Belvedere Academy

BELVEDERE

Dear Emma,
My first day here was the most uneventful first day in the history of first days. Nothing memorable happened. I arrived, was greeted by the Headmistress who I have to admit is really hot and looks way younger than I imagined. Then I was given a tour by the student council secretary, blah blah blah. It wasn't until the third day that things got interesting. I met someone special. Not in a romantic sense of course.

The person I met was a broody prince with sad eyes and a simple heart. He's loyal and honest. He likes to read books about war and plays chess when he's in deep thought. He cares for very little and has no interest in keeping up with appearances like everyone here. He doesn't involve himself in all the politics and power games. Not because he doesn't know how but because if he played, he'd win.

But even though he doesn't involve himself, people still follow him around and ask for his approval for anything important. He might as well be the king of Belvedere. But to me, he's my first ally here. I say this because as a legacy, there are no friends or enemies. Only allies and rivals. He taught me that. It's a twisted concept but it's one I must learn to survive. And I'm afraid you might need to learn it too.

XXX

I can feel the cool breeze of a gloomy afternoon as the car approaches Belvedere. I close the journal and put it in my bag. It's a huge estate that houses three separate buildings that look like medieval English castles, each very large in size and well maintained. One of these castles contains all the classrooms, labs, cafeteria and separate halls for indoor sports like basketball, volleyball, tennis. There's also a student lounge room that I didn't pay much attention to.

Then there's the large castle that serves as the students' quarters. Belvedere doesn't follow the normal boarding arrangement of separating the boys from the girls. The building has two wings. The luxurious rooms are found in the east wing while the west wing has adequate rooms. The allocation of rooms, like nearly everything else here is determined by your family name. There's also a gym and an indoor swimming pool.

The last building is the main castle, which is the home of the Belvederes, the family that runs this school. As far as I know, assemblies are held in the ball room every now and then. Other than that, students are not permitted to enter. A little distance away from the castles is Evelyn Lake, named after the first Belvedere who was part of the queen's court all the way back in the 1800s and among the first nobles. There's also a soccer field, football field, baseball field and tennis court. I can finally see for myself why Belvedere has been named the biggest educational facility in the world.

I tell the driver to park near the student building where two butlers are waiting to help me with my luggage. Mom refused to bring me to school and had insisted on having a driver take me instead. And today being a Friday, classes will be ending shortly. I'm very certain I'll be spotted by a few students. Orientation had already been done online through the school issued phone I received this morning. Not that I needed it, Molly's journal already filled me in on the basic things I needed to know about the school. The phone has a number of academic apps for every subject. And a school social media platform run by the school paper where we receive updates on school events and some general gossip. Though I can tell the phone is second hand because it has little scratches on the screen and it's already been customized. It's ocean blue with a crown of seashells in the center. All students are given the choice to have their school phone customized, at a price of course. I don't mind keeping the current design, it's cute and reminds me of The Little Mermaid.

My room is in the west wing despite the Carmichaels being one of the oldest families here. I'm not surprised though, I had already prepared for the hostility that I would receive from the other students and the school faculty. The news of my father's involvement with a notorious yakuza family in Japan was on every news channel and gossip magazine on the planet. Everyone knew about it and labeled the Carmichaels as a family of 'criminals'. I'm sure a number of people would try to use my father's situation against me. But I have a plan. Besides, I'm used to bullies. Back then, I had Molly to protect me. But she's gone now and it's hard for me to get used to that.