The entire story takes place in a country called Kuchen, a fictional country located in the Atlantic Ocean, to the coasts of France and south of Britannia.^[2] The word “kuchen” is the German word for “cake”, and most of the places and people are also German-based. Other notable cities are Kirsche (“cherry”), Erdbeere (“strawberry”) and Mürbe (“shortcrust”).

Kuchen is a monarchy. The king of Kuchen decided that his country would not get involved in the disheveled politics of a world between two world wars.^[2] The king is aided by several scholars with strong backgrounds and logical minds, who earned recognition from the Kuchen church. They are men with a noble rank who graduated from the prestigious Rosenstolz academy.

Rosenstolz (German for “pride of the rose”) academy is a boarding school which students from wealthy families attend.^[2] The academy is open to both genders, though only the boys have a dorm on the academy’s ground. Rosenstolz is located in a peaceful town, though its grounds stretch over parts of the surrounding wilderness and forest. The gardens are well tended, consisting of a flourishing greenhouse, stables and narrow channels and fountains.

It is known that the students in Rosenstolz are expected to learn fencing, horseback riding, world history and Kuchen history, science and languages.^[3] The academy has one special class that’s called the Strahl candidate’s class (Strahl being German for ray), where all the prominent young men study hard in the hopes of becoming the king’s councilors. Until headmaster Werner’s reform, only those who were born to the right social class could study there.^[3]

The academy is said to welcome everyone. Amongst the academy’s alumni are the current headmaster Bartholomew,^[4] councilor Gerald,^[5] Victor Gryffith,^[6] Josef Torger^[7] and the king.^[4] It is known that Beruze and headmaster Werner did not go to Rosenstolz.^[5][8]