The Crown Prince Thinks I'm a Guy

A Brother's Concern

The Lunar Academy was built on the magical Forests of Elara, just outside the City of Lunaris. The Forests grow deeper and denser as it nears the northwestern reaches of the continent. It goes further below to encompass the mystical forest of Western Aerim. No one exactly knows when the Forests of Elara end and when the mystical forest begins, but it's not like it matters all that much. Both forests are mysterious in similar ways.

I mean, the Academy itself is surrounded by pink-leaved trees, but no one has ever even seen any pink-tinged forests in the continent before. Inwardly, I believed that we were already in a realm separate from the normal world.

Trumpets blared, announcing the arrival of the head professor. The old man sauntered into the hall from the central doors, opening it up without lifting a hand. He was wizened in age, and glowed brightly in his white robe and hair. His eyes were a icy, frozen blue. Students, both young and old, made way for the man, and the chatterings from before all dwindled down into silent whispers.

The head professor floated up onto the platform on the far middle of the wide hall, faced forward, and gazed at his awestruck audience with a unfocused stare. For a moment, I thought he had stopped his inspection as we met eyes, but it happened so fast that I doubted it had even happened.

"Di-Did he just look at us?" Joren asked in a harried whisper. I could only shrug while Albert tugged at the boy's sleeves to shut him up.

Then, the head professor finally opened his lips. "Often does the moon wane, and the flowers wilt, but as the silver light reaches full circle, tides are higher and greater, ready to decimate the very shores, wiping out all decay."

I had to take in his words as a few confused murmurs came from my other batchmates. Joren, in particular, had a very troubled expression. "Moon? Tides? What's the old man talkin' about? Has he gone senile?"

I was glad Albert had slapped him on the head first for I would have done it instead. The black-eyed boy muttered angrily, "Don't call the continent's best mage a-a senile person, you dolt. He meant that our generation will easily take over the older ones."

"Hah?" Joren simply stared at the boy openmouthedly.

"He means," I uttered out. "... that the younger group of people can become even better than the adults. It means we can transcend and become stronger."

"Ohh..." Joren said with a smile. "You could've just told me that, Al. I would've understood with no problem!"

Albert sighed in apparent exhaustion, and I turned my gaze back towards the old man, hiding my own chuckling. It was a surprise, however, to see the old man gazing at our group fondly. He then cleared his throat, and continued his speech, "For years, the Academy has gone through numerous names, countless head professors, and even more students, yet our goal remains the same."

He paused for a moment, and turned towards our left side, where the older students stood in various clusters. Immediately, as though it was all planned, the whole room started to synchronously recite, "Oobra-thama, Kiipayapa, Dakalaman."

I noted how Albert said the weird words under his breath, his eyes shining in excitement, and I also noted how Joren simply flinched in shock. I, too, was in a state in between those feelings. The words were foreign and quite weird, but I didn't feel any malice from them either.

'What do they mean?' I thought in wonder. I didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Do what's right, keep the peace, and strengthen our knowledge," the head professor said solemnly. "Very few information has been made known about this ancient institution, but these are the only mandates that holds true and keeps our identity throughout the years. We do what is right. We ensure that peace remains in our world. And we continue to research and widen our scope of knowledge.