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A few days later, the graduation party took place at the Magic Academy. It was called a party, but it was really more of an informal, relaxed gathering for nobles and common folk. In the gigantic hall, a long buffet table lined one wall, and everyone stood around chatting and eating. The party presented an opportunity for students to mingle with the teachers who’d looked after them for three years and socialize with their friends. And a chance to say their final farewells.
“Well, this is our second time attending a dinner party together, hm?”
“Indeed it is. I much prefer this, since the last time I was yelled at after we had such a pleasant conversation about food.”
Emma and Glen watched the lively proceedings from a spot by one of the walls.
“And, between those two events, you lost your valuable power, didn’t you?”
“Oh, might you be referring to my kiss on your hand?”
When Glen said that so casually, Emma’s cheeks warmed with color. In fact, she wasn’t thinking about his kiss disguised as a spell. No, she reminisced about what happened between them after they professed their feelings for each other at the Bering residence in Olano. She had received an impetuous kiss from him. He hadn’t been calm when he’d pressed his lips to hers, so Emma had taken a startled step back, crashing into a chair.
The loud sound of impact had brought the butler rushing in, worried. Unfortunately for all of them, he caught them in the act. Which she thought was a disaster since she would be working at Duke Bering’s house soon enough. Just remembering it made her flush an even deeper scarlet.
“Hm. If not the kiss that night, might you enlighten me on where your mind is focused?”
“None…of your business, good sir!”
She knew Glen was doing this on purpose, so Emma glared frostily at him, her cheeks still stained red. Though they had finally confirmed their love for each other, their relationship remained fundamentally the same. He would set the bait, and she would inevitably rise to take it.
“The barrette is lovely on you.”
“O-Oh! Th-Thank you.”
“I’m glad I gifted it to you.”
His expression was so soft, she could almost be tricked into thinking she’d imagined his teasing seconds ago. Today, Emma wore the pearl barrette Glen gave her for her twenty-first birthday. Truthfully, she’d been dying for him to see her wearing it, but she hadn’t mustered the courage to slip it into her hair until tonight. Looking at his pleased face now, though, she wished she had worn it much sooner.
“Emma! So this is where you were hiding!”
“Rashida!”
After graduation, Rashida would attend the special vocational school for servants in the Empire of Ulster. Because of her packed schedule, before she departed as an exchange student, today marked the last day she’d be able to see Emma for some time.
“Rashida, I’m so, so glad I got to meet you. Thanks to you, I had so much fun at school.” Emma hugged her friend tightly.
“I feel the same, Emma. Once we’re both settled into our new lives, promise me you’ll come to visit, hm?” Rashida accompanied her request with a giggle.
“If you run into any trouble, feel free to come to me. I’ll help you,” Glen said.
“Thank you very much, Lord Glen. And please… Look after Emma for me.”
“Of course. I’ve been saddled with an outrageous hoyden, but you can rest assured I’ll do my best to keep up with her.”
While the two talked like sentimental guardians of an errant child, Emma and Ian had their own conversation nearby. His role as her attendant and protector was finally at an end.
“Ian, the truth is, I don’t want to leave you. I already feel lonely without you. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.”
“Mind your words, Emma, or Glen will box my ears out of jealousy, eh? And you have nothing to thank me for. I only did my job.”
“As you wish. Hm… Your next charge will most definitely be Annette, hm? Good luck, my dear friend!” She chuckled at the thought.
“Lady Annette, huh…? I must admit, I feel a bit, no, actually a great deal uneasy…”
The night drew on, full of everyone’s thoughts and emotions. This time, for certain, Emma’s three years at the Magic Academy came to an end.
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ONCE Emma completed the paperwork and process for moving out of the dormitory, she boarded her family’s carriage for the journey back to Seagrove Manor. There, she saw someone who made her eyes widen in surprise.
“Grandmother, what…?”
Her grandmother should have been in her home far away. Yet here she was, right before Emma’s eyes. Having waited patiently for her granddaughter, she beamed at her. Hints of the coquette from her younger days slipped through her smile.
“Welcome home, Emma. Many congratulations on your graduation.”
“Thank you very much, Grandmother!”
Oh, I remember now… Grandmother came all the way here to the royal capital the first time I graduated, too. Despite Emma reconstructing her life from her fifteenth year, there hadn’t been many changes to events or people she didn’t directly affect. The fact that her grandmother’s visit remained unchanged had her secretly sighing in relief.
When Emma was young, her grandmother lived with them in the capital at Seagrove Manor. She had rich caramel-brown hair and deep azure eyes, just like her. Their uncanny resemblance led to her grandmother spoiling her rotten for as far back as she could remember. She was also the same woman who had instructed Emma so strictly in social manners and demeanor.
They headed inside, chatting until the dinner hour arrived. Naturally, the topic of conversation revolved around Emma’s upcoming place of employment.
“Emma, dear, your parents told me you’d be working as a lady’s maid for a duke in the neighboring country? How wonderful!”
Her granddaughter chuckled with pleasure.
“Yes, you heard right. I’ll be working for one of my classmates’ families, specifically taking care of a seven-year-old girl. Luckily for me, I’ll be her exclusive maid, too!”
Emma was elated by her grandmother’s praise.
“Truth be told, your old man worried a great deal about you after your engagement to Viscount Sagden’s son was dissolved. Our social networks overlap with his; I would have only been able to find you work with a family connected to both of ours. Glad to hear I don’t have to concern myself on that front any longer.”
“Oh, Father, I wish you had just told me! Have you forgotten I was an excellent student at the Academy? I received quite a few offers of employment as a lady’s maid from many aristocratic households!” She pouted at her father’s well-meaning but insensitive words, while her grandmother smiled gently at them.
“Which reminds me, dear. What’s the name of the family you’ll be working for?” her grandmother asked.
“The Duchy of Bering.”
“Never say so!”
Klink. Her grandmother’s shocked response was accompanied by the loud clatter of cutlery banging on the table, a faux pas the older woman would never make.
“Grandmother, whatever is the matter?”
“No. No, it’s nothing. The Duchy of Bering is in the Olano Kingdom, yes?”
“That’s right. You know so much about everything, Grandmother.”
“Perhaps too much… In any case, congratulations are in order once more, Emma.”
Hm? The usual gentle, elegant smile stretched across her grandmother’s lips. Yet her expression, one Emma couldn’t decipher but knew held significance, remained stuck in her mind.