Chapter 92

Even though weaving class had been wonderful fun, I still had to drag myself to the music club.

Maybe I should go pick up Samuel?

I know, I’m a total coward. I just really don’t want to get caught up in the drama between Princess Margaret and her entourage. I dislike Catherine and the others, but there’s no real justification for kicking them out of the club. Therefore, it would be easiest if I simply resigned.

“Ugh, I don’t want to go. I wish I could switch to the handicraft club instead.”

I’d love to make all sorts of things there. I want to learn how to weave miniature rugs and make cushions for the children’s room.

Maybe I’ll just sneak a quick peek at the handicraft club? Samuel and the other three are a group of four, so they can surely manage to find their own way to the music club.

I’ve been coming to the clubhouse for a year now, but I only know the music club room on the first floor. Well, every room has a small signboard above the door, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

“Let’s see… No sign of the handicraft club here. Is it on the second floor?”

Since I originally had no intention of joining any clubs, I hadn’t even looked at the thick club guide booklet we were given at enrollment.

Thinking it might be on the second floor, I walked toward the far end of the clubhouse to find the stairs, only to run straight into Caesar.

“Oh, Patience. Have you finally decided to join the Alchemy Club?”

“No, I am actually looking for the handicraft club. Is it on the second floor?”

Caesar let out a smirk.

“The production-type clubs are all in the rear clubhouse. It works out perfectly; the handicraft club is right next to the Alchemy Club.”

As it turned out, the rear clubhouse hosted the cooking, handicraft, alchemy, pharmacy, pottery, and woodworking clubs. Any clubs that utilized water or fire were kept separate. Since the handicraft club handled things like dyeing—which requires both water and fire—it belonged in this building. I sneaked a glance inside through the window, but it didn’t look like they were active today.

“Thank you very much,” I said, making sure to thank him for the directions.

“Weren’t you in the music club, Patience?”

Talk about a delicate topic.

“Yes, I am currently in the music club. In fact, I must be heading over there about now.”

I really didn’t want to go, but Samuel was coming too, so I had to.

“No one should go to a club looking like that. If you hate it so much, just quit.”

He was entirely right.

“Yes, I do intend to quit.” Saying it out loud felt wonderfully refreshing.

“The Alchemy Club will always welcome you, you know.”

He really is relentless with his recruitment.

“As I told you before, I will think about it if I actually turn out to have any aptitude for it. I can only use lifestyle magic, so alchemy might be entirely beyond me.”

Caesar paused for a moment before speaking.

“I can sense a powerful mana from you that doesn’t feel like lifestyle magic at all. My intuition tells me you have the makings of an alchemist. If you take the alchemy class, you should take magic arrays as a set with it.”

Well, my lifestyle magic is a bit unusual. I see—if I take alchemy, I should take magic arrays too. They’re like a set, just like weaving and dyeing.

“Thank you for the advice.”

Good grief, I suppose I have to go to the music club if I want to formally resign.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to the music club.

“Samuel, you’re already here.”

Seeing the massive look of relief wash over Samuel’s face when he saw me made my heart twinge with guilt. I was the one who invited him, and here I was about to quit.

“The ones I am recommending are Daniel Kimberly, Bardish MacFarlane, and Klaus Archer,” President Albert announced gleefully, presenting the three boys. Right after, Princess Margaret formally recommended Samuel.

Catherine, Lilina, and Harriet were nowhere to be found. Don’t tell me Princess Margaret actually had President Albert expel them? If she did that, I am definitely quitting.

“Um, your Highness, where are Lady Catherine and the others?” I whispered quietly to Princess Margaret.

“When I informed them that I was removing them from my entourage, they became furious and quit the music club as well. They grumbled that since they are preparing for their social debuts, they actually hated having the music club take up so much of their time anyway.”

Albert chimed in, “Those girls never possessed a shred of true love for music. They only wanted to curry favor with your Highness and boast about being a princess’s classmates. We are well rid of them.”

President Albert ruthlessly tore up the three resignation forms. Ah, so once they were dismissed from being her entourage, they chose to quit the music club themselves.

“So, Patience, you absolutely cannot quit now. Especially not after three members have just left.”

Ugh, my path to the handicraft club has drifted even further away. I really want to learn a practical trade. It might not be a necessity for a noble lady, but I could easily do embroidery as a side job, and weaving really suits my temperament—or rather, I just love it.

While I was lost in thought, it had somehow been decided that the new members would play a piece for us.

“Right then. Let us begin with Samuel, whom Patience praised so highly,” Albert declared.

Oh dear, I hope being put first doesn’t make him too nervous. As his older cousin, I was privately fraught with worry.

“In that case, I shall play a piece composed by Patience.”

Wow, he really did practice hard. He played it beautifully. Clap, clap, clap.

“Oh! That’s a brand-new piece! Samuel, you must compose lots of new pieces for us too!”

Next, Daniel played the lute. He was exceptionally skilled.

“Patience, you really must practice the lute more as well,” Princess Margaret remarked.

She was entirely right. I’ve been slacking off completely on it lately.

Bardish and Klaus played Hanon exercises spectacularly well. Well, seeing as President Albert recommended them himself, it was only natural that they were highly proficient.

I had been listening along peacefully, but of course, things weren’t going to end there.

“Patience, show our juniors the absolute essence of the music club.”

President Albert, please stop raising the bar for me.

“Yes, indeed. I hear you composed a new piece during the winter holidays. I would love to hear it,” Princess Margaret added, raising the bar even higher.

I couldn’t disappoint Samuel, whose eyes were shining with pure anticipation. Right, I just have to give it my best.

“It is still in its unrefined stages, but I shall play my new piece. It is a song I composed for Prince Richard upon his graduation. It is titled ‘Tristesse’ (Etude Op. 10, No. 3).”

Calling this piece a basic ‘etude’ is an absolute scam. The song starts at a slow tempo, so I foolishly gave it a try thinking it would be easy, only to struggle immensely with the continuous sequences of chords later on. Chopin truly was a piano genius.

…Oh dear, did I go a bit too far? Princess Margaret was dabbing away tears with her handkerchief. As for Samuel, he was staring up at the ceiling, desperately trying to keep himself from crying. How adorable.

“Patience, we truly must marry. It is a tragedy for you to remain a mere musician. Let us open a musical salon together and elevate the music of the Kingdom of Lawrence!”

President Albert had just proposed to me for the second time. Princess Margaret, please save me. He is actively kissing the back of my hand right now!

“A musical salon… that actually sounds rather splendid. However, she is currently my personal attendant. Albert, unhand her at once.”

President Albert finally released my hand. Good grief.

The veteran members were entirely used to the president’s outrageous antics, but the new members were looking on in absolute bewilderment.

“Patience just received a marriage proposal…”

I needed to make sure Samuel kept his mouth shut about this.

“Samuel, President Albert was merely jesting. You must not take him seriously. If you tell your mother, she will take it entirely the wrong way.”

Samuel nodded, still looking utterly dazed.

“I don’t know if I can keep up with the atmosphere of the music club,” Daniel murmured, his face twitching slightly beside us.

“My father did warn me that Lord Albert was eccentric, but…”

Both Bardish and Klaus looked positively pale.

“To all our new members, please rest assured that the rest of the club is perfectly normal,” Princess Margaret offered, trying to smooth things over.

Your Highness, that didn’t help at all. However, as they listened to the magnificent performances of the other members, they seemed to gradually find their peace.

“Patience, I want to thank Princess Margaret for recommending me.”

I formally introduced Samuel to Princess Margaret. Samuel’s manners were absolutely flawless.

“You are Patience’s cousin, so I have high expectations for you,” she smiled.

Oh look, Samuel’s face has turned bright red. Well, Princess Margaret really is breathtakingly beautiful.

After that, the gathering transitioned into a warm, harmonious chat. We sat on cabriole-legged chairs and sofas, enjoying elegant conversation.

“President Albert, are you on the civil servant track?” I asked. The knight track was out of the question, and I didn’t think he was on the mage track either.

“Yes. I believe they drastically need to establish an artist track, but since we lack one, I have no choice but to settle for the civil servant track. Wait, Patience, aren’t you on the domestic science track?”

“Yes, I am taking both domestic science and the civil servant track, but the mandatory classes for Law and Administration are simply too tedious to bear.”

“Hahaha! You must have taken Mr. Patterson’s classes. He does nothing but read straight from the textbook. Well, it’s easy enough to just memorize the text word-for-word and grab your completion certificate, but I suppose that doesn’t satisfy you. Hold on a moment. Rupert, you switched to a different teacher, didn’t you?”

He beckoned over Rupert, who had been on percussion during the harvest festival.

“Yeah. I honestly don’t know how you endured such a boring class to get your certificate, President Albert. I personally detest wasting time, so I switched to Mr. Sullivan. You should switch too, Patience. He actually discusses why laws that aren’t in the textbook were created in the first place, their inherent problems, and holds proper debates.”

Now that sounded genuinely educational and incredibly interesting.

“Thank you very much, Lord Rupert.” Rupert really is wonderfully kind.

“There are very few female students who choose the civil servant track. Best of luck to you,” he said, quickly scribbling down a note and handing it to me. “I detest taking classes just for the sake of credits. I’ve written down the teachers who actually give valuable lectures, so please use it as a reference.”

“Wow, thank you so much!” While I was rejoicing, President Albert snatched the note away to read it.

“Hey, don’t recommend teachers who make it so notoriously difficult to earn credits! I want Patience to grab her certificates as quickly as possible so she can focus on composing new pieces for us.”

From there, the two dissolved into a fierce debate regarding the core educational purpose of the Royal Academy, so Princess Margaret, the new members, and I decided to make our exit.

“Samuel, do you think you’ll be able to get along in the music club?”

Samuel thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes. Besides, my friends are here with me. Daniel and the others said they are joining the riding club too, so I plan to register for both as well.”

Samuel broke into a spirited run toward the three boys waiting for him. As his older cousin, I finally felt at ease. It looked like he was going to enjoy his time at the Royal Academy after all.