Layne’s Point of View

“Magic non-existent.”

I was surprised by what the magic stone revealed. Inside the light it emitted was a tornado and fire. “Interesting, you passed,” King Axen X looked at me with a piercing gaze. I sighed in relief now that it was over. Walking back in line made me uncomfortable as all eyes were on me. But one thing that gave me satisfaction was when I gave my father a loathful gaze. ‘See that? That’s the daughter who disappointed you.’ I said in my mind.

“What I witnessed was promising. Now, listen carefully,” everyone was glued to what His Majesty would say, “My quest to find who deserves to be my successor will deliberately have three tests. As you witnessed, this is just the beginning. In three months, another test will be revealed. So, brace yourself with what’s about to come, that’s all.” He then smiled, waved his hand, and vanished out of thin air.

“Lords and Masters, it’s me, Evia. Your presence is no longer needed here. Let me guide you out of the palace,” the same person who led us in, popped out of nowhere. The monotonous voice she had gave me a weird and eerie feeling. Now that I think about it, she does not feel human at all.

I could finally breathe normally again when I was out of the palace. It was not a welcoming place at all. That’s why when our carriage was in sight, I hurriedly went inside. “How are you feeling?” Mother asked me, “I am relieved,” I replied. “How about you mother? What did you feel seeing father?” This question startled her. “I felt nothing.” She said seriously while averting her gaze. I did not ask any further as her eyes, spoke a lot.

Uncle was the last to head inside as he talked to the Count, Duke, and Archduke. “You seemed to have enjoyed a conversation with them, what was it about?” Mother asked. “Oh, it was about what household should Layne represent in the selection. To His Majesty, it won’t matter. But for the rest of Axen, it does. So I just said, House Theone,” Uncle explained. “It doesn’t matter, as long as she stays with us” Mother quickly said. I hated my last name, just as I hated my father. But I do agree, it doesn’t matter.

“Lisboun, to our residence please,” Uncle ordered, and we are now headed home. When we arrived, the servants welcomed us together with Anne and Rafaeolo. I was used to having only me and my mother, now that I welcomed new people into my world, I felt warm witnessing the sight of it. At the same time, I realized, there was no turning back.

A week later.

The fated day had come; it was a calm afternoon, and De Vionne was just minutes away. “Don’t be nervous. You’ll have a great time,” Mother said. “I hope so,” her assurance was useless because I was already shaking inside. As our carriage went into a bricked road, I saw a huge sign which stated, DeVionne Academy. And then our carriage stopped.

“We're here,” the chauffeur said. “Well then, let’s go shall we?” she said. As I went outside, I was startled because nothing was there. “Mother, are you sure we arrived at the right place?” I asked with doubt. “Yes, we are at De Vionne,” I was in disbelief thinking she was crazy. “My Lady, your luggage is ready,” the knight who came with us said as he carried the suitcase out from the carriage. As Mother said, students needed to reside in the Academy and I would stay in what they called, a dormitory. This was the first time in my life that I would temporarily part ways with my mother. It saddens me, but with what I need to prove to my father, my unstable mana, and the pressure of the ongoing selection; I need to gather every ounce of courage and be stronger.

Suddenly, an old lady with thick glasses appeared and approached us. “De Vionne welcomes both of you with delight,” she said with a smile, making her whole aura inviting. Mother then hugged her, “It has been a while headmaster!” They seemed super close. “It is nice to see you again. We certainly missed a talented student like you,” she replied with a gleaming smile. “Thank you. This place brings a lot of memories,” Mother grabbed me from my shoulder which brought me closer to her side. “This is Layne, my daughter. She will be in your care for a while. I hope she learns and experiences a lot of great things in De Vionne.” I smiled awkwardly at the headmaster as her eyes were fixated on me.

“Well then, let’s head inside, young lady.” I looked around as to where because all I saw was a clear landscape. “Where exactly?” The Headmaster chuckled. “You are staring right at it,” with a snap of her finger, a large gate slowly appeared. My lips parted as I was astonished with what had appeared in front of my eyes. “Let’s go?” she led me towards its gates. When I turned my head, I saw Mother with the warmest smile, waving her hand goodbye.

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“She is not coming with us?” I asked the Headmaster. “Only the student body and specific individuals are permitted to head inside,” she replied. “I thought we could roam around in there even just for a bit,” I said with disappointment. “School policy is school policy,” she explained.

“Can you wait a second? I’ll just say my goodbyes to her,” the headmaster nodded, giving me the signal to do as I wished. I ran towards Mother and I hugged her tightly. “Till we meet again,” I said warmly. “Don’t overreact, we will definitely meet again,” she chuckled. We waved our goodbyes and both me and the headmaster headed inside. Beyond these gates is Theo and something that will change my life, forever.

When we entered, it was a whole new world. “Boogsh!” I was startled because there was a colorful explosion that came from one of the windows above us. “That’s pretty normal here,” there were a lot of students and all of them were dressed in uniformity. One group over there was making a rock levitate. Another was having classes under a huge tree. More steps later, we found ourselves in one of the school buildings. According to the headmaster, this is the dormitory where I will be staying. We then entered one of the quarters, “This is where you will stay Layne.” I roamed my eyes around and saw three beds inside with boxes on top of each. Two beds were on the right, and another was on the left. Looks like I will not be the only one staying here.

I quickly dragged my luggage to the best spot which was the bed on the left. The huge box was tempting to open, “Go ahead,” the headmaster told me. I gently opened it and there revealed clothes and a piece of paper. “That will be your uniform every time you attend your class. And what’s written on that piece of paper is your everyday schedule with the room assignment,” what made me mesmerized most is the uniform. It’s just a white polo shirt with a long skirt, but the fabric has an intricate pattern embossed into it.

“How about I give you a tour around campus?” she asked, and I nodded with delight as I wanted to see more of what De Vionne is all about! We walked in different buildings, all were huge and made with mossy stones or should I say, bricks. The tour made me learn a lot about the place. So, according to the Headmaster, this academy has lots of history because it was built from the moment this Kingdom rose. It has honed individuals from generations after generations. And even though thousands of applicants wished to be admitted here, only a few were deemed to be accepted.

“Why is this academy hidden?” I asked her. “It’s to protect students since all of them reside in this academy and because we wanted to be set apart from the society outside,” the Headmaster tenderly looked at the students from afar. “Here, there are no titles, no social classes because everything here is subsidized by the Royal Palace. And so, we based everything from what you can offer, in short your skills. So, if we accepted you here, whether it was based on someone else’s recommendation or through our admission, it means that you are special. Also, feel free to address any nobles by their first names because like I said, social classes do not exist here.” What she said warmed my heart.

So, I am special.

“How about my meals?” I asked. The Headmaster chuckled, “Don’t worry about your meals as we provide it in the school cafeteria. You can go there for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks,” she added.

“So here,” we reached a path that was split into two, “the student body is stratified. The left building is for the intellectuals or what we call the scholars, and the right is for magical studies or the wizards. I believe you will be part of the magical studies.” I took a deep breath because of intimidation. We went to special facilities the academy had, such as function halls, athletic halls, a cafeteria, some classrooms, and finally the libraries. I have never seen so many books all at once in my entire life. “We are at one of the school libraries. We have four in total,” the headmaster explained.

This isn’t everything?

“Every student has unlimited access to our archives. You can borrow as much as you want because there is no such thing as too many books,” I was amazed. “Headmaster, I have an important matter to discuss with you,” a gentleman approached her and handed her some documents. “Just a moment, I need to attend to this,” she said. Both of them secluded themselves, not too far away from me. I used this chance to roam my eyes once again and appreciate the load of books I was seeing. I kind of fled a bit as I brushed my fingertips on their spines.

My favorite books are even here.

Before I got too immersed, I decided to head back. “You really are a genius, Theo,” I heard some people talking from a distance.

Did I hear it right?

Out of curiosity I quickly turned my head to see who they were. There I saw a group of students and a familiar figure stood out. That’s right, it was Theo. His ash gray hair, tan skin, and freckles, it was definitely him. I stared at him waiting for our eyes to meet and it did happen. When he noticed, his surprised face made me chuckle on the inside. I raised my hand to bid hello but then he averted his gaze and went on…

just like a stranger.