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The Pony Puzzle – Part 01

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The princess cared for nothing but her pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. It was the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck.

She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow.

—Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid

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As it had for the past several centuries, summer had once again come to the vast campus of St. Marguerite Academy, pride of the kingdom of Sauville.

European summer, with its damp, bright sunlight.

The grass was a lush green, the fountain flowing slow and steady like a melting pillar of ice, the flowers in the flowerbeds in full bloom.

As the summer break began, all the students disappeared from the school’s huge U-shaped building and the luxurious dormitories, spending their holidays in ways befitting the aristocracy—just having fun however they wanted.

The first day of summer vacation.

Dazzling sunlight poured down on the now-empty academy.

A squirrel scurried from the woods up to the gazebo.

In St. Marguerite’s Grand Library, a majestic stone building located in a corner of the campus, sat, as always, a mysterious little girl.

Clothed in a luxurious dress of frills and laces, she was holding a book in her hand, pouting somewhat sullenly. Rosy cheeks. Deep green eyes, fair as jewels. Long golden hair that cascaded softly like a bundle of silk threads.

The girl—Victorique de Blois—was supposed to spend a long summer alone in the historic, empty school.

Because the girl didn’t know how to stop the boy from leaving, didn’t know what to say to make him stay. And so she was supposed to welcome the summer all by herself.

The year is 1924.

The Kingdom of Sauville, a small country in Western Europe bordered by France, Italy and Switzerland. If the port city facing the Gulf of Lyon was the entrance to its long and narrow territory, the foot of the Alps, bordering Switzerland, was the secret attic of the small but powerful little giant of Western Europe, where a secretive academy stood quietly.

A hot and quiet summer had arrived at the four-hundred-year old school.

The boy left the dormitory, running across the lush green lawns of the garden.

To meet the golden girl.

“This is bad. I gotta see Victorique!”

Thus began the pair’s long summer break.

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Chapter 01: The Pony Puzzle

A bright summer morning.

St. Marguerite Academy.

Up until yesterday, students in their uniforms filled the huge U-shaped school building’s classrooms, teachers hurrying down the corridors, but this morning, the high-ceilinged hallways and the auditorium, with their stained-glass windows, were all deserted. Only traces of yesterday’s clamor remained in the silence.

The first morning of the summer break.

Once it was time to leave, students came out of their respective dormitories, dressed in their most fashionable shirts, boots, fancy dresses, every face brimming with joy and anticipation as they pictured the long summer vacation that was about to begin.

Water sprinkling down the fountain glistened under the summer sunlight pouring down from the boundless blue sky. The students walked across the campus, dragging their heavy suitcases, and headed for the main gate of St. Marguerite Academy, every one of them talking about their plans.

These children of the aristocracy would be joining their families for a luxurious holiday. In a few minutes, all of them would crowd the small station, the only one in the village, and board the train.

Far away from the clamorous, joyful buzz, there was a boy sitting quietly in his room in the dormitory.

Kazuya Kujou.

Since earlier he had been at his mahogany desk, where textbooks and notebooks lay open, studying as he always did.

Yet he couldn’t help but notice the jolly ruckus coming from outside the window.

Summer vacation, huh? I wish I had plans to go somewhere. It would take too much time and money to go back home, so I’ll have to stay at the academy. Two whole months, though. That’s a really long time.

He let out a sigh. Suddenly, he heard the sound of something hitting the French window. Kazuya glanced up and, as he wondered what it was, something hit it again, a little harder this time.

Pebbles.

Kazuya opened the window and peered outside.

There was a girl looking up at Kazuya’s room on the second floor. When Kazuya emerged from the window, her face lit up with joy.

She had short blonde hair and big, sparkling blue eyes. She was sitting on a suitcase, swinging her slender legs.

Her name was Avril Bradley, an international student who arrived from England a few months ago and became friends with Kazuya through several incidents.

She waved her hand at Kazuya. “Kujou, do you have plans for summer break?”

“N-No.”

“Wanna come with me to the Mediterranean?”

Kazuya looked perplexed. “You mean the Mediterranean?”

Avril nodded. Shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, she squinted.

“Yup! My grandma—Sir Bradley’s wife—has a small but cozy villa. I’ll be spending a month with her before heading back home to England. She said I could bring a friend. But they have to be well-mannered. So, uhh…”

“Me?”

“Well, you’re well-mannered…”

Avril suddenly turned red and fidgety. She looked up at Kazuya, her brows furrowed worriedly.

“The Mediterranean, huh?” Kazuya’s face took on a thoughtful and distant look.

Yellow sun. White sand. Tanned, leisurely people. A table full of fresh fish and shellfish.

And a boundless, blue sea…

Kazuya’s face lit up. “Thanks for the invite. I’m coming with you!”

“Really?” Avril beamed. She waved her hands in the air, jumping up and down. “I’m taking the afternoon train, so make sure your bags are packed by noon. I’ll wait for you at the main gate later!”

“Okay!”

Feeling excited, Kazuya waved back at Avril and went back inside to start packing.

He was earnestly sifting through his belongings—textbooks, changes of clothes, his swimwear—when he heard a knock at the door.

He glanced up. “It’s ope—”

Before he could finish, the door burst open.

The red-haired dorm mother was standing there. Since it was summer break already, she was not wearing her usual apron, but instead a red dress that matched her hair and emphasized her curves. Kazuya, his cheeks red, asked her what was going on.

But the dorm mother only looked around the room without saying anything.

“Um, can you please stop looking for oriental clothes and accessories in my room?” Kazuya said.

She chuckled. “People love the stuff I take from here.”

“Take? More like rob if you ask me. So, did you need anything?”

The dorm mother, rummaging through the piles of luggage on the bed, snapped back to her senses.

“Uh yes, I did.”

“I see…”

“I forgot what it was. Wait, I remember now! A letter!” She shoved her hand into her cleavage in search of something. “It’s not here,” she mumbled. She searched her breast and hip pockets.

“I didn’t bring it with me!” She left the room and returned just as Kazuya was almost finished packing and had forgotten about her altogether.

“Here you go!” She handed him a letter that was sent by a family from back home. “I went to the post office and saw a letter addressed to you, so I took it.”

“Th-Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With a wave of her hand, the dorm mother left, closing the door behind her.

Kazuya, having finished packing, glanced at the wall clock. There was still quite some time before noon.

He turned his gaze to the letter and saw the sender’s name.

“Ah!”

Kazuya’s eyebrows twitched, and he bolted out of his room.

“This is bad. I gotta see Victorique!”