The Thorne Ducal Residence in the Empire's capital is quite a distance from the Imperial Palace.
It is estimated to be half an hour away by carriage.
On one of the roads going to the Imperial Palace, a luxurious carriage is moving at a steady pace.
Two hooded individuals were seated in front of the carriage, acting as the coachmen.
The carriage doors and the rear were engraved with a symbol that all citizens of the empire recognized.
A dark blue shield-like shape.
At the center of the shield is a gold dragon standing on all four legs with its wings partially unfurled.
It's back and tail are covered in sharp thorns.
And that majestic beast is clutching a sword in its front claw.
It was the renowned emblem of the only Duchy of the Empire.
The Duchy of Thorne.
"Mom, look! That carriage is beautiful!"
"Oh my, the duke's carriage is here!"
"Duke!"
The people on the roadside, upon seeing the emblem…
They immediately waved and smiled toward the running carriage.
Inside that said carriage are four stunning men.
Three of them possess heights that are taller than the average man.
Their sizes differ slightly from each other, but they all have that standard knightly body that most women would define as the ideal body for men.
The fourth man inside the carriage is a young man.
He is tall as well… but he is the shortest among the four.
His body doesn't belong to the knightly category as he has a slim waist, arms, and legs.
And that young man is now busy looking at the scenery out of the window.
"Dad, the people of the Empire are good people."
Jeremy said as he noticed quite a lot of people on the roads waving and smiling toward their carriage.
The windows of their carriage are heavily tinted.
The four of them can see what's going on outside.
But the people outside, they don't know if their waves and smiles were seen by the people inside the carriage.
'But they still smiled and waved to greet us…they were nice.'
Jeremy thought.
"Yes, they are good people."
The duke, who was sitting beside him, said while his eyes were looking at the people waving toward their carriage.
"That's right, the Empire does have good people."
Darius joined their conversation while his eyes held a gentle gaze toward the people outside who were greeting them.
He is sitting across from the duke and Jeremy.
Beside him is his younger brother, Desmond.
"Well, I guess there are some good people that can be found in this Empire."
Desmond smirked as he also said something to join the conversation.
He then leaned toward the window with an expression full of interest.
'Hmm? Why do I feel like their words have other meanings?'
Jeremy thought after hearing both of his brothers' words.
But before he could dwell on his thoughts, his focus shifted to something else.
Right now, their carriage is passing by a massive estate.
"Aurelian Imperial Academy."
Jeremy opened his mouth and read the massive engravings on its gate.
For a massive academy, it looks desolate as there are no students or teachers in its area right now.
"Oh, right! You'll be entering that place a week from now."
Darius talked to him in a gentle tone.
Jeremy nodded his head in agreement.
Next week is the start of the school year for all educational institutions across the empire.
Currently, he is seventeen years old…the same age as his original body.
In the Aurelian Empire, they created an education system that aligned the students' ages to different stages.
The first one is the foundation stage.
During the ages of seven to thirteen years old, children will decide which path they should take.
In this age range, some children will discover that they have an affinity for mana, which means that their best choice is to learn in a mage school.
'Just like how the duke's family discovered this body's affinity for mana at the age of eight.'
Jeremy thought and then remembered his father and brothers, who are gifted in swordsmanship.
Some children in this age range also discover that they are good at swordsmanship or martial arts…
This makes most of them want to be knights or be in the military.
'Yes, Dad and my brothers followed the knight's path during their student days.'
Meanwhile, those who are not gifted in both, especially noble children…
They will take the formal education related to noble duties only.
But children in the foundation stage are not yet introduced to educational institutions.
They only learn elementary-level knowledge about the path they have chosen.
The second level is the preparatory stage, specifically for children around fourteen to sixteen years old.
This is the age range where children become students in an educational institution.
For those who took the military path, they have institutions where children will be able to train with wooden weapons, learn strategy, and horsemanship.
For those who took the mage path, there are institutions to learn ancient runes, history, and basic alchemy.
But some of the children of this age range didn't go to institutions.
Jeremy recalled that the novel mentioned that the duke assigned private tutors to each of his sons.
'My brothers and I had private tutors to teach us.'
Most of the noble children have their own tutors at this age range.
But private tutors can only teach theories and basic skills…
They won't be able to give them a full experience of what it was like to be a knight or a mage in real-life scenarios.
Therefore…
At the age of seventeen, children who took the military and mage path…
They need to go to a school to learn things that their private tutors won't be able to teach them.
They have schools to learn and experience advanced tactics, live combat, and leadership if they are taking the military path.
For those who want to be a mage, they have schools to fully research, experiment, and master everything related to magic.
And in this empire, there's a school that most of the young men and women aspire to enter to learn their chosen path.
The greatest school for both aspiring to be knights and mages.
But, only those privileged and fortunate enough could be allowed to study in that academy.
The Aurelian Imperial Academy.
'The privileged are those students from imperial or noble families.'
While…
'The fortunate enough are those commoners who were able to pass several tests before finally being allowed to enroll in the academy.'
Jeremy pondered whether these two categories of students would become a problem in his student life later on.
"I hope I can have a comfortable and peaceful life in the academy."
He mumbled as he finally took his eyes away from the window.
He then heard his father speaking.
"If there's someone evil enough to make your life difficult there, just tell me."
"Yes, little bro…just tell us, and we'll deal with them."
Desmond spoke as he patted both of Jeremy's shoulders at the same time.
"You don't have to worry about that… I'll protect him there."
Darius announced, clearly reminding everyone about him.
'Ah, right… Big Brother Darius is said to be an instructor in the Imperial Academy.'
Jeremy realized that and suddenly felt reassured that he would have a peaceful student life later.
. . .
Inside the high walls of the Imperial Palace are countless palaces and halls with their own functions.
There are palaces in the outer court.
They are grand palaces used for state ceremonies, receiving foreign ambassadors, and issuing imperial edicts.
And the palaces in the inner court…
They are residential palaces for every member of the Aurelian Imperial Family.
And right now, the duke's carriage is slowly stopping at the entrance of one of the residential palaces.
'The Diamond Palace…'
Jeremy recalled the name of this place.
They are currently here at the entrance of the emperor's residential palace.
The moment their carriage stopped, Jeremy saw the door opening.
A hooded individual opened their carriage door.
On each side of the door, the two hooded coachmen who drove their carriage earlier… stood there in a servile manner.
"Your Grace and Young Masters, we're here."
Frederick said as he took off his hood and humbly bowed his head toward the duke's family.
Jude also took off his hood and stood beside the door, waiting to assist his master.
"Alright."
The duke, who was the nearest to the door, said as he went out first.
The moment the duke stepped out of the carriage, he turned and started stretching his hand toward Jeremy.
At the same time as the duke stretched his hand toward the carriage doorway, Jude and Frederick also offered their hands to assist the youngest master.
At the same moment that they all had extended their hands toward the person…
Jeremy had already calmly stepped down to the ground.
When Jeremy straightened himself, he noticed three hands floating in front of him.
"Hmm? What is it?"
Jeremy asked as he felt bewildered by the hands in front of him.
Immediately, the duke and the two servants retracted their hands as if nothing had happened.
"Pfft."
A snicker came from behind Jeremy.
Desmond is snickering as he is about to get off the carriage.
Desmond was trying to hold his laughter after seeing what had just happened right now.
'What is he so happy about?'
Jeremy wondered as he moved away so that his brother could get out of the carriage.
Unbeknownst to him, the duke is glaring at his snickering second son.
After Desmond stepped on the ground, Darius also stepped outside.
"Welcome, Your Grace and Young Masters!"
As soon as all of them got off the carriage, a chamberlain went to them respectfully.
The chamberlain then guided them toward the garden of the emperor's palace.
"Your Grace, Young Masters…please wait for a moment as I call His Majesty."
The chamberlain said as he let them sit around the table with different snacks and tea.
The duke nodded, and immediately, the chamberlain left.
Once the chamberlain left, Jeremy took a chocolate cupcake and ate it.
Frederick stood behind the duke.
And Jude stood behind Jeremy.
They are on standby in case their masters need their assistance.
"Mhmm…this is delicious."
Jeremy praised the dessert as he took another one and fed it to Desmond, who was beside him.
"Try it, Brother Demi."
Desmond immediately smiled as he opened his mouth to eat the cupcake on Jeremy's hand.
After he sent it to his stomach, he nodded his head in appreciation and said.
"Yeah, it's very delicious."
Desmond then fell into thought.
He never liked sweets.
But every time his youngest brother feeds him something sweet…
'I can't help but like it.'
Desmond smiled as he opened his mouth again to Jeremy.
Upon seeing him open his mouth, Jeremy smiled and fed him another cupcake.
The duke looked at his two sons and fell into a deep thought as well.
'Why is that punk acting like a baby in front of his younger brother?'
He looks at his second son with disdain.
Meanwhile, Darius fell silent upon seeing his youngest brother feeding his younger brother.
'Will I look childish if I ask Jeremy to feed me?'
Darius wondered as he imagined himself being fed by his youngest brother.
'How nice it would be if my youngest brother could feed me.'
He thought as he witnessed Desmond's shameless behavior of asking Jeremy to feed him again.
He can't help but envy Desmond's shamelessness.