Great Tree Moon. It symbolizes the arrival of spring, warmth and beautiful flower blossoms, which have longed to show themselves after the long, cold winter days. It also marks the beginning of a new year in Fodlan and in Garreg Mach Monastery, where streams of young men and women flow, wishing to achieve greater things in their lives.
Finally I arrived at the Garreg Mach Monastery. It was a grand structure, so grand in fact that I have never seen anything like it. Even the Imperial Castle that has housed Emperors and Empresses from the Adrestian Empire since its foundation cannot compare to the Monastery. I had not believed when my father said that it was bigger than the castle, but he clearly was not exaggerating at all.
As a minor noble from the Empire, it was a big honor to attend the Officer's Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery. The noble blood in my family was running thin and were it not for my Crest, I most likely would never get to attend.
I bore the Crest of Lamine, although my family name was Lichtenberg. A very long time ago my family and Lamine family were one, however the bloodline split up more than 300 years ago. Lamine family first had the status of nobles however over the years their family split up even more. My family retained the status of minor nobles and although rarely anybody from our bloodline bore a crest, it persevered and kept itself together. This perseverance and close family ties helped us get through many rough times, so for that reason my parents always preached that there was nothing more powerful than family.
And since I was born bearing a crest, I had a chance to strengthen my family and give everybody a better life. My mother and father did everything in their power to teach me everything I needed to know to be a proper noble, even if it meant that they would only have bread for dinner. I learned magic, swordsmanship, dancing, etiquette, politics and anything else that could make me a better noble. It was tough, but I did it all, without a complaint, for my family. And now I was ready to undergo elite military training in Officer's Academy so I could serve the Empire and better the lives of my dear parents and precious younger siblings.
As any noble or commoner originating from the Empire, I was put into Black Eagle house. And what's more, this year it was led by the Imperial princess herself — Edelgard von Hresvelg. I was already 19 years old, so I could have attended the Academy last year or even the year before that, however my mother carefully listened to rumors and made sure to enter me the same the princess was attending. I certainly felt intimidated by this fact, however I will do my best to leave a good impression on Her Majesty.
Quite honestly I was excited to have some time away from my parents, siblings and the constant lessons that I had to do every day with little to no rest. As much as I loved my family, I also wanted to have a bit of time for myself to relax and do things I would enjoy. Only time I could relax at home was whenever I spent time together with my siblings. My younger sister and brother loved to play with me, so I tried to enjoy my time with them whenever I could.
In any case, back to the matter at hand. There was a big orientation event happening right before the start of studies, so students could familiarize themselves with the Monastery. Each leader of the house had to give a speech to the members of their respective houses right before the event. It was mostly about the history of Garreg Mach and the way students were supposed to behave in the Monastery.
Many went to listen to the speech and soon enough I joined others from the Black Eagle house. Her Majesty stood in front of us and although her figure was petite, her voice carried strength and authority. She wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought at first and even though I was just a minor noble and she was the Imperial princess, I could relate to her a little bit. We both will carry the burdens of our family, only hers was so much bigger than mine. Maybe this little fact will help me forge a good relationship with her.
After the speech, Her Majesty visibly relaxed and gave everybody a polite smile.
"You do not need to worry about status and treating me like the Imperial princess while being here at the Academy. I am a student here, just like anybody else, and I want to be treated as such," she said firmly. "And same rule applies to anybody else. Status does not matter here, only skill does."
There was a quiet murmur going on in the crowd. Nobles including myself had a hard time accepting this, while commoners on the other hand seemed excited that they would be on a somewhat equal footing with the nobles and the future Empress, even if just for a little while. If Her Maj- Edelgard actually means what she says, then I might actually enjoy my time in the Officer's Academy.
During the orientation the students were separated into groups of eight. Each group was given an initial task where they needed to find a certain location in Garreg Mach and then find a clue within that location. Sounded simple enough but each clue was made like a little riddle to make things a bit more interesting. Another task during the orientation was get to know the people within your group. When reaching the end goal any member of the group could be asked a simple question about somebody else from their group.
My group seemed quite interesting. There were 3 boys, all nobles from the looks of it, and 4 girls including myself. It was hard to tell which girls were nobles, I was sure I could make friends with at least some of these people. After all, every noble carried the responsibility for their family and that was even more true for those attending Garreg Mach. But I found it odd there was a group member missing right from the beginning.
"We are one member short, but do not worry, everyone, as it was meant to be this way. Edelgard's retainer Hubert was supposed to be in this group, however he was asked to help Edelgard manage the event. It will not affect our participation in this event, so let us not worry and start with introductions," said a confident-looking young man with orange hair. He carried an air of dignity, maybe even a bit arrogance, around him.
"If this Hubert person is busy then it cannot be helped! I'll just start then. My name is Dorothea! I am an opera singer, but I bet you already knew that!" Dorothea replied cheerfully, showering everybody with the most gorgeous smile. She was certainly beautiful and self-confident, and for a good reason. As a renowned opera singer there was not a noble in all Fodlan that would not have heard her name. I even had the pleasure of attending one of her plays, when my parents were trying to establish me in noble society, and I had to admit that her singing voice was that of an angel.
"Yes, I am sure that you are recognized by many students among Garreg Mach, including myself. But I am also sure you all have heard of me as well! My name is Ferdinand von Aegir and I am the Prime Minister's son! I could have been the house leader this year, but alas I had to gracefully decline the position in favor of Edelgard to show how true leaders can arise even without being given the title!" Ferdinand says with his nose so high that I thought it would poke a hole in the sky. Although certainly have heard of Prime Minister and his son, he definitely did not have the same type of authoritative aura that Edelgard emitted. Most likely he was never even considered to be the house leader due to Edelgard, but I would never dare to actually say that to him.
"This is all so useless and bothersome! I'll just go and take a nap," a green-haired boy yawned and left before anyone could even protest. Later I found out that his name is Linhardt and that napping was probably his favorite activity. So irresponsible for a noble.
"I-is it al-al-alright to l-l-leave? I-I am g-going back to my r-room! BYE!" A short girl with messy, purple hair darted off as quickly as she could. Her name was Bernadetta and later I learned that it was actually surprising that she had shown up for the event in the first place as she spent most of her time coped up in her room. I imagined that she probably had a lot of anxiety to be so scared of leaving.
"HEY, you two! It is NOT alright to leave! COME BACK!" A short young boy with blue hair yelled and gave both runaways a chase. His name was Caspar and it seems like he had a strong sense of justice.
"I am not understanding why are they leaving? Should we not be participated… sorry, no… participating in the event?" A sleek girl with a braid pondered. She had an accent and it was clear that she was not from Fodlan.
"Yes, we really should. But they already left, so I do not think chasing them will improve our chances of completing the orientation. I shall reprimand them on their behavior later! For now, let's just finish the introductions," Ferdinand tried to salvage the situation although I did not know whether we were even allowed to participate with just half of the initial group.
"Alright! My name is Petra and I am from Brigid. I do not speak language of Fodlan very well, so I am apologizing for any mistakes I am making," Petra gave a little bow, embarrassed about her imperfect speech. She was clearly trying very hard to speak right and quite honestly her broken Fodlan language did not bother me too much. Her heart was in the right place after all and she was behaving very politely.
"I am Amber von Lichtenberg and I am pleased to meet everyone… who has not left," I gave the group a slightly awkward smile. Nobody really seemed to be interested in me and soon Dorothea and Ferdinand started bickering about where the first checkpoint might be. It seems like my group was indeed interesting, but not in a good way.
Disaster. That is how I would describe the orientation event.
After Linhardt, Bernadetta and Caspar left, I hoped that things would get better, but they did not. We did not even manage to get to the first checkpoint when Caspar rushed back somehow convincing everybody that we needed Linhardt and Bernadetta to continue the event. I honestly have no idea why everybody agreed to do that when 10 minutes ago we agreed to continue without them.
We somehow managed to find Linhardt, who was blissfully napping under a tree, however he refused to budge. Caspar and Ferdinand were both chastising him for a good half an hour before Linhardt finally got up and joined us, probably just to shut those two up.
Afterwards we went to get Bernadetta. First problem was that nobody knew which room she was occupying. I suggested asking a professor, but Ferdinand said that it would be inappropriate to bother professors for such small things and proceeded to search every room one by one. It was quite embarrassing, watching how he knocked on every door and apologized every time it was not Bernadetta.
When we finally did find Bernadetta's room, she refused to even open the door, much less come out. At one point, Caspar wanted to break down the door and it took all of us to hold him back. Eventually Bernadetta started screaming something about death and how her final hour had come, so we decided to leave her be. Nothing we said would help her anymore, instead it would just stress her out more.
Two hours passed since the beginning of the event and some groups had already finished. Realizing this problem Ferdinand suggested that we all split up and each go find a checkpoint on our own and later meet up in front of the dormitories. Naturally, that was considered cheating and our group was disqualified as soon as the staff found out. Why did this orientation have to be like a race instead of just friendly introduction is beyond me. Quite honestly I was rather mad that I had to go the stables alone in hopes of finding a checkpoint that might not even be there.
And worst of all – I got lost. I had no idea where I was or how to get back to the dormitory. I've been hopelessly circling somewhere between the pond, stables, the market and some halls within the monastery itself. Either my sense of direction was really, really bad or this monastery was a big, evil maze made to trap anybody who was foolish enough to wander around alone.
"Hey, are you, by any chance, lost?" a voice startled me as I was cursing my lacking sense of direction. I turned around to see a boy with dark brown hair and dazzling green eyes. His skin was tanner than anybody would normally have in Fodlan, so I guessed that he was a foreigner just like Petra.
"Me? No, I am… I'm fine!" I stuttered, caught off guard by his sudden appearance. It was really embarrassing to admit that I got lost during the orientation event.
"Really? Can you point me in the direction of dormitories then?" he showed a mischievous, but at the same time a very charming smile.
"Um… They're that way?" I pointed in a random direction, hoping to be right as my cheeks slowly started to feel hotter and hotter.
"Unless you sleep in the stables, I do not think that is the right way," he gave me a hearty laugh and I could not help but to spin around and start walking away in embarrassment, face as red as a ripe tomato. This day could not get much worse.
"Hey, hey! Don't run! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tease you too much. I honestly just want to help out," the boy quickly caught up to me and lifted his arms up as if to show that he means no harm.
"Let's start again. My name is Claude von Riegan, leader of Golden Deer house, and today I shall personally escort you, dear lady, back to your quarters. If the lady shall allow me the pleasure, of course!" Claude gave me another charming smile and bowed down low before me. The sight was so silly that I could not help but start laughing.
"I'm Amber von Lichtenberg and I would be honored to be escorted back to my quarters," I humored him with a bow of my own and Claude started laughing as well.
"Excellent! Follow me then!" He gestured and I followed after him, happy that I would not need to wander around this maze anymore.
On our way to the dorms I explained to Claude, how I ended up lost during orientation, told him about my group and their shenanigans during the event. Claude was laughing the whole time which made me laugh in return. In the beginning I was quite mad about how everything turned out but with this boy laughing and making various jokes, I could not help but feel much better.
Claude also explained that I am not the first student to get lost in Garreg Mach because the place was quite huge. We also talked about a lot of unimportant things like weather, flowers and the weird-looking cloud in the sky. I thought it looked like a pegasus while Claude was convinced it was a wyvern. The conversation between us was so silly yet at the same time, I forgot all about nervousness of studying together with the Imperial princess, anger towards my chaotic classmates and frustration of getting lost on the first day.
As we arrived in the dormitory, I felt a bit disappointed that I had to part from this cheerful person.
"Well, I have safely escorted the princess back to her castle! I hope you shall now excuse this humble knight, as he still has a few things to do," Claude resumes his jokes again and I giggled a little bit.
"You may be excused, great knight! Go slay whatever monsters haunt our lands," I reply, trying to seem serious, but I still crack a smile here and there. Nobody ever joked around with me back at home. It was always somebody teaching me or commanding me how to do things or how not to do things. Even my siblings mostly came to me, searching for help rather than to play with me. Claude being friendly, kind and silly really warmed my heart.
"Excellent! I hope to see you around! Certainly would love to chat with someone as fun as you again," Claude gave me one last smile, winked and left to attend to his matters.
First day at Garreg Mach certainly was a day that I would not forget anytime soon or possibly ever. Especially meeting Claude. I had to admit that he had charmed me right from the start. The only thing I could hope for is that one day I would call this young man my friend. Or maybe I wished for something more even if it was probably impossible...