Vacanta was completely covered with thick and bearable snow but the heavy snowfall had ended for now. It was a perfect but freezing day for Lithanya and Yaithra to travel to Celestina. Lithanya and Yaithra were already standing outside in front of their family. It was going to be difficult for the entire family to adjust because they weren’t used to being separated. This was also the first time Lithanya and Yaithra were going to be out of Tellus.

  Lithanya and Yaithra were standing in front of their family. Yaithra was showing some sadness while Lithanya’s expression remained the same, no expression. The twins hugged their older sisters tightly for a few minutes. They even squashed their sisters tightly like pillow cases.

  “Ah! Girls!”, Lithanya and Yaithra heard their muscles crack.

  The twins released them then allowed Harina to hug them. Harina did the exact same thing by hugging them tightly. Lithanya and Yaithra glanced at each other in pain. Harina released them but still stood in front of them. Her main focus went to Yaithra.

  “Make sure that Lithanya takes her supplements. I want you to watch her take them.”, Harina said firmly.

  Lithanya rolled her eyes while Yaithra smiled. “Of course.”, Yaithra agreed.

  Ashok came forward. “All right, girls. Make sure that you’ll learn everything in the academy, including the techniques, powers and solving cases. Also, avoid being around the Huang family. Don’t even come close to them after what they did many years ago.”, he said firmly.

  The girls nodded firmly. “Absolutely.”

  He was happy to hear that. “Do well in the academy and make sure that you’ll become an investigator so you can take the throne.”, he said firmly and looked at Lithanya with a firm nod.

  Lithanya nodded one more time and she knew what that firm nod meant. “Okay.”

  “It’s time to go, girls. Be careful.”, he warned them.

  Lithanya and Yaithra acknowledged one more time before waving at their family. After they waved at their family, they walked down the stairs and slowly started disappearing in the thin air. Ashok used the transportation spell on Lithanya and Yaithra for them to reach their destination quickly.

  Lithanya and Yaithra had arrived in front of the gates. It was the same two investigators standing by the gates. When they saw the ladies standing by the gates, they immediately opened the gate since they recognised one of them. Lithanya thanked him while walking into the premises. Yaithra did thank him as well but at a faster pace because she was afraid to meet new people.

  Since Lithanya had enough time, she was looking at the most beautiful garden she had ever seen before. There were so many flowers that she had never seen before. The sunlight was reflecting on the flowers and trees, bringing some sparklings on them. In the middle of the garden was a long and wide golden fountain with different coloured fish in the water. On the other hand, Yaithra came closer to Lithanya because she was so scared to be in the new environment.

  The women had arrived in front of the entrance with their hands together. Lithanya stopped in front of the investigator she recognised the other day.

  “Good morning, I’m Princess Lithanya.”, she introduced herself in case he did forget.

  “Good morning, your majesty. Please wait in the main entrance hall for your servant.”, he opened the door for her.

  “Thank you.”, she bowed, then walked into the building.

  Yaithra walked into the room quickly to keep up with her sister. Lithanya stood in the centre of the main entrance hall and waited patiently for her servant. It wasn’t for long when a young and beautiful woman appeared by the stairs.

  “Princess Lithanya!”, the woman wanted to clarify.

  Lithanya turned to the woman. “Yes.”

  The woman stopped in front of her. “I’m Marie-Anna Loveit. I’m going to be your servant for ten years.”, she introduced herself.

  “Nice to meet you.”, Lithanya bowed. “This is my sister and right hand knight, Yaithra Manrayar.”, she introduced Yaithra.

  Marie-Anna offered Yaithra a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”

  Yaithra looked at Marie-Anna’s hand. Yaithra never shook someone’s hand before which was making her really uncomfortable. Instead, she bowed to Marie-Anna.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  Marie-Anna looked at Lithanya. “We don’t do handshakes. Touching strangers isn’t allowed in Tellus and Mortalis.”, Lithanya mentioned.

  Marie-Anna nodded with a small smile. “Please follow me.”, she let out her hand on her right.

  Marie-Anna started walking first to show the two women the direction. Lithanya and Yaithra walked together, making sure their shoulders were touching each other. While they were walking, Yaithra were looking at the white and golden mystical patterns on the walls.

  In front of them were another two more tall golden doors. Marie-Anne flicked her fingers in the air which made a chime sound across the building. The doors slowly opened revealing the brightest light in the building. Marie-Anna stopped then looked at the women.

  “After you.”, she said politely.

  Lithanya and Yaithra were slightly nervous because they didn’t know what they were going to expect once they were out of the building. They cautiously walked to the entrance with their hands together. As soon as they came out of the building into a bright light, they stopped by the top step. Their eyes couldn’t believe what they were seeing right now.

  There were hundreds of different shapes of massive buildings, more massive than the palaces in Tellus. Behind the buildings were massive and enchanting mountains that were sparkling underneath the sunlight. Further away from the land was another land surrounded by the ocean and the land was covered with thousands of buildings that looked like an enchanted village. Everything about this place looked so magical and mystical.

  Marie-Anna appeared next to the sisters. “Welcome to the real Celestina and The Investigator’s Academy.”, she said with some happiness.

  Lithanya and Yaithra couldn’t speak because they were more interested in the scenery of Celestina. Marie-Anna started walking down the stairs to distract the women from the scenery. Lithanya managed to come back to reality and followed Marie-Anna. Lithanya took her sister’s hand and made Yaithra walk with her. While they were walking, they were having a better look at the academy now that they were getting closer.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Some people were walking in the premises, looking at the enchanted buildings. They were definitely the new students because all the new students had to be here by today. Lithanya and Yaithra were now walking in between the massive buildings. Their jaws slightly dropped while they were getting a closer look at the buildings.

  “So, what are the buildings for?”, Yaithra asked.

  “Each senior investigator has their own office. Everything that you see on the buildings are based on their personalities and their strongest powers.”, Marie-Anna explained.

  The sisters couldn’t take their eyes off the colourful, mystical and enchanted buildings. They had never seen anything like this before. Lithanya decided to have a conversation with Marie-Anna to get to know her better and to start the undercover investigation.

  “So Marie-Anna, how long have you been a servant here?”, she asked.

  “I’ve been a servant student for five years. This my first year as being an actual servant.”, she said with excitement. “And I’m really excited that I get to be the servant for the future empress.”

  Lithanya nodded. “Thank you for the compliment.”

  “How many students are attending this academy?”, Yaithra asked out of interest.

  “It depends.”, Marie-Anna answered. “But this year, we’ll see a large number of new students attending because the next heirs to take the thrones will have to attend the academy.”

  “With the number of continents in the four worlds, the number is going to be huge this year.”, Lithanya mentioned.

  “In Nymphaedra and Eldoria, there are more continents compared to Tellus and Mortalis.”, Yaithra mentioned.

  They were almost done looking at each of the senior’s buildings. Now they were heading to the dorms which were behind the mountains. Between the mountains was a long silver bright that was covered with royal purple, blue and pink flowers that also had crystal droplets hanging from the bridge. The three women came out of the mountains and were now walking on the bridge. As they were walking, they could see two massive crimson and black patterned buildings. The buildings were facing each other and in between them was an enchanted waterfall that was also sparkling underneath the sunlight. There were also a couple of small waterfalls connected to the main waterfall. Below the bridge was a beautiful royal purple lazy river.

  Lithanya, Yaithra and Marie-Anna had arrived on the other part of the academy. Lithanya and Yaithra didn’t expect the academy to be this massive. Lithanya was getting slightly excited despite not showing it because she knew that inside the buildings were going to be more massive on the inside than on the outside. The women had arrived in front of the building on the left which was the women’s dorm. Two tall crimson and black patterned doors opened slowly for the women. Lithanya and Yaithra looked through the gap while the doors were opening.

  Inside the building was a bright cherry blossom passage that looked almost like The Cherry Blossom Forest in Vacanta but more enchanting. Everything was looking so magical in the building already. The women walked into the building but they were taking a slow stroll to have a better look at the building. Lithanya and Yaithra had their jaws slightly dropped because they just couldn’t believe their eyes that they were looking at something so beautiful. Everything was looking like a fairytale and like a princess’s dream palace.

  After looking at the entire building that was mainly decorated with florals and sparkling droplet crystals, Lithanya and Yaithra were now in their own rooms. Their rooms were looking a bit empty, only a massive bed mattress lying in the middle of the massive room. Lithanya was definitely going to move the bed to the wall. There was a flight of stairs on her left that went to another section of the room. This room was more massive than she thought.

  Marie-Anna walked into the room. “This is your room and you can decorate the room.”, she said.

  Lithanya turned to her. “Really?”

  “Yes, according to your personality. Now that you’ve seen your room, let’s get your uniform and the books.”, she stated.

  Lithanya pretended to be dumbfounded. “Clothes?”

  “Your new clothes are in your wardrobe in that door.”, Marie-Anna pointed at the darker pink door on the left side of the bed. “Let’s go.”, she said with full excitement while walking out of the room.

  Lithanya was stunned that she had new clothes because Shilin didn’t ask what style she wanted due to the standards she needed to follow. But then she realised that there weren’t many standards in Celestina, just like Nymphaedra and Eldoria.

  Lithanya and Marie-Anna came out of the premises and were walking on a mountain with no buildings or people. Lithanya didn’t bring Yaithra along since it wasn’t a requirement for Yaithra to wear uniform. Lithanya was very confused about where she and her servant were going right now because there weren’t any buildings.

  “Marie, where are we going?”, she asked, cautiously.

  Marie-Anna had a small wicked smile. “You’ll see.”, she stopped in front of a dark green mountain.

  She lifted her index finger that had a bright golden light on the tip of the finger. Her finger drew a mystical star against the mountain. The golden patterned star went further into the mountain then disappeared instantly.

  A tall wooden and silver patterned door appeared then opened slowly. Lithanya looked through the small gap but was only seeing darkness. Marie-Anna walked into the mountain while Lithanya was skeptical due to the darkness.

  “Come on, nothing will happen.”, Marie-Anna eased her tension.

  Lithanya still had tension in her body. She walked into the mountain without thinking too much about it. When everything turned into brightness, Lithanya and Marie-Anna were now in a busy mystical village. Many new students and their servants were walking in the village. The squared shaped shops were well-spaced from each other which made it easier for everyone to walk. Birds were flying all over with letters in their mouths or delivering small boxes to shop owners. Every shop was super busy because of the new students getting their uniforms, books and weapons.

  Lithanya had her mouth slightly opened with shock. There were so many shops that had so many unique things that Lithanya had never seen before. Then she caught a massive royal blue and golden pattern building further down the village with a sign called…

  The Tarot Library.

  “Is this the biggest library in Celestina?”, Lithanya asked.

  Marie-Anna nodded. “There are two more libraries in Celestina. There’s also an island called The Island of Library.”

  She was getting interested in the island. “Where is that island?”

  “It’s in Southern Celestina. That's a three day trip.”, Marie-Anna then opened a golden door.

  Lithanya looked at the red building which was a uniform shop. She opened the door slowly then walked into the building.

  “Welcome!”, a young woman appeared with full happiness.

  Lithanya nearly flinched and held her chest. “Hello.”, she answered.

  “Welcome to the academy. I’m Brenda Forestwood, I’m going to be your designer and bookkeeper. May I know your name?”, she asked.

  “Lithanya Manrayar.”

  Brenda’s big golden eyes widened then she bowed to her. “Welcome to the academy, your majesty.”, she smiled. “Please follow me.”, she left out her hand.

  Lithanya was looking at some of the fabrics that were flying in the air and going into the shelf. Brenda waved her right hand in the air. Black and white fabrics came out of the shelves and were creating a couple of identical tunics. Light silver waves were surrounding the fabric that were making the uniforms. Lithanya was watching the entire process while still being stunned about how the process was happening.

  Brenda was looking at Lithanya with a confident smile. “Your uniforms are ready.”, she said.

  Lithanya let out her arms immediately while looking at her uniform and her uniforms landed on her arms safely. “Wow.”, she whispered.

  “If you want anything related to clothes or getting new books, you must always come to my shop.”, Brenda said with a bright smile.

  “Thank you.”, Lithanya appreciated it.

  Brenda was happy to hear that. “Before you leave, let’s get your books.”, she turned around and walked to the other door.

  Marie-Anna came closer. “Each designer has a maximum of twenty-five students from all of the years.”, she whispered. “Which explains the many buildings in this village.”

  Brenda came out of the room with a mountain of books floating behind her. “Here are your books.”

  Lithanya’s eyes widened when she caught the mountain of books. Brenda stopped in front of her with a smile. “Thank you, Brenda.”, Marie-Anna smiled.

  Marie-Anna flicked her fingers in the air to bring the books to her. The books slowly came to her and followed her to the door. Lithanya did a small bow, thanking Brenda for making the uniform. Then Lithanya walked to the door with her uniform. When she came out, she left the door open for the other student who was standing by the door.