Chapter 113

By Thursday, I had not been told to accompany anyone to the royal palace. This meant I was entirely free starting from the fourth period on Friday.

As we were leaving homeroom, Benjamin flashed a smile and said, “I’ll be waiting for you during the fourth period.”

“Lady Patience, did you make some sort of promise to Benjamin?” asked Phillips, who was walking with me to the Law and Economics classroom.

“Yes. I joined the Alchemy Club, so today is my very first time visiting.”

Phillips’s face completely froze. So that is how people react to the Alchemy Club.

“Is that so?” he managed, though I wondered if this might finally put an end to him addressing me as “Lady.” Well, that would be perfectly fine by me since it always feels a bit ticklish.

Yet, for some strange reason, he kept right on calling me “Lady.” How mysterious.

At lunchtime, I ate up in the salon with the usual members.

“You didn’t show up yesterday,” Prince Keith said, blurting out an unnecessary observation.

“My goodness, Patience. Wherever did you eat? Surely you aren’t on a diet?” Princess Margaret chimed in.

With a frame as terribly slender as mine, a diet is the last thing I need.

“No, I simply felt like eating leisurely down at the school cafeteria for a change.”

Princess Margaret cautioned me, saying, “You must utilize the salon even when I am not present.” I hoped that would be the end of the topic, but Prince Keith’s curiosity seemed to have been piqued.

“Did you dine alone, Patience?”

Ah, I wish he wouldn’t ask questions that are so difficult to answer.

“Before I became your lady-in-waiting, I always dined alone at the cafeteria,” I replied, which wasn’t a lie, though it certainly evaded the core of his question.

“Patience, who did you eat with?” Princess Margaret immediately saw right through my attempt to gloss it over.

“With Lord Benjamin and Lord Caesar.”

Princess Margaret’s eyebrows shot up slightly. She was entering scolding mode.

“Patience, it is precisely because you are so terribly naive that you get targeted by recruitments for things like the Alchemy Club. This is why I tell you to always eat up here in the salon.”

That might be true, but while it’s one thing when we are together, it feels wrong and rather stressful to have my food expenses covered when I am entirely by myself. It feels like dining on charity. I shall have to discuss this with her later.

“Did you truly join the Alchemy Club?” Prince Keith looked like he was about to trip my blunder-radar again.

“Yes, since they told me visiting two or three times a month would be perfectly fine.”

Prince Keith furrowed his brow, looking thoroughly displeased. Whatever for? It has absolutely nothing to do with him.

“Did Lord Caesar and Lord Benjamin actually take their meal at the school cafeteria?” Hugo looked utterly shocked. He is a sheltered young master after all.

“Why on earth would they dine at the school cafeteria?” Even the usually composed Ralph was utterly bewildered.

“Did you invite them to the school cafeteria, Patience?”

Do I really need to answer Prince Keith’s interrogation?

“No. Benjamin merely suggested that I ought to speak with Lord Caesar at least once, and since Princess Margaret was taking her lunch at the cooking class on Thursdays, it simply turned out that way.”

Princess Margaret frowned, perhaps recalling her dreadful lunch.

“Because you went and obtained a completion certificate, Patience, I had a truly horrific time of it. I was forced to eat potatoes that were completely hard and crunchy on the inside. If you had been present, they would have been properly cooked through to the center.”

To their credit, Prince Keith and the others didn’t go so far as to claim that was my fault. Naturally so.

“Your Highness, did you properly take notes on Professor Spencer’s explanations?”

“I did. Yet, the inside was completely crunchy.”

How mysterious. Professor Spencer gives incredibly meticulous warnings to ensure even absolute novices don’t fail.

“Could it be that you failed to poke them with a skewer to verify if they were boiled through?”

Princess Margaret’s eyes went wide with utter astonishment.

“My word, Patience! Can you utilize clairvoyance? That is precisely what Professor Spencer cautioned me about afterward!”

“No, I cannot use anything like clairvoyance. I merely imagined how it might have gone.”

Prince Keith and the others looked entirely dumbfounded, seemingly forgetting all about the cafeteria matter. Thank goodness. The fool who entertained such naive thoughts was none other than myself.

“Starting next week, you shall dine with us on Thursdays. There is no telling what you might do if we take our eyes off you.”

Uh-oh, I would very much like to avoid that. I am Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting, not Prince Keith’s. Before I could offer a refusal, Princess Margaret smiled and granted her permission.

“Yes, I would feel much more at ease if you did that. This girl has absolutely zero self-awareness. Joining the Alchemy Club is practically like a rabbit leaping straight into a wolf’s den. Well, since Bryce seems to be joining as well, I am a tiny bit relieved. If Benjamin or Caesar demand anything reckless of you, you must seek help from Bryce. For someone taking the Mage Course, Bryce is remarkably sensible.”

Prince Keith’s glare is rather terrifying. Is he angry about something? Could he still be under the impression that I joined the Alchemy Club because I have my sights on Caesar? That is entirely wrong, but there is no real need to make an excuse either, is there?

Manners 2 turned out to be nothing less than “You shall formulate a plan to host a luncheon during the spring term.” Yes, Manners 3 will undoubtedly be hosting a formal banquet. However, for a luncheon, it seems one must design the entire menu as well. I have no recollection of the impoverished Granger family ever hosting a luncheon. Fortunately, I received splendid feasts every single day at the summer villa, so I shall use those as a reference to write my plan.

“Patience, you are capable of hosting a marvelous luncheon. You pass. While you are at it, write up a plan for a formal banquet for Manners 3 as well.”

Oh, could it be that I am about to receive another completion certificate? I shall give it my all! I used the formal dinners at the summer villa as a reference for this one as well.

“I hereby grant you your completion certificate.”

Excellent. With this, Princess Margaret should be able to obtain her completion certificate soon as well. I shall teach her the knack for it later.

Princess Margaret was collected by Sophie to return to the royal palace. In other words, it was finally time to head to the Alchemy Club.

“Good day,” I offer as a tentative greeting, though it feels entirely out of place for the setting.

“Oh, Patience, you are late. Allow me to introduce everyone.”

Director Caesar called it an introduction, but the only people present were Benjamin, Bryce, and one other student.

“This is Arthur Miller, a fifth-year. And this is Patience Granger, a fourth-year.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” I say, offering a polite bow, but the sheer filthiness of the lab coats worn by everyone except Bryce causes me to involuntarily take a step back.

“Regarding those lab coats…” I wanted to clean them immediately with lifestyle magic, but there might be a specific reason why they keep them so dirty.

“Ah, that’s right. Bryce and Patience ought to wear lab coats as well. We handle molten metal and hot glass, not to mention various chemicals. If your uniform ends up riddled with burn holes right away, your parents will scold you.”

He hands us some coats belonging to the seniors, but I absolutely refuse to wear something like this.

“Director Caesar, may I clean these?”

“You may, though they will get dirty again in the blink of an eye.”

Regardless of whether they get dirty again, I detest the thought of wearing such filthy lab coats.

“Become clean!” I chant. Instantly, everyone’s lab coats turned a pristine, brilliant white. Now this is a proper lab coat. Even the scorched holes were completely patched up.

“As I thought, Patience’s lifestyle magic is remarkably unusual. Now then, do you and Bryce have anything you wish to craft?”

I have plenty of things I want to craft. But first, I want to make magic lamps for my younger brothers’ rooms.

“Director Caesar, is it possible to adjust the brightness of a magic lamp’s light using a switch? I want to be able to adjust it for when we need it bright, when we need it just dimly lit, and when we want to turn it off entirely.”

Caesar crosses his arms and ponders the thought.

“Hmm, it is technically possible. However, what would be the purpose? Isn’t it enough for a magic lamp to simply turn on and off?”

Benjamin, Bryce, and Arthur all tilt their heads in confusion as well.

“My youngest brother is terribly afraid of the pitch-black darkness before he goes to sleep. I thought that if there were a faint, dim light, he wouldn’t feel so scared.”

I wondered if four boys would be able to grasp the concept, but it seemed the memory of their own childhood bedrooms flashed back to each of them.

“I see, that is an excellent idea. To achieve that, we will have to alter the internal mechanism of the switch.”

From there, I work with Director Caesar to figure out how to adjust the switch.

“Ideally, rather than a standard switch, I would like to turn a dial to adjust the brightness.”

I sketch a rough design of a semi-circular dome cover and a base, drawing a knob right in the center of the base.

“Adjusting the brightness with a dial, huh? Yes, we can manage that somehow.”

Director Caesar smoothly sketches out a mechanism where turning the dial gradually coaxes the magic stone closer to the magic circle or pulls it away.

If I can craft a bedside lamp that allows for brightness adjustment just like in my past life, Henry won’t have to be afraid before sleeping anymore.

While Director Caesar and I are entirely engrossed in our work, Bryce was crafting a magic lamp alongside Benjamin.

“Your drawing of the magic circle is improper.”

He is currently being cautioned by our senior, Arthur. Look at that, even Benjamin is being scolded for being sloppy.

“Hey, Patience, this is no time to be looking elsewhere. Let’s give this dial a try. Memorize the blueprint and craft it yourself.”

Since it is vastly different from the switch we crafted during the lecture, I study the blueprint with absolute seriousness.

“Go ahead, try it.”

Director Caesar is quite a harsh taskmaster. Molten metal was bubbling in the kiln. Turning toward it, I vivedly picture the dial I just memorized and chant, “Form the dial!”

The molten metal rises, taking the exact shape from my mind, and drops with a soft thud right beside the kiln.

“Remarkably well done. However, we won’t know if it can properly adjust the brightness until we test it out.”

Since the magic circle is already drawn, we begin the experiment.

“First, it won’t be of any use if it doesn’t light up at maximum brightness.”

When I turn the dial, the lamp lights up beautifully.

“Try turning the dial slowly in the opposite direction.”

As I turn it gently, the light grows a fraction dimmer.

“I believe a slightly dimmer glow would make it much easier to fall asleep.”

“In that case, turn it a bit further.”

When I turn it just a tiny bit more, the light vanishes entirely.

“Hmm? When the magic stone and the magic circle press together, it lights up. When they part, it goes out. Maintaining that intermediate, dim glow is quite difficult. Is it strictly a matter of adjusting the dial’s mechanical alignment?”

The bedside lamps in my past life could seamlessly adjust the brightness when you turned the dial. Why was that? Something must have been acting to impede the flow of electricity to the bulb. However, since it was just a regular, everyday item, I don’t remember the actual physics behind it.

“Is there no magic circle that inherently causes the light to grow brighter or dimmer?”

Director Caesar looks at me, his eyes wide with utter astonishment.

“Patience, you demand the absolute impossible. However, how fascinating! A challenge to create an entirely new magic circle! We are staying up all night tonight!”

Wait, before I even realized it, the view outside the window had turned completely pitch black.

“Patience, I shall walk you back to the dormitory.”

As I thought, Bryce is a thoroughly sensible person. The other members are right in the middle of a fierce, heated debate.

“My goodness, do you truly intend to stay up all night?”

Won’t your parents worry if you don’t return home? Ah, wouldn’t your carriages be waiting to collect you?

“That is no cause for your concern, Patience. Besides, the closing time for the clubhouse is strictly fixed, so the retrieval carriages will likely arrive at that exact hour anyway.”

I offer my thanks to Bryce as he walks me back to the dormitory. If I am not careful with this Alchemy Club, it feels as though I will end up sinking deeper and deeper into a bottomless quagmire.