Finally came the day of the departure, the start of the academic semester. Kedra's bags had all been preemptively packed by Maria, and the necessary preparations were all made thanks to Mona and Lucie.
As the three walked from the servant quarters to their master's room to fetch her, Kedra was already standing outside of her door, dressed in the academy's uniform.
"Oh, my lady, you look absolutely magnificent in that. And you prepared so early too; you must be excited to go." Maria squealed.
"I couldn't care less; I just can't wait to get out of this damned mansion." Kedra replied.
"Now hurry up all of you; let's join Lionel and Naoya at the entrance; they must already be waiting with the carriages." She added.
"Yes, my lady." The three said in unison.
As the group walked down the hall, Maria approached Kedra, leaning down and quietly speaking into her ear.
"By the way, my lady, it seems that a maid noticed your previous sword training; the servant quarters were positively brimming with gossip about your talent."
"Huh? Wha—Seriously?!" Kedra exclaimed.
"Argh, whatever. It should be fine since we're leaving today; let's just hope that no other problems show up."
"Well, about that..." Lucie began to remark.
"What is it?" Kedra asked, holding her face in exasperation.
"Now that you've revealed another one of your talents, it seems that the majority of the maids want to serve under you directly." Lucie explained.
"And where's the problem there?"
Before she even opened her mouth, Lucie spotted a maid approaching Kedra from behind and opted to forego an answer, simply pointing to the servant.
As Kedra turned to meet the maid's gaze, she could not get a word in before the maid suddenly fell onto her knees in prostration.
"Lady Kedra, please take me with you!" She pleaded.
"I assure you I will be of the utmost use to you at the academy!"
"I, uh, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I'm fine with my current arrangement of servants." Kedra replied, slowly stepping to the maid's side.
"I must insist, lady Kedra, please reconsider!"
Kedra looked back towards her three servants, pointing forward and mouthing.
"Let's go."
Without another word, the four of them sped their steps and headed for the main entrance.
Along the way, they were interrupted by several maids, each as desperate as the other to enter Kedra's service.
'God, what's gotten into all of them suddenly?!'
Reaching the main hall, they noticed that a small gathering of servants eager to see the young lady off had formed.
As they made their way through the crowd and out of the front door, they saw a multitude of carriages and mounted soldiers, as well as Lionel and Naoya.
Kedra's enthusiasm to leave meant that she was the first of her family to arrive, though she soon spotted Rae descending the stairs behind her.
'As much as I want to go and say hi to him, if he's here, that means that those asshole siblings aren't far either; I should hurry to my carriage.'
Walking up to the soldiers, Kedra walked over to Lionel and Naoya.
"Lionel, which of the carriages is ours?" She asked.
"That would be the one furthest in front, my lady." Lionel replied.
"Alright, lead the way."
Soon after, the two soldiers led them to a well-decorated carriage bearing the Deslandes family's crest; behind it was a small horse-drawn cart that a handful of servants had already loaded with Kedra's belongings.
The three maids quickly placed Kedra's luggage into the cart and helped her into the carriage, following her in soon after.
Fifteen minutes passed before the captain of the guard announced the caravan's departure.
Soon after, Kedra felt the carriage lightly jolt with the trot of the horses that pulled it, followed by the light shaking of the wheels on the uneven stone road.
With that, her journey to the capital began.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
After an hour-long trip, the tall buildings of the capital began to appear over the horizon; even further past them, the imposing battlements of the royal castle stood as a reminder of his power.
'Hmm, the buildings here are reminiscent of architecture during the Renaissance. How interesting.'
"Mona, how much time do we have before the entrance ceremony?" Kedra inquired.
"Since we departed earlier than planned, we should have about two hours before the ceremony begins, my lady."
"That's good, alright, all of you stay on the carriage and unload the luggage; I think I might explore the capital a bit before heading for the academy."
"My lady, you aren't going by yourself, are you?" Maria asked.
"Of course not; don't worry. I'll take Naoya with me."
"Well, in that case, I suppose it's alright."
"Glad to hear that. Anyways, stop the carriage!" Kedra ordered.
The coachman quickly stopped the horses and turned around, only to see Kedra hopping out of the carriage, sheathed sabre in hand.
"Is everything alright, my lady?" He asked.
"Everything's fine; I'm just going to familiarize myself with the capital before the ceremony; I'll be living here for a long time after all."
"Understood, do be careful."
"Oh, and Naoya, you're coming with me." She said, looking to the young soldier who had stopped his horse along with the carriage.
"Very well, my lady!" Naoya quickly replied.
As Naoya dismounted his steed, Lionel quickly grabbed his reigns and began leading the horse as the carriage resumed its course.
The two simply watched as the carriage moved further and further away before it made a turn and completely disappeared from their sight.
"So, uh, what's spurred this on Lady Kedra?" Naoya asked.
"I wanted to look around the capital a bit; it's better if I get my bearings sooner rather than later."
"I see."
They began making their way through the many alleyways of the capital before reaching a large central street that ended in a grand plaza filled to the brim with market stalls and foreign merchants.
The scene made Kedra's eyes light up with excitement and curiosity; she quickly grabbed Naoya by the arm and began leading him towards the market, but before she could properly enter the plaza, an eerie feeling crept up her spine.
She suddenly stopped in her tracks, looking around in an attempt to find the source of the chill, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Naoya, on the other hand, was intently staring at a nearby alleyway, his pupils fully dilated.
"Is there something in that alleyway, Naoya?"
"Mana is gathering in that alley, and I could swear I smelt blood."
With a hand on her sabre, Kedra stepped closer to the opening.
"Where are you going, my lady? This has nothing to do with us." Naoya quickly asked.
"I can't just ignore this."
Naoya quickly weighed his options but gave up on trying to dissuade Kedra, opting to follow closely behind her to assure her safety.
As she entered the alleyway and turned a corner. Further in, Kedra saw an injured woman cradling a young boy.
The two of them had been backed into a corner by a tall, bulky man wearing a facemask. The man had a rusty shortsword in his right hand that he was using to threaten the woman while rummaging through her pockets with his left.
The child was very clearly resisting, yet the woman did her best to hold him still so as to not provoke their assailant.
"Fucking scumbag." Kedra said under her breath.
"My lady, if you order me to, I would gladly handle that ruffian for—" Before Naoya could finish his sentence, Kedra had already rushed forward and drawn her sabre, aiming a swing for the man's Achilles tendon.
Before her blade could connect, the man recognized a glimmer of surprise in his victim's eyes, which led him to turn around and narrowly block the attack.
"What the hell?!"