Chapter 125

The Knight Club’s signature drive was turning out to be much harder than Princess Margaret and I had anticipated. A lot of the male students who weren’t in the Knight Course refused to sign.

“Almost everyone in the Knight Course belongs to the Knight Club, but that’s still not enough to make a majority, is it?”

There were five students taking the Knight Course in Class 4-A, but I had thought there would be a lot more in Class B and Class C.

“Just because someone is a knight’s son doesn’t mean they all take the Knight Course. I had no idea that more students actually chose the Civil Servant Course.”

It turned out that Prince Keith’s Class 1-A was the weird one. In other grades, the Civil Servant Course was by far the most popular. Since most girls chose the Domestic Arts Course, that was the second most popular. The Mage Course and the Knight Course were basically tied for third. I was surprised. The Mage Course is actually surprisingly popular! Since the number of students in Class A was so small, I had thought it was the least popular of all.

“Ah, I see! It’s because you can get so many qualifications, like a low-grade apothecary, low-grade alchemist, or low-grade court mage.”

Many of the commoner students who passed the exam to enter Class C enrolled in either the Civil Servant Course to become government officials or the Mage Course to get qualifications. Right, after all, knights are usually nobles. It must be rare for a commoner to aim to become a knight unless they’re extremely confident in their skills.

“As for the female students, it depends on which club they belong to. Those in the Riding Club or Magic Club will definitely refuse to sign. Surprisingly, girls in the Drama Club, Chorus Club, and various sports clubs are also looking at this with a critical eye. It seems they were dissatisfied that only the Knight Club received special treatment.”

It seems Prince Richard took this a bit too lightly. At this rate, it looks like it’ll be difficult to revive the Knight Club.

I was worried about them, but it turned out the Knight Club had a plan of their own. They gathered all the good-looking guys like Percival and went around collecting tons of signatures from the Domestic Arts Course. Prince Keith also managed to gather a lot of signatures from the elementary department.

Of course, some students still refused, but those who didn’t care either way signed it, and they managed to reach the majority requirement. Yep, I know because Prince Keith was talking about it in a great mood during lunch. What a relief!

After reviewing the matter, the Student Council officially brought back the Knight Club following the resignations of Captain Hammond and their advisor, Mr. Cuthbert. Phew!

By the way, the new club captain is Rasmond Sussex. He’s someone I don’t know. I somehow thought Percival would become the captain, but I was wrong.

Unlike Captain Hammond, Captain Rasmond is strict with the elementary department students, which Prince Keith was complaining about. I feel a little bad for him, but it’s much better than a captain who flatters people strangely. The fact that he doesn’t try to use the prince means he passes in my book!

“I wonder why Percival didn’t become the captain?”

Even Princess Margaret found it strange.

“Maybe because he’s a fifth-year student? Or maybe the Knight Club goes by meritocracy, where the strongest person takes the lead?”

Percival was the one working behind the scenes on this whole affair, but publicly, he only showed up at the very end to help gather signatures from the female students. He really is a mysterious person. Just as I was thinking about that, he actually came over on Saturday—together with Lord Salies.

After they gave my younger brothers a swordsmanship lesson, I invited them for tea. This time, we had egg sandwiches and strawberry sandwiches. Since I was summoned to the royal palace on Friday regarding the recent incident, I even managed to get some heavy cream.

“Patience, thank you.”

Lord Salies thanked me, but I really just hovered around. Though, to be fair, the whole situation was quite a hassle.

“Thanks to you, Lady Patience, the Knight Club somehow managed to survive. Besides, we can safely leave things in Captain Rasmond’s hands.”

Wait, what? The way Percival said that sounded as if he’s quitting.

“Are you really switching to the Civil Servant Course? Well, as the heir to the Earl of Moran’s family, I suppose it can’t be helped.”

Huh, really? Then why was he running around working so hard on this?

“I’ll probably finish getting all my credits for the Knight Course in the spring term, so I’ll be in the Civil Servant Course starting in the autumn term. I’ll be your junior then, Lady Patience.”

Percival gave a bright smile, but I was completely confused.

“But Lord Percival, you cared so deeply about the Knight Club…”

Percival answered firmly:

“I’m not quitting the Knight Club. It’s just that someone from the Civil Servant Course won’t be chosen as the captain. Also, I won’t be joining the Order of Knights. I plan to go to Romano University and aim to become a diplomat.”

“Well, Earl Moran is the Foreign Minister, after all. It’s a shame, though—you would have made a great knight.”

He definitely looks like he’d make a glamorous diplomat. While I was thinking about that, Percival suddenly tried to recruit me.

“Lady Patience, you’re in the Civil Servant Course, right? How about becoming a diplomat? Are you interested in foreign countries?”

Wait, a diplomat? That was my dream job in my past life! But I gave up back then because it seemed too difficult. I would love to go abroad, though!

“Hey now, don’t go tempting my cousin. Being a diplomat sounds way too hard, doesn’t it? Patience will make a great wife. These egg sandwiches and strawberry sandwiches are delicious, and that cake from before was amazing, too.”

I appreciate Lord Salies’s compliments, but I don’t have a dowry. Even if a poor viscount’s daughter can find someone willing to marry her, I’d still like to have a choice in the matter!

It turns out Percival couldn’t become the captain himself, but he also hated the idea of serving under a captain he couldn’t respect. Yep, he seems to have quite a bit of pride. It’s great that he can work enthusiastically under Prince Richard, though.

Since I had to go to the royal palace on Friday, I couldn’t go to the Alchemy Club. So, I made a list at home of things I wanted to create. Since some things are hard to explain with words alone, I drew diagrams, too. While sketching various things, inspiration suddenly struck!

“Ah! With this, we won’t even need a magic stone, so I can use it at home! Plus, it can be used twice, so it saves money! Wait, but I wonder if this counts as alchemy? I’ll ask President Caesar!”

I had originally drawn the diagrams on my wishlist rather roughly just to explain them, but for this one, I thought it through carefully and drew it to scale with proper measurements.

“Yep, it was definitely about this size. Okay, let’s make a cover to put it in.”

I made a cover using some extra cloth from the attic. I can’t wait to go to the Alchemy Club!

My younger brothers were thrilled with the magic lamp I made for them, but once the magic stone runs out, it won’t turn on anymore. I got the magic stone this time from the Alchemy Club. President Caesar said it was an idea fee, but I can’t expect to get one every time.

I’ll work hard and do plenty of side jobs painting ceramics! For this, I’ll use household magic right from the start to paint them super fast.

“Wait, isn’t this basically like copying? I wonder if I could do side work making magic circles? How should I go about selling magic circles to a workshop that makes magic lamps?”

For the time being, I finished painting delicate miniature designs onto a white porcelain tea set and had Wyatt come to pick it up.

“My Lady, you’re so fast! You really don’t need to push yourself this hard.”

Since I finished twice as much as usual, Wyatt was worried about me.

“Hey, Wyatt. I can draw the magic circle for magic lamps super fast. Do you happen to know anyone connected to a magic lamp workshop?”

Wyatt looked at the magic lamps in my brothers’ room and the one in my room. Suddenly realizing something, he smiled.

“I see. Let me visit an old acquaintance of mine. However, please make sure not to overexert yourself.”

And just like that, I got more side work! I’m definitely skipping darning socks now—the pay is way too low!

Right now, I’m working hard on embroidery side jobs at school. Apparently, girls bring heaps of personalized napkins, pillowcases, and handkerchiefs as part of their bridal preparations. Mary and I take orders and stitch them together. This is actually harder than it looks because the back side needs to be embroidered neatly as well. Naturally, that means the pay is higher! Plus, Mary, who has connections with embroidery shops, gets us embroidery thread at a huge discount. With this, I’ll embroider the family crest and name onto the lining of Nacius’s uniform!

Also, I’m learning pictorial embroidery from Miss McNally, and if I can master it, it seems like I can sell them for a really high price. After all, doing it by hand normally takes a whole year! Since I’m learning various techniques right now, I’m being careful not to use household magic. Though I still end up using it accidentally sometimes.

According to Miss McNally, displaying these as part of a bride’s trousseau used to be a trend. They would hang them up to show off how skilled the new wife was at embroidery. I wonder what happened if she was actually terrible at it, though? Well, there were probably loopholes, like making a maid do it. Even now, while people don’t make them themselves, there’s an endless stream of people who secretly buy them for their bridal preparations. I’m going to do my best!

The fun weekends end all too quickly. Why do I have to do horseback riding—which I’m so bad at—on such a precious Sunday anyway? Also, Henry, won’t you fall if you jump an obstacle that high? It’s so nerve-wracking, it’s bad for my heart!

He asks, “Sister, did you see that?” but I had my eyes squeezed shut the whole time!

“Henry, are you alright?” I can’t help but worry.

“It’s my turn next!” Eeek, Nacius! Wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t?

“It’s fine! Give it a try!” Hey, Samuel, don’t just say irresponsible things!

I’m too scared to watch! But it seems Nacius jumped it, too.

“Sister, I jumped it!” he shouts.

Being a big sister is hard work. I wonder if my heart can take this!

“Patience, aren’t you going to practice anymore?”

Samuel, if you say unnecessary things, I’m banning you from visiting! A little bit of practice is more than enough for me.

“I need to start getting ready to go to the dorms soon.”

Samuel asked if he could come over to play on weekends sometimes, and I said yes. Nacius and Henry are happy to play with their cousin, so that part is great. But don’t force me to ride horses! I’m definitely going to get the Alchemy Club to make a bicycle for me! Ah, but I need to recall how a bicycle works first. I’ll start with that!