Chapter 99

Princess Margaret and I managed to have a simple, peaceful lunch. I see—so on Thursdays, I get to eat at the lower student cafeteria. I feel a bit sorry for Princess Margaret, but I’m thrilled to be separated from Prince Keith.

“Next is Penmanship,” she said.

Yes, Western calligraphy! It’s going to look so incredibly cool once I master it.

“Let’s give it our best.”

The size of the Penmanship class was quite small too. It seems everyone really has clustered around subjects where they think it’s easy to earn credits. Whether it actually turns out that way remains to be seen, though.

“I am Kate Sutherland, and I will be teaching you Penmanship,” our teacher announced. “I believe that writing beautifully becomes a lifelong personal treasure. Now then, let us begin writing from the very first page of the textbook.”

The opening page displayed the alphabet in beautiful, ornate decorative script.

“Alright, first, let us practice writing our own names in elegant decorative script. If you aren’t sure how to draw the script or connect the letters, please raise your hand.”

Princess Margaret looked completely bewildered. Royal names are notoriously long, after all.

“Would you prefer to write an abbreviated version, Your Highness?”

She considered it for a moment, then shook her head.

“No, if I am to practice, I might as well learn to write my official name beautifully. I refuse to sign a messy signature when I get married. Margaret Aiolia Agape Lawrence.”

Marriage… Ah, I suppose that’s a distinct possibility once she graduates. Since I fully intend to become a career woman myself, I hadn’t given it a single thought.

As for me: Patience Granger.

I wrote it letter by letter, studying the decorative script carefully. Wow, it turned out to be quite a stylish signature!

“Yes, you’ve drawn it very well, but you must practice until you can write it all in one fluid motion,” Mrs. Sutherland noted as she walked around the classroom.

She was right; looking closely, the lines were rather segmented. I had to learn to glide through it all in one go.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, and went back to practicing.

“Patience, your signature is perfectly fine now. You may proceed to the next page.”

A few of us passed the signature check and moved on to the next page, which covered basic greetings.

Princess Margaret’s name was so long that writing it in one fluid motion took quite a chunk of time. However, she managed to pass somehow and finally moved on to the next page just as the class period came to an end.

“I was so focused that it felt over in the blink of an eye,” Princess Margaret said. “But I shall continue practicing until I can write this signature effortlessly.”

To think Princess Margaret, who used to care about absolutely nothing but music, has changed this much… Just as I was reflecting on this, she broke into a joyful chatter.

“Now then, after school is the music club! I simply cannot wait to show everyone how much I’ve practiced ‘Tristesse’!”

“Princess Margaret, don’t you have Magic Practice before that? Surely you want to get your completion certificate for that as well.”

Princess Margaret possesses Wind magic. While her mana pool is exceptionally large, her control tends to be highly erratic, which is why she hasn’t been granted a pass yet.

“Yes, I want to pass it quickly so I can fully immerse myself in music. After all, our time at the academy might be the only period in our lives where we can enjoy music with absolute freedom.”

Hearing that her chance to drown in her love for music might be limited to her school years made me feel like I should let her enjoy club activities as much as she wanted. Still, being dragged around by her whims is a completely different story.

The Dyeing classroom was equipped with several massive cauldrons, and skeins of yarn in a vibrant array of colors were hung up to dry.

“Ah, you’re Patience from Weaving class!”

Lily called out to me. It looked like Sophia, as well as Hannah—who had forgotten to register for Dyeing initially—had somehow managed to adjust their schedules and enroll properly.

“We’re together again,” I smiled. “I’ve never done any dyeing before, so I’ll be relying on you.”

“I haven’t done it either!” Sophia chimed in.

It looked like our beginner quartet was back together.

“Oh, you’ve all taken Dyeing as well! I’m so pleased,” Mrs. Derby, who taught Weaving as well, greeted us warmly. “I’ve been advocating for these classes to be taken as a set for the longest time. I intend to have it explicitly written in the curriculum guide starting next year.”

“Has anyone here done dyeing before?” she asked. “Ah, it’s the exact same breakdown as Weaving. In that case, those without experience, please gather in the front row.”

Anticipating this, the four of us had already seated ourselves right at the front.

“My, you’re well-prepared. Preparation is absolutely everything when it comes to dyeing. The rest is pure experience. Even with the exact same dye, the color shifts depending on the water temperature, air temperature, and humidity. Therefore, from now on, make sure to record the amount of ingredients, the volume of water, the day’s temperature, humidity, and the overall weather in your notebooks.”

Yes, I remember a television documentary back in my previous world featuring an indigo dyeing artisan who said the exact same thing—that indigo is a living creature.

“Now then, today we will be doing the most accessible form of botanical dyeing. Does anyone know what this is?”

The teacher held up a handful of onion skins.

“Those are onion skins,” Lily answered.

Because it didn’t exactly fit the romantic image of botanical dyeing, a slight wave of disappointment rippled through our group.

“Precisely. And with this, you can dye yarn into a magnificent yellow. It can yield brown as well, but today, let us aim for a beautiful yellow.”

Instead of using the massive cauldrons, we were each assigned a small pot to do our dyeing.

“You will be using this dyed yarn for our next Weaving class, so please dye it to your personal favorite shade of yellow.”

We added the specified weight of onion skins into the designated volume of water and brought it to a boil.

“Alright, eyes up, everyone. Gather around.”

It looked like it was my turn to be the example. Inside my pot, the onion skins were boiling away rapidly.

“Watch the color carefully. We ladle a tiny splash of the liquid onto a stark white plate.”

It had turned into a gorgeous, vibrant yellow.

“Are you content with this shade?”

“Yes,” I replied, and the teacher submerged my skein of yarn directly into the pot.

“Simmer it over low heat for a bit, then add burnt alum to fix the color. From here on out, it is entirely a matter of personal preference. Leaving it submerged longer will deepen the shade. If you want a brilliant, vivid color, you can pull it out early. But if you dislike faint shades, you must wait a little while. Meticulous trial and error is the only way you will truly master this.”

Since I wanted a deep, rich yellow, I decided to wait a bit. I didn’t own a watch, but there was one hanging on the classroom wall, so I jotted the timestamp down in my notebook.

“Once you feel ready to take it out, use the tongs so you don’t burn yourself, and rinse it thoroughly with water.”

Lily pulled her yarn out and began rinsing it. It had dyed into a beautiful yellow.

“It should be about time for me too.” I pulled mine out and rinsed it. Yes, it was a distinctly deeper yellow than Lily’s.

“Hang your dyed yarn right over here. Make sure to write your name on it and secure it with a clothespin so you don’t lose track of which one is yours.”

Ah, as I thought, dyeing is wonderful fun. I’d love to set up a dyeing station in our courtyard at home.

“Patience, yours turned out so much deeper than mine!” Lily noted, and we all crowded around to compare our results excitedly.

However, the experienced group was operating on an entirely different level.

“Teacher, I would like to do a double-dyeing process rather than a single dip…”

Their proficiency was clearly leagues ahead of ours. Mrs. Derby chuckled and addressed them: “You girls should test out and skip straight into the second-year class for both Weaving and Dyeing.”

Turning back to us, she smiled, “Taking second-year Weaving and Dyeing will be quite a fierce challenge rather than a tedious chore, but it will be thoroughly rewarding.”

Skipping grades means it will just be the four of us, but is that really alright? As the four of us exchanged hesitant glances, Mrs. Derby laughed reassuringly. “Don’t worry, testing out is incredibly common here. Nearly every student who has practical experience at home skips the beginner classes.”

I think I’ll take my time and master Weaving and Dyeing from the fundamentals. Though, I have a feeling I might occasionally slip up and use lifestyle magic.

“Oh no! My hands have turned completely yellow!”

At Hannah’s cry, everyone looked down at their hands in surprise.

“Become clean!” I cast my magic, instantly restoring everyone’s hands to pristine condition.

“My word, how incredibly convenient! Mr. Jefferson spoke very highly of your lifestyle magic, Patience, and it truly is magnificent.”

If I walked into the music club with hands stained bright yellow, Princess Margaret would undoubtedly lecture me roundly, so I think I’ll keep the fact that I cleaned them up a quiet secret.