Alicia and Carl entered the Academy of Fire Magic. Carl spoke,
"Ms. Alicia, let us first go to the Principal's office, and there, please introduce yourself as Kaitlyn. Remember, to others you don't look like an amber-eyed princess, but a black-eyed Brunette. So, keep your language in an informal tone to emphasize that you are a common-background girl who just discovered she can use magic."
Alicia spoke,
"But what would happen when someone discovers that I can use three different Magics?"
Carl spoke,
"Don't worry, all the principals of the Academies are the Master mages. So they somewhat already know about your situation."
After hearing that, Alicia eased up a little. They both went to the office to meet with the Principal. Carl went to the front desk to check with the clerk. As soon as they saw Carl, they hurried and let him and his 'guest' in. But something about that rush seemed a bit weird to Alicia. But she brushed it off as paranoia. As they went inside, the clerk suddenly hurried out as soon as she closed the door.
Inside, Alicia was introduced to Ms. Aurelia, a 40-year-old Fire master mage, who was the Principal of the Fire Magic academy. After seeing Carl, she quickly wrapped up her work and started to show around the Fire Academy. After a quick tour, they both thanked Ms. Aurelia and decided to head to the Wind Mage Academy.
As they were moving, Alicia noticed Carl was deep in thought, and his hands were fidgeting. But as soon as he noticed Alicia, he wrapped it up with a smile, which one could think of as him telling her not to ask about it. Alicia quickly understood this cue and did not question it. Soon, they reached the Wind Mage Academy.
As they entered, they greeted Mr. Dorian, a 43-year-old Wind master mage, who was the Principal of that academy. Mr. Dorian seemed a bit nervous and was very cautious of Alicia, and so were the students who passed by them. Alicia was used to such stares and cautious glances when she was an amber-eyed princess. After all, back then she was the daughter of the War Hero and was one of the contenders to the throne. But now? She is disguising herself as a young commoner who had no particularly distinct features.
The stares of students were somewhat justified. After all, there was no one in the district who didn't know Carl, and Alicia was accompanying such a dignified person! She was also personally escorted by the Principal. But she couldn't understand why the Principal was in such a rush. In fact, she experienced the same at the Fire Mage Academy. Was her disguise failing? Was it because of Carl? Or was it because the Principal knew her identity? Such thoughts raced through her mind.
After they moved somewhere quiet, far from the students, Carl stopped and asked Mr. Dorian,
"Sir Donovan, may I ask why there were so many students in the hall? I'm sure His Majesty conveyed to all Academies that this visit must be kept a secret?"
with a smile that clearly showed that he was holding his anger.
Mr. Dorian, who was clearly waiting for this question the moment he saw those students, replied,
" I apologize for the inconvenience, Sir Aide, but the timing couldn't have been worse. Those students were our Academy's intermediate mages, who were assigned to a special field trip and were leaving for it today..."
Carl replied, with a condescending smile,
"I hope you take good note of it, Sir Dorian; we can't let the Emperor's guest be exposed like that. After all, His Majesty takes the security of our guests very seriously."
Sir Dorian quickly recovered from this and completed the tour. After this stopped for lunch and moved towards the Dark Magic Academy.