Filia Academy. The most prestigious place to learn magic on the entire kingdom of Queelava. Its fame spread far and wide; it was said to be the best place you could ever go if you wished to know the arcane.

And now, one certain boy stood in front of its gates.

His countenance was those of a normal 15-year old boy. Average height, average width, average look...

Unfortunately, he wasn't average at all in the aspect that was most important.

His talent in magic.

You see, he wasn't born with a bloodline that had wizard blood in them. Him being able to use magic in itself was already a miracle, most likely caused by the remaining diluted magical bloodline that no one knew where they came from. It was nowhere near as powerful as the average direct wizardy blood.

But yet, he still insisted. He still insisted to learn magic. Even when he knew he would never be as good in it as other mages.

His foolish and reckless love for magic was just too great for him to contain.

And thus he now stood in the school of his dreams, ready to take on the first step of him embracing his lifelong dream.

The entrance test to the academy.

=======================================================================

When he entered the auditorium in which the test would take place, he was greeted by the fact that there were already many others that had arrived before him. The place was sufficiently crowded, with nearly all of the 1.000 seats taken. He noticed how most of the other would-to-be mages were of the rich persuasion, judging by their fancy clothing and how they had magical items that he couldn't even dream to purchase with his family's meager income. He already expected this though. It was a common fact that mages were highly valued in his society. They could easily open a magic shop and charge quite high for their services or just outright serve the government and receive high wage from it. It was another reason why he wanted to become a mage, to help him and his family rise from their social status.

He took a seat on the corner of the room. He would feel uncomfortable if he had to mingle with them, not to mention his preference of doing things on his own. He was never that much of a social creature.

After waiting for a while, a bell rang, signaling everyone to return to their seats as the test was about to begin.

The one that climbed up from the podium was an old man. If someone who had no knowledge about magic would see him, they would think he was a common beggar, what with his weak posture and his slow movement. However, everyone, including the boy knew that he was the famous Archmage Wizedeen. He was a national hero, what with his significant contribution in the defense against the Great Monster Surge 250 years ago. Yes, he was that old. It was true that mages were known for their long lifespans, but he took it to another level entirely. He was perhaps the oldest magician that had ever existed in the history of the kingdom.

However, the person standing on the podium right now was far from his glory days.

"Uhh... welcome... I suppose to this... this academy. My assistant Miss..."

"It's Miss Pross, sir," the young woman behind him whispered discreetly, failing to realize that the loudness-enhancing magic would pick up her voice too.

"Right! Miss Pross! She'll be the one to take care of you all!"

After that confused display from the Archmage, the woman called Miss Poss began to explain the method on how the attendees would be tested.

First of all, there would be a test to gauge how much raw magic power one could output. If he/she passed the minimum limit, then she could move on to the real test where he/she would be asked to cast some basic spells. If he/she were deemed adequate, then he/she would be accepted as a student in the academy.

"I shall call your name one by one. The one called shall go forward to the podium and channel their magic energy to this crystal ball right here," she pointed at said object sitting on a table on the middle of the podium.

And thus, the procession began. As the boy watched other would-to-be mages went forward, he noticed how not a single one of them seemed nervous. They must be pretty confident that they would pass the test.

Alas, the boy couldn't afford such a luxury. With his low magical power, there was a real chance he could fail this test. He just hoped the training he had done to drag every drop of his magical power out from his body would be enough.

"Tom Harding, please come forward."

The calling of his name brought him back from his haze.

"Y-yes, coming!"

Hurriedly, he rose from the seat and did a hybrid between walking and running towards the podium. He could feel his heartbeat rising every time he took a step forward.

"Sit down, please," the lady called Miss Pross ordered.

After doing what she told, he put both of his hands on the crystal ball. Gulping, he began channeling his magic power to it.

"200, 300, 400... don't hold back too much, Mr. Harding. You need at least a 1000 to pass this test after all," Miss Pross commented.

"R-right..."

Inside, he began to panic. He wasn't holding back at all. This was the normal output of his magic.

G-guess I'll have to use that after all.

After taking a deep breath, he activated his desperate spell. [Blood to Magic]. It was the spell to turn your very own blood into mana. The blood would evaporate as your mana increased. As you would expect, this was a dangerous spell. Overusing it would very well kill the caster.

"500, 600..."

He started to feel lightheaded.

"700, 800..."

He could feel his muscles going weaker and weaker and his consciousness fading away. It took all he had just to sit straight.

"900, 950..."

J-just a little more...

"960, 970..."

J-just a little...

"980, 990..."

J-just...

As the crystal ball showed the number of 1000, our poor little Tom fell unconscious.

==========================================================

When he came back to the living world, he was in another place entirely.

"Oh, doctor, he wakes up!"

He looked to his left to see Miss Pross with a man whom he assumed Miss Pross had referred to as the doctor, judging by his white labcoat.

And now it came to him that he was on a hospital bed, or at least something similar to that.

The doctor pressed his hands to the pulse at his arm.

"Hmm, nothing seems to wrong with you, Sir. You are really, really lucky indeed. What were you thinking, using [Blood to Magic] like that?"

Everything came rushing back to him. Everything that had transpired.

"M-Miss Pross..." he said weakly. "D-did I... pass?"

"W-What are you talking about? You should be resting instead of thinking about that right now!"

"P-please... tell me... the truth..."

Miss Pross stood silent.

"W-well, y-you see... certainly, you pass the test but-"

"But what?" the boy replied, almost screaming if not for the fact that he had no energy to do so.

"Y-you did it in such a way that... endangers your body so... we have decided that we couldn't accept you here. We're very sorry."

In that very moment, his world shattered.

"Heh...heheheheh...heheheheheheheh..."

"A-are you okay, young man?" Miss Pross said worryingly.

"Okay? How could I be okay? All those years learning magic on my own, all of them wasted. Wasted like they didn't even matter. I couldn't even pass a mere simple power test! How could I even possibly become a real mage?"

His sudden outrage shocked Miss Pross and the poor doctor, especially the missus who didn't know how to respond. Instead, she sidestepped the issue.

"A-anyway, rest well, my dear. Take your time. I-I have something I must do so if you'll excuse me..."

Without waiting for him to excuse her, she fled the room, leaving him only with the confused doctor.

"W-well... now that's settled..." the doctor awkwardly established his presence in the room back, "I suppose you would want a little sleep spell so that you could rest easier?"

The boy didn't respond, which the doctor gladfully took as a "yes".

====================================================

When he woke up once more, he wasn't greeted by the sight of either the doctor or Miss Pross. Instead, he was met by by a girl about his age.

The first thing he noticed was how beautiful her eyes were. They were colored light cyan, just like her medium-length wavy hair. Noticing how he had been staring at her for far too long to be polite, he blushed and averted his gaze from her eyes. Now he saw how she had been wearing a simple white dress, only embroidered on the chest area.

"At last, you are awake," she said. He noticed how her voice was gentle yet it carried a certain firmness that came from someone who were confident with herself.

"W-who are you? he replied.

"Me?" she answered, "My name is Alicia Thorton, crown princess of the Thorton Dynasty, current ruler of the Empire of Rem. Does that answer your question?"

He could only blink blankly in response to such an outrageous proclamation.

A princess? Here? Beside my bed waiting for me to wake up? T-this is just some kind of weird dream, isn't it?

All those thoughts were swirling inside his head.

"Now," She ignored the dumbfounded look on his face, "Since I have introduced myself, it is only fair for you to introduce yourself too, is it not?"

"A-ah, r-right! M-my name is Tom Harding! V-very pleased to meet you, princess!"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He bowed as deeply as he could, even though he could only bow his upper body, seeing how he was still on a bed after all.

"Very well then, Mr. Harding. I had a proposition for you. I watched you when you took your test back there on the podium, and I knew how you had failed it."

He flinched when he heard the word "failed". He had all forgotten about that.

"But I knew you had tried hard on studying magic before you came here. You used the [Blood to Magic] spell, an intermediate level spell not anyone who knew magic could cast. But you cast it anyway. Tell me, where and how did you learn to do it?"

He explained how he learned it from a book about magic he found at a library, and how it took him years just to master that one spell.

"Impressive," she smiled curiously, "You actually learned the spell by yourself, without any magic teacher guiding you. I was right to offer you this proposal."

"W-what proposal?" he responded.

"Why, the proposal to make you pass the test, of course."

"R-really, you can do that?" he answered. He would have grabbed her hands in joy if not for the fact that he was still bed-bound.

"Well, not exactly," she answered casually, deflating his newfound excitement. "You see, the entire academy already knew you failed the test. Making you pass would be disrespectful for the standards of this academy. And it would tarnish me and my country's reputation if I force you to pass. So..."

"So?" he repeated.

"So, I have told them that you are my servant, and you were to stay here on the academy to cater to my needs."

"...E-eeeeeeeehhhhh?"

"So, Mr. Harding, no... Tom," she said his first name as if she had known him her entire life, "do you find this arrangement comfortable? Sure, as a servant, you won't be able to study like the other students, but I myself will relay all that I learn to you personally."

"M-me? A-as your servant? B-but I am just some random man that you have never even met! Surely you don't trust me that much!" he protested.

"Oh, but I do," she retorted.

She rose from her seat. She walked closer to the boy and then reached for his arms. Grabbing the two, she then stared at his face as she stood uncomfortably close to him.

"W-what are you doing?" the boy stuttered. He could feel the his face reddening.

Unfortunately, against his wishes, the girl stayed that way for about a minute, which felt like years to him. And all those years, he was lost in that gorgeous pale eyes. Added with the intoxicating sweet smell coming from her, which he was not sure if it was her perfume or it was just that mythical thing called "a girl's scent", he could feel his heartbeat going like a raging buffalo.

"See? There's no reason to doubt a boy as pure and innocent as you!"

With a girlish giggle, she released the boy from her grasp before returning to her seat, crossing her legs when she sat.

"W-what do you mean?" he asked, his face still as red as a tomato.

"What I mean is, Tom, you are a simple boy," she replied, her giggle now turned into a smile, "I can tell you love magic so much you never bother with anything else, like having a girl to play with for example. That determination, I don't want it to go to waste. I myself love magic too. But I was born with a powerful mage bloodline, so I can indulge with my love of it as much as I wish. But you, you were born not with a proper bloodline. Even your love for magic cannot surpass that fact. And I am saddened by that fact. As a common lover of magic, I cannot let one with as much love for it as I am to go to waste. I don't wish for you to end up like the ordinary magicless masses, drudging every day as a farmer, a fisherman, a woodcutter, a merchant, or any other mundane occupations for the rest of your life. I myself cannot imagine how I would life if I had not been born with a potential for magic. And thus, I decided to help you, Tom, as a comrade of the arcane art."

The boy was speechless. He would never expect such a speech to come out from her mouth.

"R-really?" he said after gathering his thoughts. "Do you really think so?"

"Of course. Why would I lie to you, Tom?"

Silence permeated the room. It took a while for the boy to decide on what words he should use for his next line, but after great difficulty, he settled with the most magnificent sentence he could think of.

"T-then, I-I'll do it! I-I'll be your servant, princess!"

And with that, the issue was settled.

=================================================================

After a few more words, mostly with the boy thanking her for the opportunity she had given, the girl asked him whether he could already move or not. Since he already could, then the doctor would allow him to leave the infirmary (not a hospital like he had thought).

The two then left the complex, heading towards the dormitories. It was already dark outside, with only lamps and a single not-too-bright moon to shine the way. However, the girl walked forward confidently, as if she had already memorized the route by heart. The boy, not knowing anything about the academy's layout, could only trust and follow her from behind.

"W-wait a second..."

"Hmm, what's the matter, Tom?"

"W-why are we going to the female dormitories?" the boy asked. He had just saw the sign that marked with the name of the building complex ahead of them.

"Why, my room is there, of course. I'm a girl, remember?" she giggled.

"T-then, my room is-"

"With me, silly! You're my servant after all!"

"W-WHAAAAAAAAT?"

The boy instantly turned beet red after hearing her answer.

"N-no way, you can't-"

"Oh, but I can. I have faith in you, Tom," she answered casually as if making a boy and girl sleep in the same room is nothing, "I don't think you are the type of person who would assault a girl while she is sleeping."

"N-not just that, I-I mean, what about after you take a bath when you're only wearing a towel, a-and when you're changing your clothes when you're in your undergarments-"

"My, Tom, don't tell me you're imagining all that with me!" She put her right hand to cover her giggle while pulling her left hand to her back as she leaned forward cutely. "I suppose even an innocent boy like you still have his fantasies after all!"

"N-no! It's not like that!" the boy fervently denied it as his face went even redder and redder.

"Ahahaha, I'm just teasing you, Tom. Relax! I have no plans to walk around in front of you while wearing only a towel or to change my clothes while you're in the room! Of course I'm going to ask you to leave first!"

The boy gave a sigh of relief. He didn't want her to think of him as some kind of pervert.

"So then, now your question is answered, let's go in, shall we?" she chirped with a smile.

===================================================================

When they entered the building, it was deathly quiet. Only a slow mass of breaths coming from the sleeping students were heard along its dark corridors.

The girl confidently marched forward, the boy following behind. The two of them went to a room located on the highest floor of the building, in which they reached after climbing a couple of stairs, luckily without stumbling since the visibility was quite poor there. When they arrived, the girl pressed her hand to the door handle and chanted something, most likely to dispel the lock magic she had placed before on the door.

"Here we are! Now to turn on the light!"

She snapped her fingers, lighting the chandelier above, filling the room with a bright light.

"It's a simple light magic! Ran off my mana directly so I could make it as bright as I want!" she explained.

The boy also knew about the magic. He could cast it but he could only keep it on for a short time and the light was nowhere near as bright as hers.

Our level of magic really is different, he thought to himself.

The girl took a seat on the bed at the middle of the room, before stretching her arms while yawning.

"Ooh, I'm tired. Tom, I think I'm just going to sleep right away."

She fell down to the bed, not caring of the boy's confused look.

"H-hey, what about me? Where should I sleep?" he asked.

The girl yawned once again, moving her arms upwards to support her head.

"Oh, about that, well, I already asked Miss Pross for an extra bed for you but she couldn't provide it tonight. So, I suppose you'll have to sleep on the floor tonight. Unless, of course, you wish to sleep with me in this bed. Mind you, I have a tendency to hug things while I sleep, which is why I have this body pillow right here." She grabbed said object that was lying beside her. "So I won't be responsible if in the morning, you wake up with me pressing up my body to yours," she said with a mischievous smile.

"G-got it! I-I'll just sleep on the floor then!" he responded immediately as his face turned red once again.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me..." With a wave of her hand, she turned off the bright light shining on the room. "I'm heading off to dreamland."

And with that, the conversation was over as she turned her body away from him before falling asleep right away.

As for the boy, he didn't have the same smooth experience. It wasn't because of the hardness of the floor, since it was covered with quite a soft carpet, it was because he was still nervous that he was going to sleep in a girl's room, even with the girl herself being nowhere near him. But, after some time, the fatigue took him over too and he soon drifted into dreamland as well.