Every night I stared at the dressing table.
I tried to decipher the magic language that faintly appeared when I touched it and gave up. A lot of the signs weren’t listed in the books I read.
Some days passed since the day Gray talked with me in the mirror. Since then he didn’t contact me a second time.
Having a secret you can’t tell anyone is awfully difficult.
On the other hand, the secret that I am actually Ariel Augustine was trifling to me. Recently I got better in acting as “Ace Riot” in front of teacher Cart and the martial arts teacher, if I keep it up like this I won’t have any trouble acting like that in the Academy as well.
But I was uncomfortable with that mirror.
Of course, I didn’t intend to tell anyone about it. I wouldn’t hesitate to take any risk in order to protect my relatives after all.
The problem would be the counselling. I am to receive counselling at least twice a month. As of now, I was able to barely deceive them.
Luckily he never tried to recover my memory forcefully. He never tried to view my memories with magic before.
However, the intellectual sharpness he showed was scary.
I believed that if I wasn’t even able to deceive Howard then the Judicial Station would find out about this sooner or later.
“An iron mask”
I muttered while watching the mirror.
“Even I should be able to do it”
I persuaded myself every night.
Anyway, I used every free second before the entrance ceremony to study.
Meanwhile, Cart declared that his work is done.
The martial arts teacher should give his okay soon, too.
“There will be an interview and the measuring for your school uniform soon”
Mother said so while we were having a meal on a certain morning.
On the table were small omelettes, minestrone, pumpkin butter toast and orange juice. A healthy breakfast.
I stopped my hand before the meal and stared at mother.
“What’s that interview about?”
“Some academy officials will ask you some simple questions.”
Mother smiled thinly as she watched me closely.
“They normally ask questions like “What did you study before?” Perhaps they will ask about your connection with the Augustine family.”
“Then I shall explain it well”
I smiled. Recently I tried to speak with honorifics even inside the house as Cart told me. Father who also sat at the table kept silent. He only looked at me anxiously, though.
“Please do so. Confirm the time with the Academy.”
When mother said so, she clapped and called a servant.
The interview was carried out in one of the rooms in Wexford Academy.
They were probably private rooms used for counselling students. I knocked on the door of my appointed room when I saw a boy probably in the same situation as me entering the room next door.
“Ace Riot. Have a seat.”
When I opened the door an elderly man stood up from his chair and smiled at me.
There were countless office desks and chairs around. Though there were many bookshelves they weren’t filled with a lot of books.
There were some envelopes on the desk and on one of them one could read “Ace Riot” and an address.
“Excuse me”
I lowered my head politely and sat down on the chair as instructed.
He also sat down on his chair and took out some documents from the envelope, reading its contents silently.
“Please relax”
He soon raised his head again and looked at me with discerning eyes.
“You seemed to have some connections to the Augustine family.”
“Yes”
“May I ask if you are engaged to the Augustine house’s daughter? There was no prior talk about you entering our Academy.”
“That is correct.”
“May I ask you about why those changes occurred?”
“Yes”
My smile sure has been perfect.
The arrangements I met regarding this together with Father were perfect.
“I am a distant relative of the Augustines. After the talk about the engagement happened it was an inevitability for me to receive proper education as the bridegroom of someone of the Augustine family. After various discussions, the result was that this Academy was the most suitable for that cause.”
“We are honored”
His lips melted proudly. However, his eyes looked like he still had a question.
“However, why would their daughter attend a different school?”
“Because we are still in the positions of fiancés. Going to school together is a little……”
“I see”
Though he nodded, he seemed still a little dissatisfied, so I added something.
“The wife of the Augustine family’s head is a stern person. We shouldn’t have more contact with each other than necessary before the marriage. I was told that modesty was an important virtue for women.”
“Aah”
Finally, he nodded in a way that showed he understood.
“Indeed, that is a splendid idea. Unfortunately, the number of students who think that way have decreased in this school. There are a lot of people here lacking dignity.”
He sighed after he talked in a sad but proud voice about this.
Then he turned to me smiling.
“However, you hope to join the magic department? Why do you want to join the magic department instead of the general one? Even though there is no need for you to work as a magician after you graduate from this Academy?”
“Yes, I didn’t think that far.”
I answered without breaking my smile.
“I only heard that the magic department’s examination’s degree of difficulty is supposed to be high. Studying is a type of hobby for me, you see?”
A splendid lie!
There can never be a human who would like to study!
I was defiant as well!
“Now that I am able to study I want to do my best.”
“Splendid”
He seemed to be a little surprised, but he immediately nodded many times.
“This interview will serve as reference for the class distribution, you see?”
Class distribution?
I was upset inwardly.
Would I be able to keep up if he put me into a class for super intelligent students?!
No, I had to, no matter what!
Rather isn’t that a good thing for opposing that Gray?!
With every remark I gave, I felt like I was digging my own grave splendidly.
“Ah, but”
I continued to move my mouth.
“I would like to learn swordsmanship as well. Other than studying I would like to do this as well after all.”
“I see, I see.”
He was cheerful. I somehow felt like I did more than necessary. Will it be alright?
“We will take it into consideration. I look forward to your entrance in our Academy”
“……Yes”
――I became anxious.
The boy from the room next door finally came out, too, and I greeted him in the corridor.
As I put my hand on the wall because I was dead tired, he watched me and smiled.
“Good work surviving the interview.”
He had friendly features.
He was a redhead with brown eyes and freckles slightly scattered on his nose.
“Thank you”
I return his smile somehow, too. Then he faced me and held out his hand.
“I’m Simon William”
“Ah, I’m Ace Riot.”
I straightened my back and took his hand for a handshake.
“Next is the measuring for the uniforms. How about we go together?”
He kept using a casual tone. After I worried for a moment I nodded.
Every night I stared at the dressing table.
I tried to decipher the magic language that faintly appeared when I touched it and gave up. A lot of the signs weren’t listed in the books I read.
Some days passed since the day Gray talked with me in the mirror. Since then he didn’t contact me a second time.
Having a secret you can’t tell anyone is awfully difficult.
On the other hand, the secret that I am actually Ariel Augustine was trifling to me. Recently I got better in acting as “Ace Riot” in front of teacher Cart and the martial arts teacher, if I keep it up like this I won’t have any trouble acting like that in the Academy as well.
But I was uncomfortable with that mirror.
Of course, I didn’t intend to tell anyone about it. I wouldn’t hesitate to take any risk in order to protect my relatives after all.
The problem would be the counselling. I am to receive counselling at least twice a month. As of now, I was able to barely deceive them.
Luckily he never tried to recover my memory forcefully. He never tried to view my memories with magic before.
However, the intellectual sharpness he showed was scary.
I believed that if I wasn’t even able to deceive Howard then the Judicial Station would find out about this sooner or later.
“An iron mask”
I muttered while watching the mirror.
“Even I should be able to do it”
I persuaded myself every night.
Anyway, I used every free second before the entrance ceremony to study.
Meanwhile, Cart declared that his work is done.
The martial arts teacher should give his okay soon, too.
“There will be an interview and the measuring for your school uniform soon”
Mother said so while we were having a meal on a certain morning.
On the table were small omelettes, minestrone, pumpkin butter toast and orange juice. A healthy breakfast.
I stopped my hand before the meal and stared at mother.
“What’s that interview about?”
“Some academy officials will ask you some simple questions.”
Mother smiled thinly as she watched me closely.
“They normally ask questions like “What did you study before?” Perhaps they will ask about your connection with the Augustine family.”
“Then I shall explain it well”
I smiled. Recently I tried to speak with honorifics even inside the house as Cart told me. Father who also sat at the table kept silent. He only looked at me anxiously, though.
“Please do so. Confirm the time with the Academy.”
When mother said so, she clapped and called a servant.
The interview was carried out in one of the rooms in Wexford Academy.
They were probably private rooms used for counselling students. I knocked on the door of my appointed room when I saw a boy probably in the same situation as me entering the room next door.
“Ace Riot. Have a seat.”
When I opened the door an elderly man stood up from his chair and smiled at me.
There were countless office desks and chairs around. Though there were many bookshelves they weren’t filled with a lot of books.
There were some envelopes on the desk and on one of them one could read “Ace Riot” and an address.
“Excuse me”
I lowered my head politely and sat down on the chair as instructed.
He also sat down on his chair and took out some documents from the envelope, reading its contents silently.
“Please relax”
He soon raised his head again and looked at me with discerning eyes.
“You seemed to have some connections to the Augustine family.”
“Yes”
“May I ask if you are engaged to the Augustine house’s daughter? There was no prior talk about you entering our Academy.”
“That is correct.”
“May I ask you about why those changes occurred?”
“Yes”
My smile sure has been perfect.
The arrangements I met regarding this together with Father were perfect.
“I am a distant relative of the Augustines. After the talk about the engagement happened it was an inevitability for me to receive proper education as the bridegroom of someone of the Augustine family. After various discussions, the result was that this Academy was the most suitable for that cause.”
“We are honored”
His lips melted proudly. However, his eyes looked like he still had a question.
“However, why would their daughter attend a different school?”
“Because we are still in the positions of fiancés. Going to school together is a little……”
“I see”
Though he nodded, he seemed still a little dissatisfied, so I added something.
“The wife of the Augustine family’s head is a stern person. We shouldn’t have more contact with each other than necessary before the marriage. I was told that modesty was an important virtue for women.”
“Aah”
Finally, he nodded in a way that showed he understood.
“Indeed, that is a splendid idea. Unfortunately, the number of students who think that way have decreased in this school. There are a lot of people here lacking dignity.”
He sighed after he talked in a sad but proud voice about this.
Then he turned to me smiling.
“However, you hope to join the magic department? Why do you want to join the magic department instead of the general one? Even though there is no need for you to work as a magician after you graduate from this Academy?”
“Yes, I didn’t think that far.”
I answered without breaking my smile.
“I only heard that the magic department’s examination’s degree of difficulty is supposed to be high. Studying is a type of hobby for me, you see?”
A splendid lie!
There can never be a human who would like to study!
I was defiant as well!
“Now that I am able to study I want to do my best.”
“Splendid”
He seemed to be a little surprised, but he immediately nodded many times.
“This interview will serve as reference for the class distribution, you see?”
Class distribution?
I was upset inwardly.
Would I be able to keep up if he put me into a class for super intelligent students?!
No, I had to, no matter what!
Rather isn’t that a good thing for opposing that Gray?!
With every remark I gave, I felt like I was digging my own grave splendidly.
“Ah, but”
I continued to move my mouth.
“I would like to learn swordsmanship as well. Other than studying I would like to do this as well after all.”
“I see, I see.”
He was cheerful. I somehow felt like I did more than necessary. Will it be alright?
“We will take it into consideration. I look forward to your entrance in our Academy”
“……Yes”
――I became anxious.
The boy from the room next door finally came out, too, and I greeted him in the corridor.
As I put my hand on the wall because I was dead tired, he watched me and smiled.
“Good work surviving the interview.”
He had friendly features.
He was a redhead with brown eyes and freckles slightly scattered on his nose.
“Thank you”
I return his smile somehow, too. Then he faced me and held out his hand.
“I’m Simon William”
“Ah, I’m Ace Riot.”
I straightened my back and took his hand for a handshake.
“Next is the measuring for the uniforms. How about we go together?”
He kept using a casual tone. After I worried for a moment I nodded.
