It was a sunny morning in the Feuerlon household when Faustina received a letter addressed to her. It was from the king, with the fire hawk emblem embedded within it. Along with the letter came Orwell Lotheringwood, along with a knight with a paper-white hair and eyes that were to color of bright red.
The vice-captain of the High Knights,
Abe.
She reads the letter in her mind:
My Fair Lady,
Are you accustomed to the Feuerlon household yet? I hope you are. I will not be in contact with you for a while, given that it has been too long for me to stay in my body as I am; I can feel the first king's soul lingering and simply waiting. I predict that he will be in longer possession of this body sooner or later, and that brought me upon writing you this letter—thus, this.
As you have probably heard, Magierstadt's last entrance exam date is in a few weeks' time. I presume that the lady is ready? The exams will only be testing the cognitive and the magical ability of a person via a test. The cognitive test will determine your ability to read and write Mystisch, and the basics of Antiquorum; whilst the strength test will be done via conjuring a simple spell that will be taught to you by the instructors, worry not.
The mana leaking from your body will perhaps move you to Ianua II or, if by chance, by Ianua I.
Orwell Lotheringwood will prepare you a spell as you board on the ship to Feuer Capital, and I hope you shall reach the Central Harbor safely. Abe, the vice captain of the Knights of the Firehawk, is going to escort you until you reach Magierstadt. He also will be your personal bodyguard.
For now, there is only what I want to say to my fair lady,
study well, and be safe.
Closing the letter, Faustina turned to her side as Orwell snapped his finger. The letter slowly sparked and became aflamed, much to Faustina's surprise. The fire on the other hand, did not feel hot at all. Faustina stared as the letter disappeared from her finger in a dispersing motion, like that of leaves corroding into simple specks of dust.
"That is a friendly fire." Faustina answers, "amica ignis, isn't it?"
Orwell smiled, "correct."
Faustina smiled back, and then as if on cue, her smile froze. The curve on her lips retracted and slowly faded away. She turned her head back to her desk, staring back to the ashen letter.
"What's wrong?" Orwell asks.
"Nothing..." Faustina answers. "It's just... I... I just feel odd."
"Why?"
"I'm really going to Magierstadt..." She exclaims silently. "Orwell, you probably know who I am, or rather—what I am, right?"
"The fact that you are a Heilen?" Orwell asks, a bit confused. "That was obvious from the start."
"So why didn't you ask me if I was one?" Faustina asks, a bit frazzled.
"Because I decided not to." Orwell says simply. "Faustina, not all things are supposed to be asked. Let's say I did not because I respected the young king, and I did not want you to be conscious of your race. I was asked to teach, Faustina; not to be a prying prick."
Faustina chuckled. "I see..." as her brown eyes gazed upon the ashes slowly disappearing.
"I will be going in a few days' time, huh..." Faustina says. "By the way, where is the High Knight 'Abe'?"
"Oh, him?" Orwell smiled. "He will be on board with us. Right now, it's just me."
"Hmm..." Faustina nodded slightly, "Orwell, what spell will I use?"
"Presently, you are compatible with the elements, but I can see you are most compatible to fire," Orwell retorts. "But well, you will explore that more in the academy. For many years, Magierstadt set a custom spell for students to safely execute. The spell will be taught to you in the Academy... I probably can't teach it to you since they use different custom spells ranging from five or ten varying incantations in rotation yearly, so it's probably going to be not useful."
"Oh..."
"But well, I am Orwell Lotheringwood!" Orwell beams, showing his teeth. "I can teach you about three or more, well I already taught you simple four spells in our lessons, but now I'm going to teach you the custom spells of Magierstadt."
Faustina smiled. "Thank you, Orwell."
"Don't," Orwell replies, pinching her nosetip. "Learning custom spell of the school is illegal."
"What?"
Orwell smiled. "Just kidding."
Faustina grinned, and laughed.
On the side of the door, emerald eyes peered from the slightly opened creaks. A person narrowed his eyes as he stared observantly. His gaze furrowed and the door bursted open as he stormed in.
"Stop flirting with my sister, Orwell!" Says Lucas Feuerlon as he rushed to protect his sister, his arms draping across her neck and the other hand to her collarbone, pulling her close as he goes to her back. "Why are you here anyway?"
"Oh, Lucas Feuerlon," Orwell chuckles. "For old time's sake? Aren't you going to greet your friend first?"
"We're classmates and rivals, Moscow!"
"It's Lotheringwood now." Orwell grins, answering in a singsong manner. "Figured that I can conquer the land you thought was useless?"
Lucas Feuerlon smirked. "Ooh? When was it useful?"
And then there was a staring contest.
"L-let me breathe...." Faustina exclaims.