“Jacob”
“Jacob”
The voice called me. It was a warm voice.
I could feel the cool wind brushing against me, the warmth of the sun on my skin. I saw endless grass around me. The scene is like one of those fairy tale books. The girl warmly called me once again.
“Jacob”
“Jacob”
The young girl’s blond hair was blown by the wind as her hand reaches to me.
I hesitated for a moment as I reached my hand toward her. She was gone.
Suddenly the blast of a train horn enters my ears as I found myself in the train holding my book.
Oh, it was just a dream. I opened my pocket watch briefly, then slipped it back and tucked my book into my jacket. As the train neared the station, I grabbed my suitcase.
It has been a trip to reach the harbour.
As the train finally stopped, I put on my hat as I set foot on the station.
I can see the harbour nearby as the wind and the smell of the sea hits me.
It took a few minutes to finally leave the station as I walk towards the harbour.
In the harbour among all the ships and boats, one ship stands out than any other. The Grand Marian Ship, the largest ship recently made.
I sighed immediately as I see a long line of people is waiting to ride the large ship. Well, it can’t be help. As I was about to get in line a steward approaches me and asks me.
“May I have your name, sir?
“Yes, the name is Jacob R. Holland”
“Oh, Sir Holland. Pardon my manners. Would you please follow me”
The steward leads me to another entrance to The Grand Marian Ship. I felt I was lucky that I don’t need to take a long line to enter the ship.
“The entrance for students is over here. Oh, can I have your suitcase please?”
I gave him my suitcase as he continued to lead me to the ship. The ship indeed deserves the title of the noble’s favourite prestigious ship.
The ship’s interior is decorated by many fancy furniture and intricate designed interiors. The steward guided me to my private room and put my suitcase.
“Thank you”
“It is a pleasure to provide a good service. We provide dinner in our dining room at 6 pm but you can also order drinks at any time. We have music room and reading rooms for you to relax. If you need anything you can call us by pulling this rope.”
“I see, thank you”
“Our ship will depart in 2 hours. You may stroll around and look at the scenery while at it. Enjoy your stay”
As the steward left me alone, I immediately put my hat on a hanger and lay down on my bed.
“It seems my life as a student of the Academy starts now”, I spoke to myself
I look around my room and see a book on a desk. I approach the desk and read the title.
“Introductory of The Imperial Academy”
A book to introduce life in the academy? Since I got nothing to do might as well read it
I managed to read the entire 200-page book in a few hours. I didn’t expect for the book to give such extensive details for the academy. It explains the history, areas, buildings, classes, and even the student credits system. The book also said only around 70% of students enrolled managed to graduate. It is to be expected such a prestigious academy to have very high standards.
Looks like the ship has already departed. I might as well look around the ship perhaps I might catch a good scenery.
I grab my book and walks outside my room. There should be a dining room somewhere nearby. As I look around the ship I accidentally stumble upon a young girl and drop my book.
“I’m sorry I didn’t see you there. Here let me take this book for you”, she spoke in a gentle voice.
“Thank you”
“You’re welcome”, she replied as she gives a gentle nod.
I walk away as I continue admiring the ship’s design and soon, I found a dining room. The dining room is filled with many people most likely from noble descent. Young men cheerfully talk with each other about their plan in the academy while I can hear the ladies already gossiping about men. The people don’t seem to notice my presence so I decide to sit at the edge of the room and observe them from a distance. I decide to order a cup of tea while at it.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
While waiting I decide to read my book. It is a mystery novel written by a famous author. The novels she wrote usually has impressive plot twists I wonder what kind of twist the novel has. I planned to read it throughout my trip in the train but I didn’t expect for me fall asleep.
Suddenly I noticed a man is approaching my table. He has a dark slick back hair and unique red eyes like a pair of rubies. He dressed in a fancy suit and a shoulder cape. I immediately recognized that man he is none other than the prince of the empire, Julius Rosario Leonhart.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, I believe you must be sir Holland”
“No, the pleasure is mine, your highness.”
I immediately notice the entire room’s gaze on me. This is rather uncomfortable.
“Oh no need to address me as such. In this academy we all stand equally as students. As long we’re in this academy you may address by my name, Julius”
“Your humility is worthy of admiration, Julius”
“Hahaha, this is nothing. As a prince it is our duty to lead with humility.”
“Since I can address you by name then you should may address by mine. Call me Jacob”
“Jacob, it is a pleasure to meet you. I believe that I had the honour talk with your brother Claude before”
“Is that so?”
“Indeed, we talk about business before and I hope we can be in a good relationship in the academy.”
“Of course, it would be great to establish a good relationship with a prince”
“Well, it seems I have another business to attend to. It is nice meeting you, Jacob. May we meet again”.
“It is nice meeting you too, Julius”.
Julius leaves to greet another group of students but now everyone in the room starts gossiping with each other. I know that would catch unnecessary attention. I should quickly drink my tea and head back to my room.
As the waiter serve me tea. I read my book and pretend not to notice the others gossips. As I sip my tea I noticed a familiar girl in the entrance. She looked around the room for a while before she notices me.
“There you are. I tried to call you but you left before I had a chance”
“What’s the matter for you to find me?”
“Here you dropped this”, she answered as she showed me a pocket watch.
I quickly searched my pockets and noticed that I indeed have lost it.
“Thank you”, I answered as I open the pocket watch. Indeed, it was mine.
“Um, I can’t help but notice that your pocket watch is broken”
“Oh, yeah it has been a while and I never had a chance to bring it for repair.”
“If you want, I can fix it for you. Though not right now I don’t have the tools with me”
“You know how to fix it?”
“Yeah, my father is a clock smith. I learned it from him”
I immediately noticed the gaze of others in the room. They seem to be gossiping about the girl’s looks. She indeed dress rather simply though it might be considered fairly well for commoners but she dressed unbefittingly in a noble’s standard. As I shift my gaze back to her, she immediately noticed the gossips from others.
“Don’t think much of what others talk about here. They only care about status and appearances. I believe even as a commoner the fact that you’re here means you stand equally to everyone else in this room”
“Oh, I apologize if I bring discomfort with my appearance”
“No, not at all. In fact, why don’t we talk for a cup of tea”, I replied as I ordered another cup of tea for her.
“Thank you, how should I address you?”
“The name is Jacob R. Holland but you can call me Jacob”
“Holland? As if from the Holland family?”
“Yes, the very same one. Though it doesn’t mean much for me. It is but a family name”
“Oh, I see it is a pleasure to meet you, Jacob. My name is Katherine Roth”
“Miss Roth, it is a pleasure meeting you.”
“Call me Katherine. Oh, I apologize but I also actually open the pocket watch you dropped.”
“Oh, its fine”
“If I may ask who is that girl in the photo?”
I open my pocket watch as I see the picture in it. It was young beautiful girl with a long blonde hair around the age of 12.
“She’s my sister, Rochelle. I kept this picture in my pocket watch as a reminder for myself”
“A reminder for?”
“A reminder that all I have done is for her”
She seemed to notice a bit of emotion from my answer and decides to change the topic.
“Oh, I noticed that you spoke with that man over there. Is that your friend?”, as she looked towards Julius.
“No, he is the prince of the empire. An acquaintance of my brother though this is first time I actually talked to him”
“He seems to be a gentleman.”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t interact with him much.”
“Why is that?”
“First, he is a prince, that means everyone who interacts with him is bound to invite problems. There are many powerful people competing against each other to form a relationship with him hoping one day they can gain strategic position once he became emperor. Second, the gentleman persona is but a fa?ade. He is very much focus on forming strategic relationships with powerful people to consolidate power. He acts kind at the front but he would eliminate anyone who stand in his way even if it means using dirty tactics”
“I think it is too soon for me to judge by his looks”
“You don’t need to judge by his looks. There are already many rumours circulating around him. All of his alliances are merely for political purposes. But it is up to you to decide. I am merely a guy who talks what is on my mind.”
“I see, thank you for telling me this I’ll keep that in mind. Sorry, I don’t know much about politics”
Either she was politically na?ve or far more deceptive than she appeared. For her to not know anything about the prince at all is very much surprising. If she is deceptive, she wouldn’t have feign ignorance about the prince’s identity. So, the former is very much a more plausible case.
As we continue to talk over tea, I noticed the sun is setting soon. Katherine noticing my gaze invited me to watch the scenery together.
“Do you want to see outside?”
“Sure”
We both leave the dining hall together and as we open the door outside, I can immediately feel the strong wind from the sea. I can see the sun setting on the horizon as I watch seagulls flying nearby the water.
“My father said how beautiful the view is so he asked me to see the view from the ship at least once. He was right. I never a sight as beautiful as this my entire life.”
As I silently watch the view in awe, I noticed the girl beside me as her long brown hair blown by the wind. Her blue eyes reflect the view of the sea. At this very moment I felt I am admiring a living painting. The girl despite her simple attire reflects a form of beauty. A beauty comes from simplicity. I cannot understand how those people inside the room would look down such a figure when they cannot see anything beyond glamour and status. They claimed they know what beauty means yet they are blinded by mere passing vanity.
“Jacob, is something wrong with my looks?”
Oh, she seems to have noticed my gaze.
“I apologize I was only contemplating about the view”
“Is that so? I understand that such a view does make me feel inspired in a sense”
At least I managed to avert an awkward scenario.
We stayed for there for a while in silence and went back inside.
“It has been a great pleasure to meet you, Jacob. Let us be friends. I hope we can have a great time in the academy together”, she spoke as she offers a handshake.
“Yes, let us have a great time in the academy”, I answered as I accepted her handshake.
We then leave to our own rooms as we wait for dinner.
By 6 pm, I decide to eat dinner in my own room and continue to read my novels until I sleep.
I managed to sleep around 11 pm. Luckily the ship didn’t make so much turbulence so I wasn’t bothered much all night.
By the morning, I woke up by the sound of the ship’s horn and quickly tidy myself up as I head towards the dining room for breakfast.
As expected, the room is filled with many people by this hour as I managed to find Katherine in a table as she seems to be chatting with other girls.
By this sight I decided to leave her be and not bother her. Additionally, I’m not that good talking with ladies. As I managed to find a table for myself.
Fortunately, no one noticed my presence as I can enjoy my breakfast by myself. After breakfast I noticed that we’re getting close to our destination as I see many people is watching the view outside.
I managed to see a glimpse of the island we’re heading. This island is where the Imperial Academy resided. At this moment I imagine what kind of events awaits in the academy. A story filled with turmoil, a romantic story or perhaps a story of friendship and wonders? Perhaps these scenarios only exist in novels but I still can’t help but wonder if these stories can be real.
