Cité University, this institution of higher learning founded by the former royal family of the Kingdom of Caroling, could trace its history back more than sixty years.
Before the mechanical age had drawn open its curtain, numerous ancient universities established by monarchs already stood upon both continents.
Among them, some of the most deeply rooted academies possessed a historical accumulation that even exceeded five hundred years.
By comparison, Cité University was without question a latecomer among the many famous schools.
Yet Paris benefited from its geographical position between north and south.
Here the cultural environment was free and open, capable of training children’s self-reliance, and most importantly of allowing contact with the scions of great houses from either the United Kingdom or the Southern Empire.
The rumor had circled above Cité University for more than half a month, and finally on this day it would settle into dust.
New students were about to arrive from distant Londinium.
This news filled the nobles of Caroling with hidden worries.
They discussed among themselves just what intentions of the Northern Continent were contained in the arrival of these two new students.
At the same time, their proud sons and daughters speculated with great interest about what identities and appearances this pair of sisters from Londinium might possess.
After all, Londinium was the most illustrious city of the Northern Continent.
Great houses and nobles from every corner of the world sent their children to Paris to study, yet students from Londinium were extremely few.
That was because the city praised as the pearl of the Northern Continent possessed Orfa University, which stood above every other academy.
In order to witness with their own eyes this pair of new students from Londinium, a great many students went to the station to meet them.
That day the weather was unusually cold.
In the evening a fine rain began to fall from the sky.
The girls had all put on pretty dresses, yet they shivered in the autumn wind.
As the train slowly entered the platform and decelerated to a stop, the passengers proved surprisingly few.
Everyone waited for a long time.
At last the figure of a girl appeared at the train door and slowly stepped down from the carriage.
She wore a pure-white velvet shawl.
A delicate little hat adorned her chestnut hair, and beneath the long skirt was a pair of lace-up high-heeled boots.
The little bells on the laces rang with a clear tinkle as she walked.
Everyone needed only a single glance to confirm that this was the person they had come to meet.
She perfectly matched every fantasy people held of a Londinium young lady: refined, fashionable, elegant, with the unique bearing of a young miss from a famous house flowing through her.
Behind her closely followed another young woman dressed in black.
She also stepped down from the train and immediately opened an umbrella for the chestnut-haired girl.
From time to time she looked left and right, like a crow that had left its flock in the autumn rain.
The students carefully scrutinized this pair of sisters who had come from afar.
The documents mentioned that they came from Londinium and were sisters, yet their appearance differed greatly from the students’ inherent impression of aristocratic scions.
Cité University was not lacking in descendants of famous houses.
When they arrived they were often accompanied by grand pomp: some followed by a train of servants carrying luggage; some personally received at the railway station by Caroling officials; and there were even those who hired a string orchestra to play music, a scene more like the honor guard of an occupying army…
By comparison the pomp of this pair of sisters appeared especially meager.
They did not even look like sisters at all.
The black-clad young woman more closely resembled a bodyguard or attendant of the chestnut-haired girl.
“Liz, are these people from the academy?” the black-clad young woman asked.
She had long since noticed the students who had come to meet them, and her gaze was locked tightly upon them.
That look was difficult to fathom—perhaps natural coldness, perhaps a lack of manners—but in any case it made people feel uncomfortable.
The way she asked the question was also unpleasant, and therefore no one responded.
“They should be the classmates the school sent to meet us, Claire. What a warm-hearted country.”
The young woman called Liz lifted her skirt and elegantly performed a curtsy.
The hem of the skirt spread open like a white flower in the autumn rain.
It was an ancient ceremony of the Albion court, one that few people still mastered thoroughly.
A moment later the girls also lifted their skirts and performed curtsies, while the boys bent at the waist and bowed.
What had originally been merely a scene of meeting at the station now seemed as if they were standing inside a grand palace, with the various princes and marquises restrained yet proudly announcing their identities.
Throughout the entire process Claire never spoke a single word.
The autumn rain formed a barrier that isolated her from this scene thick with aristocratic atmosphere.
The crowd was full of various conjectures about this pair of sisters whose identities seemed completely mismatched.
What could be determined was that they were not illustrious nobles.
Some students had used their connections to look at the academy’s roster.
It only noted that Claire and Liz were the children of a diplomatic official, and there were no fiefs or titles before their names.
Some guessed they might be illegitimate children.
In a family the status of illegitimate children was humble.
If someone did not wish to see them, they would be sent to a boarding school abroad.
The halo of the young ladies from Londinium was thoroughly shattered at Cité University.
Within the academy there were dozens of heirs who held peerages, and even the youngest daughter of the King of Caroling and a candidate for the imperial throne.
Illegitimate children of no standing could not obtain any respect here at all.
In the end the students clustered around this pair of sisters and walked toward the carriages waiting outside the station, while all sorts of rumors and gossip accompanied them from behind.
***
The main building of the university was a pure-white castle-style structure, surrounded by walls and other teaching buildings on all four sides, with an open stretch of green lawn in the interior that was full of verdant life.
Throughout the campus one could see cherry trees of a hundred years’ age everywhere.
They had witnessed the growth of countless students.
An ancient church stood in the exact center of the campus.
This university had originally been established as a theological seminary, yet with the passage of time it had gradually expanded, added multiple colleges, and now become a comprehensive institution of learning.
Students holding thick books conversed beneath walls covered in ivy.
The hems of the girls’ skirts swayed gently with the breeze, and the boys’ neckties fluttered in the wind, forming a picture overflowing with youth.
In the dean of academic affairs’ office a maid poured a pot of amber-colored black tea into cups and then quietly withdrew from the room.
Only the dean and the two young ladies who had come for the interview remained inside.
The interior decoration displayed elegance in every detail: soft leather sofas, a massive oak bookshelf standing steadily, a detailed world map hanging on the wall, and several pots of lush green plants on the large office desk adding a touch of vitality to this solemn space.
Although the dean was already past fifty, his figure remained upright.
The silver threads mottling his hair complemented the thin-framed glasses, lending him an additional air of profound scholarly bearing.
At his status he rarely participated personally in student interviews, yet the special circumstances of today’s interview forced him to take the field himself.
The dean flipped through the application materials and occasionally raised his head to glance at the interviewees across the desk.
The files of these two young women had quite a few problems.
Their father was a diplomatic ambassador of the United Kingdom, yet the surnames of their mothers were not mentioned.
The dean could not help associating them with the rumors of illegitimate children.
More importantly, the two young women seemed to have no qualifications of higher education.
Such a résumé was still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the exacting standards of Cité University.
“Frankly speaking, you are not very suitable for this academy. Yet the letter of recommendation written for you is too powerful. I have no choice but to reconsider,” the dean set down the materials and shook his head with a bitter smile.
A letter of recommendation from late summer had forced the dean to accept the enrollment of these two young women under certain pressure.
That letter came from the Linden Chamber of Commerce of the Northern Continent.
Although it was said that the president of the chamber was seriously ill and no longer appeared at social occasions, the chamber itself remained the most competitive financial leader of the Northern Continent and even monopolized the trade between the United Kingdom and Caroling.
And in the month before receiving this letter of recommendation, the Linden Chamber of Commerce had donated more than a hundred pounds of gold to Cité University and further promised to provide several hundred internship positions for the students of the School of Commerce.
The only price for all of this was the request to arrange the enrollment of these two young women—a condition the academy naturally could not refuse.
Judging solely by outward appearance, the chestnut-haired young woman named Liz rather matched the temperament of this school and left a rather good impression on the dean.
Yet the black-haired young woman named Claire was dressed like a gang member.
Those green pupils were a little piercing and made one feel that a red light was hidden within that gaze.
“This university is not merely an educational institution. It is also a preview of the political arena of the Kingdom of Caroling. Many future nobles receive their education here. I am clear about what purpose your enrollment has, and I have no intention of inquiring into it. But many people here have someone behind them. Remember to keep a low profile and restrain your edge. That is the wise choice,” the dean said with earnest weight.
“Thank you.” Claire nodded lightly.
The dean’s words had gone beyond the duty of opening a back door.
He was reminding Claire in a subtle manner to maintain her disguise and vigilance.
The dean signed his own name at the end of the application form and then handed the documents to Liz across the desk.
“Your student registrations will be established soon. Our school offers a rich selection of majors. I wonder which fields you are interested in?”
“Mechanics,” Liz answered quickly, clearly already prepared.
Claire looked again and again at the introduction that listed majors such as “Theology,” “Philosophy,” “Management,” and “Architecture,” appearing somewhat hesitant.
“International politics would be a rather good choice,” the dean broke the silence.
“Believe me, this is the easiest major among all those of our school, and also the most popular major of our school—the first choice of many aristocratic scions. Moreover, Princess Flora from the Empire is also studying in this major.”
A trace of firmness flashed through Claire’s eyes.
“Then I’ll choose this one.”
As an educator the dean of course disliked having such a useless major appear in the academy where he served, yet precisely those nobles who needed a gilded résumé needed these majors the most.
“Please wait outside for a moment. The school administration office will arrange a student to take you on a tour of the campus,” the dean ended the interview with these words.
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