For as long as she could remember, Cassandra had seen dreams of another world. A strange, bland world that constantly sought the wonder of magic through entertainment. Much of this entertainment reminded her of the legends of her homeland, Tethia.

However, there was one thing Cassandra never understood about the stories from the world in her dreams. Why did the princesses always have to marry princes to become queens and kings? The king and queen of Tethia were both happily married to other people. Everyone here thought it was perfectly normal for things to be that way.

Not only that, the queen of Tethia was a woman who held the future of magic in her hands. Perhaps she was influenced by her dreams, for all Cassandra wanted was to be in such a position. That was how she found herself at sixteen years of age, going out to meet the carriage that would take her to the entrance exam for Nobility.

Nobility was the only school that raised the talents that would lead the future of Tethia and later become one of the four pillars. There was, of course, the king and queen. The king led the nation in times of political turmoil and war. The queen led with diplomacy with other nations which was why she had just as much say in the future of magic as the archmage.

The archmage was the father of all magic. At least, the first archmage was. After that, each one was charged with the duty to keep that magic alive throughout Tethia. That left one last and final pillar of Tethia. This was none other than the headmaster of Nobility himself. His duty was to nurture the talents of the future to bring glory to the kingdom.

That very headmaster had arranged a system that sent carriages to all of the regions so no talent would be left untested. Now all Cassandra had to figure out was exactly where that carriage was.

It had never occurred to her before that there would be multiple carriage lines at the location she had been directed to. Perhaps the test had already begun? That was an exciting thought. There were two options that came to her mind right away. All of these carriages took them to the test or none of them did. If it was the latter, where was the real carriage?

Rather than just standing around and wondering, Cassandra approached a carriage and asked the driver.

“I am here for the Nobility entrance exam,” she told him, “Which carriage will take me there?”

“We all can,” he replied, “For a fee.”

So that was the catch. “Are there any that have already been paid?” Cassandra checked.

“Looking for a free ride, miss? The ones who paid may resent you for that.”

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“Even if the one who paid was the headmaster?”

There was a moment of silence as they stared each other down. Cassandra was confident she had found the answer to the first test. Then the driver suddenly grinned.

“Get in,” he told her, “I can take your bag for you and put it with the luggage.”

“I’ll hold onto it, if that’s alright. I need some refreshments and entertainment for the journey.” Besides, she had already sent her actual luggage ahead to save the hassle. It had been a gift from her parents who wholeheartedly believed she would pass the test.

“Refreshments?” he asked with interest.

He probably wouldn’t let it pass without some form of inspection considering how odd it was to take up precious luggage space with snacks. Cassandra dug through her bag and pulled out the stash of her mother’s homemade perfectly crispy butter cookies and gave him one. The driver didn’t hesitate to bite into the golden brown delicacy.

“Cookies indeed,” he hummed with approval, “Now I’ve got myself a Ms. Cookie and a Mr. Book.”

Cookie and book? Did he name his passengers based on what they brought with them? Hopefully hers wouldn’t change once he found out she had also brought a book and notepad of her own.

Inside the carriage was a boy with his nose deep in a hefty volume. She could only assume this must be Mr. Book. He did not even look up to acknowledge her presence. Also in the carriage was another boy who seemed to be trying to take a nap and a girl with a flower in her hair. Was Cassandra the last to arrive?

As soon as she stepped into the carriage, the girl’s eyes locked on her. “Finally! I thought the fourth seat would never get filled!”

Now that she mentioned it, the carriage did seem built to comfortably seat four. Cassandra took the remaining seat right next to Mr. Book. Before she could even ask when they would depart, the carriage started moving. That answered that question.

“Are we the only ones who passed the first test here?” she asked instead.

“I don’t think so,” the girl replied, “There was a carriage that left before ours.”

“That’s good,” Cassandra said, relieved. She didn’t like the idea that if she had been just a little late, her spot in the test would have been lost.

“Can the two of you be quiet!” Mr. Book suddenly snapped, lowering his book enough to glower at both of them.

Cassandra sighed and pulled the notepad from her bag to continue the conversation in written form. There was no need for an awkward silence on what was sure to be such a long carriage ride. She pulled out her pen and scribbled a quick introduction before passing it to the girl across from her.

‘My name is Cassandra. What is yours?’

The girl was confused until she read it, and she had to hold back a little laugh. She borrowed Cassandra’s pen to write her reply right below it.

‘I am Lily. I am going to Nobility to learn magic. Why are you going?’

Cassandra pondered for a moment how to answer her question. In the end, honesty was always the best policy.

‘I want to become the next queen. I want to learn magic too, but I want more than that.’

Lily read Cassandra’s note with a bit of surprise. “Really?” she asked out loud, earning herself another glare from Mr. Book.

The sleeping boy stirred and looked around before spotting the notepad. He clumsily reached over and took the pen from Lily’s hand before scribbling his own message. Lily seemed even more shocked, either by what he wrote or the whole interaction. The boy urged Lily to pass the notepad over with an audible yawn.

As she took the paper, Cassandra saw why Lily was so shocked. Had he read their notes that quickly or was that what he was planning to lead with all along.

‘Hi, I’m Marcus. I’m gonna be the king.’

Mr. Book looked none too happy that Marcus had awoken and finally gave up on reading his book. He snatched the notepad from Cassandra and scoffed as he read it. “So that is what you were writing so noisily. Since you lot seem to find introductions so important, I am Caleb. I want to research magic.” His tone and expression both said that now he had stated his name and purpose, they had better leave him alone.

Cassandra stole her notepad back and put it away. “Does anyone want some cookies?” she offered. Only Mr. Caleb Book refused.