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“YOU idolized the maid who looked after you as a child, so you aspire to be like her, hm? My story is similar to yours, Emma.”
Just as Emma had heard Rashida’s spell practice through their shared wall, so, too, had the other girl listened to Emma enthusiastically talking to herself about her dream. She hadn’t realized how high her excitement had been when she’d been making her declarations about taking care of future young ladies. Evidently, though, Emma had been quite loud. How incredibly embarrassing.
“Then, Lady Rashida, you also admired your maid at home?”
“Indeed, I did. But, you see, my father… He refuses to pay my dream any heed, saying that a duke’s daughter uses maids, they don’t become one.”
When Emma realized she was about to thoughtlessly agree with the duke’s sentiment, conditioned by societal norms, she forcibly tamped down on her words. She knew how hurtful his opinion was, as someone who had to give up her dream in her previous life due to the demands of her job as a time traveler.
Ultimately, after being convinced by her parents, Emma willingly chose to undertake the responsibility that came with her time affinity. Even so, she regretted not being able to focus on her studies at the Magic Academy due to the demands of her work. Her eyes stung with emotion whenever she recalled her despair the night she realized she couldn’t become a lady’s maid like Sunny.
“If you don’t mind my asking, which field do you intend to specialize in here at the Academy?” Emma asked.
“Father instructed me to focus on general education and advanced wind magic. But…but I plan to apply to my top track, the practical application of life magic.”
“Oh, I want to enroll in that course as well! From what I can see, though, you can already use advanced life magic, Lady Rashida.”
Emma pointedly looked at the gray hair the other girl had dyed via magic. Her real hair color glinted throughout her locks, and there was a lack of actual black. But the fact that she’d accomplished any color change was genuinely impressive, especially since they’d only just started school.
“One of our servants taught me how to do it in secret. But I could only manage two of the five chants necessary, which is why the color turned out like this.”
Rashida grinned playfully, then cackled hysterically at her bumbling execution of magic. Looking at her now, Emma found it hard to believe her initial refined ladylike persona, fit for a duke’s daughter. I… I really want to be friends with her. Before she could say as much, Rashida beat her to the punch.
“Emma, won’t you be my friend?”
“Of course! If you’ll have me!”
“Excellent! Please call me Rashida. No need to speak to me so formally, either. I have a strong feeling we’re going to get along swimmingly, and I couldn’t be happier about it!”
“Rashida it is then. And I couldn’t agree more!”
They beamed at each other, radiating delight. By this point in her first life, Emma had already stopped mentioning her dream to become a world-class lady’s maid. Every time she had, her family always looked sad from the guilt they bore after pushing her into taking on the burden of her fate.
But today, Emma made a friend she could talk to freely about her dream. This made her hopeful that her second life was off to a roaring good start. Though I must admit, I still find it troubling that I never knew about her in the three years I spent at the Academy last time.
“It’s almost bedtime, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Right you are. Good night.”
Despite her lingering worry, Emma bid her new friend farewell and returned to her room, walking on cloud nine.