Ellie’s guess was spot on.
Philia and Stella held their breaths.
“That…”
Between the Count family of Cryford, to which Philia belonged, and the Ancient King family of Blaze, to which Stella belonged, there was a long-standing grudge.
The king who bore the name Blaze was once the sole ruler, the conqueror of the land, the greatest among all sovereigns.
However, they were eventually pushed aside by a rising power that would become the first emperor.
In the final battle that sealed this change, a mage captured the king, achieving the greatest possible merit in that situation.
That mage was then granted a domain by the first emperor and established the Cryford family.
In contrast, the Blaze family was allowed to retain the title of “king,” but they had to enter the emperor’s service alongside the newly created kings.
As a side note, there was still debate over whether the decision to formally distinguish their title as “Ancient King” from the other kings was an act of consideration by the new ruler or an act of mockery.
Regardless.
Because of this history, even though ten generations had passed since that battle, Philia and Stella could not easily join hands.
Especially because, as mages, their bloodlines carried their colors.
Both gratitude and resentment were presented in the clearest and most undeniable form.
However.
“Really?”
Before the noble lady and the royal princess could say anything, Ellie reached out with both hands.
“But this is the academy.”
One hand grabbed the red-eyed noble lady’s.
The other grabbed the green-eyed princess’s right hand.
“You’re both my friends. Now, shake hands.”
Ellie was still smiling, but her eyes were firm.
So firm that the daughters of the rival families ended up clasping hands—before they even had time to think about whether it was okay or not.
Philia and Stella were more shocked by their own actions than anyone else.
Next to them, Ellie nodded.
“Hm?”
This one action would not erase a grudge that had lasted centuries.
Even if it could dispel the tension between the two girls, their families were much larger than just them.
But it did shake things up.
It opened a new path forward.
Like pouring fresh water into a stagnant pond that had sat unchanged for hundreds of years.
“You both did well.”
Ellie shook their joined hands up and down.
“I don’t know what’s going on with your families, but inside the academy and in front of me, don’t bring that grudge up. That’s a promise, okay?”
“…Very well.”
“…Okay.”
Only then did Ellie let go, satisfied.
As soon as she released them, Philia and Stella also let go of each other’s hands.
But they didn’t pull away.
Ellie cheered.
“Alright! Now let’s really go get some bread!”
And so, the three of them went to the cafeteria for lunch.
***
It was an awkward meal in many ways.
But with Ellie between them, Philia and Stella managed to talk.
“Uh, when did you arrive?”
“A week ago.”
Awkward. Hesitant.
But Ellie immediately chimed in with enthusiasm.
“Me too! That means you and I arrived on the same day, Philia!”
“Uh-huh…”
From Philia’s perspective, this was a troubling situation.
If Ellie were talking to herself, she could just ignore it.
Ellie wasn’t the type to get hurt over that, and even if she did, she’d probably just announce it boldly.
But now that it was a conversation among three people, she was forced to participate.
‘Ugh, ahh.’
Social and communication skills atrophy if you don’t use them, but they also develop when you do.
Even voluntarily, Philia had spent her whole life as an outsider.
Being suddenly pushed into this unfamiliar, forced interaction was overwhelming and, honestly, exhausting.
“Ah, there’s my other friend. Clea! Come join us!”
“This… is quite an unusual group.”
A girl with water-colored hair approached.
Philia realized this was her chance to escape.
“Uh, I actually have something really important to do, so I’ll be going now…!”
Leaving the moment a Lacostrin noblewoman arrived was probably rude.
But Philia no longer had the energy to care about that.
“Hah, hah…”
Once she had moved far enough away that Ellie’s gaze couldn’t possibly reach her, Philia quietly wiped the sweat from her forehead.
But later that night, as she lay in bed trying to sleep, she thought back to that moment.
Touching hands with people, gathering together, sharing a meal, stumbling through conversations.
‘Was that…’
‘Did she enjoy it? Was it fun?’
She wasn’t sure.
But one thing was certain.
‘…It wasn’t as bad as I expected.’
Struggling with something you’re not good at is always frightening.
But meeting people seemed a little less scary now.
‘I still don’t know if I need friends…’
Still.
Well.
It’s not like—hmm…
‘Maybe it wasn’t something to outright avoid… or maybe it was…’
Philia fell asleep while wondering what to do if Ellie approached her again tomorrow.
She turned to her side, hugging a stuffed animal she had brought from home.
***
The last few days passed, and the entrance ceremony day arrived.
In front of the administrative building, a square was set up using ropes and ribbons, and a podium was installed.
It was meant for a brief speech by the headmistress and introductions to the faculty.
The approximately 100 new students gathered with their friends, waiting for the event to end before it even began.
After all, in any era, kids found these things boring.
‘There aren’t many parents here.’
Standing on the grass, Ellie thought to herself.
In modern Korea, parents who didn’t attend their child’s entrance ceremony would be considered heartless.
But here, at the academy, it was rare for parents to come.
Most of them were lords or their spouses—hardly people who could abandon their duties just to attend an entrance event.
Aside from a few nobles whose territories were unusually close, the attendees were almost exclusively students.
So, in the end, it was a relatively small entrance ceremony, with just over 100 people.
To Ellie, it felt like a small crowd.
“Wow, there are so many people.”
“Are all the new students here?”
“I heard the city squares are even more crowded than this…”
Ellie’s classmates murmured.
‘Our standards are just different, huh.’
Even nobles—no, especially nobles—rarely got to see crowds of people packed together.
If they were shown Line 2 of the Seoul subway during rush hour, they might just foam at the mouth and faint.
For reference, Ellie’s outfit ended up being exactly what was mentioned last time: a linen tunic with blue pants.
That was it.
And since there was none of the distinct noble elegance in her appearance, many students mistook her for some clueless kid from a nearby town or village who had come to gawk at the academy.
“Shouldn’t we kick that kid out?”
“Who? Oh—hey, hey, shh! You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Something happened a week ago…”
Conversations like this were scattered across the lawn.
Ellie let them drift past her as she thought to herself.
‘Where are my friends?’
Philia, Clea, and Stella.
She would have liked to befriend more people, but by the time the academy opened and the entrance ceremony arrived, those three were the only ones she had managed to befriend.
Among them, Philia was still the most resistant.
Stella, on the other hand, had been swept up in Ellie’s pace almost immediately.
“Ellieeeeee!”
“Hm?”
Hearing someone call her name, Ellie turned around to see Jeina running toward her in a hurry.
She came to a stop right in front of Ellie, panting.
“Hah… I… haah… I made it just in time…”
Jeina took a moment to catch her breath before carefully pulling something from her arms.
It was a scarf—a deep black, like ink or the night sky, with a white star pattern embroidered on one corner.
“Haah… I finished it… just in time… If you don’t mind…”
“…Jeina.”
The woolen scarf was soft in Ellie’s hands.
When she wrapped it around her neck, the beige linen top and blue pants came together with the scarf to form a rather pleasant color combination.
“…Jeina.”
Ellie called her name again as she reached out to touch the embroidered stars on the scarf’s edge.
“These stars… they’re just a coincidence, right?”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing.”
Ellie smiled and took Jeina’s hands—the hands that had spent the past two days knitting the scarf and embroidering the decorations just for her.
“I’ll treasure it forever. Thank you.”
“Wha—? Oh, no! One day, you’re going to be someone really, really amazing, and when that time comes, this won’t be—”
“Jeina.”
Ellie was firm with the girl who was two years older than her.
She held onto Jeina’s hands just as firmly as she spoke.
“Thank you.”
“Ahhh…”
Jeina’s face turned bright red, caught between the overwhelming joy of giving Ellie something and the worry that she might have done something unnecessary that would trouble the future Ellie.
But in the end, joy won out by a landslide.
“Th-Then I’ll be going now! Good luck with the entrance ceremony!”
“Alright. See you at dinner.”
Ellie waved as her maid—and friend—scurried away, then turned her attention back to finding her other friends.
‘So where is everyone? Ah!’
Philia.
But…
‘Why is she with other people?’
A girl and two boys were standing next to her, talking to her.
Philia, however, looked just as she always did in these situations—clearly tired of the conversation but unable to simply walk away.
‘Well, guess I have to step in.’
And maybe, through Philia, she could make some new friends.
The easiest way to expand one’s social circle was through mutual acquaintances, after all.
“Philia!”
Ellie waved as she approached.
The three students talking to Philia turned to look at her.
“Who are they? Friends?”
The girl among the three glanced Ellie up and down before scoffing.
“Are you seriously hanging around with someone like this these days?”
Philia quickly spoke up.
“Isabel.”
Once again, Philia wasn’t opposed to making friends—she just wasn’t interested.
That didn’t mean she wanted to make enemies, either.
So, before the girl in front of her could say anything too problematic, Philia tried to stop her.
“She’s also one of—”
“What an awfully shabby scarf. Did you dig through your poor little home for whatever scraps you could find just to dress up a little?”