The Imperial Academy President, Sormon

In the empire, dozens of academies exist. But there's one place only the elite of the elite attend—a place no other academy can even compare to in prestige. The empire's one and only Imperial Academy has shared a long history with the empire since its earliest days. To the empire's citizens, it was nothing short of symbolic. For nobles, graduating from it was the highest honor imaginable. For commoners, it was a ladder to the top echelons of society.

Entrance exams were open to everyone, but getting in was harder than anywhere else. So when Gail—the 4th-year top student who had co-authored several outstanding papers with professors and earned their recognition—lost to a single examinee at the Imperial Academy, it caused a massive uproar. And that examinee was just 7 years old. Sure, there were cases of 7-year-olds enrolling, but defeating a de facto adult who was 10 years older and on track for 5th-year status? That was unprecedented in imperial history.

"Snap it! Snap it! Aigo, this is a hot scoop after ages!"

"Hey, where's Asella the mage?!"

"Asella's on vacation, Chief."

"Call her back from vacation! We gotta print faster than the Magic Bureau Gazette!"

This led to the print mages pulling all-nighters and overtime, complaining of exhaustion as a side effect. The photo of the kid captured her smirking with an utterly arrogant expression—the perfect encapsulation of 7-year-old Kesera's smugness, edited for maximum impact in the papers. Thanks to that, the whole world learned about Kesera Le Armo Ascentrius.

The black-and-white newspapers, flowing like moving images, were delivered everywhere—including the Ascentrius mansion.

"Pathetic~☆ The whole world's in an uproar over knocking down one weak academy student~☆"

I took the newspapers the butler brought from the family deliveries and read through them one by one. The empire had been so stable for so long that the press had evolved into churning out sensational headlines—like sprinkling capsaicin everywhere. Ah... I'd seen countless articles like this in my past life. And if not for the childhood fever stunting my growth, I could've held them in my hands to read. Instead, I had to use telekinesis via mobile coordinate magic to hover them at a distance, which was a bummer.

"Our young miss is truly the young miss."

"Hmph~ This is just par for the course. But what's with this paper? It says I made a total smug punk☆ face?"

I tried mimicking it while looking at the paper, but nope. And I don't even have those buck teeth! They turned me into every adult stereotype of a 7-year-old.

"Who knows. No way. There's no way our lovely young miss would make that face. We'll send a formal warning to that newspaper on behalf of the family."

I couldn't sense any sincerity from the butler. Whatever—he knows I'm a teensy bit full of myself anyway. Still, overall, the papers seemed edited to make me look like some cocky little brat. Annoying.

"Anyway~ Any word from Mom?☆"

"Archmage Eclina said, 'My daughter's the best in the world—what's there to fuss about such an obvious fact?'"

The butler's words felt a tad edited too. Mom would never say that in front of me. Still, it made me happy.

"Oh, and before enrolling, the Imperial Academy professors sent an invitation asking you to visit. It's their way of saying they want to be your advisor."

"Ehh~ Too much hassle☆ Tell the losers if they're interested, come find me."

"Very well. We'll arrange for the professor the family selects to be assigned. Young miss."

"Good. You're doing great, our butler~☆"

With today's news all covered and breakfast done, I was about to get up.

"Also, an official document arrived from the Imperial Academy."

"What is it?"

"Top enrollment honors. Congratulations."

"...I see."

It was obvious, of course. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠butler showed me the magic paper congratulating me on top enrollment. Handing top spot to a kid six years younger—what a hopeless bunch of freshmen this year?☆ Skimming the magic paper, it waived my tuition for the first year via scholarship and droned on at length about the proper attitude expected of a top enrollee.

"This is just par for the course~☆ I'm off to bed~ Kids need their beauty sleep to grow tall~☆"

"Good night, young miss."

After shooing the butler away and returning to my room, a wave of loneliness hit. In this massive mansion, the only "master" left was me. The full-length mirror showed not the cocky kid from the papers, but an ordinary little girl... with red twintails.

But I'm no "little girl."

"Little girl, my ass... That smug, frail, freeloading pretty boy!"

Whenever I was alone, that girly-faced guy's taunt kept replaying, making my blood boil. Argh, I'm so pissed. It's all because I'm young and underdeveloped. That's why I researched 4D acceleration magic—pieced together from the family library's old tomes.

"Time, flow faster."

Manipulating spacetime is incredibly tricky and precise work, reserved for archmages. But I used it just to speed up my growth. My age feels right now... so why hasn't my body caught up at all?

"Whew, enough."

I stopped as the temporal ripples grew stronger. Push past this point, and I might turn into a grandma overnight—gotta be careful. If I could just grow a bit taller first, but turning granny like this? No thanks. And... Mom comes to mind unbidden. She's no longer here postponing trips to spend precious time with me. What would she say knowing I topped the enrollment?

My mom from my past life would've coldly dismissed it as not worth settling for. That's why... I liked this life's mom more. "Hmph, mood ruined. Not anymore. They're both the same."

But what did my past-life mom even look like? Memories I deemed unimportant back then were fading. Probably because using magic and growing more into this world's idiot made my past-life traces vanish. And... to fill in the fuzzy ones, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had no choice but to write in my diary with childish scrawl, using Hangul from my past life.

This script couldn't be read in any of the empire's five languages. It was a cipher known only to me in this world.

I finished the diary, tidied it, and sealed it with sealing magic. Lying in bed, the enrollment ceremony just two days away hit me. Tomorrow's rehearsal means heading to the Imperial Academy early for dorm assignment.

The next day dawned. I went to the academy bright and early for rehearsal. Honestly, I was sleepy and zoned out, dozing off. Tedious, worthless stuff~ has nothing to do with me~☆

Arriving by carriage, I wore the formal robe from exam day and landed under the guard's escort. And... when this genius mage, Kesera Le Armo Ascentrius, arrives, all eyes naturally flock—it's an inescapable truth.

"Whoa, isn't that her?"

"The prodigy? Wow, she's so pretty. I'll be fan club president #1."

Reaching the auditorium for rehearsal, student council execs already prepping greeted me. I deliberately looked up to scan faces, but that gross pretty boy was MIA—expelled or something? Whatever. Who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cares if a useless loser gets the boot?

Calling me a "little girl" when I'm no kid? Total line-crosser.

"Mmm~ Thanks for the congrats, big sisses~ big bros~"

I tossed casual responses to the attention and pushed forward. But who's that flashy-dressed old guy up front? Looks like a bigwig from the outfit... Looking up, I saw a super familiar face. No matter how advanced this world's magic, it can't stop baldness.

"Eee~! Baldy uncle~☆"

Suddenly, the bustling student council, professors, and staff all turned to stare. What? Did I do something wrong? Isn't that baldy uncle Sormon?

"Um, President Sormon."

A tardy staffer rushed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to baldy uncle but froze. Er... so... Baldy uncle is the Imperial Academy president?!