The ti quickly ca—two days before the entrance exam.
In the early morning, Orson and Litte had breakfast with their parents before preparing to head to the academy.
Fortunately, as a high-ranking mage, Orson had access to the magic flying carpet—an invaluable tool for travel. Otherwise, they would have had to set out for the capital half a month in advance.
Lucius and Mary stood at the mansion’s entrance, with the household staff gathered behind them.
“Orson, I’m entrusting Litte to you,” Lucius said warmly, gazing at the two of them with evident pride.
“Mm!” Orson nodded. “I’ll take good care of him.”
“And Litte, don’t rely on your brother Orson for everything. You’re not a child anymore; you need to start learning how to be independent,” Mary added, offering advice to Litte.
Of course, only Orson could detect the insincerity in Mary’s tone.
“Mm!” Litte nodded obediently.
Orson quietly observed the interaction between Litte and Mary, sighing inwardly.
Let’s hope Mary has truly changed her mind and is starting to reconcile with Litte.
After nearly a month of training, Litte had beco much more confident. At least now, he no longer acted timid in front of family and servants as he once did.
“It’s about ti we left,” Orson said, glancing at the position of the sun before turning to Lucius. “Father, we should be on our way.”
With that, Orson summoned the flying carpet, mounting it with practiced ease.
“Mm. Take care,” Lucius said, waving at them.
Orson turned to Litte. “Litte, where’s your flying carpet?”
“Uh... Orson, c-could I... ride with you on yours?”
“Well... I guess that’s fine,” Orson said with a nod. “Co on, hop on.”
“Thank you.” Litte climbed onto Orson’s carpet and, without thinking, wrapped her arms around Orson’s waist, resting her head against Orson’s back.
“Uh...” Orson froze for a mont. Litte’s actions reminded him of how, in his previous life, soone riding on the back seat of a bicycle would hold onto the rider for balance.
“Orson... I’m afraid I’ll fall off. Is that... is that okay?” Litte asked timidly, noticing Orson glancing back at her.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You can hold on. But you didn’t do this the last ti you rode one...”
“Well... last ti, I was distracted by curiosity and didn’t think about it. But now that I’m paying attention, I... I think I’m a little afraid of heights...”
“Alright then.” Orson nodded. “If that’s the case, hold on tight.”
He turned back to Lucius and Mary, waving at them.
“Father, Mother, we’ll be off now!”
“Mm. Take care,” Lucius said, waving back at them.
Mary also gave them a small wave.
With that, the two lifted off into the sky on the flying carpet.
Among the servants standing behind the duke and duchess, Vivian watched the two young masters ascend, her heart filled with reluctance.
Who knows when I’ll see them again, she thought to herself.
—
On the flying carpet, Orson sat cross-legged, while Litte sat sideways, leaning against Orson.
Litte clung tightly to Orson, as if genuinely afraid of falling off.
“Litte, you can’t afford to have a fear of heights,” Orson said after they had flown a short distance. “When you use a flying carpet to travel on your own, you’ll need to stay focused. If you lose concentration because of your fear and can’t maintain the magic, it’ll be very dangerous.”
“Mm, I know,” Litte said, resting against Orson and nodding. “But if you’re with , Orson, I’ll be fine. You can just take everywhere.”
“You little...” Orson chuckled, shaking his head. “I can’t take care of you forever, you know. How is it that the stronger you get, the more spoiled you beco?”
“This is all because of you, Orson,” Litte said, half-jokingly.
After leaving the family estate, free from its many rules and formalities, Litte felt significantly more relaxed.
At ho, she always had to return greetings from the servants and would often beco too nervous to speak properly in front of her parents.
But with Orson, she could talk about almost anything.
Well, except for the fact that she was actually a girl.
“You seem so happy now, but let give you a heads-up—there are rules in the capital too. And once you’re in the academy, there’ll be even more regulations,” Orson said.
“Huh?” Litte’s excitent about the journey to the capital instantly disappeared.
“Huh? What’s with that reaction? Fine, let explain the academy’s rules to you first. That way, you won’t be clueless when you get there and end up being laughed at...”
With that, Orson began sharing the various academy rules with Litte while they were on the flying carpet, along with his experiences from a year of being a student there.
By evening, the two stopped in a city along the way and rested at an inn. Early the next morning, they set off again.
As noon approached, Litte saw a massive city wall in the distance. The city, far larger than Antica, was one she had only read about in books and heard about in legends.
The Imperial Capital—Saint Roland City.
As they drew closer, the city grew larger and larger in Litte’s eyes until it filled her entire field of vision.
At that point, Orson began lowering the flying carpet.
“In the capital, flying is prohibited without proper authorization,” Orson explained to Litte.
The two then stopped at the city gate.
When the guards at the gate noticed the crests on their chests, they respectfully stepped aside, clearing a path for them.
“Orson, why didn’t they check our identities?” Litte asked, following behind Orson as they entered the capital, her tone filled with curiosity.
“Only nobles are allowed to wear family crests. These guards are trained to be sharp-eyed. When they saw the crests pinned to our chests, they imdiately recognized our status and let us through.”
“Oh, I see...” Litte nodded in understanding before asking, “Orson, Orson, there are so many nobles in the Empire. Do you think they can recognize every family crest?”
“Of course not.”
“Then... couldn’t soone forge a crest and pretend to be a noble to get in?”
“I haven’t really thought about that, but I doubt anyone would have the guts to try,” Orson said. “You have to understand, in the Empire, impersonating a noble is a capital offense.”
“And any blacksmith caught forging fake crests would face severe punishnt as well. So, on the one hand, no one would dare try it. And even if they did, no blacksmith would help them.”
“Oh~” Litte said, her confusion cleared up.
As they entered the city, she noticed many carriages parked along the roadside, with drivers offering their services to new arrivals.
“Orson, why are there so many carriage drivers here?”
“I told you earlier—flying is forbidden in the capital without permission. If soone needs to get sowhere quickly and doesn’t have their own carriage, they hire one. It’s simple supply and demand,” Orson explained.
As he spoke, one of the carriage drivers approached them.
Reviews
All reviews (0)