Chapter 41

The horses turned out to be hourly rentals. My plan to persuade Mary to take me to the shops fell through. But I won’t give up! I’ll think of something else. For now, I decided to use the information I gained from my excursion.

“Since we’re harvesting so many strawberries, let’s sell half of them.”

I won’t sell them all. They are my brothers’ favorites, after all. I’ll leave the harvesting to George and have Eva handle the sales. Eva buys meat and other supplies at the grocery store, so she has a connection there. I hope she can sell them for as high a price as possible. Oh, or maybe she can trade them for meat and seasonings? That would be just as good.

“Winter roses seem like they would sell for a high price.”

I took several rose cuttings from the front garden and planted them in the greenhouse to propagate. I intend to grow them large enough to bloom by winter.

“I still have a long way to go with improving our diet.”

I chanted “Grow big!” at the vegetable patch in the backyard to give them a little boost. I didn’t pour in as much mana as the first time I used it in the greenhouse. Back then, I was desperate because we had no food at all.

Besides, I use my mana for side jobs on Saturdays and Sundays. Painting miniatures on tea sets is much more profitable than darning socks. I make it a priority when I’m at home. I only do the socks after the painting is finished.

For the dormitory, I’ve decided to stick to adding lace-knitted borders to handkerchiefs. If someone (like Princess Margaret) were to suddenly walk into my room, I could pass it off as a needlework hobby.

“Patience has zero stamina. It’s pathetic to be exhausted after just that much walking. She’s only ten; I have to train this body.”

Patience truly lacks physical strength. Well, I suppose she did die from it, so it makes sense.

In truth, I want to make my father exercise too—he’s always cooped up in his study—but that seems impossible. Instead, I keep a close eye on my brothers, especially Nasius, who is a bookworm. Henry runs around enough on his own, so his exercise is fine. Oh, Henry is clever too; he’s just not quite the obsessive reader that Nasius, Father, or Patience are.

On weekends, I’ve started jumping rope with my brothers to build up our strength. Nasius has become quite good at the running jump and can even do crossovers. Henry seems obsessed with double-unders, constantly challenging himself to see how many he can do in a row.

“Sister, let’s have a race with the running jump!”

“A race! A race!”

I won’t lose to my eight and six-year-old brothers. Pant, pant… I managed to win, barely.

I’m also having them practice the Hanon. I wrote out scores for nursery rhymes from my previous life for them to practice. After all, the practice pieces Patience owned were nothing but finger exercises. That’s no fun. Besides, seeing them sing nursery rhymes is the height of cuteness.

Of course, I’m practicing too, as the Aoba Festival is approaching. I played “Für Elise,” “Minute Waltz,” and “Träumerei” from my previous life for Catherine, Harriet, and Liliana. I’m sure they can figure out the scores themselves from here. Even if they change a few things, that’s fine. Albert will probably be annoying about it, saying “That part is wrong,” but he can just handle the mentoring for the younger students.

Parents are allowed to visit during the Aoba Festival. Entry permits are required in advance, so I asked my father, but he said, “I’ll pass this time.”

Since he was dismissed from his post, he might be keeping a low profile, or perhaps he just hates crowds and prefers reading his books.

It’s a shame the boys can’t come to the festival. It seems normal for noble children under ten in this world to be raised by nannies. They aren’t presented to guests or taken to public places.

But I really wanted my brothers to come. So, I decided to hold a mini recital in the drawing room in the afternoon. Father sat and listened as well.

“Patience, you are very talented.”

I was happy to be praised, but I felt a small twinge of guilt.

“Next, Henry will sing, accompanied by Nasius.”

Nasius played a nursery rhyme and Henry sang. Since Henry has only learned the scales so far, I made it a song. Seriously, so cute.

“That was wonderful.” I gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

“Nasius, you played well. Henry, you have a good singing voice. Patience, you are a good teacher,” Father praised us again. Well, that’s because my love for them is on another level.

I want to teach them as much as possible and build up their strength before they enter the Royal Academy. Being an older sister is hard work.