Stepping out of the carriage, Arvell was greeted by the somewhat familiar sight of the academy.


    The same buildings, the same trees, the same pathways.


    Even the smell permeating the nearby campus cafeteria was like he had remembered it.


    The only thing different in this scene was Arvell''s current attire.


    If before he came robed in casual attire, now he waspletely decked out in the academy''s signature uniform.


    He was now an official student of the academy.


    Zen hopped out of the carriage behind Arvell and took a deep breath of air, sprawling his hands into the air as if trying to embrace the sights in the most literal sense of the word.


    "FUUUUUUHHHH"


    Ang joined them shortly afterwards, followed by Wilfried and Lienna.


    Lienna pulled all three kids into a tight hug.


    "Stay safe, okay? If you need anything, send us a message as soon as possible."


    "Okay, will do, mother."


    Lienna released them with a somewhat tear-filled expression.


    "Sending Ang off on her own was sad enough; now I have to send off both of you as well… The house is going to be so quiet…."


    Wilfried ced a hand on his wife''s shoulder.


    "Come on, Lienna, don''t send the kids off with that mopey expression. You don''t want theirst memory of you to be your tear-filled appearance, right?"


    She jabbed Wilfried in the stomach with her elbow, causing him to wince in pain.


    "I''m not mopey!" Then, giving her husband a quick re, she turned back to the children doing their best to stifle augh at theedic scene.


    Wiping the tears from her eyes, Lienna tried to force the brightest smile she could muster.


    "Make sure to write to me, okay? Even if it''s not once a day, at least 2-3 times a week."


    "Don''t worry, mother, we will," Ang responded so that it was evident she had done this before.


    After all, she had to go through the same thing 2 times already.


    Wilfried gave the kids a hug, too, before joining Lienna in waving the kids off.


    "They grow up so fast," Wilfried said with a nostalgic look.


    Seeing the three kids walk through the academy gates, he reminisces over the countless years he watched his children grow.


    Lienna rested her head on his shoulder.


    "Life really passes you in the blink of an eye. The day we first sent Ang to school feels like it was just yesterday."


    After seeing the visages of their children fade from view, Wilfried turned to his wife.


    "It''s about time we head back to Talion, and…."


    Wilfried''s pleasant smile disappeared as if it was a lie, leaving only a cold narrow-eyed gaze.


    "Deal with the pests whoid their hands on our son."


    Lienna''s expression also turned icy as she nodded at Wilfried''s words.


    "Those insects need to pay for what they did."


    The two climbed back into the horse-drawn carriage, which quickly sped away into the distance.


    ***


    Walking through the academy gates, Arvell noticed countless other simrly d students fumbling their way through the surroundings, clearly not knowing where exactly to go.


    Today was the new student orientation, so the older students didn''t have to attend.


    On the other hand, Ang was helping out as a student council member, so she needed to attend, along with her fiance.


    The fiance who just conveniently happened to bump into them as soon they walked through the gates.


    "James!"


    Seeing her blond-haired fiance guiding a couple of new students towards the building they could pick up their student IDs, Ang gleefully called out.


    "Hmm?"


    James turned around to see Ang fervently waving at him.


    Giving her a small smile and nod, he motioned to her that he would be right with her.


    Quickly finishing giving the students the directions, James waved them off with a bright smile.


    "Hey, guys!" James walked up and greeted.


    "I see you''re busy," Zen pointed out.


    "Haha… yeah, the campus is quiterge, so getting lost here is easy. Getting some help here and now would do those wonders."


    "They were looking at you with eyes brimming with admiration," Arvell noted, "getting directions from a  future must have been quite the moment for them."


    "While academy admission and ss cement depend on the student''s noble lineage, after getting assigned to a ss, there is still a policy to ignore nobility while inside the academy grounds."


    Arvell nodded his head in acknowledgement.


    He''d heard about that in one of the books he read.


    Skysword Academy had a rule that ''all students are equal,'' but everyone knows how loosely it''s followed.


    If there was a scuffle between a noble and amoner, 9 times out of 10, themoner would be considered at fault.


    The only part of the fundamental rule that people actually follow is the part of not calling noble children'' sir'' and dy,'' as most people just call each other by their first name.


    While some nobles felt insulted when they heardmoners call them by name, it wasn''t like they could do much.


    It was the rules, after all.


    There were some exceptions to this rule, but that right was only reserved for the royal family.


    Since the academy was situated in the country''s capital, this was non-negotiable.


    Following James and Ang, Arvell and Zen approached a building with a dome-like roof.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The roof wasn''t even, with there being several grooves and indents.


    James pointed to the building before them.


    "This is the observatory building; the big dome on the top reveals arge telescope. It''s kind of cool, so you see it sometime. Personally, I like toe here during my free time. However, if you book a time, even students can use the telescope."


    He turned to the group with visible excitement.


    Arvell raised an eyebrow as he saw James''s excitement.


    ''Isn''t he the one who gets stronger the closer he is to the earth? Isn''t going high into the air bad for him?''


    ''Observing the sky from the ground using the telescope ispletely different than being in the air himself,'' Lykos answered.


    After hearing James''s exnation, Zen turned to the building with evident tion.


    "So like… I can see past the sky with that telescope?"


    James nodded with a satisfied smile.


    "It''s quite massive. You''ll be amazed!"


    Zen''s eyes sparkled.


    "That''s so cool; I wanna try that!"


    James rested his hand on Zen''s shoulder.


    "It seems that you and I are going to have a lot of brother-inw bonding time!"


    Ang watched this y with a slight pout on her face.


    ''That was supposed to be our thing….''


    Sadly James was too engrossed with Zen to notice her.


    "So we get our student IDs here?" Arvell asked, changing the topic.


    "Hmm? Yeah, it''s right there."


    James pointed to the counter swarmed with countless new students trying to get their student IDs.


    Arvell and Zen stood in line while James and Ange turned to leave.


    "Right after getting your ID, just go to the auditoriumplex. I trust Arvell knows where it is?" James asked.


    Arvell nodded his head.


    "It''s where I wrote my written examination, correct?"


    "Yup, that''s the one. But, unfortunately, Ang and I need to help direct new students, so we will have to work for now."


    "Try to not get lost, okay?" Ang looked at the two with a somewhat worried look.


    "Sis, we are 13. We''re not kids." Zen countered.


    "I know… but it''s my job to be worried about you. I''m your big sister for a reason."


    Ang waved the two of them goodbye before leaving the observatory with James.


    "I wonder why they used an observatory as a ce to get the IDs?" But, Zen asked while they stood in line, "it doesn''t really seem intuitive."


    "They probably didn''t choose this location for it to be intuitive to get IDs here. It was probably done this way since the helping staff would have an easier way of pointing people here. Also, there aren''t many other buildings with dome-shaped roofs."


    "Ah, that does make sense."


    Zen and Arvell continued to idly chatter as the number of people in front of them slowly decreased, but Arvell began to feel countless gazes fall on the two of them.


    "Hey, that''s the son of the war hero!"


    "You mean Zen Silvercolt?"


    "That''s the one!"


    "But… who''s the guy he''s talking to?"


    "I don''t know… but he''s cute."


    With Arvell''s sensitive hearing, he could somewhat pick out the conversations he focused his attention on.


    While the nearby students kept their distance since they didn''t want to disrespect the son of a duke, a few more ambitious students stepped forward to try their luck.


    "Excuse me, you''re the Zen Silvercolt, right?"


    A youngdy with auburn hair asked as she approached Zen and Arvell from behind.


    "Yes, that''s me," Zen curtly responded.


    He already knew what wasing…


    "My name is Mntha Judd, and I was wondering… Are you free afterwards? A few friends and I were going to try out the cafeteria foodter, and we wanted to know if you wanted to join us. Of course, your friend is more than wee toe too."


    Mntha threw Arvell an enamoured gaze before pulling her attention back to Zen.


    "So, would you be able to?"


    "I-"


    "He already has some priormitments."


    Before Zen could finish his sentence, a female''s voice rang from behind them.


    Recognizing the familiar voice, Zen nervously turned around with sweat beginning to perspire on the back of his neck.


    "R-Reyna! Fancy seeing you here!"


    "You too, Zen! What a coincidence!" Reyna responded with a smile that didn''t quite reach her eyes.


    Reyna was so focused on Zen and the woman beside him that she didn''t even notice Arvell standing only a few feet from her fiance''s side.


    ''I guess this is what Zen meant when he said Reyna was ''scary.'' Even I''m getting goosebumps from that smile.'' Arvell shivered.


    ''Look''s like Zen''s going to quite the henpecked husband in the future.'' Lykos smiled with a teasing glint in his eyes.


    ''I pity him.''


    Sometimes a man''s greatest fear was his wife… or, in this case, his fiance.