any of that.
Despite the kind explanation, René still didn’t seem to fully grasp it. She fidgeted with her lips before asking why Arlan had to go there.
“It’s because of imperial law, dear.”
Father explained that while commoners had to prove their abilities through an entrance exam, children of counts or higher nobility were legally required to enroll once they turned eighteen—unless they were physically unable or seriously ill. That was why Arlan, who would turn eighteen next year, was going to the academy. René still looked lost and tilted her head again.
“In short, the academy is a place where you study even more.”
“Ehh? A place with even more studying?”
“Yes. And when we get older, we’ll have to go there too.”
“Ugh, I don’t want to go somewhere like that…”
When I simplified it further to match her level, René shuddered and declared she hated the idea of going somewhere just to study more. She asked if she couldn’t just stay home instead.
In the original story, the character had hated staying at the family estate so much that she left the moment she received the academy notice. Seeing the complete opposite reaction now, I gave a small smile and firmly told her that wasn’t possible.
After that, Arlan, who would be leaving for the academy once winter passed, took his time preparing since there was still plenty of time left.
“Big brother! I’m bored! Play with me!”
Before he left, René pestered him every single day, wanting to spend as much time with him as possible. Having already figured out her true feelings, he played along every day with a bright smile, pretending he had no idea.
We played the usual games—hide-and-seek, tag, and the like. On the day the first snow fell, as if we had planned it, we all went outside and built a snowman.
“What’s this?”
“A secret friend for René and me.”
“A secret friend, huh… It’s smaller than I expected.”
Arlan looked fascinated by the snowman we had shaped to resemble the spirit, who had stayed inside the warm mansion to avoid the cold. Then he noticed Aran stepping outside a beat later and gave us a meaningful smile.
“Hehe, perfect.”
We immediately understood what that smile meant. We packed the pure white snow tightly and hurled snowballs at Aran at the same time. Caught off guard by the sudden barrage, he let out a ridiculous sound and tried to run. One snowball flew straight into his mouth. He coughed and spat it out, then declared he wouldn’t just take it lying down and started throwing snowballs back at us.
“Hey, you can’t throw them at me!”
“Who says? Take this!”
At some point the snowball fight turned into complete chaos as everyone started throwing at anyone except themselves. We four siblings laughed at each other’s messy appearances. That evening, we all sat together in front of the fireplace, sniffling and sipping hot fruit tea that sent white steam into the air.
“Tsk tsk. That’s what happens when you don’t exercise regularly. You’d have been fine otherwise.”
“Cough, cough. You’re really blaming me right now?”
“René and I run around everywhere every day and we’re perfectly fine.”
“That’s… damn it.”
The next day, Aran came down with a cold and was groaning miserably. Whether it was because of Arlan’s teasing or pure spite, he quickly recovered and began spending more time on the physical training he had only done half-heartedly before.
“You’re not tired already, are you?”
“Huff, huff! What are you talking about! I’m totally fine!”
Watching the brothers awkwardly bond like that made me smile. Every morning Arlan would laugh loudly at Aran, who was suffering from muscle pain. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
“Arlan, congratulations on turning eighteen.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“You’ll learn so much at the academy. Study hard.”
“Yes, sir. Though there’s still quite a while before I actually leave for the academy.”
Instead of the now well-behaved spirit that had settled down after the first snow, we spent our time playing with the Arlan and Aran brothers. The days flew by in the blink of an eye, and before we knew it, the year had changed.
On the first day of the new year, during a small family party with the servants, Arlan joked around before his eyes sparkled at the fruit wine made from the family orchard’s harvest. Then, in a sudden burst of drunkenness, he started swaying and made everyone burst into laughter.
“Wow, our big brother is seriously a mess.”
“Ugh…”
“Wait, what are you—kyaaa! Aaaah!”
Aran, who had been teasing him nearby, ended up becoming the victim and screamed with a face pale as a sheet. Still, from an outsider’s perspective, it was all very entertaining.
“Now, now. It’s still too early for you kids.”
Curious about what it tasted like to make someone drink until they were in that state, I secretly reached for the fruit wine. But Mother, who had somehow noticed, came over and spoke. I obediently withdrew my hand.