Bonus chapter: Annabelle's academic life

Annabelle was the youngest student in her class, but also in her cohort. Because of this, she had been at the center of a storm that had rocked the Academy.

It was indeed very rare for a child to awaken at the tender age of twelve, and all those who had received this blessing had accomplished great things. She had thus received treatment fit for a prince.

However, not all the looks she received on a daily basis were benevolent, far from it. Many students in her class, mostly children of nobles, looked at her with jealousy.

These children, whose tongues were as sharp as daggers, had told her without any shame that she should not have received such a gift, that it was a mistake, that a commoner should not be able to use magic, that it was a huge waste, and so on.

She had cried a lot upon hearing all these horrible things, fortunately for her it had not taken long for this to reach the ears of the teachers. They had been very firm with these children, even threatening to expel them.

For them, whose future was at stake, this was not a light threat. If they were expelled from the Academy, a terrible punishment worse than death would befall them: their families would disown them in shame and of course they would lose their status.

The parents of these children had been informed of the situation, and all without exception had taken up the pen to reprimand their offspring. Some had even ordered their child to apologize publicly and to make sure to befriend little Annabelle whose future was bright if she could meet expectations.

While Annabelle had accepted everyone's apologies, she had not sought to become their friends. Despite her young age, she knew when apologies were sincere. She had understood very well that all these mean children, boys and girls, did not really want to become her friends.

Anyway, I already have friends!

Thanks to her angelic smile and doll-like appearance, she had had no trouble making friends in her class. The fact that they were all older than her by a few years did not matter. After all, at the Hideout, she had also made good friends even though they were much older than her.

"Annabelle! Over here!" came a female voice full of enthusiasm from the benches of the amphitheater, which were filling up rapidly.

As soon as the young girl saw her friend, Irénée, her face lit up. If Annabelle was as pretty as a newly bloomed flower, then Irénée was a springtime sunbeam. She had beautiful lapis lazuli eyes and hair as blond as daffodils. It was fortunate that women did not have to wear powdered wigs as boys did, otherwise she would have had to hide her radiant hair.

The two young girls had met on the first day when they had to find a seat and had quickly become friends. Annabelle spent almost all her time with her and her other friends, Margorie and Kléia, twins, daughters of a small baron whose domain was limited to a few acres of partially cultivated land and a few villages. The heart of his domain, the small town of Siret, couldn't even be compared to Niers.

Perhaps that was why the two young ladies, who looked very much alike in the face, had had no trouble befriending a commoner?

The two auburn-haired girls were sitting right next to Irénée and also made a small greeting. While Kléia had a huge smile on her face, Kélia was much more discreet. Annabelle had by now become accustomed to this marked difference in behavior between the twins. They were like two sides of the same coin.

If only big brother Marcus were here... It would be perfect!

Annabelle, although happy to have made such good friends, was sad not to find Marcus. Sometimes she wandered the corridors and gardens hoping to meet him between classes. Her efforts had not been successful, but she did not give up hope.

"I'm so glad we have class with Professor Quram! He's so handsome!" exclaimed Irénée. Annabelle, Kléia, and even shy Margorie nodded in agreement upon hearing Irénée's exclamation. Federic Quram de Belfort was certainly one of the most handsome teachers at the Academy. He was young, slim, muscular (at least from what could be seen despite his teacher's uniform), smiling, and kind.

This feeling was naturally shared by almost all the girls in the class and in the Academy. You had to have a closed heart or strange preferences not to find this man, who seemed to come from the north of the continent, terribly attractive.

Unfortunately, it was known to all that he was already married. It was heartbreaking for all the young ladies, which did not prevent them from dreaming. Carefully hidden in the library, forbidden images were hidden and depicted him without his beautiful uniform. They were only drawings, but they had driven many young girls crazy. No one knew who had started it, but since the first drawing five years ago, many others had been added.

It was one of the best-kept secrets of the school, which was ironic given how many young girls knew about it. Rules had been created to protect this secret: no one must borrow the book containing the forbidden creations, no one must take away forbidden creations, and above all, no one must reveal the existence of forbidden creations to teachers and unworthy people.

Annabelle, thanks to Irénée, had gained access to these works of art. She had been overwhelmed by them. Since then, whenever she saw the teacher, she imagined him as he was depicted in the numerous drawings. Some even depicted him with other teachers.

It was scandalous and certainly there would be an investigation if it were to be revealed.

If only I knew how to read...

The young girl had felt immense regret upon seeing the numerous texts composing the treasure of the library. She could only imagine what had been passionately written on paper. This greatly motivated Annabelle to learn to read more quickly. Fortunately, she could count on her friends, especially Kléia and Margorie. As for Irénée, she was in the same situation as her, albeit to a lesser degree.

In class, she could not take notes, only listen and try to memorize.

This problem was shared every year by a small number of students, which is why time slots were blocked off every day for basic reading and writing classes. The Empire could not abandon any student at this prestigious school. The Empire would become a subject of ridicule if it missed out on a gem simply because it was not of noble birth.

Annabelle was the perfect example. The last hour of each day was thus dedicated to learning the imperial language, the only language allowed in the Empire. Although the alphabet descended straight from the Punic alphabet and therefore Phoenician, the language had changed considerably. The imperial language was so different from the language used at the time of Hannibal Barca that long studies were needed to understand it. This was even more true since at the time not all letters were written. Each text was thus a puzzle to solve.

Annabelle's thoughts were shattered when the handsome teacher entered the room with a brisk but elegant step. With a graceful gesture, he removed his tricorn hat and then took out his belongings.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. We will soon continue the lesson started two days ago. Let the latecomers hurry to settle in. It is not correct for you to arrive after your teacher. Next time, make arrangements to be seated before I have taken out my material."

His voice, enhanced by magic, resonated easily in the vast room illuminated by large stained-glass windows depicting epic scenes related to the history of the Empire. The colors were very bright and the figures very detailed.

Most of the students had already taken out their notebooks and pens. These were small elongated devices of various shapes and colors. Once in contact with a surface, ink started to flow. Annabelle had received one when she enrolled, but she was far from mastering the art of writing, which made it very useless for her at the moment. So she hadn't taken anything out of her bag.

"We had discussed the different countries surrounding our glorious empire; now, let's focus more on our territory. It is immense and very diverse. It has undergone significant changes over the centuries, so I recommend that when you study it on your own in the library, do not rely too much on maps and studies that are too old. Mountains can be flattened and rivers diverted. Take this map, for example."

The teacher made a huge map of the Empire fly next to him, on which it was possible to distinguish, even from this distance, rivers, cities, mountains, and forests.

"Do you see these mountains that separate Hispania from the north of the Empire? They seem to make a wall. They have not existed for more than five centuries, because they hindered movement, whether of troops or merchants. Earth magi have worked for centuries to achieve this situation," he said, unfolding in the air a second almost identical map, but with many changes. "As you can see, the relief has been profoundly modified, which has also changed the climate of the region and the rainfall. Fortunately, magi work every day to ensure that our cities and fields lack nothing. Let's start with an overview of the Empire."

For noble children, none of this was surprising since they had received private education before their awakening, but for Annabelle, everything was new and wonderful. It was even the first time she had seen a map of the Empire.

I can't wait to tell all this to big brother Marcus! I wonder what he's doing?