Xavier was looking at the result board hanging outside the Imperial Academy,
his eyes resting on his name.
Xavier Drakenfell – overall rank 2.
A hand fell on his shoulder as a sweet voice came from behind.
"You must be pretty embarrassed to be the only one from your family to ever rank below first," the voice belonged to Elena Goldsworth, overall rank 1, and her words were true. In the entire ducal family of Drakenfell, be it his ancestors or his cousins from the branch family, no one had ever ranked below first in the entrance exam at their times. Xavier, being the next heir to the Drakenfell dukedom, should actually have been embarrassed, but he didn’t care much about it.
"Well, it was just an entrance exam, so I held back," said Xavier.
"C’mon, don’t feel shy to admit that I am smarter than you," said Elena in a teasing tone. Elena was a childhood friend, also the daughter of the wealthiest merchant in the empire.
If anyone could tease a duke’s son, it was her.
"If it matters so much to you, then I won’t hold back next time. Be prepared," said Xavier.
"Hah, excuses." Just as Elena replied,
the huge gates of the academy fell open as there was a man standing in black scholar robes.
"Welcome, freshmen. I am Professor Jean Woodburn. Follow me,"
said the professor as the crowd of students followed him—nobles, commoners, and other races like beastkin and elves mixed in.
The Evander Empire had a diverse population with all types of races living in harmony.
The Imperial Academy was founded with the idea of helping noblemen find life partners, since it was difficult for young nobles to find a woman who could actually make them feel aroused, as in this world men had very specific arousal triggers different for each.
The academy helped a little but not too much, since the nobles and commoners found it difficult to bond due to different lifestyles and mindsets.
But Xavier was different from other nobles, retaining his memories from his previous life while also retaining his previous life’s fetishes; he felt horny from a single thought of women.
"We will now enter the main assembly hall, where you all will be divided into houses according to your affinities," Professor Woodburn’s voice cut into his thoughts.
They were now standing in a large hallway leading to yet another pair of large gates, which opened to reveal a vast central atrium with open galleries running along the upper floors, with an elevated stage at the end where a throne in the center lay empty, a few other professors standing ahead of the throne, with a crystal lying on a stand.
Xavier entered with the other students as he noticed eyes from above.
Senior students were present, watching from the open galleries of the upper floors; it was like entertainment for them.
Leaving the students behind, Professor Woodburn joined the other professors ahead.
"Now, one by one we will call your name. Come forward and place your hand on the crystal," said Professor Woodburn, clearly the one in charge here.
One by one, students’ names were called randomly as they went ahead and got their houses as the crystal under their hand shone with different colors.
With each selection, cheers came from the senior students of the same house.
"Blue, this one goes to Silverkeep."
"Yellow, this one to Dawncrest."
"Red, this one to Emberfell."
"Green, go ahead to Thornwall."
"Say, which house do you want?" asked Elena, standing next to Xavier.
"Does it matter?" asked Xavier.
"Of course it matters. I don’t wanna go to Thornwall; I heard their dorms are the dirtiest," said Elena.
"Elena Goldsworth, come forth," called the professor before Xavier could even answer.
She went ahead, and
"Red, Emberfell," said the professor as Emberfell seniors cheered once more.
"Next, Xavier Drakenfell." Without waiting, Xavier was called.
He went ahead and placed his hand on the crystal as he felt a little of his mana seep into the crystal, now glowing with a shimmering color.
"Red, to Emberfell." Cheers came once more, and he returned to his position.
"Hey, we got the same house," said Elena with a happy smile next to him.
With short silver hair framing her face in striking contrast to her vivid blue eyes and dark, almost-black lipstick. A delicate black-laced yoke adorned with a sapphire rested against her, echoed by golden wristbands set with matching sapphires. Her sense of fashion gave Elena an elegant yet quietly alluring presence.
"We sure did," said Xavier.
Soon all the students were assigned as house heads were then summoned by Professor Woodburn. Four senior students climbed down from the galleries and stood in front of the new students.
"Follow your house head to your dorms. Your rooms have been allotted based on your merit, so if you have any problems with your room, score better in the mid-semester exams to get reallocated," said Professor Woodburn.
In the Imperial Academy, perks were given according to merits; be it noble or commoner, if they scored high enough they could gain luxury dorm rooms, and if they scored low, they would be given average rooms—a system placed to encourage students to work hard.
Xavier followed the house head of Emberfell House, a muscular-looking man with small bull horns on his head, who led the freshmen through the hallways out of the main building, heading north, passing many researcher buildings and classroom halls, near the northern walls of the academy, where a tall building with the Emberfell crest on its door hung.
A sword sticking in flames as embers rose was the symbol on the Emberfell crest flag.
The other three dorm buildings were also visible near the northern wall, with Emberfell in the north, Silverkeep in the south, Thornwall in the east, and Dawncrest in the west, each building separated by almost half a mile and a non-functional water fountain in the center of the cross-section, which they all passed.
"There are four floors: the top two floors for the top rankers, the bottom two floors for the rest. There is also one main lobby for everyone, where games and a gathering area are open all hours," said the house head and opened the doors.
Everyone, upon entering, was left speechless; the insides were much larger than what appeared from the outside. There was clearly some kind of spatial magic in use, with Emberfell crest flags hanging on the walls and a vast central area with stairs going to the upper floor.
"Now, since the dorms are co-ed, there’s no separate building for any gender or any races. We live here together in harmony. Is that clear?" asked the house head.
Everyone responded with agreement in unison.
Discrimination against humanoid races was punishable under imperial law, and as for girls and boys living together, sexual harassment didn’t exist in this world since men only felt aroused upon finding the right woman.
"Your classes will begin tomorrow after a briefing session in the morning. For today, settle in and relax."
The house head then gave everyone their floor and room number as all of the freshmen dispersed to find their rooms.
Xavier climbed to the fourth floor to room no. 488.
He entered to find a luxurious room with large windows, a clean marble floor, a huge bed, a large closet full of clothes as the academy provided everything for all students, a study table, a tea table, luxury sofas and chairs, and an attached bathroom with a shower and a large Roman-styled bathtub. Xavier found his new academy clothes on his bed: a white shirt with a dark navy-blue jacket and trousers.
Knock knock.
On Xavier’s door, he went ahead to open it and found a wolf-girl with brown hair and blonde streaks mixed in, wearing maid clothes.
"May I come in, young master?"
Elena’s uncensored art is available on my discord: .gg/46RzQWVvsR