Chapter 24

Happy times always fly by in the blink of an eye. Nasius praised me so much for skipping a grade. It made me so happy. Henry didn’t quite seem to grasp what skipping a grade meant, but he praised me anyway, saying, “Sister, you are so clever!” He was just repeating what Nasius said, but he’s so cute I could just kiss him.

It’s already Sunday afternoon. In other words, I have to go back to the dormitory. With a heavy heart, I climbed into the carriage.

“My Lady, becoming a lady-in-waiting for Princess Margaret is simply wonderful,” Mary said, practically floating on air.

“I’m worried about whether I’m up to the task,” I replied. This was my honest feeling.

“You’ll be fine, My Lady.”

Yes, if I were the original Patience, I would have been fine. But Patience is gone. Though for someone who’s gone, she’s certainly noisy about this and that.

Despite my reluctance to return to the dorm, the carriage arrived heartlessly soon.

“My Lady, you must go and pay your respects to Princess Margaret.”

I didn’t even want to be a lady-in-waiting, so being reminded by Mary only made me more irritable.

“Yes, I know.”

After sending Mary home, I intended to spend the evening quietly reading my second-year textbooks. But she wouldn’t let it go.

“Do you know which room is hers? I shall go and ask the dormitory warden. In the meantime, please write a letter asking if you may visit her room.”

Once I became a lady-in-waiting, I wouldn’t need prior permission to enter her room, but Mary cautioned me that since I might not even know her face, I had to be careful.

She had me use an elegant-looking letter set she insisted was necessary. Sighing at the thought of how many pairs of darned socks this cost, I let “Patience” take over to write the letter requesting a visit.

“Her room is Special Suite No. 1 on the third floor. I shall go and deliver the letter now.”

Though she usually does menial work, Mary is a maid who came from my mother Julianne’s family when she married. She’s currently as lively as a fish in water, back in her original element.

“My Lady, she says you may come at once.”

Haaah… They say sighing makes your luck run away, but sometimes you just can’t get through the day without one. Mary headed home with eyes full of expectation.

Special Suite No. 1—both the door and the room number plate were gorgeous. I didn’t want to knock, but Patience was nagging me that making her wait would be a breach of etiquette. I knocked as elegantly as I could.

With a click, a maid opened the door.

“I am Patience Granger.”

“Please come in. She is expecting you.”

If she has a maid, I don’t see why she needs a lady-in-waiting.

The special suite seemed to be two rooms connected. There was no bed in the room I entered, so it must be in the back. Princess Margaret was sitting on a luxurious sofa that was worlds away from the standard dorm furniture.

Platinum blonde hair and green eyes—just like Prince Keith. She’s a beautiful princess.

“I am Patience Granger.”

I held the skirt of my uniform and curtsied.

“So you are the Patience my mother chose to be my lady-in-waiting.”

Her mother chose? Meaning she didn’t choose me herself? If that’s the case, maybe I don’t have to do this? I indulged in a brief, hopeful thought.

“Come, sit.”

I sat across from her. The maid served tea in porcelain with expensive-looking gold trim.

“Sophie, you may go for the evening.”

Wait, the maid is leaving? Is she just like Mary, only accompanying the Princess to and from the dorm? Anxiety began to well up in me.

“Do you dislike tea?”

No, I love it. Especially tea made from high-quality leaves.

“Thank you, I shall have some.”

I was momentarily enchanted by the fragrant tea. But this was no time for that. There were things I had to ask Princess Margaret.

“Um, I know nothing about the duties of a lady-in-waiting, so I would like you to teach me.”

If you don’t settle the “employment terms” at the start, dissatisfaction will only grow on both sides.

“First, call me Margaret. Since we’ll be together all the time, I hate such stiff titles like ‘Princess’.”

I hate stiffness too, but if I called her “Margaret” in the dorm dining hall, people like Louise would probably have a fit.

“Then, I shall call you Margaret when we are in your room.”

Princess Margaret caught my drift and accepted it with a “I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“Since we are in different grades, our classes will be separate. But let us have lunch together. I haven’t seen you in the High Hall (Salon); surely you aren’t dieting? I don’t think you need to.”

I’m skin and bones anyway. Leave me alone!

“No, the regular dining hall is fine for me,” I declined, but the Princess didn’t seem used to being told “no.”

“My, but all the girls in Class A eat in the High Hall, don’t they?”

It’s hard to say I have no money, but if this keeps up, we’ll just be talking in circles.

“The Granger family has a tradition of plain living and frugality.”

Princess Margaret fell silent. I had a bad feeling.

“Is that so! Then I shall eat in the lower dining hall as well. The reason my father ordered us to live in the dorms was because he felt we didn’t know how regular people lived.”

Please, anything but that! If I eat with Princess Margaret in the crowded dining hall, the stares will be so painful I won’t be able to swallow a thing. I’d much rather eat with the high-ranking nobles in the High Hall than deal with that.

“I am terribly sorry. The Granger family simply does not have the funds to eat in the High Hall.”

I felt so embarrassed I thought my face would catch fire.

“Oh, is that it? I wish you had just been honest from the start. But since you are my lady-in-waiting, it is only natural that I cover your meal expenses. I thought you already understood that.”

I was glad to be forgiven, but honestly, I’d still rather have eaten in the lower dining hall.

From then on, the demands kept coming. Breakfast and dinner in the dorm must be eaten together. That seemed easy enough. I didn’t have to clean the suite because the housemaids do that—though I’m actually quite good at Household Magic.

“I love music. Patience, you passed Music as well, didn’t you? I want you to play the Hanon for me.”

Playing the gorgeous Hanon sitting in her room was fine, but it looked like my free time was going to shrink significantly. I really, really want a CD player.

“Also, I’m not good at math. You must help me with my homework.”

Hey now, aren’t you an upperclassman?!

“Patience, you haven’t joined a club yet, have you? Join the Music Club. Doing club activities together is also the job of a lady-in-waiting.”

Louise was in the Chorus Club, wasn’t she? I feel a near-miss coming on.

“Let’s see, what else…”

I was practically drowning in Princess Margaret’s requests. Then, a bell rang to save me. Dinner time!