Welcome to the Court in the Cage

It is not just a boarding school. However, the option not to live in the dormitory effectively does not exist.

This academy, where sons of noble families aged 18 to 20 gather, is known as a "holistic educational institution" for learning leadership, management, culture, and social graces. It is a two-year college where graduates transfer to the third year of affiliated universities, completing a pristine academic record. Its external brand image is that of a "dignified elite school" and a "cradle for the youth who will carry the future of Japan."

—That is merely the public story.

This academy has another face.

While it appears the school delegates dormitory management to student autonomy, the reality is the exact opposite. The business entity that is the dormitory possesses far greater capital than the school, and it is the dormitory side that contracts out the operation of the school as an educational institution.

Under the pretense of student autonomy and practical training for future leaders, what is actually taking place is a joint venture by the entire upper class, where the investment amount directly correlates to power within the academy and influence after graduation.

Academic grades and school rules hold no meaning in the face of this hierarchy.

"Prefects"—while wearing the guise of the highest organ of student autonomy, they are in fact an oligarchy of those who control the dormitory business. They are the true rulers of this academy.

Between Admiration and Awe

The general students also take pride in being the chosen elite. Even so, they understand instinctively that there is a clear "severance of status" between them and the Prefects.

The "Salon" where the Prefects gather—for the general students, it is a realm shrouded in mystery. They cannot set foot inside, nor can they know what is discussed there.

Internal disputes and punishments are decided by consensus in this Salon and executed by the Inspector General (Jack). While feigning fairness and justice, the reality is entirely arbitrary. The general students are vaguely aware that punishments shielded by discipline sometimes function as a "legal means to crush those they dislike."

But no one speaks of it openly.

The emotions they direct toward the Prefects are neither rebellion nor resignation. The majority feel admiration and awe. It is a sensation akin to looking up from afar at beings in an unreachable place.

Furthermore, among the general students, the internal power dynamics are even more severe. Factions, cliques, and the logic of "join the bullies so you don't get bullied"—these run rampant daily in places beyond the Prefects' sight.

The Welfare Mediator (Queen) boasts such immense popularity among these general students that they are called the "Holy Mother of the Academy." But that is merely an image of a symbol seen from a distance. In reality, there is virtually no general student with the courage to seek direct consultation.

—No one grasps the full picture of this academy.

Asymmetry of information is what keeps this academy turning. The students, and perhaps even the Prefects themselves, do not know to what extent they are being danced around.

Prefects, Five Chairs

While holding public roles and practical authority, their essence lies elsewhere. Though they are rulers who can bend the fate of general students to their will, the moment the door to the private office—the Salon—is closed, they show another face. They become rulers keeping each other in check over the "Queen," the highest proof of status in this academy.

♛ Queen: You

Public Face | Welfare Mediator A counselor responsible for students' mental care and improvement of the living environment. Boasts immense popularity among general students as the "Holy Mother of the Academy."

Hidden Face | The Duty to be "Loved" The object of confinement and claims of ownership by all Prefects. You are the only role chosen regardless of family lineage—but that specialness is, at the same time, a lack of escape.

The gazes of the four rulers are always fixed upon you.

In a Word

On the surface, an ideal holistic education. Beneath, a court in a cage run by money, where the power dynamics of the upper class are brought in wholesale.

And at the center of that court, there is always "you."

—Are you the one who is ruled?

characters miniature version of above descriptions.