Chapter 80

Mary brought me a change of clothes.

“My Lady, are you alright?”

Well, I was whisked away to the House of Northcote so suddenly. Besides, Mary has no reason to feel particularly grateful to Aunt Liliana.

“Yes, I’m just teaching my cousin Samuel his studies. So, Mary, are you staying here too?”

Since it’s so close, I thought it would be fine either way, but it seems a lady’s maid is required after all.

“Of course,” Mary said, but I have plenty of things I want her to fetch from our mansion. Well, it’s only a short walk.

Samuel’s hatred for studying is deep-rooted, so I don’t think he’ll sit at a desk willingly. Honestly, I wish I could have brought Henry along. Nasius is a no-go; his brilliance would just make Samuel dig himself into a deeper hole of inferiority.

Dressing up for dinner is the same at the Northcote house. And actually, when Samuel is properly dressed, he’s quite presentable. If he leaned out just a bit, he’d look great.

Once you turn ten, you eat with the adults. Oh, that means when Nasius turns ten, Henry will have to eat dinner in the nursery all by himself. That’s a problem. While I was worrying about that, dinner finished. It was delicious and very hearty. Count Northcote looks like a gentle gentleman at first glance.

“Patience, I hear you are teaching Samuel. You have my gratitude.”

He thanked me in words, but he didn’t seem particularly interested in the fact that he had one more relative staying over. He didn’t even seem that interested in his heir, Samuel. Rich nobles feel a bit cold. Compared to here, the House of Monterracy seems much closer-knit. Sir Saries even went out of his way to come teach swordsmanship just because Aunt Amalia asked him.

Well, Samuel’s table manners are fine. In other words, if he feels like learning, he can do it. Since he can remember music after hearing it once, you could even say he’s quite gifted. Aunt Liliana is a Granger by birth, so he ought to be smart.

A “Rehabilitation Plan for a Jaded Boy.” It’s a bit of a moe theme, but I wonder if it will work?

The next day, I asked Aunt Liliana to prepare some paints and wooden blocks.

“I don’t know what you plan to do, but please ensure Samuel doesn’t drop out of A-class.”

As expected, the wealthy are different. A vast supply of paints was prepared immediately.

“Samuel, let’s paint this morning.”

Samuel, who had been bracing himself to be forced to study, looked relieved.

“What am I supposed to paint?”

He looked suspiciously at the small wooden blocks. Samuel’s spelling is shaky even for things he should have mastered by now. So, I’m going to make a set of Karuta (picture cards).

“We’re going to paint pictures of the objects on this list.”

I started drawing quickly. Painting a picture for every letter of the alphabet is quite a task.

“Samuel, you can just paint the ones that are easy to understand.”

Samuel seemed to grasp the concept of the cards.

“Isn’t this just a game for little children?”

We’re doing it because you can’t do the things little children can. But saying that would hurt his pride.

“Look, this is how you play. Longer words get more points.”

I wrote a single letter in the top left corner of each picture. You use those letters to form words.

“It’s a competition then!” Boys really do love competing.

“If Samuel wins, I’ll gift you a new song.”

Oh, Samuel is grinning. I have a bad feeling about this.

“Then, if Patience loses, you have to join me for riding practice. I think it’s better if you can actually ride, after all.”

I absolutely cannot lose! Because I was serious, Samuel got serious too. I won!

In the afternoon, while Samuel was doing swordsmanship and riding, I made a lot of cards. These are history cards. On the front is a simple drawing of a historical event, and on the back is the event and the year.

“It looks like he’s stumbling over fractions in math. I want some educational toys.”

Educational toys in my previous life were so well thought out. I remember buying some for my sister’s kids.

“I believe there was a circular board divided into halves, quarters, and so on.”

I don’t have a jigsaw, but I have lifestyle magic. I drew a large circle on a wooden board and cut it out. I made several of those, cut them into halves and quarters, and painted them. We can make a game out of this too. Put them in a box, take them out one by one, and the first person to complete a full circle wins.

There is a proper tea time at the Northcote house. I’m so jealous. However, the sweets are just crusted with sugar. Samuel, you’ll get fat if you eat that. Aunt Liliana doesn’t touch them. Well, she couldn’t keep her figure if she did.

“Patience, what are we doing next?”

It seems his resistance to studying has lessened just a tiny bit.

“It’s a new game. I’ll win this time as well.”

“Hmph, are you really that bad at riding? How can you be Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting like that?”

I’m not doing it because I want to, but he sure knows how to hit a sore spot.

“My, Patience. You can’t ride?”

Oh boy, Aunt Liliana’s smile is deepening.

“That won’t do. I heard from Sister Amalia that William hasn’t taught his sons swordsmanship or riding just because he dislikes them himself. Truly troublesome. Patience, you shall do riding training along with Samuel.”

At home it was twice a week, but here it’s every day? When it rains, it pours.

However, the riding practice brought me closer to Samuel. Anyone feels a bit of an inferiority complex around someone who is better at studying than they are. Seeing my pathetic riding skills seemed to make him feel much better.

“Patience, keep your back straighter!”

Why do he and Prince Keith both feel the need to boss me around during riding practice? If you treat me like that, I’ll pay you back.

Samuel’s spelling has improved considerably. He should be fine for Literature. He also seemed to grasp fractions through the math game. For a first-year curriculum, this should be enough. History still needs work. For Magic Theory, I made him memorize the thin textbook cover to cover. I made him learn it in a Q&A format. Samuel is quite competitive, after all. He might even be able to skip a grade. The problem is Classics.

“I don’t see the point in studying this.”

“Well, you share that opinion with Prince Keith. However, Prince Keith skipped grades in Math, Literature, Magic Theory, Music, and Dance, so he was fine even if he was poor at Classics. Samuel, you are doing well in Literature, Magic Theory, Music, Art, and Dance, but I’m still worried about Math and History. It’ll be dangerous if you don’t work hard at Classics.”

I wondered if I was being too harsh, but it was my honest opinion.

“I see… so Prince Keith studies Classics even though he’s bad at it. Then I must work hard as well.”

I increased the number of history cards, and for the first year, this is sufficient. He’s surprisingly fast at mental math. When we play games, he’s sometimes faster than me at totaling up character counts. Why on earth did he hate studying so much?

“I wonder why Samuel didn’t study until now? He can do it if he tries.”

Samuel blushed at the praise, but the conversation turned serious.

“I am a replacement for my late brother, Julius. My brother was incredibly brilliant, but he died in an accident when he was nine. The House of Northcote lost its heir. Then I was born. I am more than ten years younger than my sisters. In other words, if my brother Julius had lived, I wouldn’t have been born.”

No matter what he does, he’s compared to the brilliant Julius. On top of that, there’s the age gap with his sisters. In this world, a ten-year gap is a huge wall. He grew up constantly alone with nannies and tutors. It’s too pitiful.

“Samuel is Samuel. Besides, my Nasius enters the Academy next year. He’ll surely skip grades, so you two will eventually be classmates.”

Samuel gave a complicated smile and laughed.

“I’d rather avoid that, but I wouldn’t mind being friends with Nasius. And your younger brother Henry too. We are cousins, after all.”

Since it looks like Samuel won’t be a dropout at the Royal Academy anymore, I can finally go home.

“Patience, you have been a great help. I knew of the Granger family’s destitution, but as someone married into another house, I could not offer financial aid. However, this matter is different. Samuel is the heir of the House of Northcote.”

Though she didn’t say it explicitly, it seems the letter to my father contained a check as a token of gratitude. My first part-time job!