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“DON’T you think it’s quiet today?” Glen asked.
“Hm. It’s always like this, though,” Emma said curtly.
They were in the cafeteria for lunchtime. Glen, accompanied by Ian, approached Emma and Rashida. But Emma was in no mood for social niceties, so her response was lackluster. Next to her, Rashida smiled ruefully.
“I apologize for her behavior, Lord Glen. Emma experienced quite a shock earlier in our lesson. I think she should be back in good form in no time.”
“No, no, Rashida, good form isn’t good enough anymore. I’ll have to try harder to be a paragon of ladylike grace. Yes, yes, now and forever,” Emma said quietly. Instead of being scared off by her prickly and listless attitude, Glen sat across from her. Then she saw the corners of his amethyst eyes crinkle as he grinned at her.
“You know… I think I can pretty much guess what transpired.”
“Same,” Ian replied. “Must have been the practical class for applied life magic.”
Once they became second-years, Glen and Ian were assigned to different classes since Emma and Rashida were on the academic track to fulfill their goals as lady’s maids. But whenever their schedules aligned, the four would get together during lunch, chatting the time away.
When Emma thought about her time at the Magic Academy in her original life, she had been glued to Ian’s side. In comparison, her life now was incredibly fulfilling… And yet, she couldn’t work up the energy to snap angrily at their smug, all-knowing looks.
“Professor Morris from the department of magic made it excruciatingly clear that as I am now, I can never be a lady’s maid,” Emma told them. “So long as I can’t put my future mistress first, I’m leagues from being an impeccable maid. Which is why I’ll focus on the trappings required by the role. That is a perfectly modest, ladylike persona. Shouldn’t be too difficult, considering I played the part for so long anyway.”
“Well… I understand your frustration,” Glen said. “If you possess multiple elemental affinities, controlling magic is significantly harder in a normal state of mind, but it gets exponentially more difficult when one’s emotions are in disarray.”
“Wait, Glen, you too? Can you give me an example of a time when you struggled? How did you deal with it?”
Of the four of them, Glen was the most accomplished by far, always achieving top marks and excellent results in his classes. It wasn’t public knowledge, but his outstanding capability marked him as a member of Ulster’s imperial family. Without hesitation, Emma sunk her teeth into the fact that even he had occasions where he couldn’t manipulate magic well.
Except he ignored her questions to ask her one of his own.
“Emma, is your ideal maid only capable of using magic?”
“No, of course not. But…”
“Actually, never mind. Don’t worry about it for now.” Glen stood up. “Would you like to undergo special training after classes are over for the day?”
“Special training…?”
Emma blinked at the unexpected invitation. She sensed Rashida, next to her, and Ian, seated diagonally across from her, exchanging meaningful glances and smiles.