60 — Chapter 60

At the Summer Palace, I spend my mornings studying with Princess Margaret and Prince Keith. Lute practice is in the afternoon. This is because if I start playing the lute, Princess Margaret loses all focus on Mathematics. I spend my time preparing for Classics and History. Literature and Magical Science seem manageable enough for me to handle on my own.

“Patience, are you trying to be snide? That’s a textbook for the Secondary Department.”

I’m not being snide at all! Truthfully, I had planned to study this at home with my brothers.

“Prince Keith, please study more seriously.”

He got scolded by the supervising tutor. As expected of a royal tutor, he is quite strict.

In the afternoons, I sometimes make salt with Prince Richard, but mostly I spend my time with Princess Margaret and the music teacher. The lute is difficult, but fun. The shape is different, but it’s similar to the guitar from my previous life.

“Since you seem to have memorized the scales, please play the practice etudes.”

Ah, so it’s all finger exercises after all. I practice for a bit, then pluck out some nursery rhymes from my previous life that I taught to my brothers. Plink, plonk.

“My, what is that song?”

Princess Margaret, with her intense love for music, has very sharp ears.

“I composed some simple nursery rhymes for my brothers to use while practicing Hanon. They get bored if it’s nothing but finger exercises.”

Her eyes sparkle. I have nothing but a bad feeling about this.

“Jane and Marcus are currently learning Hanon and the lute as well. Let’s teach those songs to them tomorrow morning.”

She’s planning to skip Mathematics. She’s definitely going to flee to the nursery.

“Now then, they’ve finally set up the two pianos for Hanon, so let’s practice the new song.”

Well, since she seems to have forgotten about the horse riding, I’m fine with a bit of Hanon. She hasn’t forgotten about the dancing, though. I’m forced to practice that occasionally in the afternoon. Since Princess Margaret herself is exempt from dance, she wants to use that time to immerse herself in music.

The dance teacher is a true professional. She’s very good at teaching. However, I’m still not at a level where I can earn a completion certificate.

“You must work harder,” Princess Margaret says severely. To be honest, I want to tell her that her needlework is at a level of “You must work harder, and harder, and much harder.”

Whether a noble lady actually needs to do needlework is irrelevant. It is simply not permitted to be unable to do it.

A week passed, and just as I was getting used to life at the Summer Palace, King Alfred arrived. Queen Victoria, who went out to meet him, is in high spirits, but Prince Richard seems a bit restless.

Me? I’m nervous. After all, meeting the King who dismissed my father is truly terrifying. I’m only here because the Queen chose me as Margaret’s lady-in-waiting and invited me to the Summer Palace. Still, I really want to run away.

King Alfred looked like an older, more sociable version of Prince Richard. Richard is a capable prince, but he can be a bit “green” at times—like how he gets angry at every single one of Keith’s gaffes.

Princess Margaret is also in a good mood. It’s likely because Queen Victoria’s attention will be diverted elsewhere. Margaret’s Math might be okay, but her needlework is hopeless, and she’s sick of being checked so strictly.

Ah, they’ve arrived. Oh, it’s Sir Eugene! So cool.

The King stepped down from the carriage. The Queen greeted him with a smile. From that point on, I kept my head bowed, so I could only hear the conversation as Prince Richard, Princess Margaret, and Prince Keith gave their greetings.

“This is Patience Granger, Margaret’s lady-in-waiting.”

The Queen finished the introduction.

“Patience, raise your head.”

His voice sounded kind. Why?

“Oh, you do look like Julianne. I hear you are serving Margaret well.”

With that, the meeting ended. I wanted to ask the back of the smiling King, “Why was my father dismissed?” But I can’t do that. If it comes to it, I’ll ask Wyatt—though he probably won’t tell me.

Since the King arrived, Queen Victoria is by his side almost constantly. However, while relaxing in the salon after dinner, Prince Richard spoke about the salt.

“Patience suggested that salt could be made from seawater, and when we experimented, we succeeded. We are still in the trial phase regarding the production method, and the cost may be higher than mining rock salt.”

The King listened to Richard until the end.

“It is uncertain whether the salt can be sold due to the price. However, relying solely on Halla rock salt is indeed precarious. Give it a try.”

I listened in silence, assuming Richard would handle it alone. I had already given him a paper with diagrams of the methods I remembered. Good luck!

“Patience, let’s try various things.”

Wait, seriously? If I could make a fortune from salt, that’d be one thing, but I’d rather pass on boiling salt on a scorching beach.

“Patience is not my brother’s lady-in-waiting!”

Princess Margaret, try harder! I cheer for her in my heart. However, it seems Margaret is being forced to do her needlework.

“It seems it will take all summer for Margaret to learn to sew in a straight line. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing for this to be displayed at the end of the term?”

Princess Margaret grants permission for me to help him, provided it’s only in the morning. I suppose it’ll be cooler than the afternoon.

“Is there no way to make salt more efficiently?”

Prince Richard is truly earnest. I am sitting under a parasol. And beside me, the King is relaxing with a glass of juice. I want to escape this casual atmosphere.

Since we were working on the hot beach, a parasol and a tent for hydration had been set up. Because I lack stamina, I asked Richard for permission to “take a short break,” and while I was resting under the parasol, the King sat down next to me.

“Patience, is your father doing well?”

Whoa—he’s worried about him even after firing him?

“Yes, he is doing well.”

I won’t say “Thanks to you.” He’d take it as sarcasm.

“I see. Your brothers are the same age as Jane and Marcus, if I recall.”

“Yes,” I reply simply. I don’t know where this conversation is heading.

“I see… William and I were schoolmates. The experience of studying together at the Royal Academy is important. You are Margaret’s lady-in-waiting, but please be friends with Keith as well.”

I want to ask why he fired his friend. The teachers at the Academy said the education world felt indebted to him. I suspect there was some trouble regarding education, and he was dismissed to take responsibility. And the King is subtly conveying that, in his heart, he didn’t want to fire him.

But because of that, my mother died in poverty, and the original Patience died too. As a person from a previous life, I want to burst out and scream, but Patience stops me. Furthermore, half a year after reincarnating, I’ve come to understand the common sense of this world. If I act rudely to the King here, it might have a negative impact on my brothers.

It’s frustrating.

“I shall go help Prince Richard,” I say, getting up from my seat with all the effort I can muster.

Adults are so cunning! I’m angry at the King, the Queen, and even my father, who still respects the King despite being fired.

Ah, I have to experience rebellion and puberty twice. I can’t stand this.

With the King’s arrival, the construction of Prince Richard’s saltworks really got on track. If it had just been the Queen, we wouldn’t have been able to get the cooperation of the neighboring town, Vermilion Parruche.

I helped by drawing a diagram of the saltworks I vaguely remembered, but I left the rest to Prince Richard and the old alchemist, Vermilion.

Somehow, we managed to hold the opening ceremony for the saltworks while the King was still visiting.

“You should be the one to cut the ribbon,” the King told Prince Richard, letting him take the glory.

“I must give Patience a reward as well!”

He’s going to give me something! That makes me happy!