Two students were waiting on the hallway in front of the classroom in use by one of the classes of the second years.
"You should smile a little more, Mag. Other students will get scared of you if you keep that scowl."
A very short girl with sharp sapphire eyes moved a strand of her long blue hair back in its place while straining her neck to attempt to meet the gaze of a towering man by her side.
"I should have entered this place as a teacher, Bjorki. What kind of punishment is this supposed to be to actually enter the Academy at twenty-two when the cutoff line was supposed to be at twenty-one?"
The dark-blue-haired man let out a bitter sigh, and no one passing by him would doubt that the glare of his naturally sharp gray eyes could cut through stone.
"There were no vacancies for teachers, duh. Besides, the age limit is only for the first year, and we are enrolling as second years. Don't play a fool. You want to get to know the girl Hugin told us about."
The short girl nudged the large man in the waist with her elbow since she couldn't reach any higher and sneered at him.
"Besides. Mom was complaining that you weren't even attempting to keep your promise to her. You know, the one where you promised her that you would attend the Academy like a normal aristocrat. If anything, she was so happy when I told her I'll be keeping an eye on you here~!"
"You say that as if you're some sort of saint, but you're using the chance to skip a grade. Just admit it, kid. You hate the idea of being stuck in some low-level place."
Bjorki declared proudly, but that only earned her a scoff from her brother.
"Wh-who're you calling a kid?! I've been a legal adult since spring! I even had a glass of wine with Grandfather after dinner three months ago!"
"Thank you for proving my point."
The girl growled, getting all hissy at the tall man who merely looked away, shaking his head.
"You…! Pfnfn…!?"
"Shh."
Bjorki fully intended to start a fight, but the next moment, her older brother blocked not only her mouth but grabbed her whole face as he shushed her.
"...luckily for us, since Richard and Leona married during the spring break and decided to graduate early, our class had the honor of being chosen for the two royal family members to enroll in!"
The homeroom teacher of the class in front of which the pair of siblings stood was approaching the door while talking about them, undoubtedly with the intention of finally letting them in.
"Mpfff-gfnnn!"
"Oh, sorry."
Bjorki flinched and began to mumble furiously, grabbing onto her brother's wrist and futilely trying to shake off his hand, which, thankfully for her, did make him realize that entering like this would be very embarrassing for his little sister.
"Pu-huaah…! Wh-what were you even thinking!? I hate you so much!"
Once released, teary-eyed Bjorki, with a red imprint of a large hand on her face, growled, clenched her fists, and turned around, not intending to talk to her brother for at least a week.
Then the door opened, and the teacher invited them in.
"..."
Bjorki was extremely grumpy, to the point that her brother began to feel bad for potentially messing up her introduction…
"...!"
But then he was surprised to observe the complete change in his younger sister as she relaxed her shoulders and straightened her back, her eyes widening in awe.
Within a second, Bjorki looked just like any other excited fifteen-year-old.
"..."
As he followed her gaze, he saw the same person his younger sister must have been looking at.
A gold-haired and golden-eyed petite girl, sitting in the back of the classroom, observing them both with an intrigued look in her naturally sharp eyes.
The similarity was… almost uncanny… and the idea about why that particular girl was so interesting, in Hugin's opinion, did appear in the dark-blue-haired man's mind almost immediately.
Although that all could be a simple coincidence since there was no actual evidence…
…yet…
"M-my name is Bjorki Em'raldio! Fifteen years old! Level 7! My ability is Soul Taming! Depending on the strength of a defeated monster, I can summon its spectral version using my ability-exclusive skills to fight by my side for up to an hour! My dream is to learn how to be a good wife! I will be in your care!"
Bjorki gasped in exasperation, almost jumping each time she shared a new fact about herself.
Since it was the first time the youngest child of the current Empress publicly announced her ability, the classroom was shaken by excited students' cheer.
The dark-blue-haired man couldn't help but to observe the gold-haired girl and was quite surprised seeing her furrowing her brows while glancing to the side as if wondering about something, and not paying attention to the youngest princess of the Empire.
"...Magnus Em'raldio. Twenty-two years old. Level 27. My ability is Picky Glutton. If I eat a part of a defeated monster, there is a small chance that I will acquire a fraction of its stats."
"...!"
Magnus stepped up to introduce himself after his younger sister, raising his hand and waving in a hopefully friendly manner, but that ended up exposing a shackle-like bracelet around his shoulder.
"Oh… yeah. This is an EXP Shackle. When I was nine, my grandfather, the Emperor of Emperors, challenged me to wear it since my progress seemed to smooth in his opinion, and I wasn't challenging myself enough. Since it might be the first time any of you are seeing that, it is not a…"
He explained, pulling on his sleeve to show off the bracelet, but then stopped himself as he noticed the very same accessory around the wrist of the gold-haired girl looking at him with great interest.
"Please excuse my assumption. It appears that you already know about it."
Magnus lowered his head and apologized.
"What else…?"
He muttered to himself, considering whether his introduction should include the same points his younger sister blabbed about so eagerly.
"I want to understand everyone better so that one day I will become the best Emperor I could be. Let's work together."
In the end, Magnus picked the safest and most generic answer someone of his status could say and nodded.
"!!!"
But even that still earned him a standing ovation…
"..."
…that was so obviously fake that he could barely stop a grimace of annoyance from appearing on his face.
Everyone clapping was filled with ulterior motives and their own interest to the brim.
Even the gold-haired girl. Although after many encounters with aristocracy, both native and foreign, Magnus could tell that her motive for going along with the ovation was simply matching the energy of the surroundings.
It was the correct choice for someone who didn't want to stand out.
Since it was the homeroom lesson, what proceeded was everyone else eagerly introducing themselves to the pair of siblings.
Magnus did memorize their names, although there was only one person he was actually interested in.
The gold-haired girl, of course. However, for some reason, it almost seemed that the other students flooding toward him and his younger sister were intentionally taking as long as possible as if in an attempt to make the gold-haired girl complain out loud…
But she waited them all out with a pleasant smile that was slightly mocking - although that part might have something to do with her naturally sharp eyes and nothing with her actual feelings - and finally stood up from her seat.
"Your Majesties. This one name is Melinda Fenrioette. Seventeen years old. The exchange student from Diamondium Kingdom and the fiance of the crown prince Ester Diamonds. Level 49. No ability. This one dreams about a happy life with her beloved. Let's get along."
Despite wearing pants instead of a skirt, the gold-haired girl curtsied splendidly as she introduced herself in an official manner before returning to her seat.
From what she said, Magnus could figure out a few interesting things that were worth confirming.
But then it turned out that it wasn't the end of the introduction as Melinda nodded encouragingly at the actual final student.
A timid black-haired girl with meek green eyes whose movements were a bit too awkward to mistake her for a noble.
"M-m-my name i-is C-Ca-Catherine. N-nineteen y-years o-o-old. L-l-level… 46. A-ability…"
"Wait, what?! Miss Catherine! Didn't you say before that you were level 30?! It hasn't been even half a year since then!"
The timid girl was doing her best to while stuttering but got interrupted by another girl whose tone of voice suggested that she was accusing her about lying…
"B-back th-then I was l-level 39 already, th-though… Y-you didn't l-let me f-finish back th-then either. Y-your misund-misunderstanding isn't m-my p-pro-problem."
"...!"
Despite the assumption someone could have made about Catherine because of her speech and the aura of timidness, the black-haired girl shot back with a glare, shocking the other girl into silence.
"A-a-apologies for th-that, Your M-majesties."
"It's nothing worth apologizing! Please, continue."
Catherine bowed her head, but Bjorki reassured her hurriedly, ending up taking the words out of Mangus's mouth before he could say them.
"Th-thank you. M-my ability i-i-is B-bookmark. It's a c-common version o-of the P-perfect Memory ability. I c-can choose a piece of i-information and n-never forget it. A-although th-there is a limit o-on h-how many things I can m-me-memorize."
The timid girl bowed her head gratefully before continuing the introduction.
"A-as for my d-dream… I w-wanted to take o-over the position of a vice leader in the a-adventurers' guild r-run by my f-father, b-but recently it… n-nevermind…"
Catherine finished what she wanted to say, even though a bit awkwardly, and sat back down in her seat, lowering her head and blushing.
"AH!"
"!?!?"
But then, all of a sudden she stood back up with a panicked call, making everyone else flinch - including the teacher, Magnus, Bjorki, and Melinda, tensing up as if expecting an attack only Catherine noticed.
"I-I also have a t-tamed P-pigkin Orc… Ross. H-he is reliable and tr-tru-trustworthy but p-people still t-try to p-pick a fight with him s-so he wears a h-hooded cape wi-with perception in-interruption spell! P-please don't e-eat him…!"
"Oh, come on!"
The timid girl added hurriedly with a flushed face, causing most of her classmates to let out cries of disbelief.
"That Ross passed the guildmaster's test, didn't he? There's no need to be so worried, Cath."
The gold-haired girl spoke over the commotion, addressing the timid girl directly and smiling at her reassuringly.