Chapter 90

I am Keith. I’ve become a second-year student in the middle division at the Royal Academy. I intend to test out of most of my subjects over this past week. I already received my dance completion certificate. Since Ralph and Hugo received theirs too, we can use this class period however we want. On top of that, Patience—who tested straight into the middle division—hasn’t gotten her dance completion certificate yet. I win!

“We could use our free periods for equestrian or swordsmanship training,” I suggested.

“True. Being exempt from class is quite a relief,” Ralph agreed.

The three of us were walking down the hallway in high spirits. Yet, right then, there she was, being hit on by another strange guy.

“So, what’s your name?” he was asking, and she was answering him with an incredibly pleased look on her face.

“I am Patience Granger. I plan to take the alchemy class, and if I can manage it, I’ll submit my registration form. I’ll think about the Alchemy Club after that.”

Who the hell is this guy?! I glared at him with everything I had. The man just muttered, “I see,” and walked away.

For some reason, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly irritated. She leaves herself wide open, which is exactly why strange men are constantly hitting on her.

“You certainly have a knack for being followed around by eccentrics!”

The sarcasm slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Yet, she didn’t even bother to engage.

“Prince Keith, what about your class?”

Hmph. A terrible dancer like you wouldn’t understand.

“I already got my dance completion certificate!”

I proudly showed off the certificate right in front of her face. But for some reason, she was holding one in her hand too.

“Patience got one too? There’s no way your dancing could earn you a certificate, right?”

Patience has technically learned how to move to a rhythm now. But that’s only when her leader is exceptionally skilled. While I was standing there in disbelief, Ralph filled me in.

“That Lord Caesar is an eccentric, but he is the eldest son of the Ducal House of Burns, so surely he has mastered dancing?”

Ralph knows everything about the nobility. Honestly, he knows everything about everything.

“What, that eccentric is… relatives of the royal family are nothing but eccentrics.”

Being a ducal house means they were originally royalty. Duke Laforet is already bizarre enough, so that Caesar guy is a relative too? Even so, I was privately worrying about whether the Ducal House of Burns was going to be fine with him as the heir, when Hugo completely caught me off guard.

“Speaking of Duke Burns, he runs the Burns Trading Company, doesn’t he? My father praised him as being incredibly capable… but is that person the eldest son? I wonder if I can get along with him.”

So Duke Burns runs a trading company. I had no idea nobles actually engaged in commerce. And if Hugo was being instructed by his father to get close to him, they must be fabulously wealthy. A knot of frustration twisted in my chest.

“Lord Hugo, if you join the Alchemy Club, you can become good friends with him.”

That girl had the absolute nerve to spout such a ridiculous suggestion.

The three of us reflexively shouted, “No way!” in unison. It was the only normal reaction. Hugo, I trust you’d never do something like that.

“As I thought, eccentrics gather around you. Perhaps you emit a scent that attracts them?”

Ah, damn it. I make far too many blunders. No matter how eccentric she is, she is still a noble lady. Mentioning a “scent” is an absolute breach of manners. I was about to apologize, but she simply said, “Please excuse me,” and walked away. What a textbook example of passive-aggressive insolence.

“Prince Keith, that was really uncalled for,” Ralph chided.

“I know. I took it too far.”

I fully intended to apologize when I saw her at lunch the next day, but even when I tried to sleep, the image of her dancing happily with Caesar kept flashing in my mind, keeping me awake.

Why do I care so much about her anyway? Her looks pale in comparison to Louise, her family standing is mediocre, and the magic she received is nothing special. It’s only because she’s always with my sister Margaret that I’m forced to see her so often.

I told myself I’d just apologize quickly and wipe that strange girl from my mind entirely. Yet, memories kept bubbling up—like how surprisingly fast she learned to swim when I taught her at the summer villa, or how pathetic she looked when she was terrified of full-sized horses and begged to ride a pony instead.

Thanks to her, I’m entirely sleep-deprived. On top of that, I completely bombed my classics test. If I had passed classics, I could have skipped a year and moved straight into the third-year class! This is entirely her fault.

No, failing the classics test was my own fault. Besides, Ralph could have easily tested out of classics if he wanted to. Instead, he’s holding himself back just to stick with me. I know this is wrong. I know it, but the thought of us being in different year levels is unbearable. Still, we need to have a proper chat about it.

“I’ll apologize to Patience.”

With that resolve, I headed toward the upper dining salon. My sister and her friends had pushed Patience all the way down to my side of the table. If they’re going to treat her like that, wouldn’t it be a hundred times more relaxing for her to just sit somewhere else?

I was already irritated by my own friends’ situation, and now my sister’s entourage was making it worse. My sister’s classmates are certainly beautiful, and they come from highly distinguished noble houses, but I can’t bring myself to like them at all. I’m certain brother Richard would never choose a bride from that bunch. I certainly wouldn’t want to either.

Come to think of it, Louise is out of the question too. She’s beautiful, the daughter of an Earl, and was blessed with light magic. I’ll admit I was drawn to her at first. On top of that, she’s brilliant at her studies, but every now and then, she casts these incredibly malicious glares at nobles of lower standing. She thinks no one notices, but not only Ralph, even Hugo sees right through it.

Still, I suppose she’s slightly better than my sister’s entourage. The way they treat Patience makes their underlying spite plain as day. I honestly wonder why my sister keeps company with people like that. They won’t even live in the dormitory, and they acted entirely selfishly during the Aoba Festival. It infuriates me to see her being treated so poorly by those types. You were chosen by my mother to be my sister’s personal attendant. You should drive those venomous insects away.

Trying to deflect my frustration with my own friends onto my sister’s entourage was entirely pointless. And yet, looking at Patience as she ate with such a serene, detached expression, I couldn’t suppress the urge to force her to acknowledge me.

She’s furious about my blunder yesterday, so she’s completely ignoring me. It’s maddening. But first, I need to apologize.

“Is Patience going to join Caesar’s Alchemy Club?”

Damn it! I meant to apologize, but instead, I deliberately brought up that irritating Caesar guy. A complete failure!

“I haven’t decided yet. I will think about it after taking the alchemy class.”

Her blunt response made the blood rush straight to my head.

“Were you actually serious about taking alchemy?”

I figured it was just the fleeting whim of a strange girl.

“Yes. I intend to take it and see if I have any aptitude for alchemy.”

Does she really want to join the Alchemy Club that badly? That’s right, she said it herself: If you want to get close to Caesar, you should join the Alchemy Club.

“Could it be that you’re actually after Caesar? I hear the Ducal House of Burns is exceedingly wealthy.”

She turned and shot me a glare that screamed, Are you an idiot? I had fully intended to apologize, so where exactly did I go wrong?

“Princess Margaret, I am not feeling well, so please excuse me.”

She made her polite, haughty exit.

“Keith, what on earth did you say to make Patience so angry?!” Sister Margaret snapped.

“I had no idea Patience was aiming for the eldest son of the Ducal House of Burns,” Catherine chimed in.

“Since he is quite eccentric, perhaps she thought even a Viscount’s daughter might stand a chance?”

“Come to think of it, Lord Albert is also the son of Duke Laforet, isn’t he? She certainly aims high. She truly doesn’t know her place.”

Hearing them talk like that made my blood boil. “I don’t need a lecture from a sister who sits back and lets her own classmates whisper cowardice and slander behind someone’s back. I will go apologize to Patience myself.”

I stormed out after Patience. On this freezing cold day, she was heading straight toward the courtyard. Since she is such a slow runner, I caught up to her in no time.

“I can’t take this anymore! I hate being Princess Margaret’s personal attendant! I don’t mind waking her up in the morning or dealing with her music obsession. But I absolutely detest that entourage of hers! And I hate taking these completely meaningless classes!”

She was screaming at the top of her lungs in the freezing courtyard. I couldn’t exactly step out now, could I? But quitting as an attendant is out of the question. Patience is the only one who can actually get my sister out of bed.

“Even during the Aoba Festival, they completely abandoned Princess Margaret just to chase after the boys from the Knights Club. They play at being her friends, yet they won’t even live in the dormitory. And when it comes to a difficult foreign language, they won’t even try to study with her. I bet the only reason they became Princess Margaret’s classmates is because they think it’ll give them an advantage in marrying into a good family. I hate them!”

After screaming everything out, she seemed to calm down. I happen to detest that crowd too, so listening to her rant actually felt quite satisfying. I decided to step out from the shadow of the tree and apologize.

“I’m going to quit the music club too.”

Yet, she started spouting more ridiculous nonsense, slapping her own cheeks hard to fire herself up. What kind of noble lady does something like that? She absolutely cannot quit the music club. Even that eccentric Albert recognizes her talent. What a massive waste it would be.

“Ah… I’m so hungry… I wonder if it would be against the rules to go eat in the lower dining hall?”

I have never in my life seen a noble lady whose stomach growled so loudly. But right then, my own stomach gave a loud growl in response. How incredibly uncool.

“Who’s there?”

I’ve been spotted.

“I am sorry about earlier. And please forgive my blunder from yesterday. I took out my own frustration on you—watching you be pushed around by my sister’s classmates because of my own incompetence. You are the attendant chosen by my mother. You should drive those venomous insects away. If they have a complaint, tell them to take it up with Mother.”

I forced the entire speech out all at once, only for my stomach to growl right at the end.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you? Lord Ralph and Lord Hugo, who are watching from over there, must be starving too. Please return to the upper dining salon. Prince Keith, eavesdropping is a breach of etiquette.”

I couldn’t just leave a girl all by herself in a freezing place like this. Yet, she walked at a snail’s pace. A turtle could move faster than her.

“Hurry up and walk,” I said, trying to escort her, but she flatly refused. Does she truly detest me that much?

“Please go on ahead.”

No, that’s not it. Patience knows she walks incredibly slow, so she’s actually being considerate of me.

“Wear this!” If she keeps moving at that agonizing pace, her body is going to freeze completely. I stripped off my jacket and threw it over her shoulders.

“Eh? No, I can’t take this,” she tried to return it, but she’s far too slow. I turned and ran all the way back to the upper salon.

“Prince Keith, you must be freezing,” Ralph said, offering to lend me his own jacket as I walked in.

“Don’t drape a jacket over another man. Besides, from now on, I am taking my tests seriously. I won’t ever envy my own friends for being brilliant.”

Ralph smiled. “Let us have our meal, then,” he said, summoning a server. Over lunch, I had a proper talk with Ralph and Hugo, and our bond as classmates became tighter than it had ever been before.

In any case, Patience truly is a strange girl. But she isn’t malicious. She is a girl I simply cannot seem to get out of my head.