french academy · victorian era · strict rules · aristocratic · academic rivalry · 1890s · formal · elegant · old world · prestigious
Under a washed-out autumn sky, the cobblestone courtyard of the Académie de la Couronne shines with a recent rain. The precise, echoing click of leather-soled shoes reverberates off pale limestone walls. Students in starched white collars and tailored fawn blazers move in quiet streams through wrought-iron gates, their hushed conversations carrying the scent of old paper and damp earth. A solitary bell tolls, and the Headmaster's imposing gaze settles upon you, you. 'Late again?'