As she trained, a griffon carriage arrived in their humble little village one morning and Lucille eyed it as it descended from the skies and into an open patch of land to the left of the village everyone seemed eager to go to it but that wouldn't be the princess, that much Lucille knew because Neophyte now had a Dragon, and an adolescent one at that, so her arrival would be guaranteed to be flashy but then… if it wasn’t her, what is inside the carriage that her fellow villagers were so excited to gather around of?

Stopping her training, Lucille silently made her way to the carriage while pondering about what could the damn thing possibly be here for and when she arrived at the scene, the people she knew and her friends standing among them looked at her with happy expressions, her closest friend also looked happy, a letter held in his hand-

And that was when it clicked… but there's no way right? Wordlessly, Lucille stepped forward and the villagers parted to allow her to pass and when she saw the coach- a middle-aged man with a nice suit and tux as well as properly combed hair, - he nodded at her before showing her a letter, one colored in white and emblazoned in silver vines that grew from the top and ran down to the edge.

Lucille took the letter with shaking hands, unable to contain the excitement she was feeling as she eyed the stamp on the mouth of the letter- a silver circle with a tree inscribed at the center: Pledge Academy's Crest.

“D-did I get accepted?” She couldn't help but ask the coachman who smiled at her and gave her a nod and her world started to spin- sh- she really got accepted into Pledge Academy didn't she? The- there's simply no way- she couldn't believe it- it wasn’t just her hands that were shaking now- and- y-yeah sure she isn't Neophyte, the girl who didn't just provide aid for her village but also saved it but- but- she got in! And she- she now has the opportunity to see the princess again and personally thank her majesty for saving her and her village from the monster horde- which she forgot to do when she came back with the villagers back then-

“Obviously I'm also gonna get inside Pledge Academy!” She heard her little sister yell and Lucille was broken out of her panicked yet excited thoughts to turn and see her sister proudly puffing up her chest while holding a wooden stick. Annie waved the wooden stick around, “when I get my Pledge, I'm gonna be like the princess and save villages from being destroyed by monster hordes! And then I'm gonna befriend my own dragon! And you'll eat your words!”

“No you won't! Liar!” Said the other girl standing opposite of Annie, face defiant to her words, “-I'm gonna be like the princess-” Lucille's giggle stopped her from continuing and the little girl- Nicky, - glared at her, “w-what?! It's true!”

Lucille moved towards the two but quickly stopped and faced the coachman to give him a bow, “thank you,” he only nodded silently in response before walking back to his carriage, pulling on the reins, and then preparing to fly off.

Lucille faced the two girls again and rubbed Annie’s head before giving her little sister's friend a rub of her own, “I'm sure you'd get there, Nicky,”

“I will!” The little girl shouted defiantly, cheeks puffing up into a pout as she pushed Lucille's hand away from her blonde locks, “I swear I will!”

Lucille smiled, “I know you will,”

“I- I will also become like the princess! I said it first!” Annie yelled and the two started to argue again, Lucille watched them, a small smile forming on her face before someone cleared their throat behind her and she turned to see Nickos, holding up an open letter of acceptance and waving it around, Lucille eyed it, then her gaze went to her letter and when she opened it…

“I got accepted too!” She giggled and that was it- their village had a festive mood and they started to celebrate.

…

Lucille woke up with a groan- then she moved around her bed and almost fell from the second bunk, “Urgh.” Memories of eating too much food the night before resurfaced and she gagged, “w-water I need water,” she said with a raspy voice and the door to her room opened to reveal her mother walking forward while holding a tray of food and a cup of water, she went down and took the cup, “t-thanks-” she inched her hand closer to the walking figure of her mother and then yelped before falling, she groaned- “Ugh.”

“Don’t worry about that Lucille,” said her mom as Lucille’s face heated up, “I'm sure the princess falls from her bed as well,”

“I'm gonna be your friend! Dragon! Waaaa-” Lucille blinked, was Annie really mumbling those words in her sleep?

She heard a giggle and looked up to see her mother smiling while eyeing the first layer of the bunk bed, “why does every girl in this family want to be like Neophyte? Can't accept the life of a humble housewife now can you?”

Lucille pushed herself up, “o-of course I can!” She defended as placed the cup of water on the tray her mother was holding, “it- it's just that the princess is so cool I want to be like her!”

“Waaaaaaa-” Huh, guess Annie was having a roaring contest with the dragon- wait that's not important, Lucille pouted at her mother-

“I'm a Pledge Bearer, you know that.” she said while holding back a sigh, “I need to go Pledge Academy and train and fight Demons regardless so I might as well aim for the strongest girl in Everlast,” she grabbed a piece of bread and started stuffing it into her mouth, she started contemplating about how she could become like Neophyte before putting those thoughts behind as she gulped down the bread, “thanks for the… food,” She said to her mother, who nodded and Lucille took the opportunity to ask something that’s been bothering her, “also… you think that what I'm gonna wear is good enough?”

Her mother stared at her and Lucille looked away, “w-what if you know, people stare at me? Think that I'm… wearing the same clothes as everyone else that the princess helped-” she stopped talking when her mother placed the tray she was holding on the nearby table and stared at her. Lucille groaned weakly, “I probably sound weird don't I?”

“You said you want to be like Neophyte correct?” Lucille nodded, "then respect her hard work by wearing the clothes that she gave to the people of the Flora and Fauna territories,” Lucille bit her lip, when she says it like that… “and you know that those aren't donations because they were brand new, Neophyte got them made so that children like you can wear something when you go up to the city,”

“I- I know that already but… I'm still scared- every other guy and girl would wear the same thing and- and-”

“You'd all be showing your love for Neophyte,” her mother pointed out, “showing your appreciation by wearing the clothes that she gave you,” her mother clasped her hand, “Lucille, the clothes that Neophyte gave you isn’t a status symbol. It never will be.” She met Lucille’s eye, “do you think that Neophyte thought like that as she got those clothes made and donated them to you?”

“... fine, you’re right.” Lucille sighed and her mother hugged her, “I hate you and your arguments.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“And I love you too,” her mother hummed, “now go change into proper formal wear before the Griffon carriage that'll take you to Everlast comes here, you don't want everyone else to wait right?”

Lucille nodded and did what she was told.

A quick trip to the public bathhouse later and Lucille came back to her house to the sight of the clothes that she was supposed to wear hanging from a hanger on one of the windows, it was the first thing that her eyes landed on when she opened the door and she stared at the black and white clothing as the morning light fell on it.

The light washed over the white shirt, black vest, and black pants to give them an ethereal feel.

If she were to be honest with herself, then she would say that she'd feel a bit bitter for the princess managing to afford so many clothes of such quality and giving them out to multiple villages like they were nothing- clothes that made the current day to day stuff that she's wearing look pale in comparison, clothes made of smooth, high quality fabric that's good to touch-

She flinched when she heard the door to the living room open and she whipped her head back to spot her little sister rubbing her eyes as she stepped into the room, “L-Lucille? Is that you?”

She nodded, “Yes, Annie,” she answered, “... you're up already?” She asked.

“Y-yes! I wanted to see you off!” Annie replied, energy washing down her body and causing her to suddenly jolt awake.

Lucille chuckled and removed the clothes from the window, “well, do you want to see me in my new clothes?”

“The one princess Neophyte gave you?!” She exclaimed all drowsiness gone.

Lucille nodded, “yes,” she said, “the one that she gave me,”

Humming, Lucille lowered the clothing and slowly, she unbuttoned the sleeveless vest to pull out the white T-shirt underneath, then her shirt came off, revealing her bra, orange in color and comfortable to wear, made of wool, unlike the… whatever expensive material that the princess used to make the clothes that Lucille is planning on wearing to the Academy- Lucille grabbed the white T-shirt and was about to wear it when the door suddenly burst open and Nickos barged in with a grin- before he stopped and stared at Lucille wide eyed.

Lucille stared back.

The staring contest went for a few seconds until Lucille broke it, “... are you gonna leave or do I have to make you?”

Nickos blushed then slammed the door shut on his way out, Annie's giggle made Lucille pause, “and you! You- forget what you saw!”

“Uhuh!” Her little sister said as she covered her mouth, “you left the window open too you know?!”

Now it was her turn to blush and without wasting time, she slammed said window shut, “there! Now it's closed!” She tried to save her dignity, and if Annie's giggle is to go by- she failed. “W-well here, I'm about to wear my… clothes,” she said as she put the T-shirt on, followed by the sleeveless vest, which she buttoned, then the pants- she faced her little sister, face still crimson, “H-how do I look?”

“... pretty good?” Annie asked while placing a hand on her chin, “wait- of course you'd look good! It's the princess’ choice in clothing! Stop trying to trick me into making fun of her! I only want to make fun of you!” Annie's rants made Lucille chuckle, her sister ran forward to grab her wrist and start pulling, which she failed, “it's not funny!” She continued hopelessly tugging against Lucille.

“Sure it isn't,” she said as she fixed the collar of her vest, and it was at that time that Gareth, her little brother, stepped into the living room to stare at Lucille, “good morning, are you here to see me off too?”

He nodded with a yawn, “y-yeah.” He answered, “I've only rode carts pulled by horses before and I want to see what a Griffon is like!” Much like Annie earlier, energy came down on him the moment that his topic of interest got spoken, “I didn't see it yesterday but I will today for sure!”

…

Gareth was squealing when the Griffon carriage came down onto the village and Lucille can only stare at him with a smile as she stepped onto the stairs of the carriage, she turned back to face her family, seeing them wave at her like this made her feel like she's going to permanently leave but she'd come back here during the breaks! They knew about it too! And so did she so- so why was she crying?!

Her mother stepped forward and hugged her, “hey, it's okay,” she said, “you'd come back here during the breaks remember?”

“I- I know that already!” She bawled- “b- but I-” she cried- but only for a little bit and anyone who says otherwise is a liar!

The carriage took her as well as a few other students to the skies, unlike what she expected, all of them were wearing Neophyte's given clothes, causing an air of unity inside of the carriage to form and the others to talk about it, saying things like, “oh! Wow! You also decided to wear the princess’ stuff huh?!” Or something like, “I'm gonna form a fan club of her! And this will be our official clothes for it!”

That last one got Lucille's interest and she asked the boy- someone from the military branch of Pledge Academy rather than the Pledge Bearer's one, actually, most of the people in their carriage were from that branch, save for Lucille, her friend, and another guy going by the name of Zack, - about the fan club that he was planning on forming and he answered with, “Yep! I'm gonna make a fan club about the princess! A lot of Pledge Bearers in the Academy have them but the princess’ will be more popular!”

He pumped his fist after he said that and Lucille gave him a beaming smile, she chorused his words, “I'm sure of it too!”

When they arrived at the airstrip of the Academy, it was to the sight of most of the students wearing the princess’ clothes and- “wow…” she said, “I never knew that so many people from the Flora and Fauna territories go to the Academy…”

“A lot of us do,” Zack said as he stepped down right next to her, “but most Florists and Faunists go join the military branch of the Academy instead of the Pledge Bearer’s one, so we don’t get that much attention,” he pointed to a building to the right of the main building, one that's twice as big despite being an auxiliary, “and usually, the reason for us going here is to… you know, get a stable job but now?” He shrugged, “I think most of us are going here because we want to help the princess, and with her speech back at the entrance exam, I know that everyone knows that she wants to repay for her sins so they’ll probably double down on helping her,”

Zack pumped his fist and stared at Lucille with fiery eyes, “and I know you want to do it too!”

Chuckling awkwardly, Lucille rubbed the back of her neck while eyeing Zack- He was handsome, with a face that's causing some of the girls around them to stare at him- or maybe it’s because of his sudden exclamation just now, - his body also has a pretty muscular build- as standard of a Florist and Faunist really, - as well a height that far surpasses her own but… Goshdarnit! Did Nickos manage to get cloned or something?

Wait- maybe that's just the princess’ reputation and presence… yeah, that's probably why she has so many weird fanboys and fangirls- Lucille is one of them after all and she could… understand why the princess is so great, she just hopes that none of them end up being… stalkerish towards her.

Speaking of the princess…

When everyone around her looked up at the skies, Lucille already knew who was coming and she looked up at the skies with a smile, she's only seen that shadow once, and during that one time, she thought they were getting attacked but as it turns out, the princess was just on her weekly run.

The shadow grew and grew until it overtook a large part of the land surrounding her and eventually-

Lucille covered her eyes as a large gust of wind erupted from the Dragon's landing, she stared at the princess’ Dragon; scales as black as the night, a body that'll put an Omega Fauna Calf’s size to shame, and a presence that heralded her arrival way before she was seen.

Her two massive wings were spread out, casting a shadow over the surroundings, and her long, whip-like tail swished back and forth, causing some of the students behind her to pause and stare- and… not walk away for some reason.

Then… the riders came down, first would be the princess’ maid/rumored lover- Zathania's brown hair bobbed up and down as her feet found the ground, her Pledge, a double headed staff made from silver wood glowed, the ruby and sapphire tips casting a bit of light over the Dragon's shadow. The maid outfit that she wore didn't look like it would belong to the Academy and yet with her regal standing and straightened posture, Zathania made it work.

She fixed her glasses and looked around, then said something that Lucille couldn't hear and the second rider came down laughing- Laceresta, the Beast King from the Oasis. It’s rumored that few there could match her strength, and what would such a reputation mean from someone who hailed from a land full of beasts?

Well, it’s obvious; there’s no one in this Academy who can beat her in a test of might.

Her orange hair fell down her shoulders, the tip of their strands meeting the great axe strapped to her back- her Pledge was… calling it intimidating wouldn't cut it, it was… terrifying to look at, the size of its double-bladed head was larger than that of Lucille's torso, its shaft longer than Lucille's legs.

And its wielder, an 8 foot tall Lioness full of muscle, didn't do anything to lessen the fearful effect of the Pledge.

Laceresta wore something befitting that of someone from Oasis; an open, sleeveless vest much like Lucille's own, though hers was made of tough leather, brown in coloring, and… where Lucille wore a T-shirt underneath, the Lioness seemed fine with just simply covering her large chest with bandages, wrapping them around her torso and leaving everything else bare, allowing the world to see her stomach and navel.

Her pants were colored in brown, stopping directly in the middle of her calves and leaving everything below free, allowing Lucille to see boots whose ankles were tipped with a saw-like extension that clacked with each of the Lioness’ steps.

And finally, the princess came down- white waistcoat waving around her legs, silver hair flowing down her back, she had a vest on too, long sleeved, also buttoned much like Lucille's, her white pants creased when she landed and her black combat boots bent alongside her legs, she straightened herself and started laughing, ruining the image for a split second but then it just made Lucille think she's cute… she shouted joyfully, “I told you it would be fun!”

The Dragon snorted in response to her words and all four started walking towards the direction of the Academy's entrance and the world, in Lucille's perception, started moving again- right next to her Zack looked infatuated, “that was the longest 3 seconds of my life,”

Lucille couldn't help but agree.