The royal castle, the very symbol of the Kingdom of Theolas, stood tall at the center of the Royal Capital of Partesia.
Adjacent to the castle was the where the events of “The Silver Saint” would take place: the Royal Academy of Partesia, or the Royal Academy for short.
Considering its proximity to the royal castle, the Royal Academy seemed to have little concern about its public safety, even with regard to the traffic that passed through, which included commoners usually not present in the Noble District. Well, everything did take place in the world of a dating sim, so perhaps city-related statistics like crime metrics and such hazards needed not be a concern.
Regardless of these concerns, the dormitory in which Luciana and the other students would be living in was situated within Academy grounds; school officials had elected to reclaim a large part of the Academy gardens to serve as the new space, and it had only taken two months for the new expansions to be ready for the incoming students.
In modern-day Japan, those two months would only have been enough to design the construction plans; in this world, however, the existence of magic accelerated the process, although it did go without saying that the magicians and architects on the project still had to work significant overtime hours to satisfy the king’s decree. Let us take a moment to thank those people for their hard work…
In addition to a gender split, the dorms separated students by their status, spreading them out across each of its six buildings.
After all, despite the Royal Academy claiming to encourage “equality among students”, it went without saying that each type of students required different accomodations according to their rank.
The first of which was the Commoner’s Dorm, for students not of noble birth; the residents did not need to pay boarding fees, and they could also receive breakfast and dinner meals free of charge. While the buildings were not new, each room still came with its own small kitchen, making this dorm a convenient place to live.
The building itself was a total of three stories high, further separating its residents by their corresponding year with first-years living on the first floor and so on.
Next was the Lower Dorm for the lesser nobles, housing students from knight-, baron-, or vicount-ranked families. Similar to the commoners’ dormitory, this building was also three stories high, but each floor pertained to the students’ nobility rank. Here, the students with higher ranks would correspond with a higher floor.
The third building was the Upper Dorm for the higher-ranking nobility, a gentrified living space for students hailing from count-, marquis-, and duke-ranked families as well as children of the royal family. As the most luxurious residence of all, the dormitory boasted a five-floor structure, and its top floor was reserved exclusively for royalty.
And while both dormitories for nobility had their own cafeteria to provide meals, the robust kitchens in each room, much larger than their counterparts in the commoners’ dormitory, suggested the Royal Academy expected the noble students to be dining within their own rooms.
As the daughter hailing from a count-ranked family, Luciana Luthorburg would be living on the second floor of the Upper Dorm; after all, despite the financial hardships House Luthorburg faced, they were still land-owning nobles. So as a count-ranked family, House Luthorburg was rather highly ranked.
“Wow, this is bigger than my room back home…”
Luciana could only gape in shock as she looked around at her new living space for the next year.
“My lady, please do not gape at your surroundings, even if we are not in the public eye.”
Though Melody admonished Luciana for improper behavior, that was the most appropriate reaction for her to have. After all, back at the mansion, her room consisted of a study area with her desk and then her bed to the side. This dorm room, however, was the size of a three bedroom apartment.
And this dorm “room” was its own house: there was a separate study room, a master bedroom, and even a split parlor and living room. There was also a whole dining room and a spacious kitchen. For hygiene, the toilet and bath were in separate rooms, and… Wait, this isn’t a book about house shopping.
And yet the amenities continued to amaze: the split toilet and bathing rooms were also present in the servant’s living area. And did I also mention that servants can live separate… Okay, that really is enough derailing!
In the end, it was simply a matter of perspective, and this level of “luxury” was in reality not particularly impressive for the average student living in this dormitory. Rather, it was Luciana of House Luthorbroke who did not understand the meaning of luxury in the first place.
“Rather than the estate in the capital, is this not comparable to my lady’s room in the Luthorburg territory?”
While House Luthorburg may not be financially secure, they were still a noble family with many generations to their name. It was with this fact in mind that Melody believed there had been a time when House Luthorburg had enjoyed wealth and luxury appropriate for their rank and had built an equally suitable mansion, but…
“Uh, well, actually…”
Luciana wore an awkward expression as she tried to answer Melody’s question.
“My lady?”
“I think I told you a little about it before, Melody, but it was during my great-grandfather’s time, when he had to sell off a lot of our territory…”
“Yes, I do remember hearing this on the day we met… But could it be that..?”
“Y-yeah… As you have probably guessed, part of the territory he sold off was also where the family home was originally built… Haha…”
Typically, the landowner should reside where their territory is most prosperous – that is, the area that would sell for the greatest value. Unfortunately for House Luthorburg at the time, their overwhelming debt had been such an amount that they had no choice but to sell off the parcel of land that also included their ancestral home.
“And so we built a new mansion within the little territory we still owned. In terms of size, it’s not much bigger than the estate we own in the capital…”
“I… I never realized…”
Melody found herself at a loss for words and unable to reply; she understood the past generations of House Luthorburgs had made some mistakes, but not to this extent…
The atmosphere had taken a darker turn, but the pair busied themselves with the unpacking and setup… Well, to be precise, Melody handled the arrangements while Luciana had a (forced) relaxing tea break.
“I can help too, Melody.”
“There is no need, my lady, for this is part of my duties. Please just relax and enjoy your tea.”
Seeing Melody answer her with such a bright smile, Luciana could do nothing but smile back while sipping her tea.
As Melody finished putting everything in place, the doorbell suddenly rang.
On the other side of the door was a girl in a maid uniform; she stood ramrod straight before giving an elegant bow.
“How may I help you?”
“Please pardon the intrusion. I am here as a representative of House Invidia, from the room next door. My lady wishes to pay her respects to a new neighbor. Might we be so bold as to impose upon your lady’s time?”
“Please allow me a moment to consult with my lady.”
Melody gently closed the door before turning to inform Luciana.
“The young lady of House Invidia next door wishes to visit and pay her respects. How would you like to proceed, my lady?”
“From next door? Then it would be fine to meet them now.”
“My lady, meetings like this should be scheduled ahead of time, with prior notice.”
“Well, it’ll be a little hard to schedule something for the future, right? Classes are starting tomorrow.”
“Understood, my lady. Then, I shall let them know that now is a good time.”
“Thank you, Melody. I’ll leave it to you.”
And so, after Melody informed her, the maid of House Invidia returned to retrieve her mistress for the impromptu meeting.
“It is an honor to meet you, Miss Luciana of House Luthorburg. I am Luna, the eldest daughter of House Invidia. I hope we have the opportunity to better know one another.”
The girl named Luna gave Luciana a pleasant smile; there was a fragile expression about the girl, with her hair, a darker blonde compared to Luciana’s own hair, was done up with a sidetail on the left.
“Likewise, it is a pleasure to be meeting you, Miss Luna of House Invidia. As you know, I am Luciana of House Luthorburg.”
With their greetings done, Luna followed Luciana as the two moved to the parlor, where they could enjoy a small tea party for themselves. After finishing the setup, Melody and Luna’s maid excused themselves to stand unobtrusively in the background to watch over the proceedings.
“Thank you for receiving my sudden visit, Lady Luthorburg.”
“It was no trouble at all. In fact, I, myself, was actually quite nervous since this is also my first day at the dormitory, so I am quite happy that you came to visit. And please, there is no need for us to be so formal with one another; you may just call me Luciana, Lady Invidia.”
“Your words are most encouraging, Lady Lut– Luciana. It would please me if you could call me Luna as well.”
“Of course, Lady Luna. It is quite relieving to know that someone as kind as yourself will be right next door this coming year. I will be looking forward to our time together at the Academy.”
“Likewise, Lady Luciana. I am glad someone like you is my neighbor as well. As I mentioned, I hope we can get to know each other from here on.”
And thus began the private but smile-filled tea party for two. Though, because it was the first meeting, Luciana kept up her ‘Lady Luciana’ persona for entire duration.
The tea party continued for a time and eventually concluded without incident with Luna returning to her room.
With her guest finally having departed, Luciana relaxed and slumped back with an exhausted sigh. It was a deplorable, unladylike behavior, but Melody only gave a bemused smile as she cleared away the used tableware.
“Phew, that was nerve-wracking~”
“Fufufu, as the one who gave you the lessons on etiquette, I believe you deserve a perfect score for today.”
“Really? That’s great to hear… But if I have to act like this all the time, it’ll be harder than keeping up with my studies…”
“I am sure it will work itself out somehow. This was your first time meeting with Lady Invidia after all, my lady. Surely after getting to know each other more, you will be able to enjoy yourselves much more casually.”
Luciana’s mouth curved to form a smile as she recalled Luna’s own pleasant smile.
“Hmm… I sure hope so. That would be wonderful…”
As Luciana turned to watch the sunset from the window, she could feel a rising excitement bubbling from her heart, eagerly anticipating the school life she would begin tomorrow.
And as for Melody…
(The maid accompanying Lady Invidia was so dignified and wonderful! I hope we’ll be able to get along and talk about all the wonderful maid things we do!)
She had something completely different in mind while staring off and out the window. And though the maid’s thoughts were on a completely unrelated track, Luciana would later gush about how picture-perfect Melody appeared against the backdrop of the setting sun.
Headcanon TL 
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