One of the twelve to pass the Wedge Tower’s entrance exam, Sophie Schwarzenberg, was a member of a family that used a special kind of magecraft known as ‘curses.’
She was thirteen years old. One lock on each side of her shoulder-length black hair was dyed purple, and her eyes shone brightly like pink gems.
Because Shamans were known to carve curses into their own bodies, their bodies change, taking on those strange hair and eye colors.
In order to hide her unnatural hair color and eyes, Sophie wore the hood of her robe low enough to cover her eyes and stood nervously outside the classroom.

(Ahh~ I can’t~~ I’m scared~~~)

Shamans were a rare commodity in the modern era. Therefore, in order for the Wedge Tower to maintain access to knowledge about curses, they have always welcomed a member of the Schwarzenberg family of Shamans into their ranks.
Until recently, Sophie’s grandfather had been stationed at the Wedge Tower. However, that grandfather passed away, and the next one the family decided to send over was his granddaughter, Sophie.
That means Sophie was one of the few elite among the elite whose presence was requested by the Wedge Tower.
She’d been confident in that assessment when she’d arrived, but the other apprentices turned out to be nothing short of unbelievable.
There was Roswitha Ohlendorf, from the famous Ohlendorf Family, known for their Classical magic. Then there was Julius Löwenich, son of the Modern magic genius Samuel Löwenich.
Just those two were would have been enough, but according to the rumors she’d heard this morning, the young woman with the curved sword and black hair was actually Princess Adelheid, the current Emperor’s younger sister.
On top of that, she was known as the ‘Barbarian Sword Princess,’ a princess with a penchant for violence.

(What would I do if one of them bullied me……I’m the only one who got to cheat on the entrance exam, too……)

Sophie had been invited by the Wedge Tower. Ordinarily, there was no need for her to take the entrance exam at all.
But Sophie thought differently.
She didn’t want to stand in front of all the apprentices who did pass and have them whisper behind her back things like: “She didn’t even take the exam” or “That’s not fair!” So she cried to the people at the Wedge Tower, and forced them to let her sign up for the exam. That said, it would be an issue if she ended up not passing.
So, when they handed Sophie her bag at the start of the test, there was one of the Wedge Medal that she needed to pass already inside.
Sophie just waited a few hours after the exam began, then snuck back to the starting point and passed the test before anyone else.

(If they found out, they’d definitely make fun of me, so I’ll keep quiet……though it sounds like my roommate, Rukiye Sorge, already figured it out…..)

Her roommate at the dormitory, Rukiye Sorge, was a humorless girl with the eyes of an artisan. The only things she had done in their room were organizing her luggage and working on projects.
Sophie had tried many times to start a conversation, but she was told “If you don’t need anything, don’t talk to me.” And from then on, she’d stopped trying to talk to her.
It felt lonely. Sophie had really been looking forward to sharing a room with another girl and chatting about pointless things.

(More importantly, I really should go in the classroom now, but what do I say……?)

Sophie squeezed her hand on the chest of the blouse underneath her robe.
This blouse was her favorite. It had sparkly decorative buttons and frills. There was a ribbon tied around the collar. Her family had criticized it, saying it wasn’t befitting of a Shaman, but she snuck it into her luggage anyway.
Looking at her favorite blouse gave her a little boost of courage.

(I should say something cool. I’ll make my debut at the Wedge Tower as a cute, sparkling girl! I should say something like “Good morning, everyone!” I’ll be energetic and cute, and….)

“Good morning!”

“Wah!?”

Someone called out cheerfully from behind her, and she couldn’t hide her yelp of surprise.
Forget about that yelp just now, please. Sophie thought as she turned around.
Standing behind Sophie was the white-haired girl Tia Vogel.
As Sophie froze, Tia spoke with a smile.

“Piyopp!”

“What’s piyopp….. erm, morning….?”

She remembered Tia Vogel because she stuck out as the last one to arrive at the examination site.
After all, she showed up by falling out of the sky on top of Director Hegelich. That was just too showy.
At the very end of the exam, Tia returned carrying both Princess Adelheid and a boy on her back.
She was sharing a room with Princess Adelheid in the dormitory, so she must be one of the Princess’ lackeys.

(If I say the wrong thing here, she might get mad at me…..)

While Sophie fidgeted nervously, Tia leaned her face in closer to Sophie.
Those amber eyes were fixated on the buttons on Sophie’s blouse.

“Those are so sparkly, they’re beautiful!”

“Yeah, it’s my favorite…….Ah!”

When her favorite blouse was complemented, Sophie inadvertently covered her smile with her hand.

(No way, she’s just a good person!)

“Um, I kept hearing footsteps pace back and forth in the hallway, so I came to check it out. Why were you pacing back and forth?”
 “Pl- please don’t hear that…..”

“Was I not allowed to hear that? Sorry.”

“I’m not mad or anything…..”

Sophie fiddled with the hood of her robe as her eyes darted around.
Tia was looking straight into her eyes, so she couldn’t calm down at all.
“Excuse me,” At that moment, a reserved voice could be heard from behind. When she spun around, she saw a girl with sand-colored hair tied in a braid and glasses standing there. She looked to be probably in her late teens.

“Both of you also just passed the exam, right? My name is Ella Frank. I hope to get along with you both.”

Even though she was far older than the thirteen-year-old Sophie, her greetings were very polite. Tia immediately responded with a smile.

“I’m Tia! Nice to meet you! Handshake!”

Tia stepped towards Ella and beamed while shaking her hand.
Sophie hurriedly introduced herself as well.

“….I- I am Sophie Schwarzenberg.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sophie.”

“Piyopp! Pleasure!”

Ella politely bowed her head. Meanwhile, Tia grabbed Sophie’s right hand and shook it without any hesitation.
Sophie glanced at her captive right hand and her lips trembled.

“Uhihi…..”

She hadn’t been able to come across as a sparkling girl yet, but she’d managed to get along with two other girls, so she considered things to be going well so far.
I’m glad I brought my nice clothes! Sophie’s chest fluttered as she entered the classroom alongside Tia and Ella.
Now it was time for her sparkling debut. All she had to do was put on a confident face and say ‘Good morning, everyone!’
The moment that Sophie passed through the door and raised a hand for her greeting, she heard a tremendous, booming voice.

“Good morning! It is quite a good morning indeed!”

Suppressed by the power of that aura, Sophie froze.
The one who gave that greeting was a black-haired woman wearing a man’s military uniform with a curved sword hanging from her waist.—The rumored Imperial Princess, Adelheid Sevil Lamea Krewing.
Ella stopped still with a shocked expression, and a chill ran all through Sophie’s body as her raised hand was left hanging meaninglessly. She was too nervous to move a muscle.
Tia peeked into Sophie’s face and casually asked her.

“Sophie, why are your eyes so wide?”

“uhiii…. I- I mean……”

While Sophie’s mouth flapped open and closed without a word coming out, a golden-haired boy seated by the window spoke with a tired expression.

“Because Sevil’s aura was too strong.”

How dare you speak of Her Imperial Highness like that!!
However, Princess Adelheid didn’t seem to mind, and responded calmly.

“What are you talking about, Wren? Greetings are critical. They affect the morale of a unit.”

“This isn’t the army, y’know? Geez, let me show you how a pretty boy does a proper greeting.”

The golden-haired boy stepped out into the hallway, then reappeared through the door.
He jogged in, flapping his arms, then came to a stop just as he crossed the threshold.

“Aw shucks, I’m gonna be late~”

The golden-haired boy twisted his upper body, waving to everyone in the room. His ponytail swayed softly, appearing to glow in the morning light from the window.
His round eyes snapped an adorable wink.

“Good mo~rning, everyone!♡”

His smile was far sparklier than anything Sophie could muster.

(I’ve lost…..)

He truly was a picturesque pretty boy. He’d done exactly the sparkling introduction Sophie had wanted to do.
Sophie was beat down by the feeling of defeat, but the reactions of those who received that greeting were bitter.

“If someone was actually at risk of being late and pulled that stunt, I would kick them in the posterior.”

“Wren, are you going to do that every morning?”

Not only Princess Adelheid, but Tia as well responded disapprovingly. Ella made a reserved, bitter smile. She was truly mature.
No matter how poor his reviews, Wren didn’t mind one bit. “It’s okay, because I’m a pretty boy.” He resounded with confidence.
I don’t want to do that, but I would love to be that confident, Sophie secretly thought.

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