While the many young magical girls in the Silver Gallery were still busy forming teams, in an ancient building elsewhere in the Academy District, a grand and lavish hall had its doors opened.
Countless magical girls serving the Royal Court stood at the entrance. Not one spoke, and not one raised her head. They lined both sides of the doorway, pledging their allegiance in silence to a certain presence with respectful solemnity.
Footsteps sounded from beyond the doors.
The footsteps drew closer and closer until, at a certain moment, they reached the threshold and stepped into the space without hesitation.
It was a group of female knights clad in armor and uniforms, their expressions grave. Their attire lacked the gaudy flair common among magical girls. The neat, uniform black—or rather, deep black-and-gray—outfits lent their formation an added sense of solemnity. Their postures were straight and upright, their eyes fixed ahead, filled with vigilance as though the entire world might become their enemy at any moment.
The orderly formation strode forward amid the clatter of armor and passed through the doors. Close behind them, surrounded by the knights, were two elegantly dressed women.
Or rather, one looked like a "woman," while the other was a "girl."
The "woman" was wrapped from head to toe in a black nun's habit covered in lavish ornaments. A mask covered her eyes, and a blood-red ruby was set at its center, above the bridge of her nose. A faint smile rested at the corners of her lips. Other than her steps moving with the group, her entire body seemed utterly lifeless, like a walking doll.
As for the "girl," she wore a white princess gown and a pale pink diamond necklace around her neck. Her light pink hair was tied into a pair of low