★★★

35. Magic academy

Iris's POV

Ugh! Do I really have to attend that academy! I'm used being home schooled and I already mastred all of my lessons! I knocked down my forehead down to the table and groaned.

"Come home every holiday, Christmas and summer holidays" aki-nee

"Take care of yourself" ari-nee

"No skipping classes and always remember to not eat too much sweets" kana-nee

" Don't worry about anything lady iris, we will be fine" butler han

"well I know that, but the question is will I be fine?" I said, the four of them are walking around packing my stuff while I just sit on my study table and complain about how I don't want to go to the academy.

"You'll be fine, lady iris" kana-nee

"Yeah, and you've mastered all your lesson so you'll be a natural" aria-nee

"the carriage is here!"

"I don't want to go" I whined

~~~~

I hate this, well here goes nothing..

"Lady iris natasha Everhart have arrived!" I stepped out of my carriage, the teachers of the magic academy personally greeted me and followed me inside

"Please tell us if you have any questions or request Duchess Everhart" I teacher said before turning away to greet the other students

"Natasha, nice to see you here" My friend Vincent greeted and sat on the chair beside me

"It's not like I have a choice" I said and scoffed, He chuckled

"At least I won't be bored talking to these People" The crown prince and vincent are both Senior student, they are probably here to assist the new student in their Entrance exam..

"Well good luck" he said, I just hummed and said

"I don't need luck" I can guarantee that I'll past this test with flying colors, he laughed and shook his head before standing up and pulling the hem of his collar

"I don't mean, good luck on the test, I mean good luck on surviving as Cain and Arthur's classmates" he laughed and walked away, oh yeah, I forgot about that, Cain is easy to get along with but arthur....not so much

"Young master Arthur frost have arrived!" And speak of the devil he will appear, Getting off from his white and strong looking horses and handed his coat to one of the servants as he smirked and gazed at all the love struck maiden..flirt

"Commander iris, such a pleasure to see you here" he said and smirked at me smugly, I turned away from him, uninterested at all

"Like wise, general frost" why is he calling me commander? Well I got use to it...I mean, the prince sometimes calls me darling or my love, at first it was annoying and uncomfortable but I got use to it.

"Young master cain Jameson have arrived!" Oh look, another capture target have arrived great, well as long as the yandere crown prince is not here too,

"Natasha, arthur" cain called out,
Cain, vincent, Arthur and I talked a little before a comfortable silence pass by until the test started, vincent said good luck before walking away, along the way to the examination room, Charlotte glared at me like there's no tomorrow, I just rolled my eyes at her and walked ahead of them,

"The first test is the written exam, There are 100 question and you need to answer as many as you can, 30% of your performance will be graded by your scores" the examiner said before handing us the test papers, I found an empty seat and gladly took it, I began answering and it's really easy as pie..
I scored 95 since I was too lazy to answer the rest of them, I ranked third while cain is first then followed by arthur, Charlotte was smart enough to be ranked 14th in the test..

"The second test is all about strength, agility, endurance and sword skills, since some of you don't know how to handle swords then, those who can handle sword please proceed in the training field those who can't but know how to handle a little bit of their magic then please stay behind and wait for instructions, your test will be given after the test of the students that can wield swords" vincent said, looks like his our examiner for the second test, I was about to follow the other to the training field when the headmaster that was watching from the platform on the top floor, spoke,

"Lady Everhart and young master frost Doesn't need to pass the second test, they have already passed with full mark since the both of them are from the golden and sky army, and since they are sword master hakase smith's students" well that's two test down, arthur and I walked back to our seats while the other student stared at us with shock, the other proceeded to the training field

"Each of you will battle each other, One against one, 50% of your performance will be graded by your skill" vincent announced, there are total of 10 student so there are 5 battles, even if you lose or your score is low that doesn't mean that the academy will kick you out, No, it only show your skill and intelligence so they will know Where you need to be trained for, it's either study, magic or skills..

Cain passed the test with flying colors, Making him be in the top rank of the second test, the one that choosen sword skill are mostly males and the other team is consist of females, including the heroine

"For those that have no experience with sword will be given a test, The test consist of different calamity and problems, what would you do if your in that type of situation, your write your answer, 50% of your performance will be graded by your scores" Vincent said while passing the paper to the other Team, after a while, they finished and Looks like Charlotte ranked fourth again for the second test, the highest is a daughter of a viscount, how embarrassing the daughter of a duke was out shined by a mere viscount's daughter...

★★★

36. Fear test

"The last test is what we call 'the fear detector', Your greatest fear will be shown in front of you and you must do everything you can to get back and defeat your fear, the last 20% of your performance will be graded by this" fear detector? Why do I get the feeling like, I'm not going to like this..

"you will be in a deep sleep and none of us will know what is happening inside your head, headmaster Griffin will be the one to guide you, his illusion magic will be use on you to see your fears, so please step forward" illusion magic? Just like mine, maybe I can ask him about it later..

The first one was cain, one of the teacher made a bed out of earth for us to lay on, cain laid on it, closed his eyes as the headmaster put his hand on cain's forehead and faint white light appeared around them.

Five minutes and cain jerked up while panting, I wondr what he saw? Why does he look so terrified? The headmaster patted his back calming him down, and telling him that he did well and he passed, cain calm down and walked near me, I wanted to ask what happened but I think that won't be a good action right about now..

Arthur was up next, the same procedure happened except, he woke up all grumpy and angry about something, he got off the earth-made bed and punch the nearest wall, we were shock because of his action, what the hell is he so mad about!? What did he saw?.

Then it was my turn..

I laid and closed my eyes, I felt a hand on my forehead, then some weird feeling like I'm being lift to the sky or being drown in the sea or something..

(Fear of the past)

It's your fault....

It's all your fault...

What? Who's talking??

It's your fault..

You did it..

Where am I?

Your the one to blame!!

Alex.... It--it's alex..

"Alex!"

It's all your fault!

"No it's not!"

You didn't tried your best!

"No! I tried my best! I tried everything!"

No, you didn't!

Your the one to blame!

If you weren't born none of this would have happened!!

It's your fate that killed us..

"I didn't want any of this to happen!"

Iris, calm down..

What?

Calm down, none of these are
Reals, they are just your
Fears.

No they are not, it was all right

Don't let your fears control
You...

Control me? Fears?

Yes, these are all just fears.

Just fears..

It wasn't my fault,
I did everything at my very best,
I did not choose this fate,
Fate choose me, and I will do everything In my power to fulfill the promise that I once did,
I will not run away from my past,
I will face the pain,
I am not going to live inside the shadow or regrets and self-doubt..

(Fear conquered)

(Fear of being alone)

Dark,

Black,

Silent,

Emptyness,

I'm once again alone in the world of darkness and void,

I'm all alone,

Alone...

No, your not, look closer child

"Ohayou, lady iris"

"Eya~eya~ lady iris, you shouldn't do that, you should do it like this"

"A celebration for you, natasha"

"Welcome back, lady iris!"

"Please don't cry, ojou-sama, Even if you can't see them, that doesn't mean that they aren't with you"

Mina-san...

That's right, how could I forget, I'm not alone, Mom and alex have always been with me, so as butler han, aria-nee, kana-nee, aki-nee, victor, vincent, cain, all of them, I'm not alone

(Fear conquered)

(Fear of yourself)

I have always been afraid of myself,

Afraid that I'll find something evil inside me..

Afraid that I'll find darkness in my magic and in my heart...

Afraid of what I can do...

Afraid that I'll hurt them..

Afraid that I'll end up like her..

(Test end/fear not complete)

"Are you alright dear?" Opening my eyes and seeing the headmaster looking down at me with concern eyes...

I nodded and immediately went down from the earth made bed, while looking to the ground, not wanting to look at anybody, I went straight to the door, even though the test is not over yet, I didn't mind it and walked out straight to wherever my foot will lead me too..