The Story Thus Far

A year ago, I’d been a regular office worker in Japan, but I suddenly awoke one day as Patience, the daughter of the impoverished family of Viscount Granger.

The world I found myself in had magic, but Patience was only proficient in household magic. This was a type of magic that even maids could use, so noble society slightly looked down on it. That said, my household magic was a little different from the typical spells you’d see, and I could make old items as good as new.

Anyway, the house I woke up in was frigid, and there was barely any wood for the fireplaces. There was also barely any food. I realized I needed to get food and money to support my adorable younger brothers, Nassius and Henry. I soon became determined to make use of my household spells for this mission!

Though I was ready to work hard for my family, in the Kingdom of Lawrence where we lived, nobles were required to enroll in the Royal Academy at the age of ten. With tears in my eyes, I said goodbye to my adorable angels and moved into the academy dorms, where the queen appointed me to serve as Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid.

Though the princess was not a bad person, she had a difficult time getting up in the morning, and she had an excessive love for music. I’d thoughtlessly played her some songs from my previous life, which had endeared me to her.

Over summer break, I’d been invited to the summer palace, where the royal family vacationed. It was troublesome having time that could’ve been spent with my adorable angels interrupted, but I got to help make sea salt.

Regardless, I still had to quickly find a job and save up for my brothers’ needs, as well as acquire enough money for my own independence. That is why I had studied like crazy and skipped a grade during my first year at the academy. By the end of the year, I had skipped ahead from the junior division to the senior division.

The only issue with my accelerated education was that I would now be in the same grade as Princess Margaret. The princess was a good person, but I couldn’t say the same for her friends. They reminded me of noble supremacists, and I didn’t like them very much.

I’d planned to spend a laid-back winter break with my little angels, but I’d ended up tutoring my cousin Samuel... My precious winter break was now gone, waaah!

Chapter 1: I’m in the Senior Division!

I let out a sigh aboard the family carriage. The rented horse energetically drew it forward as if it were overjoyed about taking me away from my little angels, having no clue that I was in low spirits.

Patience’s body had gotten a bit stronger now, so I could probably walk to and from school. Perhaps I had built up some endurance as a result of my horseback riding practice over winter break; I had been forced to join Samuel in his lessons every day during my stay at the Northcourt home.

After we reached the dorms, Mary organized my clothes and quickly returned home. Princess Margaret wasn’t here yet—she’d likely arrive before it was time for dinner. If I could just find out the course schedule, I could choose my classes. The schedule has to be made by now, right? I wonder if I can get a copy at the teachers’ offices.

I didn’t like going to the teachers’ offices, but I really needed the course schedule. After all, I was going to be enrolled in two tracks, even though most students enrolled in just one. Basically, choosing classes was going to be complicated for me. It would be nice if I could get it, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I can’t, I assured myself as I entered the offices.

“Oh, hello there, Patience,” Mr. Kepner greeted me. He was the homeroom teacher for junior division Year 2 Class A. As usual, he was easy to talk to.

“Is the course schedule finalized?” I asked.

Mr. Kepner thought for a moment before smiling.

“That’s right, you’re going to be enrolling in two tracks. I would usually warn someone that it’s going to be tough, but you’ve gotten certificates of completion in every core subject aside from dance, so I think you’ll be all right. These are supposed to be passed out during homeroom tomorrow, but I can give you some.”

Mr. Kepner handed me several schedules, and I decided to ask a follow-up question while I was here.

“I’ve received a certificate of completion in the home economics course. But for the home economics senior division track, will I still be required to take the usual cooking and sewing courses? Also, I’m interested in taking embroidery and dyeing if I have the time, but I wouldn’t want to get a certificate of completion and finish the courses too soon. Would it be possible to ensure I can continue my studies even if I seem good enough to get a certificate?”

Mr. Kepner taught history, and he wasn’t very familiar with the home economics track. He scanned the teachers’ offices and found Madam Jefferson, the household magic teacher.

“Madam Jefferson, Patience’s questions are beyond me. I believe you often deal with students in the home economics track. Could you please teach her about it?”

Madam Jefferson was a white-haired, dignified dame, old yet sprightly. She gave me a kind smile as she patted the seat next to her, beckoning me to sit down.

“Of course. It’s nice to be able to teach the Patience Granger something.”

Mr. Kepner instructed me to ask Madam Jefferson my questions before returning to his desk.

“Madam Jefferson, I apologize for my audacity, and I also thank you for your help,” I said first. “I’ve received a certificate of completion for the home economics course, so I was wondering whether I still need to take the senior division home ec track’s mandatory sewing and cooking classes. Also, I’d like to take dyeing and embroidery if I have the time in my schedule, but I have a habit of unconsciously using my household magic while I work. I’m worried that if I use my magic, I might obtain a certificate of completion too soon, and I won’t properly learn those skills.”

Madam Jefferson let out a classy chuckle.

“You must have truly mastered using household spells. Even if you’ve obtained a certificate of completion in home economics, I believe you still need to take the mandatory classes of sewing and cooking. I believe you’ll obtain a certificate of completion in sewing right away. As for cooking, the curriculum has been slightly changed, so I’m not sure how you’ll fare.”

That didn’t match what I’d heard from Lady Charlotte. I’d been tasked by Queen Victoria to look after Princess Margaret, so I wanted to open up to Madam Jefferson and get more detailed information. I was confident that I would be able to handle my coursework, but I was worried about supporting Princess Margaret.

“I’m skilled at cooking as well, so I believe I’ll be all right even if the curriculum has changed. However, I am also Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid. Not only that, but I’ve been ordered by Her Majesty to help Her Highness pass sewing and cooking. As long as Princess Margaret can persevere, I believe she’ll be all right in sewing. However, I was under the impression that cooking could be passed as long as you were in attendance. Has that changed?”

Madam Jefferson chuckled when she heard that I was the princess’s lady’s maid.

“Her Majesty has an incredible eye for people. I believe Princess Margaret may struggle with the practical parts of cooking. You seem like you’ll be obtaining a certificate of completion right away. What a complicated situation. It won’t work to feign incompetence—the instructor will see through you right away. Don’t worry, though. The instructor won’t punish you or anything.”

I guess Princess Margaret is going to have to navigate the class on her own. She’s probably still going to direct her frustrations about her classes at me. God have mercy on me.

“If I have the necessary schedule capacity, I’d also like to take on the challenge of learning embroidery, dyeing, and weaving,” I continued. “But if I unconsciously use my household magic... I don’t know what to do, because I’d like to make lots of projects.”

Madam Jefferson understood what I was trying to say.

“Ah, Viscount Granger has been dismissed from his position for a while now. The Royal Academy will provide all class materials for free. That’s what we do for students who cannot afford the materials fees. No instructor here would find fault with a student making all the projects they wanted to. However, there is still a limit to the generosity. The instructors must keep the other students in mind as well, so they would probably give you a certificate of completion once you demonstrated sufficient mastery, rather than let you go on using school supplies.”

Abort the plan to use school materials to do side jobs! That really is too bad.

“If you’re interested in dyeing and weaving, you should join the handicraft club. You’d have access to unlimited materials in the club, since alumni donate plenty of materials—especially because students interested in dyeing and weaving often end up marrying into families that have related businesses. They don’t hold back when it comes to making donations to the next generation of wives.”

This information was useful, but I was already in the music club, and I was also interested in the alchemy club. It was true, though, that my household magic would likely work very well with handicrafts.

“You should thoroughly enjoy your time as a student,” Madam Jefferson said with a laugh. “I’m sure you have your hands full serving as Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid, but these are also your school years. You may not know it yet, but one’s time in school is a valuable period of life that you get to use for yourself. Please don’t forget that.”

She’s right. I should be enjoying my time in school more. The food situation at the Granger home has gotten better, and my brothers now have access to horseback riding and sword-fighting lessons. I should find things that bring me joy. It would be even better if those things could also make me money.

That sort of mentality was what made me different from the original Patience, who was a noble lady through and through. I couldn’t escape my values from my previous life—I couldn’t help but believe that hard work deserved appropriate compensation. After all, I’d come from a world where people could sell their handmade crafts online. On top of that, the check I’d received from Countess Northcourt wasn’t going to last us forever. I really wanted Nassius to attend university, and tuition wouldn’t be free. I wonder if he’ll be able to snag some grants to pay for tuition.

Though I hadn’t been happy about attending the Royal Academy at first, aside from being separated from my brothers, I enjoyed being a student. Not only was I now enjoying it, but the senior division seemed like it was going to be especially fun. There were many more subjects I wanted to learn in this world, such as geography, history, and business.

On top of information specific to this world, I was also interested in some of the home economics track courses, like embroidery, dyeing, and weaving. Naturally dyed textiles had been incredibly valuable in my previous life, so I’d always wanted to try using natural dyes. I’d totally be interested in a job working with textiles. I wonder if I’d have to marry into a family that’s in that business to do so. It would be nice if I could have my own workshop, spending my life just dyeing and weaving. Now that’s a laid-back life! Well, all that would have to be after my brothers became independent.

It would also be fun if I could use alchemy. Being able to obtain a patent would be nice, but that had been quite difficult to do in my previous life. Still, it would be nice to be able to make some useful kitchen tools for myself, at the very least; I really wanted a fridge. Oh, it’d also be nice to develop a portable heater. Those inventions would probably be impossible without first developing my alchemy skills, so they would be on hold until I could handle them. Ideally, I would have liked to build an alchemy workshop in a corner of the yard. After all, the Granger estate had more land than we needed. The backyard was being utilized for the fruit orchard, vegetable garden, and greenhouse, but the front yard only had roses growing. Surely taking up a corner wouldn’t be a problem, right?

I was counting my chickens before they had hatched. I’d looked through the schedule that I’d managed to obtain, only for Princess Margaret to arrive at the dorms before I could consider what classes to take. I’ll think about my classes tonight!

Zofie, Princess Margaret’s attendant, had informed me of the princess’s arrival. I hadn’t noticed on my own, since I’d been busy daydreaming about making money through weaving and alchemy.

“You’re late, Patience.”

Oh? Princess Margaret’s got a different hairstyle.

“Your hair looks very lovely, Lady Margaret,” I said to her.

The princess smiled, clearly pleased.

“It is, isn’t it? My mother finally allowed me to put it up.”

Now that I think about it, Lady Catherine would put her hair up. She curled it and tied some of it.

“Can you do this hairstyle as well, Patience?” the princess asked. “If not, I want you to ask Zofie how to do it.”

Princess Margaret’s hair was tied in a single ponytail, with face-framing pieces on the side that were curled. Yeah, I can do that.

“There’s no need for that; however, it will take some time to style,” I warned her. Even without me explicitly saying so, she understood that I was telling her to wake up early.

“Understood. In that case, you’ll just have to come by earlier.”

Zofie glanced over at me with sympathy in her eyes. She’d probably struggled to wake Princess Margaret up during the winter break.

The princess had Zofie serve us both tea, and after that, she sent her attendant home.

“I’ve finally escaped my mother’s watchful eye. She was so strict over the break. It was truly tiresome. What did you do over the break, Patience?”

It seemed that she hadn’t been allowed to sleep in over the break. Of course, it wasn’t the queen herself kicking her out of bed—the court ladies and maids probably had a difficult time trying to wake her up every morning. Unlike most noblewomen, the queen liked to enjoy a proper breakfast in the dining room every morning.

“I visited my cousin’s home. Samuel Northcourt, my cousin, would like to join the music club.”

Princess Margaret’s eyes sparkled with excitement. After all, her love of music ran deep.

“Well, does this Samuel have any talent?”

“Yes, he is a genius. He can memorize and play a piece after hearing it just once.”

The princess’s face lit up even more.

“Patience, you will bring Samuel to the music club. We can’t have the glee club stealing him. I’ve heard that they were recruiting students even during the winter break.”

Oh my. Louise’s choir club might be in trouble. Looks like the glee club’s got some real traction.

“Of course. Samuel will be pleased. He wanted to join the music club, but he was worried since becoming a member requires a recommendation.”

Princess Margaret thought for a moment before responding.

“Yes, well, it will likely be for the best if he practices one of your pieces. He’ll probably be asked to play something.” She was always helpful when it came to music.

“I’ve gifted him some of my compositions, so I’ll have him practice those.”

Princess Margaret’s smile grew wider. I’m scared!

“It sounds like you were having a lot of fun while I was being suffocated at the palace. I guess you were enjoying days full of music with Samuel.”

This is a misunderstanding! But also, I can’t tell her that I was there because Samuel can’t study!

“Oh my, not at all,” I corrected her. “Samuel will be enrolling in the academy this year. My aunt, Countess Northcourt, asked me about what the academy was like. That is how I learned that Samuel is interested in horseback riding and music. I played him one of my pieces, and he was able to play it on the lute right away, which surprised me.”

Princess Margaret didn’t care about horseback riding, so she ignored that bit of information.

“I see. So Samuel is also a skilled lute player? You need to work hard as well, Patience.”

More importantly, let’s talk class schedules! I need you to choose yours first, princess.

“Lady Margaret, I obtained a course schedule at the teachers’ offices. Shall we decide on classes?”

Princess Margaret leaned over to look at the course schedule.

“For the mandatory subjects, I’ll take the Class A sections, since my schoolmates will likely do the same.”

Hmm? I took a closer look at the course schedule and saw that mandatory courses had a class name listed next to the different sections. No wonder there’s so many sections for the mandatory classes.

“Does this mean that we aren’t allowed to take sections designated for other classes?”

I was enrolled in two tracks, so I would be in trouble if I could only take the Class A sections and they overlapped.

“I don’t think there’ll be any problem,” the princess reassured me. “I’ve heard that once in the senior division, even students assigned to the same class might only share homeroom with those classmates. But isn’t dance the only mandatory subject you need to take?”

“No. I actually asked a teacher about it, and it seems I’ll have to take sewing and cooking, since they are mandatory for the home economics track.”

Princess Margaret’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Really? In that case, let’s take the same section. That’ll be the Class A sections of sewing and cooking.”

With that, two of my classes had been decided. I can just slot dance into any open time block I have left at the end. Our schedules were broken up into many time blocks, so I felt carefree about my time allocation, but Princess Margaret quickly corrected me on this point.

“You should take the Class A section for dance. You can’t let your guard down around the boys in the other classes, and a lot of the people in them are bad dancers.”

I understand that nobles of lower status can’t afford dance tutors, which means their children aren’t skilled dancers, but what’s that about letting my guard down?

“My, you really are naive, Patience. You’ll get trapped by an aggressive boy who wants to get his hands on the daughter of a viscount.”

Oh, does the princess not know how poor the Granger family is? Any boy like that will turn and run in the other direction from me.

It seemed like Princess Margaret was reading my mind.

“You’re truly careless. Viscount Granger might have been dismissed from his position, but that won’t last for much longer. My father thinks very highly of the viscount.”

Oh, that’s nice. I hope he can get some kind of easy job.

“I asked my father why he ordered us to move into the dorms,” the princess began to explain. “He told me it was because he didn’t want us to be influenced by noble supremacist thinking. That’s how I learned about what happened with your father.”

It seemed that King Alfred hadn’t forgotten about my father. I felt touched hearing that. I was starting to feel bad that I’d been frustrated with him back at the summer palace.

“I wonder why it started last year,” I remarked. “That only gave Prince Richard one year in the dorms, and you were moved here during your third year in the junior division. It just seems so sudden.”

Princess Margaret shrugged her shoulders.

“Who knows? Perhaps he suddenly thought of the idea. All right, so, you’ll be taking the Class A section of dance.”

I’d finally filled three blocks of my schedule. Next was deciding on home ec electives.

“I’m going to take etiquette, foreign language, child-rearing, family medicine, and beauty. That’s six courses.”

The queen had already informed me what the princess would be taking, so there were no surprises with the classes she listed.

“I’ve heard that it can be hard to learn a foreign language. It may be for the best to sit in on a lecture before deciding on the class,” I warned her. It would actually benefit me if she took a foreign language, because I could take the same one and fulfill my civil service track requirements as well.

“Yes, I’ve heard that from Richard. But, there is a chance that I will marry into a family in another kingdom.”

I’m surprised! I didn’t realize she was considering it for that reason.

“My, Patience. Your eyes are widened into perfect circles.”

“It’s just that I’m enrolling in the civil service track as well, and I was also planning on taking a foreign language, so now it’ll be able to serve two purposes for me.” I managed to explain away my shock.

Now that I’d selected my home ec electives, we decided on exactly which sections to take for the electives that Princess Margaret had chosen.

“Patience, your schedule is wide open,” the princess commented. “It looks like you’ll be able to write plenty of new songs.”

“Well, I still need to add the mandatory and elective courses for the civil service track,” I explained. “More importantly, you have a lot of time available on your schedule, Lady Margaret.”

I tilted my head in confusion as I looked at the princess’s schedule. I knew she had obtained certificates of completion in music and dance, but her schedule was more open than expected for having two exemptions.

“This is just temporary, since for now I’m only selecting one block of each mandatory class. I’m planning on getting certificates of completion for language arts and magic theory, so one block each for them is fine. However, I may need to allocate more time for history and classical literature. I also might need two blocks for math, if it ends up being difficult. And I’ve heard that if the instructor believes that you won’t finish making your gown, you’ll be forced to take more sections of sewing.”

“Oh, because we’re not allowed to take our sewing projects out of class, right?” It may be difficult to sew a gown with only one block’s worth of time for class. “In that case, let’s aim to get you those exemptions for language arts and magic theory. I think we should also work toward certificates of completion for classical literature and art.” Unlike Prince Keith, Princess Margaret had pretty good grades in classical literature.

“I agree. If sewing is going to take up my time, I’ll need to be exempt from multiple other subjects. You must work hard on obtaining exemptions as well, Patience.”

I added my mandatory and elective courses for the civil service track, as well as alchemy, which left me with only two open time blocks. If I were to take dyeing and weaving, my schedule would be completely full.

“Yes, I’ll be getting certificates of completion in all of the subjects I find boring,” I replied. “I have a lot of things I’d like to do.”

The princess was surprised by my sudden motivation toward school.

“I’m so glad to hear that you’re excited to compose new songs, Patience.”

Oh, that’s not what’s driving me. I want to dye and weave textiles to make things I can sell, or make something useful and valuable with alchemy. I’m going to keep that a secret, though.

Even if we were now senior division students, I still had to wake up Princess Margaret in the morning. And on top of my previous duties, I now had the time-consuming task of styling her hair in the morning.

“It will take me some time to get a bit more familiar with this style,” I said, apologizing for taking double the usual time to do her hair.

“My, Patience! You did quite well already, and in only half the time it takes for the maids at the palace. You’re truly talented.”

That’s probably because I’m skipping steps, like using a curling iron, by using household magic. I definitely should be able to do it even faster though.

The princess and I headed downstairs to the dining hall, where we ran into Prince Keith. I was surprised, since I’d thought that we wouldn’t be seeing each other as often now that I was in the senior division.

“Let’s eat breakfast together, sister,” Prince Keith said.

The princess accepted his offer, which meant that I would be eating with him as well. Good grief.

“Why do we have to eat lunch together this year as well?” Prince Keith grumbled. It seemed that rule was returning, and he wasn’t happy about it.

That’s fair. If I were him, I’d also want to have a fun lunch with my friends.

“Why are you complaining to me about that?” the princess replied. “I would also prefer to eat with my friends.”

That’s...also fair. All Prince Keith has to do to ease the queen’s worries is eat his vegetables and fish whenever he’s dining with her. So childish of him to not consider that.

I looked over to the table next to us and saw Ralph and Hugo anxiously eating their breakfasts.

I wish I could be sitting at a separate table. I can’t believe this is going to continue for the rest of the year... Oh! I have an idea!

“Um, what if Sir Ralph and Sir Hugo were to join us for meals? Your friends could eat at the same table as well, Lady Margaret.”

The siblings looked at each other as they processed this shocking revelation.

“You’re pretty smart, Patience!” Prince Keith said.

“That’s right. Mother only said I needed to eat with Keith. There should be no problem with our schoolmates joining us.”

I guess all eight of us are going to be eating together. I don’t really like Princess Margaret’s friends, but eating with them will probably be better than eating while the royal siblings are fighting... Probably.

I headed to the senior division classroom for Year 1 Class A with Princess Margaret, and we ran into her friends on the way. Catherine and the princess’s other schoolmates all gave me terrifying looks. They thought of me as a rival.

“Good morning,” Catherine gracefully greeted us.

I should be reserved in my responses.

“Good morning,” I replied.

I decided to sit in the back of the classroom. That meant I would be apart from Princess Margaret, but I didn’t want to sit by her and end up fighting with her entourage.

“Morning. Looks like everyone’s here. I’m Sam Cuthbert, the homeroom teacher for Year 1 Class A in the senior division. I’m sure you’ve met me before in PE class.” This was my first time meeting him, but the male students were nodding along to his words. “I’ll now be passing out the course schedule. You’ll be submitting your course registration in a week. I suggest you try a variety of courses by then. Also, don’t forget to take your mandatory courses. Otherwise, you’ll end up repeating a year.” Mr. Cuthbert let out a hearty laugh, but this didn’t seem like a laughing matter.

I miss Mr. Kepner. I want more detailed information. I’m glad I got the course schedule ahead of time.

“What shall we do, Lady Margaret?” Catherine asked. The princess’s schoolmates seemed to be panicking, which was understandable because the teacher’s explanation of course registration was so minimal.

“I’ve already decided on my courses,” the princess said, showing her friends the schedule we’d put together last night.

“My, you are really on top of things. Lady Margaret, would it be all right if I joined you in your classes?”

Here come the copycats. I bet the home ec courses are going to be full of them. I guess it can’t be helped. All the girls in this grade have been told by their parents to get close to the princess. Maybe Queen Victoria was also concerned about the princess because of that.

“You have another class right now, don’t you, Patience?” the princess called out to me.

Her entourage all turned and shot me sharp glares.

“Yes. Good day to you all,” I said, quickly leaving the scene. Ugh, they’re so exhausting.

I looked for the classroom for law class and finally found it. I feel so out of my element! The class was full of male students. Is this the environment that Lady Charlotte took classes in? Oh, I guess they were at least the same age, though.

Not only was I a fish out of water, but the lecture was boring. If it weren’t a required course, I would have dropped it. I skimmed through the textbook. Yeah, I’m just going to memorize everything and try to skip ahead a grade. Wait, no, I should try to get a certificate of completion. Unfortunately, I think I’m going to have a hard time asking the boring Mr. Patterson for the second- and third-year textbooks.

My second class was child-rearing; I was taking the same section as Princess Margaret and her friends. Please don’t beckon me to sit closer, Your Highness. I’m fine in the back of the classroom. I tried to signal with a gaze that I was fine where I was, but she wouldn’t allow it.

“We finally get to take a class together, Patience,” Princess Margaret said.

Catherine was forced to move to open a seat for me by the princess, so she shot me a terrifying glare.

“I’m sure Lady Patience will skip ahead to the next grade level in no time,” Catherine said.

I can hear the true meaning of her words: Test out and get out of our class already! I got the message.

I found myself concerned about the child-rearing information that was being taught here. It was completely different from what I’d learned in my previous life. Maybe nobles don’t actually need to know a lot because the caretakers do their jobs properly. This course seemed like a waste of time. The textbook was pretty thin, so I decided I’d try to memorize all of the information and obtain a certificate of completion.

“All right, it’s time for lunch. We must get there early and have them prepare our seats,” Princess Margaret said in high spirits.

Her three schoolmates tagged along as other girls stared with jealousy. Ugh, this is so exhausting.

“Starting this year, I’d like a table for eight,” Princess Margaret said to the waiters, who began adjusting our table for three into a table for eight.

Though the table had only been set for three, it was a table for four, so all the waiters had to do was put together two tables.

Princess Margaret sat in the top seat—what would be known as the kamiza back in Japan. Catherine, Lilina, and Harriette all took the seats around her, which forced me to sit on Prince Keith’s side of the table.

“Are you all right with sitting there, Patience?” Princess Margaret called out to me. I wasn’t, but I didn’t have the guts to kick her friends out of their seats.

“Yes. After all, Prince Keith, Sir Ralph, and Sir Hugo are all my age.”

“That’s right. You’re all friends,” Hariette said, supporting my explanation.

“Well, all right then,” the princess replied. The princess had given her permission, but I wasn’t sure if Prince Keith would allow it.

“Oh, you’re here too, Patience,” Prince Keith said, sitting opposite the princess. “Uh, well, of course you’re here. You’re my sister’s lady’s maid.” Ralph sat beside the prince, and Hugo sat beside Ralph, which meant he was also beside me.

“Starting tomorrow, let’s have them put together three tables for us,” Hugo suggested.

I’m sure you don’t enjoy sitting next to a girl.

“That would leave gaps in the seating,” Prince Keith pointed out. “Then we wouldn’t be eating together, so we can’t do that. Patience is used to eating with us, so this setup is fine.”

Even if you’re fine with it, Prince Keith, I’m not. I’m in no position to disagree, though. Princess Margaret and her friends are getting along happily, so I guess things will stay like this.

Regardless of the seating arrangement, I wanted to get through lunch without taking part in either group’s conversations. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten about how strong Princess Margaret’s love for music was.

“We’re planning on recommending a new member to join the music club,” the princess announced.

Catherine and the others seemed intrigued. After all, a new member in the music club meant that they might have a new rival.

“The student is Patience’s cousin, Samuel Northcourt,” the princess continued. “According to Patience, he’s a genius.”

If looks could kill, the princess’s schoolmates would have definitely murdered me.

“That’s Count Northcourt’s eldest son. If Patience thinks he’s a genius, he must be quite talented,” a voice said from above my head.

Please don’t pull a seat up and sit beside me without asking, President Albert.

“My, Albert. You can’t just sit at our table without asking,” the princess scolded, but Albert ignored her.

“You’d better bring that genius to the club tomorrow,” Albert said. “If he’s your cousin, he might actually be a genius. We could be looking at a great year, Lady Margaret. I have three students I’m recommending to join myself.”

Albert’s news fanned the flames of Princess Margaret’s love for music.

“Waiter, please prepare another setting at the table,” the princess said before turning back to Albert. “So, President Albert. Who will you be recommending to join the club?”

The princess’s friends knew that they were no match for her love of music. They left Princess Margaret to talk with Albert and began talking among themselves about the home ec track.

“Is your cousin smart as well? He won’t be skipping ahead a grade and becoming a second-year student, will he?” Prince Keith asked.

“Samuel isn’t very fond of classical literature, so he won’t be able to skip an entire grade,” I explained.

Prince Keith let out a pleased chuckle.

“I see. I think Samuel and I are going to get along.”

Now that he mentions it, they do have similar personalities. Samuel is a little more angsty, and he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

“He’s a musical genius?” Hugo asked, apparently curious about my cousin. Samuel and Hugo were also both eldest sons of counts.

“He can immediately play a song after hearing it just once,” I replied. “He seems to be blessed with more musical talent than I.”

Albert heard what I’d said from the other side of the table and latched on to it.

“Really? That’s incredible. Of course, talent in composing new songs like you do is also a valuable skill,” Albert said. “Hey, instead of enrolling in the civil service track, why don’t you just graduate from the home economics track quickly and come work for my family? You can make a living just through music.”

Apparently, since I’d turned down his proposal, I was now being scouted for a job.

“I won’t allow you to take my lady’s maid from me, Albert,” the princess warned. She turned down the offer on my behalf, just as she’d done before. Good grief.

“Weirdos sure do like you,” Prince Keith remarked. “Oh, I get it. It’s because you’re a weirdo!” Prince Keith looked quite satisfied with himself.

At that moment, I was sad that Prince Richard had graduated. This was exactly the type of moment when I could have used his commanding presence.

Lunch had been so exhausting that it didn’t even feel like I’d eaten. It was such a waste. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to focus on eating lunch with a calm mind.

After lunch was etiquette, followed by dance. I was in the same class as Princess Margaret and her entire entourage for etiquette. I wish I could be with the other girls in my class.

Roerdale Ridgewater, who was the etiquette teacher, seemed like the epitome of a high society noblewoman. Lunch break was over, and we were now in a new classroom, but the students were still buzzing.

“My, my. Quiet down, everyone. Please take your seats.” Everyone sat down, but Madam Ridgewater wasn’t satisfied. “Oh my. That won’t do. You mustn’t sit so noisily,” she warned. “As ladies, etiquette is important. Without proper etiquette, you will not only embarrass yourselves, you will also lower your value as a person. I want you all to behave as proper ladies at all times.”

This teacher seems exhausting.

“Most of this class will consist of practicing proper etiquette. Our goal for the spring term is to successfully host a tea party. Today, we will be choosing the themes for our tea parties, selecting our guests, and writing invitations.”

We’d never had a tea party before at the Granger home, but I still followed along, thinking of a theme and writing it out on the form I received.

The tea party doesn’t have to be right now, in winter, does it? In that case, why don’t we do a flower viewing party? The theme will be celebrating the arrival of spring. As for guests, I can invite my three aunts. For the invitations, I should...

Patience had perfect etiquette, but my own skills were just decent. Still, I was getting a bit more used to ladylike behavior.

Madam Ridgewater was walking around the class, and she arrived at my seat. She picked up my tea party plan and read through it.

“My! Your tea party proposal is perfect. You should skip ahead to the next grade.”

I could feel everyone glaring at me, but at the same time, I was glad to get to be in a different class from Princess Margaret and her entourage.

Princess Margaret also had a good plan, and Catherine and Hariette both received praise as well. However, none of them were able to skip ahead to the next grade level for the course.

“Just as I expected, you’re accelerating quite a bit, Patience,” Princess Margaret said. “It’s unfortunate, since we finally get to be in the same classes.”

Though the princess was disappointed, her schoolmates were all praising me. I thought I’d heard someone in the back of the room mutter, “Just accelerate all your classes and leave,” but I decided to think that I’d just imagined that. After all, that was the polite thing to do, and etiquette was important.

Princess Margaret and her schoolmates had all received certificates of completion in dance, so they were exempt from the class. I was an eleven-year-old in a room full of senior division students, who were thirteen or fourteen. On top of that, I’d grown up malnourished, and I was quite short. I looked like a child in a room full of adults. I was at quite a disadvantage here.

Not only was I physically at a disadvantage, but the Class A section of dance had quite a lot of female students for some reason. It was surprising, considering that senior division Year 1 Class A had just fifteen girls, and Princess Margaret and most of her entourage had already obtained certificates of completion.

As I stood there confused about the demographics of the class, Ms. Carrigan arrived. She’d taught junior division second-year dance the previous school year, so I’d taken her class before.

“Everyone, partner up,” she instructed. “Today we’ll be reviewing previous lessons.” Ms. Carrigan clapped her hands together, and one after another, students began pairing up.

I knew the pretty girls would get asked first. Just as that thought crossed my mind, someone came up to me.

“Hey, you’re the girl who stopped by during the Festival of Verdure.”

Who is he? I remember meeting Jeffery, the president of the ryffle club, during the Festival of Verdure, but he was a really broad and tall guy. This guy’s skinny and tall, but he’s not nearly as skinny as the guy from the horseback riding club.

“I’ve been waiting for you ever since, but you’ve never stopped by again. I’m so disappointed. I don’t even know your name, so I couldn’t look for you and recruit you.”

I finally remembered. I didn’t recognize him without his dirty lab coat. It was Caesar Burns from the alchemy club.

“Um, if I remember correctly, you are the president of the alchemy club, Sir Caesar,” I said. “This is a class for senior division first-years.” I was checking with him whether he was in the wrong class.

“Yes, well, I’m a second-year student, but I forgot to take dance last year. I’m planning to get a certificate of completion this year.”

It turned out that he hadn’t completed one of the required courses. I didn’t know that someone could make such a mistake.

“I would also like to obtain a certificate of completion; however, I’m not very proficient at dancing,” I admitted.

“Don’t worry, I’m good at dancing. I really am. I just forgot to register for the class last year, that’s all.”

Is he really?

Though I’d been suspicious, Caesar turned out to actually be a skilled dancer. With a talented partner taking the lead, I was also able to dance well.

“Oh, hey, Caesar,” Ms. Carrigan called out. “Looks like you’re actually taking dance this year. You pass. Let me give you a certificate of completion. You’d better not forget to take a mandatory course again. Your dance partner is Patience?” She turned to look at me. “You pass as well. I’ll also throw in a certificate of completion for you. If you can dance like that, you’ll be fine.”

I had somehow caught a lucky break and obtained a certificate of completion. Is this really okay? I guess Ms. Carrigan gave it to me, so it must be okay. Yay!

“Thank you very much,” I said to Caesar. “There are lots of female students in this class, so a short person like me would’ve likely gotten an untalented lead. I didn’t think I would be able to get a certificate of completion.”

“Those girls are probably looking to get with the boys from Class A. Anyways, what comes after Patience in your name?”

I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t want to answer. I stood there, silent, and Ms. Carrigan chimed in.

“Hey, Caesar, you’ve got some nerve flirting with an underclassman during my class. I’m going to tear up your certificate of completion.”

Caesar shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.

“That would be cruel, Ms. Carrigan. I was thoroughly scolded by my father when I forgot to register for dance last year. I was finally able to gain his forgiveness by promising to obtain a certificate of completion this year.”

“Hurry up and get out of here,” Ms. Carrigan said, laughing as she tossed him his certificate of completion. In contrast, she properly handed me my certificate. It seemed that the dance instructor was kind toward female students.

Caesar stopped me outside the classroom.

“So, what’s your surname?”

“My full name is Patience Granger,” I replied. “I’m going to sit in on the alchemy lecture, and if it seems possible for me to take, I’m going to register for the class. I’ll consider joining the alchemy club after that.”

“Understood,” Caesar said. To my surprise, he accepted that and backed off.

Well, at least that’s what I foolishly thought at the time.

“You’ve always got weirdos hanging around you!” Prince Keith said, glaring at Caesar from behind me. He was accompanied by Ralph and Hugo.

“Shouldn’t you be in class, Prince Keith?” I asked.

“I got a certificate of completion for dance!” the prince boasted, showing off his certificate to me. I actually got one too. “You got one, too, Patience? You shouldn’t have been able to get one with your dance skills.”

Who asked you?!

“Sir Caesar may be strange, but he is the eldest son of Duke Burns. I’m sure he’s studied dance,” Ralph said. He was quite knowledgeable about nobles. Prince Keith appeared to not know that information.

“That weirdo is the duke’s son...? All of the royal family’s relatives are weirdos.”

Right, dukes’ families trace their lineage back to the royal bloodline. Prince Keith might have a point—Duke Laforet is also quite strange. I wonder if the Burns family is going to be okay.

“Duke Burns runs the Burns Trading Company, right?” Hugo asked. “My father was praising him for his exceptional business acumen... So that is his eldest son. I wonder if we will get along.” Hugo seemed to be struggling with something. His father had probably told him to befriend Caesar. Being a noble was tough work.

“You’ll be able to get close to him if you join the alchemy club, Sir Hugo,” I pointed out.

“No way!” the three boys yelled in unison in response to my friendly advice.

“You keep attracting weirdos,” Prince Keith complained. “Are you giving off some kind of smell that makes weirdos like you?” He’s always saying one word too many, and it’s always something that upsets the other person.

“Excuse me,” I said, leaving them. Prince Keith wasn’t a bad person, but he was much too frustrating. I might have been a shotacon, but I was going to avoid anyone who would say such hurtful things.

At any rate, I was busy—I had to find Samuel and invite him to the music club. I hurried to the junior division classroom for Year 1 Class A.

“Oh, Samuel!” I called out. I’d found him just as his class had ended.

“Did you need something, Patience?” he responded curtly. Your cold attitude is just as cute as ever, heh heh.

“Tomorrow, Princess Margaret will be recommending you to join the music club, so please practice the compositions I gave you. The location of the music club is listed in the club pamphlet, so you should be able to find your way, right? If you’re not confident that you can, I can come to your classroom and walk you there.”

We were talking in the hallway right outside Samuel’s classroom, where a cute boy was fidgeting as he watched us.

“Um...are you joining the music club too?” he asked. He had brown hair and blue eyes. Yup. He’s a certified angel. He looks like he stepped out of a religious Renaissance painting.

“Yes, it seems I’m going to receive a recommendation,” Samuel replied. “Will you be joining as well, Klaus?”

Klaus’s eyes widened with excitement and sparkled. Ugh, he’s just my type! He waved over two more angels—that is, beautiful boys—one with golden hair and one with dark blond hair.

“Your name is Samuel, right? I’m also planning to join the music club, as is my cousin Valdische. Who is this?” the dark blond asked, gesturing toward me.

“This is my cousin, Patience Granger,” Samuel said, introducing me. “She is Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid. I guess she is also going to be one of our seniors in the music club.”

Hearing that I was an upperclassman in the music club, the three boys all politely introduced themselves.

“My name is Daniel Kimberly. Sir Albert is recommending me to join the music club,” the second boy said. He had dark blond hair and brown eyes. He had a pretty face that made me excited to see what he’d look like when he was older.

“I’m Daniel’s cousin, Valdische McFarlane,” the third boy said. He had golden hair and light blue eyes. He was a textbook angel.

“My name is Klaus Archer,” the boy who’d first called out to Samuel said. He was exactly my type of adorable angel.

“I believe you will all be invited to join tomorrow, but let me warn you: The club is full of true music lovers. They’ll probably want you to perform some songs. I came by to advise Samuel to practice. Since there’s four of you here, I guess I don’t have to stop by to take you to the club.”

Samuel didn’t seem to know the other three boys, but Daniel still responded, “We’ll go together.” It seemed like Daniel was going to become the leader of their group. He had a different aura than the others.

“I’ll leave it to you, then,” I said.

Becoming friends with the student likely to be the leader of his class would surely help Samuel to fit in at the academy.

Chapter 2: New Relationships

It was only thanks to my partner, Caesar, that I’d gotten a certificate of completion in dance, but Princess Margaret still praised me for my success.

“You did well, Patience,” she said. The compliment was nice, but she then pivoted to nagging me about accelerating etiquette class. “I was so excited to finally be in the same class as you. Whatever, it’s fine. I’ll just do my best to skip ahead as well.”

Etiquette class wasn’t too big of a problem for me. My main issue was with child-rearing. I also preferred to avoid taking the courses on nutrition and family medicine, if they were going to be at the same level as child-rearing. I also didn’t really want to put in the effort to obtain certificates of completion for these three courses. I now understood why Queen Victoria had been lamenting the princess’s course choices—it wasn’t that these classes were easy, but rather, they were wastes of time.

The various classes in the home economics track seemed to have been set up so that the students, who were young noblewomen about to make their societal debut, could easily obtain certificates of completion. The smartest thing to do was to set aside my feelings about how pointless these classes were and just obtain the exemptions.

Perhaps it would have been better to ask Princess Margaret if she’d prefer to spend her time taking better courses, but I was too much of a coward to speak up. Maybe nutrition and family medicine will actually teach useful information, I thought, lying to myself.

On Tuesday, I had government, foreign language, sewing, and weaving. I prayed that government would be more interesting than law, but it was taught by the same teacher, Mr. Patterson, and it was boring. Even so, the class didn’t feel like a total waste of time the way child-rearing did, and the information seemed to be worth learning. The senior division first-year curriculum was similar to what I’d learned in middle school civics in my previous life. I could probably memorize the entire textbook.

“Let’s go to our foreign language class together,” Princess Margaret said, linking arms with me as we headed to our next classroom.

Wait, her entourage isn’t around. They must’ve avoided taking foreign language because it would be difficult. I can finally relax!

“Though it is a foreign language, Dehn is in the same language family as Emperado, the language spoken in our kingdom, as well as in neighboring nations such as the Kingdom of Sonia, the Kingdom of Cordova, and the Holy Empire of Estena. It’s not as difficult as Caldinian, which is taught in the second foreign language course, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Speaking was our teacher, Mr. Phillip Morse, who was a dapper-looking man with an impressive mustache. He was pretty funny, and he did impressions of foreign accents, which made everyone laugh.

“Emperado is spoken differently across different nations. Lawrencian Emperado sounds uptight, and other nations believe it isn’t the right fit for works of literature. However, the people who think that probably don’t know about the incredible works written in Lawrencian Emperado. Sonian Emperado sounds feminine and weak. It probably evolved to sound like that because of the womanizing propensities of Sonians. Cordovian Emperado is aggressive. You have to be careful not to get spat on. Estenaian Emperado reeks of piety. They address God no matter what they’re talking about, so it’s hard to follow along with what they’re saying. It might even be more difficult than Dehn.”

Mr. Morse made the class laugh, which helped ease everyone’s nervousness. Then, we started by practicing simple greetings. I paired with Princess Margaret for the exercise.

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Margaret,” Princess Margaret said in Dehn.

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Patience,” I replied in Dehn.

“Good morning.”

“Hello.”

This class was fun. Memorizing words was difficult, but it was worth doing.

During lunch, I decided to ignore Prince Keith and focus on eating. I’d already spent last year trying to help his social skills, but he just couldn’t seem to grasp social cues.

“Patience, are you going to join Caesar’s alchemy club?” Prince Keith asked.

You’re really going out of your way to bring up an uncomfortable topic, aren’t you? Don’t you remember insulting me yesterday by saying that I emit an odor that attracts weirdos?

“I haven’t decided yet,” I replied. “I’ll think about it after taking alchemy.” That wraps up this topic. I’m going to focus on eating now.

Unfortunately, the prince wouldn’t give up.

“You were serious about taking alchemy?” he asked, dubious of my decision.

Could you not criticize someone else’s academic choices?

“Yes, I’d like to take the class and see if I can perform alchemy.”

Ugh, I just know that he’s going to say something rude. My Verbal Blunder radar is going off. Since I’d spent the previous year watching Prince Keith upset Prince Richard, I could now sense when he was about to say something rude.

“Are you into Caesar or something? The Burns do seem pretty wealthy.”

Are you an idiot?! I thought as I glared at him. I could hear snickering—the princess’s friends were laughing at me. Ugh, it’s impossible to eat while sitting with them.

“Lady Margaret, I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to excuse myself.”

I should’ve been able to easily handle such an immature comment, but I was an adolescent going through puberty, and my hormones were swaying my emotions. Also, I didn’t want to sit with the princess’s schoolmates.

I focused on leaving the table as gracefully as possible, ignoring Prince Keith and the princess’s friends making a ruckus behind me.

I headed down the stairs and outside into an out-of-the-way courtyard. It was cold, but no one would find me out here.

“I can’t take it anymore!” I screamed. “I don’t want to be Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid anymore! I can put up with waking her up in the morning and her music fetish, but I hate those lackeys of hers! I also don’t want to take any more pointless classes!” I was just standing out in the cold, shouting.

“All three of them left Princess Margaret on her own during the Festival of Verdure because they were interested in the boys in the knight club. Also, they act like they’re her friends, but they won’t even move into the dorms for her! Nor will they even try the difficult task of learning a foreign language with her! They’re probably just ‘friends’ with the princess because they think it’ll give them a better chance of marrying into a good family! I hate them!”

After screaming out my feelings, I felt refreshed. It was true that I was upset by what Prince Keith had said, but the truth was, I was mostly upset with myself.

I should tell Princess Margaret how I honestly feel. In exchange for staying on as her lady’s maid, I’ll ask to choose my own classes and not have to interact with her contemptible friends. Yeah, I was only supposed to help her live in the dorms. Princess Margaret can spend time with those girls if she likes. I don’t want to be there.

“I’m going to quit the music club as well,” I said to myself.

I didn’t hate the music club, but I didn’t want to be in the same club as those girls. I’m going to ask the princess to make me her lady’s maid only at the dorms. I’d prefer eating lunch at the regular cafeteria as well. I smacked my cheeks and steeled myself.

“Oh, I’m hungry... I wonder if I can eat at the regular dining hall,” I thought out loud. I’d left lunch during the appetizer, so I’d barely eaten. My stomach was growling, which was a bit embarrassing.

Getting angry sure uses up energy. I was hungry and cold, so I turned to head to the school dining hall. Just then, I heard a growling sound coming from behind a tree.

“Who’s there?” I asked, even though it was obviously Prince Keith. Shoot. Did he hear me shouting all that?

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he began. “Please forgive me for what I said yesterday as well. My sister’s schoolmates are toying with you, yet I’ve directed my anger about my own spinelessness toward you. My mother chose you to be Margaret’s lady’s maid. You can drive off those vermin. If you have any complaints, you can get my mother to bring them up to Margaret.”

He’d suddenly apologized for everything at once, and his stomach was growling. Though what Prince Keith had said had led to me coming out here, it wasn’t the actual issue—my real problem was with Princess Margaret and her lackeys.

“You must be quite hungry. I’m sure Sir Ralph and Sir Hugo, who are watching from over there, are hungry as well. You should all return to the salon. Also, eavesdropping is impolite, Prince Keith.”

I don’t care if I get fired from my position as lady’s maid. From now on, I’m doing what I want, starting with eating at the school cafeteria.

“Start walking already,” Prince Keith demanded, waiting for me as if he were going to escort me back.

“Please go on without me,” I said. Patience can’t walk fast. She also runs slow, which is why Prince Keith caught me. I’m embarrassed that he saw my hysterical outburst.

“Wear this!” he barked, removing his jacket and placing it on my shoulders.

“What? No, I can’t—” I tried to reply, but before I could finish, Prince Keith took off. Man, he’s fast. I’m not catching up to him. Also, this is warm.

Since it was cold out, I walked as fast as I could back into the school building. I removed Prince Keith’s jacket once inside and handed it to a waiter in the salon to return to the prince.

Then, for the first time in a while, I headed to the school cafeteria and ate a meal. The food in the salon did taste better than what was served in the dining hall, but I preferred being able to eat in a comfortable environment.

I shouldn’t have given in when I’d started serving the princess. I’d been making the wrong choices this whole time.

For the first time since enrolling in the Royal Academy, I skipped a class; I needed a chance to calmly think about things. I was in my room, sitting in the sofa chair in front of the fireplace as I looked over my course registration form and the course schedule, choosing what I actually wanted to study.

“If I’m going to quit being Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid, do I still need to enroll in the home ec track?”

I wasn’t going to spend any more time with those schoolmates of hers, so there wasn’t much I could do if that meant I would be fired. In that case, there was probably no point to me taking home ec courses.

“Maybe I’ll just take the classes I’m interested in. I’m curious about calligraphy; I always thought it looked cool during my previous life. Embroidery could also be useful for side jobs. And I definitely want to take dyeing and weaving. If I’m quitting the music club, I’d like to join the handicraft club instead.”

Just then, I suddenly heard someone shout, “You can’t quit the music club!” and Princess Margaret barged into my room.

“You should be in sewing class, which is a mandatory course,” I pointed out to her. It already seems impossible to sew a gown when she’s only allocated one block’s worth of time for each course. If she skips, the teacher’s definitely going to single her out as a problem student.

“Who cares about sewing?! Don’t quit the music club!”

All I could muster was a sigh in response. I could handle the princess’s obsession with music, but I couldn’t endure her friends. Can she understand that? If not, then I won’t mind being fired from my job as lady’s maid.

“Lady Margaret, I don’t think I’ll be able to get along with your schoolmates. Therefore, I cannot stay in the music club. Also, I don’t want to take courses that won’t teach me anything. I don’t mind continuing to serve you as a lady’s maid in the dorms, but if that isn’t to your satisfaction, please let me resign.”

Princess Margaret fell silent. She was probably upset with me. I’m definitely getting fired. I’m the same as my dad.

“You say the same things that my mother did. She’s asked me countless times if I am really happy with the classes I’ve chosen. It seems I didn’t understand the reason I was moved into the dorms—it was my mother’s way of saying that she believes I made the wrong choice when I selected Catherine, Lilina, and Hariette to be my friends. She’s given them judgmental looks countless times.”

Princess Margaret herself chose them as her friends? I’m shocked.

“This entire time, I’d thought that Her Majesty had selected them for you,” I admitted.

Princess Margaret let out a self-mocking chuckle.

“I picked them based on their looks, their families, and their musical talent. I also thought that we were good friends, up until I had to move into the dorms. I was having fun with my pretty friends and the music club. I’d sometimes invite them to the palace or visit their homes.”

That did indeed sound like it was fun. The princess probably was received with incredible hospitality at their homes, and this was all when she’d only been ten to twelve years of age.

“You can be with your friends, it’s just that I cannot tolerate them,” I explained.

Princess Margaret had been friends with these girls for years. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to be with them. It wasn’t uncommon for one’s parents to dislike their friends. I believed everyone had the right to choose their friends.

Also, I had been chosen for the princess by the queen. Princess Margaret hadn’t chosen me herself, so I decided to take a step back.

“Are you planning to quit being my lady’s maid, Patience?” the princess asked.

That’s up to you, Your Highness.

“If my service can be limited to when in the dorms, I do not mind continuing to serve you. However, I cannot tolerate spending time with people I cannot respect, so I would like to be on my own during classes. I’d also like to eat lunch in the dining hall downstairs. It’s truly comfortable and pleasant.”

She must be surprised to hear that I can’t respect her friends. I’m definitely getting fired. On the plus side, I may get to spend more time with my brothers. I’ll get to spend my summer break with them!

“I sensed that they were bullying you, yet I didn’t do anything. I apologize, so please don’t quit being my lady’s maid.”

While I appreciated the princess’s apology, that wasn’t the issue. The problem was that I just couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe the original Patience could’ve endured it. When I thought that, I got a strong response from her for the first time in a while: I don’t want this either! It caused me a headache, but I was glad to hear that we were on the same page. As self-sacrificing as Patience was, even she couldn’t tolerate those lackeys. In that case, there should be no problem with me quitting.

If the princess couldn’t get up in the mornings, she wouldn’t be able to live in the dorms. The queen would likely have her return to the palace, and Princess Margaret would live under her watch.

“Lady Margaret, I’d like to res—” I was trying to tell her I wanted to quit, but I was interrupted.

“Patience, please don’t say you want to quit. I’ll do my best to wake up on my own in the mornings. Also, I agree that child-rearing is a ridiculous course. I just chose it because it’s an easy way to get credits, which is convenient for making your social debut. I don’t even care about high society, but unbeknownst to myself, I’ve been influenced by people’s expectations. Ah, I see now: This is what my mother was trying to tell me. I was just lashing out because I thought she was scolding me for avoiding practical courses, which I’m not so good at.”

Well, the queen was also upset that Princess Margaret was avoiding taking subjects she didn’t like. She’s a princess, so she’s used to being adored, and besides, who doesn’t like compliments? I can also understand why she would avoid subjects she doesn’t like. I mean, I’d also like to avoid horseback riding.

“Her Majesty must care very deeply for you, Lady Margaret,” I replied. “I believe she wants to make sure you don’t face any struggles after getting married.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re wrong. It’s hard to hear what both my mother and you have to say, but it’s given me the opportunity to think if I’m really okay with how things are. I’m going to distance myself from Catherine, Lilina, and Hariette. If I were to marry into a nonroyal family, I’m sure they would all turn on me right away.”

“I doubt that would happen,” I said, shocked by her last statement. “Regardless of who you marry, you will always be a princess.”

“You really don’t understand how the world works, Patience. Even after Richard succeeds the throne, Keith will still be here to support him as the king’s brother. However, princesses don’t know where they’ll end up, since they’re put in political marriages. I might even end up marrying into a family in an enemy kingdom. I can’t imagine how those girls would treat me if that were to happen.”

Oh, I remember talking about this with Prince Keith, Ralph, and Hugo before, but it didn’t click until now. I also never thought that I’d become this close with Princess Margaret.

“To be honest, when I was first selected to be your lady’s maid, I found it to be an annoyance. However, I now feel that I’ve had fun serving you.” This was the end of my service to the princess. I was a bit sad about it. She had some flaws, but Princess Margaret wasn’t mean or anything.

“What are you talking about, Patience? My mother chose you as my lady’s maid. You can’t just decide to quit. I’m choosing to cut off my friends. They’re easy to get along with, but that isn’t enough of a reason to spend time with them. I finally understand that now. I can’t lose my lady’s maid on top of my friends.” A wide grin spread across the princess’s face.

Are you saying I have no choice? I’m still going to stand my ground.

“I will continue to serve you in the dorms; however, I’m going to eat lunch in the lower dining hall. Also, I can’t be in the music club.”

Princess Margaret continued to smile, which was terrifying. This side of her was exactly like her mother.

“In that case, are you saying I must eat with Keith and his friends? I’ve told you that I’m cutting off Catherine and the others. I’ll also tell Albert to dismiss them from the music club. All they care about is high society, and they’re only in the music club because it gives them more prestige on top of being my schoolmates.”

Wait, who knows how they’ll retaliate if you do all that! I want an amicable separation here!

“Don’t underestimate me, Patience,” the princess continued. “Do you think I’d lose against Catherine, Lilina, and Hariette?”

Well, no, but they’ll definitely wipe the floor with me!

“Mother wouldn’t allow them to harm you. Don’t worry,” she said with a chuckle.

I guess the queen is going to threaten their parents to keep them in line?

“So, what classes are you going to take?” Princess Margaret asked, moving on to the next topic.

It seemed that I’d lost this round to the princess, but I wouldn’t have to spend time with those schoolmates of hers anymore, so I didn’t mind. If she wanted to be friendly with them in classes we didn’t take together, that was up to her.

In the end, I stayed on as Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid, but she did say she would distance herself from her schoolmates, and I’d successfully communicated that I wanted to do things on my own.

The school bells rang, signaling that third period had concluded.

“Lady Margaret, please do not skip your next class,” I said. The princess’s next class was art, which she could probably get a certificate of completion in.

“I won’t. You have weaving, right? After that, you must come to music club.”

“I will, since Samuel is going to be recommended to join today. However, I must say that I’m against Catherine and the others being dismissed from the club. There’s no problem with the girls themselves wanting to quit, but if you force them out, that would be an abuse of power. It’s just an extracurricular, so everyone should be allowed to do what they want.”

I didn’t mind quitting the music club, and I wanted to make sure that the princess’s three schoolmates could decide for themselves what they were going to do.

“But if those girls are there, you’re going to quit the music club. I can’t have that.”

The princess was correct that I didn’t want to be near them. I couldn’t avoid them in mandatory periods such as home room and home ec classes, but I didn’t want to have to see them after school as well.

“We can discuss what we’re going to do at music club. We’re going to be late for our classes.”

As the princess had mentioned, I had weaving next. It was a home economics track elective, and I was excited for it.

To my surprise, there were no girls from Class A here—in other words, my classmates were all girls from Class B or Class C. On top of that, there were only a total of eight students in the class. Most of the girls from Class A had chosen the same elective as Princess Margaret, and many of the students in the other classes had perhaps chosen subjects that would be easier.

There were handlooms on top of the desks in the classroom.

“I guess we’re going to weave using these,” I mumbled to myself.

Looking at the loom on my desk, I could tell it wasn’t very wide, so the widest item I could weave was something like an obi, a Japanese sash. For this world, perhaps a table runner would be more appropriate.

I sat in one of the open seats and waited for the teacher to arrive. The other students were chatting with their friends. Yeah, this is a little lonely. It’s one of the downsides of skipping ahead—I don’t know anyone here.

“My, it looks like we’re going to be a small class this year,” the teacher said upon arriving. “My name is Sally Derby. I’m looking forward to spending the next year with you all.”

Oh, I like this teacher! Ms. Derby was a skinny and peppy woman who seemed dependable.

“As you might have guessed, for the spring term, we’ll be using these small looms to create projects. Has anyone here used a loom before?”

Several students raised their hands. There were four complete beginners, including myself.

“In that case, I’d like you four to sit up front. It’ll be easier to teach you if you’re all sitting together,” Ms. Derby explained.

I moved up to one of the seats in the front. I didn’t like being at the front of the class, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

“I want everyone else to watch as well,” Ms. Derby continued. “I’m going to explain how to use these small looms.”

Ms. Derby began wrapping the warp around the loom on the desk of the brunette girl sitting on my right.

“You can dye a pattern onto the warp, but since we’re starting out, we’ll just be using a basic white thread for the warp. There’s some thick thread there on the podium, so try wrapping the warp yourselves. Raise your hand if you have any questions.”

I began warping the small loom. I’d been watching closely when Ms. Derby had done it earlier, so I was able to do it successfully.

“My, you did it so quickly for your first time! Just hang tight for a little longer, okay?” Ms. Derby then went on to help the students who hadn’t finished wrapping the thread. “You’ll all be doing this countless times, so I’ll help you out this time.”

Everyone had their looms warped, so next was threading the wefts. Ms. Derby used the loom of the red-haired girl sitting to my left to demonstrate how to thread the wefts. She weaved several rows and even explained how to change colors.

“Now then, let’s try weaving! Raise your hand if you have any questions.”

I could hear the rhythmic sound of people weaving coming from behind me. The wefts were threaded with a quick swish before they were beaten into place with a thwack, which made the warps thump.

“Ms. Derby, may I observe the students behind me?” I asked. Ms. Derby had only slowly woven a couple rows because she was explaining as she went, but I wanted to see how fast actual weaving went.

“Yes, go ahead,” she responded.

With the teacher’s permission, I sat in the back and observed the other students weaving. I eventually got a handle for the rhythm of the motions, so I tried my hand at weaving.

“For the weft, I’ll start with red.” I alternated going over and under the warp threads as I threaded the red weft through. This was fun, but it required a bit of patience. “I think I’ll do red and white stripes.”

Since this was my first project, I was only going to use two colors. Now that I’d decided on what to do, all that was left was to weave the fabric. I used mostly red, with several rows of white throughout my weft. Unfortunately, I got a little too absorbed in the weaving process and accidentally used some household magic.

“My, you already finished?” Ms. Derby asked. “Are you perhaps proficient in household magic?”

Shoot, she caught me.

“Yes, I use it unconsciously when I’m focused on something,” I apologetically explained.

“There’s no need to sound so sorry,” Ms. Derby replied with a laugh. “Many talented weavers are proficient in household magic.”

The other three beginners were still working, but the experienced students had all finished.

“Once you’re done weaving, this is how you remove the fabric from the loom. After that, you just take care of the ends, and you’re finished. If you’re going to take this class, I’d love for you to take dyeing as well. If you dye your threads, you’ll have much more freedom in the kind of projects you can make.”

I’m going to take dyeing too! Weaving requires a lot of patience, but it’s fun to complete a project.

I learned that the brunette beginner’s name was Sophia Summers, and the red-haired girl was Lily Mitchell. The last beginner, Hannah Barry, had dark brown hair.

“It’s reassuring to have other beginners in the class,” Sophia remarked. She’s cute. I know she’s older than me, but her personality is just adorable!

“We’ll catch up to the others in no time,” Lily declared with confidence.

“I didn’t sign up for dyeing,” Hannah said. “It looks like it would be good to take. I’ll have to switch out one of my classes.” She seemed a little unreliable.

That’s right: I became friends with my fellow beginners. The students sitting behind us all had experience weaving at home, and our project today was a piece of cake for them.

“I’m going to display this over my fireplace,” I said. Upon closer inspection, my tension was uneven in certain areas, but I decided to consider it part of the project’s charm.

“You’re Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid, aren’t you? Couldn’t you buy all the lovely fabrics you want?” Lily asked. The other two girls seemed to share her question.

“I may be her lady’s maid, but my family practices simple and frugal living. I have fun creating things that I like for myself.” They seemed to read between the lines and understand that I was poor, which brought us closer to each other.

“You’re right—it is fun. I’m looking forward to our next project.”

As I’d expected, it was fun to take a class that I was actually interested in. Perhaps the only reason law and government were boring was because of the teacher. I wonder if anyone other than Mr. Patterson also teaches those classes. Even if I plan on memorizing the textbooks and getting certificates of completion, I’d have to sit through those boring classes for the entire spring term, which I don’t want to do. I’ll look for other teachers!

I was having fun in weaving class, but now I had to go to the music club.

“Maybe I should find Samuel and walk him to the club.”

Yes, I know. I’m a coward. I don’t want to get involved in the mess between Princess Margaret and her schoolmates. I may not like Catherine and the others, but I don’t have a valid reason to force them to quit the club, so it would be better if I quit instead.

“I hate this. I want to join the handicraft club instead.”

I want to make all sorts of projects in the handicraft club. I could make some pillows for the boys’ room, and I want to learn how to weave a small rug. Maybe I can take a peek at the handicraft club. Samuel is coming in a group of four, so I’m sure they’ll get there on their own.

I’d been going to the clubhouse for a year, but I’d only ever visited the music club’s room on the first floor. I figured I could probably easily find the handicraft club’s room, since each door had a sign hanging above it.

“Hmm, I don’t see a sign for the handicraft club. I wonder if it’s on the second floor.” I hadn’t had any plans to join a club, so I had never bothered looking through the thick guide to all the clubs that I’d gotten upon enrolling in the academy.

I walked to one end of the clubhouse to go upstairs, and I ran into Caesar.

“Oh, Patience! Are you finally joining the alchemy club?”

“No, I’m looking for the handicraft club. Is it on the second floor?”

A grin spread across Caesar’s face. “All the clubs that make stuff are in the building behind this one. What a perfect opportunity this is! The handicraft club is right next to the alchemy club.”

The clubhouse annex was home to various clubs, including the cooking, handicraft, alchemy, pharmacy, ceramics, and woodworking clubs. Since they used water or fire, they were separated from the other clubs. Handicrafts also required using water and fire, like when dyeing fabrics.

So this is the clubhouse annex. I peeked in from the outside, but it didn’t seem like they were meeting today.

“Thank you very much for showing me the way,” I said to Caesar.

“Aren’t you in the music club?” Caesar asked.

It’s an uncomfortable subject.

“Yes, I am currently in the music club. I need to head over soon.” I didn’t want to go, but Samuel was going to be there.

“What kind of person does an extracurricular that puts that kind of look on their face? If you don’t like it, just quit.”

You’re not wrong.

“I agree. I’m planning to quit.” Saying it out loud made me feel better.

“You’re always welcome to join the alchemy club,” Caesar said, continuing to recruit me.

“As I’ve said before, I’ll think about it if I have the talent for it. I’m only proficient in household magic, so I might not be able to do alchemy.”

Caesar thought for a moment before he responded.

“I feel a lot more magical energy coming from you than I would expect for a user of household magic. My intuition tells me that you’d be great at alchemy. Oh! If you’re going to take alchemy, you should also take the magic circles course.”

I’m not surprised by your evaluation, since my household magic is a little strange. Also, I didn’t know that I should take magic circles as well as alchemy. It’s probably like how dyeing and weaving should be taken together.

“Thank you for the information,” I said.

Good grief. I need to head to the music club so I can quit.

I took a deep breath before entering the clubroom.

“Samuel, you’re here.”

Samuel looked relieved upon seeing me, which made my chest twitch with pain. Despite having invited him to join, I was going to quit.

“I’m recommending Daniel Kimberly, Valdische McFarlane, and Klaus Archer to join,” President Albert proudly announced.

Princess Margaret went after Albert, recommending Samuel to join the music club.

Catherine, Lilina, and Hariette aren’t here. Did Princess Margaret have President Albert dismiss them from the club? I’d rather quit than have them forced to leave.

“Um, where are Lady Catherine and the others?” I whispered to the princess.

“I told them I was dismissing them as my schoolmates, which upset them and led to them quitting the music club. They complained that they’re busy preparing to make their societal debuts, so they hated how the music club took up their time.”

“Those girls didn’t have a true love of music,” Albert scoffed. “They just wanted to please Lady Margaret and boast to others that they were schoolmates with the princess. I say good riddance!” President Albert tore up what appeared to be three letters of resignation.

I see. They quit because they were fired from being the princess’s friends.

“So please, don’t quit, Patience,” the princess pleaded. “The three of them have already quit.”

Urgh, the path to joining the handicraft club is even further away now. I really want to learn some transferable skills. Maybe the daughters of nobles don’t need such things, but embroidery could be used for side jobs, and weaving suits me—or rather, I like it.

As those thoughts ran through my mind, it was time for the new members to perform for us.

“Let’s see... Why don’t we start with Samuel, whom Patience was showering with praise?” President Albert suggested.

Oh, will he get nervous being the first to perform? Your cousin is worried for you, Samuel.

“In that case, I will play one of Patience’s compositions,” Samuel announced.

I could tell that he had practiced, and he played well. Good job, I thought as I clapped.

“Oh, that must be a new piece of hers!” Albert beamed. “I hope you’ll compose lots of pieces for us as well, Samuel!”

Daniel went next, playing the lute. He was incredibly talented.

“You need to practice the lute as well, Patience,” Princess Margaret remarked.

She’s right. I’ve been slacking off lutely—uh, lately.

Valdische and Klaus both played the hanon incredibly well. It was to be expected that all three of them would be talented, since President Albert was recommending them to join himself.

I’d been leisurely listening to the new members perform, but I should’ve known that things wouldn’t end there.

“Patience, show your juniors what the essence of the music club is,” President Albert requested.

Please don’t make this harder for me.

“He’s right. Didn’t you compose some pieces during winter break? I’d like to hear them,” Princess Margaret chimed in.

Samuel was looking at me, his eyes glimmering with excitement, and I couldn’t let him down. I have to do my best.

“I haven’t finished tweaking it, but I’ll play my new piece. It was a song I wrote in honor of the graduated Prince Richard. The title is ‘Farewell.’”

Calling this song a practice piece felt like a scam. “Étude Op. 10, No. 3,” which was sometimes known by the title “Farewell,” started with a slow tempo, which made people think it was an easy piece. The song went into a section with chord repetitions, which I’d struggled with in the past. Chopin was truly a genius pianist.

Shoot, did I overdo it? Princess Margaret was wiping tears away with her handkerchief, and Samuel was looking at the ceiling in an effort to hold back tears. He’s so cute.

“Patience, I think we should get married after all,” President Albert said. “Your talents would be wasted as a musician. We should open a music parlor, and together we’ll lead the evolution of music here in the Kingdom of Lawrence!”

This was the second time that President Albert had proposed to me. Princess Margaret, please stop him! He’s kissing my hand!

“A music parlor sounds nice, but for now, she’s my lady’s maid. Take your hands off her, Albert,” Princess Margaret demanded, and Albert finally let go of my hand.

Good god!

The existing members of the club were used to President Albert’s debauchery, but the new members appeared to be in disbelief.

“Patience just got proposed to...” Samuel muttered, completely stunned.

I need to keep him from saying anything.

“Samuel, President Albert was just joking,” I reassured him. “Don’t take it seriously. If you tell Aunt Lilianna, she’ll misunderstand.”

Samuel, still stunned, just nodded in response.

“I might not be able to get on board with the music club’s sense of humor...” Daniel, who’d been standing beside Samuel, said with a grimace.

“I’d heard from my father that Sir Albert was strange, but this is...” Valdische said. Both he and Klaus looked a little pale.

“I’d like to assure all of our new members that the rest of us are normal,” Princess Margaret said.

You’re just admitting that Albert is a weirdo.

The other members went on to perform brilliantly, which seemed to put our new members at ease.

“Patience, I’d like to thank Princess Margaret for recommending me to join the club,” Samuel said.

I introduced him to the princess, and Samuel spoke to her with perfect etiquette.

“After all, you’re Patience’s cousin,” Princess Margaret replied. “I have high hopes for you.”

Samuel’s face turned bright red. I get it. The princess is a pretty girl.

After that, the clubroom buzzed with friendly conversation. We sat on the claw-foot couches and gracefully engaged in lighthearted chats.

“Are you enrolled in the civil service track, President Albert?” I asked. There’s no way he’s in the knight track, and I don’t feel like he’d be in the mage track either.

“That’s right. I believe the academy should create an artist track, but since I have no other choice, I’ve enrolled in the civil service track. Aren’t you in the home economics track, Patience?”

“Well, I am in both the home economics and civil service tracks, but I’m finding the mandatory subjects of law and government to be incredibly boring.”

Albert laughed.

“You must be in Mr. Patterson’s class. He’s just reading from the textbook. You could just memorize everything and get a certificate of completion, but you must not want to do that. Hold on.” Albert waved over Rupert, who had been in charge of percussion at the Harvest Festival. “Rupert, you changed sections to another teacher, right?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe you endured such a boring class and got a certificate of completion, President Albert,” Rupert replied. “I personally hate wasting my time, so I switched to Mr. Sullivan’s class. You should also switch sections, Patience. You’ll get to discuss laws that aren’t mentioned in the textbook, as well as issues with our current legal system.”

That sounds both useful and fun!

“Thank you very much, Sir Rupert.” Rupert was truly a kind person.

“There aren’t very many female students who choose the civil service track. Good luck,” he said, jotting down a list of recommended teachers and handing it to me. “I don’t like taking classes just to satisfy credit requirements. I’ve written down the names of teachers who have informative classes. I hope this will help you.”

“Wow, thank you so much!” I excitedly said.

President Albert then snatched the list from my hands and read through it.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be recommending all these instructors with hard classes to Patience,” Albert complained. “I need Patience to quickly obtain certificates of completion so she can focus on composing songs.”

A heated debate regarding the purpose of the Royal Academy followed, so Princess Margaret, the new members, and I all decided to leave.

“Samuel, do you think you’ll be okay in the music club?” I asked.

Samuel thought for a moment before nodding. “Yes. I’ll also have my friends with me there. Daniel and the others have mentioned joining the riding club as well, so I’m planning to join both.”

Samuel cheerfully ran off to join the trio of new music club members who had been waiting for him. Your cousin feels relieved, Samuel. It looks like you’re enjoying the academy and making friends.

I returned to the dorms and spoke with Princess Margaret.

“Were Lady Catherine and the others really all right with quitting the music club? You didn’t pressure them at all, did you, Lady Margaret?” Perhaps it was rude for me to ask that, but I wouldn’t have been able to continue participating in the music club if I didn’t know for sure.

“My! Don’t suggest something so rude! I just told them they would no longer be my schoolmates, to which Catherine responded with a threat. She said, ‘In that case, we’ll be quitting the music club as well. Is that what you want?’”

Catherine had tried to use Princess Margaret’s love for music against her, but they seemed to have fundamentally misunderstood her.

“I told them that I didn’t want them to stay in the music club just to serve my own interests, and then they began complaining about all sorts of things, like how high society is more important. I was so disappointed to find out that I truly am a bad judge of character.”

After that talk, we began redoing our class schedules. I used the list I’d gotten from Rupert to make my choices. Monday and Tuesday had already passed, which meant that I couldn’t sit in on any of those classes before deciding to take them. I had to just trust Rupert and submit my class registration forms with his recommendations.

I came up with a new schedule, which needed first-year etiquette switched out for second-year etiquette.

Monday

Diplomacy | World History | Etiquette | ?

Tuesday

Geography | Foreign Language | Sewing | Weaving

Wednesday

Business | Magic Circles | Beauty | Alchemy

Thursday

Government | Cooking | Calligraphy | Dyeing

Friday

Law | Economics | Embroidery | ?

Princess Margaret said she couldn’t and wouldn’t do dyeing or weaving, so she’d added calligraphy and embroidery to her schedule. Along with the ridiculous class that was child-rearing, she needed to pick one more elective.

Monday

Language Arts | Child-rearing | Etiquette | ?

Tuesday

Household Math | Foreign Language | Sewing | Art

Wednesday

Classical Literature | ? | Beauty | ?

Thursday

Magic Theory | Cooking | Calligraphy | Magic Practicum

Friday

History | ? | Embroidery | ?

“I’ll need a second block for math. I was told it would be easy, but it looks like the curriculum has changed quite a bit. We need to create an annual budget, which upperclassmen have said they never had to do.”

It seemed that the bare-bones curriculum of household math had finally seen some change. I’m glad to hear that. My father lost his job to protect these classes—it would be sad if they didn’t teach anything.

“I’ll also need an additional block for sewing. Since I skipped class, I didn’t get to experience it for myself, but everyone couldn’t stop talking about how challenging the class was during art. I found out that we’ll have to attend the Festival of Verdure dance in the gowns we sew. This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing!”

During the Festival of Verdure dance the previous year, we had all been in our uniforms—that included the senior division students. If I recalled correctly, the senior division projects for sewing had been casual dresses for first-years, semiformal gowns for second-years, and formal gowns for third-years.

“That sounds like a lot of work for everyone,” I replied.

“Wow, you truly don’t seem bothered. I know you’re good at sewing, but it’s a gown. Not only that, but we have to wear them ourselves.”

It would be terrible if the seams came apart while you were on the dance floor.

“So, two blocks each for sewing and household math... The remaining electives are nutrition or family medicine.”

Princess Margaret stared at the course schedule while making her choice. After all, there wasn’t much else to base her decision on when it came to the actual course subjects.

“I’ll choose the Wednesday section of nutrition, since I need to take the Friday section of household math. I’ll also take my second section of sewing on Wednesday. I might even need three blocks for sewing.”

We’d finally finished building our schedules, so we had some tea.

“You’re really going to take alchemy and magic circles, Patience? The mage track is full of strange people. I’ve heard there’s some geniuses as well, but only a small number of them will go on to be court mages. You mustn’t get mixed up with a weirdo.”

Is she referring to Caesar? Oh, right, I said I would quit the music club, but I haven’t done that. It feels like I lied to him, which makes me nervous.

“I must say, ‘Farewell’ was a lovely piece,” Princess Margaret said. “Have you transcribed it to sheet music?” The princess demanded a new set of sheet music.

I don’t mind doing this, but I hope she doesn’t forget saying that she would wake up on her own when she was trying to stop me from resigning as her lady’s maid.

“I wish you luck in getting up on your own starting tomorrow,” I said.

Princess Margaret looked at me with shock. Just then, the bell rang.

“It’s time for dinner, Patience. And, well, I’ll do my best.”

She’s trying to brush it off! Though, making an effort is a step forward. I guess that’s good enough for now.

On Wednesday morning, it seemed that Princess Margaret had at least tried to wake up. She was sitting on her bed in a daze, and I used household magic to wake her up. After that, I got her to drink some tea.

“I went to bed early last night, but it didn’t make a difference,” she explained.

I did her hair, curling the face-framing pieces as I listened to her tell me of her efforts.

“I was at least sitting up today,” she pointed out. “It may be slow, but it is progress.”

I’ll have to praise her for making an effort. I’d been getting used to doing this hairstyle, so I was able to finish up quickly.

“You’ll probably accelerate beauty as well,” the princess said. “It’s sad that we won’t be able to be in the same class.”

That’s true. After all, she cut ties with her friends. She still has lots of fans, though. I’d like to think some of them are better than her former friends.

We were eating breakfast together when Prince Keith met up with us. Ugh, I’m still embarrassed that he heard all those insults. I still wanted to thank him though.

“I apologize for my behavior yesterday,” I said to him. “Thank you very much for lending me your jacket.”

“I don’t care about that. More importantly, you need to get stronger, Patience,” Prince Keith replied.

My Verbal Blunder radar went wild, telling me that he was going to call me “slower than a turtle,” but Prince Keith kept his mouth shut. I guess he’s learned a little. Good for him.

“I was thinking of having lunch with my sister. Do you want to sit at a different table, Patience?”

I guess he doesn’t want to force me to eat with the royal siblings. Does that mean I can eat at the regular dining hall? Yay for me!

“My, my! Patience is my lady’s maid,” the princess said. “We’ll be eating together. Also, your friends shall eat with us. The five of us can have lunch together.”

“What about your friends?” Prince Keith asked.

“I’ve asked those girls to step down from being my schoolmates,” she replied.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

It was quite a casual discussion. I hadn’t realized it was so easy to be dismissed by the royal family. Listening to it firsthand sent a chill down my spine.

My classes for today were business, magic circles, beauty, and alchemy. Business was taught by a teacher that Rupert had recommended, so I was looking forward to it. I was also excited for the magic circles course and alchemy.

“Patience. You’re to come to the salon for lunch,” the princess ordered. “I don’t want any oddballs going after you.” I know the regular dining hall is filled with low-ranking nobles, but that doesn’t make them oddballs.

“She’s telling you to be careful of any low-ranking nobles that try to use you to get closer to her,” Prince Keith elaborated.

Oh, that’s what she meant. I guess I’m only eleven, so no one would be “going after” me.

“Patience, you may be smart in an academic sense, but you’re quite naive. You must be careful,” Princess Margaret said, warning me.

Do eleven-year-olds need to be worried about being pursued in this world? Are we in lolicon heaven?!

Chapter 3: The Girl on Keith’s Mind

My name is Keith. This semester, I began my second year in the junior division of the Royal Academy. I’d planned to use the first week to skip ahead a grade level in many subjects.

I’d ended up obtaining a certificate of completion in dance, as did Ralph and Hugo, so we now had some free time. This was a feat that not even Patience, who’d accelerated into the senior division, had accomplished. I beat her!

“It may be good to use our free time to practice riding or swordsmanship,” I suggested to my friends.

“I agree,” Ralph replied. “It’s nice to be exempt from taking dance.”

The three of us were in high spirits as we walked down the hall, but my mood quickly soured when I found yet another weirdo trying to get close to her.

“So, what’s your surname?” the weirdo asked.

“My full name is Patience Granger,” she replied much too happily. “I’m going to sit in on the alchemy lecture, and if it seems possible for me to take, I’m going to register for the class. I’ll consider joining the alchemy club after that.”

Who in the world are you?! I thought, shooting a glare at the male student.

“Understood,” the male student said, then he promptly left.

For some reason, I felt terribly irritated. That girl always had her guard down, which led to strange men always making advances toward her.

“You’ve always got weirdos hanging around you!” I said to her. The rude remark had left my mouth before I’d even realized, but she paid no mind to it.

“Shouldn’t you be in class, Prince Keith?” she asked.

“I got a certificate of completion for dance!” I proudly answered. Something surely impossible for you to do, since you’ve got two left feet! I shoved my certificate in her face, only to realize that for some reason, she also had one in her hands. “You got one too, Patience? You shouldn’t have been able to get one with your dance skills.”

Patience technically could dance, but that was only when she had a skilled dancer taking the lead. I was confused as to how she’d gotten her exemption, and Ralph provided the answer to the mystery.

“Sir Caesar may be strange, but he is the eldest son of Duke Burns. I’m sure he’s studied dance,” Ralph explained. He was quite knowledgeable about nobles—actually, he knew a lot about everything.

“That weirdo is the duke’s son...? All of the royal family’s relatives are weirdos,” I scoffed.

Dukes’ lineages traced back to the royal family, which meant that I was distantly related to Caesar. Duke Laforet was another relative who was quite the strange character.

Is Duke Burns all right with having a son like that as his heir?

“Duke Burns runs the Burns Trading Company, right?” Hugo asked. “My father was praising him for his exceptional business acumen... So that is his eldest son. I wonder if we will get along.”

This was all news to me. I didn’t know that Duke Burns had a trading company. I didn’t even know that nobles ran businesses. If Hugo’s father has told him to get close to Caesar, the Burns business must be doing extremely well. A vexing sensation began stirring in my chest.

“You’ll be able to get close to him if you join the alchemy club, Sir Hugo,” she suggested.

I couldn’t believe she would propose something so ridiculous.

“No way!” the three of us instinctively responded. It was the normal reaction to something so preposterous.

I know you wouldn’t do something so absurd, Hugo. I believe in you.

“You keep attracting weirdos,” I said, chastising her. “Are you giving off some kind of smell that makes weirdos like you?” Shoot!

I had a tendency to make somewhat thoughtless comments. She might have been a weirdo, but she was still technically a noble lady—and commenting on a lady’s scent was impolite. I wanted to apologize to her, but she left before I could.

“Excuse me,” she said, walking away. It was politely contemptuous behavior.

“That was too far, Prince Keith,” Ralph reprimanded me.

“I know. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Later that night, I decided that I would apologize to her when I saw her at lunch the next day. I shut my eyes, only to be met with the image of Caesar and that girl happily dancing together, and I couldn’t sleep.

“Why is she on my mind?” I wondered aloud. “Louise has better looks. She doesn’t come from a particularly good family, nor is her magic proficiency anything special. Well, she is always with Margaret, so I do interact with her a lot. That must be why.”

I just wanted to apologize and get that strange girl off my mind already, but various memories kept surfacing, like how she had learned how to swim surprisingly quickly when I’d given her lessons at the summer palace, or how she was afraid of horses and would pitifully plead to ride a pony instead, despite the fact that she could make horses obedient.

I lost sleep, all thanks to her. My day continued to go downhill as I did awful on the classical literature exam. If I’d passed classical literature, I could’ve skipped ahead a grade level and become a third-year student! This is all her fault!

In all honesty, it was my own fault that I’d failed the classical literature exam. What made things even worse was that Ralph had the skills to skip ahead to the next level of classical literature, but he held himself back for my sake. That didn’t feel right to me, but I also didn’t want to be in a different grade level than he was. Even so, I probably needed to talk to him about this.

“I’m going to apologize to Patience,” I mumbled to myself as I headed to the salon. My sister and her schoolmates forced Patience to sit at my table. If they’re going to treat her like this, wouldn’t it be easier if we all just ate separately?

The problems with my friends and my sister’s friends were irritating me. My sister’s schoolmates were all beautiful, noble ladies from distinguished families, but I couldn’t bring myself to like them. My brother Richard likely wouldn’t choose any of them as his queen, and neither did I want to be with any of them.

On that note, Louise probably wasn’t a potential match either. She was beautiful, the daughter of a count, and she’d been gifted with a proficiency in light magic. On top of all of that, she was smart. I’d been drawn to her at first, but every now and then, she would direct a mean-spirited look at nobles of a lower status than herself. Louise probably thought that no one noticed, but Ralph and I both had seen it. Even Hugo knew she did this.

Despite all of that, Louise was still more tolerable than my sister’s friends. The way they treated Patience made it clear just how malicious they were at heart. I had no idea why my sister spent time with such spiteful girls. They wouldn’t join her in the dorms, and they’d ignored Margaret for their own interests during the Festival of Verdure.

I was also frustrated with her for letting such wicked people treat her so cruelly. She’d been chosen by my mother to be Margaret’s lady’s maid—she should have been driving away those vermin.

Changing my focus from my issues with my own pals to the problems with my sister’s friends didn’t help. Patience just sat there eating, seemingly unbothered, and I couldn’t suppress the urge to draw her attention to myself.

“Patience, are you going to join Caesar’s alchemy club?” I’d meant to apologize, but for some reason, I’d brought up the displeasing topic that was Caesar. I’ve failed!

“I haven’t decided yet,” she answered. “I’ll think about it after taking alchemy.” Her brusque response made my blood boil.

“You were serious about taking alchemy?” I asked. I’d thought that she was just being her usual strange self and had said that on a whim.

Are you that desperate to join the alchemy club? Come to think of it, she was the one who first suggested that somebody could get closer to Caesar by joining the alchemy club.

“Are you into Caesar or something? The Burns do seem pretty wealthy.”

She glared at me as if to ask whether I was an idiot. I’d just wanted to apologize—how had I gone so wrong?

“Lady Margaret, I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to excuse myself.” Once again being politely contemptuous, she got up and left.

“Keith, just what did you say to upset Patience?!” Margaret fumed.

“I had no idea that Patience was interested in Duke Burn’s eldest son,” Catherine said with a tone of ridicule.

“Well, she is a rather unusual girl,” Lilina chimed in. “Perhaps she thought that she had a chance with him, even though she’s a viscount’s daughter.”

“Sir Albert is also the son of a duke—Duke Laforet!” Hariette pointed out. “She’s going after some big fish. She doesn’t know her place, does she?”

“Considering that you’ve left your schoolmates free to speak ill of others behind their backs, I don’t think you are in any position to be scolding me, sister,” I replied to Margaret. “I will apologize directly to Patience.”

I ran after Patience. It was cold out today, yet she was headed for the courtyard. She was a slow runner, so I caught up to her right away.

“I can’t take it anymore! I don’t want to be Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid anymore! I can put up with waking her up in the morning and her music fetish, but I hate those lackeys of hers! I also don’t want to take any more pointless classes!”

Patience was just screaming in the middle of the courtyard. She’s making it difficult for me to approach her. Also, she can’t quit! She’s the only one who can wake Margaret up.

“All three of them left Princess Margaret on her own during the Festival of Verdure because they were interested in the boys in the knight club. Also, they act like they’re her friends, but they won’t even move into the dorms for her! Nor will they even try the difficult task of learning a foreign language with her! They’re probably just ‘friends’ with the princess because they think it’ll give them a better chance of marrying into a good family! I hate them!”

After screaming out her frustrations, Patience seemed to feel better. I hated those girls as well, so I also felt refreshed after hearing her complaints. I decided to come out from my hiding spot behind a tree and apologize to her.

“I’m going to quit the music club as well.” She was now speaking nonsense and smacking her own face, as if steeling herself to go into battle.

I don’t think girls should be doing things like that.

Patience couldn’t quit the music club. She was a gifted musician whose abilities had been recognized by that weirdo Albert. It would be a waste of talent if she were to quit.

“Oh, I’m hungry... I wonder if I can eat at the regular dining hall,” she thought aloud to herself.

Her stomach growled, which I’d never seen happen to a noble lady before. With unfortunate timing, my own stomach decided to growl as well. That’s embarrassing.

“Who’s there?” she asked. I’d been caught.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” I first apologized. “Please forgive me for what I said yesterday as well. My sister’s schoolmates are toying with you, yet I’ve directed my anger about my own spinelessness toward you. My mother chose you to be Margaret’s lady’s maid. You can drive off those vermin. If you have any complaints, you can get my mother to bring them up to Margaret.”

After apologizing for everything in one go, my stomach growled again.

“You must be quite hungry,” she said. “I’m sure Sir Ralph and Sir Hugo, who are watching from over there, are hungry as well. You should all return to the salon. Also, eavesdropping is impolite, Prince Keith.”

I couldn’t leave a girl all alone on a cold day like this, and she was dawdling behind me. I bet a turtle would walk faster than her.

“Start walking already,” I said, trying to escort her inside, but she refused. Does she hate me or something?

“Please go on without me,” she said. Ah—it wasn’t that she didn’t like me; she was just being considerate toward me, since she walked slowly.

“Wear this!” I said, removing my jacket and putting it over her shoulders. If she keeps walking that slowly, she’s going to freeze out here.

“What? No, I can’t—” she tried to return the jacket, but she was slow, so I ran back to the salon before she could.

“You must be cold, Prince Keith,” Ralph said, trying to lend me his jacket.

“Don’t offer your jacket to men,” I chided him. “Also, from now on, I don’t want you to hold back on exams. I wouldn’t resent my own friends for being gifted.”

Ralph smiled.

“Let’s eat,” he said, calling over a waiter.

I proceeded to talk with Ralph and Hugo over lunch, and by the end, our friendship had become much healthier.

At the end of the day, Patience might have been a weird girl, but she wasn’t mean. I just couldn’t seem to get her off my mind.

Chapter 4: Fun Classes and the Home Economics Track

Mr. Caines’s business class, which Rupert had suggested I take, was interesting.

“If all we did was read from the textbook, then this could be a self-study course,” Mr. Caines said. “During the spring term, you will be starting up a business of your own and aiming to make a profit. Your starting capital will be ten rhoms.” Mr. Caines flipped a golden ten-rhom coin into the air and caught it with the same hand. The class began buzzing, which seemed to please him.

“Are you all surprised that the curriculum is different from what you’d heard from your upperclassmen? Don’t worry—exams will still be based on the textbook, since we need to match what the other classes are doing.”

One student raised his hand. I recognized him as being in Class A, but I didn’t know his name.

“What is it, Philips?”

“Isn’t it unfair for us to have the same exams as the other classes when we will be busy with creating a business plan and making a profit?”

Philips had a fair point, and the rest of the class began murmuring in agreement.

“You’re welcome to take a different instructor’s class if you’d like,” Mr. Caines said with a chuckle. “I’ll warn you, though, that all the business classes have added a practical element to the curriculum this year. Also, your businesses will of course be a part of your grade, along with the exams. Half of your grade will be determined by your exam scores, while the other half will be determined by your projects.”

Philips seemed satisfied with the teacher’s answer, and the atmosphere of the classroom was It can’t be helped if the other classes are doing the same thing.

The curriculums for sewing, household math, and business were all slowly changing. It would be great if Mr. Patterson’s law and government courses also got an update, but instead of waiting and hoping, I was going to take Mr. Sullivan’s classes instead.

The area where the mage track classes were located had a sketchy atmosphere. I wasn’t sure why that was. The knight track was all energetic boys, and the home economics track had an elegance to it with all of the girls enrolled. Most of the students in the civil service track were academic types, so the classes were overall calm.

The students in the mage track wore the same uniforms as everyone else...but they were also adorned with black robes. Large, dubious-looking pendants hung from their necks. Wait, are those bones? One student I walked past definitely had a large necklace made of lots of jangling bones. I guess I saw surfers wear shark tooth necklaces during my previous life. Some people even had rabbit’s foot necklaces.

Unlike in the civil service track, where there were no other girls, I occasionally saw female students who were enrolled in the mage track. They all looked like witches. Are they wearing makeup to purposefully look like that? They all have messy hair too. This is my first time seeing unkempt girls since coming to this world.

I now understood why Princess Margaret and Prince Keith had initially been against me taking alchemy. There indeed seemed to be lots of strange characters here.

“This must be the magic circles class,” I muttered to myself.

The classroom itself seemed normal, but after taking one step inside, I immediately wanted to leave. I was used to all of my classmates staring holes into me thanks to my civil service courses, but the mage track students’ gazes were intensified by their mana, which made them all the more intimidating.

You won’t get me, though! This isn’t even a tenth as intense as Prince Richard’s gaze, nor is it even a hundredth as intimidating as Queen Victoria’s stare!

A window seat at the back of the room was empty. It’s my lucky day! I love being at the back and next to a window! I took my seat, and immediately the class began buzzing. What? Am I not allowed to sit here?

“You’ve got some nerve, Patience Granger,” someone said. “What is the genius who skipped ahead to the senior division doing taking magic circles?” I recognized him from Class A, but I didn’t know his name. This was one of the downsides of having accelerated.

“I was told that it would be a good idea to take this class if I was going to take alchemy,” I explained.

My statement must have been nonsensical, because the boy erupted into laughter. He had blond hair that stood up like a lion’s mane, and it swayed as he laughed.

“Sir Caesar must’ve been the one who said that. I see—you must be the girl who stopped by during the Festival of Verdure. Oh, by the way, I’m Benjamin Priest. We’re both in Class A, but I don’t believe we’ve had any classes together.” Benjamin then sat in the seat next to mine.

“Was this perhaps your usual seat, Sir Benjamin? If that’s the case, I don’t mind switching.”

In the senior division, students were constantly moving around from class to class, but some classes were held in the same room. If he were a mage track student, it was possible that he had a particular seat he always sat in.

“No, it’s fine. I just like sitting in the back by the window,” he explained. “I’m sure you chose that seat because you feel the same way. You got here first, so it’s yours.”

Well, next time I’ll sit in a different seat.

“Wow, we’ve got a lot of students this year. Looks like you all have finally realized how important magic circles are. Well...either that or there wasn’t anything more interesting during this block! Either way, I’m glad to have you here. My name is Robin Kubrick. I also teach alchemy, so we might be seeing more of each other.”

Mr. Kubrick was the youngest teacher I’d ever seen. He looked like he was fresh out of university.

“During the spring term, we’ll be going over the basics of magic circles. In other words, we’ll be going over foundational magic circles for lighting a fire, creating water, creating a breeze, and moving dirt, as well as the applications of those magic circles. It’s pretty easy. You’ll all be able to draw magic circles in no time.”

Judging from the instructor’s pitch, this class was going to be quite easy. But then the textbooks were handed out, and as we began to flip through them, the class began buzzing with concern.

“Mr. Kubrick, are we going to be drawing these?” one student asked after raising his hand.

“Why, yes, Bryce! Of course we are. These are all beginner-level magic circles. They look easy, don’t they?”

Ooooohhhhh, this teacher must be the kind of person who doesn’t understand when things are difficult because it comes easily to them. Passing this class might be rough after all.

“Go ahead,” Mr. Kubrick urged. “Try and copy the first magic circle onto a piece of paper. If you do well, it should light a flame. Make sure to try it in the back.”

Huh? Is it okay to light a fire as long as it’s in the back of the classroom or something? Well, I’m sure Mr. Kubrick will handle it if anything gets out of hand.

I referenced the textbook while drawing the magic circle. It was quite complicated. If basic magic circles were already this complex, this class was going to be difficult. I studied the magic circle in the textbook thoroughly, carefully copying the connecting lines at the correct angles along with the various patterns.

“I’m done!” Benjamin exclaimed from beside me, raising his hand. I wonder if he’s used to doing this. He might be in the alchemy club, since he knows Sir Caesar.

“Looks like you’re first, Benjamin,” Mr. Kubrick said. “Come to the back of the class.”

I stopped what I was doing and watched them use the magic circle.

“Try to let your mana flow into the circle,” Mr. Kubrick instructed.

Benjamin poured his mana into the paper with an intense look on his face. He let out an “Oh!” as a flame flickered for a moment before immediately disappearing.

“Your work is sloppy,” Mr. Kubrick said. “Look at where these lines intersect—they’re at the wrong angle. That’s why your flame went out right away. Try again, and this time, take a closer look as you copy it.”

Benjamin looked dispirited, which was quite cute. There was something endearing about older boys when they got disappointed. Even so, he was a bit too grown for my taste.

Bryce, who’d raised his hand earlier, was the next to finish, but his magic circle didn’t produce a flame either.

“I see what happened,” Mr. Kubrick commented. “See this line here? That’s a mistake. This is no magic circle.”

Bryce also left disappointed. I was quite fond of his looks. He seemed like he was still growing, which gave him an adorable youthfulness.

While admiring the shotas in my class, I finally finished drawing my magic circle. It had ended up taking quite a lot of time.

“I’m done, Mr. Kubrick,” I reported.

Mr. Kubrick had stayed in the back of the classroom, and was just sitting there reading a book. I guess he isn’t going to go around the class and correct any mistakes students are making.

“Oh, I haven’t seen you before.”

“Yes, my name is Patience Granger.”

“Sounds familiar. Oh, you must be the Patience everyone’s talking about in the teachers’ offices! Let’s see what you’ve got. Try pouring your mana into it.”

I wonder what the teachers are saying about me. Maybe they’ve got their eyes on me because I accelerated into the senior division. More importantly, I need to focus on this!

“Oh! I made a flame,” I announced.

“Wow, looks like you drew it properly. Patience, I want you to draw the magic circle for producing water next.” Mr. Kubrick then turned to the class. “Listen up, everyone. Focus on accuracy, not speed.”

I returned to my seat, and Benjamin began talking to me.

“Good job. No wonder Sir Caesar thinks you have potential. Do you want to join the alchemy club?”

The alchemy club sure is aggressive in recruiting members.

“I’ll consider it after taking alchemy,” I said.

Mr. Kubrick seemed to be listening to our conversation, and he chimed in.

“You’re taking alchemy too?! I’m sure you could do it, Patience! Why aren’t you enrolled in the mage track?”

It was an uncomfortable question to answer.

“I’m already enrolled in the home economics and civil service tracks, so magic circles and alchemy are all the mage classes my schedule can handle. Also, household magic is the only magic I can use, so I’m not a good fit for the track.”

Mr. Kubrick looked me right in the eyes, his own filled with sadness.

“That’s not true. Don’t get swept up in society’s tendency to look down on household magic! This is something that Madam Jefferson also says: You can do anything if you master household magic. Why don’t you quit the home economics and civil service tracks to enroll in the mage track? It’ll be lots of fun!”

It was true that the home economics track required taking lots of boring courses, but I liked using my hands to make things. The subjects taught in the civil service track were also likely to be helpful for my future.

“No thank you. I’ve already got a lot on my plate,” I said, politely declining.

I had lunch with Princess Margaret, Prince Keith, Ralph, and Hugo at the salon. We had eight seats at our table, so there was enough room for me to eat with Princess Margaret separately from Prince Keith, who ate with his friends. This helped to keep either sibling from being upset by the other’s behavior.

“After lunch, we have beauty together,” Princess Margaret commented. “I’m a bit worried about it, since a lot of courses have had a change to their curriculum this year. I’ve also heard that there’s going to be a practical aspect added to nutrition. I’m concerned about what we’ll have to do.”

It was true that household math seemed to have gotten more difficult compared to the previous years. Plus, for sewing, senior division first-years now had to sew a whole gown, not just a casual dress—and not only did they have to complete these projects, but they also had to wear them to the Festival of Verdure, which was quite the harsh requirement.

“A practical element to nutrition?” I asked. “I wonder if you’ll have to come up with a menu or something. Business also had a practical element added to the course. We have to start a business with ten rhoms and make a profit. I’m not really sure how much ten rhoms can get me, so I’m having trouble coming up with an idea.”

Though I’d been doing side jobs, I earned a mere pittance, so I had no idea what ten rhoms could buy. All I knew of the value of goods in this world came from when I’d researched the price of strawberries.

How much money do people make on average? According to my father, Lady Charlotte is a public servant. I wonder what her salary is. I really want to go out into town. I need to find a way to convince Mary to let me explore.

We continued discussing the changes to the curriculum, and Prince Keith joined in on our conversation.

“I didn’t realize that both the home economics and civil service tracks were adding more practical components to the curriculum. One of my upperclassmen from the knight club mentioned that the knight track has also changed quite a bit.”

“Really?” Princess Margaret responded. “I wish child-rearing would change its curriculum as well. Not only is it boring, but the content is also completely ridiculous.”

After our carefree lunch, we had beauty, which ended up being more difficult than we’d expected.

“My name is Maria Despar. When it comes to beauty, practice is important. Now, I’d like you to clean up these children.”

There were a number of children sitting up at the front of class. No one knew where they had come from, and the class seemed unsettled.

“Ms. Despar, who are these girls?” Catherine asked, furrowing her brows.

They were obviously not from noble families.

“Our capital of Romano is home to several orphanages. These children lead lives where beauty is beyond their concerns. However, once they are ten, they must join society. The sharper their appearances, the better the jobs they can get. Now, do your best in sprucing them up.”

The students immediately raced to get the tidiest child they could. Princess Margaret had gotten herself quite an adorable child to work on. There were two kids left, and they both had unkempt hair and disheveled clothing.

I didn’t know this world could be so cruel. Is it really okay to use children as learning materials? Such thoughts had left me hesitating to the last.

“Come over here, both of you,” I beckoned the girls. “My name is Patience. What are your names?”

“Carrie.”

“Mimi.”

They responded hesitantly, but I could tell the girls both had a lot of potential to work with.

“When finding a job, it helps to keep a tidy appearance. Don’t worry, I’ll get you both cleaned up and teach you how to do your hair.”

The classroom was equipped with hairbrushes and ribbons to accessorize with. This was going to be a piece of cake.

I started by using household magic on Carrie and Mimi.

“Become clean!” Household magic is seriously so useful! Everything about them, including the clothes they were wearing, became pristine. Even their hair had become sparkling clean.

“Let’s start with you, Carrie,” I said. “Sit down here, please. What kind of hairstyle would you like?”

“I want to be a maid, so I want my hair up,” Carrie bashfully responded.

“I see. I’ll do it first, so you can learn how to do it.” I put her hair into the simplest bun possible, which was held in place with a single pin. “Wasn’t that easy? Try it for yourself while I work on Mimi’s hair.”

Mimi said that she wanted to become a maid as well, so I did the same hairstyle for her. They both practiced, and they learned how to put their hair into buns right away.

“Would you like to try another version of this hairstyle?” They both energetically nodded. There were plenty of accessories that had been prepared, and the girls couldn’t help but notice them. “Go ahead and pick any ribbon you like,” I said.

Carrie picked a red ribbon, which went well with her brown hair. Mimi had red hair, so she couldn’t pick anything red or pink.

“Does Carrie’s ribbon look bad on me?” she asked, holding a red ribbon up to her hair.

“It might not be the best choice. What about a green one?” I suggested. The green ribbon looked wonderful against Mimi’s red hair.

“This is something you can do on your own,” I said, beginning the next demonstration. “First, you split your hair in half and make two braids. Then, you put those braids into a bun in the back of your head. Finally, you tie it in place with the ribbon.”

I demonstrated the hairstyle with Carrie’s hair, and Mimi watched intently as I worked.

“Would you like to try braiding your own hair, Mimi?” I asked. If they didn’t try it for themselves, they wouldn’t learn how to do these hairstyles.

“Yes!” Mimi enthusiastically responded.

Carrie followed suit, undoing her hair and braiding it herself before putting it back into a bun.

“You both did very well,” I said, praising them.

Just then, Ms. Despar approached me from behind.

“Patience, I’m going to give you a certificate of completion.”

“Thank you, but what will happen with the rest of the children?”

I was glad to be receiving a certificate of completion, but some of the kids had ended up with downright tragic “hairstyles.” Since noble ladies usually had maids do their hair, many of them never learned to style hair on their own.

“I didn’t expect them to do this poorly,” Ms. Despar replied. “You can do something about this, right, Patience? I’ve heard about your skills from Madam Jefferson. If we send them home like this, the orphanage is going to lodge a complaint with the academy.”

I’d been more concerned about the possible human rights issues concerning these children, but that didn’t seem to be a factor Ms. Despar was considering.

“Very well. Please gather the rest of the children here.” Fourteen girls gathered, and I used my household magic on them. “Become clean!”

Their unkempt hair that had been further tangled into strange styles became sparkling clean and silky smooth, along with everything else. On top of that, their clothes also became as good as new.

“Okay, I want you to watch closely,” I instructed. I taught the rest of the children how to make a basic bun. “Good job, everyone.” I then turned to Carrie and Mimi. “I’d like your help for the next one.”

I began braiding the youngest girl’s hair to demonstrate for the others.

“I’d like you all to try it out. If you have any questions, raise your hand. Carrie and Mimi will help as well.”

Eventually, everyone was able to put their hair into both simple and braided buns. Man, I’m exhausted!

Though they had been used as teaching material for this troubling class, the children seemed happy to have been cleaned up. That was the one saving grace of this whole ordeal. They were also given ribbons and combs to take home, which they were excited about.

This is a world with a class system. Life isn’t so easy for everyone here. As those thoughts ran through my mind, Princess Margaret, who was someone at the top of the pecking order, began grumbling to me.

“I knew you would get a certificate of completion,” she grumbled.

I had more important things to deal with than the princess’s complaints.

“Ms. Despar, is this really the best way to do things?”

She lamented that she’d had no idea her students would have such horrible styling skills.

“I thought this was a good idea—that we’d be able to volunteer our skills while learning about beauty. However, this was more harmful than helpful. Starting with our next class, we’ll be practicing with each other’s hair.”

The class erupted in shrieks. The girls didn’t want their hair ruined by their classmates, which seemed hypocritical considering what they’d put the orphans through today. I could sympathize with not wanting to walk around the academy in a strange hairdo though.

“Hey, Patience, you should return that certificate of completion to Ms. Despar and pair up with me,” Princess Margaret suggested. It was a bit of an extreme ask, and Ms. Despar shot the princess down with a smile.

“So, you must be doing Princess Margaret’s hair, Patience. You’ve got incredible skills.” Ms. Despar then turned to the rest of the class and gestured at my handiwork. “This is the minimum level you need to be at. Otherwise, you’ll have to repeat this class.”

The class erupted in screams once more.

“Perhaps we should be switching to another subject,” some students said, having serious discussions about changing their schedules.

It seemed like there was a tsunami of change washing over the various courses at the Royal Academy. Unfortunately, this tsunami seemed to have missed law and government, as well as child-rearing.

I was exhausted after beauty class—a result of both all the magic I’d done and the emotional shock of seeing the flippant attitude toward children in this world.

“I have sewing next,” the princess informed me. “You have alchemy, right?” Princess Margaret was also tired after doing something she wasn’t familiar with: styling hair.

“Yes,” I replied. “It seems that the teachers are just as unprepared for the changes to the curriculum. Would you like to drop beauty?” It was possible that switching to family medicine would land her in a boring class, but she would be able to avoid looking mangled, at the very least.

“No, no. What if the curriculum in family medicine has also changed? I don’t want to be in a situation where we’re diagnosing each other,” Princess Margaret explained. “I’d rather have my hair ruined.”

The princess made a fair point. Perhaps it was for the best that the child-rearing curriculum hadn’t changed. It would’ve been incredibly dangerous to leave infants in the care of these noble girls. It was possible that the academy was going to take things slowly with that subject. They need to first hire caretakers as teaching assistants or something. Otherwise those babies are all gonna die.

I continued ruminating about the child-rearing class and eventually made it to the unsettling area of campus where the mage track classes were held. Had the tsunami of change reached this part of the academy? That was too terrifying to even imagine.

“Hey, Patience!” Benjamin called out, waving me over. He was sitting in the back row, next to the window. So he does like that seat.

Just as I sat beside him, Bryce, who’d been in my magic circles class, sat in front of me.

“Patience, right?” he asked. “I’ve heard from Benjamin that Sir Caesar has invited you to join the alchemy club. Want to join together?” Oh? Is he not already a member?

“Most of the club members are senior division students, and we’ve only got a handful of people,” Benjamin began to explain. “We keep telling students we’ll teach them alchemy, but no one will join. I’ve invited Bryce to join us several times, but he keeps turning me down because he’s worried he can’t do alchemy.”

“If I can’t do alchemy, then there’s no point in me joining,” Bryce argued. “Also, I’m already in magic club.”

That made Benjamin’s hair stand on end. I think I’ll call him Fluffy, like a kitty.

“The magic club’s existence is pointless!” he bellowed.

Should you be bad-mouthing a club you’re not even a part of so loudly? Them’s fightin’ words.

“Hey, I’m not going to let that slide,” someone spoke up. “The alchemy club’s just a gathering of weirdos, and you’re on the brink of dissolution. Get off your high horse!”

I knew it. Here comes trouble. Maybe I should sit somewhere else.

“The magic club just gets subcontracts from the knight club,” Benjamin sneered. “The main thing your club does is tagging along on the winter hunt. Not only is that your focus, but I’ve heard that these days, you have to participate in the knight club’s practices.” He was just adding fuel to the fire.

“You won’t join the alchemy club, will you, Bryce?” the other student asked.

“Well, I don’t really understand the activities that the magic club has been participating in lately...” Bryce admitted.

“Don’t be like that, Bryce! We’ll be in trouble if you also leave.”

Bryce seemed to be a hot commodity. The student in the magic club was fervently trying to stop him from quitting. I should leave this situation. I attempted to sneak away, but Benjamin caught me.

“We’ve got a girl joining this year,” Benjamin pointed out. “If you join too, we’ll avoid the dissolution of our club.” Wait, the alchemy club is that close to dissolving? Also, I never agreed to join.

“Hey, quiet down over there!” the teacher called out. “Get back in your seat, Andrew!”

So that magic club guy’s name is Andrew. I recognized him from Class A, which meant that Benjamin, Bryce, and Andrew were likely the only Class A students enrolled in the mage track. That was a pretty small group. The rest of the boys in Class A were likely enrolled in the knight track or civil service track. Perhaps that was the standard distribution of students across the available tracks.

“I’m your alchemy teacher, Robin Kubrick. I believe that alchemy is the most magnificent thing that can be accomplished with magic. The reason for that? Only those proficient in magic can cast spells, but as long as you have a magic stone, even those with little mana can use magical instruments created through alchemy. You are all nobles who have been gifted with proficiency in magic, so you may not know that using magic is an ability that only a minuscule portion of the population of Lawrence has. Well then, let’s learn alchemy.”

Mr. Kubrick’s lesson was filled with passion. I learned that studying alchemy was pointless without knowing about magic circles, so I was grateful to Caesar for his advice to take both classes.

“During the spring term, we’ll be making the most commonly used instrument: a magic lamp,” Mr. Kubrick announced. “If you can make one of these, you’ll never have to worry about going hungry.”

I’d love to never go hungry! I’m going to do my best!

“Open your textbooks,” Mr. Kubrick instructed. “I’m going to start with the theory. After that, we’ll put it into practice.” His passionate lesson continued. “Now you should know how to make a magic lamp,” he eventually declared. “Next, you’ll try making one. Come to the front to get your supplies.”

I was worried whether I’d be able to do it. I collected my supplies and returned to my seat.

“If you have any questions, you can ask me, Patience,” Benjamin said. He was being friendly, but it was definitely because he wanted me to join the alchemy club.

Making the magic lamp reminded me of a science kit I’d used during my previous life for a summer science project. I placed the magic stone on a magic circle for a flame, then set up the regulator. At this point, I had to check whether the flame would ignite.

“Oh, it’s working,” I said to myself.

After that, I just needed to add the glass chimney to the lamp, and it was all done. This seems like the magic circle is the most important part.

“You’re done too, Patience?” Benjamin observed. “You really should be joining the alchemy club.”

I ignored his invitation.

“It may be ‘alchemy,’ but all I did was put together the provided materials. Anyone could do this if they knew how to draw the magic circle,” I responded.

“That’s exactly right,” Mr. Kubrick chimed in, his enthusiastic voice raining down from above. “That’s why you’ll never go hungry if you can draw lots of magic circles for lamps.”

I feel like that statement is a little different than what he said earlier.

“There’s also alchemy involved in creating regulators and lamp chimneys. Of course, the materials you’re using right now were made by metalworking and glassworking craftsmen. However, there are magical instruments involved in their work, and it’s in the making of those instruments that you can really see how incredible alchemy is. Isn’t it a fascinating subject?”

I see. When it comes to mass production, it’s better to have dedicated craftsmen rather than leaving the whole process to alchemists.

“Mr. Kubrick, I’m not sure if I can perform the alchemy needed for such instruments,” I explained.

“I see. Why don’t you come by the alchemy club? I’m sure Caesar will teach you how to do it. I can’t in class, since there’s an order of operations I have to follow.” Mr. Kubrick was pushing me to join the alchemy club quite enthusiastically.

“Mr. Kubrick, you may be the advisor to the alchemy club, but please don’t recruit students in the middle of class,” Andrew, the student in magic club, complained.

“You have a point. All right, then—Benjamin and Patience, you’re both accelerating. The first-year class is just putting things together, which will likely be a bore for students of your skill level.” Mr. Kubrick then turned to the rest of the class. “Everyone else, finish putting your lamps together already! This is easy enough to do with your eyes closed.”

Andrew looked like he had more to say, but he wasn’t finished with his lamp yet, so he sat back down and continued working. I didn’t see Andrew in magic circles. Did neither Benjamin nor Bryce warn him that taking alchemy is pointless without taking magic circles? Oh, I guess he could also just be taking a different section of the class.

I’d now accelerated etiquette and alchemy. Unlike in the junior division, where all grade levels of a course were taught at the same time, in the senior division, different grade levels of courses were taught at different times. I was going to have to review my schedule again.

On Thursday, I had government, cooking, calligraphy, and dyeing. I’d decided to take government with Mr. Sullivan, whom Rupert had recommended to me. Unfortunately, the academic renaissance taking place all over the school hadn’t reached law or government. I knew that such changes wouldn’t happen overnight, but I was still disappointed.

“It seems like cooking has changed as well,” Princess Margaret commented. “The upperclassmen were clamoring about it.”

“I’d heard that it was a class you could earn credits in by just showing up,” I replied. “I wonder how it has changed.”

We both thought about the class while eating breakfast. Regardless of how it had changed, we would find out once we took the class. Princess Margaret huffed that there was no point in thinking about it and changed the subject.

“We also have calligraphy together after lunch,” the princess said. “Mother actually recommended I take this class. She said that a noblewoman should have beautiful handwriting, but I didn’t want to take it because it seemed so antiquated. Well, Hariette had said that it was antiquated, so I’d probably been influenced by her. I truly had no idea how useful it could be, even though I see my mother writing her own letters all the time.”

If any noblewoman were to receive a letter handwritten by the queen herself, they would likely feel incredibly proud and joyful. That excitement would be ruined if the queen had poor penmanship.

Regardless of who Princess Margaret wed, she would likely have many occasions to write letters. If she had to have someone write her letters for her, that could seem rude to the receiver. Her mother had probably recommended that she take calligraphy to avoid any such problems.

I, on the other hand, was taking the class just because I thought calligraphy looked cool. Oh, yeah! I could also write letters for people as a side job! The fact that my mind immediately went to how I could make money was perhaps a flaw of mine.

“Oh, that’s right. We’ll be going to the palace on Friday. Apparently my mother received letters from Catherine’s and the other girls’ parents, complaining about how I’d dismissed them from being my schoolmates. I got a letter that said to bring you as well.”

Princess Margaret seemed blasé about this situation, but I was screaming internally: This sounds like a big deal! Thanks to my year of serving her as a lady’s maid, I’d gotten better at maintaining a neutral demeanor even in the face of such unsettling news.

“Is that so? Very well,” I responded as if nothing were wrong.

Homeroom for Year 1 Class A seemed pointless to attend. Mr. Cuthbert was not cut out to be a homeroom teacher. He rarely had any information to share with the class. There was also the fact that we split into our specialized tracks in the senior division, which meant that we all had different mandatory and elective courses. However, Mr. Cuthbert offered no support in this area, nor did he check in with students, despite the fact that many were likely struggling to decide on their classes. Perhaps that was why there were students like Caesar, who somehow forgot to register for a mandatory course.

I tried to spend homeroom thinking about other things, because being in class with Catherine and the others got on my nerves. Their hateful glares felt like daggers being thrown my way. I had a good idea of what they’d said about me to their parents. Sure, they’d probably complained about the princess being selfish as well, but I was confident that most of their vitriol was focused on me. After all, their parents would stop them from bad-mouthing Princess Margaret, but the daughter of the currently jobless Viscount Granger? They could have taken the girls at their word and become angry with me themselves.

If the girls’ parents had complained to the queen, it was possible that I would be fired from my position of lady’s maid. That would be unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do—I repeated that to myself as I endured their spiteful stares.

Mr. Sullivan’s government class was interesting, but it was still based off of the textbook. I’d also gone over the introductory material in Mr. Patterson’s class, so it was pretty much the same information, just delivered in a more engaging style.

As I’d suspected, there’d been no change to the law or government curriculums. It would’ve been fun if we could have done mock trials or formed a classroom cabinet.

The classes are reasonably fun, but I’m going to follow President Albert’s path for law and government: I’ll memorize the textbooks and get certificates of completion. Unlike with Mr. Patterson, I felt comfortable asking Mr. Sullivan for the second- and third-year textbooks. I decided to go to the teachers’ offices after class.

Why did I want certificates of completion? Well, I wasn’t necessarily taking Mr. Kubrick’s suggestion that I join the mage track; however, since I’d accelerated alchemy and etiquette, I had to redo my schedule. And upon going through the class schedule again, I’d stumbled upon the courses of herbology and pharmacy.

Patience had died of pneumonia, so I’d always thought it would be nice to be able to treat it. Unfortunately, giving medical treatment required proficiency in light, wind, or water magic—light was especially important when it came to illnesses.

However, my household magic was a bit strange. Of particular note, I could use it to grow things like vegetables. If I could also grow medicinal herbs, I could sell— Uh, no, I meant I could quickly provide medicine for my family if they ever got sick. M-Making money would just be a teensy side benefit. That was why I wanted to take both herbology and pharmacy.

Also, the pharmacy club was right next door to the alchemy club. I couldn’t decide on which one I wanted to join: handicraft club, alchemy club, or pharmacy club. Handicraft club was the most fun option; however, pharmacy club could help me secure a well-paying job, and, if things actually worked out, alchemy club would give me the biggest win.

“It’s ridiculous to be taking four electives from the mage track when I’m already busy with the civil service and home ec tracks,” I muttered to myself. Still, I couldn’t help myself from checking whether there were any sections of herbology and pharmacy being taught in my open blocks.

Would you look at that? Those would fit perfectly into my schedule! This feels like a sign that I have to take these classes. Oh, but I was going to use the extra time to do side jobs. Well, do I use the time to make ten tiems now, or invest it so I can make ten rhoms in the future? All right, I’m going to take the classes!

My schedule now had herbology as my fourth class on Mondays and pharmacy as my third class on Wednesdays. Though I’d decided to take the classes, I was worried about turning in my registration without having ever attended the classes.

“There’s a section of pharmacy taught during the first block on Fridays,” I remarked. That was when I had law with Mr. Sullivan, but I’d already gone over the first week’s material with Mr. Patterson.

I decided to see what pharmacy class was like on Friday. If it seemed boring or impossible for me to keep up with, I could just decide not to take it. Sorry, Mr. Sullivan. I’ve already taken law once this week. I did listen to all the other stuff he said at the beginning of class. It may just be the nature of the subject that this happens, but he’s mostly just reading from the textbook, and I can’t help but think about other things. I’m just going to memorize the textbook and get a certificate of completion.

My registration form included classes from three different tracks. Am I being too greedy? Maybe I should go over it once with my father? But he might just ask me, “What is it that you want to do?”

At first, I’d enrolled in the civil service track to become a court lady or bureaucrat, similar to what the original Patience had wanted. I had also enrolled in the home ec track, even though I hadn’t wanted to, because I served as Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid. It turned out that I did enjoy weaving, dyeing, calligraphy, sewing, and foreign language, though, so it wasn’t all bad.

On top of everything else, I was drawn to alchemy, and I even decided to take magic circles. Then, I added to the magic courses due to my curiosity about herbology and pharmacy.

As for my first track, civil service, I was planning on testing out of government and law by memorizing the textbooks. Business was fun. I hadn’t taken world history or geography yet, but I was taking those classes with the teachers Rupert had recommended, so they probably would be interesting.

I had economics coming up on Friday, so I wasn’t sure how the class would be yet. In my past life, I’d graduated college with a business degree because it was useful in getting a job. I’d successfully landed a job, but since coming to this world, I hadn’t been able to put that education to use. I hadn’t majored in economics specifically because it required math. I’m not sure how much math is required in economics here. I’m a little worried.

Before I knew it, class was over, and I’d spent the entire time thinking about my schedule. I’m really sorry, Mr. Sullivan.

My next class was cooking, and I headed to the kitchen classroom. There I found Princess Margaret, who waved me over to her.

“Let’s cook together, Patience.”

This classroom was similar to those I’d seen in my previous life, but instead of large countertops, there were medium-sized tables with what looked like possibly a faucet and some burners. There were also knives and cutting boards, and there were pots and pans stored under the tables.

“These are magic instruments,” I said, placing my hand on the magic stone connected to the water device. Water began pouring out.

“Oh my, it’s just like the baths in the dorm,” the princess remarked.

Well, the baths specifically use hot water, but yeah, it’s essentially the same.

“This burner must be a magic instrument as well,” I said. “Oh, there’s even an oven under the table.” These facilities are incredible. If I can get the ingredients, I’d love to bake cookies and cakes.

“You know how to make sweets, right, Patience?” the princess asked.

“Yes, but my attendant is strict, so I’ve never been able to make them myself. I just give our chef the recipes and instruct her on how to make them.”

“That’s plenty impressive,” Princess Margaret said. “I’ve never even stepped into the kitchen before.”

I’m getting really worried about this class.

“Hello, I’m your cooking instructor, Maggie Spencer. Our objective for the spring term will be making your own lunch. The reason this class is held in the morning, despite being a practical course, is because you will be eating your lunches here. If you don’t take the class seriously, you’ll have to go without lunch.”

Everyone began whispering to each other. Noble ladies were used to skipping lunch, as they were often trying to lose weight, but losing their entire lunch break to a class was a different story.

“Ms. Spencer, aren’t we supposed to have free time during lunch?” Catherine asked.

She’s got nerve. I’ll give her that.

“Yes. If you’re able to finish cooking and eating during class, you’re free to go. But I’ll warn you all now, I cannot stand it when people waste food. Students who do not finish their food will fail. Since this is a mandatory course, failing would lead to repeating the year.”

The class went up in screams. Repeating a school year would lead to unimaginable levels of scolding from one’s parents. If these girls failed to graduate from the Royal Academy, then they wouldn’t be able to get married—repeating a year could lead to broken engagements.

“I won’t be forcing beginners to make complex dishes,” Ms. Spencer reassured the class. “We’ll start with a simple egg dish. Listen carefully, and let’s get cooking.”

Everyone listened intently to Ms. Spencer’s instruction. We were making hard-boiled eggs, which I could do with my eyes closed. I decided to just listen to the explanation of how to adjust the heat on the magic burners.

“You may be dainty noble ladies, but hard-boiled eggs aren’t enough to fill your stomachs,” Ms. Spencer said. “We’ll be serving the eggs with some soup and bread. Would anyone like to make the soup?”

No one was volunteering, so I raised my hand. I can handle making soup while boiling eggs.

“You can help me then,” Ms. Spencer said. “All right everyone, please make your hard-boiled eggs.”

I placed Princess Margaret’s and my own eggs in a small pot, which I filled with enough water to cover the eggs. I also added a pinch of salt to help the egg whites coagulate in case the shells cracked while boiling.

“Lady Margaret, once the water starts bubbling, please press this timer. I’ve already set it to ten minutes. Once you do that, please use this ladle to stir the eggs around in the pot.”

The students at the other tables were struggling with the first step of finding a pot. Oh no. It’ll take forever for the water to boil if you use a pot that big.

“You must be Patience,” Ms. Spencer said. “I’ve heard about you from Madam Jefferson. Come help me with the soup.”

Perhaps because it was still winter, our soup was turnip pottage. I peeled the turnips and added them to a large stockpot.

“I’m cheating a little bit,” Ms. Spencer said with a giggle. “I made the stock in advance. All right, I have to go check on the other tables while this is simmering.”

I skimmed any impurities that floated to the surface while watching over Princess Margaret. I think the water is boiling. Has she started the timer? She definitely hasn’t.

“Lady Margaret, please start the timer,” I called out to her. Princess Margaret gasped and quickly did as I’d asked. “You also need to stir the eggs around with the ladle.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Ugh, she’s making me nervous.

“That’s enough,” I said. It was fine if the yolks ended up uncentered—the end result would still taste good. Look, Ms. Spencer’s at the table that used the big pot. They’re getting in trouble.

Eventually she came back over to me.

“Patience, could I ask you to pass the turnip soup through a fine mesh sieve? I didn’t think they would be struggling this much just boiling eggs.”

Ms. Spencer pulled out a sieve and another stockpot for me, so I slowly began passing the turnips through the sieve and transferring the soup to the second pot.

“We’ll add some heavy cream before adjusting the taste with salt and pepper. With that, the soup will be done,” Ms. Spencer explained. “You were a big help, Patience.”

Ms. Spencer quickly finished up the soup, and I returned to my table. The timer hadn’t quite gone off yet, but since it had been set too late, I figured that the eggs were done. I transferred them into cold water.

“Why are you soaking the eggs in water?” Princess Margaret asked.

“This makes the shells easier to remove,” I replied. “I think they should be ready now.” I showed Princess Margaret how it was done, since she had never peeled an egg before. “You tap the egg against a flat surface. Tapping will prevent the shell from piercing the egg. Once you’ve made a crack, you can peel from there.”

Princess Margaret imitated me, and she successfully peeled an egg.

“Oh my, it’s so smooth.”

We cut the boiled eggs in half and plated them. With that, our first cooking endeavor came to an end. We took our seats, and I scanned the classroom. There were screams like you couldn’t imagine coming from people just now boiling their eggs.

“Eeek, the egg fell!” one student shrieked.

“It’s not done boiling yet,” another student complained.

Princess Margaret seemed worried.

“You’ll probably get a certificate of completion. Who should I pair up with then?”

I looked around the classroom. Catherine and the others are out of the question. They picked the excessively big pot, which is an automatic fail from me. I noted the students who had selected small pots, then pointed them out to the princess.

“I see. I think those girls will correct any mistakes I make,” she replied. Princess Margaret often relied too much on others for help, but she didn’t have much of a choice when it came to cooking.

After quite a long time, everyone managed to finish hard-boiling their eggs.

“Come up to get your soup and bread,” Ms. Spencer instructed.

My lunch today was quite simple: turnip pottage, bread, and hard-boiled eggs. This is still better than what the Grangers used to eat!

“I’m famished,” the princess said. The lunch bell had already rung.

“Me too. Let’s eat,” I replied.

The turnip pottage was delicious thanks to the stock that Ms. Spencer had prepared. The bread was the same as what was served in the salon.

“Boiled eggs are surprisingly tasty,” Princess Margaret commented.

Princess Margaret seemed to be enjoying the first dish she’d made on her own. On the other hand, the students who failed all seemed displeased as they ate their eggs.

“Oh no, it’s gray,” one student scoffed. “Ms. Spencer, these eggs are rotten.”

Must be overcooked.

Ms. Spencer scolded them.

Some students destroyed their eggs while peeling them, while others had uncentered yolks that were bursting out of their eggs. They foolishly asked Ms. Spencer, “Can we toss these?” and were all scolded.

“I’m very worried, Patience,” Princess Margaret admitted. Many of the other students’ boiled eggs looked unpleasant.

“You will be all right,” I reassured her. “Just listen to Ms. Spencer’s instructions carefully, and do exactly as she says. Ms. Spencer told us to use a pot that the eggs would fit in, not a large pot. She said to fill the pot with enough water to cover the eggs and add a pinch of salt. Then, once the water is boiling, you set the timer to ten minutes and roll the eggs around. When the timer goes off, you put the eggs into cold water. Once they’ve cooled down, you tap the eggs on a flat surface and peel them.”

Princess Margaret was completely stunned by my recitation.

“I’m surprised you could remember all of that, Patience. I couldn’t even remember to set the timer.”

Right. This might be difficult to keep track of all at once.

“It may help to write down Ms. Spencer’s instructions,” I suggested.

“Oh, right. I’ll do that from now on.”

Ms. Spencer chuckled when she heard our conversation.

“There’s no need for you to take cooking, Patience. I will be giving you a certificate of completion. Also, Princess Margaret—taking notes is a good habit. I wish you luck in this class.”

Yeah, even if I’m not here, the princess will be all right under Ms. Spencer’s instruction.

Princess Margaret and I were able to get away with having a relatively decent lunch. Oh, this means I can eat lunch at the dining hall on Thursdays. I feel bad for Princess Margaret, but I’m glad I don’t have to eat with Prince Keith.

“Next is calligraphy,” the princess pointed out.

That’s right! We have calligraphy. It would be so cool to get good at it.

“Let’s do our best,” I replied.

There weren’t a lot of students taking calligraphy. It seemed that most students had focused on taking classes that sounded easy, but there was no guarantee they would actually be easy.

“My name is Kate Sutherland, and I’ll be your calligraphy instructor,” the teacher said, introducing herself. “I believe beautiful penmanship is a skill you’ll treasure throughout your life. Let’s start by following the textbook.”

The first page of the textbook showed the alphabet written out in cursive.

“You’ll start by writing your names in beautiful cursive. If you don’t know how to connect the letters, raise your hand for help.”

Princess Margaret seemed to be struggling; members of the royal family had long names.

“What if you wrote out a shortened version of your name?” I suggested.

The princess thought for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it properly and learn how to write my full name beautifully. I don’t want to have a messy signature when I get married. Margaret Aeolia Agape Lawrence.”

Marriage, huh? I guess that’s a possibility for her after graduation. I’m planning to be a single, working woman, so I hadn’t thought about that.

Patience Granger, I wrote out, referencing the cursive version of each letter in the textbook. I ended up with what looked like a nice signature.

“You’ve done well, but you must practice until you can write like that in one full stroke,” Ms. Sutherland said while she was making her way around the class. Just as she’d pointed out, there were jogs between my letters. I needed to learn to connect them more smoothly.

“Yes, ma’am,” I responded, and I began practicing.

“You don’t have to practice your name anymore, Patience,” Ms. Sutherland eventually said. “You can move on to the next page.”

Several students succeeded in writing out their names and moved on to writing greetings. Princess Margaret had a long name, so it took time for her to learn to write out her whole name cleanly. Even so, she managed to succeed and moved on to the next page. It was then that class ended.

“I was focusing so hard that class was over before I knew it,” Princess Margaret remarked. “I’m going to keep practicing until I can smoothly sign my name.”

Princess Margaret used to only care about music. I wonder if she’s changed a bit? My thought was immediately disproven by the princess.

“Come, we have music club after school,” she said, buzzing with excitement. “I’ve been practicing ‘Farewell,’ and I want everyone to hear me play it.”

“Lady Margaret, don’t you have magic practicum first? You’d like to get a certificate of completion in that class as well, right?”

Princess Margaret was proficient in wind magic. She had quite a lot of mana, but she couldn’t control it properly, which had kept her from passing the class.

“Yes, I’d like to pass the class and just focus on music! This academy might be the only place I can freely enjoy music.”

Hearing that her time at the academy could be her only chance to enjoy her beloved music made me think I should let her do as she pleased when it came to the music club—it was just troubling to get wrapped up in all of that.

The classroom for dyeing had several large kettles, and there were threads of various shades drying.

“Hey, Patience,” Lily called out to me. “I remember you from weaving.” She and Sophia were both here, along with Hannah, who’d initially forgotten to take dyeing. She’d somehow managed to fit it into her schedule.

“We’re together again,” I replied. “I’ve never done dyeing before, so let’s all do our best.”

“I haven’t done it either!” Sophia chimed in.

It seemed we four beginners would be working together again.

“My, I’m glad to see you all taking dyeing as well,” Ms. Derby, the weaving teacher, said. “I’ve always said that these two classes should be taken together. I’m planning on having it written in the course description starting next year. So, how many of you have dyed something before?” Several students raised their hands. “It looks like the same number as people who have weaving experience. All right, I want those of you who’ve never done it before to sit up front.”

The four of us already knew the drill, so we’d taken seats at the front.

“You’re all well prepared,” Ms. Derby commented. “Being prepared is important when it comes to dyeing—that, and experience. Even if you’re using the same dye, the temperature, weather, or humidity can change the color. That’s why you should record the amount of materials and water as well as the temperature, humidity, and weather of each day that you dye something.”

I remembered a TV special about an indigo dyer I’d seen during my previous life who had said the same thing. They had described indigo as a living creature.

“Today we’ll be using the dye that’s most familiar to us: vegetable dye. Can anyone tell me what these are?” Ms. Derby was holding onion skins in her hands.

“Those are onion skins,” Lily answered.

This didn’t seem to be what students had expected from vegetable dyeing, so the class seemed disappointed.

“That’s right. We can use these to dye some thread a beautiful yellow. We can also use them to make brown, but today we’re going to try to make yellow.”

Instead of the large kettles, we each got a small pot to use for dyeing.

“You’ll be using your dyed thread for your next weaving project, so make sure to create a shade of yellow you like.”

I followed Ms. Derby’s instructions and simmered the required amount of onion skins in the required amount of water.

“I want everyone to gather around and watch closely,” Ms. Derby said. It was my turn to be used as an example. The onion skins were vigorously simmering in my pot. “Watch the color. You want to take just a little bit of the liquid and put it into a white dish.” The liquid in the dish was a beautiful shade of yellow. “Are you happy with the color?”

“Yes, I am,” I replied. Ms. Derby proceeded to dump a hank of thread into my pot.

“Simmer it for a bit on low heat, then add alum to fix the dye to the thread. From here on out, you can adjust as you’d like. The longer you leave the thread in the dye, the deeper the color will be. If you want a lighter color, you can pull it out quickly. If you don’t want to end up with a pale color, you’ll have to wait a bit. Everyone learns the right timing through trial and error, so don’t worry if you don’t get exactly the color you were hoping for.”

I wanted my thread to be a deep yellow, so I decided to wait for a bit. I didn’t have a watch, but there was a clock hanging in the classroom, so I wrote down the current time.

“When you’re ready to take the thread out, use tongs so you don’t burn yourself, then rinse the thread with water.”

Lily pulled her thread out of the dye and rinsed it. The thread had become a beautiful yellow.

“I think it should be good now,” I said, removing my thread from the dye. Just as planned, my thread was a deeper yellow than Lily’s.

“You can dry your dyed thread here,” Ms. Derby instructed. “Write your name and clip it to the thread with a clothespin so you know which is yours.”

As expected, dyeing was a fun class. I want to set up a dye station in the yard.

“Yours is a deeper color than mine, Patience,” Lily commented, getting excited as she compared our work.

The experienced students were on a different level.

“I’d actually like to double dye mine...” one of the experienced students said. They were clearly leagues ahead of us.

“You girls should accelerate to the next level of weaving and dyeing,” Ms. Derby said with a smile. “You won’t be bored in the second-year class—in fact, you may even struggle to keep up. However, I think it will be worth the effort.”

That means this class will only have four students. Is that allowed? Our group was looking at Ms. Derby, and she turned to us.

“Don’t worry. It’s common that students skip ahead. Most students who’ve done this before at home end up accelerating,” she said with a smile.

I can take my time and slowly learn weaving and dyeing, starting with the basics. I might accidentally use household magic sometimes, though.

“Whoa! My hand is dyed yellow!” Hannah exclaimed.

Everyone else looked at their own hands and were shocked.

“Become clean!” I chanted, making everyone’s hands clean.

“My, how convenient,” Ms. Derby remarked. “I’ve heard Madam Jefferson praise your household magic. It’s just as amazing as I’ve heard.”

I decided not to mention that I’d cleaned our hands mainly because Princess Margaret would scold me if I showed up to music club with yellow hands.

Chapter 5: The Civil Service and Mage Tracks

I was glad I’d become a member of the music club. Rupert had shared with me which classes were interesting, and President Albert was now giving me the second- and third-year textbooks for both law and government.

“Even with Mr. Sullivan as your instructor, I’m sure that neither law nor government are any fun,” Albert said. “You should just memorize the textbooks and get your certificates of completion. Then, you can use your free time to focus on composing.”

His motivations for helping me were odd, of course, but I nonetheless gratefully accepted the textbooks.

“So, have you joined the riding club, Samuel?” My cousin had mentioned joining more than one club, so I decided to ask him about it. I was possibly going to join another club as well, so I wanted to know for future reference.

“I tried to join, but they said first-years have to start with learning to handle a horse,” Samuel grumbled. “Also, some of the horses they take care of belonged to the knight club, which convinced me I shouldn’t join. I thought they would have their own independent activities as a riding club, but instead they’re just a subordinate of the knight club. I’m disappointed.”

Samuel’s complaints sounded familiar.

“That reminds me—I heard someone bad-mouthing the mage club,” I replied. “They said that their activities were just subcontracts obtained from the knight club. The knight club really has a lot going on.”

President Albert overheard our conversation and chimed in.

“That’s because the knight club is a reserve force for the knights’ order. I don’t think what they do should be considered normal club activities. I’m going to bring that up at the next club president meeting. If I recall correctly, when Prince Richard was student council president, the knight club wasn’t making the riding club look after their horses.”

The boys of the music club began complaining about how the knight club had been behaving these days, while the girls seemed unfamiliar with any such misconduct and just responded with “Oh, really?”

Daniel, who had invited Samuel and others to join the riding club, was also upset.

“It’s obvious that the riding club should be responsible for their own horses. Similarly, the knight club should be responsible for their own horses. It’s wrong to break such basic rules.”

President Eric had graduated, so I didn’t know who had become the new president of the knight club. Is the new president trying to expand the knight club’s influence over the school?

“Let’s save that topic for later and play something,” Princess Margaret suggested, which brought an end to our venting session.

I couldn’t help but worry about Prince Keith, Ralph, and Hugo, who were all members of the knight club. Is there something going on with the club? I had a bad feeling about the whole situation, and a sense of unease filled my chest.

My first class on Friday was law with Mr. Sullivan, but since I’d already attended Mr. Patterson’s law class earlier in the week, I decided to attend a pharmacy class. I was interested in herbology and pharmacy, but I didn’t want to register for them without having taken either one even once.

As I’d expected, the mage track area of the campus had a dubious atmosphere, even in the morning. The pharmacy classroom was particularly spooky—it was similar to what I would’ve imagined a witch’s room to look like in my previous life. More precisely, it was like the offspring of a stereotypical witch’s room with the alchemy lab room.

In some ways, this classroom was similar to the kitchen classroom, but for some reason, it had blackout curtains that were drawn. The classroom was dark. The atmosphere was truly unsettling.

“Wait, you’re taking pharmacy too, Patience?” Benjamin, Bryce, and Andrew all met me with surprise.

“Why don’t you just switch to the mage track?” Benjamin suggested. That’s easy for you to say.

“I’ve been worried that I’m spreading myself too thin, but I figure at this point, I may as well try my hand at everything I’m interested in.”

The three of them were stunned.

“Well, you’ve gotten certificates of completion in most of your mandatory subjects, so you should do whatever makes you happy,” Benjamin finally replied. “Come, sit next to me.”

Even in pharmacy, Benjamin chose the seat next to the window in the back row. I sat in the seat beside him at the same table.

“I’m not in the mage track, so I wanted to ask, is it recommended to take herbology along with pharmacy?”

“You’re taking herbology too?” Benjamin asked, surprised. “Well, pharmacy and herbology go hand in hand, so it’s better to take both. I’ve heard that earth magic is the most advantageous for herbology, while water magic is the best for pharmacy. I’ve only got fire magic, but the most important thing is having the will to try.”

As our conversation wrapped up, the teacher arrived. She looks like a witch.

“My! It looks like we have a new group of praiseworthy students willing to take pharmacy of all things. My name is Gallia Makias, and during the spring term, we will be learning to make the most basic of all basic medicines: healing potions. If you can’t manage that, you just aren’t cut out for pharmacy, and I suggest you quickly drop this class and study something else.”

Ms. Makias, who even sounded like a witch in the way she spoke, was of indeterminate age. Her black hair had streaks of gray running through it, and it was clumsily tied up behind her head. Judging from her skin, she could have been young, but the overall impression she gave was that of an elderly witch.

“Hurry up and open your textbooks! You don’t have them? You’re all behind! Come up here and grab them already!”

Everyone was stunned by her brashness, but I was amused, and it took everything in me to keep from laughing. Pharmacy might be a fun class! I’ve come all this way to a whole different world. Making healing potions and stuff sounds totally otherworldly!

“Hurry up and read your textbooks! We’re going to make minor healing potions! Once you know how to make one, come up here and get your supplies.” The instructions to make a minor healing potion were the first thing listed in the textbook. “Be aware that the textbook says, ‘Place medicinal herbs into a pot with double the amount of water and heat the mixture.’ That’s not all there is to it. You have to wash the herbs very thoroughly and make sure the pot is sparkling clean. You’ve also got to purify the water. If you do only as the textbook says, you’re going to fail.”

This sounds like a bad textbook.

Ms. Makias still had more to say.

“The textbook doesn’t include information that is considered common sense for pharmacy students. You’re all brand-new to this, so I’ll be holding your hand at every step. Once you’re in your second year, though, you’ll have to read the textbook and figure it out on your own. Growing from your mistakes is an important part of the learning process.”

I was good at cooking, which meant I could make most things as long as I had a decent recipe.

“Ms. Makias, may I have some supplies?” I asked.

Ms. Makias inspected me for a moment before handing me some herbs.

“Give it a go.”

Let’s do this. The tables, which were similar to those in the kitchen classroom, were equipped with a magical instrument for water and a magic-based burner. First, I placed my hand on the magic stone for the water. Once there was running water, I carefully washed the herbs, which were reminiscent of Japanese mugwort, and a small pot that I’d pulled out from under the table. I also used some household magic on them for good measure.

“Become clean!”

There was also a scale under the table, which I used to weigh the herbs. I filled the pot with double the amount of water and purified it with some more household magic.

“Become clean!” All that was left was to add the herbs to the pot and turn on the burner to simmer the mixture. “Ms. Makias, how long should this simmer for?”

“Good question. You can keep it simmering until the mixture has reduced by half. This is another piece of information you won’t find in the textbook, so be sure to memorize it. I never answer the same question twice.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and wrote that information into their textbooks.

“It’s reduced by half,” I mumbled to myself. “Is the mixture now a healing potion?” I stared at my pot, tilting my head, and Ms. Makias approached me.

“Are you done? You can strain the mixture and bottle it. Don’t forget to purify both the strainer and the bottle.”

I found the strainer under the table, and I washed it before purifying it with my household magic. The bottles were located in a box behind the teacher’s podium. I brought several back to my table, washed them, then purified them with magic.

“Oh, I also need to clean the pot that I’m going to strain the mixture into.” I scurried to clean the extra pot, and Ms. Makias scoffed.

“You didn’t plan very well,” she chided me.

I finally strained the mixture and filled three bottles with it.

“Try one,” Ms. Makias suggested.

The pale green liquid tasted similar to green juice. Huh. I think I feel a little more energized.

“Well, you pass. Next time, I want you to make a greater healing potion. What are you going to do with the other two? You’re welcome to take them home and add them to your medicine cabinet. You could even sell them to students in the knight track if you’d like.”

“What? We can sell the potions we make in class?” I was shocked to find a possible side job in a place like this.

“Only you can,” Ms. Makias clarified. “Everyone else’s aren’t good enough to be sold yet. Madam Jefferson’s always spouted grandiose nonsense about how household magic can accomplish anything when mastered—I guess those words weren’t just the mad ramblings of an old broad. You’re not in the mage track, are you? I think you chose wrong.”

I decided to bring home the healing potions I’d made, so we’d have some in stock. They apparently lasted for six months, and they could treat a cold in its early stages. Colds pave the way to worse diseases. Patience died from pneumonia!

“Oh, I’m not sure whether I can take second-year pharmacy,” I admitted. I was glad to have passed, but my schedule had gotten quite complicated. I may need to wait until the fall term to take pharmacy.

“You’re probably skipping ahead and getting certificates of completion left and right,” Ms. Makias scoffed. “You can sit in during a first-year section of the class and I’ll find time for you somehow. I hate wasting students’ time by doing things like forcing a passing student to keep making minor healing potions.”

Ms. Makias is a little creepy and witchy, but maybe she’s actually nice? After all, she’s going to let me study second-year pharmacy while she’s teaching a first-year class. As that thought crossed my mind, an unsettling grin spread across Ms. Makias’s face, sending a shiver down my spine.

I’d been recruited to the mage track by two teachers, but for now, I was planning to just take classes I was interested in. The mage track had offensive magic as a mandatory course, and there was no way I could handle that class with only my household magic.

My second class of the day was economics.

“What’s the difference between economics and business?” I wondered aloud.

Even during my previous life, I hadn’t known the answer to that question. During a career guidance season, I’d been told that economics involved math, which had led me to choose business. The current level of mathematics at the academy was quite easy, but I felt nervous for the future. I’d learned about microeconomics and macroeconomics in a general education econ class, but I’d forgotten all about it after collecting my credits. How inflation and deflation work is also a part of economics, right?

Economics was taught by Mr. Caines, with whom I was also taking business.

“I’m Mr. Caines, and I’ll be teaching you economics this year. In this class, we’ll be using economic theory to learn about how the economy works with regards to society as a whole. The objective of economics is to figure out how to use limited resources—such as people, things, money, information, and time—to help society as a whole prosper.”

Everyone nodded in understanding, and Mr. Caines chuckled. I have a bad feeling about this.

“I think a lot of students here are taking business as well. Now, let’s move on to the fun stuff.” The students began buzzing, worried about what he was going to have us do, as Mr. Caines continued to explain. “In business, you’ve been assigned projects where you must start an enterprise with capital consisting of ten rhoms and make profit. We’ll also be taking a hands-on approach in economics. To put it simply, you will be looking into a business and coming up with a way to improve it.”

Oh, I’ve done something like this before. It was for practical economics. Unfortunately though, I don’t know anything about businesses in this world, nor do I think internships exist here. What am I going to do?

“Sir, I don’t know of any businesses,” Philips, who’d also been the first to ask a question in business, said after raising his hand.

“Well, Philips, noble estates are businesses in their own right,” Mr. Caines clarified.

A majority of students seemed satisfied with that answer, but the Granger estate had no land or people it governed. What do I do?

“Oh, another option is to come up with a fictional business, which you can work to develop.”

“That’s the same thing as the business project,” one student grumbled.

“Who would do something so complicated?” another student complained.

“What are you talking about? For your business project, you start up a business and aim to make a profit. After that, you complete your economics project by finding a way to improve that business. You can use one business to serve two purposes.”

That sounded interesting, but I didn’t know anything about the businesses of this world, so either way, this was going to be difficult. I’m going to figure something out! Otherwise, I won’t be able to make any money.

“Mr. Caines, does the money we get to start up our businesses include labor costs?” one student asked. Oh, I was also wondering about that.

“Why, yes, of course it does,” Mr. Caines answered. “You’ll use your ten rhoms to hire employees and purchase any materials you need. You’ll also need money to rent out space for your business.”

That sounds like an impossible task. The class began booing in response.

“Mr. Caines, I have a question,” I said, raising my hand. There was something I needed to know in order to complete these projects.

“Oh, you are...?”

“Patience Granger. I’m also taking business.”

“That’s right! You’re the female student taking both my business and economics classes. So, Patience, what did you want to ask?”

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I proceeded to ask my question.

“In regard to starting up a business, if I didn’t hire any employees and worked alone, would it be all right to say my business has no labor costs?”

Mr. Caines folded his arms and thought for a moment.

“Well, I hadn’t thought about that scenario. I guess if you’re going to run your business alone, then you won’t have any labor costs.”

That’s good to know.

“Additionally, if I were to operate the business out of my home, would it be all right to say my business has no rent expenses?”

Mr. Caines thought silently once more.

“At home, huh? In that case, you wouldn’t have any rent expenses.”

I decided to ask one more question.

“We have a greenhouse on my family’s property, which I currently oversee. Would it be all right to use it?”

A troubled look washed over Mr. Caine’s face.

“A greenhouse is a premium facility. I don’t think you could normally use one with no cost. However, even if you wanted to pay your father a usage fee, I don’t think he would take it from you. Well, connections are important in business, so it would just barely be acceptable. But your expenses would need to include the cost of any wood or glass used to maintain the greenhouse.”

Mr. Caines looked relieved, like he thought he’d gotten through everything on my mind, but I actually had a bit more to ask him.

“Mr. Caines, since I live in the dorms, I would have a servant look after the greenhouse on weekdays. In that situation, would it be all right to only calculate labor costs for the time our servant works in the greenhouse?”

“Of course. You’ll have to add that to your operating expenses... You have some very specific questions. Is this something you’re already doing?”

The rest of the class were all whispering to each other, but I ignored them.

“No, it’s all hypothetical.”

Philips raised his hand again.

“Operating a greenhouse costs a lot of money. I believe the cost of repairing glass alone would take more than ten rhoms.”

“What do you think of that, Patience?” Mr. Caines asked.

“I always repair glass using my household magic,” I replied. “In other words, I’ve never had to spend any money on repairs.”

Philips shot me a look of suspicion.

“There’s no way household magic could repair something. I know we’re discussing fictional businesses, but that’s just absurd.”

I felt my blood boil. Not only did he doubt my words, but he had insulted household magic.

“In that case, if I am able to repair the cracks in that chalkboard, will you acknowledge that I have the ability to repair a greenhouse?” Everyone turned their attention to the chalkboard I spoke of.

“Sure. If you can repair it, I will be ashamed of my ignorance and apologize.”

I walked over to the blackboard.

“Become clean!” I incanted, with a little more force than usual. In the blink of an eye, the weathered chalkboard became sparkling clean and as good as new. Of course, there were no cracks to be found.

“Incredible! I had no idea household magic could do something like this.” Mr. Caines was thoroughly impressed.

Philips just sat there, his jaw hanging open. The other students were equally surprised, but they eventually began to taunt him.

“Apologize to her, Philips!”

“Mademoiselle Patience, I must apologize. My own ignorance caused me to doubt your words. I will never again doubt anything you say.”

Philips’s apology was incredibly proper. It was nothing like Prince Keith’s apologies.

“Thank you. I accept your apology. Also, society has a tendency to think little of household magic. This is by no means an issue unique to you, Sir Philips.”

Mr. Caines had been silently listening to our exchange, but he suddenly gasped; it seemed that something had dawned on him.

“Hey, Patience. I think there’s a way for you to make some major profit using your magic, without the use of your greenhouse. You could buy ten rhoms worth of broken antiques at the flea market, repair them, then sell them for a profit!”

Oh, that’s the same thing Wyatt does.

“Mr. Caines, that would require me to pay someone to go to flea markets and purchase the antiques. Also, if they were tricked into buying illegitimate items, those could only be sold for a bargain even when repaired.”

Mr. Caines smacked his hand on his forehead.

“That’s right! Darn, I thought it was a good idea!” He sounded a bit disappointed.

“How could a business and economics teacher make such a mistake?!” several students jeered.

Mr. Caine let out a defiant humph before defending himself.

“You’re all fools. If studying economics made you rich, I wouldn’t be standing here in this classroom, teaching for a meager salary.”

Is he okay admitting that? I guess he’s not wrong. The whole class erupted in laughter.

After that day, it no longer felt like everyone in the civil service track was against me. I had been accepted as one of them.

After economics, I had lunch in the salon with the same group as usual. Anxiety regarding my impending visit to the palace weighed heavily in my stomach, destroying my appetite. I wanted a lighter dish for my main course—I was going to order the fish.

“I’ll have the steamed fowl,” Princess Margaret said, placing her order.

That sounds nice and light too, but I’m craving fish now.

“I will have the fish poêlé,” I said to the waiter.

Despite being an entire seat away from me, Prince Keith couldn’t help but interject.

“You seem to really love fish, Patience.”

My Verbal Blunder radar sensed he was thinking, What a weirdo, but to my surprise, Prince Keith didn’t say anything more. Perhaps he’d grown a bit, which I was glad to see.

I didn’t have it in me to eat dessert, so I left it untouched. What a waste of eggs, butter, and sugar. It pains me to see premium ingredients squandered like this.

Such feelings came from my current life of poverty and frugality. During my previous life, society had made a big deal about food waste, but I’d ended up throwing away a lot of food. I’d been living alone, and I hadn’t been able to use up all my groceries. I only became so sensitive to these issues here because I’d experienced starvation.

“Patience, we have embroidery next,” Princess Margaret commented. “You seem like you’ll be good at it, but I’m worried. Do your best to not skip ahead.” The princess was asking for the impossible.

“I’d like to enjoy embroidery as much as I can, so I will do my best to stay in the same class,” I replied.

Prince Keith looked at me with disbelief.

“You’re still accelerating classes, even in the senior division? How many classes have you passed?”

I don’t want to answer that. I don’t like it when he starts looking at me like I’m a rival.

“Patience has gotten certificates of completion in dance, beauty, and cooking,” Princess Margaret shared. “She’s also moved ahead to the next grade level of etiquette, alchemy, and pharmacy. Isn’t my lady’s maid amazing?”

Nooo, don’t say that! I was worried about what would come next, but Prince Keith surprised me.

“I see. You’re working really hard, Patience. It’s very admirable.”

Huh? He’s praising me?

“I’m confident enough to accept that my friends are talented people,” Prince Keith continued. “As my sister’s lady’s maid, it’s only natural for Patience to be talented.”

Even Princess Margaret was shocked.

“My, Keith. What a brilliant attitude for a royal to have!”

Prince Keith seemed happy to be praised by his sister, and his cheeks flushed red. Yeah, he’s cute. I hope he continues to be a good prince.

Patricia McNally, the embroidery teacher, was a graceful noblewoman.

“In this class, you will be learning how to create beautiful embroidery. Many noblewomen have their attendants or professionals do embroidery for them, but this craft was originally enjoyed by young ladies and women of nobility. In the past, a lady would embroider her own name onto a handkerchief and gift it to the person she fancied. Such romantic traditions seem to be forgotten now.”

There was a bit of a bashful atmosphere in the room now. Perhaps all the girls had thought of their crushes.

“During the spring term, you will be embroidering your name onto a handkerchief. Once you can neatly embroider your name, you will move on to embroidering your family crest. In the past, students would also secretly add the crest belonging to the objects of their affections in hopes that their love would blossom.”

Ms. McNally was good at capturing the hearts of female students. Even Princess Margaret, who’d given up on marrying for love, was carefully embroidering her name. Of course, I took the task seriously as well. Nassius would look so cool with the family crest embroidered on his clothes. I can’t wait to learn how to do that.

I was relieved to see that Princess Margaret was taking this class seriously, but I knew that might not last for long. Already Ms. McNally had begun ordering many female students to redo their work because the back of their embroidery was a mess.

“Even a love affair of one hundred years would grow cold upon seeing a mess like this,” Princess Margaret said, looking at the back of her work. She was putting sincere effort into her project.

Seeing how Ms. McNally handles the class, I’m sure the princess will be fine even if I skip ahead.

As expected, I moved on to embroidering my family crest, and I skipped ahead to the next level of the class. Whenever I put effort into crafting, I couldn’t help but use my household magic. I’d been thinking about what I could embroider onto the lapel of Nassius’s blazer for school, which had gotten me too fired up.

This is Prince Keith’s fault. The embroidery on his lapel looks so cool. It almost looks custom-made. Actually, it probably is. Nassius is getting hand-me-downs from the Monteluxedos, but they’re as good as new thanks to my household magic. If I add some embroidered details, they might look custom-made.

I tried to escape reality by thinking about future crafts, but the palace was right next to the school, so we arrived very quickly. Ugh, my stomach hurts. I continued to walk gracefully behind the princess, and we soon arrived at the queen’s room.

“I’m home, mother,” Princess Margaret announced before greeting her mother and taking a seat beside her.

I bowed my head and stayed like that. I can read the room—I know what’s going on here.

“Please raise your head, Patience,” the queen insisted. “Come, sit here. I’ve caused you much trouble.”

Princess Margaret nodded as well, so I took a seat.

“Mother, I wasn’t a very good judge of character,” the princess admitted. “I’m sorry.”

Queen Victoria and accepted her apology. However, I believed that Catherine’s and the other girls’ parents had complained about me, so my stomach still felt heavy.

“Patience, you were chosen by me to be Margaret’s lady’s maid,” the queen said. “I’ve asked Marchioness Woodstock, Countess Claridge, and Countess Linderman to refrain from visiting the palace.” The queen’s smile grew wider.

“Oh, my. Everyone in high society will distance themself from those families,” Princess Margaret said, shocked.

“You still have a lot to learn, Margaret,” the queen replied. “Those people are all noble supremacists. When you went out of your way to pick those girls as your friends, I thought about stopping you.”

“Why didn’t you?” The princess asked.

Noble supremacists are the group opposing all the policies King Alfred wants to implement, yet Princess Margaret chose daughters from such families to be her friends. Why didn’t the queen stop her?

“I can’t oversee every decision you make over the course of your life. You must learn to assess people on your own.”

Princess Margaret seemed displeased.

“Well, I never would have befriended those girls if they hadn’t been invited to the palace in the first place.”

Queen Victoria let out a refined chuckle. How terrifying.

“If we were to get rid of all the noble supremacists, the Kingdom of Lawrence would no longer exist.”

There must be a lot of noble supremacists then. It’s going to be hard for my dad to return to work with that much opposition. Still, I don’t even care if it’s a meaningless job, I just want him to have a salary.

“But you just said that you were keeping those girls’ mothers away from the palace,” Princess Margaret pointed out.

That’s true. Is it okay for the queen to distance herself from three members of the powerful group that is the noble supremacists?

“Well, that’s a different situation,” the queen explained. “I made a decision about the situation, and they complained about it. Who would oppose their queen? They had completely forgotten their place. This is something even noble supremacists can agree with.”

Both Princess Margaret and I saw a small part of how fearsome the queen could be.

“I must compensate you for what you went through, Patience,” the queen said. “After all, you were exposed to those girls’ malice.”

Oh, so I don’t get to quit being a lady’s maid? In that case, I have just one favor to ask.

“Um, could you please let Princess Margaret and Prince Keith eat separately?”

“I’d also like that,” Princess Margaret said, showing support for me.

The queen chuckled again before succinctly replying, “No.”

Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid can’t oppose the queen’s decisions. I haven’t forgotten my place.

“Well, if you cannot decide on a gift, you’ll have to bear with something of my choosing,” the queen said.

OG Patience already told me I can’t ask for money, and we’re always getting food.

“Mother, Patience was inspired by Richard’s graduation and wrote a beautiful song titled ‘Farewell.’” Princess Margaret could tell that her mother was going to ask about school next, so she changed the topic.

“My! I would love to hear that.”

And so, I played “Farewell” on the hanon. I felt a bit like I was deceiving them, getting praise for this song, but it was indeed a wonderful piece.

“That was absolutely lovely,” the queen raved. “If you were just two years older, I would have wanted you to perform at a concert.”

I enjoyed the compliments, but I was materialistic at heart, so I couldn’t help but wonder what I was going to receive for my troubles.

The palace carriage took me home. This time, Lady Charlotte joined me. I wonder if something is going on.

“Lady Charlotte, there has been a wave of change washing over the home economics track at the Royal Academy,” I reported. “There are some classes in the civil service track that have changed as well, though others remain the same.”

Charlotte seemed surprised but happy to hear this.

“That’s wonderful to hear. The home economics track had degraded into a specialty product that pampered and spoiled noblewomen about to make their social debuts, instead of teaching them any real skills.”

I was curious as to what Lady Charlotte was delivering on the queen’s behalf, but I had no doubt she would refuse to answer if I asked. I wouldn’t have to wait for too long, since it didn’t take long to return home from the palace. Getting a ride home meant we didn’t have to pay the rental fee for a horse, which was another bonus.

As always, Zofie handed two baskets to Wyatt. Then, Lady Charlotte handed a letter from the queen to Wyatt, saying it was for Viscount Granger. I was extremely curious about what was in that letter, but it was addressed to my father, so I couldn’t read it. Darn!

I proceeded to embrace the sources of my energy. The angels healed me more than that minor healing potion. Even the ache in my stomach was gone.

“You seem a little down, sister,” Nassius said. “Are you all right?”

Your kindness is so touching!

“I’m just a little tired,” I assured him. “Now that I’m in the senior division, I’ve had a lot of new classes to take. Anyways, let me get a better look at you.”

I took advantage of the commotion that came with my weekly return home to plant two kisses on his cheek. Yeah, I feel a lot better now.

“Will you be joining us for horseback riding lessons on Sunday?” Henry asked, his eyes glimmering with anticipation. I can’t say no to that face.

“Yes, as long as I rest today and tomorrow, I’ll be fine.” I didn’t want to go riding, but I did want to watch as Nassius and Henry had their lessons. I’ll just ride a little bit and pretend like I participated.

“Yay! I hope father joins us too!”

Oh, so our father has also been a victim of these lessons? Well, it isn’t good for him to stay in his study all day. More importantly, I should also give Henry two kisses.

I had lots I wanted to talk about with Wyatt, but I first followed my brothers to their room. I had to catch up on everything that happened during my absence.

“Father is still looking over our studies,” Nassius reported. “I got pretty far in the first-year textbooks. I also learned how to use wind magic.”

Sounds like Nassius is doing well.

“I just remembered, Lord Salius is coming over tomorrow!” Henry exclaimed. “He said he wanted to visit when you were home!”

Henry’s so cute. I like Lord Salius, but I don’t know why he would want to see me. Henry was not the most reliable source of information, so I decided to ask Nassius if he knew anything.

“Nassius, does Lord Salius need something from me?”

“You weren’t supposed to say anything!” Nassius grumbled, scolding Henry.

You shouldn’t keep secrets from your big sister. He eventually gave in to my demanding gaze.

“Lord Salius said he wanted to ask you about the knight club at the academy. It’s a bit strange, since you’re in the music club.”

I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s talk about something fun for now.

“Your cousin Samuel has joined the music club as well. Is there any club you want to join, Nassius? I believe I gave you the pamphlet with all the clubs listed.”

Nassius seemed to be having trouble deciding.

“I’m not as fond of music as you are, so I’m thinking about joining the reading club.”

Sounds like the perfect choice for a bookworm like him!

“I want to join the knight club!” Henry chimed in.

That also sounds like the perfect match! Unfortunately, that club is currently having some trouble. There’s three more years until Henry enrolls in the academy, so I hope they become an honorable club by then.

After that, we spent time jumping rope together. I won’t let Prince Keith call me slower than a turtle anymore, I thought as I panted, trying to catch my breath.

“Are you all right, sister?” Nassius asked.

There’s no need to be so worried, Nassius, I’ll be—

I wasn’t fine after all. It appeared that I had passed out. It was my first time collapsing, and I had no memory of it.

“Are you awake, my lady?” Mary asked. I had made her worry too.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I responded. “I just thought of something. Could you grab the bottles inside my bag?” I drank one of the minor healing potions and felt back to normal.

“Oh, my. Is that a healing potion? Where did you get something so expensive? Was it a gift from Her Majesty?”

Are healing potions expensive? Maybe I shouldn’t have drunk it.

“No, this is actually a minor healing potion I made in pharmacy class. The teacher said I could sell it to students in the knight track or bring it home. It’s safe to drink.”

Mary turned completely pale upon hearing that I’d made it myself, but quickly recovered after hearing that I had the teacher’s approval. She let out a deep sigh of relief. Come on, have a little trust in me!

“I’ll give the last one to Wyatt. Please use it if anyone catches a cold. I’m going to make a lot of them in pharmacy class, so don’t hesitate to use them.”

I rested in bed until dinner, and I even decided to abstain from doing my side jobs. The past week had been quite exhausting, thanks to the kerfuffle with Princess Margaret’s friends. Before I knew it, I’d fallen asleep.

“What would you like to do for dinner, my lady?” Mary asked after I woke up. “If you’re not feeling well, I can bring it to your bed.”

I felt better after napping, and my father probably was lonely, having to always eat dinner on his own.

“No, I’ll get dressed. Can you help me?”

I no longer had to wear the thin lace dress that provided no warmth, like I did when I’d first reincarnated into this world. I put on a gown made of silk that Aunt Charlotte had gifted me.

“You look lovely, my lady,” Mary gushed.

Yeah, Patience has gotten a lot cuter. She’s still thin, but she doesn’t look gaunt anymore. Her cheeks are more flushed, and her eyes don’t look like they’re bulging. Yeah, everything looks pretty good. I’m glad to see it.

I entered the dining room, and my father got up to welcome me. It was nice to see him be so polite. During dinner, I was overwhelmed with the urge to ask him about the contents of the queen’s letter, but I had to wait until my father brought it up. See, I’m starting to get the hang of proper etiquette. I instead discussed the various tracks in the senior division, which was also an appropriate dinner topic.

“I see. Balancing three tracks must be a lot of work,” my father observed. “The credits from a single track are all you need to graduate. You should choose one track and just take the classes that interest you alongside them.”

My father made a fair point. Somewhere along the way, I’d gotten it in my head that I had to be enrolled in two tracks.

“I originally wanted to be in the civil service track, and that is still what I’d like to graduate with. I’ve gotten most of the credits needed to graduate from the home economics track, but I may become more interested in subjects taught in the mage track. If that happens, I would be all right with dropping everything but dyeing, weaving, calligraphy, and embroidery.” My father still seemed worried about my course load, so I tried to assure him that I was fine. “I’ve already gotten certificates of completion in dance, beauty, and cooking. I’ve also advanced to the next level of etiquette, embroidery, alchemy, and pharmacy.”

My father seemed exasperated. “Julianne was also gifted, but you are exceptional, Patience. Even Queen Victoria was praising you.”

I want to ask him what the letter said!

“Really? I’m glad to hear that,” I gracefully replied. After that, we discussed the changes that had occurred in the civil service and home economics tracks.

“That sounds wonderful,” my father beamed. “I’m sure change will cause confusion, and it’s unfortunate that not every subject has been reworked, but even the smallest bit of progress is something to celebrate.” My father was ecstatic, which warmed my heart.

For dessert, we had pear compote served with whipped cream. I also had some rosehip tea. Since I’d passed out earlier, I asked to not have caffeine tonight.

After a week at school, I was finally able to relax at home and take the time to think about my course registration. Since I’d gotten that certificate of completion in cooking, I was back to adjusting my schedule.

Chapter 6: A New Problem?

I spent Saturday morning having Nassius and Henry draw, dance, and practice playing the hanon.

“That’s enough studying for today,” I declared. “Let’s go look at the strawberries in the greenhouse.”

The strawberries weren’t grown enough to fruit yet, so I wanted to give them a little “encouragement.”

“I can’t wait to eat strawberries,” Henry said.

You’ll have to wait just a bit longer.

While in the greenhouse, I decided to give the roses a little “encouragement” as well. It was always relaxing to spend time with my brothers like this.

Lunch was a lot more nutritious than it had been in the past. Today’s menu was soup made with romano greens, soft bread, and hamburg steaks (which had become a go-to dish because it could stretch out what little meat we had).

All I’d heard from my father about the queen’s letter was that she’d praised me. There was supposed to be some sort of compensation, right? Seems strange. Maybe there was a check in the letter, like the one Aunt Lilianna sent. That doesn’t seem likely, though. I wanted to just ask my father about the letter, but I didn’t need OG Patience’s help to know that it would be wrong. I guess he’ll tell me eventually.

Lord Salius would be visiting today to give my brothers sword-fighting lessons. Since the queen had sent me home with lots of eggs, butter, and sugar yesterday, I asked Eva to bake a pound cake to thank him with. I also taught Eva how to make mayonnaise, and I asked her to prepare some egg salad sandwiches.

Once we were prepared for Lord Salius’s visit, I decided to play some new songs in the drawing room. Chopin was truly a genius pianist. All right, what should I play today? I did my best to play several songs from memory: “Cat’s Waltz,” “Heroic Polonaise,” and “Barcarolle.” I also played one of his marzukas and one of his nocturnes, which I would title “Marzuka” and “Nocturne” as hanon pieces. I could recall the melodies, but I’d forgotten a significant portion of the accompaniments. It was going to be a struggle to transcribe these songs into sheet music.

“My lady, Lord Salius and Sir Percival Moeran are here,” Mary informed me.

Huh? Lord Salius didn’t come alone? Did he bring someone from the First Cavalry Division with him? I’d completely forgotten about the boy from the knight club that all the girls had been giddy about during the Festival of Verdure until I saw his face.

“Patience, this is my cousin, Percival Moeran,” Salius said, introducing us. “My father’s younger sister is married to the current count of Moeran, and the previous count’s wife was a Granger, so that makes you two second cousins.”

Percival bowed politely. He seemed to have good manners, but visiting someone’s home without notice had to be some sort of faux pas.

“Viscount Granger, Lady Patience, I must apologize,” Percival said. “When I heard that Lord Salius was visiting to give sword-fighting lessons, I couldn’t help but tag along.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” replied my father, who’d appeared to greet our guests. “Thank you both for coming for the sword lessons, Lord Salius, Sir Percival.” After thanking them, my father returned to his study.

I was quite surprised by our extra guest, but Nassius and Henry were both happy to have two teachers. I know that the knight club is having some trouble, but I’m in the music club. What does your problem have to do with me?

“Sir Percival has quite a pretty face,” I mumbled to myself.

Though he had a pleasant appearance, Percival was a little too grown for my tastes. I looked over at Nassius and Henry, who were doing their best to swing their swords, and found them much more adorable.

Since it was cold out, I only watched a little bit of the lesson before returning to my room to fill out my course registration form. I didn’t trust Mr. Cuthbert to review my schedule, so I double-checked everything myself, making sure that I wasn’t forgetting to take any of my mandatory courses and that I had enough electives. There was no section of second-year pharmacy being taught during my open blocks, so I decided to take Ms. Makias up on her offer to do Pharmacy II during a first-year section.

Monday

Diplomacy | World History | Alchemy II | Herbology

Tuesday

Geography | Foreign Language | Sewing | Weaving

Wednesday

Business | Magic Circles | Pharmacy II | Sewing II

Thursday

Government | ? | Calligraphy | Dyeing

Friday

Law | Economics | Etiquette II | ?

“I’m going to sign up for diplomacy, world history, and geography without ever having actually tried them,” I remarked to myself. “I have no choice but to trust Rupert’s recommendations. I also skipped the first session of sewing, which is a mandatory subject for me. And I haven’t taken herbology either. This is pretty haphazard.”

Though my first week might’ve not gone as I’d originally planned, I felt relieved at having finally decided on my classes.

“They should be finishing up their lesson soon,” I muttered to myself.

I headed downstairs and saw my brothers, Lord Salius, and Percival all walking in.

“Thank you very much,” my brothers said to their teachers.

“Lord Salius, Sir Percival, thank you very much,” I said to them. “Would you like to have some tea?”

I wished my brothers could join us, but things were much harder for younger children in this world. You couldn’t have tea with guests until you were ten years old.

Though I wore a smile on my face as I invited them to stay for tea, inside I was anxious about what had led Percival to visit today. As we sat down, I offered them the egg salad sandwiches.

“Wow, these sandwiches are delicious,” Percival raved. He had an appetite that was satisfying to watch.

I had the sandwiches delivered to the children’s room too. I hope Nassius and Henry eat them.

Before I knew it, the sandwiches had disappeared into Lord Salius’s and Percival’s stomachs.

“Patience, you must find it odd that I brought Percival with me here,” Salius said. He had a direct personality that made it hard to respond.

“Must I? Here, please have some pound cake,” I said, changing the subject. I don’t want any part in this. There’s no way it can be good.

Since I’d offered it, they both had no choice, and they each hesitantly took a bite of the pound cake. I understand your caution. The cakes here are just blocks of sugar.

“Wait, this is delicious!” Lord Salius exclaimed, his surprise very obvious.

He really can’t hide what he’s thinking.

“Go on, please have another slice. I also have some cake prepared as a gift for Aunt Amalia, so please take it home with you. It’s a recipe I received from Her Majesty’s chef.”

Lord Salius had two slices, and Percival had one before they finally put down their forks. I guess I won’t be able to put off this conversation any longer.

“Patience, I brought Percival here today to talk about the knight club,” Lord Salius explained. “Have you heard any rumors about it?”

Lord Salius was so sincere, and Percival was looking so earnestly at me with his blue eyes, that I had to cave.

“I’ve heard some rumors that the magic club and riding club have become subordinate to the knight club,” I admitted. “I must point out that I’m in the music club, so I’m not familiar with the details.”

Lord Salius adopted a pained countenance, while Percival had balled his hand into a tight fist to suppress his anger. Oh, that’s actually kind of cute. Maybe fourteen-year-olds can count as shotas. The range for shotas can be pretty wide.

“Why did you come here,” I asked, “given that I’m not even in the knight club?”

Percival hesitantly opened his mouth.

“After President Eric graduated, President Hammond took over. Since then, things have been strange in the knight club. It started with the magic club joining us for practice. I thought it was a good thing. We could practice coordinating our attacks, and they could heal us.”

That made sense. A joint practice brought nothing but benefits to the knight club, but it could cause some members of the magic club to be upset, like Bryce was.

“That isn’t everything, is it?” Lord Salius said to him. “Tell her the rest, Percival.”

Is he talking about the riding club?

“President Hammond says he plans to have junior division students participate in the Festival of Verdure competition this year. Junior division students aren’t physically ready for that sort of thing, so we’ve had a rule to not put them in the competition... It feels like the president is trying to curry favor with Prince Keith.”

Oh, is that why they want to talk to me? I don’t have anything to do with the prince.

“I have absolutely nothing to do with any of that,” I firmly replied.

Despite my lack of cooperation, Percival continued to plead his case.

“You’re always having lunch with Prince Keith. I was wondering whether His Highness had said anything about the knight club.”

“He hasn’t mentioned anything about the club. I heard the rumors that the magic club was strange during a magic course. I also have a cousin who enrolled in the academy this year, Samuel, who told me that the riding club was forced to take care of the knight club’s horses, and that was why he didn’t join the club.”

Lord Salius became furious and sprang to his feet.

“What is this business about knights not looking after their own horses?! They’re slacking off! All right, we’re going to gather up the knights, Percival. We’re going to whip Hammond and the others into shape!”

This seems like it’s going to cause a lot of hubbub.

“Please try to stay calm, Lord Salius,” I insisted. “President Albert from the music club said he would be bringing up these issues during the next club president meeting. An alumnus getting involved would only complicate matters. I think it’s best we leave this situation to the student council.”

Lord Salius seemed a bit uncomfortable as he sat back down, and I offered him another cup of tea. I need him to cool his head.

“I’ll work toward disentangling the practice sessions of the magic club and knight club,” Percival declared. “There are a lot of knight club students who also found the joint practice strange. I had no idea what was going on with the riding club, since the first-years in the knight club are supposed to be in charge of the horses; I’ll discuss it with the rest of the club. I think there are many members who are unaware of what’s going on.”

The only problem left was the Festival of Verdure. I remember Prince Keith telling Prince Richard that he wanted to participate in last year’s competition. I’m sure President Hammond knows about that.

“Isn’t the matter of the competition during the Festival of Verdure under the president’s purview? I believe that’s what Prince Richard said last year.”

The two of them fell silent. Right, the problem is that President Hammond is using his authority to suck up to Prince Keith.

“You couldn’t possibly talk to Prince Keith about this, could you, Patience?” Lord Salius asked.

No way! I thought as I shook my head.

“What if you asked Prince Richard for help?” While I’d come up with a great idea, we now had to figure out who would speak to the crown prince.

“Are either of you acquainted with anyone at Romano University?” Lord Salius asked. “I’m too old to know anyone who’s currently a student.”

Percival folded his arms across his chest and groaned in thought for a moment before a light bulb came on.

“My cousin Michel is a third-year student at Romano University. Let’s have him speak to His Highness.”

“Michel Owen? I know him as well,” Lord Salius replied. “Thank you, Patience! See you around!”

“Thank you very much, Lady Patience,” Percival said. “Goodbye.”

The two left with the force of a storm, and Wyatt had to scramble to hand Lord Salius the gift for Aunt Amalia before he hurried away.

They should’ve just gone to see cousin Michel or whatever his name is before they came here. Good grief.

On Sunday, the riding instructor would be visiting in the afternoon. My goal was to get decent at riding by the time that Princess Jane would join the riding club next year. My thoughts might have been focused on the future because I wanted to take my mind off the perilous activity of horseback riding.

“I just remembered something,” I mumbled to myself. “I need to ask Wyatt about Matthew’s pay.”

In order to complete my project for business and economics, I had to find out how much it cost to employ our staff.

“Wyatt, do you have a moment?” I asked. I bet he doesn’t know what I’m going to ask this time.

“Do you need something, my lady?” Wyatt replied.

Ha, I knew it! He doesn’t know what this is about! I feel like I won something.

“For my business class, I must start a business with an initial fund of ten rhoms. I need some information about wages to calculate my labor costs, so I wanted to ask you what Matthew’s pay is.”

Wyatt considered my question for a moment.

“Matthew is a servant in training, so his pay is very low. It’s one hundred tiems.”

“Um, is that how much he makes in a week?”

The look on Wyatt’s face suggested it was very much not a weekly rate. I guess labor costs are really low in this world. I know he gets free room and board, but that still seems surprisingly low. Is it just because our family is so poor?

Wyatt seemed to intuit what I was thinking.

“That is a standard wage, my lady. In fact, it’s much higher than what people make in provincial areas. Some employers even believe that room and board is enough compensation for a trainee. Some people don’t get paid until they have completed their training.”

I thought about Carrie and Mimi from my beauty class. Are they also going to have to work for low wages? Since coming to this world, I’d thrown myself into improving the lives of the impoverished Granger household, and things had gotten a little better. If I’d reincarnated as Mimi, things could’ve been much worse. I couldn’t have attended the Royal Academy. That’s tough.

I also learned that George made five rhoms in the time Matthew earned a hundred tiems. That doesn’t sound like a living wage, but maybe it actually is.

I spent the rest of the morning with my brothers. We played using jump ropes, stilts, and bean bags. We even played a game of reversi. I decided to focus on having fun, since my father seemed to have a handle on their studies. All work and no play is no way to live!

The riding instructor arrived in the afternoon. My father claimed to be busy and didn’t join us. What’s keeping him busy when he’s unemployed? Anyway, Henry and Nassius were both successfully riding their horses.

“Next time, we’ll also try practicing jumping over obstacles,” the instructor announced.

That sounds a little dangerous. I was worried, but my brothers seemed excited.

What about me, you ask? Well, I rode a horse for just a little bit. I took it easy, since I’d collapsed on Friday. It was a legitimate excuse.

“Has Lady Angela’s riding improved?” I asked the instructor. I was worried about my cousin’s daughter, since she was a shy girl who didn’t seem particularly suited for outdoorsy activities.

“Lady Angela is doing her best,” the instructor replied. Judging from the instructor’s tone and vague response, she probably wasn’t enjoying the lessons. There wasn’t much else I could do but hope her mother, Lucene, was taking care of things.

The riding teacher left, and it was already time to head back to the academy. I gathered up the scraps that were left over from the dress made out of the silk Aunt Charlotte had sent, and I packed them to bring with me to the dorm.

“What will you do with those fabric scraps?” Mary asked, puzzled.

“I’m going to use them in my dyeing class,” I responded with a chuckle. “I want to try dyeing them all different colors.”

Mary didn’t have anything to say about me taking dyeing. Though it wasn’t common anymore, not so long ago noble ladies regularly partook in dyeing as a hobby. It had even been standard practice for noblewomen to dye their clan’s flags so they could be flown at their homes, especially in the countryside. My mother, Julianne, probably had done some dyeing herself.

Once I was back at the dorms, I began reading through the second-year law textbook I’d gotten from President Albert. While I was reading, Zofie stopped by to let me know that Princess Margaret had arrived.

“Is there something I can help you with, Lady Margaret?” I asked the princess upon arriving at her room.

Princess Margaret looked tired, and Zofie was preparing her tea.

“Sit here. This weekend was truly exhausting. Mother praised me for taking calligraphy and embroidery, which was great, but when I complained about how the curriculums for sewing and cooking have changed, she thoroughly scolded me. I’m just starting to relax, now that I’m back at the dorms.”

After Zofie made the tea, the princess sent her home, and the two of us gave our schedules a final review.

“Just where in the world are you headed, Patience?” the princess asked. “You’re taking alchemy, magic circles, pharmacy, and herbology. Are you planning to switch to the mage track?” She seemed exasperated with me.

Yeah, I agree. My schedule is indeed chaotic.

“I just picked classes I was interested in, and somehow ended up with this,” I explained.

After we finished reviewing our schedules, the princess had a request.

“I’m tired. Can you play me something new?”

“I haven’t worked on them enough to put them on paper yet,” I said. “If that’s all right with you, I can play them.”

The princess nodded, so I played “Cat’s Waltz” and “Nocturne” for her.

“My, those were wonderful,” she raved. “Please have the sheet music ready soon. I was planning on playing ‘Farewell’ at the Festival of Verdure, but now ‘Nocturne’ is giving me second thoughts.” Princess Margaret went on to say she was working on a new song herself, which she played for me.

“It’s a very energizing piece,” I observed.

Princess Margaret seemed happy about it.

“Isn’t it? I’m calling it ‘Song of the Youth.’ I think it’ll pair well with ‘Farewell.’ Oh, but I’m still interested in ‘Nocturne’ as well.”

The princess got so excited discussing music that I completely forgot about all the troubles with the knight club.

On Monday morning, we had to submit our course registration forms during homeroom. Princess Margaret and I had reviewed each other’s forms several times, so I wasn’t worried about them.

“Good morning,” Mr. Cuthbert greeted the class. “I’d like you all to hand in your course registration forms.”

I really questioned whether Mr. Cuthbert was cut out to be a homeroom teacher. If Mr. Kepner had been in charge of us, he would’ve asked if we had any questions, or followed up with us throughout the week to see how we were doing.

This was some students’ first time filling out a course registration form, and they seemed nervous.

“Mr. Cuthbert? What happens if we forget to sign up for a mandatory course?” Philips asked. He was also the one always posing questions in business and economics. I guess he doesn’t hesitate to ask if he doesn’t know something.

“If you forget to take a mandatory course, you’ll have to repeat the year,” Mr. Cuthbert responded. “I’m sure that won’t happen, though.”

Class A became a sea of heavy sighs. This teacher’s no good. He’s all brawn and no brains.

“Patience, what sections are you taking for alchemy, magic circles, herbology, and pharmacy?” Benjamin asked, peeking over at my registration form. “Oooh, we’re in the same sections! I’m looking forward to having class with you! Wait, we’re in the same section, but you’re taking second-year pharmacy?”

I could feel the students in the civil service track giving me strange looks. Are mage track students considered weird?

“Yes, Ms. Makias said that if there wasn’t a section of second-year pharmacy being taught during one of my open blocks, I could just take it during a first-year section.”

“Wow, Ms. Makias really said that?” Benjamin said, tilting his head with confusion.

Just then, Bryce came up to us.

“If you’re in the same sections as Benjamin, then we’ll be in the same classes aside from alchemy,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having you there too.”

Aside from alchemy, which I’d accelerated, Bryce would be in all my mage classes.

We were all being friendly and having fun—until Andrew showed up and stirred the pot.

“You two chose to take the same sections?” Andrew asked both Benjamin and Bryce. “You didn’t want to include me in that discussion?”

It seemed he wanted to be with the other mage track boys.

“Why should we have to take the same sections as you?” Benjamin asked. He was really good at picking fights with Andrew, and that wasn’t a compliment.

“Do you want to take the same sections together, Andrew?” Bryce asked. He was a nice kid, but he would probably go through a lot of pain getting caught between Benjamin and Andrew.

They began squabbling, Andrew trying to copy their schedules and Benjamin trying to prevent him from doing that, so I walked away from them, only to get stopped by Philips.

“What are you taking, Mademoiselle Patience?”

Ever since his big apology, Philips had started referring to me as “mademoiselle.” It made me feel a bit bashful.

“I decided on sections taught by a teacher recommended to me by an upperclassman from the music club,” I shared. “However, I haven’t actually attended the sections for world history, geography, and diplomacy that I chose, so I’m still a little worried.”

Philips took a look at my registration form and smiled.

“You’ve brilliantly selected only the most engaging of teachers. In other words, I’m in those sections as well. World history, geography, and diplomacy all seemed informative and interesting.”

I’m glad to hear that they aren’t boring classes, I thought, letting out a sigh of relief.

“I must say, looking at your class schedule, I...can’t tell what track you’re enrolled in, Mademoiselle Patience.”

“It really is a mess,” I replied, a bit embarrassed. I must seem greedy.

“Come on, turn in your forms!” Mr. Cuthbert instructed the class loudly.

Everyone had gotten caught up in sharing their schedules with other students or reviewing their forms, so no one had actually submitted them yet. I think it should be the teacher’s job to review them. Then we wouldn’t have to do it.

Everyone did as they were told and handed in their forms. After all, not submitting one would lead to repeating the year.

“In the end, I’m only going to get to take foreign language, sewing, and calligraphy with you,” Princess Margaret complained. “I’m going to do my best to accelerate etiquette.”

The princess and I had to split up for the morning, and we would next see each other at lunch. Monday was going to be busy, since I had lots of classes I was attending for the first time.

My schedule for Monday was diplomacy, world history, alchemy, and herbology. It was time to actually start studying in the senior division.

“Mademoiselle Patience, let’s walk together to diplomacy,” Philips suggested.

“Thank you very much. It’s my first time going to the classroom, so I’m glad to have a guide.”

I didn’t know where the classroom even was, so I really appreciated Philips’s kindness. Once we got to the classroom, I didn’t feel that isolation I’d felt before, where it seemed like everyone else in the civil service track was against me. They’d probably gotten used to my presence.

The diplomacy teacher had a slightly affected manner of speech.

“My, my! It appears that there are many new faces joining us today. In that case, I shall introduce myself once more. My name is Oliver Fotchner, and I teach diplomacy.”

Rupert’s recommendation proved to be great, and the class was interesting. It was my first time learning about various matters occurring in other countries, and I was enjoying it. This is definitely a win. And not only was the class intriguing, but we’d also get to have debates!

“Once you’ve studied a bit, you’ll be splitting up into home country teams and foreign country teams. Your teams will be having a debate regarding trade agreements. Of course, whether you ‘win’ or ‘lose’ doesn’t matter. You will only lose points if you fail to utilize what we’ve studied thus far. Oh, there is no need to worry, though. Before you have the debate, I will give you time to split into teams and do some research.” This is pretty exciting!

Once class was over, I was able to remain in my seat, because world history was taught in the same classroom.

“What did you think of diplomacy, Mademoiselle Patience?” Philips asked, kind as always. “You’re welcome to copy my notes from the first class if you’d like.”

“Thank you. I would like that very much.”

I get to copy his notes! Score!

“You finished very quickly,” Philips remarked. “Your writing is also very neat. Would you like to go ahead and copy my notes from world history as well?”

Philips seems almost too nice. Whatever, I’ll gratefully take him up on his offer.

“Hey Philips! Are you trying to corner Patience?” a student jeered, but I just ignored him and rushed to finish copying Philips’s notes.

“I’m just sharing my notes with a classmate who missed the first class, Russell,” Philips replied.

“I didn’t know you were such a nice guy,” Russell scoffed. “During the three years we were in the junior division, you never once shared your notes with me.”

I recognized Russell. He was also in my business and economics classes.

“Thank you very much, Sir Philips,” I said, handing him back his notebook.

“Patience, want to be on my team?” Russell suddenly asked, referring to our debate teams for diplomacy.

“Isn’t Mr. Fotchner going to split us into teams?” I asked.

“I’m sure he values his students’ autonomy,” Russell replied. “Though, I do believe students who haven’t chosen a team get randomly assigned to one.”

Is that really how it works? I guess I’d rather be on a team with people I know from my class.

“Then my answer is yes. Thank you for the invitation, Sir Russell.”

“In that case, I’ll also join Russell’s team,” Philips declared.

Before I knew it, tons of students were volunteering to join our team. That makes sense. Judging from the way he actively participates in class, Philips seems like he would get good grades. It’s an advantage to have him on our team.

“That’s enough now, people,” Russell announced. “It would be bad if more than half the class were on our team.”

It was then that I realized that I didn’t know the power dynamics of senior division Year 1 Class A. In the junior division, Year 1 Class A had a shining leader: Prince Keith. The prince also had Ralph and Hugo at his side, who were both strong figures. For the girls, Louise was the de facto leader.

Now that we were in the senior division, everyone split up to take classes aligned with their chosen track. Even so, Princess Margaret was probably at the top of the hierarchy for the girls, especially since most girls were enrolled in the home economics track.

Benjamin seemed like he could be the leader of the mage track students, with Bryce as his right-hand man, and Andrew as his second-in-command.

The civil service track probably had two leaders: Philips, who spoke up a lot during class, and Russell, who got along with everyone in between classes.

I didn’t know anyone in the knight track, so I wasn’t sure what the situation was like there.

I was quite distracted by this line of thought, and before I knew it, it was time for world history.

“I’m your world history teacher, Donald Aust. During our last class, we discussed the origins of civilization. If you missed that class, make sure to read the textbook. We went over primitive life, how villages came to be formed, and the start of the establishment of city-states. You could say that today is when we actually start discussing world history. All right, then. Open your textbooks to the page about the birth of the Kazarian Empire.”

This teacher’s lectures were very easy to follow, and he also went on some interesting tangents. I’d read several history books from my family’s library, and I was familiar with the Kazarian Empire. It was similar to the Roman Empire I knew from my previous life. At the time, the Kingdom of Lawrence had been a rural area ruled by barbarian tribes. This really reminds me of a certain show I watched.

At the time, most religions were polytheistic. The Church of Estena formed during the decline of the Kazarian Empire, and it had initially faced suppression. All of this was very similar to history from my original world. Despite the initial suppression effort, the Church of Estena eventually became the official religion of the state.

Magic was a significant part of the rise of the Church of Estena, because Estenaians spread the use of magic. There had always been people who could use magic, but they were usually great heroes or powerful mages. There were very few civilians who could use magic. There were all sorts of legends about the magic wielded by heroes, but I didn’t know if they could be trusted, because they described heroes moving mountains, parting seas, and slaying dragons.

It seemed that I already had a good idea of what we would be going over in this class. After the decline of the empire, the land would split into several countries, which would become embroiled in a long period of war. I’m so glad I wasn’t born during wartime. I only have household magic, so I probably would’ve died right away.

“For the next class, I’d like you to look into the early years of the Kazarian Empire, and the Four Good Emperors who expanded the empire. Let’s see, the students sitting by the window will research the first Good Emperor, Philappio. The second row gets the second Good Emperor, Bavrice. The middle and fourth rows will look into the third, Lucius. The row by the hallway gets the fourth emperor, Maxim.”

I was sitting in the row assigned to the second Good Emperor, Bavrice. I think we have some books about him at home, but I’ll also stop by the school library.

“I got assigned Philappio,” Philips noted. “It might be hard to find information on the second Good Emperor. Russell got the famous third emperor, Lucius. He’s really lucky.” Philips seemed worried for me, but I felt confident that I’d figure something out.

“I’ll do my best to research what I can,” I replied.

Half the students in that section of world history were in Class A, so we all headed to the salon together. I can understand why Princess Margaret wanted to take the Class A sections of every class—this way, you’re not alone.

Many of the students enrolled in the civil service track were academically minded and peaceful, which I enjoyed. I was a little worried about second-year alchemy, which I had after lunch. I guess knowing that Benjamin will be there makes me feel a little better.

Lunch was the same as always. It didn’t seem like the issues regarding the knight club had become widespread information. Perhaps Percival was still in the process of discussing it among the club members. I hope it doesn’t cause trouble. It’ll be annoying if Prince Keith gets involved in all this.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Princess Margaret brought up something entirely unnecessary.

“When did you become friends with Philips, Patience? He must really admire you if he calls you ‘mademoiselle.’ Most students drop the formalities or just keep it to ‘sir’ and ‘lady.’”

I guess I stand out, being called “mademoiselle.”

“I didn’t know that,” I replied. “Ever since Sir Philips apologized to me in economics, he has been calling me ‘mademoiselle.’ It’s a bit embarrassing, so I’d like him to stop.”

Princess Margaret looked at me with disbelief.

“Something that required an apology happened in economics? What did he do?”

“We discussed our project for business, which involved starting up a business with a budget of ten rhoms. I asked the teacher for permission to use my family’s greenhouse, and Sir Philips said that ten rhoms wouldn’t even cover the glass required to maintain the greenhouse. I argued that I didn’t need any money for upkeep because I could make repairs with my household magic, and he didn’t believe me. I quickly fixed up the classroom’s chalkboard to prove what household magic can do, and he apologized.”

“My, so he apologized for doubting your words. In that case, I can see why he started calling you ‘mademoiselle.’ It seems that the prideful Philips is smitten with you.”

Prince Keith and his friends were listening to our conversation from their side of the table. Please don’t make it sound so weird, Your Highness!

“I’ve heard you’re also getting along well with Benjamin, Bryce, and Andrew,” the princess continued. “Benjamin is a strange character, but he’s smart. I’m sure he’s no match for you, but he’s still gotten certificates of completion in most of the mandatory subjects. That’s right, he’s just like Keith in that he struggles with classical literature, which kept him from skipping to the senior division.”

“I see. He’s in my alchemy class this afternoon, so it’ll be reassuring to have him there. Though, he very persistently keeps inviting me to join the alchemy club, which is a bit troublesome. It seems he’s trying to keep the club from dissolving.”

Prince Keith, who’d been eavesdropping, decided to chime in.

“I heard about it before, but I forgot that you accelerated alchemy. Isn’t that difficult for someone who isn’t in the mage track?”

“Yes, but I was able to do it with Mr. Kubrick’s help, because he wanted me to learn more about alchemy,” I explained. “In first-year alchemy, the main focus is building instruments, and the materials are all prepared for you. But in second-year alchemy, you start creating the components. I’m both nervous and excited about it.”

My Verbal Blunder radar was going off again, telling me that Prince Keith was about to call me a weirdo.

“I didn’t know that the civil service track had such interesting projects,” Ralph interjected, changing the subject by bringing my business project back up.

Nice move, Ralph. I felt like I was seeing myself from last year. I had been stepping in whenever Prince Keith said something rude in front of Prince Richard. Ralph’s actually preventing him from saying anything rude, so he’s doing better than I did. Impressive work!

“Are you really going to enroll in both the knight and civil service tracks, Prince Keith?” Hugo asked. It seemed like he, too, was learning how to change the topic.

You also get a gold star.

“Of course I am,” Prince Keith replied. “Richard also enrolled in both tracks.”

From there, the discussion focused on how Prince Keith would have to get as many certificates of completion as possible if he wanted to successfully graduate from two tracks. What a relief.

My next class was alchemy. There was always an ominous atmosphere in the part of the school where mage classes were taught. It reminded me of horror movies from my previous life—like they were making it seem creepy on purpose. I don’t think this is really my vibe, I thought.

Just then, Benjamin called out to me.

Yeah, he’s definitely Fluffy. Look at all his poofy blond hair! I feel like he could be the drummer for a metal band. I don’t think his hair was that poofy this morning. Is it naturally like that, or does he have a habit of messing with it?

“Patience, second-year alchemy is over here,” he said to me.

The classroom was similar to the one in which pharmacy was held. There were tables in the middle of the room and a furnace in the back.

“Sit here,” Benjamin said, tapping the seat next to him. He was seated by the window in the furthest row. That spot really feels like it’s his reserved seat.

“You’re quite familiar with alchemy,” I remarked. “I’m a little nervous about it.”

Benjamin let out a hearty laugh.

“It would be bad if I weren’t familiar with it, since I’m in the alchemy club! I find pharmacy difficult, though. Fire’s my main proficiency, and I can use a bit of earth magic, but water seems to be most advantageous for pharmacy. Your minor healing potion was of passing quality, right? When you have some time, could you teach me your tricks?”

If he can teach me alchemy in exchange, that could be pretty good.

“Sure, it’ll be limited to my own understanding, but I’m happy to help.”

As we discussed helping each other study, Bryce and Andrew stood in the hallway, watching us with envy.

“That sounds nice,” Bryce said as he approached. “I didn’t get a passing grade on my minor healing potion either. Would you mind teaching me as well?”

I didn’t mind Bryce, since he just walked in and asked for help, but Andrew was acting like a child. He sulked in the hallway for a moment before running up to Bryce and shouting at him.

“Bryce! You promised we would work hard together! Have you forgotten already?!”

Wait, are these two headed for a BL-type situation? I prefer pretty boys, and fourteen-year-olds just barely make the cut. I was getting excited about the potential romance, but it seemed I was wrong.

“You’re going to cause misunderstandings by saying things like that,” Bryce replied. “I said that when I joined the magic club with the intention of us just doing our best!”

Wait, isn’t this the classroom for second-year alchemy?

“Why are you two even here?” Benjamin asked. “Neither of you accelerated alchemy.”

Okay, so I was right to find it strange that they were here.

“That’s right, Bryce!” Andrew exclaimed. “We don’t have time for this. We’re going to be late to magic circles!” Andrew dragged Bryce with him and took off.

I wonder what all that was about.

“They’re so weird,” Benjamin remarked.

Yeah, but you’re pretty weird too, Fluffy.

The teacher eventually arrived and introduced himself.

“My name is Robin Kubrick, and I’ll be your teacher for second-year alchemy.”

Is he the only teacher for alchemy and magic circles?

“Your assignment for the spring term will be to create a magic lamp from scratch. You had to make one in first-year alchemy, so I’m sure you know what kind of magic instrument it is. The magic circle you’ll need is in the textbook, so use that. You’ll be creating the base, the glass chimney, and even the regulator. Moving on, I’m going to give a quick overview of the textbook.”

Mr. Kubrick’s explanation was very enthusiastic, and it ended quite quickly.

“Rather than me standing here and explaining things, you’ll learn faster if you just do it for yourself. You can start with the magic circle or with making the components. Individuality is important when it comes to alchemy.”

The class buzzed with anxiety. It seemed everyone wanted him to go over things a bit more thoroughly.

“You were really good at drawing the magic circle last time,” Benjamin said to me. “You should start by making the base.”

I was also taking magic circles, so I had plenty of other opportunities to practice drawing them. I was taking this class to see if I could actually perform alchemy.

“That sounds good,” I replied. “Please show me how.”

He led me to the back of the room. I thought we were headed for the furnace, but to my surprise, he said I needed to start by drafting a design of my lamp.

“If you haven’t decided what your lamp looks like, you won’t be able to fire a foundation or make a glass chimney.”

Benjamin’s explanation made complete sense.

“You’re right. So, um, can it be different from the lamp we put together in the other class?”

“Of course it can. That was just a mass-produced magic lamp. There’s no need to remake that specific lamp from scratch.”

I see. In that case, I should design a lamp I’d want in my room. I don’t know if I can afford a magic stone to actually use it, though.

The magic circle and regulator couldn’t be changed, but the base and glass chimney could be shaped however I liked. I decided to make my lamp in the shape of a flower—a cute design that would fit right in a noble lady’s room.

I drew a dome-shaped chimney in the shape of a blooming water lily, and I made the base circular. I added the regulator to the base. The glass part would also look cute in pink.

“That’s a pretty unusual-looking lamp. Let’s try it out anyway.”

Benjamin and I headed to the furnace at the back of the room. Benjamin had designed a lamp that reminded me of desk lamps from my previous life. It looks easy to use.

“I’m going to make the base, so watch closely,” he said.

Inside the furnace was some liquid metal. I thought we’d pour the hot metal into a mold, but alchemy was performed in a much different manner than I’d expected.

“Obey my will, metal!” Benjamin exclaimed.

Before I could finish being surprised, the base that Benjamin had designed was now an actual object, sitting beside the furnace. I blinked and I missed it! It all happened so fast!

“So this is alchemy?!” I exclaimed. It had just blown up everything I thought I knew from my previous life.

“Go ahead. Try it yourself, Patience.”

Can I really do this? I brushed my worries away and focused hard on the image of the lamp’s base.

“Make me a base!” I exclaimed.

I couldn’t believe my own eyes. The liquid metal floated out of the furnace and took the shape of the round base I’d designed before landing next to the furnace.

“See, I knew you could do it! You should really join the alchemy club, Patience.”

Benjamin was once again inviting me to join his club, but I was much too shocked to pay attention to him.

“What? Why did the hot metal take shape? Don’t you have to pour liquid metal into a mold and cool it down?” I was completely thrown by what I’d just seen.

Mr. Kubrick walked up to us and proudly stated, “This is alchemy!” After that, he explained that molds were made using the original. Those molds would go on to be used for mass production. I’d been too excited about everything to fully pay attention before.

“Alchemy is incredible,” I mumbled.

After that, I used a separate furnace for glass to make the flower dome for my lamp. Unfortunately, a semitransparent white was my only option in terms of colors.

“Let’s make the regulators too,” Benjamin said.

If you didn’t understand how regulators worked, down to their finest details, you would just end up with a hunk of metal in the shape of a regulator. Yes, that was what happened to me. I failed.

“You need to think more carefully when you’re performing alchemy, Patience,” Benjamin said, criticizing my work.

I went back to the textbook and studied the diagrams of regulators until I had them completely memorized.

“I think I’m ready now,” I told him. “Please become a regulator!” I think I did it. At least, I was able to flick it between an on and off position. “How does it look?” I asked, showing it to Benjamin.

“Let’s have a look.” He fiddled with it a few times.

This regulator was the piece that connected the magic stone to the magic circle. It reminded me of how flashlights from my previous life worked, but I was going to use it as a table lamp.

“Well, it looks like it works. If you fail, it just won’t turn on.”

I moved on to copying the magic circle from the textbook, and my heart was racing. I had to draw the magic circle small enough to fit on the base of the lamp, so I made sure to be very careful.

“If you’re done, try putting it together,” Benjamin said. “I’ve been told I draw sloppy magic circles, so I’m trying to take my time on that step.”

Now that he mentions it, I remember his work in magic circles being quick but sloppy, and Mr. Kubrick made him redo it.

This part was the same as in the lamp we’d built in the previous class. I placed the base on the magic circle, then the regulator and the magic stone. I turned the lamp on, and a flame appeared.

“It turned on!” I exclaimed.

I’d been worried that I might’ve failed at making my regulator again, so I let out a sigh of relief, then switched it off. Finally, I added the flower-shaped glass chimney onto the base. I’d designed it to be screwed in, and it fit perfectly.

“Turn it on,” Benjamin said.

You don’t have to tell me what to do! I’m excited about this too.

“Wow, it’s so pretty!”

Once the light was on, it looked like a blooming water lily.

“Are you trying to accelerate again, Patience?” Benjamin joked. “I can’t believe you finished your spring assignment during the first class. What a troublesome student!”

I don’t want to skip ahead. I have more lamps I want to make!

“Mr. Kubrick, what do students make in third-year alchemy?” I asked.

“They make brand-new magic instruments,” Mr. Kubrick replied.

Wait, that also sounds like fun.

“I’d like to make more lamps, but I’m also interested in making new magical instruments,” I lamented.

“That’s why you should join the alchemy club,” Benjamin said, still drawing his magic circle.

“Well, you’ve technically completed the second-year course, so you should move on to third-year alchemy,” Mr. Kubrick said. “Maybe it would be okay to let you stay until the end of the spring term... No, if Mr. Maverick, the head of the mage track, finds out, I’ll be in big trouble. Yeah, you’ll have to move on to third-year alchemy.”

That’s unfortunate. I already have so many other designs for lamps in mind.

Seeing that I was disappointed, Mr. Kubrick gave me a wink.

“I can’t refuse a passionate student’s request to review previous material, so during the spring term, I’ll let you review the second-year material.”

Score! I wanted to jump with joy, but that would be improper.

“Thank you very much,” I gracefully replied.

Yay! Now I can make all sorts of lamps! I want to make one for my brothers’ room too.

Though I’d technically accelerated into third-year alchemy, I now had Mr. Kubrick’s permission to keep making lamps as a review of the second-year material. I’m going to make so many lamps!

“Can I fit third-year alchemy in one of my open blocks?” I wondered aloud.

Mr. Kubrick chuckled.

“Well, if you can’t, you can just keep taking this class. I’m sure you’re skipping ahead in a bunch of subjects. You must have a hard time putting your schedule together.”

My fourth block on Friday was open, but I usually had to visit the palace with Princess Margaret once or twice a month, so I didn’t want to fill that block. My next option was the second block on Thursday, which was free after I’d gotten a certificate of completion in cooking. I checked with Mr. Kubrick, but there weren’t any sections of third-year alchemy taught during either of those blocks.

“Well, you can update your registration during the fall term, so you can just wait to take third-year alchemy until then,” Mr. Kubrick said, as if it weren’t a big deal.

Since the senior division had a credit-based system, it appeared that some students updated their registration between terms.

“You don’t have to go through that hassle,” Benjamin said. “If you join the alchemy club, you can learn as much as you want.”

He isn’t wrong, but I can’t join. If we don’t have music club, I’m supposed to stay by Princess Margaret’s side after classes.

I had planned on stepping down from being the princess’s lady’s maid, but if I had to keep serving her, I was going to take it seriously. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be any better than Catherine and the other girls. I didn’t want to take without giving.

“I can’t join the alchemy club,” I replied.

“Why not?” Benjamin asked with a serious look on his face.

“I serve Princess Margaret as her lady’s maid,” I explained. “On the days we don’t have music club, I must spend my time after classes by Her Highness’s side.”

Benjamin thought for a moment, then smiled.

“Then you can just drop by the alchemy club whenever you do have some free after-school hours. Sir Caesar already spends most of his time in the alchemy club, so you’ll always find him there.”

That kind of sounds like he lives in the clubroom. He doesn’t, right?

“I’ll think about it,” I said. I was interested, but I was still wary of the odd nature of the members.

“You should talk to Sir Caesar at least once,” Benjamin insisted. “I’m sure he’ll come up with a good solution.”

Benjamin was very persistent, and I replied without thinking.

“Really?”

“It’s decided then!” he exclaimed. “If you’re busy after school, when are you free?” He just kept pushing.

“I’m free Thursday at noon...” I revealed. His intensity made me cave.

Princess Margaret would be eating lunch in cooking class on Thursdays, so I was available. She’d insisted that I eat in the salon, but I’d refused, telling her that I planned on having a leisurely lunch in the dining hall.

“I see! In that case, I’ll see you at the dining hall on Thursday!”

Does this mean I’m joining? Shoot. I shouldn’t have given in so easily.

“Uh, is everyone allowed to eat at the dining hall?” Benjamin suddenly asked. You darned rich kid!

“You have herbology next too, right?” Benjamin asked. “Follow me.”

Benjamin had successfully completed his lamp. Mr. Kubrick had given it a passing grade, so he was also moving on to third-year alchemy.

“I’m happy to accelerate the class, but I don’t know if I can fit third-year alchemy into my schedule,” he remarked.

Didn’t Princess Margaret say that Benjamin already got certificates of completion in most of his mandatory courses?

He noticed my puzzled look and began to explain.

“I still haven’t passed the practical portion of PE. Mr. Cuthbert is really hard on mage track students. He thinks we’re all unhealthy. But my main issue is actually classical literature. At this rate, I’m starting to worry if I’ll ever graduate. I hate having to spend two blocks on that antiquated subject, but I have no choice.”

“You still seem to have a lot of open blocks...” I pointed out.

“Well, I’m actually taking every elective in the mage track. I couldn’t decide which ones to take, and they all seemed interesting, so I just signed up for all of them. Pharmacy has been the hardest one...”

I wonder if herbology is going to be hard, I thought as I continued walking with Benjamin. For some reason, we had ended up outside. It’s so cold.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get to the greenhouse right away,” Benjamin reassured me.

He took off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders. How chivalrous. Isn’t he cold, though?

“I’m fine,” I said, trying to return his jacket, but he just laughed at me.

“I don’t think this winter’s been too bad, but it looks like you’re weak to the cold, Patience. I’m from the north, so I’m fine in this weather. Also, we’ll be there soon enough.”

Once we entered the greenhouse, I gave Benjamin his jacket back.

“Thank you,” I said.

Just as I was thanking Benjamin, Bryce walked into the greenhouse. Of course, Andrew was with him.

“There’s no need to thank a guy like him,” Andrew scoffed. “He’s just being nice so he can save the alchemy club from being dissolved. Don’t let him fool you!”

Andrew’s annoying to deal with. Regardless of whether Benjamin had hidden motivations for lending me his jacket, it was still polite to thank him for doing so. Can you stay out of other people’s business?

“If you have time to be thinking about the alchemy club, maybe you should try focusing on your own club!” Benjamin shouted back.

These two fight every time they see each other. I’m going to keep my distance from them.

“I’m surprised our class is in a greenhouse,” I said to Bryce, who’d also stepped away from the bickering duo.

This is a surprise, especially since I didn’t take the first class.

“Oh, is this your first time taking it? It’s taught by the same teacher as pharmacy, Ms. Makias. The first class was pretty tough. We had to spread out some fertilizer and till the soil. Then we had to make ridges in the soil. You might’ve lucked out by not being there. My uniform ended up smelling after class.”

Our teacher is that witchy lady, Ms. Makias? I didn’t know because I forgot to check. Sounds fun, though! Even if I get smelly, I can clean myself up with household magic!

“Oh, did you switch to the mage track?” Ms. Makias asked upon seeing me. “You haven’t? That’s fine. I’m sure herbology will pair well with your household magic.”

Ms. Makias invited me to join the mage track again, but I had no intentions of doing that. After all, there was no way I could perform attack spells. I’m a bit happy to hear that herbology is compatible with household magic.

“Gather around!” Ms. Makias barked at everyone. It seemed as if she chose to speak in a rough manner on purpose.

She’s in full “creepy old witch” mode.

“In herbology, you’re going to start with growing herbs. Everyone pick a ridge. Pick one quickly and add your name to it. The goal in the spring term is to successfully grow minor herbs. I’ll warn you now: If you’re a slacker that thinks checking up on your herbs once a week during class is enough, you’re going to fail.”

I picked out a ridge on the edge of the plot. It was one of the remaining ones, since the fastest students went after the middle ridges. It’s a greenhouse, so the middle ones are probably warmer.

“Once you pick your spot, come and get your seeds,” Ms. Makias instructed. “These are seeds for minor herbs. Usually, some lackey at the adventurer’s guild goes out to forage for these. With a greenhouse, you can grow your own minor herbs during winter and spring. That is, if you take good care of them.”

I didn’t know that rookie adventurers are supposed to go foraging. Reminds me of all those light novels from my previous life. I’d like to visit the adventurer’s guild someday. I wonder if I can convince Mary to let me go.

“Come on; you’d better pay attention.” Ms. Makias gathered the students and explained how to sow the seeds. “You make holes by pressing your index finger into the soil, up to the first knuckle. Then, you’ll put a single seed in each hole. Make sure to use up the entire length of your ridge, and think about how much space you want between each seed.”

Are we allowed to use this entire greenhouse? I’m pretty sure there’s another section of herbology being taught. I’m sure other students are going to use this space too.

“We have plenty of greenhouses, so don’t worry about space,” Ms. Makias clarified. “Just do your best to grow the herbs.”

Can she read minds or something? A confused look came over my face, and Ms. Makias cackled.

“Hurry up. Plant your seeds and water them.”

I sowed my seeds, then I used a watering can to water them.

“I’m sure some of you can use earth magic. If that’s you, cast a growth spell on your plants. If you can’t use earth magic, you’ll just have to wait for your plants to grow. If you don’t water them every day, they’ll wither. If you can use water magic, you can make the herbs grow faster by imbuing some water with mana.”

“Grow!” I chanted, just as I always did at home in the greenhouse and the garden. I wonder if it’ll at least sprout. I think I used enough mana for that. “Wait, it...won’t stop growing?!”

The sprouts continued to grow, and eventually the true leaves grew from the seedling.

“You really should enroll in the mage track,” Ms. Makias remarked. “Minor herbs respond well to mana. Go on, try using a little more household magic.”

“Grow!” I chanted once more.

The true leaves continued to grow, and the other students watched in amazement.

“You pass first-year herbology, Patience. Move on to second-year herbology. Oh, if you don’t have any open spots, you can just take it during this class. The spring assignment is to grow greater herbs, and your minor herbs will be ready for harvest by next week. Just pick these once they’re grown, then plant the greater herbs here.” Ms. Makias then turned to the rest of the class. “Instead of standing around and staring at Patience, why don’t you try using a little magic on your own plants?” The other students began using magic on their ridges, and Ms. Makias turned back to me and asked, “Want to join the pharmacy club?”

“I’m already in music club, so I can’t,” I replied. I feel like I could’ve made money there. It’s really unfortunate!

“I see. I think you’d make an excellent apothecary. That’s too bad.”

Becoming an apothecary sounded like it could make more money than working as a bureaucrat, a position I wasn’t even sure I could attain. I feel a little dizzy. I’m so weak when it comes to money.

“Hey, Patience,” Benjamin called out from the middle of the greenhouse. He’d managed to get one of the middle ridges. “If you’re going to join the pharmacy club, why not join the alchemy club?”

“That’s right! I can’t, because after school I have to serve Princess Margaret as her lady’s maid.” Benjamin’s words helped me regain my senses.

“Darn, you seem like you’d be easily pressured into things, so I thought I could make you grow a bunch of herbs. Well, you can grow herbs during school hours too. You should think about it.”

Do I really seem that easy to manipulate? I’m a little hurt.

Chapter 7: Alchemy Club

On Tuesday, I had geography, foreign language, sewing, and weaving. I wasn’t used to my senior-division schedule yet, so I had to review it every morning. It seemed easier to accelerate classes in the senior division, which meant that my schedule had the potential to change yet again. It was a little hard to keep track of everything.

Wait, it’s Tuesday. That means it’s been a week since everything went down with Princess Margaret and her friends.

The princess was still doing her best to get up in the mornings on her own. She hadn’t been successful, but she was making an effort. That last bit was the important part.

We headed to breakfast, and we went over our schedules together as we ate.

“This is going to be my first class for both geography and sewing,” I remarked. I was especially excited for geography.

I can’t wait to learn more about this world!

“Sewing is difficult,” Princess Margaret grumbled. “We’ll also be in foreign language together today.”

Foreign language was quite fun as well. The language we were studying reminded me of classical literature.

“Is Prince Keith really going to enroll in both the knight and civil service tracks?” I asked.

Princess Margaret didn’t seem to understand why I was concerned.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“No, it’s just that foreign language is one of the electives for the civil service track, and I feel that it’s quite similar to classical literature.”

The princess seemed puzzled as she tilted her head to the side. It appeared she hadn’t felt there were any similarities between classical literature and Dehn.

“Is it?”

“Yes. Classical texts are written in the imperial language that preceded Emperado. I find that Dehn is quite similar to that previous language. Perhaps the Kingdom of Dehn spoke that same language, only they kept it because they’re located farther north than Lawrence.”

Princess Margaret thought for a moment before agreeing with me.

“I guess they have similar grammatical structures. But it’s an elective for the civil service track, right? He doesn’t have to take it if he’s going to struggle with it.”

That’s true. Let’s move on to the more important topic of sewing.

“I’ve heard that we’re going to be sewing gowns for the Festival of Verdure in sewing class,” I said, changing the subject. “I wonder what we’re going to make for the fall term.”

“Oh, you haven’t heard? There’s a graduation ball for the senior-division students after the Harvest Festival, so we’ll be sewing gowns for that. The fabric used for winter garments is quite thick, and our gowns also have to be lined. Everyone seemed to be quite alarmed by what an undertaking it’s going to be. There are a few students who seem confident, though; they say that it’s better than attending a ball in our school uniforms.”

Right, we were both in the junior division last year, so we didn’t have to attend that ball.

Aside from the details of the fall-term project, I also learned that I would have to sew a total of six gowns in order to get a certificate of completion in sewing. That was going to be a lot of work.

Geography was taught by one of the teachers Rupert had recommended, and I had no complaints—it was a fun class. It was also useful to be able to look at a map of this world and understand something about the various lands on display.

I’d love to travel to another country someday. That’ll have to wait until I have some extra money on hand.

In foreign language, I paired up with Princess Margaret, and we practiced introducing ourselves to each other.

“I like music,” the princess said in Dehn.

“I love my brothers,” I replied in Dehn. I really do!

“You do, Patience? I didn’t know that,” Princess Margaret replied in Emperado.

“No Emperado please, Princess Margaret,” Mr. Morse cautioned.

“Yes, sir,” she replied simply in Dehn.

We were going to need more practice before we could have more complex conversations.

During lunch, Prince Keith and his friends were talking about the knight club. I didn’t want to get involved, so I discussed sewing class with Princess Margaret.

“Does the school provide the fabric for our gowns?” I asked the princess.

This was quite important to me. Aunt Charlotte had gifted me some silk fabric, but I didn’t want to use up six gowns worth of it. I wanted to save as much of it as possible, so I could make my brothers some shirts and other garments.

“Yes, and they’ll have ribbon and lace available as well,” the princess responded. “You’ll have to start by designing your gown and preparing a paper pattern for it. Actually, you should look at the pattern blocks first before deciding on the design. I originally designed a wonderful gown, but I couldn’t make the right pattern for it.”

I see. The teacher probably adjusted the process after realizing making an entire gown from scratch would be too much for students to handle.

“So, I should pick a style of pattern block I like, then use ribbon and lace to customize my resulting gown?”

Princess Margaret gaped at me with disbelief.

“You make it sound so easy, Patience. Oh, I should warn you that there might not be any good fabric options left. Since these gowns are for the Festival of Verdure, everyone already picked the green and blue fabrics.”

That makes sense. I would also want to wear fresh spring colors.

As we were chatting about sewing, Prince Keith and his friends seemed to shift from discussing the knight club to outright arguing over it. Fortunately for me, I successfully got through lunch without getting involved.

Just as Princess Margaret had warned me, none of the remaining fabrics were in breezy spring colors.

“This is your fault for skipping the first class, Patience,” the teacher, Ms. Cameron, chided me. “You’ll have to pick from one of these.”

All the remaining fabrics were in dark colors, like browns and deep yellows. There was a red fabric, but it was more blackish red than pure red. These colors would have worked for the Harvest Festival, but there was no way they’d look good for the Festival of Verdure. I continued looking over my options, and a deep navy blue fabric caught my eye.

“Ms. Cameron, are we allowed to make patterned gowns?” I asked.

“Well, a patterned gown would be much too informal for a noble lady to wear to an official ball, but it would be acceptable at the Festival of Verdure. However, patterned fabrics are a premium material, so we don’t have any available for use in class.”

I think I’ve got a great idea!

“May I use some white fabric as well?” I asked next.

“Yes, you may. There are actually many students who add white collars and hems to their gowns.”

After collecting my navy and white fabrics, I took a seat beside Princess Margaret.

“Oh, were those the only colors left?” she asked. “It’s a lovely navy, but it’s a bit dark for the Festival of Verdure.”

Princess Margaret had a chartreuse fabric, and she was using a paper pattern as a guide to cut out her pieces.

That’s the perfect color for a gown to wear at the Festival of Verdure! You need to pin your pattern in place though. Otherwise it will move around.

“Your Highness, you should pin your pattern down before you cut your fabric,” I warned. “You should also use some tailor’s chalk to mark the placement of your darts, so that you don’t run into trouble later.”

Princess Margaret just looked at me with confusion.

Oh, I don’t think she knows what darts are. I’m sure there was at least an overview— That’s right. Princess Margaret also skipped the first class. I feel a bit guilty now.

“Now that you mention it, I think I remember hearing about that.”

Princess Margaret was signed up for two blocks of sewing, so she’d probably heard it in the second one.

In that case, this is on her for not paying attention in class. Still, as her lady’s maid, I can’t let her embarrass herself at the Festival of Verdure. I’m going to have to inspect all of the princess’s work!

I decided to make a gown similar in style to the “New Look” silhouette that could be found in haute couture in my previous life. There was even a pattern block that matched the silhouette quite well, which made things even easier. I made the neckline a bit wider than the pattern block I was basing my gown off of, and I decided to add a large, white collar. As for the navy fabric, I was planning to use some of the white fabric to add polka dots. I was going to add the design after cutting out my pattern pieces, since it seemed better to match the pattern along the seams later on.

“You’re already done cutting your fabric?” the princess asked, amazed.

“Yes, but the difficult part has only just begun,” I replied.

I used my household magic to cut out dozens of small circles out of the white fabric. The more dots there were, the more breezy the fabric would look, but that also meant there would be a lot more work to do.

In order to sew the dots onto the dress, I needed to leave room for a seam allowance. I prepared a circle pattern that was smaller than the white fabric circles I’d made, and I used an iron to shape the fabric circles. The irons in this world were heated by placing charcoal inside, so they were quite heavy.

“Oh my, Patience,” Ms. Cameron remarked as she was walking around the class. “I think your gown is going to turn out lovely.” She seemed to understand what I was planning, and she praised my design.

“Thank you. I hope it does... Actually, Ms. Cameron, should I add the white dots before or after sewing my gown together?”

The fabrics in my previous life already came patterned. I wasn’t sure what the correct process would be here.

“The proper method would be to sew the design elements on before putting your gown together; however, if you want to create a pattern, waiting until after the garment is put together will allow you to achieve a more balanced design.”

Okay, I’m going to sew the gown together, then add the polka dots.

“My arms are shaking,” I lamented. Patience truly didn’t have much stamina, and repeated use of the heavy iron had made my arms tired.

“Gosh, Patience. We have music club today! You must rest your arms during your next class.” As always, the princess’s mind went to music first.

Unfortunately for Her Music-loving Highness, I had weaving next, so I probably wasn’t going to get a chance to rest my arms—I decided to keep that to myself. I was going to be weaving the yellow fiber I’d dyed in dyeing class, so I was really excited.

I hope I can make something similar to traditional Japanese kihachijo fabric.

On Wednesday, I had business, magic circles, Pharmacy II, and Sewing II.

The lecture in business mostly just followed the textbook, but there were also some digressions thanks to questions from Philips and Russell about the term project. Everyone seemed to be struggling with the assignment. Personally, I had no idea what the general cost of goods was, so I needed to do some research.

I wonder if I can convince Mary to let me go out?

In magic circles, I drew a magic circle that created water. It took quite a while, but I was successful. My next task was to draw a magic circle that created wind.

If I can re-create this one, I can make a motorized fan!

“Want to accelerate this class too, Patience?” Mr. Kubrick asked. “I’m sure you can copy magic circles from the textbook on your own time. In Magic Circles II, you’ll learn the theory of magic circles and create your own.”

That sounds like a lot of fun, but I don’t think I can make any more changes to my schedule.

“That reminds me, you said you don’t have time after school for club activities, right?” Mr. Kubrick continued. “You’re welcome to use your time in both this class and Alchemy II to do projects for alchemy club.”

Mr. Kubrick was the faculty advisor for alchemy club, so he was pushing really hard for me to join.

“I will think about it,” I replied.

Is he offering to let me skip to Magic Circles II so I can have time for the alchemy club? I can’t help but be suspicious of his motivations.

In Pharmacy II, I made greater healing potions. It was nearly the same process as making a minor healing potion. There were two main differences. First, greater healing potions used greater herbs. Second, you had to continuously pour mana into the mixture while it was simmering.

“You pass,” Ms. Makias said upon seeing my completed potions. “Move on to Pharmacy III. I already know you’re going to say you can’t change your schedule. Just do the coursework during this class period. So, you interested in selling these greater healing potions?”

I handed off my potions to Ms. Makias so she could sell them, effectively getting myself another side job. I would be getting my money at the end of the term.

I’m so excited!

“You’re impressive, Patience,” Benjamin remarked. “I’ve totally forgotten how to even make a minor healing potion.” He was uncharacteristically low on confidence today.

“Maybe we can figure out what’s going wrong,” I said. “Could you try doing it?”

I watched as Benjamin prepared his potion and noticed he did a shoddy job of purifying the concoction.

“You’re proficient in fire magic, correct, Sir Benjamin?” I asked. “After washing the pot, you should purify it using fire. You should also purify the strainer, the pot you strain the mixture into, and the bottles you use for the final potions. Also, if you can’t purify water, you must distill it. Do you see that equipment under the table? That’s used for distilling. You should use that to distill more water than you’ll need for just the potions themselves. After you wash your herbs, you should use some of that extra distilled water to wash them again.”

Benjamin seemed surprised that I’d given him all my feedback in one go, but it didn’t seem to confuse him. Being the skilled mage-track student that he was, he immediately understood.

“I see. I wasn’t properly purifying things. Thank you, Patience. I’ll try thoroughly purifying everything I use.”

Benjamin proceeded to successfully make a minor healing potion, but it wasn’t quite good enough for Ms. Makias to accelerate him.

“A potion like this won’t sell,” she grumbled. “You’re welcome to drink it yourself if you want. It won’t upset your stomach or anything. You’d better purify your equipment more thoroughly next time.”

Is whether you pass or not based on your potions being good enough to sell?

Everyone else in the class seemed to wonder the same thing, which Ms. Makias seemed to pick up on.

“What? This is pharmacy. What’s the point in studying medicine if you can’t make something people can ingest? That should be obvious. Do you lot really not understand such a basic concept?”

I seriously think she might be able to read minds.

“Patience, could you look over my brewing process as well?” Bryce asked. He seemed to also be struggling with making minor healing potions.

Bryce demonstrated how he made the potions for me, and it turned out he had the same problem as Benjamin.

“Your purification process is similarly half-baked, Sir Bryce. Also, you aren’t washing your herbs properly. Look, do you see how there is still dirt attached to the roots? Since you’re proficient in water magic, once you’ve thoroughly washed everything, you should produce some purified water using your magic to give everything a final rinse.”

Do these rich kids not know how to even wash some herbs on their own?

“You can’t even wash stuff properly?” Andrew snickered from Bryce’s side.

“Your herbs also have dirt caked onto the roots,” Ms. Makias pointed out scornfully. “If you drink a potion made with herbs like that, you’ll wreck your stomach.”

Was I going to teach Andrew how to make minor healing potions? Well, he didn’t ask, so I didn’t offer—especially since teaching was already Ms. Makias’s job.

In Embroidery II, we decorated throw pillows. Being in a home economics class after taking mage classes put me at ease for some reason. Perhaps it was the ominous atmosphere that surrounded that section of the campus. Though I had friends who were in the mage track like Benjamin and Bryce—and I guess Andrew too—the creepiness was exhausting. That wasn’t too surprising, since I’d never been a huge fan of horror films.

I didn’t know anyone in second-year embroidery. It was a little lonely, but at the same time, being surrounded by strangers felt freeing. I decided to think of my lack of acquaintances as a positive.

“In the past, the members of the royal family were the only people in the palace who were permitted to sit,” Ms. McNally explained. “The only exceptions were the noblewomen who practiced embroidery. To this day, embroidery is a hobby enjoyed by many women. There’s also a wonderful tradition of wives embroidering their family crests onto their husbands’ surcoats. A man won’t be able to exert his full strength on the battlefield if his wife’s embroidery work is slipshod.”

Same as before, Ms. McNally was very good at riling up the female students. Perhaps this was a calculated teaching method.

After receiving my materials from Ms. McNally, I began embroidering my pillow.

“You may embroider any design you’d like; however, your throw pillows must be something you wouldn’t be ashamed to have out in your drawing room when you have an important visitor.”

Got it. If I can do whatever I want, then I’ll embroider some roses. Our drawing room is pretty bare, so it should look fine.

I pictured the roses from the greenhouse back home and began embroidering red and pink roses onto my pillow.

This is so fun!

I kept going, and before I knew it, a field of roses had bloomed across the surface of my fabric.

“What amazing work, Patience,” Ms. McNally praised me. “You have passed this class. What shall we do? Are you able to take Embroidery III?”

I had now passed three second-year courses: Alchemy II, Pharmacy II, and Embroidery II.

“Ms. McNally, my only open block is during Friday afternoon,” I admitted regretfully.

“I teach first-year embroidery during third period on Fridays,” Ms. McNally replied. “All of your other blocks are already full? Oh, I know! You can go ahead and study third-year embroidery during this class. I’m sure I’ll be handing you a certificate of completion in no time.”

I really wanted to do more embroidery projects, but I couldn’t stop myself from using household magic whenever I got absorbed in crafting.

“Ms. McNally, I really love embroidery, and I would like to be in the class for as long as possible.”

Ms. McNally thought for a while, then she gave me a smile.

“There is a wide variety of embroidery projects, including those that are works of art in their own right. Would you like to try learning how to make embroidery projects that look like paintings? They would take quite a while to finish.”

I wonder if the kind of embroidery she’s talking about is similar to traditional Japanese embroidery. My grandma’s embroidery always looked like beautiful illustrations.

“Yes, I would like to try that very much.”

“It makes me happy to have such a motivated student. Starting next week, we shall begin our journey into needle painting.”

The other students seemed a bit irritated by me, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I couldn’t afford to make any more changes to my schedule.

I really should’ve left more room open in my schedule. I was now determined to obtain certificates of completion for law and government during the final exams for the spring term. I’ve already gotten the textbooks from President Albert. If I can pass these classes, I’ll have some more room to breathe.

It was now Thursday—the day I’d promised Benjamin I would meet with Caesar. I’d been feeling restless since the moment I’d woken up.

Unlike Mr. Patterson, Mr. Sullivan tried his best to engage the students and get them interested in government. Despite his efforts, my mind ended up wandering during the lecture.

It would be nice if I could become a bureaucrat, but that was something no woman had done before. Could I be like Lady Eugenia, the first woman to become a knight? Could I really put in the effort to be the first female bureaucrat, paving the way for other women to pursue the same path? Even though I was strong-willed, I didn’t have the courage to back it up.

There was another issue with this career path. If I wanted to be the first female bureaucrat, it was probably for the best that I graduate university. Unfortunately, my family couldn’t afford that. Even if we could afford to send someone to university, I’d rather Nassius got to attend.

I paid attention to Mr. Sullivan whenever he went on a tangent or interacted with students, since those moments were interesting, but his explanation of the material in the textbook was sadly boring. I couldn’t help but think about other things.

Yeah, I really need to test out of this class.

“You have cooking next, right, Mademoiselle Patience?”

I can’t believe Philips can remember my schedule on top of his own.

“Originally, yes, but I’ve received a certificate of completion in that class, so I’m going to spend that time studying on my own.”

Philips looked shocked.

“I’ve heard that you got certificates of completion in every mandatory subject in the junior division, but I didn’t know you were also getting them in the senior division. You’re very impressive.”

“Well, I learned a bit about cooking from my mother,” I replied.

After that, I returned to my dorm and studied law and government until the school bells rang, signaling the end of second period.

I wonder if Princess Margaret was able to make something edible? I guess the teacher’s there to help, so I’ll just have to believe that she’ll be okay.

I had more important things to worry about. I couldn’t keep Benjamin and Caesar waiting. I walked briskly—well, brisk in comparison to Patience’s usual slow pace—and headed to the dining hall. I’d originally planned on getting there early, but I’d been too focused on my studying.

I wish I had a watch. It would be nice to make one using alchemy.

“There you are, Patience,” Benjamin called out. “You’re late.”

Benjamin and Caesar had both stayed standing while they waited for me.

Man, they really stand out, and it’s not just because they’re notorious for being weird. If you look closely at their uniforms, they look really expensive!

“Sir Benjamin, Sir Caesar, I apologize for my tardiness,” I said. “I became caught up in studying.”

After meeting up with them, I grabbed a tray and got in line, only to realize that neither Benjamin nor Caesar seemed to have done this before.

“Right, the cafeteria doesn’t have any waiters,” Caesar remarked. “What an interesting place.”

If I remember correctly, Caesar is the eldest son of Duke Burns.

“You’re both welcome to eat upstairs if you’d prefer that,” I said. “I’m only eating here because Princess Margaret is having lunch in cooking class.”

It’s true. The food in the salon tastes better.

“No, no. It’s my first time here. I want to try it out,” Caesar insisted.

I guess he’s a rich kid who gets his way.

The three of us ended up eating together in the regular dining hall.

“That was pretty good,” Caesar remarked after he finished eating. “I also like that it took less time than eating upstairs.”

Are second-year students really busy or something? What’s he in a rush for? His food disappeared so quickly.

“Are you finished, Patience?” Benjamin asked. “If not, you can take your time.”

I’d eaten most of my food, but it was hard to finish the rest when I was keeping them waiting.

“You won’t grow big if you don’t eat more,” Caesar warned me.

With some words of encouragement from both Caesar and Fluffy, I managed to eat the rest of my food.

I was supposed to spend today having a laid-back lunch in the dining hall. This sucks.

“We have to return the trays, right?” Benjamin asked. “In that case, I’ll return all of ours, so you start talking with Sir Caesar, Patience.”

I wasn’t familiar with Benjamin’s background, but the fact that he was in Class A combined with his demeanor in mage classes made me think he came from a high-ranking family.

“Oh, no, I—” Before I could finish, Benjamin whisked away my tray and took off.

“So, Patience,” Caesar began. “I’ve heard that you want to join the alchemy club, but you can’t because you’re busy with your duties as Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid.”

That’s not the whole story. There’s some nuance missing.

“That day you showed me where the handicraft club was, I was actually planning on stepping down from serving Princess Margaret, so I’d also planned on quitting the music club too. However, since I will be continuing to serve her, I want to do my job properly...”

Caesar silently listened until I was finished speaking.

“I see. You’re a good lady’s maid, Patience. That said, you aren’t attending this academy to become a lady’s maid, right? If you’re busy after school, you can come to the alchemy club whenever you’re free. I’ve also heard from Benjamin that you passed both Alchemy II and magic circles. You also have some free time on Thursdays, during second period, right? You don’t even have to come to the club three times a week. Even once or twice would be fine.”

He’s really aggressively trying to recruit me, and I don’t have a reason to turn him down.

“He’s right,” Benjamin chimed in, having returned. “You really should be in the mage track, Patience.”

Now Benjamin’s trying to get me to sign up for another track!

“Benjamin, I’d like you to focus on the topic of alchemy club for now,” Caesar said. It seemed he was desperate to keep the club going.

I’m sure it would really suck to lose your club.

“If it’s truly all right that I don’t participate after school,” I said, finally giving in. Perhaps I was indeed easy to persuade.

“Really? We’re happy to have you,” Caesar beamed. “So, when will you be able to stop by?”

You just said I only have to show up once a week!

“In the beginning, there’s a lot I have to teach you,” Caesar clarified. “I’ll adjust my schedule to accommodate yours, Patience.”

Huh? What does that mean?

“What about your own classes, Sir Caesar?” I asked.

He just waved away my question as if to say his classes didn’t matter.

“I’ve gotten most of the credits I need, so my schedule is pretty flexible. So, when are you free?”

I don’t really want to tell him.

“Patience is free during third period on Mondays, since she passed Alchemy II,” Benjamin blabbed. “She also passed magic circles, which is on Wednesdays during second period. Also, she got a certificate of completion in cooking, so she’s free on Thursdays during second period. I think she’s also free on Fridays during fourth period.”

I can’t believe you, Fluffy. How do you know someone else’s schedule so well?

“I accompany Princess Margaret to the royal palace once or twice a month on Fridays, so I’m not available then.”

My response was a refusal, but for some reason, Caesar smiled.

“In other words, you have two or three Fridays free every month. You live in the dorms, right? In that case, you can spend lots of time participating in the alchemy club on those afternoons, all the way until dinnertime.”

Caesar’s true colors were terrifying, but his suggestions honestly sounded better than going to alchemy club during regular class hours.

“I will participate in alchemy club only on the Fridays that I do not have to visit the royal palace,” I declared. “I would like to use the rest of my available time to study. If that is all right with you, then I will join the club.”

I’d laid out my terms, but Benjamin was still insisting that I also visit the club on Mondays when I had Alchemy II.

“I can’t. Not after I convinced Mr. Kubrick to make an exception for me so I could make more lamps.”

Wide grins spread on both boys’ faces.

“Mr. Kubrick is the faculty advisor for alchemy club,” Caesar pointed out. “You don’t have to worry. We’ll talk to him for you.”

What do you mean by that? Worry about what?!

I hadn’t done enough research into my opponents before starting these negotiations. I’d failed.

I should retreat for now and come back when I’m more prepared.

“There’s no need for that,” I said. “I will speak to Mr. Kubrick myself, on Monday during Alchemy II. I’ll decide what I’m going to do after I speak to him.”

Caesar just chuckled as he tried to cover Benjamin’s mouth. Fluffy was still trying to argue, “You don’t have to do that!”

“We can figure the details out later. For now, welcome to the alchemy club!” Caesar cheered.

I guess he prioritized getting a new member at all over pushing me to commit on the details. I really don’t want to be going to alchemy club three times a week. Two or three times a month sounds like enough.

I would later find out that I’d been foolish to think I’d won. Perhaps I really was naive.

I’d never thought of myself as someone easily persuaded during my previous life, but that seemed to be true of me in this world. It was possible that I’d been influenced by the original Patience’s self-sacrificing nature. Of course, she wasn’t a complete pushover and could be quite stubborn as well.

Maybe people in this world are just really pushy, I thought as I headed to music club with Princess Margaret.

“Since you weren’t there with me, my lunch today was awful,” Princess Margaret complained.

Apparently today’s menu had been boiled potatoes. I didn’t want to hear about whatever she had done to mess up boiled potatoes, so I just gave agreeable responses.

“That must have been tough,” I replied.

“Yes, it really was! Calligraphy was also exhausting, and magic practicum was just a complete mess.”

Maybe she’s just hangry. I should wait to tell her that I joined the alchemy club until later. I hope music club puts her in a better mood.

With such thoughts on my mind, I’d completely forgotten that President Albert and Caesar were classmates—they were both in Year 2 Class A of the senior division.

“Patience, why have you joined the alchemy club? It’s a hangout for oddballs!” President Albert lamented.

Shoot. This is the worst possible scenario.

“Is this true, Patience?” Princess Margaret asked. Her already sour mood became even worse.

“Yes. I was planning on telling you later,” I replied.

Caesar must’ve blabbed. Why’d he have to tell President Albert of all people?! Now I’m sweating with fear in music club. Grrr! I thought he was more mature than that! He sucks!

“If you have the time for alchemy club, you should be composing more songs!” President Albert complained.

That’s just what you want, President Albert.

“I’ve already composed several new pieces,” I said, unable to hold myself back from making a counterargument. “I believe I’ve done enough.”

My response provoked Princess Margaret to join the kerfuffle, and I ended up having to just stand there and endure their lecturing.

If I speak up now, I’m going to be hit back with something twice as worse. No, it might actually come back to me tenfold.

“More importantly, President Albert, what happened with the club president meeting?” Rupert asked.

I can always count on you, Rupert! You’re the moral compass of this club!

“Oh, right, I wanted to discuss that,” President Albert said, shifting gears. “The magic club and the riding club both declared that they will no longer be taking orders from the knight club. That put a terrible scowl on President Hammond’s face, but every other club supported the magic and riding clubs, so he accepted it. That doesn’t matter, though.”

I think it matters, just not to the music club. The knight club has to solve its own problems. As long as Prince Keith doesn’t get into any trouble, I don’t care about the knight club.

“We also discussed the Festival of Verdure, and that idiot Rufus said that because we now have the glee club, the music club’s performance has to be cut shorter.”

“Oh my, that’s just horrible!” Princess Margaret exclaimed furiously. “The glee club only exists because there was trouble within the choir club that split them apart. They should be taking half of the choir club’s time.”

The other club members also seemed quite upset. I was used to the music club’s hatred of the choir club, but this was probably shocking to Samuel.

“The glee club is still a better club than the choir club,” Samuel said, joining the discussion. “Several of my classmates are in the glee club, and I’ve heard from them that they are still sharing a clubroom with the choir club. They’re also only allowed to use it when the choir club isn’t. I feel sorry for them.”

He’s starting to become one of them! Your cousin’s getting worried, Samuel!

“I just remembered something,” Albert said, turning to me. “Didn’t you suggest we supply the glee club with songs, Patience?”

He hasn’t forgotten about that?

“I’m friends with the president of the glee club,” President Albert continued. “It would make Marcus Lambert very happy if he were to get a song from Patience. He was praising the music club’s new pieces.”

Can you ask me before deciding on anything?

“That was only a general suggestion I’d made, not something I personally wanted to handle,” I said. If we were to write songs for the glee club while they were still on bad terms with the choir club, we’d just be getting ourselves involved in their squabble.

“I understand now. Writing songs for the glee club would mean that we can also perform our new pieces during the glee club’s timeslot. That would mean we’re not losing any time onstage. I’d love to cut the theater club’s time shorter as well,” President Albert said, his mind buzzing new plans. “Patience, write an opera for the glee club! If they’re doing an opera, the student council will have to take away some of the theater club’s time, since they’ll be having similar performances. We can get back time from everyone!”

What? An opera?! I’ve never been to one, even in my previous life. Can it just be a musical? Ugh, why do I give in to people so easily?!

“That would be impossible,” I insisted. “I’ve only ever composed pieces for the hanon. The glee club needs lyrics to sing, doesn’t it?”

President Albert pondered my question silently.

“You can leave the lyrics to me,” he finally replied. “I’ll write the lyrics to your songs. Your cousin Samuel can prepare the lute arrangements. Daniel’s also good at the lute, so he can help him. We can even have Klaus and Valdische supporting them. That should suffice, no?”

Urgh! He’s put together a shotacon’s paradise! Does President Albert know my weakness?

“That sounds fun,” Princess Margaret said. “I’ve finished my own new piece already, so I’ll help as well.”

Now that Princess Margaret was on board, there was no way the new members could refuse.

“I would be happy to help as well, Princess Margaret,” Samuel said.

You’re supposed to be helping me. You know that, right? Aww, look! His face is all red! He must have a crush on Princess Margaret. That’s understandable. She’s very pretty.

“I’m happy to offer what little help I can,” Daniel said, and Valdische and Klaus both followed suit.

I wished that Daniel, whom I’d dubbed the boys’ leader, would keep everyone grounded, but even he was blushing when Princess Margaret thanked him.

Shotas seem really weak to Princess Margaret.

“Where’s your spirit, Patience?” Princess Margaret snapped. “Everyone here wants to help out the glee club. Aren’t you moved by their plight? They were brave enough to leave the choir club when they could no longer bear its tyranny. If that doesn’t touch your heart, can you really call yourself a music lover?”

I do like music, but I’ve never once claimed to love it. There’s no point in arguing that, though.

“I understand. I don’t know if I can do it, but I will try,” I replied to the princess. Then, I turned to Albert. “I will leave the lyrics to you, President Albert, because I really don’t think I can write them.”

If this was going to get Princess Margaret to forgive me for joining the alchemy club, then I was going to make it work.

I’ll just have to put together some songs from musicals that I remember. It might be fun to throw in a love song.

“In that case, you are to get started right away,” President Albert demanded. “I’ll let Marcus know the plan.”

After that, the members of the music club performed their new pieces, and music club ended for the day.

“Patience, you must’ve accepted because you thought of something, right?” Princess Margaret asked. “Come on, let me hear it.”

“I’ve only thought of a couple phrases,” I replied, trying to get out of playing for her, but she wouldn’t let me go.

I continued recalling songs from my previous life, such as the love theme from the film Romeo and Juliet and the romantic songs from West Side Story.

“You really are amazing, Patience,” the princess said in awe.

While I appreciated the praise, I still needed to prepare a lot more songs.

I’m really glad President Albert is going to be handling all the lyrics.

I was really starting to think that I was easily manipulated. What kind of idiot would be glad that she didn’t have to work on lyrics and instead just had to compose songs for an entire theater performance?

From now on, I’m going to be a woman who can say No!

It was now Friday, and the princess hadn’t said anything about visiting the palace—in other words, I was off duty starting fourth period.

As we walked out of homeroom, Benjamin smiled.

“I’ll be waiting for you during fourth period.”

“Mademoiselle Patience, do you have plans with Benjamin?” Philips asked as we walked together to the law and economics classroom.

“Yes, I do. I joined the alchemy club, and today will be my first time attending.”

Philips’s face completely froze.

So that’s how normal people react to the mention of alchemy club?

“Is that so?” he replied. Perhaps now I would no longer be “mademoiselle” to him.

That’s fine. It’s less embarrassing if he doesn’t call me that.

Contrary to my expectations, though, Philips continued to address me as “mademoiselle.” It was truly strange.

I had lunch in the salon as usual.

“You weren’t here yesterday,” Prince Keith remarked, unnecessarily bringing up my absence.

“Really, Patience?” Princess Margaret asked. “Where did you eat? Are you on a diet or something?”

Seeing how skinny I still am, I definitely do not need to go on a diet.

“No, nothing like that. I just thought it would be nice to enjoy a quiet lunch at the dining hall.”

“You should be coming to the salon, even if I’m not here,” Princess Margaret scolded. I thought that would be the end of the discussion, but Prince Keith had some questions.

“Did you eat alone, Patience?” the prince asked.

I really wish he wouldn’t ask such uncomfortable questions.

“I ate alone before I started serving Princess Margaret,” I replied. It wasn’t a lie, but I was definitely trying to avoid his question.

“Who did you eat with, Patience?” the princess asked. She saw right through my attempted dodge.

“I ate with Sir Benjamin and Sir Caesar,” I admitted.

Princess Margaret furrowed her eyebrows.

Uh-oh. She’s in angry mode.

“Patience! That sort of carelessness is exactly why you get recruited to unsavory groups like the alchemy club! This is why you need to eat at the salon!”

The princess might have been right, but it was uncomfortable to eat on someone else’s dime when I was alone. If the princess were at least with me, I could justify it by thinking of it as accompanying her. Eating at the salon alone felt similar to dining and dashing. I was going to have to discuss this with her later.

“Did you really join the alchemy club?” Prince Keith asked.

He’s totally on the path to triggering my Verbal Blunder radar.

“Yes. They said I can participate just two or three times a month.”

A confused frown came over the prince’s face.

Why are you making that face? This has nothing to do with you.

“Did Sir Caesar and Sir Benjamin eat at the dining hall?” Hugo asked, shocked by that possibility. He was a sheltered rich boy, just like the boys from the alchemy club.

“Why the dining hall?” Ralph asked. He was usually so composed, but he seemed quite thrown by this.

“Did you invite them to the dining hall?” Prince Keith asked, adding to the pile of questions.

Is there any reason I have to answer?

“No, I did not. Sir Benjamin insisted that I speak with Sir Caesar at least once, and I happened to be free at lunchtime because Princess Margaret has lunch in cooking class on Thursdays. We just happened to eat together.”

Princess Margaret also started frowning, perhaps remembering the awful lunch she’d had the previous day.

“Since you had to go and get a certificate of completion, I’m now suffering a great deal. I’ll have you know that I had to eat a boiled potato that was hard and crunchy on the inside. If you had been there, I’m sure it would’ve been fully cooked.”

Even Prince Keith and his friends seemed to be on my side with this one.

Of course they are. I didn’t do anything wrong.

“Lady Margaret, did you take notes when Ms. Spencer was explaining the steps?”

“Of course I did, yet the inside was still raw.”

That’s strange. Ms. Spencer gives thorough instructions so even beginners won’t fail.

“Did you use a skewer to check if it was ready?”

Princess Margaret’s eyes widened with shock.

“Are you clairvoyant or something, Patience? That’s exactly what Ms. Spencer scolded me for forgetting.”

“No, I’m not clairvoyant. I just imagined what might have happened.”

Prince Keith and his schoolmates were also in disbelief at my correct guess, and they seemed to have forgotten about the dining hall.

I’m so glad, I foolishly thought.

“Starting next week, you should eat with us on Thursdays,” Prince Keith suggested. “There’s no telling what you might get up to if I take my eye off you.”

What? No thank you. I serve Princess Margaret, not Prince Keith.

Before I could turn him down, Princess Margaret smiled and accepted his suggestion.

“That sounds good. It would be a great relief to me. This girl really has no self-awareness at all. What was she thinking, joining the alchemy club? That’s no different than a rabbit jumping into a den of wolves. It seems like Bryce will be joining the club as well, so that makes me feel a little better.” The princess then turned to me. “If either Benjamin or Caesar ever try to push you too hard, you must turn to Bryce for help. Despite being in the mage track, he’s actually quite reasonable.”

Prince Keith had a terrifying look on his face.

Is he mad about something? Does he still think that I joined the alchemy club because I want to date Caesar or something? That isn’t true, and besides, I’m not obligated to justify myself to him.

In Etiquette II, the spring term project was to host a luncheon. Judging from the way these assignments were going, we were probably going to have to plan a dinner party in the third-year class. Unlike the tea party, the luncheon required a menu to be planned as well.

I had no memories of the destitute Grangers ever having hosted a luncheon. However, I had enjoyed delicious meals every day at the summer palace, so I decided to reference that experience.

“You would host a lovely luncheon, Patience,” the teacher praised me. “You pass. You should go ahead and start preparing your dinner party plan for Etiquette III.”

I may be able to get a certificate of completion. I’m going to do my best!

I continued using my experiences from the summer palace to plan my dinner party.

“Here is your certificate of completion,” the teacher said, handing it to me.

If this is all it takes, I’m sure Princess Margaret will get a certificate of completion in no time. I’ll tell her about it another day.

Zofie arrived at the dorm, and she escorted Princess Margaret back to the royal palace. It was time to head to alchemy club.

“How do you do?” I said as I entered the clubroom. That was definitely the wrong greeting for this group.

“You’re late, Patience!” President Caesar exclaimed. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”

Introductions didn’t seem that necessary, since the only other members were Benjamin, Bryce, and one more student.

“This is Arthur Miller. He’s a second-year in the senior division.” Caesar then turned to Arthur. “This is Patience Granger. She’s a first-year.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said. I found myself distracted by the disgusting lab coats that everyone but Bryce was wearing, and I reflexively took a step back. “May I ask about your lab coats?”

I really wanted to clean them using my household magic, but perhaps they were left dirty on purpose.

“Oh, that’s right! You and Bryce should both wear lab coats! We handle hot metal and glass, as well as medicines. Without a lab coat, you’ll end up getting lectured by your parents for ruining your uniform.”

Caesar handed us each a lab coat that apparently used to belong to previous members. There was no way I was going to wear it in its current state.

“President Caesar, may I clean this lab coat?”

“Sure, but it’s going to get dirty again right away.”

I don’t care. I don’t want to wear such a disgusting lab coat!

“Become clean!” I chanted, and everyone’s lab coats were back to being bright white.

Now that’s what a lab coat should look like!

There had been some holes in the coat that appeared to have been caused by something burning, but even those had been mended by my magic.

“Your household magic is truly unique, Patience,” Caesar remarked. “So, is there anything you two are interested in making?”

I have lots of things I want to make, but first, I want a magic lamp for my brothers’ room.

“President Caesar, would it be possible to make a regulator that adjusts the light produced by a magic lamp? For example, something that would allow you to switch between a bright light, a soft light, and being completely off.”

Caesar folded his arms across his chest and thought for a moment.

“It’s definitely possible, but what would be the point of that? All a magic lamp needs to do is turn off and on.”

Benjamin, Bryce, and Arthur all seemed equally puzzled by my question.

“My youngest brother is afraid of the pitch darkness before bedtime, so I thought he might be less scared if there were a soft, dim light in the room.”

Maybe four older boys like them won’t understand how a young boy feels.

I was wrong. They all seemed to be thinking back to their own childhood days in the children’s room of their homes.

“That’s a pretty good idea,” President Caesar responded. “If you want to make a lamp like that, we’ll have to change the mechanics of the regulator.”

Caesar and I proceeded to come up with ways to adjust the regulator.

“Rather than just setting it between on and off, I would ideally like there to be a knob that can be turned to adjust the brightness of the lamp.”

After sketching out a basic dome-shaped shade and a base, I drew a knob in the middle of the base.

“You want to use this knob to adjust the brightness? Yeah, I think we can make that happen.”

President Caesar swiftly sketched out the design such that turning the knob would gradually bring the magic stone closer to the magic circle.

If I can make a dimmable lamp, then Henry won’t have to be scared at bedtime anymore.

While President Caesar and I enthusiastically worked on the design, Bryce and Benjamin began constructing the magic lamp.

“Your magic circle isn’t drawn properly,” Arthur scolded.

I’m surprised they’re both being scolded for their sloppy magic circles.

“Hey, Patience! Now’s not the time to be distracted,” Caesar said. “Come on, let’s make the knob. Memorize the schematic and try making it on your own.”

This new device was quite different from the regulator I’d made in class, so I studied the schematic intently.

“Go on, try it,” President Caesar said. He was being pretty pushy again.

The furnace already contained liquid metal, so I faced the furnace and thought of the diagram for the knob I’d just memorized.

“Make a knob,” I commanded.

The liquid metal morphed into the shape I was imagining in my head, then it landed beside the furnace with a thunk.

“You did pretty well,” Caesar praised. “Though, we won’t know if this can adjust the brightness of the lamp until we try it out.”

The magic circle was ready, so it was time to test it out.

“First, we need to see if it even turns on,” Caesar said. I turned the knob all the way, and the lamp turned on. “Now try slowly turning it in the opposite direction,” he instructed.

The lamp gradually dimmed.

“I think it would be easier to sleep if the light was a bit dimmer,” I said.

“Try turning it a little more,” Caesar suggested.

I did as he said, but turning it any further just switched the lamp off.

“Hmm? The light turns on when the stone comes in contact with the magic circle, and it turns off when they’re pulled apart. The difficult part is maintaining the dim lighting in between those two states,” Caesar observed. “Is this just a matter of adjusting the knob?”

I thought back to the lamps from my previous life. There had been bedside lamps that could be dimmed with the simple turn of a knob, but how had that been possible? There had probably been something obstructing the electricity’s path to the light bulb. Those lamps had been ordinary items, and I couldn’t recall the mechanics of how they’d worked.

“Are there any flame-producing magic circles that can become brighter or darker?”

President Caesar looked surprised.

“You’ve got some crazy ideas, Patience! I like it! Let’s try coming up with a brand-new magic circle! Tonight’s going to be an all-nighter!”

Wait, it’s already dark outside! Huh?

“I’ll walk you back to the dorms, Patience,” Bryce interjected, rational as always.

The other members were already engaged in a heated debate.

“Are they all really going to stay up through the night?” I asked.

Won’t their parents get worried? Aren’t there carriages waiting for them?

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Bryce reassured me. “The clubrooms close at a certain time, so there will most likely be carriages coming to take them home later tonight.”

Once we’d arrived at my room, I thanked Bryce for escorting me back.

I need to be careful of the alchemy club. Otherwise I’m going to get too deep into it.

Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Storm

I never did find out just how long the members of the alchemy club ended up staying behind. Moving forward, I was determined to start speaking up for myself so I didn’t stay so late. I would feel bad if Bryce had to keep escorting me back to the dorms.

It was Saturday, and Mary would be arriving after breakfast to accompany me home. I was a little busy this morning because I wanted to water my minor herbs that I’d planted in the school greenhouse before heading home.

They look like they’re growing well, I thought as I inspected them. The leaves have a jagged pattern, just like mugwort.

I watered my herbs and left the greenhouse.

I wonder if I could make money by growing minor herbs in the greenhouse at home. Could I make and sell minor healing potions? The temptation of Ms. Makias’s invitation to join the pharmacy club is strong. I wonder if becoming an apothecary would earn me enough money to live independently.

Right now, I was working hard for my brothers’ sake, but I would eventually become a full-grown adult. What was I going to do then? I’d enrolled in the civil service track as a way to expand on the original Patience’s dreams of becoming a court lady, but frankly, I wasn’t as interested in becoming a bureaucrat anymore.

The world of bureaucrats is a total boys’ club! And the world of court ladies is dominated by women. I’m scared of both, and I don’t want to be a part of either one.

What I actually enjoyed doing was weaving, dyeing, and embroidery. I didn’t mind sewing, but becoming a seamstress didn’t seem like it would make a lot of money, so that career path was out of the running. Through my side job of mending socks, I’d learned just how dizzyingly low the cost of such labor was. Weaving would likely also require producing loads of textiles if I wanted to make a living wage. Perhaps it was best that I enjoyed these crafts as hobbies.

Side jobs doing calligraphy also seem to pay little. I’m still going to have Wyatt look into them for me though.

Wages in this world were simply too low.

Ugh! This is why becoming a bureaucrat is the most sensible option for men, because they’ll make enough money to support an entire family.

For an eleven-year-old, I had quite a lot on my mind.

I’m also still worried that I won’t be allowed to become a bureaucrat as a woman.

After joining the alchemy club, I’d learned just how fun it was to make things. I’d also learned that I had a lot more to study about magic circles.

I definitely need to take Magic Circles II during the fall term! Right now, I’m stuck relying on President Caesar.

“Mary isn’t here yet,” I remarked. “I can use this time to think about my plans for the year.”

This year, my number one priority was to secure food! This was of the utmost importance. After all, I’d vowed to never let the Granger household go hungry again.

My second goal was obtaining firewood. Benjamin had said this winter was relatively warm, but it felt plenty cold to me. I was going to make sure that any fires that were lit in our house would stay lit.

When I first came here, it was so cold that I thought I would die. I want to avoid that, no matter what it takes.

My third goal was getting clothes. This was especially important for Nassius, who would be enrolling in the Royal Academy next year. The boys’ uniform comprised a jacket, a shirt, and pants. He was going to need several shirts to get through the week, because I wasn’t going to let him walk around in the same worn, wrinkled shirt all week. He would also need sportswear, riding clothes, and armor.

I didn’t just want clothing for Nassius. Henry and my father also needed new things. We’d somehow been managing, thanks to my household magic, but I wanted them to each have at least one new outfit. I also needed to get new clothes for our staff.

My fourth goal was buying magic stones, which were a must-have in this world if you were to live a cultured life. Even if alchemy club enabled me to make a lamp for my brothers’ room or a reading lamp for my father’s study, they’d be useless without magic stones to operate them.

“In other words, I need money!”

I’d thought about a variety of topics while waiting for Mary, but in the end, everything always came back to money. Of course, money wasn’t the be-all and end-all of life, but not having money limited what I could do. Perhaps my resolution for the year could just be “Increase revenue!”

Maybe I should seriously reconsider Mr. Caine’s flea market plan. Wyatt always has just a couple antiques for me to fix at a time, but I think that may be because there aren’t many broken and authentic antiques for sale.

“I wish I had one of those powers you often see in reincarnation stories,” I mumbled to myself. “Like an appraisal skill, or access to an item inventory.”

Imagining possible gold mines only made me depressed. I already knew that the only tool I had was my slightly odd household magic.

“I must say, Mary seems quite late. Were there no rental horses available today?”

I’d eaten breakfast, visited the greenhouse to water my plants, then returned to my dorm, where I’d been daydreaming. Even after all of that, Mary hadn’t arrived.

“Is it possible that Mary’s sick?”

I’d left a minor healing potion at home, but Mary was endlessly frugal. The same perhaps applied to everyone in the Granger household—except my father; “frugal” didn’t seem like the right descriptor for him. Regardless, it was entirely possible that she’d gotten a cold or something, and she was trying to tough it out and avoid drinking the potion.

Just as such worry filled my mind, Mary arrived.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting,” Mary said. “We had sudden plans to receive a guest, so I fixed up the drawing room before coming here.”

The only guests visiting the home of the unemployed Viscount Granger were Lord Salius or my aunts. Also, Mary had nothing to apologize for. It was my family’s fault that we could only afford one maid. It would have been nice if we could have had another one on staff.

“It’s quite all right,” I reassured her. “I was reading through my textbooks, so it wasn’t much of a wait.” I was trying to keep up appearances, because it wasn’t ladylike to have been thinking about money-making schemes.

Mary would be disappointed if she knew what I was doing. I can’t tell her the truth.

The carriage promptly arrived at the Granger home.

I finally get to see my angels! This week was so long. Entering the senior division came with so much change, and I’m exhausted. I need to hug them and recharge my energy!

“Welcome back, sister!” my brothers greeted me.

After being apart for a week, Nassius’s and Henry’s cuteness was overwhelming, to the point that I thought I might get a nosebleed.

They’re seriously too cute!

“Have you two been well?” I asked. “You didn’t catch a cold or anything?”

I hugged them and planted kisses on their cheeks. I wish I could stay like this forever.

“Are you feeling tired, sister?” Nassius asked.

I’d frozen for a bit after hugging them, which seemed to have worried him.

I’m okay. I was just taking my time to recharge, I thought, taking in a deep breath. That’s the stuff.

“No, no. I’m doing very well,” I reassured him.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Nassius replied.

I looked over at Henry, who was also observing me with a concerned expression.

He’s so cute! I’m kissing him again.

“Why don’t we talk in your room?” I suggested.

The entryway had been decorated with roses—Mary had likely done that for our guest.

That means it isn’t Lord Salius.

We were grateful that Lord Salius was giving my brothers sword-fighting lessons, but we never welcomed him with roses. There was no point in decorating for a guest who wouldn’t notice it. All we could really do to show our gratitude was serve him tea and sandwiches.

I want to give him a proper thank-you gift. That’s another thing I need to talk to Wyatt about.

Our guest was probably one of my aunts.

I hope father doesn’t end up in a bad mood, I thought, completely overlooking the meaning of the roses in the entryway. When one of my aunts was visiting, Mary only ever put roses in the drawing room. My mind was likely preoccupied by the charm of my adorable brothers.

I was in the children’s room, catching up with my brothers about what had happened while I was away. The fireplace was lit, and though it wasn’t necessarily warm, the room wasn’t cold either.

This room is just too big to be heated efficiently.

“While you were at school, Lord Salius and Sir Percival came over,” Nassius reported. “I appreciated their lessons, but...was that all right?”

It was a question of propriety. The boys’ riding instructor was sent over by our cousin Lucene, who desperately wanted her daughter Angela to become Princess Jane’s schoolmate or lady’s maid. That made it a favor from a relative, given in exchange for my information that Princess Jane was fond of horseback riding. Similarly, Lord Salius’s lessons were a favor done by our relatives. Such exchanges were perfectly appropriate, but when it came to Percival, Nassius seemed a bit hesitant to accept his generosity.

“Sir Percival is actually the grandchild of our great-aunt, which makes him our second cousin,” I explained. “You have nothing to be concerned about, Nassius. That said, I am curious about the fact that they visited knowing I wouldn’t be here. Perhaps they wanted to speak to father.”

Nassius tilted his head, puzzled.

“After the sword-fighting lessons, I returned here to study, so I wouldn’t know,” he said.

“Oh! Lord Salius and Sir Percival were speaking to father for a long time in the drawing room!” Henry chimed in. “I was outside practicing the sword techniques that they taught us on my own. They were here for a long time before they left.”

Henry seemed to be quite taken with sword fighting.

What a good boy. I’m giving you a kiss!

Anyway, it didn’t seem like Salius and Percival would have much of anything in common with my father.

So what could they have been talking about? Well, whatever; it’s none of my business.

Just then, Mary burst into the children’s room.

“My lady, you must get dressed. If only the master had informed me earlier... No, no. There is no time for that.”

I was forced out of the children’s room.

“Calm down, Mary. Who is visiting us?”

“All the master would say was that we had an important guest visiting. I tried to decorate the entryway with roses, but... Anyway, please get changed quickly!”

Mary was too panicked to answer my questions, so I went ahead and changed into my formal clothes for going out. Mary proceeded to style my hair, and I decided to try asking her again.

“So, who is visiting?”

“Prince Richard,” Mary replied. “If he just would have informed me sooner that His Highness would be visiting... Oh, I know! My lady, please use some household magic on the entryway and the drawing room! Immediately!”

Huh? Why is Prince Richard coming over? Is this about my father going back to work? It can’t be, right?

After a moment of hope, I realized that explanation wasn’t possible and hung my head in disappointment.

Prince Richard is still in university. He wouldn’t be involved with something like that.

“Hurry, my lady!” May exclaimed, rushing me to tidy up the house.

I did as she asked and used my household magic on the entryway, the drawing room, and even the front yard.

Everything is sparkling clean!

“I’m glad we finished in time,” Mary said. “Please wait in your room until the master calls for you.”

“Don’t I have to welcome our guest?”

I’m pretty sure the entire Laforet family welcomed the royals when they visited.

“Well, he’s apparently traveling incognito, so... I will go check with Wyatt.” Mary seemed quite flustered. She returned a few moments later and reported, “As I thought, you may wait in your room. Oh no. Our tea leaves... We can’t serve such subpar tea! That would be incredibly rude.”

I decided to try to calm Mary down before heading upstairs to my room.

“Mary, Prince Richard isn’t visiting us to have tea. He must have something he wants to discuss. Don’t worry. He’s well aware that we are poor.”

Mary seemed about to start hyperventilating, so I did my best to calm her. Once her breathing was back to normal, I headed to my room and waited to be called.

Waiting around always made time pass slowly, so I decided to read the law textbook.

Yeah, this is boring. I’m still going to memorize it.

“It sounds like he’s arrived,” I remarked to myself. “I really wonder what business he has with us. The only thing that comes to mind is the knight club. I don’t think he would need to discuss that with me though. I’m sure Prince Richard would know some of the current members of the knight club.”

Mary finally returned.

“The viscount would like to see you,” she announced tensely.

Man, she’s really nervous.

“Very well. By the way, I think he just wants to discuss the knight club. I wonder why. It has nothing to do with me.”

Prince Richard and Percival were both sitting in the drawing room.

Percival probably talked to his cousin who goes to Romano University, which is how he got in contact with Prince Richard. I get that, but why are they here?

“Patience, please greet His Highness,” my father instructed, though I would’ve done so without being told to. My father also looked visibly confused by this visit.

“Your Highness, Sir Percival, it’s lovely to see you both,” I said.

Prince Richard gave me a gentle smile and told me to sit down, so I politely took a seat beside my father. Wyatt arrived soon after, bringing tea with him. He gracefully placed the tea down and left the room.

Wait, this tea is made with premium tea leaves! It smells so good.

“Please enjoy some tea,” I said, offering it to our guests. “I’m sure it was cold outside.”

I was the only person here who could perform the duties of a hostess, so I did my best to be elegant and hospitable.

I didn’t get that certificate of completion for etiquette without knowing a thing or two about hosting!

Everyone took a sip of tea and placed their teacups down on the table. We were probably going to get into business now. Noble ladies who gathered like this would usually take the time to first offer season’s greetings and partake in other social customs, but our guest was a young prince. He would probably skip such formalities.

“Please excuse my sudden visit, Viscount Granger,” Prince Richard said. “As you might have gathered, I’m here because there is something urgent that I must discuss with Lady Patience.”

In other words, Prince Richard was asking my father to leave the room. That was probably why my second cousin Percival was here. Having him in the room kept me from being alone with the prince, which would have been improper.

“I see. In that case, I have some business to take care of in my study. Please take all the time you need.” With that, my father left the room.

I think by “business,” he just means he’s going to read. Jeez, what am I going to get mixed up in now?

“Patience, I’m sure you know about the troubles that have been stirring within the knight club,” Prince Richard said. “I was shocked when I heard about it from Percival. Just what in the world is President Hammond thinking?! Student Council President Rufus is equally at fault for letting it go on for so long!”

Prince Richard was quite angered by the situation.

“From what I’ve heard, it was declared at the club president meeting that the riding club and magic club would no longer follow orders from the knight club,” I pointed out. “I also heard that the other clubs supported their declaration. Shouldn’t the issue be resolved now?”

As he sat beside the prince, Percival had balled his hands into tight fists. It seemed he was trying to suppress his own anger.

“If the matter had been settled, I wouldn’t be here,” Prince Richard replied. “President Hammond got Keith involved in this mess, so the problem has only gotten worse.”

What? Prince Keith is involved? That’s a big deal, but couldn’t it just be resolved by Prince Richard admonishing his younger brother for his behavior? He didn’t hesitate to lecture him over not eating his vegetables. He seems used to scolding him.

“I also want to protect Keith. I tried speaking to him, but I’m getting nowhere with him. He deeply admires President Hammond, and he isn’t seeing things clearly.”

President Albert had nothing but bad things to say about President Hammond, but I guess the members of the knight club actually think he’s a good club president.

After hearing Prince Richard out, I still didn’t see how this had anything to do with me, nor did I understand the reason for his visit.

“Your Highness, perhaps rather than visiting the Grangers, you should first speak to Sir Ralph and Sir Hugo,” I suggested. “I may be Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid, but I’m not Prince Keith’s schoolmate. I also don’t know much about the knight club.”

Prince Richard’s brows furrowed into a scowl.

“Those two have said they cannot express their opinions to Keith. Are they really even friends? Unlike with his friends, Keith actually acknowledges your wisdom. Please, tell him what everyone else thinks of the knight club. I think that will finally open his eyes.”

Whoa, I definitely don’t want to do that.

“Prince Keith has such deep admiration and respect for you, Your Highness,” I said. “If you were unable to persuade him, then it would be impossible for me to do so.”

Prince Richard smiled. It was intimidating, but I couldn’t give in. I was going to resist by showing him what a helpless little lady I was.

“I am also completely clueless when it comes to the knight club,” I added.

Aaaaand I’m not interested in the slightest in getting roped into this mess.

Percival had been quiet this entire time, but he seemed unable to hold back any longer and finally spoke up.

“President Hammond is manipulating Prince Keith by promising him that he can participate in the intraclub competition during the Festival of Verdure,” Percival explained. “President Hammond is also trying to force the riding club and magic club to comply by using Prince Keith’s status.”

He already backed down once, but now he’s trying to use Prince Keith to get them to obey his orders? President Hammond’s pretty tough—I’ll give him that. I can’t excuse his manipulation of Prince Keith, though. If you want to gain power, you need to at least have the resolve to stand at the front lines. Ugh, I’m getting irritated! Prince Keith has a lot of flaws, but he’s also really kind! I can’t forgive President Hammond for taking advantage of him!

“I thought you would understand, Patience,” Prince Keith said. “Ralph and Hugo may be his schoolmates, but they’ve been instructed by their parents to get on Keith’s good side. They also saw how easily Princess Margaret cut off her own friends, so they’re thinking twice before they say or do anything. That is also a problem in itself.”

I can understand where Ralph and Hugo are coming from. It’s so easy to be abandoned by the royal family. Seeing it happen sent a chill down my spine. Also, I haven’t expressed how I really feel at all, yet Prince Richard seems to be picking up on my thoughts. Is it obvious what I’m thinking?

“Your Highness, I am in no position to give my opinion on Prince Keith’s actions,” I said. “However, I will try speaking to Sir Ralph and Sir Hugo. The two of them have changed, and they are currently working to improve their relationship with Prince Keith. They just need a bit more courage.”

Though it was my own idea, this was easier said than done. Ralph, Hugo, and Prince Keith were joined at the hip, so it would be difficult to speak to them without the prince. In light of that, I hadn’t thought my suggestion would be too imposing of a task for me...but that was because I’d underestimated Prince Richard.

“I’m glad to hear that. In that case, let’s head over to Count Angus’s home right away. I’ve also asked Ralph to meet us there.”

Wait, this is all according to your plan? Did he come here knowing that I’d refuse to speak to Prince Keith?

“I spent a year dining with you, Patience. I already know what you’re thinking. I also know that you genuinely worry for Keith.”

Man, Prince Richard really is a competent prince. This sucks.

Prince Richard decided that we would be going to Count Angus’s home to speak with Ralph and Hugo, but I was a noble lady, so I couldn’t just take off. My father’s permission and my cousin Percival’s presence were enough to allow for an unsupervised discussion in the drawing room of my home, but there were proper procedures that had to be followed in order to escort a lady out of her home.

Prince Richard first obtained my father’s permission for this outing, and Mary accompanied me as my attendant. I also needed to bring a gift, as was customary when visiting another’s home. George prepared a bouquet of roses, which Mary carried for me. Going out was quite a hassle.

Prince Richard was currently traveling incognito, so we rode in Percival’s carriage, which sported the Moeran family crest.

This carriage is definitely nicer than ours.

Prince Richard sat in the seat meant for the most important passenger, facing forward, and for some reason, I was seated next to him. Despite being the daughter of a viscount, I was somehow given a seat that put me above Percival, who was the son of a count. It seemed like they followed a “ladies first” approach, perhaps because they were gentlemen.

Across from us sat Percival and Mary, facing toward the back of the carriage. Mary’s lips were pressed tightly together into a completely straight line. She seemed extremely nervous.

“I’m really sorry, Patience.”

You’d better be! I was going to play with my brothers.

“It’s all right. I don’t know if I can help, but I’ll do my best speaking to Sir Ralph and Sir Hugo.”

With that short conversation, we arrived at the Angus family home.

Wow, that was close. It didn’t sink in until now, but I guess the Granger estate really is in a prime location within the capital. We could probably afford to send Nassius to university if we sold the house. And anyway, I want to move into a smaller home that’s a bit farther away from the palace.

“Huh? Your Highness?”

I was surprised that Prince Richard was escorting me into Count Angus’s home. He’d likely sent word that he was traveling undercover, because there was no grand welcome. I was relieved, only to find upon stepping inside that Count Angus, Hugo, and Ralph were all waiting for us at the entryway.

“Your Highness, Lady Patience, Sir Percival,” Count Angus said, greeting each one of us. “It is a pleasure to welcome you.”

Count Angus seemed like a gentle person, and he looked like an adult version of Hugo. The countess wasn’t there, perhaps because she knew this discussion was about the knight club.

I’m also a noble lady. I’d like to be excused from this conversation.

After we exchanged greetings, Mary handed the bouquet to one of the count’s butlers.

“Lady Patience, these are exquisite roses,” Count Angus remarked. “Our greenhouse cannot produce such splendid roses in the winter.”

I know. That’s why my roses sell for so much.

The drawing room was comfortably warm, and I was seated beside Prince Richard. It seemed that they were receiving Mary in a different room.

If she’s going to be somewhere else, why did I need to bring an attendant in the first place?

Ralph, Hugo, Percival, and I all remained silent while Count Angus and Prince Richard spoke. Eventually, we were served fragrant tea and sugar-encrusted cakes, the latter of which I would be passing on.

After getting through the formalities, Prince Richard dove into business.

“Count Angus, the reason I asked for Ralph to join us here is so that we could discuss the knight club.”

The count nodded and encouraged the prince to continue. It was possible that Hugo had already informed his father of the situation.

“President Hammond is taking advantage of my brother Keith’s weaknesses and manipulating him,” Prince Richard continued. “Keith is blinded by his desire to participate in the knight club’s competition during the Festival of Verdure.”

Ralph and Hugo both nodded along. They’d likely already tried to warn Prince Keith about the club president.

“I can understand why the young prince would be tempted,” Count Angus replied. “After all, that competition could be considered the main event at the Festival of Verdure.” Count Angus had also attended the Royal Academy, so he understood the circumstances.

“However, students in the junior division are still growing,” the prince explained. “That’s why it’s always been against the rules for junior-division students to compete.”

Count Angus seemed to be already aware of this as well.

“From what I hear,” he remarked, “President Hammond is manipulating Prince Keith by agreeing to let him participate in the competition.”

Yup, the competition isn’t the problem. It’s the manipulation, and the fact that Prince Keith is being taken advantage of.

“I have a question,” I chimed in. “I am not very knowledgeable about the knight club. You’ve explained that students in the junior division cannot participate in the competition because they aren’t physically ready. Is there something that can be done to adjust the competition? Perhaps junior division students could participate by showcasing different sword forms, or perhaps having practice matches between other junior-division students?”

Percival didn’t seem too pleased by my suggestion. It was possible that he didn’t want to destroy the long-held traditions of the knight club.

I’m an outsider. I’ll go back to keeping my mouth shut.

“Sir Percival, I implore you to consider Lady Patience’s idea,” Hugo said, finally speaking up. “I don’t want Prince Keith to be under President Hammond’s thumb.”

From the way Hugo spoke, I got the impression that he had already tried to warn Prince Keith about the club president.

“I believe even underprepared junior-division students would be able to participate in a showcase of sword forms,” Ralph chimed in.

He probably failed to persuade the prince as well, so he’s trying to convince Percival instead.

“Stop spoiling Keith,” Prince Richard scolded. “I’ve always thought that you are too soft on him, Patience. That goes for you two as well, Ralph, Hugo.”

I can’t believe I got in trouble. This has nothing to do with me!

“Now, now. I’m sure Lady Patience, Sir Ralph, and Hugo are all speaking out of concern for Prince Keith,” Count Angus said.

Though he looked like an older version of Hugo, the count was definitely an adult. He gently discouraged Prince Richard’s scolding.

I really don’t think I’m needed here. Yeah, I’m just going to keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to get in any more trouble.

Just then, I noticed Count Angus look my way and smile.

Can he tell what I’m thinking? The nobles in this world are terrifying.

Close to a half hour passed while Prince Richard, Percival, Ralph, and Hugo argued among themselves.

Wow, this tea is made with really high-quality leaves. It’s as good as the stuff served in Princess Margaret’s dorm room. I wonder where we got that expensive tea we served today.

Count Angus and I were both sitting back and drinking our tea.

I want to go home and play with my brothers. This must be troublesome for Count Angus as well.

Count Angus suddenly picked up the bell on the table and summoned a butler.

“How about some fresh tea, Your Highness?”

The count had noticed that the boys’ conversation wasn’t going anywhere, so he was trying to get them to take a break and reassess things.

I bet Count Angus is a good negotiator. I’m going to learn from his behavior.

“Sir Percival, I was also a member of the knight club when I was a student, so I understand your desire to preserve the club’s traditions,” the count said. “At the same time, I also remember how desperately I yearned for more as a junior division student. What was it like for you in the junior division, Sir Percival?”

I guess in the Angus family, even heirs join the knight club. Since Hugo’s the next heir, I always thought he joined the knight club just to be Prince Keith’s lackey.

“Well, I did indeed want to participate in the competitions,” Percival admitted. “But at the same time, I believed that practicing patience was a part of my training as a knight.”

Wow, Percival isn’t just good-looking. He’s also really disciplined.

“I guess we have no choice but to let President Hammond run the club as he pleases,” Prince Richard conceded. “In that case, we should just focus on how to keep Keith from being taken advantage of.”

Prince Richard used to be the student council president, and he’d said before that each club president was in charge of how their club operated.

Wait, couldn’t we use that?

“Your Highness, wasn’t there a rule within the student council guidelines that prohibited clubs from coercing other clubs into activities?”

Prince Richard gasped as he realized something, and his eyes widened and glimmered with excitement.

“That’s right. When I was elected student council president, I read the guidelines from cover to cover. There was a strict rule that any act of coercion from a club would lead to the dissolution of that club. It was a rule created to ensure the autonomy of each club. That means the knight club should be dissolved!”

“That’s preposterous!” Percival shouted.

“That’s much too cruel!” Ralph argued.

“Nooo!” Hugo cried.

I didn’t care about the knight club, but dissolution did seem a tad bit strict. However, it was also true that the magic club and riding club had been harmed by the actions of the knight club. They’d failed to recruit new members and even lost a few existing ones.

“Percival, I’m sure that President Rufus hasn’t thoroughly read through the student council guidelines,” Prince Richard remarked. “You must inform him of the rule and have him dissolve the knight club.”

Now that he had a solution that kept Prince Keith from being controlled by President Hammond, Prince Richard had a satisfied look on his face.

I think this just made the problem worse. Also, if the club actually got dissolved, it would lead to a massive fight between the princes.

“I do not agree with President Hammond’s actions, but I cannot help with the destruction of the knight club,” Percival protested.

Even Count Angus was nodding in agreement to Percival’s words.

Prince Richard definitely said all that stuff as bait, and everyone’s fallen for it. Ugh, why is he looking at me now? Don’t send me those signaling glances. Good grief.

“Oh my, that would deeply sadden Prince Keith,” I reluctantly chimed in. “Prince Keith cares so deeply for the knight club that even during his self-introduction on our first day at the academy, he announced that he would be enrolling in the knight track and joining the knight club. Is there any way you could all come up with a gentler solution?”

The boys continued to argue for a bit, and they eventually settled on having President Hammond take responsibility by stepping down; that would be deemed sufficient to keep the club from being dissolved.

“I’ll speak to Student Council President Rufus about President Hammond’s punishment,” Prince Richard said. “It’s best that you three don’t get involved. Hammond comes from a military family, so getting on his bad side will only lead to more trouble down the line.”

Ralph and Hugo still seemed worried that President Hammond stepping down would lead to Prince Keith lashing out.

“According to the student council guidelines, the club shouldn’t even continue to exist,” Count Angus pointed out to Hugo. “Despite that strict rule, the student council is generously allowing President Hammond to resign so the club may continue. You need to explain that to Prince Keith and convince him it’s the right thing. This is the least you should be doing as his friend.”

The count is surprisingly hard on his son.

“I agree,” the prince said. “I’m going to suggest that President Rufus first declare the dissolution of the knight club. He can then allow the knight club to submit a petition to continue activities, and respond to it by demanding that President Hammond submit a letter of resignation. It’s best that President Rufus waits to announce the club doesn’t have to be dissolved until after that.”

Ralph and Hugo seemed to be imagining the same thing as me: Prince Keith making a huge fuss in the middle of that storm. We all held our heads in our hands.

“Patience, I’d like you to check in on Keith,” Prince Richard said. “You already eat lunch together, so let him vent to you.”

What? You’re leaving me to deal with him?

“I would leave that to Sir Ralph and Sir Hugo,” I replied. “I am only there to accompany Princess Margaret during lunch, since I am her lady’s maid.”

When in doubt, flee! Oh no. Prince Richard is grinning wider. I’m scared. Is this an intimidation tactic?

“Well, Ralph and Hugo will be checking on him during classes, so I’d like you to handle lunchtime. It would be troublesome if he got into a fight with Margaret.”

Maybe my resolution for this year should have been “I’m going to become a woman who can say No!”

On the ride back to the Granger home, Prince Richard seemed pleased, while Percival appeared to have mixed feelings about how things had played out. I was completely exhausted after spending the trip trying to not get caught in their storm.

“By the way, have you heard about your reward for helping with my salt manufacturing last summer?” the prince asked.

Oh, right. I forgot about that. I thought that my reward was getting double the amount of eggs, butter, and salt. I’d initially been a little disappointed by what I’d thought was my reward, but my basket of premium groceries had remained doubled since then. I was actually quite grateful for that. Maybe the monster meat we got after the winter hunt was my reward? Wait, if he’s asking whether I “heard about” my reward, then that can’t be it.

“I see. Viscount Granger didn’t tell you. In that case, I shouldn’t say anything either.”

Prince Richard chuckled, cruelly ignoring the way he was leaving me hanging. I gave him a pleading look to try to get him to share details.

“Ha ha, just ask Viscount Granger yourself. I’m sure he’ll tell you if you mention that I brought it up.”

Now that he had a plan to get Prince Keith out of President Hammond’s clutches, Prince Richard was in high spirits. He escorted me to the front door, where we said goodbye.

“Oh, I’ll also think of a reward for your help today,” the prince said before he left.

I don’t need any more rewards. “Just stop getting me involved in these issues.” I can’t say that though, can I?

After lunch, I went to the greenhouse and picked strawberries with my brothers. They were still a little pale, so I used some magic to encourage them to ripen.

“Become red!” I incanted. “Don’t pick the ones that are still green. We’ll leave those for next week.” I then turned to Henry. “Also, you’ve already eaten five today, Henry. Please put that one in the basket.”

Henry was about to eat his sixth strawberry, and he disappointedly dropped the berry into the basket with a pitiful “Okay.”

I think it would technically be okay if you ate another one, but I don’t want you to get an upset stomach.

“Is it all right to be cutting so many roses?” Nassius asked.

The rose bushes in the greenhouse were now mostly branches and leaves, and Nassius glanced at them with a worried look.

“Yes, the roses will be fine,” I assured him. “I’ll give them a little help with my magic later. I’m sure they’ll bloom again in a few days.”

Can I grow some medicinal herbs here too? I think I’d have the space if we dug out the rose bushes, but that would be sad.

Our roses were the reason we’d been able to survive. There wasn’t much to do within your own estate during fall and winter, so many nobles gathered in Romano to enjoy high-society events. We’d made quite a lot of money by selling roses to be used for party decor. I’d also learned today that the Angus family had their own greenhouse, but their roses weren’t growing as well as ours.

“I wish it was a bit more spacious in here!” I whined.

It was a simple desire that I hadn’t meant to be a spell, but mana started flowing out of my body. I reflexively grabbed onto Nassius’s shoulder, since he was standing beside me, and kept myself from collapsing. I felt incredibly dizzy, so I shut my eyes. It wasn’t until I heard Henry’s voice that I opened them.

“Wow!” he exclaimed.

“Are you all right, sister?” Nassius added, checking my face with a concerned expression.

Wow, we’re almost at the same eye level.

“You’ve gotten so tall, Nassius.”

Nassius gave me a look of disbelief.

“That’s not the issue here, sister. The greenhouse is bigger now. Is this the work of your household magic? I’ve done some research using the books in our library, and there wasn’t a single book that said household magic could be used to repair broken items or expand greenhouses.”

Yeah, neither my magic theory textbook nor the books in the academy library had any information like that. I looked into it too.

“This is strange. It’s true that I wished for the greenhouse to be more spacious, but I had no intention of trying to cast a spell.”

Losing control of magic was a terrifying thing. What if I harbored ill feelings toward someone, and that unintentionally manifested as a spell that hurt them?

“I think you should speak to father,” Nassius said, his gray eyes clouding with concern.

I’ve failed as a big sister. I can’t believe I’m making my little brother worry!

Nassius’s next words were completely unexpected.

“I want to protect you, Patience. Please don’t strain yourself.”

Oh my, he switched from “sister” to calling me by my name. I guess Nassius is growing up. I’m both happy and sad. Your big sister is having some big feelings. Anyway, now isn’t the time for that.

I stood in front of the door to my father’s study. I’d come here to discuss something with him.

I feel like I’m about to go into a teacher’s office.

I wasn’t comfortable, but I had some things on my mind, so I knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” my father asked.

“It’s Patience, father. Do you have a moment?”

With his permission, I entered the room. From the looks of it, my father had been in the middle of reading a book. He placed a bookmark into a book, closed it, then set it on his desk. The fireplace in the study only had a small flame going, but the room was small enough for that to keep it sufficiently warm.

I want to hole up in here too.

“It’s rare that you want to talk, Patience. Have a seat.”

Is it rare? Maybe it is. I guess he usually summons me here. I don’t think I’ve come on my own before.

“You see, my magic activated on its own and expanded the greenhouse,” I explained. “It’s true that I wished for the greenhouse to be more spacious, but I didn’t intentionally cast a spell. I’m worried that I might lose control of my magic, so I’m here to ask for your help.”

My father listened silently until I was done.

“I’m not very familiar with household magic. I tried to learn more about it, but all the books I read didn’t have any information about magic that behaved like yours. I will say that I don’t sense any uncontrollable magic from you. You often hear that mana stores grow with age, and yours seem to be increasing at a rapid rate. I suggest you try to become more aware of your mana and that you refrain from any incantationless spellcasting.”

I see. Patience’s body is going through a growth spurt. Not only am I getting taller, but my mana stores are also increasing. I definitely sensed that was happening.

“Um, father, it’s a bit embarrassing to recite the incantations for my spells...”

My father burst into laughter. I hadn’t known he could laugh like that.

“I’m sorry about that. I don’t think you have to recite any embarrassing incantations. Just try to focus on the spell and recite its name. You just don’t want to adopt a habit of unconsciously casting magic.”

Urgh, I can think of plenty of instances when I did exactly that.

“I tend to unconsciously use magic when I do things like sewing, embroidery, and weaving. What should I do about that?”

My father reemphasized that he wasn’t very knowledgeable when it came to household magic, but he still did his best to give me advice.

“Perhaps you unconsciously use magic because it would be easier, or the outcome would be better if you were to use magic. If that’s the case, you should make a decision at the beginning of the project and stick to it. Either do the entire project using magic, or decide to do it all by hand. Once you’re out of your growth spurt, your mana stores will grow more gradually, and it’ll become easier to control your magic.”

I was actually quite fond of the feeling I got from being so immersed in a project that I would accidentally use my household magic, so I was a bit disappointed to hear that I would have to stop. It’s just not the same as consciously using magic from the start. I don’t mind consciously using magic when it comes to my side jobs, though.

My father seemed to pick up on the fact that I was a bit disappointed. It was either that or his memory had been jogged by Prince Richard’s visit, because he began to share the details of my reward.

“I heard that you worked with Prince Richard to come up with a method to make salt out of seawater. As a reward for your contributions, you’ve received a scholarship to Romano University. After you graduate from the Royal Academy, you’ll attend the university.”

Huh? That’s the reward? In that case, I want to pass it on to Nassius.

“Father, I would like to yield the scholarship to Nassius.”

A stern look appeared on my father’s face. It was the first time I’d ever seen him make such an expression.

“This is a gift that was bestowed on you, Patience. It would be wrong to give it to Nassius.” My father’s tone was firm.

That’s really unfortunate. Wait, why is his lip trembling? Is he trying to suppress his anger?

My father suddenly burst into laughter.

“You don’t have to worry about Nassius, Patience. As a token of her appreciation for your service as Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid, Her Majesty has also bestowed another gift upon you.” My father kept laughing as he continued. “In her letter, Her Majesty wrote, ‘Patience cares deeply for her brothers. I’m sure this will please her.’ Her Majesty gifted us with another scholarship for Nassius. You have to keep it a secret from him until he’s in the senior division, all right?”

I just glared at him as he laughed. How dare you! Hmph!

“That was cruel of you, father. I was truly worried that I wouldn’t be able to yield my scholarship to him. I wonder if attending university will help me become a bureaucrat.”

My father stopped laughing and gave me a serious look.

“While you’re in the senior division, you should take the time to think whether you truly want to become a bureaucrat. You can choose another path if you’d like. For that matter, you may even discover new paths while at university.”

My father had a point. Patience was only eleven years old. There was no need for me to decide to become a bureaucrat now.

Is it even normal for girls in this world to go to university? I guess we can’t afford a dowry, which means I’ll have to work. And if I’m going to work, college would be beneficial. Also, Patience is going to be fourteen when she starts university. He’s probably thinking that would be too young for marriage.

After learning about my reward for helping Prince Richard make salt, I was in high spirits. I was also excited to have a larger greenhouse.

“What should I plant? In the spring, I could collect some different shades of roses from the academy garden and propagate them in the greenhouse. If I could sell herbs, then those would be useful to plant too.”

Thinking about making money always cheered me up.

“I see you’ve spoken to father, sister,” Nassius said. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

Oho, he’s back to calling me “sister.” Maybe the switch from earlier happened out of panic. I don’t really mind either way.

Just as the way we referred to each other could change, Nassius’s image of me would likely change over time. Once he enrolled in the Royal Academy, he’d have more friends, and I wouldn’t be as central to his life. It was a bit sad to think about, but I also wanted him to make lots of friends.

I spent the afternoon giving my brothers hanon and dance lessons. I usually had them pair up and dance together, which was very cute. I’d also prepared several more practice pieces for the hanon, and they seemed to enjoy playing them.

“Nassius, you must also do your finger exercises,” I warned.

The finger exercises that Patience had learned were boring, but they were also effective. I needed to make sure Nassius did them as well.

After that, I worked on my music for the glee club.

Maybe I really am a pushover, I thought as I played love songs from my previous life. I’d tried playing a significant number of songs, but I wasn’t sure if they could come together to form an opera.

I began playing “Amazing Grace,” which was a truly lovely song. I had a strong urge to sing along, but I only knew the lyrics from my previous life. I decided to just hum along, and Nassius joined me.

“That’s a beautiful song, sister,” he said.

“It is, isn’t it? But I’m not very good at writing lyrics. This song is meant to be a prayer to a god.” That wasn’t a lie, because in my previous life, the song had been a hymn.

As always, even if I could play the songs from memory, transcribing them into sheet music was a pain.

“Oh, I bet Samuel would be good at this,” I mumbled to myself.

I lived in the dorms, and Samuel was a commuter. The weekends were the only time I could get his help.

“Nassius, would you like to meet your cousin? I’m thinking of inviting Samuel over.”

I usually wouldn’t want anyone interrupting my time with my brothers, but I truly hated transcribing songs into sheet music.

I headed to my room and wrote a letter to Samuel, asking him for his help. I then handed the letter to Mary so she could deliver it. Fortunately, the Northcourts lived incredibly close to us.

I really can’t believe that Aunt Lilianna saw how poor we were and ignored us. I understand that she married into the Northcourt family, so she can’t do whatever she wants, but still! It’s frustrating.

It was possible that my aunt hadn’t helped us out of frustration toward my father, who’d remained unemployed. She was a countess, and why should she help out a poor relative who was unwilling to work?

As such thoughts crossed my mind, a reply arrived.

“I’ll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon,” I said, reading the reply. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”

It would have been ideal if Samuel could have helped me right away, but it was already past teatime. We didn’t participate in such an extravagant custom, but regardless, it was considered too late in the day to be visiting someone’s home. It was also polite to refrain from visiting people in the morning, especially if it was close to lunch.

I’m thinking about you, Prince Richard!

Count Angus’s staff had kindly prepared lunch for us, but I’d returned home without eating it.

If we had to prepare nice food for a bunch of guests like the count did on our food budget, we’d be stuck eating bland soup for several days after. Eh, I guess he’s not exactly limited by our poverty, is he?

I found Wyatt and let him know that I would be returning to the dorms tomorrow evening. While I was here, I had a question for him.

“Wyatt, is it possible to sell minor herbs and minor healing potions?”

A troubled look came across the butler’s face.

“Minor herbs sell for a bit more during the winter, but in the spring, beginner adventurers will forage plenty of them, lowering their value. As for minor healing potions, you must have an apothecary’s approval to be able to sell them.”

That makes sense. Ms. Makias approved my greater healing potions, and she’s selling them for me.

“I should also mention that you can obtain an apothecary license at the Royal Academy.”

That’s news to me!

“What? I can obtain a license to become an apothecary?”

Wyatt seemed amused by my shock.

“You can, indeed. The license would allow you to practice as a novice apothecary. I believe you can obtain it by getting certificates of completion in both herbology and pharmacy, then taking the apothecary exam.” Wyatt seemed exasperated that I didn’t know this already. “Similarly, students who graduate from the knight track at the Royal Academy will become apprentices in the knights’ order. Students who graduate from the civil service track can take the entry-level bureaucrat’s exam. Graduates from the home economics track can take the court lady’s exam. And mage track graduates have the opportunity to take the novice court mage’s exam. There is a wide variety of certification exams available to students.”

I nodded along as I listened, and I noticed that every exam except for the court lady’s exam was for a beginner position.

“Do you have to graduate from college to take the advanced exams?” I asked.

“No, some people become eligible for the advanced exams by working in those jobs. For example, if you were to study while working as an entry-level bureaucrat, you could become eligible to take the senior bureaucrat exam by obtaining a recommendation from a superior.”

That sounds pretty difficult. Nassius already has a scholarship. I wonder what’ll happen to Henry.

“If one were to graduate from university, would it be possible to skip past the knights’ order apprenticeship?”

Wyatt thought for a moment before he responded.

“It would depend on the division of the knights’ order. If I recall correctly, those who join either the Royal Guard Division or the First Cavalry Division after graduating university are exempt from apprenticeship. Those two divisions generally comprise the children of high-ranking nobles. However, some members of those divisions join upon graduating from the Royal Academy, as they are from families that have served as knights for many generations.”

“I’ve heard that Lord Salius joined the First Cavalry Division immediately upon graduating from the Royal Academy. He didn’t attend university, despite being a Monteluxedo.” As I pointed that out, I couldn’t help but wonder if Lord Salius didn’t do well in school.

“That is because joining the knights’ order early will lead to earlier advancement in your career. Even if someone were to skip the two-year apprenticeship by graduating from university, by the time they joined the knights’ order, the students from their graduating class at the Royal Academy would likely have gotten to a higher rank. That is why most people who plan on joining the knights’ order do not choose to attend university. However, those who prefer strategizing and tactics often prioritize attending university.”

I see. The knight track seems pretty complicated. It might not happen, but I want to be sure we can send Henry to university in the event that he wants to go.

“I’m first going to focus on obtaining certificates of completion for herbology and pharmacy,” I declared.

Wyatt gave me another exasperated look.

“It may be more difficult than you think, my lady.”

I’m going to get them during the fall term! Man, I’m so busy!

Not only did I have more studying to do, but tonight I would have to do my side job of painting ceramics. That was a project I would be using household magic on from start to finish. Side jobs and hobbies were completely different.

On Sunday morning, I studied with my brothers. My father usually supervised their studying, but I also wanted to get through my law and government textbooks.

Eventually, Henry seemed tired of studying.

Yeah, I’m having trouble focusing too.

Nassius, on the other hand, was still focused on his work.

What a smart boy!

“Why don’t we exercise?” I suggested.

Though it was cold, we went outside to play with the jump ropes. It was important to keep training Patience’s body. Nassius was also getting quite strong, which was likely due to his riding and sword-fighting lessons.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” I muttered to myself.

Though they were family, I’d wanted to find a way to thank the Satisfords and Monteluxedos for helping us. However, I also didn’t have any money to spare. I pictured the faces of my relatives: Aunt Amalia, my cousin Lucene, Aunt Charlotta, and Aunt Lilianna.

Unlike us, they have everything they could want. I’m too poor to know what they’d like.

“Samuel’s going to be visiting this afternoon. I could ask him.”

It was unlikely that a ten-year-old boy would know what his mother would like as a gift. Though that thought crossed my mind, by the time that Samuel arrived, I’d completely forgotten about it.

“Welcome, Samuel,” I said, greeting him.

Samuel’s eyes sparkled when he saw the hanon in our drawing room.

“Patience, this is a beautiful hanon,” he marveled.

Wow, he’s got a surprisingly good eye.

“Yes, well, this hanon was a gift from Her Majesty.”

“I see. It’s not often that I see a hanon this beautiful.”

Oh, right. I had a question for him.

“Samuel, you wouldn’t happen to know what Aunt Lilianna might like as a gift, would you?”

Samuel pouted.

“Of course I’d know that! My mother loves beautiful things. No matter how many gemstones and beautiful dresses she has, she’s never satisfied.”

Those are definitely out of my budget.

“That makes sense. Aunt Lilianna is quite beautiful,” I remarked before moving on. “Now, I’m going to play some songs, so could you help transcribe them to sheet music?”

I changed gears and began playing one of my new songs for the glee club.

“That was lovely, Patience,” Samuel said. He was completely entranced while listening to the piece.

“I appreciate the compliments, but I’d also like you to transcribe the piece onto paper,” I said.

Samuel immediately began jotting down the composition.

“My, you might really be a musical prodigy, Samuel,” I said.

Before I knew it, he’d finished preparing the sheet music for my piece.

“I can transcribe anything I’ve memorized,” Samuel explained. “Is it not the same for you?”

“Not everything we can do is possible for others,” I pointed out to him. “Okay, let’s move on to the next song.”

I played several more songs, and Samuel transcribed all of them for me.

“Why don’t we take a break?” I suggested. “They’re nine and seven, but would it be all right if my brothers joined us for tea?”

Samuel replied with a haughty, “I’ll allow it,” but it was clear from the look on his face that he was excited to meet them.

Soon after, my brothers entered the room.

“Nassius, Henry, this is Samuel Northcourt. Say hello to your cousin,” I instructed my brothers.

Nassius and Henry both greeted Samuel, and he greeted them back.

“All right, let’s have tea,” I declared.

Our tea was made using the high-quality leaves that Wyatt had mysteriously sourced, and we were having some of the cake that Samuel had brought as a gift, with a little twist. I’d had the cloyingly sweet cake diced into small cubes and layered it with strawberry and pear compote, as well as some yogurt. The resulting dessert was served in small bowls. If you replaced the yogurt with custard, it would be similar to a trifle.

“Wow, what a pretty dessert,” Henry said. His reactions were always so innocent.

“Hm? Isn’t this the cake that I brought over?” Samuel asked. He truly had a sharp eye.

“Yes, it is. I decided to give it a bit of a makeover. I think it’s easier to eat this way.”

“Well, it at least looks cute,” Samuel huffed.

Is that his idea of a compliment?

Samuel proceeded to take a bite.

“It tastes good,” he said.

That’s a relief.

After teatime, I let the three boys play together.

“Jumping rope is pretty fun,” Samuel said. “I could even play with this on my own.”

“Don’t say such sad things,” I said. “You’re always welcome here.”

Samuel huffed and turned away from me, but his ears were bright red.

Pouty boys like him are cute too.

Just then, I had a terrible realization—the riding instructor was coming today. I’d completely forgotten about that.

“All right then, I have to start getting ready to return to the dorms,” I announced. “Good luck with your riding lesson, you two.”

I tried to make my escape, but Samuel caught me.

“You’ll have trouble if you can’t ride a horse, Patience,” he scolded.

Nassius and Henry were also staring at me expectantly.

Urgh, I guess I can’t run from things I don’t like.

“I’ll practice just a bit,” I conceded.

Once the riding instructor arrived, Samuel sternly pointed out all my mistakes.

If he was going to be like this, I never should’ve let him play with my brothers. I should’ve just kept him inside, transcribing sheet music.

I didn’t actually think that. Well, not fully, at the very least.

“If you work a little harder, you’ll be able to join the riding club, Nassius,” Samuel said.

“Oh, did you end up joining the riding club?” I asked.

“I did, since we no longer have to look after the knight club’s horses. Daniel, Valdische, and Klaus all joined as well. Music club is fun, and though I’ve only just joined, riding club also seems like it’s going to be fun.”

I was glad to see that my cousin was enjoying life at the academy.

Henry enthusiastically asked Samuel what he did in riding club.

Samuel’s actually pretty good at handling younger kids, I thought as I watched him happily ride with Nassius and Henry.

I really do need to start packing for the dorms soon.

“Samuel, I have to start heading to the dorms. Would you mind staying and teaching them about riding a little more?”

It appeared that Samuel had already wanted to stay longer.

“Nassius! Henry! I’ll teach you how to jump over obstacles!” he confidently declared.

“Yaaay! I want to jump over stuff!” Henry cheered. “Goodbye, sister!”

“I’d like to learn as well,” Nassius said. “Please take care of yourself, sister.”

Wow, our goodbyes are getting so short. Your big sister is a little sad.

Chapter 9: The Reborn Knight Club

I was back in the dorms, and Princess Margaret was still at the palace, so I had some time to myself.

“I need to water my herbs in the greenhouse,” I recalled aloud.

I put on the coat I’d just removed and headed for the greenhouse.

“Oh my, this is awful,” I remarked upon my arrival.

My section was abundant with minor herbs, but the herbs planted in some of the other areas didn’t look to be doing so well. In fact, some of them seemed to be dying.

“People probably forgot to water them on Friday.”

I wanted to water the other plants along with my own, but that would take away the students’ learning opportunities.

“Oh, it looks like Benjamin also forgot to water his plants. So did Bryce.”

That wasn’t a surprise, considering that they’d both been out late on Friday because of alchemy club. Though I’d also been out late, I was able to water my plants on Saturday, which wasn’t something commuters would come to school to do.

“I’m only going to help them this one time,” I mumbled to myself, and I watered the wilted herbs in Benjamin’s and Bryce’s sections. “Oh, I almost forgot about Andrew.”

Andrew was always getting into arguments with Benjamin, but that didn’t change the fact that we were classmates, so he deserved to be treated equally. I scanned the greenhouse to find the ridge with his name on it, and I watered his plants as well.

Upon returning to my dorm, I warmed myself in front of the fireplace while reading my law textbook. Eventually, Zofie stopped by to inform me that the princess had arrived. I’d been so focused on studying that I hadn’t realized how much time had passed.

I can’t help it that I’m focused. I’m determined to get a certificate of completion!

“I heard from Richard that you’re second cousins with Percival,” Princess Margaret suddenly mentioned during our conversation.

The mention of Prince Richard had me spooked for a moment.

“Yes, I am. It seems that my great-aunt married into the Moeran family.”

Princess Margaret thought for a moment, then smiled.

“In other words, there’s quite a bit of distance between your bloodlines.”

Where is she going with this?

“Yes, I would say that we share an indirect ancestry.”

Have you seen how handsome Percival is? That’s definitely Moeran genetics. Nassius and Henry are both adorable, but I don’t think they’ll grow up to be attractive in the way that Percival is. Anyone would swoon at those looks. It’s fine, though, because I have plenty of love for my angels!

“Is that so? In that case, there wouldn’t be any issues if you were to marry Percival, right?”

I choked on the tea that Zofie had prepared for us.

“My apologies,” I said after collecting myself. “Marriage is completely out of the realm of possibility.”

Princess Margaret seemed dubious.

“Really? Well, brother was saying that Percival spoke very highly of you, so... I guess I was just mistaken. That’s unfortunate.”

Why is that unfortunate? Actually, don’t tell me. It’s probably something petty, like the fact that it would amuse her if Percival and I got close because Catherine and the others were obsessed with him.

“More importantly, I’ve prepared some new pieces for the glee club,” I shared.

Princess Margaret was ever the music lover, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“My! You wrote multiple songs? I knew it! You’re usually slacking off, aren’t you?”

“I do not,” I insisted. “I had my cousin Samuel help prepare the sheet music. I haven’t prepared final copies yet, but look—do you see how they are different from the sheet music I write?”

“He seems to transcribe music with a lot more vigor than you do,” Princess Margaret remarked upon looking at the compositions. She was able to tell that he’d written out the songs in one go. “You mentioned before that Samuel can play any piece he’s heard once. I’m guessing that he also transcribed these after hearing you play the pieces once. He’s truly a genius!”

Sorry, Samuel. I may have just gotten you assigned to transcription duty.

“Why don’t you let Samuel transcribe your pieces into sheet music from now on?” the princess suggested. “That way, we can enjoy many more new pieces from you at once.”

Samuel admired the princess, so he probably wouldn’t say no if she were to ask him herself. However, I myself did not want to spend every weekend composing.

“I’m not sure if he can,” I replied. “Samuel joined the riding club, so I believe he may be quite busy.”

Shoot, I wasn’t supposed to share that! You’re not supposed to talk about being in multiple clubs.

Princess Margaret raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve left the lyrics to President Albert, so for now I will just play the pieces as they are,” I said, quickly running for the hanon.

“My, those were all lovely pieces,” Princess Margaret raved after I finished playing for her. “It would be a waste to give them away to the glee club. Why don’t you write some other pieces for them?”

I can’t keep up with the whims of this princess.

“I will prepare the final copies and pass them along to President Albert,” I said. “These still need lyrics, after all.”

I’d already decided that Albert would handle writing all the lyrics, so my work was done. The only thing left for today was deciding whether to discuss the issues regarding the knight club with Princess Margaret.

I feel if I bring it up, she’s just going to scold me. She’ll probably get mad at me for wasting time that I could’ve spent composing more pieces.

“Lady Margaret, I have something of a troublesome nature to discuss with you.”

The princess appeared to catch my meaning at once.

“Is this about the knight club? My understanding was that the issue had been resolved... Come to think of it, it is strange that Richard, who has already graduated, would have met with Percival.”

Perhaps Princess Margaret had originally brought up my relationship to Percival because she’d been curious as to why her brother had had business with him. The princess proceeded to question me about various details regarding the issues with the knight club.

“I fear that this week will be quite tumultuous,” I said. “I would like to do what I can to stay away from the storm of events that will take place.”

Despite being the one to say them, I didn’t harbor any hope of actually fulfilling my words, which was a bit depressing.

“Keith is probably going to be furious,” Princess Margaret remarked. “Try not to do anything that may upset him.”

Whaaat? You don’t want me to upset him? While I wasn’t sure that I needed such a warning, I was still determined to keep my head down until this storm passed.

Yes, I was indeed determined...but I ended up running into the second prince himself at dinner.

This is why I kept telling the princess we should head to the dining hall sooner than later, I complained internally. This is all her fault for wanting to play my new pieces herself.

“Would you like to eat together, sister?” Prince Keith asked. Ralph and Hugo were also with him.

Please turn him down, Princess Margaret.

“Sure,” the princess agreed. “Have your friends join us as well.”

What’s with those looks? I thought while observing the expressions on Ralph’s and Hugo’s faces. You’d be eating with Prince Keith regardless of what the princess said. Wait, are they reacting like that because they’re worried that Prince Keith and I are going to argue? Seriously? Is that everyone’s concern?

Dinner came and went without any issues—perhaps the storm hadn’t arrived yet.

Once we returned to Princess Margaret’s deluxe room, she let out a heavy sigh.

“I can’t endure this,” the princess grumbled. “Just when will President Rufus announce the dissolution of the knight club?”

“I haven’t been informed of any specifics... You would have to ask Prince Richard about that.”

I pray that the knight club’s issues get settled quickly, and that Prince Keith can get back to business as usual.

It was Monday morning, and the students in homeroom were all abuzz. Mr. Cuthbert was also clearly displeased, and he seemed to be making no effort to hide it. The dissolution of the knight club was about to be announced.

I didn’t know any of the boys enrolled in the knight track, but I recognized the students who were in the civil service and mage tracks. That meant that the students I wasn’t familiar with were likely in the knight track, and they all seemed to be desperately trying to contain their anger.

Year 1 Class A of the senior division had thirty students. Fifteen were girls, and the rest were boys, with three enrolled in the mage track, seven enrolled in the civil service track, and five in the knight track. In the junior division, Year 1 Class A had a relatively high number of boys in the class: twenty. That was likely because many parents had falsified their sons’ birth dates, so that even if they had been born a few months too late or too soon, they could be classmates with the second prince. Similarly, many of the female students in my class wanted to be friends with Princess Margaret.

I wonder if these girls’ parents also fudged their birth dates. Even if they did, there isn’t such a disparity between the number of girls and boys in this class, compared to the junior division.

Ostensibly, the children of nobles were all required to attend the Royal Academy, and some commoners also enrolled by passing an entrance exam. Class C, where those students ended up, mostly comprised male students. However, I’d heard rumors that the children of provincial nobles and lower-ranking nobles, as well as the illegitimate daughters of nobles, were usually not enrolled in the Royal Academy. Illegitimate sons would still attend the academy, because they wouldn’t be able to find good jobs without graduating from here. In that case, what happened to the illegitimate daughters?

“They’re either married off to wealthy merchants in the area, or they become concubines to provincial nobles,” Princess Margaret explained to me.

Girls in this world face some awful treatment.

We discussed such things while Mr. Cuthbert was getting ready to read out an announcement to the rest of the class.

“I’ve received a notice from the student council president. The knight club has hindered the ability of other clubs to act with autonomy and will hereby face punishment in the form of dissolution of the club. That is all.”

The announcement stirred the hornet’s nest. The girls in the class were surprised, of course, but the boys—especially the five in the knight track—were shouting with disbelief. They perhaps had heard there would be some sort of punishment coming, but this wasn’t what they’d expected.

“This is unbelievable!” a student exclaimed.

“That can’t be!” another lamented.

“This has to be some sort of mistake, Mr. Cuthbert,” one student insisted. “There’s no way that a storied institution of the academy such as the knight club would be dissolved. Shouldn’t the punishment be something more appropriate, such as a one-week suspension of club activities?”

From the way that the students spoke, it seemed that Mr. Cuthbert was the faculty advisor for the knight club. He was a brawn-over-brains kind of teacher, so it was possible that he hadn’t known what President Hammond had been up to, or he had but hadn’t felt any need to stop him. As our teacher, it was Mr. Cuthbert’s job to settle the class down, but instead he was just as furious as the members of the knight club.

“Your classes in the morning are language arts and child-rearing, right, Lady Margaret?” I asked the princess. “I believe you also have etiquette after lunch. If you think back to the tea parties held at the palace, and use them as a reference to plan your own tea party, you will pass the class. I have diplomacy and world history, so I’m going to be headed to different classrooms.”

“My, you’re so calm, Patience,” the princess commented. “I’m terrified of what lunch is going to be like.”

“I’m also concerned with just how shocked Prince Keith may be by all of this,” I admitted. “Perhaps we should consider skipping lunch.”

The princess pondered my suggestion for a moment, but she ultimately shook her head and refused.

“No, we must watch over Keith to make sure that he doesn’t do anything stupid. We should eat together.”

The bell for first period rang, and the boys who’d gathered around Mr. Cuthbert were still making a fuss. Several of the students in the civil service and mage tracks simply got up from their seats and prepared to leave. Some students had to stay in the classroom for language arts, so they had no choice but to stay and watch the commotion.

I’m sure the language arts teacher will kick Mr. Cuthbert out.

In both diplomacy and world history, most of the students appeared to be distracted, which led to many of them being scolded by the teachers.

“Today, you will be presenting your research on the Four Good Emperors, who were significant contributors to the development of the Kazarian Empire. The students sitting by the window were assigned the first Good Emperor, Philappio. The second row had the second Good Emperor, Bavrice. The middle and fourth rows were assigned the third Good Emperor, Lucius. The row by the hallway got the fourth Good Emperor, Maxim. All right then, let’s begin with Emperor Philappio!”

The presentations went fine, because we simply had to read out the information that we’d researched. I was in the group that had been assigned the second Good Emperor, Bavrice. I’d planned on using resources from the library to do my research, but the books I was interested in had already been checked out. It was at times like these that I was grateful for the impressive library in the Granger home. Just as the others did, I presented the information that I’d researched.

“Everyone seems so distracted today!” Mr. Aust exclaimed. “What’s going on?”

Though the students all did a proper job giving their own presentations, no one seemed to be paying attention to the other presentations. I wasn’t any better—I couldn’t stop thinking about the storm that would soon break.

“I hope you’ll bring a little more energy to class next week,” Mr. Aust said.

He seemed to be aware of the situation with the knight club, but that didn’t excuse students’ behavior in class.

Sorry, Mr. Aust!

It was time for lunch.

Ugh, I have to go to the salon. It feels like there’s a weight in my stomach.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

The salon was usually a refined dining room where upper-ranking nobles would engage in friendly conversation over lunch, but at this moment, it appeared to be the stage for some sort of altercation.

“Over here, Patience,” Princess Margaret called out to me.

She seemed to have arrived earlier and had some partitions set up. Unlike those that Prince Richard had prepared during the Festival of Verdure, these partitions blocked off about a third of the salon.

“I had the staff prepare a safe area for the students who don’t want to get involved in that rowdiness,” the princess explained. “I thought this would give us the chance to eat in a slightly more peaceful environment.”

Past the partitions were students having a quieter lunch than usual. Many of the female students there seemed to be nervous about the commotion stirred up by the dissolution of the knight club.

“I’ve saved seats for Keith and his schoolmates, but I fear lunch may be the last thing on their minds,” the princess remarked.

The area behind the partitions was calm, but I could still sense the tension from the storm brewing on the other side, which made me lose my appetite.

“Whoa, there’s some good seats still available,” President Albert remarked, walking up to us with Rupert and some other members of the music club. They seemed to have fled here to get away from the ruckus. “Would it be all right if we joined you, Lady Margaret? The other side doesn’t seem to be a suitable place to have a meal.”

“Of course,” Princess Margaret replied. “Anyone is welcome here, provided that they do not mention that issue.”

Samuel and some other first-years fled to the partitioned area as well.

“Please keep in mind that you cannot discuss the riding club either, Samuel,” I quietly warned my cousin, just in case he wasn’t aware. After all, the dissolution of the knight club was a result of their mistreatment of the riding club and magic club.

“Yes, I know,” Samuel replied. The expression on his face suggested that he’d already had words with students who were in the knight club.

“Come on, let’s have lunch,” I said.

Now that the first-years of the music club were eating, Princess Margaret seemed relieved.

“All the other students are choosing to engage in such a commotion, so we should simply ignore them,” the princess grumbled.

We waited for a while, but Prince Keith never showed up to the salon. In other words, he’d been too disturbed by the news to even try to eat lunch.

My afternoon classes on Mondays were both mage-track electives. Even the students in the mage track seemed to be shocked by the news of the knight club’s dissolution. The general consensus among the mage-track students, though, seemed to be “Serves them right!” Since the magic club had also been victims of the members of the knight club, this was an unsurprising response.

“Oh, I thought you’d already passed Alchemy II, Sir Benjamin.”

I was at Alchemy II, because even though I’d also passed the class I didn’t have room in my schedule to take any of the available sections of Alchemy III. I also wanted to keep making more magic lamps.

“I did, but I’m actually here for you, Patience,” Benjamin said. “We stayed on campus until the very last second to work on a magic circle that allows your lamp to have an adjustable brightness. It’s finally ready, so I’m here to bring you to it!”

“What? You finished it? But, I...” I was hesitating over whether I should leave class to head to the alchemy club.

Mr. Kubrick just laughed.

“Go on!” he said encouragingly. “You’ve already passed this class. Don’t forget to sign up for Alchemy III during the fall term.”

Now that I had the teacher’s permission, I headed to alchemy club with Benjamin.

Caesar was already there.

“Thanks for coming, Patience,” he greeted me.

It really does seem like he spends all of his time here.

“Don’t you have any classes you need to be in, President Caesar?” I asked.

I’m kind of worried about him. He even forgot to sign up for dance, a mandatory subject, last year.

“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you that I’m not here on Monday and Wednesday mornings. I haven’t gotten my credits for herbology and pharmacy yet.”

What? Isn’t he a second-year?

“Do you mean for the second-year courses?” I confirmed.

“Sir Caesar is also struggling with pharmacy and herbology,” Benjamin explained with a pleased smile.

Caesar pouted and turned away in a quite childlike manner.

I guess he is a child, since he’s fourteen or fifteen. He’s pretty tall, though, so he couldn’t be considered a shota.

“More importantly, we came up with a magic circle that can produce a flame with an adjustable brightness,” Caesar announced, changing the subject. “Let’s test it out!”

We’d already built the base and the glass chimney last Friday.

“Is it all right to use the same knob?” I asked.

“Well, if it doesn’t work, we can always make a new one,” President Caesar reassured me. “I’m itching to see if the magic circle actually works!”

It appeared that they’d gone out of their way to wait for me for the final test.

All right, let’s put this thing together.

“I’ll place this magic circle on the base, then attach the knob,” I announced as I performed the steps. “I’m now going to see if it turns on.”

“We know that it turns on, we just don’t know if the flame is adjustable or not,” Caesar said. “Try twisting the knob.”

I turned the knob all the way to the on position, and a light appeared. The real test began now.

“Slowly turn the knob the other way around,” President Caesar instructed.

I gently turned the knob in the opposite direction, and the flame dimmed. I proceeded to turn it a little more, and the flame grew even dimmer.

“Wow, this would be the perfect brightness to not get in the way of someone’s sleep,” I remarked.

President Caesar let out a proud exhale through his nose as he puffed up his chest.

He seems so happy. He’s pretty cute when he’s like this.

I proceeded to attach the dome-shaped cover for the lamp.

“It’s complete! Now Henry won’t have to be afraid at bedtime,” I cheered. “When I’m at home, I usually leave a candle burning and return later to put the light out. I’ve been worried that he’s afraid when I’m at the dorms.”

President Caesar and Benjamin both looked puzzled by my statement.

“Isn’t it the caretaker’s job to do that?” Benjamin asked.

It’s no surprise that he’s confused. He’s a rich kid after all.

“We don’t have a caretaker in our household,” I admitted. “Our maid and I look after my brothers together.”

President Caesar seemed to understand my situation, and he went on to change the subject.

“Is there anything else you’d like to make, Patience?”

“I have plenty of things I’m interested in making, but I believe my knowledge of magic circles is severely lacking. I’ll have to take Magic Circles III during the fall term and study up.”

This lamp had only succeeded thanks to President Caesar’s efforts.

“You have lots of ideas, do you? Tell me. What do you want to make, Patience?”

At that moment, President Caesar looked just like President Albert when he was begging me to write new songs.

“Share your ideas with us, Patience!” Benjamin chimed in. “You’re already a member of this club! If someone has an idea for a new magical instrument, we all work together to bring it to life! That’s the whole point of alchemy club!”

Whoa, Benjamin’s hair is standing on end. He’s really turning into Fluffy.

“I’d be happy to share my ideas if you’re all right with items that I want for my own sake.”

There were plenty of things that would be convenient to have if they existed.

“That’s fine! Go on, tell us what you want!”

This almost feels like I’m being threatened into sharing. All right, you asked for it, so I won’t hold back.

“I am able to use household magic, but there are many people who cannot. So, I would like a washing machine. I’d also like a vacuum cleaner. Oh, also, I can easily whip egg whites and heavy cream for desserts, but it would be nice to have a hand mixer that others could use. I also need a blow dryer for my hair. Also, there was that fan that I saw last year during the Festival of Verdure. I’d love to have a version that can produce cool air, so that I could have a cold air fan. Also—”

Benjamin placed his hand over my mouth, physically stopping me from continuing.

“Hold on! Saying everything you want at once will only confuse us!”

“What is a washing machine? What does a vacuum cleaner do? What’s a hand mixer? What about that blow dryer? Cold air?” President Caesar seemed lost and was questioning me about every item that I’d mentioned.

“For the washing machine... Think of a sort of box where you can put water, laundry detergent, and dirty clothes. Those all get stirred up together, thereby cleaning your clothes. Oh, could we use the motor from the fan to create the mechanism that stirs the contents of the washing machine?”

My explanation didn’t seem to help them understand any better, so I drew out a diagram for them.

“I see. I think we can base the magic circle that operates this instrument off of the one that we used for the motor-powered fan,” Caesar mused. “However, we’ll need another magic circle to produce the water that goes in, and we’ll also need a drainage system.”

Right. Otherwise the contents of the washing machine will remain soaking wet. Let’s see, before there were fully automatic washing machines, I think there were ones that had two tubs—one for washing and another for spinning.

“I’ve thought of a better idea for this washing machine,” I declared. “We’re going to add a spinner to allow the water to be removed from the clothes. We’ll have two separate tubs. One will be for washing, and the other will be used to spin the clothes.”

My fellow club members still didn’t seem to understand. I’d forgotten that not only did they probably lack experience in doing laundry, but they’d likely never even seen laundry being done.

“You are aware that clothes are washed using water and detergent, yes?”

They at least seemed to know the bare minimum about laundry, since they nodded affirmatively.

“Washing clothes is an incredibly labor-intensive process,” I continued to explain. “Detergent is also expensive, so by moving the clothes to a separate drum to spin out the water, the water in the first drum can be used again.”

It was clear that they didn’t understand a single word of what I was saying. I continued explaining the mechanics of a double tub washer and spinner until it was time to head to herbology.

“I see. You start by washing clothes that are only lightly soiled in the washing drum, where you add detergent. Then you move those clothes to the spinner and use the circular motion to get out excess water. While the spinner is working, you can wash a dirtier batch of clothes in the leftover detergent and water. Once everything’s been washed, you can drain out the dirty water from the washer side. At the end, you can give each batch a final rinse.”

Did I do too much by explaining how to do two loads of laundry at once?

“You forgot the final step,” I pointed out. “Both batches need a final spin in the spinner tub.”

Caesar and Benjamin both let out heavy sighs.

“I had no idea doing laundry was so much work,” President Caesar said.

“That wasn’t even the real final step, President Caesar. That was just washing the clothes. The laundry still has to be hung up to dry. Once the garments are dry, they must also be ironed to remove any wrinkles. Oh, that reminds me, I would also love a magic-powered iron! The ones currently available require adding charcoal inside, which makes them heavy. My hands get quite tired from ironing.”

Benjamin just stared at me with disbelief.

“Are you sure you’re a noble lady, Patience?”

“I’ll have you know that noble ladies are using irons regularly here at the Royal Academy, during sewing class,” I pointed out to him. “Also, I can use household magic, so I’ve never had to do laundry by hand. I don’t think my attendant would even allow me to do such a thing.”

President Caesar let out a hearty chuckle.

“Our club has been missing a member like you, Patience,” he said. “We’re too ignorant about the items needed in everyday life.”

Benjamin was still scratching his head.

So that’s how he transforms into Fluffy.

“I still don’t understand the double tub washing machine.”

I probably shouldn’t have tried to explain how to wash two loads at once.

“I tried to come up with a version that would save on detergent and water, which made things quite complicated,” I admitted. “If you were to use such a device normally, you would simply add water and detergent to your laundry. After washing those clothes, you move them to the spinner, and while the spinner works to remove excess water, you would drain out the washing tub. After removing excess water, you move the clothes back to the first drum and let water continue to drain out while rinsing the laundry with fresh water. When the water rinsing the clothes runs clear, you can move it back to the spinner for a final spin cycle to remove excess water.”

Benjamin furrowed his brows, still confused by the steps of using a washing machine. On the other hand, President Caesar seemed to finally understand it.

“Patience, if we succeed in making this washing machine, we could get a patent for it. Let’s do our best!”

“A patent? As enticing as that is, I don’t believe I would have the skills to make it.”

I was disappointed. Even if I had provided the idea, I wasn’t capable of creating such complex magic circles.

“What are you talking about? All patented inventions start with an idea. We’re all going to work together to build this washing machine!”

President Caesar and Benjamin both seemed excited for this project, but unfortunately for them, the school bells were signaling the end of third period with emotionless clangs.

“It’s time for Herbology II. I must head to the greenhouse.”

I stood up from my seat, and President Caesar tried to stop me from leaving.

“What about the other stuff? What are you going to do about the vacuum cleaner, hand mixer, iron, and blow dryer?”

“There are plenty more things that I would like to make, President Caesar,” I said. “Let’s take our time and build them all.”

President Caesar seemed stunned, so I used that as my opportunity to rush to the greenhouse.

I’d left alchemy club a while before Benjamin likely did, yet he caught up to me right away.

“You seriously should switch to the mage track, Patience,” Benjamin declared.

Stooooop trying to recruit me into the mage track!

Herbology II was in the same greenhouse as before. Ms. Makias knew that I didn’t have any extra room in my schedule, so she’d arranged for me to take the second-year course during the Herbology I section I’d originally signed up for.

“Your minor herbs are ready to be picked, Patience,” Ms. Makias said. “So, you want some seeds? If you do, you’d better leave the two bushes at the edge. If you don’t need any seeds, you can go ahead and pick ’em all.”

Wyatt said that minor herbs sell for cheap in the spring because adventurers go foraging for them. But right now it’s still winter, so it would be nice to grow them in the greenhouse.

“I’d like some seeds,” I said.

I left the last two bushes untouched and picked the rest of the herbs.

“You did well,” Ms. Makias praised me. “I’ll buy these from you.”

Looks like I’ve discovered another side job.

“Quit standing around and get some fertilizer on your ridge of soil,” Ms. Makias barked. “You’ve got to till it.”

Outside the greenhouse was a box filled with fertilizer. As expected, it had quite the stench. I shoveled some of the fertilizer into a bucket, then I carried it back to my section.

“Is this enough fertilizer, Ms. Makias?” I asked.

Ms. Makias glanced over and gave me a nod, so I was good to go.

Covering the soil with this stinky fertilizer and tilling it seems pretty labor-intensive. Well, it may not be so hard for everyone, but it’s definitely a lot of work for Patience’s body.

“Do you need any help, Patience?” Bryce asked, kindly offering to lend a hand.

Thanks, but I’ve got this.

“I appreciate the offer, Sir Bryce. I assure you that I will be all right.”

I conjured the image of the fertilizer thoroughly covering my ridge of soil and being tilled into it, then incanted with that thought fixed in my mind.

“Fertilizer, spread across my ridge and become tillage.” It was a bit embarrassing to do so, but I made sure to vocalize the spell I was casting.

The fertilizer evenly coated my ridge, and the soil worked itself, all before my eyes. Some other students also watched, completely stunned.

“You really should be in the mage track,” Ms. Makias stated. “You should still be able to use attack spells, even if your proficiency is in household magic. At least I think you can.”

Ms. Makias was once again suggesting I join the mage track, but I just wasn’t interested in casting attack spells. Since my household magic was unique, I could probably find ways to use it to attack. If the force involved in, say, splitting firewood were turned on another target... Of course, I would never direct something like that at a person.

“Here are some seeds for greater herbs,” Ms. Makias said, handing me the seeds. “These won’t grow as easily as the minor herbs. First, you have to soak the seeds in water. It’s got to be purified water. You’ve also got to water it with only purified water.”

Sounds like greater herbs are going to be tricky to cultivate.

I grabbed a beaker off of one of the shelves outside the greenhouse and cleaned it with some water. I filled it with clean water, purified that water, then began soaking the seeds.

“How long should I soak the seeds for, Ms. Makias?”

Ms. Makias let out a wicked cackle.

She’s in full old witch mode.

“That depends on your efforts,” she replied. “Once the seeds have enough mana, you can plant them.”

Does she enjoy teasing her students?

“How do you determine whether they’ve absorbed enough mana?” I asked.

I looked at the seeds, which were black and triangular.

Are they going to change somehow? Maybe they’ll swell up?

“Once they can’t absorb any more mana, they’re ready. You should already know something that simple. You should also know that watering other students’ plants does more harm than good, you softie. Don’t do it again.”

She found out that I watered Benjamin’s and the other boys’ plants! Is she clairvoyant?

“I check the greenhouses every morning,” Ms. Makias explained in response to my unspoken question. “You were the only one who came by, but some of the other ridges were damp, so I figured it out right away. Now, hurry up and start imbuing those seeds with mana. If you dillydally too long it’s going to turn into summer before you’re done, and we only have classroom lectures in the summer.”

Right. The greenhouse would get too hot in the summer, I thought, oblivious to the issues the May deadline could cause for other students.

“Listen up, everyone,” Ms. Makias said, turning to the rest of the class. “Even if your herbs wilt, you’re allowed to start over. That old coot Maverick will throw a fit if I fail too many students. You can try again, but you only have until May. After that, we’ll be moving to classroom-based lectures. If you don’t grow a suitable crop of minor herbs by then, you’ll fail. You’ll have to either give up on taking herbology or try again during the fall term. The choice is yours.”

I now understood why Caesar hadn’t been able to pass the first year of Herbology. He’d probably gotten distracted by his alchemy projects and kept forgetting to water his plants.

I switched gears and returned to working on my greater herbs. I began imbuing the black seeds inside the beaker with mana. The dark color and triangular shape reminded me of the seeds of morning glories. My mana began pouring into the seeds, and I imagined them plumping up as they soaked my mana in.

I remember planting morning glories as an elementary schooler in my previous life. After soaking the seeds overnight, the seeds got a little plumper.

“Imbue an adequate amount of mana into the seeds!” I commanded, properly reciting my orders for the spell.

Just as I’d imagined they would, the seeds grew slightly plump.

Is this enough? I can’t really tell. This is why I asked Ms. Makias what to look for! Do the other students feel like her instructions are sufficient? They must understand her, since they’re in the mage track.

“That’s good,” Ms. Makias said. “Your incantations are longer than before. I recall them being shorter. What changed?”

She’s surprisingly observant. I’m impressed.

“In order to avoid losing control of my magic, my father instructed me to avoid incantationless casting while I’m still growing.”

A stern look appeared on Ms. Makias’s face.

“What’d you do?”

“I wished for my family’s greenhouse to be more spacious. I didn’t intend to use any magic, but for some reason, the greenhouse...expanded.”

Ms. Makias was no longer worried that my issues were serious, and her smile returned.

“You’re eleven, right? Your mana capacity will indeed keep increasing while you’re going through your growth spurt. You’d better follow your father’s advice until then. In the meantime though, you should come up with some better-sounding incantations and spell names.”

We’re in agreement on that. I even think those incantations are lame.

I kept that thought to myself as I began planting my greater herb seeds.

“Once you plant the seeds, make sure you water them. Don’t forget to purify the water.”

Just to be safe, I washed the watering can before filling it with water.

“Become clean!” I chanted, purifying the water inside. I began watering the soil.

Good grief. I’m going to have to do this every day.

Once I was done, I tidied myself up with another quick “Become clean!”

I wouldn’t want to smell of fertilizer for the rest of the day.

The dorm cafeteria was in a tizzy. The students living in the dorms generally weren’t high-ranking nobles, although Princess Margaret, Prince Keith, Ralph, and Hugo were all exceptions to this. I knew that most of the students in Class C and lower-ranking nobles who didn’t have villas in Romano lived in the dorms, but I hadn’t realized there were also many students living in the dorm with families in the knighthood.

Oh, look. A bunch of students are swarming around Prince Keith.

I quickly headed up the stairs and got to my room, where I was able to finally take a breath and relax.

I still have to go to Princess Margaret’s room.

“Patience, things have gotten out of hand,” the princess said to me when I arrived. “Keith has completely blown his top.”

I sensed that when I was walking through the dining hall.

“Yes, I saw that many members of the knight club were gathered around Prince Keith.”

I was hoping that Prince Keith wouldn’t do anything stupid, but the fervor in that group had seemed a bit dangerous.

“I heard some whispers about them storming the student council... They wouldn’t actually do that, right?” Princess Margaret asked, sounding quite worried.

I really wish Prince Richard hadn’t graduated. He could’ve settled everything with a single statement. Actually, he would’ve spoken to President Hammond and strictly scolded him before things got so out of hand.

“President Rufus is partly to blame, but storming the student council will only make matters worse,” I replied.

Princess Margaret just smiled.

I have a bad feeling about this.

“Hey, Patience,” the princess began. “Richard’s plan was to have the knight club start a petition to keep the club going, right? After having both a petition and President Hammond’s resignation, President Rufus was going to consider this matter settled.”

That was what I’d heard, but things weren’t going according to the plan.

What is Percival doing right now? He should be discouraging Prince Keith from doing anything reckless.

“The members of the knight club are much more furious than Percival anticipated they would be,” the princess continued. “The situation is probably too heated to suggest starting a petition. It would be best if the idea came from Keith.” Princess Margaret was still wearing the same terrifying smile.

It’s a good idea, but who is going to bell the cat? You’re a princess, so I think the job should fall on you, Your Highness.

“Keith probably didn’t eat lunch,” Princess Margaret remarked. “We should head to the dining hall once the bell rings.”

Are you suggesting we eat dinner together? I really don’t want to eat with Prince Keith in this prickly state he’s in, but I guess I don’t have a choice.

It seemed that I would be the one to bell the angry kitty that was Prince Keith. I decided to read through the student council guidelines until the dinner bell rang.

“Isn’t it too late to be reading that?” the princess asked.

I’d borrowed Princess Margaret’s copy of the student handbook, and I’d skipped to the last section of it, where the student council guidelines were listed. Previously, I’d quickly read through the sections covering the general school rules and dorm rules, but I hadn’t bothered to read any of the student council guidelines until now. I didn’t have much time until dinner, so I only read the guidelines that pertained to clubs.

I see. There’s a rule that mandates clubs with fewer than five members will be dissolved. That’s why Caesar was so desperate to get me to join.

Since I really didn’t have time, I was reading the rules that specifically mentioned the dissolution of clubs. The rule that was relevant to the current situation with the knight club was the following: “A club that interferes with and causes detriment to another club’s activities will be dissolved.”

There’s another rule under that one that’s really bad!

I quickly pointed out the rule that had caught my eye to the princess.

“Oh, my! This is quite troublesome. The knight club may cease to exist until the end of time.”

The rule stated that clubs that conspired to cause harm to other students would be permanently dissolved. At this rate, Prince Keith was going to conspire with other students to storm the student council. If he didn’t calm down now, things were going to get even worse.

“Yes, I agree,” I responded. “The knight club is a storied institution of this academy. If the club were to be permanently dissolved, I’m sure alumni in the knights’ order would be outraged. Even my cousin, Lord Salius, said he would punch President Hammond himself. The knights’ order seems to be full of hotheaded people.”

Princess Margaret and I discussed how we should proceed.

“First, we’ll have dinner with Keith and his friends,” the princess said. “The other riled-up members of the knight club will have to go sit down and have dinner separately. That way, we’ll at least get some food in them. Being hungry only leads to more irritation.”

Princess Margaret was going to handle inviting Prince Keith to eat with us, which was a relief. Still, that wasn’t going to be the difficult part.

“In that case, you will be suggesting to Prince Keith that they start a petition to keep the knight club going?”

Princess Margaret just smiled.

Wait, are you serious? You want me to do it?!

“Please wait one moment,” I said. “I’m going to read through the guidelines.”

Is there anything written here about petitions? I thought as I flipped through the pages.

“Petitions... ‘Students who are dissatisfied with decisions made by the student council may submit a petition, which shall include more than half of the student body’s signatures. Once the petition is submitted, the student council shall consider the matter noted in the petition and decide whether the decision will be overturned.’”

So they have to get more than half of all the students to sign? That sounds like a lot of work.

“More than half is going to be difficult,” the princess remarked. “First off, the mage-track students won’t sign. Neither will the members of the riding club. If Percival himself collects the signatures, he may be able to get students in the home ec track to sign. Keith may be able to get most of the junior division students to sign. That leaves the civil service track. A lot of the students in that track never liked the knight club. They might not get the signatures they need.”

I thought about the music club. Percival could likely get the girls to sign, but he probably wouldn’t be able to persuade the boys.

Our discussions had made the time pass, and the dinner bell was already ringing.

“All right then. Let’s go settle everyone down,” the princess declared.

The two of us headed down to the dining hall. The commotion hadn’t settled at all, and the students who’d just arrived to eat dinner seemed to be at a loss for what to do.

Princess Margaret straightened her back and stood tall as she made her way toward Prince Keith, who was in the middle of all the ruckus. Though the members of the knight club were all agitated, they still noticed the intimidating presence of the first princess and made way for her.

Wow, she’s like Moses parting the Red Sea, I thought as I followed behind. We’re surrounded by walls of people! This is terrifying!

“Keith, let’s eat dinner together,” Princess Margaret said. “You should both join as well,” she said to Ralph and Hugo.

For a brief moment, an irritated look that said This isn’t the time for that flashed across Prince Keith’s face, but he quickly gave in to Princess Margaret’s powerful gaze.

“Yes, sister,” Prince Keith replied.

One after another, we grabbed our trays, got in line to be served food, and took our seats at a table.

“Eat before you do anything else, Keith,” Princess Margaret ordered.

Prince Keith seemed displeased to be powerless against his sister’s intimidating stare, but after taking a bite, he proceeded to inhale the rest of his meal. Judging from the way Ralph and Hugo were both chowing down, they’d probably also skipped lunch.

Growing boys have such impressive appetites. I’m not even hungry right now.

“Would you like this as well?” I said, offering a dish I hadn’t touched.

“I’m fine,” Prince Keith insisted, his eyes firmly locked on my food. “I ate already.”

“Eat mine as well, Keith,” the princess ordered, offering her own plate to Keith as well. “You mustn’t skip lunch. If you won’t eat, I will be speaking to mother about this.”

“Please keep this a secret from mother,” Prince Keith replied, taking his sister’s plate and eating it.

“I’m sure you’re both hungry as well,” I said, offering my plate to Ralph and Hugo instead. “Please take this and split it in half.”

Ralph and Hugo were both upper-class nobles, so they’d had proper etiquette drilled into them from a young age. They first declined my offer, stating they wouldn’t dare take a lady’s meal from her. But Prince Keith was already right there, eating Princess Margaret’s food. I went ahead and gave each of the boys half of my food. I was used to doing this, since I’d given my younger brothers my serving of ham for a long time.

Princess Margaret shot me a look that commanded, Talk about the petition! It seemed that it was indeed going to be my job to bring it up. I felt that Princess Margaret was better suited for the task, so I looked back at her, begging for mercy. The princess just tapped her shoe against mine, urging me to speak up.

I guess I’m not getting any mercy today.

I pulled out the student handbook, which I’d folded and stashed in the pocket of my jacket. It was Princess Margaret’s copy, and since I couldn’t fit it in my pocket without bending it, I’d gotten her permission to treat it so roughly.

“Prince Keith, please take a look at this rule in the student council guidelines,” I said.

I was a coward, so I’d decided to let Prince Keith read the student council guidelines and bell himself. I’d even underlined the rule in question from him.

The specifics don’t matter as long as we get the results we wanted, right?

“Ralph! Hugo!” Prince Keith exclaimed. “If we start a petition and collect the signatures of over half of the student body, we can overturn the student council’s decision!”

Finally! What took so long? What were Ralph and Hugo doing all this time? The same goes for Percival!

“Let’s collect those signatures, Prince Keith!” Ralph replied.

The princess and I had done our job of setting the stage, so our role in this kerfuffle had come to an end.

Man, I sure am hungry. I wasn’t hungry during lunch, so I only ate half of my meal.

“Lady Margaret, why don’t we check with the dining hall staff and see if there are any leftovers,” I suggested.

The members of the knight club who’d finished eating had all left with Prince Keith to gather in his dorm and prepare the petition. Now that things had calmed down, the students who’d been too afraid to come to the dining hall were finally eating dinner.

“Would they even have leftovers?” Princess Margaret wondered.

Though she was dubious whether we’d actually get food, she must have been quite hungry, because she was already holding a tray.

“Excuse me, are there any leftovers from dinner?” I asked.

The women working at the dining hall appeared to have seen the commotion from earlier.

“We sure do,” one of the cafeteria ladies replied. “No one asked for seconds, so we’ve got leftovers.”

I hadn’t known that we were allowed to ask for seconds.

That makes sense. A pip-squeak like Patience may get full off of one serving, but that amount of food wouldn’t be enough for a fifteen-year-old boy in the knight track.

Princess Margaret and I completed our mission of securing food, and we sat down for a proper dinner.

“Wasn’t there a single member of the knight club who bothered to read the student council guidelines?” the princess remarked.

I thought the same thing, but it’s too late to be worrying about that now.

“I’m wondering whether they will actually be able to obtain the signatures they need,” I replied.

It seemed like they had a chance at success, but this whole situation had caused many students to resent the knight club.

“Just what is Percival doing?” the princess huffed.

Percival wasn’t living in the dorms, so perhaps he was visiting the students who commuted from home to get them on his side.

“Perhaps he decided that it was best for Prince Keith to start the petition,” I said. “I think he will be working behind the scenes to persuade others to sign.”

I thought back to the rules I’d read earlier and found myself nervous about something.

“Um, is it all right that the music club is technically interfering with the glee club’s performance for the Festival of Verdure?” I asked.

“We aren’t interfering whatsoever,” Princess Margaret said with an elegant smile. “We are just supplying them with wonderful music. Didn’t the guidelines state that clubs that cause detriment to others are in trouble?”

Are we really in the clear? President Albert has been offering a lot of support to the glee club ever since they split from the choir club. I can’t imagine Albert doing this all out of the kindness of his heart. I’m a bit worried.

“Um, do you think the choir club will lodge a complaint against us? They may think it’s unfair for the music club to be providing the glee club songs.”

Princess Margaret tilted her head as she thought for a moment.

“Now that you mention it, Albert is quite kind to the glee club. Even if his kindness allowed for the music club to perform a greater number of new pieces, it’s a bit suspicious.” It seemed that the princess also found it strange for Albert to be so generous to others. Until now, she’d been too preoccupied with the fact that she’d get to hear a wider variety of new compositions. “Regardless, we’re fine as long as our actions aren’t detrimental to another club. I’m sure there are other clubs that collaborate on activities.”

Are there? I’ve never been interested in the activities of most clubs, so I don’t really know much about that.

It appeared that the knight club had begun collecting signatures for their petition. Princess Margaret and I both obliged Prince Keith’s request and signed the petition. All that we could do now was to wish them the best and cheer them on.

My classes for Tuesday were geography, foreign language, sewing, and weaving. I wouldn’t be anywhere near the mage track courses. I also had music club after school. I’d be with Princess Margaret in foreign language and sewing.

At lunch, Princess Margaret and I talked about our gowns that we were making for sewing class. Beside us were Prince Keith and his friends, who were passionately discussing their efforts to collect signatures.

I’m glad we have this buffer zone of two seats between us.

I didn’t really have to be concerned though, because the princess and I had already signed the petition. They didn’t need us, so we were being completely ignored.

In sewing class, I did my best to focus and not unconsciously use household magic, which was quite difficult. I started by taking my cut pieces of fabric and basting them together. I then tried my gown on to see if it fit me correctly.

Yeah, this is too big.

I was not only younger than my classmates, but Patience’s body was just small, even for her age.

I wonder if my height is a result of nutritional deficiencies or genetics. My father’s skinny but pretty tall.

I tried to recall what my mother looked like. My memories of her were from when Patience was still quite young, so she seemed quite tall. However, going through memories where my parents were standing next to each other, it seemed that perhaps she wasn’t necessarily of a tall stature.

Since I was short, if the skirt of my gown flared out too much, it would make me look young. I needed to be careful of the layers in the petticoat I was going to wear under my gown. I didn’t want to look like I’d stepped out of the Victorian era.

I pinned the places on my gown that were too wide, and Ms. Cameron helped. It definitely wasn’t something I could do on my own.

“You may want to leave a large seam allowance,” Ms. Cameron suggested. “Since you’re still growing, it’s possible that you may outgrow the gown. Oh, but if you adjusted it later on, the pattern may no longer line up.”

If that happens, I can just fix it with household magic. That’s right, I’m clearly defining when I will intentionally use my magic!

I shouldn’t have been thinking about such things when I had Princess Margaret to worry about.

“You mustn’t cut there, Lady Margaret!” I cautioned.

The moment I took my eyes off her, the princess found something reckless to do. She was about to cut along the line that defined the finished hem. If she didn’t leave room for a seam allowance, the skirt would end up too short.

Wait, the skirt already seems too short.

“Did you compare the length of the paper pattern to your own body?” I asked the princess. The look on her face suggested she hadn’t.

Did she even pick the right size for the paper pattern?

“I’m glad I stopped you just in time,” I remarked. “At this rate, your gown would’ve ended up being a knee-length dress.”

Princess Margaret was both taller and older than me, so her gown needed to have a longer skirt to be appropriate.

“My, I’m glad you caught that,” the princess said. “I’d want the gown to cover my calves at the very least.”

Sewing was an exhausting class. Princess Margaret eventually finished cutting out the pieces of her gown, so I gave her instructions on what to do during the section of sewing she was taking alone.

“You will use this basting thread to sew these pieces together,” I explained. “You must first start with the darts, then you will seam the edges of the skirt together. After that, you’ll seam the front and back pieces together. Finally, you’ll sew the skirt onto the bodice.”

There’s no use in explaining this. She isn’t getting it.

There were too many students doing an awful job, so Ms. Cameron wasn’t able to give the princess any extra attention. She was running around the class scolding students who were making mistakes and showing them how to attach extra fabric.

“Lady Margaret, you will be using the basting thread to sew the areas labeled one and two together,” I said, writing numbers onto the back side of her fabric with some tailor’s chalk. “Then, you’ll sew line three to line four. You’ll do the same thing on the other side of the skirt with lines five and six.”

“All I have to do is follow the numbers!” Princess Margaret said with excitement.

She finally gets it! This should help avoid any disasters.

“Once you are done with that, I will explain the rest,” I said.

It seemed like it would be for the best if I didn’t pass sewing, but I had a feeling that I would get a certificate of completion once my polka-dot dress was done.

What am I going to do then?

I continued my efforts to avoid household magic in weaving. I had a good time weaving with the other beginners, all of our looms making satisfying clanking sounds.

Working with my hands is so nice!

I was using different colors in the warp threads as well to weave a checkered fabric. My grainlines were becoming quite even.

“See you later, Patience!” my classmates said.

“Bye, Lily! Bye, Sophia! Bye, Hannah!” I replied.

With that casual farewell, we split up.

This is nice. Since I was a commoner in my previous life, laid-back interactions like this are much more comfortable for me. I prefer saying “bye” over “good day.”

The music club was a world of “good day” and “how do you do.” Today, I would be working with Samuel and the others to finish up the songs we were giving to the glee club. I wasn’t great at the lute yet, so I was going to leave that to Samuel and his friends to handle.

I arrived at the music club with Princess Margaret, and for some strange reason, there was tension in the room.

“Like I said, I won’t be signing any such petition,” President Albert grumbled. “Go on, leave already!”

Albert was kicking out members of the knight club who were trying to gather signatures.

“But at this rate, the storied knight club will be dissolved...” one member of the knight club pointed out.

Despite the students’ efforts, neither President Albert nor the other boys in music club seemed willing to sign. Also, perhaps it was mean to say this, but brutish boys like these weren’t very popular with the girls either. They should’ve sent a handsome boy like Percival, or someone cute like Prince Keith.

President Albert kicked those boys out of here. I wonder if they’re also visiting other clubs to get signatures. They need to be more careful. Otherwise, they’re just going to make people hate the knight club even more.

“Let’s move on,” President Albert declared. “Samuel, Daniel, Valdische, and Klaus will be handling the arrangements of the pieces. Patience, I’d like you to describe the idea behind each song to me. I’d like to base the lyrics off of a song’s concept.”

It appeared that they weren’t going to leave my songs as hanon pieces but instead add accompaniments for lutes, flutes, and percussion. It was going to be quite the production.

“I believe you will understand the concept behind each song after listening to it,” I replied. “More importantly, have you settled on a plot for the production?”

President Albert pulled out several sheets of paper.

“I think we should do this one, Aurelius and Cassienne. The name is a bit long, though, so we will change it to something a bit more euphonious.”

This was a famous classical work that featured a tragic love story. It was similar to Romeo and Juliet in that it was a story of two people from opposing families falling in love. President Albert planned to change up the story and simplify it.

“It’s going to be called Alec and Eliza?” I asked, looking at the papers. “That’s a very short title. Wait...it has a happy ending?!”

The classic tragedy had been completely changed to have a happy ending. Was this really all right?

“If there’s going to be singing and dancing, it makes more sense for the story to have a happy ending,” President Albert argued. “The show will end on a high note, which means the performers will receive more applause. I also believe the theater club will have tragedies covered. They’re probably going to pick something gloomy for their performance.”

Princess Margaret was also furrowing her brows as she read through the outline.

“You’ve turned a famous and tragic tale of love into a trite romance,” the princess remarked. “Is this really all right with you?”

President Albert continued to insist that everything was good.

“More importantly, you mentioned that you know someone in dance club, didn’t you, Lady Margaret?” Albert said, changing the subject. “Do you think they would help with choreographing the show? It would be even better if some of them would participate as background dancers.”

Albert really is fervently trying to help the glee club. Something stinks about this!

“I don’t mind talking to them, but just what are you thinking, Albert? It’s strange for you to be so kind.”

Yeah, I agree.

“Nothing is strange. I’m simply friends with the president of the club, Marcus...”

“You’d better tell us what your plan is, President Albert!” Rupert demanded, closing the distance between Albert and himself.

“How rude of you, Rupert. Like I said, my friend Marcus is the president of the glee club, so I’m just trying to provide them with some new songs they can perform.”

That would have been believable coming from any other student. But in the case of President Albert, who loved nothing but music, it sounded incredibly shady that he would do anything for a friend.

“How long have you been ‘friends’ with Marcus?” Rupert asked, beginning to interrogate Albert. “I know you two are classmates, but you used to make fun of him for being in the choir club. Wait... Were you the one to suggest to Marcus that he split from the choir club and create the glee club?”

That totally sounds possible. Albert was really mad when the music club was arguing with the choir club during last year’s Festival of Verdure.

“Marcus was fed up with the choir club and how they continue singing antiquated songs,” Albert argued. “He also kept complaining that the male students were the minority in the choir club and that they didn’t have any say as to what goes on in the club. I simply gave him the friendly advice to create a new club if he was upset.”

Everyone held their head in their hands.

“Albert, if the choir club finds out about this, we’re going to be in the same situation as the knight club,” Princess Margaret said.

Despite the princess’s words, President Albert maintained his brazen attitude.

“I haven’t done anything wrong. Marcus decided on his own to start the glee club. And besides, that isn’t a bad thing, is it?”

It was difficult to tell whether Marcus had only created the glee club because of what Albert had said, or if he’d been unhappy for a while and that had simply been the final push he’d needed. Regardless, if the choir club found out, they would definitely resent the music club.

“Because of this incident with the knight club, everyone has become more aware of the student council guidelines,” Princess Margaret pointed out. “This is something that absolutely mustn’t be discussed outside of this room.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Never meddle with others like this again, Albert,” the princess said sternly to our president.

Though her tone was harsh, it was unclear whether Albert had actually understood her.

The aftereffects of this storm have been terrible.

The knight club was having a harder time collecting signatures than Princess Margaret and I had anticipated. Many of the boys who weren’t in the knight track had refused to sign their petition.

“Most of the students in the knight track are already in the knight club, but they don’t make up a majority of the student body,” Princess Margaret remarked.

Year 1 Class A of the senior division had five students enrolled in the knight track, and I’d figured that there would be more of them in Class B and Class C.

“I didn’t know that the sons of chevaliers don’t all enroll in the knight track,” I commented. “I had no idea that there were more of them in the civil service course.”

This revelation showed me that Prince Keith’s class, which had enrolled in the academy last year, was irregular in comparison to the rest of the academy. Most years, the civil service track would be the most popular among students. A majority of female students enrolled in the home economics track, which made it the second most popular. After that, the mage track and the knight track were competing for third place.

I’m surprised that the mage track is so popular. There’s barely any students from Class A enrolled in it, so I’d assumed it was the least popular.

“I get it now,” I muttered. “Those tracks must be popular because you can get all sorts of certifications, like novice apothecary, novice alchemist, and novice court mage.”

Many of the students in Class C, which was made up of non-nobles, chose either the civil service track to become a bureaucrat or the mage track, which provided opportunities to obtain certifications.

That’s right—becoming a knight is something that nobles do. It must be rare for a commoner to aim to join the knighthood. They probably need to be incredibly skilled to even consider it.

“Whether girls will sign the petition probably depends on the club they’re in,” Princess Margaret said. “Those in riding club or magic club definitely won’t sign. Girls who are in theater club, choir club, and surprisingly those in athletic clubs are also judging the knight club. They’ve apparently been upset that the knight club has always gotten special treatment.”

I think you underestimated the severity of this situation, Prince Richard. At this rate, it’s going to be difficult for the knight club to start up again.

Though I’d been worried, the knight club hadn’t just been twiddling their thumbs this entire time. They’d gathered Percival and the other pretty faces in the club and collected a bunch of signatures from the girls in the home economics track. Prince Keith had also worked hard to collect plenty of signatures from students in the junior division. Of course, some students still refused to sign, but those who didn’t care either way had gone ahead and added their signatures to the petition. Thanks to their efforts, the knight club had managed to collect more than half of the student body’s signatures—I’d learned that since Prince Keith had been talking about it in high spirits over lunch.

I’m so glad!

The student council reviewed the situation, and after both President Hammond and Mr. Cuthbert agreed to step down from their roles as club president and faculty advisor, the knight club was finally back.

Good grief! It’s finally over!

It was decided that Razmond Sussex would be the new president of the knight club.

I’ve never heard of him. I kind of assumed that Percival would be the president, but I guess I was wrong.

Prince Keith complained that President Razmond was stricter toward junior division students than President Hammond had been. I felt a little sorry for the prince, but a tough president was better than one that sucked up to royalty.

This new president doesn’t seem like he’ll try to take advantage of Prince Keith, so he’s good in my eyes!

“I wonder why Percival didn’t become the president,” Princess Margaret mused.

It appeared she’d thought the same thing I had.

“Perhaps it was because he is only a second-year student,” I suggested. “It could also be that the knight club is a meritocracy, so the strongest member becomes the president.”

Percival had been the main figure working behind the scenes on this matter. The only involvement he had on the surface was helping to collect signatures.

Percival is quite strange.

Such a thought had crossed my mind on Saturday, when Percival visited—accompanying Lord Salius, of course.

After they gave my brothers sword-fighting lessons, I invited them to have tea. Today I served egg salad sandwiches and strawberry sandwiches. I’d been summoned to the palace on Friday to discuss the situation with the knight club, where I’d received some heavy cream.

“Thank you, Patience,” Lord Salius said.

I didn’t feel that I deserved his gratitude, since I’d just been milling around the whole time. The whole situation had been quite troublesome, though, so I still appreciated his words.

“Thanks to your efforts, we’ve managed to keep the knight club going, Lady Patience,” Percival said. “I also believe the club is in good hands with President Razmond.”

Huh? He’s talking as if he’s going to leave the club.

“Are you really going to switch to the civil service track?” Lord Salius asked. “I guess you don’t really have a choice, since you’re Count Moeran’s heir.”

Wait, he is? In that case, why was he working so hard to save the knight club?

“I expect to complete my credits for the knight track in the spring term, so I will be in the civil service track starting in the fall term,” Percival explained. “I’m going to be your underclassman, Lady Patience.”

Percival gave me a breezy smile, and my brain was still trying to catch up to the situation.

“But you were so concerned with the knight club, Sir Percival,” I pointed out.

“I won’t be quitting the knight club,” Percival clarified. “But I did take myself out of the running for club president, since a student in the civil service track wouldn’t be chosen. I also won’t be joining the knights’ order. I’m going to continue my education at Romano University and aim to become a diplomatic official.”

“That makes sense, since Count Moeran is the minister of foreign affairs,” Lord Salius remarked. “It’s unfortunate. You would’ve made a good knight.”

I’m sure Percival will make a brilliant diplomat, I thought, only for Percival to invite me to join him the very next moment.

“You are also in the civil service track, right, Lady Patience? What do you think of entering the diplomatic service? Are you interested in foreign countries?”

Wait, a diplomat?! That was my dream job in my previous life! It seemed difficult, so I’d given up on it. I would love to travel to other countries!

“Hey, stop trying to recruit our cousin,” Lord Salius chimed in. “Being a diplomatic official sounds like a tough job. I’m sure Patience will make an excellent wife. Both these kinds of sandwiches are delicious, and the cake you served us last time was also delectable.”

I appreciated Lord Salius’s compliments, but my family couldn’t afford to pay a dowry. Perhaps there was someone out there who would take an impoverished viscount’s daughter as their wife, but I’d prefer to have a say in my partner.

Even if Percival himself couldn’t become the club president, he still cared enough about the club that he didn’t want to continue activities under a president he couldn’t respect.

I can understand why. He does seem like a proud guy. I think he’ll do great working under Prince Richard. I’m happy for him.

The storm caused by the actions of the knight club had passed, so now I wanted to focus on making money through alchemy club. I had no idea whether I’d actually be able to obtain patents, but I had to try, because the Granger family needed money.

Don’t worry, my angels! Your big sister is going to work hard for you two!

END

Side Story: Ralph’s Tribulations as a Royal’s Schoolmate

My name is Ralph Mackenzie, and I am the second son of a marquess. Though I was born into nobility, as the second son, I had no right to inherit the Mackenzie title and estate. Because of that, from a young age I’d been determined to do what I could on my own! And so, I did my best to study and learn sword fighting.

My older brother, who would be succeeding my father, seemed to be under a lot of pressure. It was possible that being the second son was actually easier.

“You will be in the same grade as the second prince, His Highness Keith,” my father announced. “That is why you must work hard to study, so that you may be chosen as his schoolmate!”

Around the time that I turned eight, my father strongly urged me to become particularly close to Prince Keith. As a result, my tutors for both academics and sword fighting became a lot stricter.

Perhaps it was the fruit of my labor, but I succeeded in becoming Prince Keith’s schoolmate, along with Hugo.

Before we enrolled in the Royal Academy, it was decided that Prince Keith would be moving into the dorms. I’d been under the assumption that, like all the royals before him, Prince Keith would be commuting to school from the palace, so this news was shocking.

“We’d like to move into the dorms with you as well, Prince Keith!” Hugo and I immediately said.

It appeared that our decision was for the best.

“Thanks, you two!” Prince Keith exclaimed. “I have no idea why my father ordered such a thing, but I have no choice other than to obey him.”

As sons of nobles, Hugo and I were also in no position to disobey our fathers. However, in Prince Keith’s case, disobeying his father meant disobeying the king. Anything the prince’s father said was basically a royal command.

Hugo and I were both confused when we heard that Prince Richard, who would be graduating in a year, was also moving into the dorm.

“My brother will be fine, but I feel bad that even Margaret has to move into the dorms,” Prince Keith lamented. “Not only that, but...none of her friends are moving into the dorms with her!”

That’s interesting.

Princess Margaret’s friends were noble ladies who were also noble supremacists. I knew that because I had a distinct memory of my father being displeased that she’d chosen such girls as her schoolmates. Hugo and I decided that we would behave in a manner befitting the schoolmates of Prince Keith.

Enrolling in the Royal Academy and living in the dorms with Prince Keith turned out to be a lot more freeing than I’d expected. There was just one issue—my father had driven it into me that I shouldn’t get good grades in subjects that were difficult for Prince Keith, such as classical literature and history. That made me a bit sad.

Other than that one issue, it was easy being Prince Keith’s friend. He was an honest and decent person.

Another issue arose later. For some reason, Prince Keith began to see Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid, Patience Granger, as a rival of some sort. That was something else we had to be careful about.

At the beginning of the year, Prince Keith seemed to be interested in our classmate Louise, but she was definitely a bad choice. Both Hugo and I initially thought she was perfect as well. She was beautiful, smart, and gifted with proficiency in light magic. All that together made her potentially the perfect princess for Prince Keith, but we quickly realized that she wouldn’t do well as a royal.

We worried that Prince Keith had romantic feelings for her, but he quickly noticed on his own that she gave dirty looks to lower-class nobles.

“Louise is just like my sister’s friends!” Prince Keith exclaimed.

Hugo and I were relieved to hear that. Though it wasn’t as important of a position as Prince Richard’s wife, Prince Keith’s future wife would become an important figure in the Kingdom of Lawrence.

I definitely don’t want a mean noble supremacist to become a princess.

We entered our second year in the junior division, and the girl on Keith’s mind was Patience Granger. During summer vacation the previous year, she’d been invited to vacation with the royal family at the summer palace. According to what I’d heard, Prince Keith had had a good time with her there.

Becoming the princess consort to the second prince sounded like too much of a burden for a viscount’s daughter, but my father had let it slip that he would be happy to adopt Patience into our family. My father’s comment suggested that everyone recognized Patience as a skilled noble lady handpicked by the queen to be Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid.

Well, everyone but those three dumb friends of Her Highness knows that!

Eventually, those foolish friends of the princess were dismissed from being Her Highness’s schoolmates. They’d gone too far in their mocking of Patience, and Princess Margaret chose Patience over those three girls.

Of course she did! That’s obviously the correct choice!

After that incident, Hugo and I both learned a terrifying truth: It was incredibly easy to be forsaken by the royal family.

Patience was smart. As if she were showing off her intelligence, she brilliantly skipped ahead to the senior division.

“I could’ve done that as well, if it weren’t for classical literature and history!” Prince Keith complained. “If only I was in the senior division! Then I could have entered the competition during the Festival of Verdure!”

This is bad!

Last year, Prince Keith had also complained that he wanted to participate in the competition, but Prince Richard, who’d been the student council president, had sternly put the second prince in his place. The president of the knight club, President Eric, had also been quite strict.

However, President Hammond was now in charge of the knight club, and he was trying to curry favor with Prince Keith. It was the junior division students’ job to take care of the club’s horses, but President Hammond had forced that responsibility onto the riding club. Things weren’t looking good.

Perhaps I should be discussing this with Percival? But I’ve heard from father that he’s going to switch from the knight track to the civil service track. According to what I’d heard, Percival was the son of the minister of foreign affairs, so he couldn’t become a knight.

The questionable actions of President Hammond continued, and eventually the student council declared that the knight club was to be dissolved as a punishment for forcing the riding club and magic club to handle cleaning duties and participate in training.

Hugo and I were both surprised that the situation actually reached this point, but our reaction was nothing in comparison to Prince Keith’s. He became the leader among the furious members of the knight club.

The person who calmed this storm was Patience. She suggested to Prince Keith that the knight club gather signatures and petition the student council to reverse their decision.

Prince Richard had been pulling strings behind the scenes because he wasn’t happy that President Hammond had been spoiling Prince Keith. Regardless, the knight club once again became a proper club, and I didn’t have to reconsider my educational path.

Despite the fact that things had settled down, for some reason, my stomach hurt. Whenever I saw Prince Keith and Patience together, I felt like I was sitting on thorns.

I spent my days getting together with Hugo, venting to each other. Though we were grateful she’d come up with the idea that helped bring back the knight club, we really wished she wouldn’t irritate Prince Keith and his romantic feelings for her by getting involved with the alchemy club.

Bonus Story: Caesar and the Promising Newcomer

My name is Caesar Burns, and I am the eldest son of Duke Burns. Had I not been the firstborn, I could’ve dedicated my entire life to alchemy! But alas, I couldn’t just benefit from the privileges I had been born with—I also had duties to fulfill.

Though I’d been aware of my responsibilities, I’d let myself dream for just a moment. If I could just discuss alchemy with that girl, and if we could work together, pushing each other to greater heights... Such thoughts had been on my mind because the alchemy club was on the brink of dissolution.

Upon entering the senior division, I’d been appointed as the president of the alchemy club. Yet, I couldn’t be entirely excited about this promotion, because my beloved club was on the verge of dissolution! That was because student council guidelines stipulated that clubs with fewer than five members would be forced to disband.

Just complaining about this rule wouldn’t help to get us more members. I decided to work hard on the club showcase for the Festival of Verdure with two of my fellow club members: Arthur, who was in my class, and Benjamin, a third-year junior division student.

“The motor-powered fan is such a revolutionary magical instrument,” I said dejectedly.

We’d all been planning to use this showcase to enlighten the fools at this academy and recruit some new members to our club.

“If they would just take a look, I’m sure they would see how incredible it is...” Arthur lamented.

“No one is stopping in,” Benjamin pointed out.

They were both hanging their heads. It was after lunch, and we still hadn’t had any students stop by to look at our showcase. I was also a bit dispirited.

It was then that I heard a female student’s voice coming down the hallway. This was our fateful meeting.

“Oh, it looks like this is the alchemy club.”

Our visitor was a tiny little girl. She was with Prince Keith, so she had to be a first year in the junior division. It would be lovely if she were to join right away.

I later searched the first-year classes in the junior division, but I never found her, so I just tried recruiting other students instead.

It was a new school year, and the upperclassmen in the alchemy club had graduated. Our club now only had three members. Things were incredibly dire!

“Things with the magic club are quite tumultuous right now,” Benjamin explained. “They’re being taken advantage of by the knight club, so there are probably lots of people who are unhappy with the club!”

Benjamin was working to convince his classmates in the magic club to join alchemy club.

I wish him the best of luck!

I’d also been desperately looking for new members, but the mere mention of alchemy club was enough to make people avoid me.

It was amid all these troubles that I had an unexpected reunion.

Last year, I’d made a mistake with my course registration and had forgotten to take dance, which was a mandatory subject. Despite being in my second year of the senior division, I was going to be in the first-years’ class! It was a bit embarrassing, but these were the unavoidable consequences of my own mistake.

I need to just pick a partner and get a certificate of completion, I thought, scanning the classroom. Then, I spotted her—the female student who had stopped by the club during the Festival of Verdure.

My luck is turning around!

The girl was slightly taller than she’d been last year, and though she was previously gaunt, she’d now become a bit cuter.

Wait, wasn’t she in the same grade as Prince Keith? Well, she’s clearly younger looking than the other female students here. She probably skipped ahead to the senior division! She must be intelligent!

“Hey, you’re the girl who stopped by during the Festival of Verdure.” I tried to speak to her in a casual manner. My tone didn’t matter because more importantly, she seemed to have forgotten me. “I’ve been waiting for you ever since, but you’ve never stopped by again. I’m so disappointed. I don’t even know your name, so I couldn’t look for you and recruit you.”

Oh, it looks like she finally remembers me.

“Um, if I remember correctly, you were the president of the alchemy club, Sir Burns,” she said. “This is a class for senior division first-years.”

Ha ha, how embarrassing! I thought while pushing her to become my partner.

“Don’t worry, I’m good at dancing,” I reassured her. “I really am. I just forgot to register for the class last year, that’s all.”

She still seemed suspicious of me, but she took my hand regardless, so I led us in the dance.

See? I told you I was good! You got your certificate of completion. I’m going to use this to try to get her to feel obligated to repay me!

I waited outside the classroom and caught her as she was leaving.

“So, what’s your surname?” I asked.

“My full name is Patience Granger,” she replied. “I’m going to sit in on the alchemy lecture, and if it seems possible for me to take, I’m going to register for the class. I’ll consider joining the alchemy club after that.”

Hm? Isn’t that Prince Keith and his two schoolmates? I thought, looking at the group coming down the hall. The prince looked upset. Does he like this girl? I’m only inviting her to alchemy club. That’s all.

“Understood,” I said. I immediately turned around and left.

It sounded like the girl argued with Prince Keith after that.

Was that some sort of lovers’ quarrel?

It seemed that fate kept bringing Patience and me together.

I was on my way to the clubhouse when I spotted Patience, who appeared to be looking for something.

Isn’t she in the music club? It seems like she’s looking for a different club. Could it be the alchemy club she’s looking for?

“Hm, I don’t see a sign for the handicraft club,” she muttered to herself. “I wonder if it’s on the second floor.”

How unfortunate! Alas, she was not looking for alchemy club.

“Oh, Patience! Are you finally joining the alchemy club?” I asked.

“No, I’m looking for the handicraft club. Is it on the second floor?”

That’s great for me! Both the handicraft club and alchemy club are in the same building!

“All the clubs that make stuff are in the building behind this one. What a perfect opportunity this is! The handicraft club is right next to the alchemy club.”

I led her to the handicraft club’s room, and unfortunately for her, it looked like they weren’t meeting today.

“Thank you very much for showing me the way,” she said. She seemed to be in low spirits.

“Aren’t you in the music club?” I asked.

I remember that music-loving idiot Albert was raving about Patience’s genius in homeroom. If I recall correctly, he called her a “goddess of music.”

“Yes, I am currently in the music club. I need to head over soon.”

According to others, Patience had a gift for music, but it seemed that she didn’t want to go to music club.

This might just be my opportunity to recruit her!

“What kind of person does an extracurricular that puts that kind of look on their face? If you don’t like it, just quit.”

“I agree. I’m planning to quit.”

Does this mean we’ve secured a new member?

“You’re always welcome to join the alchemy club,” I said, pushing to recruit her.

“As I’ve said before, I’ll think about it if I have the talent for it. I’m only proficient in household magic, so I might not be able to do alchemy.”

Is Patience just really cautious, or does she lack confidence?

I was somewhat knowledgeable when it came to magic, and I sensed a massive amount of mana within Patience. Could she really only use household spells?

“I feel a lot more magical energy coming from you than I would expect for a user of household magic. My intuition tells me that you’d be great at alchemy. Oh! If you’re going to take alchemy, you should also take the magic circles course.”

For now, I’ll encourage her to take both alchemy and magic circles. I hope she becomes interested in the subjects.

“Thank you for the information,” she replied.

Patience is quite the proper girl. No wonder she’s Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid.

Benjamin had worked quite hard to recruit Patience into alchemy club. On top of that, it looked like Bryce, who was in the magic club, would be joining us as well.

“I’ve managed to set up an opportunity for us to talk to Patience, Sir Caesar!” Benjamin reported.

According to Benjamin, Patience was interested in our club, but not enough to have decided to join.

In that case, we’ll just have to go for a direct approach!

“We’ll be able to speak to Patience on Thursday in the dining hall,” Benjamin explained.

“Huh? I thought Patience usually has lunch with Princess Margaret in the salon?”

That said, Princess Margaret is rumored to be as fervent in her love of music as Albert is. It’s probably for the best that we speak somewhere she won’t see us.

That Thursday, we were at the dining hall. I’d never been here before, so it was an educational experience for me.

“There you are, Patience,” Benjamin called out to her. “You’re late.”

All right, how do we get food here?

“You grab a tray and get in line,” Patience explained.

“Right, the cafeteria doesn’t have any waiters,” I remarked. “What an interesting place.”

The food was plentiful, and it didn’t taste too bad either.

“That was pretty good,” I said upon finishing my meal. “I also like that it took less time than eating upstairs.”

Benjamin and I had finished our meals in an instant. Patience eventually finished her food as well, and Benjamin returned our trays for us. I wanted to use this time to recruit Patience into alchemy club.

“So, Patience,” I began. “I’ve heard that you want to join the alchemy club, but you can’t because you’re busy with your duties as Princess Margaret’s lady’s maid.”

A troubled look washed over Patience’s face.

Am I wrong?

“That day you showed me where the handicraft club was, I was actually planning on stepping down from serving Princess Margaret, so I’d also planned on quitting the music club too. However, since I will be continuing to serve her, I want to do my job properly...”

What? She was going to quit serving the princess? Could she even do that? Wasn’t she specially appointed by Queen Victoria?

“I see. You’re a good lady’s maid, Patience. That said, you aren’t attending this academy to become a lady’s maid, right? If you’re busy after school, you can come to alchemy club whenever you’re free.”

Truthfully, I wanted her to be at the club every day, but even just twice a week was a lot for some clubs. If she couldn’t quit music club, she could probably only manage to come when she was free.

“If it’s truly all right that I don’t participate after school,” she conceded.

We did it!

“Really? We’re happy to have you,” I said with a beaming smile. “So, when will you be able to stop by? In the beginning, there’s a lot I have to teach you. I’ll adjust my schedule to accommodate yours, Patience.”

Patience seemed troubled by my words.

“What about your own classes, Sir Caesar?” she asked.

I had no interest in any subject but alchemy. However, I would get in trouble with my father if I just skipped classes, so I’d gotten certificates of completion. I had the credits to graduate, but I stayed at the academy of my own volition.

“I’ve gotten most of the credits I need, so my schedule is pretty flexible. So, when are you free?”

For some reason, Patience wouldn’t respond. It was the same as when she refused to tell me her name.

Is she suspicious of me?

Fortunately for me, Benjamin knew Patience’s schedule.

Good work, Benjamin!

And so we succeeded in getting Patience Granger to join the alchemy club. Benjamin had also gotten Bryce to switch from magic club to alchemy club, so we now had five members. For now, our club was safe.

Patience Granger was a genius when it came to alchemy, and she became my dearest underclassman.

I was the eldest son of Duke Burns, which meant that my parents would eventually find me an appropriate marriage partner. However, if I could instead be with someone like Patience, perhaps we could spend our days discussing alchemy.

Well, Patience was still young. We were a long way off from such matters.