The elder sisters serving as maids were very suspicious.

Moreover, I had been wondering if my father was really that gullible since the trial.

‘I should try to provoke these sisters a bit.’

I frowned as I pondered deeply.

As I was contemplating how to perfectly conduct a leading question, the carriage door suddenly opened slightly.

“Leonhart, Axel?”

I widened my eyes at the familiar faces visible through the gap of the opened carriage door.

It was Leonhart and Axel, with solemn expressions as if they had received some serious mental training.

“No way, sweetie!”

“I’m here, Lady Sien.”

Leonhart arrogantly took the seat to my left and gave me a deep look.

“Why do you have such a greasy expression?”

“Greasy! That’s not it.”

“Then what?”

At that moment, Axel, who had quietly taken the seat to my right without anyone noticing, whispered softly.

“Thanks to Sir Matthias’ grace, we were also able to enter the academy.”

“Really?”

I rolled my eyes. While it made sense for me to go to the academy, Leonhart was such an unparalleled genius that he didn’t really need to attend.

“Sounds like it will be interesting.”

‘Well, it would be nice if those children could make some friends too.’

Since we’re going to the academy anyway, I hope there will be some fun things happening.

‘Besides, I was going to ask the maid sisters about father’s suspicious behavior…’

But at this point, I couldn’t talk about father. Because it felt a bit awkward to bring up father in front of Leonhart.

‘Since Leonhart doesn’t have a family… I can ask later!’

Deciding to change the subject, I grabbed the hands of Leonhart and Axel, who were sitting on either side of me like knights.

They had immediately submitted enrollment applications as soon as I said I was going to the academy.

Actually, since I was already ten years old, it would have been fine to go alone.

But they insisted that they had to keep their loyalty to me and absolutely had to come along.

Hearing that made me feel quite proud of the thick trust we had built up until now.

“Let’s all hurry to the academy!”

Then Axel whispered, seeming slightly intimidated.

“Will, will it be okay?”

“Huh? Why?”

“I heard the hazing is severe.”

“Then I’ll protect you!”

Axel looked at me with surprised rabbit eyes. I stared back at him with grand, wide eyes.

I naturally thought Axel would say ‘Yes!’ while blushing.

But…

“No, I should be the one protecting you.”

He firmly drew the line. Even as I stared at him with round eyes in surprise, Axel said nothing more.

The carriage carrying the three of us passed winding unpaved roads and entered a splendid main street.

The Imperial Children’s Academy created for nobles was said to be located on the most expensive land even in the center of the empire, and it really was.

A dazzling street unfolded before my eyes, so brilliant that even I, accustomed to the splendor of House Mirmod, felt dizzy.

We’ve finally arrived.

At the Imperial Children’s Academy!

“…Phew!”

Imperial Children’s Academy.

Of course, father didn’t just carelessly send me off to the academy.

‘Axel on the left, Leonhart on the right, that’s it.’

Although as Axel said, tight connections may have already formed within the academy, with this much, no one would be able to touch me.

Plus, next to me…

“Hehehe, I’m already excited!”

…there were even the maid sisters, imposing with their muscles!

Even if the hazing was severe, there was no way they would dare attack me, a Mirmod.

‘I might be able to live a bit more comfortably at the academy!’

I looked around as I walked tap-tap down the hallway decorated with gold leaf.

Gold here, gold there!

It was a sight that drew exclamations of admiration. The academy looked as if it had been gilded with money, unfitting for its name as the empire’s repository of knowledge.

“Why is it so sparkly here?”

Leonhart said as he lifted his mask slightly.

“Most academy graduates become core personnel of the empire, and they consistently provide funding for academy remodeling. In other words, a virtuous cycle!”

More surprising than the fact itself was that Leonhart knew about the history of the academy. I blinked, looking into Leonhart’s eyes beyond his mask.

Come to think of it, even the mask he always wore seemed somehow shinier than usual.

‘Could it be, he was really looking forward to coming to the academy?’

Since Leonhart also rarely had chances to make friends his own age, it was understandable to be excited.

Thinking it was good that we came together, I squeezed Leonhart’s hand and said brightly.

“Thanks, speed wagon. Oh, no. Leonhart!”

“Hmph, this much is nothing.”

As I blankly watched Leonhart raise his nose proudly, I turned my head to the side.

“Is that Lady Sien Mirmod?”

“You know, the one who had the paternity test in court?”

“Yes, that’s her!”

I heard the children of the academy whispering. I scratched my ear in confusion, wondering how these children knew about me.

‘Something seems a bit strange. Is it normal for rumors to spread this much?’

It felt almost as if someone had orchestrated it from behind. I tilted my head in puzzlement. But just then.

“I see Sir Matthias must have done something.”

“…?”

I perked up my ears at Leonhart’s words.

‘What did my father do?’

It was a very dubious muttering. I turned my head sharply while tightly gripping Leonhart’s hand.

“What did my father do?”

“Huh? Huh?”

“You just said something in a really, really low voice. Like, ‘I see Sir Matthias must have done something.'”

Leonhart looked quite troubled as he turned his head away.

“Well, um. You have good hearing?”

It was really strange. I felt an odd suspicion as I watched Leonhart hastily bite his tongue.

“…Why are you avoiding the question? What did he do?”

‘In this case, I’ll go for a frontal attack!’

And a frontal attack means!

Using the Sien-style skill of dragging out words!

I pretended to grumble while pouting my lips like a duck towards Leonhart.

As soon as I stuck out my lips in a sulky expression, Leonhart seemed flustered and started fidgeting.

“Um, well. Why are you sticking your lips out like that!”

“Hmm?”

“…Are you upset?”

“Nooo. You could just tell me.”

It was then.

Axel, who had been quietly standing beside us as if he wasn’t there, whispered carefully.

“It was nothing important.”

“…Huh?”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about, Lady Sien.”

Axel smiled a pure and beautiful smile like a daffodil.

‘It feels like a line has been drawn somehow.’

Flustered by Axel’s strangely different demeanor from usual, I just blinked and stammered.

“O-okay…”

“Yes, let’s go in.”

Looking carefully at Axel’s expression, I saw it had returned to his usual kind face.

I decided to let it go, thinking I must have felt unfamiliar because I hadn’t been paying attention to Axel while bickering with Leonhart for a while.

I held out a hand to both Leonhart and Axel.

“Well then, let’s go in!”

The three of us entered the academy classroom energetically.

Three empty seats assigned to us were placed in a row at the very back of the classroom.

I put my bookbag, packed by the maid sisters, on the chair and looked around.

‘The atmosphere is strange?’

It was clearly self-study time, and it seemed like they could chat until the teacher came in, but…

The way the peers were already exchanging glances felt like they were excluding us.

‘Come to think of it, as soon as we opened the classroom door earlier, a chilly silence fell, right?’

I deliberately made a scraping sound with my chair. The children started to flinch. Some even peeked their heads this way. Judging by that, they seemed to at least have some curiosity about us.

“Chestnut.”

“Hmm?”

“The atmosphere here is really…”

‘Leonhart also notices the strange atmosphere!’

I sighed and prepared to respond to his words. That’s when Leonhart shouted with a playful smile.

“The atmosphere is really nice? I think we can make a lot of friends!”

The already chilly classroom atmosphere turned to ice again as soon as he finished speaking.

I shook my head, inwardly sighing.

‘As expected, Leonhart doesn’t know because he’s always been inside the family!’

The sounds of chatter from here and there pierced my ears again like nails.

“Hmph!”

“That must be Sien Mirmod!”

“You mean the daughter of that evil…?”

I raised my eyebrows at the words ‘daughter of evil…’.

I saw Leonhart perk up his ears and Axel roll his eyes.

Those two must have caught exactly what those children were trying to say.

‘I couldn’t hear clearly, but there’s definitely something.’

I fixed my gaze sharply on Axel and Leonhart, then leaned in to eavesdrop on what the children were saying.

House Mirmod parachuted in no less than three transfer students to the academy!

This fact was enough to ignite the hearts of the academy students.

The Imperial Children’s Academy had quite a high level of difficulty for its entrance exam.

Yet they brazenly entered midway without even taking the academy’s entrance exam?

To exaggerate, it felt like witnessing admission fraud.

Moreover, wasn’t it ‘that’ House Mirmod? As much as House Mirmod was overflowing with infamy, there were many who held grudges against that family. For example, the children of pro-Crown Prince families.

Riena, the little lady of a representative pro-Crown Prince family, opened her mouth.

“Something truly unbelievable has happened!”

“That’s right.”

“How can there be people entering through corruption midway?”

Riena chirped like a bird.

I was aware of House Mirmod’s influence that could even make birds fall from the sky, but Riena had her own backing to rely on.

Riena deliberately raised her voice after glancing at Leonhart’s scary expression.

“Anyway, they can’t intimidate us over what happens inside the academy!”

According to the first Emperor’s decree, immunity applied within the academy.

They deliberately held their heads high and glared at Sien. Even though she must have known she was being glared at, Sien sat neatly at her desk without any particular reaction.

Rather, Leonhart beside her and Axel, rumored to be a healer from the temple, were glaring back at them.

It was enough to make them sweat, but they pretended not to be afraid and kept talking.

“That child, they say even growing the guild wasn’t her own ability.”

“That, that’s new information?”

Their voices came out theatrical from being so self-conscious. Riena raised her voice while glancing towards Sien.

“Anyway, it’s terribly wrong! It’s unfair for a child who hasn’t proven her achievements to enter our academy!”

“That’s right, it’s absolutely unacceptable!”

Though they weren’t sure exactly what the archaic phrase ‘absolutely unacceptable’ meant, the children unanimously vetoed the irregular admission of Sien, Leonhart, and Axel.