Chapter 3

DINNER was served at their common hall, the ground floor of the west wing. This was the only hall where both males and females of the dorm get to talk to each other. There were roughly a hundred girls and boys chatting in the common hall.

The food was superb and delicious but the serving crew was composed of Nursing Eries, helpers that are usually assigned within the house. Chloe saw some of those in Deirdre, helpers of rich Deirdre peasants. Their eyes were bulging out, their noses were large, and their lips were pouting. Their skin was blue, and they were full of wrinkles. Not a good sight while getting your food.

"Where's Lucian?" Chloe asked Barbie as they carried their trays to the vacant table at the center of the hall. Jucel tagged along, keeping her head down most of the time.

"They're going somewhere with our friends," Barbie answered. She put down her tray of food on the table and sat at the wooden chair. "Probably to check out some houses where we can stay."

Chloe just nodded her head and turned to the shy Jucel. She and Barbie found that Jucel was a resident of Graire City, just a few kilometers from Galenus. She stayed at the Palace dorm for the whole duration of her stay in Vestia and she's now in her third year. When asked about her age, Jucel silently revealed that she was only 17.

Chloe nearly choked on her food while Barbie blinked at their companion. Chloe was 17, and Barbie was already 19. Which makes Jus superior to them in intelligence. That explains a lot of books brought to their room.

"I see that you're into books, no doubt you were accelerated to the 3rd year," Barbie said with a smile. Jucel's thin lips curled into a small, shy smile.

Barbie suddenly leaned towards her and the silver-haired young woman leaned back in surprise. Barbie spoke in a hushed voice. "I saw a book that really caught my attention back in your room. It was entitled 'Identifying Witchcraft'. Can you tell me what was that about?"

Jucel's eyes widened and Chloe's eyebrows met as she turned her head to the former girl. "Identifying Witchcraft?" she asked, mimicking Barbie's hush voice as she figured out that it was confidential.

Jucel blushed at the attention. "W-Well... t-there was s-something that really bugged me when I-I was in my 1st year--"

Barbie stood abruptly which caught the attention of the girls nearby. She apologized and grinned at them before looking at Jucel and Chloe. "Let's talk in your room."

~O~O~O~

BARBIE went ahead in their room and waited for them to get inside before immediately closing the door behind them. She hurried to the shelf where she hid the book. "Now tell us what you know."

Although confused by Barbie's antics, Chloe put a hand on the frightened Jucel. "Don't worry. We'll keep this as a secret."

"Chloe, this should not be promised," Barbie told her and turned to Jucel. "This is going to be confidential. But you know this is a top matter. I will determine if it's something to be kept or something we need to tell the palace."

Jucel took a second in silence before nodding. They sat on the couch and Jucel started to recount her memories about the book. "Well... I-I was in a library of the Palace Dorm when I came across this book. I-I know that anything about witchcraft is p-prohibited in Demetrius b-but this I noticed t-that this one book was already b-borrowed. S-so I decided to create a copy of it."

"A copy?" Chloe asked. Nothing made sense anymore.

Jucel nodded. "I-I asked someone to make a copy of it. He w-was curious, too, so he complied. I-In exchange, he w-wanted to know about the book once I-I finished reading about it."

"Who's the guy?" Barbie asked.

Jucel put a finger on her chin, then realizing that she's doing it, she seemed startled herself. "A g-guy named Jared D-Dale. He's a t-the man with t-tan skin a-and athletic build. H-he was supposed to b-be in the second year. But he s-stopped in the middle of the 1st year so I-I guess he will take the y-year all over again t-this time, if he enrolled, that is."

Barbie pouted. "Jared Dale is one of my friends, best friend of my brother, specifically. He did stop two years ago, along with my brother. Personal problems, he told us before he went zoom out." She looked at Chloe. "You might meet him this school year. I heard from my brother that he's coming back."

Chloe pursed her lips. She can't make any sense of this talk at all. "Why was witchcraft prohibited in Demetrius?" she finally asked.

Barbie and Jucel looked at her. "You didn't know?" they asked in sync. Chloe nodded innocently. Barbie clicked her tongue and noted in her mind to ask Lucian later.

In the meantime... "Hwā banned the study of witchcraft from all academies in the Kingdom ever since the last Blood Star died. It was speculated that someone from Demetrius that wielded such power sided with the Kingdom of Illinor 50 years ago."

Chloe slowly nodded her head. "If such a thing was prohibited, then why did this book show up in the library of Krystalline?"

No one from the girls could answer the question.

~O~O~O~

THE NEXT DAY, Chloe, and Jucel decided to enter the academy together. Barbie had some errands to do so she wasn't able to be with them. Jucel, in her thick round glasses, was still shy around Chloe. The latter tried to open up to her - talking about Deirdre, the life with nature, and her life with her family. Jucel seemed interested, her eyebrows scrunched together and occasionally asking her, the Deirdre in particular.

When they entered the gate to the academy, Chloe was beyond awed. The school grounds stretched from yards to yards, with rose bushes and different kinds of trees everywhere. Outside the academy was all buildings, bricks, and you would scarcely see trees.

They have just entered the academy when Chloe saw something. Someone, rather. A group of girls surrounded three other girls and they were all trying to talk to these three.

Chloe stopped at the nearest bench and looked at them. "Who are they?" she asked as she gestured at those in the center of the flocks.

"Oh, t-they're the famous girls a-around here," Jucel answered. Her eyes became dreamy and hopeful. "One of them's a p-princess."

Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Really? Which one of them?"

Jucel turned to Chloe with a small smile. Knowing that this was Chloe's first time in Vestia, for sure she never had a chance to see the royal family.

Well, Jucel herself, too. She hasn't seen anyone of the princes yet. "T-The one with the pink dress. She's P-Princess Zillah. T-The other two are her friends, Marjien Zūng and Vivien Li."

Chloe focused her eyes on the tallest of the three girls, her gray eyes have gold streaks appearing unknowingly. Indeed, she looked like a princess. Her skin was fairer. Her eyes were the color of the crystal blue sea that Chloe saw at the West End fortress when she and her father go there to visit. The dark blue eyes seemed to change to light blue every time the light shines upon her. She has a silky straight black hair that reached her waist. Her aura was regal and poised, but she could see that every action was learned and scripted.

Her two friends are both tall and beautiful, too. One has a light brown hair curled and long while the other has a black straight hair braided into a bun. Their eyes were sharp and dark. Even if they were wearing dresses and walked like noblewomen, it is clear that they were more than that.

"They looked like the princess' female guards," Chloe said to Jucel.

Jucel tilted her head to look at the crowd. "Really? You can tell from this far?"

Chloe smiled. Oh, yeah... Jucel still didn't know about her sharp eyesight. Her family didn't know, either. She just discovered it when she turned 17 last year.

Chloe shrugged and continued her way to the academy building. Her new friend took one last look at the girls and the crowd before following the brunette.

~O~O~O~

LUCIAN went inside of his classroom and saw his friends already sitting at the far end near the window. As usual, he was just five minutes early before the class will start. He sat beside his only gal friend who frowned at him as though telling him that she needed information from him.

Barbie Lewelyn and Lucian Liu were best of friends way before he even entered Krystalline Academy.

"What now?" Lucian as he put down his bag beside his table.

Barbie raised an eyebrow at him and leaned towards his table. "You or your parents didn't tell Chloe about the prohibition of witchcraft in the kingdom, did you?" she asked in a quiet voice but enough for the two other men in front of them to hear what she was saying. These men had their heads lay on top of the table with their arms crossed as though they were sleeping.

Lucian's mouth opened and then closed. His handsome face looked confused and it's so cute to look at. "Why'd you bring it up now?"

Barbie rolled her eyes. "We will talk about it later. But we have to fill her this kind of information. She might not survive this academy if you keep her in the dark."

"Who's the 'she' that you're talking about?" he asked in a husky mumbling voice.

Lucian looked back at them and saw that the other two of his friends were looking at him and Barbie, too. The two glanced at each other. Barbie had her eyebrow raised which made Lucian sigh.

"Let's have lunch together later," he declared before turning to their professor who has just entered the room.