Max wakes up to the sound of chirping birds, which is new to him considering the feathered wildlife on Stratford Island mostly consisted of crows and seagulls. He slowly opens his eyes and is immediately greeted by the glaring morning sun through the window. Max realizes that he is waking up a bit late today.

Still drowsy, he sits up. His back aches a little from spending the night on the wooden floor. The first thing he sees is Beth and Mia sleeping soundly on the bed, and the vivid memories from last night rush back to him. He chuckles as he remembers the soft feeling of Beth's body.

Max decides to not wake the girls up, seeing that they are so peaceful in their sleep. He tiptoes to the door and quietly exits the room.

As he is walking through the hallway, he notices that the loud chattering from the previous night is completely gone. The morning is very tranquil. As he expects, the tables that were crowded are now empty. There isn't a single person in the tavern. He walks down the stairs toward the bar, there is no one there, either.

Max can use something to eat. He sits down at the bar and decides to just wait there until someone comes out. He expected the town to be more active in the morning, but he knows that even though after sunrise is late for him to be waking up, it's still very early for other people, especially in the middle of summer.

There is some shuffling in the kitchen behind the counter. The little girl that greeted them yesterday comes out from the kitchen door. She looks a little surprised to see Max sitting at the bar.

"Good morning, sir. You are up early." She says with a smile.

"Good morning, so are you." Max smiles back, and the girl's cheeks turn slightly pink.

"Would you like something to eat?" The girl asks.

"Are the chefs awake, yet?" Max doesn't hear anything in the kitchen.

"No, but I can cook for you, instead."

Max did not think the girl could cook. She looks no more than 14 years old.

"You can?"

"Of course." The girl says with a small tone of pride in her voice.

"How… old are you?"

"Me? I just turned 18."

"Really? I thought you were helping out your parents or something." Max can't believe that this girl in front of him is the same age as him and Beth. She looks like she could be Mia's younger sister.

"No, no. This is a summer job. I am saving up for the tuition for the Royal Academy that is starting in a couple of months." She chuckles a bit at Max's comment.

The girl takes a plate of dry bread out from under the counter and places it in front of Max.

"Thanks." Max helps himself to the snacks. Even though it's plain, the crunchiness makes it fun to eat.

"What's the Royal Academy?" Max asks after he finishes chewing.

On Stratford Island, education begins as early as one wants to and ends at age 18. He figures it must be different on the mainland.

"Oh, nothing, probably just the most prestigious institution on the continent." The girl says sarcastically.

Her face is clearly questioning how Max hasn't known about it.

"What do they teach at the academy?" Max continues his questioning, ignoring the girl's puzzled face.

"You must not be from around here. Well, it's mainly a knight academy, but it also teaches other things. I want to learn about business and open up my own shop one day." The girl says with sparkles in her eyes.

"Is that so?"

Max has already graduated from the knight academy in his hometown, but going to the academy here might be beneficial.

He picks up another piece of dry bread.

"What does it take to attend the academy?" Max says before putting the snack into his mouth.

"It's not easy. You need to pay the 10 gold coin tuition upfront, then you need to pass the entrance exam."

That is a lot of money for Max. His current net worth isn't even a fifth of a percent of what it takes for one person to attend the academy.

"Can you get that from this job?" Max asks the girl, who doesn't look like someone with gold coins lying around.

"Nope, but Miss… Chloe knows some… connections, and they are willing to sponsor me." The girl says, clearly omitting information from her sentence.

Like Max thought, Chloe isn't just a normal girl. The waitress must have exceptional talent if people are willing to pay for her to receive an education.

"There you are, Max." Mia's voice comes from the side.

Max looks over and sees Mia walking down the stairs.

"Who's this?" Mia looks somewhat irritated to see Max chatting with the girl over the counter.

"Oh, I haven't gotten your name." Max turns to the girl.

"My name is Emma." The girl smiles.

"I am Max, and that is my sister, Mia."

Beth comes into view behind Mia. She looks at Max and blushes while averting her gaze.

"And that is Beth, my… friend."

They both give a small wave.

"It's nice to meet you all. I was told that you will be staying here for some time, so I hope to get to know you better. I will get some food ready, please wait a moment." Emma bows slightly and walks into the kitchen.

After Emma disappears behind the door, Mia and Beth take their seats at the bar.

"Just can't help yourself, huh?" Mia says scornfully.

"Sorry?" Max doesn't understand what his sister is talking about.

Mia pouts and looks away.

Max sighs and looks over to Beth, who is still a little awkward around him.

"W-What?" She says.

"Nothing. Anyways, there's something interesting I want to tell you." Max says to both of them.

He begins explaining about the Royal Academy Emma had told him about.

"So, what? You want us to go back to school?" Mia asks.

"I don't know. Emma did mention that there is still a couple of months until it starts. We can probably figure it out then." Max says.

"I wouldn't mind. I kind of miss school, actually." Beth chimes in.

Even though Beth didn't have many friends back in the academy, she was one of the top students, so she didn't really have a hard time.

"We'll leave that discussion for the future. For now, do you want to check out the exterminator guild Chloe was talking about?" Max suggests.

"Sure." The two agree.

"Your meal is ready." Emma walks out from behind the door holding a plate of piping hot breakfast.

"So this is the Royal Capital, huh?" Beth says in amazement.

Max did catch a glimpse of the capital last night on the roof, but seeing it up close from the city's central square is something else.

The buildings here are even bigger. They stand many floors tall, some reaching 6 or 7 stories.

I would probably die if I fell off from there, Max thinks.

However, there are 3 buildings in each direction of the city square that especially stand out from the rest.

There is an enormous castle with pure white walls on a hill in the distance. Max immediately recognizes it as the royal castle of Lancia.

"That's probably the academy, right?" Mia points in a different direction toward a range of tall structures with a huge clock tower in the middle.

"Probably." Max can't think of it being anything else.

"What do you think that is?" Beth points at the massive mansion-looking building on the opposite side of the academy.

Max shrugs.

It's too big to be a residence, but it's not big enough to be an institution, either.

"That would be the headquarters of the Royal Cavendish Company." A voice comes from beside Max.