"You jest, Lady Adel, I have never once in my life looked down on my daughter." My mother's eyes were scary. I have no idea why it seemed like she was having some kind of battle with Adel.
"I do apologize if my words came out wrong. When I grow up and have a daughter of my own, I hope to have one as cute as Lady Faith." Adel's words made me blush and a little happy. I mean, being called cute by an outsider, even if it held no meaning, still made me feel good. I mean, at least I thought I looked cute.
"Sorry, I'm late." My father's voice cut the tension in the air. He walked in, covered in sweat and dirt. He had been out in the fields. I turned to look at him, and for some reason, he had the same shocked expression on his face for a split second that quickly disappeared.
"Sir Sander, my name is Adel, and I am here on the king's order." I watched as Adel rose from her seat and gave a curtsy. A real live curtsy! That was enough to tell me that Adel was definitely at least a noble but…. I wonder why she didn't give my mother a curtsy…. This puzzled me. Did she fall for my father? But she is only eleven at most!
As I scratched my head over my own stupid thoughts, the conversation in front of me continued: "Lady Adel. It is a pleasure. Please do not stand on ceremony. The Cyrilia family does not like all that fancy etiquette stuff."
My father walked over, sat next to me, and leaned forward while folding his hands in front of him. "So what is the word from His Majesty?"
"The King has said that he wants your daughter Lady Faith to join the royal magic academy during the next enrollment as a special student. She will get all the same treatments as a high ranking noble and will have a full allowance as well that is provided by the royal family. The king is very grateful that Lady Faith was willing to put her life on the line at such a young age and that such a genius has actually appeared in our kingdom. He wishes to help her grow at any expense.
"He has also decided that he would like to meet Lady Faith as well. But he said he will wait until after she has joined the academy and has gotten used to her life in the capital. He worries he would make Lady Faith too anxious. He said he would award her the rank of knight, but laws for titles and ranks are only given when enough achievements are earned, and they have finished their training at the magic academy." I was trying my best to hide my enthusiasm. I mean, I just heard the magic words, royal magic academy! I was ready to jump for joy! This was what I was aiming for!
Going to the royal magic academy was my main goal. Being able to learn the things I can not here in the village was a huge step closer to maybe completing not only my fusion magic but also a step closer to gaining the status needed to begin my path to becoming a commander.
"I see… Hmmmm…." My father leaned back and closed his eyes. I looked at him, then at Adel, whose eyes seemed to be nervous? Why would she be nervous if this was something the king himself was giving out. The air was tense for almost five minutes until my father opened his eyes and leaned forward once again. "Lady Adel, I hope there will be no mishaps. If something happens to my daughter…."
"Sir Sander, the king has already stated that Lady Faith is to be treated well. You have the royal family's word that if anything happens, Lady Faith will have the royal family's backing." Adel quickly interrupted my father. I watched a smile appear on his lips. It seemed this was the promise he was looking for.
"Then I will leave my daughter in your care. When will she leave?" My father asked.
"She is to make her way to the capital before the next entrance exam in six months. While she is automatically part of the academy as a special student, she still needs to take the exam so we can see where to place her. No matter what her scores are, she will be allowed to join. But I think with her abilities, Lady Faith will definitely be put into a top class." Adel answered, which confused me.
"There is a test to join the academy?" I was starting to get nervous. I have read every book in the house but would it be enough to pass the exam!?
"Yes, while there are some academic courses, it is mainly based on the strengths you showed on the battlefield. The royal magic academy is there for talented individuals who want to better themselves and get a head start above the rest." Adel explained, but to me, this explanation did not make sense.
"If the academy is for those who want to better themselves, then why does it cost so much to enter? I mean, let's say I never once stepped foot on the battlefield, and my talents went unnoticed by the king, and I never got this chance to join the academy for free, but instead, I ventured to the capital and wanted to join the academy to put my skills to the test. Then what? I would not be allowed to even take the test because of its absurd high entrance fees. Would you not lose out on many 'Talented' individuals?" I did have a bit of sarcasm at the end, but it really irked me when one person is talking about talent when they might be missing many talented people, but those people could not even enter the academy due to their high fees. There was no secondary academy that others could join. It seemed a bit unfair to those with real talent and no money. "If you ask me, the so called talent is only those who can pad the pockets of those who run the academy. Does passing the test even have real meaning? Does the king not realize his words seem hypocritical?"
"You! Careful with your words!" The young knight yelled out. But I only sneered at him.
"Did I say anything wrong? Are you going to cut me down for speaking the truth?" I stared at the young knight. I wanted to see what the snickering young man from early would really do in such a situation. To be honest, coming from Earth, while there were certainly schools that did just as the royal magic academy did, there were still other options.
"It's fine!" Adel yelled out. As she looked at the young knight, her eyebrow raised. "What Lady Faith has said is actually true. And to be honest, she has said what I have always been meaning to say. It's just hard to do when so many nobles would be against it."
"You can keep the nobles happy by having lower institutions that are made for commoners with little to no money. You allow the commoners to go to these lower institutions, and when you find said talented individuals, you could then offer them a scholarship just like you are with me. You can even make it so to lower cost and be able to accommodate more areas of the kingdom with more lower institutes to cover the millions that may want to join by having them do work before and after the classes. This will reduce costs by a lot, even for those who can not pay to go. You can also give extra benefits to those who can afford to pay." This was an idea I just came up with, basically mixing public schools back on earth with a private school you would pay for.
The kids who had little to no money would be able to secure a means of training and could better themselves while doing a little work within these new academies. Even if the teachers were of a lower standard, it would be enough to educate those who wished to learn and would still benefit the kingdom in many ways. The smarter the populace was, the more innovation would come to the kingdom.
"This…." The young guard seemed speechless by my words. My guess is that such a thing was never thought of. But that is only because nobles had the loudest voices.
"It is pure genius!" Adel stood up and walked over to me, grabbing my hands. holding them in hers. her actions caught me by surprise. "Such a thing has never been thought of before and could actually allow us to truly bring huge benefits to the kingdom."
"It was just a thought…. I mean, by doing this, you could find those hidden talents that are lost in the wind due to not having the status or money." It was the only way I could think of that would allow future genius to rise. What kingdom would not want to gather as many great minds as they could?
"I will bring it up with the king as soon as I get back! Lady Faith, your words of wisdom have once again helped the Gravos Kingdom." Adel suddenly curtsy to me. I quickly helped her up in a fluster.
"Please don't do that. I am not used to such respect, plus I already said to call me Faith. Leave the lady out of it. To be honest, if I tried to curtsy like that, I would probably lose my balance and fall." I waved my hands back and forth. I do not think I can get used to this kind of treatment….
"Hehe…. You are truly cute, Faith." Adel said with a smile.