2 "Latecomers!"

"Oh, is it in an awkward place? Sorry!" he turned to look at the female gatekeeper on the guardhouse found on the other side of the post. "Hey! Come here for a moment and look for this girl's mark."

The female gatekeeper approached Ivory, "Hi, so where is it?"

"It's…" Ivory whispered to her shyly and when they turned their back on the others, she let her peek under her skirt.

With a small magic lantern with intricate wooden carvings, she searched for it under her skirt, and as a response to the magic light, the birthmark glowed. After finishing examining Ivory, she asked her for her personal details and went back to the guardhouse to make a gate pass. Using a quill pen dipped in black ink, she wrote Ivory's information on a scroll and went back to her once she was done.

"Here, Miss Ivory," the woman said with a big smile. "You should hurry! You're already ten minutes late!"

"GAAAAAAH!" Ivory shrieked as she took her gate pass scroll. She held it tightly and when the gate opened, she thanked the two gatekeepers before running as fast as she could.

'So that's why there were no people outside the gate!' she thought as she ran past the stoned road. The warm wind brushed her face, smelling the fresh scent of the poplar trees lined up on the opposite edges of the road. Soon after, she could already see the front building of the academy, in which the walls were composed of stone and wood.

When she arrived at the door, a knight guard halted her, "I'm sorry, but the opening ceremony is already starting inside. I suggest you wait here until it's finished."

"But sir! It's the opening ceremony," Ivory said in a desperate tone, "I might need to listen to it! Maybe there's something important that I need to-"

The knight guard raised his right hand, "No. Rules are rules. Latecomers will not attend the opening ceremony."

"Gaaahhh…" she sighed and sat on the wooden bench at the side of the door. 'I wish I had a horse-drawn carriage so I won't be late… Ugh… It's because of that stupid nightmare that I woke up late!' she thought, covering her face with her palms.

The noisy sound of a closed-door horse-drawn carriage made her look at the road. It was a bright red carriage, with intricate gold-colored lines on the surface, and two majestic-looking white horses were running in front.

'Two horses… Must be a rich person…' Ivory muttered and continued to observe them from where she was seated.

When the horse drawn carriage arrived in front of the front building, a person wearing a clean pressed and shiny black suit and suit-vest went down from the coachman's seat and opened the door.

"We're here, sir," the butler said as he assisted the young man from his seat.

A neat-looking blonde-haired guy wearing a plain white formal shirt underneath a dark brown faux fur collar leather coat and dark brown slacks got out of the carriage. He faced his butler and ordered him, "Pick me up before dinner."

"Yes, sir Lucius," said the butler and bowed down as respect to him.

"Sir… Sir Goldwine!" When the knight guards saw him, they stood up straight and made a salute to him.

"Good morning," Lucius Goldwine also gave a salute to them, "I guess I'm late for the opening ceremony."

"Open the door-"

"Hey, wait!" Ivory stood up from her seat upon hearing their conversation. She approached them and looked at the knight guard, "You'll let him enter, but not me? Why? Because I look poor?"

"Uhhh… Miss, it's because Sir Goldwine is-"

"How about going in with me, miss?" Lucius said with a kind smile. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ivory Sprucemint, a new student," Ivory replied and tried remembering what the knight guard said a moment ago, "You're Lucius Gold...Goldwing, right?"

"Goldwine," he emphasized and a smile formed on his lips. "I'm a new student as well, Ivory" he extended his arms and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you, classmate."

"Nice to meet you as well!" she responded happily. She's pleased that the rich young man was kind enough to help her.

"We'll be going in, now," Lucius showed his gate pass scroll to the knight guard, and Ivory did the same.

Ivory rolled her eyes at the knight guard who didn't let her pass, disappointed that there was obviously a discrimination.

As soon as they entered the large wooden double doors, Ivory widened her eyes in awe. There were plenty of students who were all lined up whilst holding their gate pass scrolls.

"Oh no," she looked around the big hall, "Where should we line up? Hmmm..shall we look for an Educator and-"

"Sir Lucius Goldwine! Good to see you!" a middle-aged man wearing a panama hat and a trench coat approached them.

"Sir Arthurdane, hello. Sorry if I'm late," Lucius said as they shook hands.

"It's alright. I understand. You came from Megalia City, and it's almost an hour ride going here," he patted the younger man's shoulder and noticed the young woman beside Lucius. "Ah... Good day, miss. I'm terribly sorry for not noticing you. Are you from the Goldwine clan, too?"

"Ah, no, uhm… My name is Ivory Sprucemint, a new student…"

"She's a friend of mine," Lucius said when he saw him looking at her with a puzzled expression.

Sir Arthurdane pointed at the blue flag, "By the way, you can line up with the students behind the blue flag. I need to go as I have other matters to attend to. Please send my greetings to your father."

"Of course. Thank you, sir."

After Sir Arthurdane left, the two of them lined up at the end of the said line.

"Who's the one we spoke to?" Ivory curiously asked.

"He's the principal of Qawiun Academy, Sir Zwain Arthurdane," Lucius answered after lining up behind her.

"If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask."

"Can I ask about you then?" she tilted her head.

Lucius chuckled, "Of course. What is it?"

"Why are they calling you 'Sir'? You're… you're an educator, aren't you?" Ivory looked at him suspiciously, "Are you just testing my behavior?"