Ignoring the maid's quiet admonishment to behave, Aleydis looked eagerly out the carriage window, wanting to get a look at the grounds of the academy which were supposed to be an incredible sight to see. However, the rain was too heavy to see more than a few feet from the carriage, so she allowed the curtain to drop with a sigh. She would be able to explore them later, once she was a student there. But it would've been nice to see them upon her arrival.

The middle-aged maid offered her a warm smile, her eyes sympathetic. "Nervous?"

Aleydis shrugged. She was but she wasn't. This was the farthest she'd ever been away from home and she would be here for several years unless she proved to be some sort of genius, which she highly doubted. By rights, she should be completely petrified by this point. However, she was excited too. This was her chance to meet new people and make some friends, as well as learn about fascinating things. And it was worth it if she could help her family. But still, it was daunting.

Thankfully, Rita accepted the answer and didn't push any further. Aleydis wasn't sure if she would be able to find the words to answer her if she had insisted upon a verbal reply. It's not that she didn't want to reply but the words were currently getting tangled up in her throat. She just hoped that she would be able to speak to whoever would be in charge of her at the academy. It would be mortifying if she couldn't manage to speak.

Before she could start to panic over not being able to talk, she felt the carriage start to slow. Looked like she was out of time to worry, they had arrived.

She hadn't expected to be greeted with how heavy the rain was coming down, so she was surprised to see a servant waiting with an oversized umbrella right outside the carriage door when the guard helped her out. It was an older gentleman, his hair silvery-grey, but his expression was kind.

"Welcome to Constellations Academy, Miss. Glad that you made it safely in this nasty weather. If you'll follow me, the headmaster and head housekeeper are waiting for you in the main hall."

Aleydis moved to join him before hesitating. "Um, what about my attendants? We've traveled quite a ways and I would prefer not to leave them in the rain while we get my accommodations sorted."

He gave her a wide smile, seeming pleased by something. "Understandable, Miss. Your maid may accompany you to the meeting. The coachman and guards simply have to follow Karl. He'll make sure that they are taken to the kitchens where they can dry off and have a good meal until everything has been properly sorted."

Aleydis dipped a quick curtsy. "Thank you very much."

A young manservant appeared from off to the side where he'd been nearly invisible in the storm gloom with his dark clothes and oversized umbrella. He beckoned silently for the guards to follow him before starting off, not bothering to check and see if they were following him or not. The guards gave her nervous glances and she shooed them discreetly away. They left obediently but she could tell from how stiff their posture was that they didn't like being separated from her.

Aleydis simply smiled up at what was undoubtedly the head butler, doing her best to appear unconcerned. This was undoubtedly a test and she had every intention of passing it. One of Constellations founding principles was that all students within its walls were equals. This meant that there were no peasants and no royalty or any of the ranks in between. Another rule of the academy was that all students were supposed to tend things themselves, although with assistance from the academy staff.

Sending her guards away and only permitting her maid to accompany her to reassure her family was meant to see if she would throw a fit over not having a certain number of people. She had heard of important people in other countries who refused to go anywhere without a full retinue of people. In fact, she had heard of one princess who had refused to go anywhere without at least one hundred attendants and servants, on the off-chance that she might need something while she was out and about.

Following the butler, she did her best to repress a shudder. It had been hard enough to be accompanied on important errands by a couple of maids, she had always worried that she was pulling people away from more important tasks than keeping an eye on a child. She couldn't imagine having dozens or a hundred people waiting to see if she felt like going anywhere. It would feel so suffocating.

The fact that she would not be permitted any attendants had been a bit concerning to her parents but they had said that it was a good opportunity for her to learn how to do things on her own. According to them, it would make her more compassionate to the people underneath her if she understood what they had to go through. Aleydis had her doubts that they would make the students do laundry or cooking, the logistics were simply unsustainable for an institution of this size.

However, she almost hoped that they would at least require them to do a brief stint in each, it would be fascinating to learn how it was done on such a large scale.

Her thoughts were distracted when they stepped into what had to be the main entryway, the doors at least five times as tall as she was. She had no idea why the doors were that tall, unless they were meant to make those who passed through them feel small and like they knew very little. And if that were the case, it was working very well, because she was suddenly feeling very small and insignificant.

Behind her, Rita inched closer, the hem of her skirt brushing against Aleydis's ankle. Although it was a brief touch, there and gone again so quickly that she would've thought that she'd imagined it, it helped to steady her. She wasn't alone, Rita and the guards had come all this way with her just so she could make it safely to this academy. It wasn't because she was a princess but because of people like Rita that she was here at this academy.

She had come here so that she could help her brother when he became king. But it was even more than that. To help her brother take care of the kingdom, she had to care for the kingdom. And as her father loved to say, Colbini wasn't a place. Colbini was her people. At the end of the day, it was the people who made Colbini remarkable, not the other way around. She wasn't here to make herself grand or important, she was here to take care of her people.

Determination filling her, she stood a little bit straighter, squaring her shoulders and following him with more confidence, even as she tried to keep her pace ladylike. First impressions were important and she needed to make a great first impression. Although she knew that she had been tentatively accepted here, there was still a chance that she could be turned away without being given a reason at this point.

Many applicants were invited to come to the academy after applying but less than half were accepted after they actually reached the academy. Furthermore, no one could discover the reason why applicants were accepted or turned away. Even Kadin's family, with all of their connections in the scholarly circles, had been unable to find out the criteria. All they had gotten were cryptic answers and a reminder that all were equal within the academy's halls.

The main entryway was as imposing as the doors had been, easily three times the size of their biggest ballroom at the castle. The floor was lined with pale marble that had been polished until it shone, a stark contrast to the rich dark brown wooden walls covered in hanging jewel-toned tapestries that had to be at least a dozen feet in length if not twice that.

At the far end of the entryway, there was a massive staircase made from marble that went straight halfway up before splitting into two, one going left and the other right in graceful curves and disappearing from sight. However, even the grand staircase was overshadowed by the fact that there were four huge fireplaces lining the walls, two on each side. They were so large that there would be room to roast a full cow in each of them with plenty of room to spare for other dishes to be prepared.

She had the distinct feeling that the hall would be chilly even in midsummer without the fireplaces going, the space simply too large to hold any warmth. However, flames were roaring merrily in all four of them, making the hall cozy and warm. The fireplaces gave a distinctly welcome feeling, one that would call to weary travelers as if tempting them to drift over to the warmth and lose themselves in tracing shapes in the dancing flames.

Aleydis resisted the urge to do exactly that, knowing that she couldn't afford to be rude and keep the Masters of the academy waiting. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she glanced around again, barely managing to suppress a startle when she saw two figures standing at the base of the staircase where she would've sworn no one had been a moment before.

Resisting the urge to wipe her suddenly sweaty palms on her dress, she kept a pleasant expression on her face.

She could do this.