The Imperial Rondarium Academy is grand and majestic.

It’s truly a source of pride for the Empire, a building constructed using the Empire's most advanced architectural techniques without holding anything back. In some ways, it’s even more remarkable than the Imperial Palace. The palace, after all, is a structure that has been maintained and expanded for hundreds of years, but its foundation was built in the medieval era.

The Academy, however, was only built about thirty years ago, and new buildings continue to be added. There’s even a building similar to the Crystal Palace from Earth’s Britain within the Academy’s grounds, and the street lamps aren’t gas lamps, but powered by mana stones. In fact, not only the street lamps but most of the lighting inside the buildings is powered by magic.

There are also significantly more telephone lines installed here compared to other buildings in the capital, and there’s an entire building dedicated to the Academy’s exclusive analytical institution. This ensures that the Academy’s data processing is nearly flawless and, more impressively, much faster than anywhere else. The machines in the institution are powered by pure mana stones, so no black smoke is emitted from coal.

The infirmary is well-equipped to handle minor surgeries and is even linked with a university hospital. The students are provided with the highest quality goods, products of the Empire’s finest industrial capabilities, and if needed, a student's personal weapon can be exchanged for an imperial-made one.

Despite all this, the tuition for Imperial students is entirely covered by the Imperial family, and even for foreign students, the tuition is significantly cheaper compared to other academies. The Empire operates the Academy at a loss.

Why is the Empire so invested in this Academy? It’s because not only the children of the Empire but also the offspring of famous foreign families, and even royalty from other nations, attend this Academy.

The aim is for these students to live in such comfort that they feel inconvenienced when they return to their homes. Moreover, the Academy serves as a showcase for the quality of goods produced by the Empire, instilling trust in the Empire’s products. In this way, the Academy is a ‘presentation hall’ for the Empire itself.

In that sense, the cost covered by the Imperial family is just a marketing expense. There’s no reason to skimp on the funding. These students, once they return home and grow up, will purchase the Empire's products—and in large quantities.

Ironically, this makes the Academy the perfect place for the children of the Imperial family as well.

Even if Alice and I hadn’t scored as well as we did, we would’ve been admitted under special circumstances. After all, who could complain when the Academy is run by the Imperial family?

"Alice Fangryphon, valedictorian of the Imperial Rondarium Academy."

Of course, Alice didn’t need any such special considerations.

The headmaster, with his hair completely white, parted sharply in a precise 2:8 ratio, and his mustache curled neatly upward in a classic Kaiser mustache style, stood in front of Alice.

Here, at this moment, neither Alice nor I were princesses. We were just students.

Of course, that didn’t mean the other students would treat us as equals, but the headmaster was different.

The headmaster was Abraham Fitzgerald Winterfield, a former Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army. He hailed from one of the most prestigious northern noble families, a house that had produced three Supreme Commanders of the Imperial Army. If this were a romance fantasy, you could say he came from a Northern Grand Duke family.

It’s no surprise that his granddaughter attends this Academy. However, she’s not a heroine. After graduating from the Academy and joining the military, she gave up her career to become a teacher and instructor at the Academy, appearing as a teacher in the commoner class.

Though she’s from a marquess family, she’s portrayed as a character with an open-minded, progressive outlook, often in conflict with her rigidly noble grandfather. She later appears as a guest character in the game, and while her abilities are outstanding, her lack of synergy with other characters makes her rarely chosen for a second playthrough. Besides, as a guest character, she can’t be used in the final battle.

"And Claire Grace, salutatorian. Step forward."

At the headmaster’s words, the two people standing in front stepped forward.

I’d seen Claire enter the orphanage under the Grace family’s care, but I didn’t expect her to grow up so beautifully and be adopted into the Grace family.

In the original story, Alice was also the valedictorian, but the salutatorian was another character, who was only a supporting role and not particularly important. Besides, Claire didn’t take the entrance exam in the original story.

If she was adopted by the Grace family, did she learn their swordsmanship? Although her movements didn’t seem particularly impressive, the surrounding characters spoke of her as a ‘model of uprightness,’ and even the headmaster in the story was impressed by her swordsmanship.

Her sword style, which was like a whip—specifically a rapier—was completely different from the Claire in the original story.

While I am a princess, I was neither valedictorian nor salutatorian, so I stood among the other students. The character Sylvia’s appearance is beautiful, but not enough to rival the two standing in front. Besides, ‘beautiful’ is just my subjective view.

Now that I think about it, both Leo and Claire have blue hair. Claire’s hair is darker, but if they claimed to be siblings, who would question it? The nobles might already be gossiping about it.

"Both students have achieved far superior results compared to their peers. With your brilliant intellects, you must become figures worthy of the Academy's name and lead the Empire to greatness."

What a joke.

Both the valedictorian and salutatorian are women, so technically, they don’t even have voting rights. While it doesn’t matter for Alice, who is the next in line for the throne, Claire’s best chance to make a name for herself in the eyes of nobility would be through marriage.

Thankfully, the Grace barony isn’t your typical noble family.

Still, the Imperial military accepts both men and women without distinction and treats them equally, so there’s a future for her in that direction too—unless the story follows the original path, and the Emperor suddenly becomes an enlightened ruler.

Claire bowed her head lightly to the headmaster.

…But Alice didn’t.

…What?

"…"

"…"

A moment of silence.

Even though she was surely aware that all eyes were on her, Alice stood with her chest out, staring at the headmaster without bowing her head.

The headmaster’s icy expression cracked for just a moment.

And if my eyes weren’t deceiving me, the headmaster even gave a faint smile.

A smile of satisfaction.

Azernor Chronicles isn’t a historically accurate simulation but more of a loosely historical fantasy, drawing from various famous European countries. It’s a Japanese-style fantasy game, closer to a whimsical mix of settings than a grounded historical one. However, to maintain the steampunk genre, it did take inspiration from the atmosphere of real historical nations.

If we talk about the atmosphere of a real country from that time—specifically England—

—being a man meant never tolerating unfair treatment, standing up for your rights, and if necessary, engaging in a life-or-death duel to defend them. That was considered manly, a macho attitude.

Of course, since this is a game, those traits were exaggerated.

Alice isn’t a man, but from an outsider's perspective, she’s the sole legitimate heir to this nation.

The weight of the name ‘Fangryphon’ is no small thing. Even if you gathered all the names in the Empire, none would outweigh Fangryphon.

So, while Alice’s behavior—holding her head high as the legitimate heir of the royal family—wasn’t exactly in line with the Academy’s rules, to the headmaster, a rigid old soldier with a strict sense of tradition, her posture was that of an ideal future Emperor.

If Alice becomes Emperor while the headmaster is still alive, he’ll be the one following her orders.

So it made sense that the headmaster didn’t reprimand her. If another student, like a duke’s child, had done the same, there would have been a harsh scolding.

The headmaster handed Alice the plaque he had been holding with a satisfied expression.

Alice took the plaque with precision, her posture sharp, as if she had practiced it many times, then performed a perfect military ‘about-face.’ Claire, watching Alice in surprise, quickly followed suit and turned around.

Alice opened the plaque and began to read aloud.

"In the year of our glorious new century, 1901, we, the 89 new students of the Imperial Rondarium Academy, led by the representative Alice Fangryphon, solemnly swear to strictly adhere to the Academy’s rules, to diligently pursue our studies, to not neglect our training, and to foster friendships with our fellow students as we strive to become the future leaders of humanity."

The year 1901.

Both in the game and in real life, this was undeniably the era of the Belle Époque, or the "Beautiful Era."

In real life, it would take more than ten years before the world war would break out, but in the game, things would begin to unravel before we even graduated.

This glorious era would collapse in less than five years.

…And I intended to save every heroine who might die in that collapse. Even if it meant rewinding time over and over again.

"…"

The atmosphere in the auditorium was heavy.

But that was mostly because of the presence of the headmaster and the princess. Most of the students probably just wanted to get this over with and return to their luxurious dorms—something most nobles, let alone commoners, could never experience.

After all, even though these students had just entered the Academy, they were still only fifteen years old.

Well, they were turning fifteen this year, so some of them might not even be that old yet.

They probably wanted to make friends and maybe even fall in love.

And… to be honest.

I, too, wanted to make friends.

It would be even better if I could befriend the protagonists from the original story.

As I stood there, lost in thought, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze on me.

"…"

I focused on Alice, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone else. I couldn’t see clearly, but…

…it seemed like Claire, standing next to Alice, was looking at me.

…Did she recognize me?

It’s possible. Claire was incredibly smart in the original story. She might be even smarter now, having grown up in a more stable environment without experiencing addiction or indulging in alcohol and cigarettes.

But still, I can’t reveal my identity just yet…

…Wait.

Why shouldn’t I reveal it?

There’s something that feels wrong about just openly revealing myself, but at the same time, I can’t think of a solid reason not to.

"…"

Maybe I should give it more thought.

I watched Alice, standing tall and confident, receiving the stares of all the students, as I pondered.