It was a somewhat chilly morning. It had rained outside overnight, but now the sun was shining through the gap in the curtains again. The cock outside began to crow.

That noise woke Wenzel. He always was a very light sleeper anyway, if he fell asleep at all that was. Unfortunately, there were often whole nights when he didn't get a wink of sleep. That was normal for him, though. So Wenzel got up and opened the curtains and the window, to air out the room briefly. He leaned out of the window just a little to get some fresh air and looked down onto the courtyard, several storeys below him. Aurel got up from bed at the same time.

"Good morning," Wenzel said to his brother. "Mornin‘!" he replied. The two of them began to get dressed in their school uniforms and would soon be heading to breakfast in the dining hall. It was a few hundred metres away, in another building. As they were walking out the door, Aurel paused for a moment. "Wait." He patted down his pockets, then went back to his bedside table and reached for an object wrapped in a small cloth. "I almost forgot," Aurel noted briefly. Wenzel just looked at him emotionlessly or, to be precise, looked at the object he was pocketing. Aurel gave him a sinister eye and slapped Wenzel on the forehead with the palm of his hand. "Come on, let's go," he hissed and pushed himself out the door.

As always, they had porridge for breakfast. In general, they almost always had porridge, unless it was a public holiday or some kind of celebration. Well, then. Wenzel took his bowl, sat down at the end of the long table and began to eat. As usual, he didn't speak to anyone and ate his porridge without distraction. Not that he was able to talk to someone, anyway. No one was sitting next to him and even if he had sat down with others....no, Wenzel didn't even want to think about that. Everyone avoided him. Nobody liked him. Why should he even try to sit with a friend group, who he didn’t even know? That’s what Wenzel’s reasoning behind that was.

In contrast to him, it was relatively loud in the rest of the dining hall. All the students were chatting with each other, some joking and laughing. Wenzel only glanced at them occasionally, perhaps trying to make out what was so funny. The thought always hovered in the back of his mind that perhaps they were laughing at him, although he knew for a fact that this wasn‘t the case. Nobody thought of him as "funny". The pupils avoided him because they didn't like him. Why was that? Because Wenzel was supposedly cursed, or so the rumours went. If only they knew.....

Aurel sat away from Wenzel. His brother also didn't keep Wenzel company. He liked him just as little...., in fact he liked him even less than the other pupils did. But Aurel was still his big brother. He was his guardian, who Wenzel had to listen to. He was responsible for "the most important thing". After Aurel had finished eating, he stood up, came over to his brother and pulled him by the arm. "Time to go, Wimpel!" Wenzel hated this stupid nickname of his, but he followed without argument.

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After breakfast, it was time for class. The main school building was in the same compound as the students' accommodation. What all the buildings had in common, however, was that they were old and venerable. The pupils, including Wenzel, walked in a long stream along the carefully laid out and well-kept paths of the park towards the school. The corridors of said building were long and wide. The classrooms were also large and had very high ceilings. If one tilted their head back and looked up vertically, intricate stucco work and often even pictures by painters could be seen up there. In short, it was a very elitist boarding school for the upper class. This was also reflected in the students' clothing. There was a school uniform and it was compulsory. For boys it was a white shirt, a dark blue jacket, an equally dark blue tie and long trousers. It was the same for girls, except they had to wear a blazer, which had a slightly different look from the jacket, and a skirt. All quite noble.

Today was a long day at school. First there was a writing lesson, then they had maths and in the third lesson they had history. Wenzel had to pay particular attention here. He didn't like history, but the last time the teacher checked Wenzel’s notes, he was found out. He often didn't take notes in class, so he was made to rewrite all the missing stuff! That's why he would be writing down everything he was told now…..at least with this teacher. The date was being written on the blackboard:

12.4.461 It was the year 461 of "God’s mandation".

Wenzel hurriedly began to copy with quill and ink. His hand was already tired because of the exhausting writing lesson he’s had earlier today. But there was no helping it. His fingers would be hurting today.

Today's topic was the overthrow of the Melgarions 80 years ago and the accession of power by the current ruling house. The Melgarions were the descendants of Melgar the Great, who founded the Ordanian Empire. His seizure of power marked the beginning, the year zero of the current era, that's how important he was! Today our country is called the "Ordanian Confederacy". The teacher went on to explain that the fall of the Melgarions meant "the end of tyranny" and that the current rulers of Ordania no longer oppressed the people with "diabolical witchcraft".

The teacher patrolled the aisle to make sure that everyone was properly taking notes. He went to the back row, where Wenzel was sitting alone on his own table, to check on him, too. This gave Wenzel at least a brief moment to take the pressure off his fingers, which had been plagued by the pain of constant writing. But the writing continued for the whole hour. Wenzel hated it!

Finally, the lesson ended and he was allowed to leave.