This is the story of how a certain country girl came to study in a place she never thought she would enter.
It was a normal autumn afternoon until a girl fell from a tree and seriously injured her leg. People gathered in a matter of seconds to check her condition.
From the crowd, a girl of about eight years old emerged and approached the injured girl. She placed her hands on the wound, and a bright light emanated from them.
In just a few seconds, the wound and the blood had disappeared. The girl was happy to help, but when she looked at the face of the recently healed girl, the latter shouted at her with a look of disgust.
"Dirty half-breed!"
The girl got up and ran to her mother, who had arrived. Suddenly, murmurs were heard among the crowd; all were hurtful comments despite someone having been helped.
The little girl got up and went home crying. Some time later, she met a man who gave her a letter of recommendation to enter with a scholarship into the academy of a certain country called Altfode.
The girl, now a young woman, was happy about it. She spent her days waiting to enter that place, thinking there would be people like her who could perform a miracle called magic.
She rejoiced from the bottom of her heart for that. The girl's name was Irisdina.
◇◇◇
After arriving at the academy of the Kingdom of Altfode, Irisdina was smiling.
In a modulated voice, so only she could hear, she spoke.
"So this is the place where I'll live for three years... It's truly huge!!"
Irisdina was a commoner. Ever since she arrived in the city, her eyes had opened and shone like stars. Everything was new and majestic; even the simplest things made her look in awe.
While walking inside the academy, she saw a sign saying she had to go to the auditorium. She was glad to be able to read something so complicated. Being a commoner, things like knowing how to read or write were indifferent to her. But since she was coming to a place dedicated to education, she thought it was a good idea to make an effort to learn those things she would never use in her commoner life.
◇◇◇
Irisdina was seated near the middle of the seats. She watched the director bow to a platinum-haired boy. She wondered who he could be, but her curiosity ended there.
After the boy finished speaking, the welcome for the new students concluded.
Irisdina got up from her seat to get her things from the girls' dormitory reception when she saw something out of place.
It was a boy not only in a black uniform; his hair was also black. He was running hurriedly for some reason. That was the first time Irisdina had ever seen such a strange color in her life.
◇◇◇
Two weeks had passed since the school period began, and Irisdina had been feeling downhearted. It was because of the day before classes. She had been called to a meeting for first-year girls.
They were given advice on how to live in the academy and what to do if a noble tried to lay a hand on them.
She was frightened not only by the possibility of that but much more by the senpai's bizarre words.
"If you look for a noble, make sure he's at least a viscount. They have stable territory and the possibility of promotion to count thanks to their superiors."
"On the other hand, if you choose a baron... your life will be miserable. They are poor!! They have debts, and the possibility of promotion is only once in a century!!"
"If an earl or higher chooses you as a lover or your fiancée gives his approval for you to be a concubine, then you'll have heaven on earth, provided this noble or aristocrat is not an oppressor."
The look of fear grew larger on Irisdina's face. Then she heard that some nobles, three of them, were making a commotion at the door.
The problem ended without trouble, but she couldn't sleep well that night.
◇◇◇
Irisdina was sent to fetch some items from a room in the nobles' classes. She had to do it alone since no one else from her classroom wanted to accompany her.
She told them she had magical power, and everyone in her class, especially a boy with brown hair and green eyes, looked at her badly.
What she was carrying was very heavy, and sometimes it fell to the ground.
She was starting to feel stress and anxiety little by little. Suddenly, she was startled by a shout coming from a room.
"Maaaster~ I'm moved!! I truly was a fool, no, an idiot!!"
She dropped her things, but because of the shout, the sound of the objects falling wasn't heard. She looked through the half-open window and saw again a boy with black hair. She couldn't see his face except for his eyebrows, which were also black.
She didn't give it more importance, picked up her things, and continued on her way.
◇◇◇
She was in trouble now.
She had come to use the kitchen in the academy's north building. Her hobby was baking cookies. They weren't very good, but she liked doing it. It was because she read in an interview that cooking, and especially cookies, were a way to introduce oneself to someone.
She also wanted to try to get along with her class, so after buying some nuts in the girls' dormitory kitchen, she headed to the only place where she could bake. But on her way, three boys blocked her path.
"Err... Could you let me pass, guys...?"
The boys looked at each other, and then one of them spoke.
"Yeah, she'll do."
Upon hearing that, a shiver ran down Irisdina's spine. She wondered if this was what she had heard about in the girls' meeting.
The boys insisted, but Irisdina refused.
"Err... I... can't..."
Panic was invading her more and more. She wanted to run away, but she didn't know what would happen if they caught her later.
Then one of them tried to grab her by force...
"Tch, this commoner won't respond to reason. Let's grab her by the legs and take— dahhh."
But something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, the three fell silent and collapsed to the floor. It looked like smoke was coming out of their mouths, and their hair was standing on end.
She wondered what had happened, and then she heard a voice coming from the end of the hallway.
"Alright! Today's act of justice was a success. Let's return to the dormitory to rest."
Hearing that, she immediately went to see who had said that, but she saw no one in the distance until a door opened and someone came out of it pushing a table with wheels.
"Hmm, I don't know what you're talking about, so I'd better forget it."
He seemed to be talking to someone, but there was no one around him. Maybe she was ahead, and there was a part she couldn't see. But what she did see was once again a boy with black hair and a rude tone.
As he left her field of vision, Irisdina went to the room he had been in. There was a name on the plaque indicating who had borrowed this room...
"Rudel van Bradford," she murmured those words.
Looking one last time in the direction he had gone, some strange words escaped her lips.
"So there are nobles who defend others..."
◇◇◇
Thanks to a supervisor who was in charge yesterday, she was able to find out about the mysterious student named Rudel.
It seemed he had reserved the same room at the same time today.
She thanked the supervisor by bowing, causing her large breasts to fall and bounce a bit from the impact of gravity. The supervisor saw that and rejoiced from the bottom of his heart.
After that, she went directly to the kitchen in the same building, making sure not to run into those boys, and proceeded to bake some thank-you cookies.
They were ready after a while, and the time was approaching with each second.
She put them in a small box and hurried out to meet that person.
◇◇◇
"I-I wanted to thank you for helping me yesterday."
She finally got to meet that mysterious person she had seen so many times. He was an average boy, a simple country baron. His body was thin, and his height was regular, taller than her, though.
The only trait that didn't fit was his face. His eyes looked like those of a hunter aiming at his prey. He seemed not to have slept for days due to the shadows under his eyes, and even his messy hair seemed to say he didn't care about his personal hygiene.
"E-Erm, I baked you some cookies as a thank you. I don't know if you like nuts, but, it's the only thing I could get from my dormitory kitchen, and the kitchen in this building is the only one open for students, so... um..."
She was stammering with panic because it was the first time she had spoken with a noble. The girl didn't really know what to say.
"Is something wrong?" the boy asked her because of her behavior.
She already knew his name, but it would still be rude not to ask the person in question directly.
"C-Can I know your name?"
She only wanted to know his name to thank him, but another feeling emerged from nowhere within her. That feeling was longing.
From her village to the academy, she had been alone without companionship, but that's why she thought of using this opportunity to try to gain friendship.
"Rudel. Rudel van Bradford, third son of a baron."
Upon hearing the young man's name, her eyes widened, thinking not only because there was a response but also because her improvised plan seemed to be working.
Hurriedly adjusting her black uniform, of commoner status, a bit of her blonde bob-style hair, the only cut they could have in her birthplace, and finally opening her light blue eyes, which shone with light like her smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rudel-san. My name is Irisdina."
That was the day when, just by wanting to bake some cookies, she had obtained her greatest happiness.
Unfortunately, that happiness should never have happened, as her destined encounter was supposed to be with another person, the protagonist of this world, an RPG game. A world where she would become his wife and queen.