Chapter 36

The harsh, severe winter finally began to relent a little as March approached. I find myself looking forward to picking strawberries in the greenhouse with my brothers on the weekends.

Academy life has become a bit easier now that I’ve received my Certificate of Completion for Art; with the exception of Dance on Tuesdays, I am exempt from all 4th-period classes. I use that time to prepare for Math, Language, History, Classics, and Magic Theory.

It looks like I’ll be able to get my certificate for Math during the final exams in June. As for the other subjects, it feels like I could manage to skip ahead to Middle School on my own strength by the time I become a third-year next year, even without relying entirely on Patience.

While I have more breathing room academically, serving as Princess Margaret’s Lady-in-Waiting remains as demanding as ever. In particular, the preparations for the “Aoba Festival” in May are eating up my time. It’s painful to lose the hours I usually spend on my darning work just to prepare new song announcements for the Music Club.

There is still a mountain of work to do regarding the improvement of the Granger family’s living conditions. I’m happy that the warming weather means we use less firewood, but I want us to spend next winter even more comfortably.

In other words, I want to buy plenty of firewood between spring and summer when demand is low. I want to stockpile while it’s cheap. Just imagining the woodshed piled high with logs makes me feel rushed to earn more money. After all, Patience died of pneumonia. This is literally a matter of life and death.

“Patience, have you finished writing the score for the new song?”

Transcribing piano pieces from my previous life into Hanon scores takes time. I have to practice them over and over on the Hanon first to correct for the differences in the keyboard. Despite the fact that I’ve already submitted three songs, Princess Margaret still won’t let me off the hook.

“The other members only submit one; surely that should be enough for me as well?”

I’ve grown accustomed to being a Lady-in-Waiting, and when it’s just the two of us, I’ve started to talk back a little.

“My, certainly not. We’ll be performing many times during the Aoba Festival. The more new songs, the better. Besides, you can’t be the only one playing the whole time. We need to get the scores finished quickly so the other members have time to practice.”

That doesn’t explain at all why I have to be the one providing multiple songs. I’m beginning to suspect this is just a selfish whim of the music-loving Princess Margaret. I’ll try asking President Melissa during the next Music Club meeting. I should probably stay away from Vice President Albert, though; he’s even more of a music fanatic than the Princess.

Why is it that the people you want to avoid are the ones you always run into? When I arrived at the clubhouse with Princess Margaret and her three schoolmates, President Melissa hadn’t arrived yet, but Vice President Albert was already lying in wait.

“Patience, is the score for the new song ready?”

He skipped right past the noble greetings for Princess Margaret and thrust his hand toward me. He’s like a debt collector. How ominous. Tsurukame, tsurukame! (Knock on wood!)

“Albert, calm yourself a little.”

Even Princess Margaret looked exasperated. Catherine and the others seemed a bit angry, too. Though, the nuance was slightly different.

“I wonder if it is truly appropriate for Lady Patience to be the only one announcing so many new songs?”

Exactly; Catherine has a point.

“Lady Margaret, Lady Patience must be exhausted as well.”

Harriet spoke in a pampered tone, but her true intentions were transparent. I’d actually like her to try harder this time.

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is a club where we compete in musical talent. Lady Catherine, Lady Harriet, Lady Liliana—if you are concerned, you simply need to submit multiple new songs yourselves.”

Vice President Albert is merciless, even to high-ranking noble daughters. Well, Albert is the second son of Duke Laforêt, so I suppose it’s no surprise he’s fearless. I heard from Catherine or someone else that his grandfather was the younger brother of the previous King. Everyone is so well-versed in genealogies, but I’m not particularly interested. None of that matters to me. The price of firewood, on the other hand, is extremely interesting.

The reason I’m indulging in this escapism is that I’m sitting in a corner chair zoning out, wanting to avoid being dragged into the heated debate between Vice President Albert and Catherine’s group. I want to go back to my room and get to my darning work.

“Patience, you look idle. Play the new song on the Hanon.”

I got caught looking like a bystander. Prompted by Princess Margaret, I played the new song on the Hanon. It’s not Mozart this time. It’s a Minuet by the Great Master Bach. Turning this into a score was incredibly difficult.

As expected of the Music Club members, they stopped their arguing once the performance began. I’m glad it got quiet; the Great Master Bach should be listened to in silence.

Wait… it’s too quiet. Oh no!

“Patience, won’t you marry me?!”

Whoa, Vice President Albert, let go of my hand! I refuse to get married just to serve as a human music player.

“Albert, do not try to take my Lady-in-Waiting.”

Oho, so Princess Margaret has decided I’m her music player instead? I’d like to refuse that too, but I’m grateful she made him let go of my hand.

“Catherine, Harriet, Liliana—you three must compose new songs that won’t lose to Patience’s.”

The three of them nodded silently, but since we’ll be classmates when I skip to Middle School next year, I really need to do some damage control.

“Um… may I ask a favor? While I am good at coming up with new phrases, I am actually quite poor at refining them into full pieces or writing them down as scores.”

Since Princess Margaret has seen me playing and re-playing parts while struggling to get them onto paper, she understood what I was trying to say.

“I see. Then you should provide the phrases to everyone else and let them finish the new songs.”

Vice President Albert started saying that would be a waste of Patience’s ideas, but Princess Margaret brushed him off, stating she simply wanted to hear as many new songs as possible. Good grief.