Chapter 6: Item: Study Guide
THIS year’s dressage race ended with a spectacular victory from Siraiya.
After the award ceremony, my parents wouldn’t stop lavishing praise on Siraiya. Duke Brooke wasn’t in attendance, of course, but Siraiya didn’t seem lonely with my parents doting on him so fondly.
Father seemed especially proud as the person who taught Siraiya how to ride a horse. He was already making plans to have a special saddle made for Siraiya and to purchase a horse for him. Siraiya was quick to reject that offer, even though he felt apologetic about having to do so.
I agreed with the idea of getting him a saddle, but the latter would be asking for trouble. Noah had already formed a strong bond with Siraiya. He would get incredibly jealous if he spotted Siraiya riding another horse now. It was a frightening prospect.
That same day, the four of us returned to the Rhuddlan manor and had a celebratory dinner for Siraiya and Noah’s victory.
He’d finally gained a lovely memory of his school days. I was thrilled to be there to witness it firsthand.
As for Pierre and the other boys who sabotaged the race, they all received suspensions from school and were assigned cleanup duties as punishment. Expulsion or even jail time was on the table for the crime of causing a public disturbance in the presence of the crown prince, but to my surprise, His Royal Highness was said to have smiled and declared, “Immature students can be forgiven for their disrespect just this once.”
Still, these noblemen’s sons were being forced to scrub down the school gates in front of everyone. They weren’t likely to show their faces at our school again unless they had a lot of nerve.
His Royal Highness probably understood that when he suggested the punishment. Perhaps, despite the smile on his handsome face, he was actually rather cold-hearted deep down.
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“IS Noah the same horse that entered last year?”
Siraiya and I were sitting side by side in our spot behind the schoolhouse when he asked me that.
“I’m surprised you noticed. Noah was quite restive last year, so I didn’t think anyone would consider him to be the same calm horse he is today,” I said.
Indeed, this had been Noah’s second entry in the dressage race. He’d made his debut as Eddie’s horse last year, but Eddie’s unclear instructions sent Noah into a frenzy. In the end, he knocked Eddie off his back in the middle of the race.
Eddie wasn’t injured very badly, fortunately, but he was disqualified from the competition.
“I realized he looked just like the black stallion from last year, but he was so well-behaved when I rode him. I couldn’t make sense of how he could act so differently.”
“Noah’s always been incredibly clever. That’s exactly why he refuses to obey immature riders. The fact that he listens to you is proof that he sees you as qualified to ride him,” I explained.
“Undeserving as I am, you never run out of praise for me, do you, Cynthia? It’s embarrassing, but I won’t deny that I’m pleased to hear Noah’s accepted me.”
Despite his brilliance, Siraiya still found ways to put himself down. I would have to keep getting even closer to him and giving him lots more praise until he’d regained his self-confidence.
“Now that the fun part is over, exams are the next thing on our schedule. I’ll have to work hard if I want to score anywhere close to you,” I said.
“Oh, that’s right. I wanted to give you this. You might deem it unnecessary, however…” Siraiya showed up to our usual get-together with an extra item today. He unwrapped the cloth-covered item now, revealing the notebook hiding within.
I knew exactly what it was and signified. But I had to pretend otherwise.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I took notes about what I think is going to come up on the exams, or things that might trip you up. I just hope it’s helpful to you, Cynthia.”
When the player completed their study sessions with Siraiya in the game, they obtained his “study guide”—an item that significantly raised their academic skill. It was an indicator that the player had successfully raised Siraiya’s affection as well.
The game allowed you to choose whether or not to accept the notebook. Rejecting it was one way to lower Siraiya’s affection and avoid the bad ending. Of course, that made it much harder to raise your grades and successfully romance the crown prince.
I took the study guide from Siraiya as if it were a treasure, tracing my fingers over the cover. I’d already made up my mind. I couldn’t even imagine a future without Siraiya next to me.
“Thank you very much. I had been wondering how you go about studying to get such excellent grades, so I couldn’t have asked for a better gift. I’m very happy,” I expressed, making sure he knew exactly what his gift meant to me.
“I’m glad to hear it. We could also go over class materials in the library together if you want to see my study methods.”
“Yes, let’s do that! We can meet in the library tomorrow instead.”
“Of course. Let’s work hard and ace our exams.”
“I’d love nothing more, Siraiya.”
I wondered if Siraiya would continue supporting me this much once I became the viscount. It was easy to imagine our happy future together as husband and wife, and before I knew it, I couldn’t seem to wipe the smile from my face.
“Siraiya,” I began. “My family has finished our preparations, and Father tells me he intends to visit Duke Brooke today to discuss our engagement.”
“Really?! …I see…”
His face lit up for a moment before he closed his eyes. I could tell he was picturing exactly what I was. The two of us sat there, imagining what life would be like once we were married.