“After all, the dining hall does the job,” I muttered to myself.
I thought back to when I’d asked about club dues, and how Princess Margaret had told me to eat at the salon on Thursdays.
I should’ve discussed the issue when she brought it up! Darn it!
Last week I’d also tried to go to the dining hall, but I’d run into Prince Keith and his friends, who had dragged me to the salon.
“Prince Keith has classroom lectures in the morning, right? Then he’ll be at the salon before me.”
The consistent schedule of the junior division was useful in times like this. Hands-on classes required extra time, because students would have to get changed or move classrooms. If Prince Keith was just coming from a standard lecture, then all I had to do was leave a bit later. It also helped that Patience walked slowly. By the time I got to the dining hall from the greenhouse, Prince Keith and his friends would surely be at the salon...
“You’re late, Patience!” the prince scolded. Why is he waiting by the stairs? “Where were you?”
Was he...waiting for me?
“I was in the herbology greenhouse. I had no idea that you would be waiting. I apologize for keeping you.”
He paid no mind to my apology and just headed up the stairs.
“Prince Keith didn’t see you in the dining hall, so he was quite worried,” Ralph said.
I was surprised to hear that. I’d had no idea what sort of worry my absence could cause.
“You’re exempt from your second period class on Thursdays, so I thought you were caught up in alchemy club stuff,” Prince Keith huffed.
He must really hate alchemy club. I wish he wouldn’t stick his nose into other people’s extracurriculars. I’ve never complained about the knight club to him.
“I’m quite busy with growing antidotal herbs,” I shared. “It’s a truly finicky and troublesome plant.”
It’s just like Prince Keith!
I kept that thought to myself, but Prince Keith curiously raised an eyebrow. Perhaps I’d triggered his Verbal Blunder radar.
“Anyway, I wonder what Princess Margaret is eating today,” Ralph interjected, deftly changing the subject.
“I heard that she had ham steak last week,” I remarked.
All that she’d had to do was slice the ham and fry it. I had no idea how she’d failed.
I am curious what she’s having today.
“That sounds good,” Prince Keith replied. He seemed to have finally stopped thinking about what I’d been doing.
“Fretting about all the struggles Lady Margaret must face makes it difficult for me to eat here,” I said. “Starting next week, I will eat downstairs.”
I finally said it! Now my Thursdays are free!
I thought I’d succeeded, but for some reason, Prince Keith wasn’t budging on this issue.
“I’ve been instructed by my sister to eat with you,” he argued. “I cannot break a promise I’ve made.”
There’s no need to be so stubborn about this. Just have fun eating lunch with your friends!
“I just remembered, you’ve gotten several certificates of completion, Lady Patience,” Hugo suddenly said. “Prince Keith is planning to enroll in two tracks in the senior division, and he is having trouble deciding which courses to pursue exemptions in.”
Is he trying to stop me from arguing back? Do they think I’m the problem here? Are you kidding me?
“I believe language arts, math, and magic theory are the easiest to obtain certificates of completion in,” I replied. “If you let your teachers know, you can take the third year senior division test for those subjects during the spring term final exams.”
Prince Keith hadn’t accelerated history and classical literature during his first year, so I left those two out. He’d already gotten a certificate of completion for dance, and he would likely get them for music and art, so I also left those subjects out.
After that, I listened to the boys discuss how they were going to work hard to get certificates of completion in magic practicum and PE as I silently ate my lunch.
Yeah, there’s really no point in my being here.
It was really unfortunate that Prince Keith struggled with classical literature, and I was confident that he could pass history if he just applied himself. After that, he would only have to get a certificate of completion in magic practicum to skip ahead to his third year in the junior division.
I wonder if Samuel will do all right on his classical literature term final.
Just then, I came up with a brilliant idea. Samuel had incredible auditory senses, and Dehn was similar to classical Emperado. Studying Dehn could make him feel less intimidated by classical literature.
I have to try this out! Since Samuel likes music, maybe I should find songs that are in Dehn.
Prince Keith had no problem carrying on a conversation without me, but he was unusually observant when it came to me thinking about other topics.
“What are you thinking about, Patience?”
Should I answer honestly? It’s about classical literature, which he hates... I guess it’s fine.
“My cousin Samuel isn’t very fond of classical literature either, so I was worried that he might struggle with the subject during the spring term final exams.”
Just hearing the name of his detested subject made Prince Keith furrow his brows.
I didn’t realize he hated it so much that his body rejected even speaking of it.
“I’ve heard that your cousin also has a hard time with the subject. Are you that concerned?”
I can’t tell him that I was tutoring him.
“Yes. My aunt has asked that I look after him.”
Ralph and Hugo both nodded in understanding.
“I’m sure he can’t drop below Class A,” Ralph remarked.
“Yes, all of our parents warn us about that,” Hugo added on.
Now that they were all second-years, Prince Keith and his friends knew that they had good grades, and they didn’t have to worry about being taken out of Class A. During their first year, they had been working earnestly to stay in Class A.
“Samuel is skilled when it comes to auditory mediums, so I thought it would be good to teach him Dehn,” I explained.
The three of them didn’t seem to understand the connection.
“I’m planning to take Dehn as part of the civil service course,” Prince Keith replied. “My brother also said I should study a foreign language.”
As always, Prince Keith really admired Prince Richard.
“I’m also studying Dehn with Princess Margaret, and I’ve learned it’s quite similar to classical Emperado.”
Just the word “classical” was enough to trigger a physical reaction from Prince Keith.
“Learning Dehn is quite fun,” I continued. “The grammar is similar to classical Emperado’s, but the words are all current terminology.”
Prince Keith seemed to be a little bit more interested.
“I see. Seems more useful than studying the language of a fallen empire.”
I thought that we were finally done with this topic, but for some reason, Ralph decided to say something weird.
“You’ve also gotten a certificate of completion in dance, right, Lady Patience? That would mean that you are free during fourth period on Mondays.”
I have no idea why he’s asking this! He who yields may live to fight another day, so fine, I’ll tell you.
“No, I have Herbology III during that block,” I responded.
It’s the truth!
“You just said you were in the herbology greenhouse,” Prince Keith pointed out. “Were you lying?”
Prince Keith is so annoying.
“My class is during my fourth period on Monday, but I mentioned earlier that I am having trouble growing antidotal herbs. They have small buds that must be gently imbued with mana. If I used even slightly more mana than I am supposed to, the stalks become overgrown and I will fail. Each plant has several buds that I must imbue with mana, so it is an incredibly taxing task. I have to do the same thing over and over, countless times... Darn Ms. Witch! I can’t believe she said I can’t use my household magic. If I did, I could do it so easily!”
As I ran my mouth, I suddenly realized something. During my first herbology class, Ms. Makias had said that my household magic was a great fit for herbology.
“She played me,” I said, hanging my head.
The three boys just stared at me with exasperation.
“I guess there are a lot of strange teachers in the mage track,” Prince Keith remarked. “I’m surprised that there’s something that even you can fail at, Patience.” The prince sounded amused as he chuckled, which he followed with something I never expected him to say. “You can help both Samuel and me with classical literature. You’re free on weekends, right? Then let’s meet at noon on Saturdays.”
You can’t just decide these things on your own! My weekends are for spending time with my angels!
“Prince Keith, I’m sure you have tutors at the palace more skilled than I am,” I responded.
I don’t want to do this!
Rather than back me, Ralph and Hugo both seemed to be on Prince Keith’s side.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Ralph said.
“Where shall we study?” Hugo asked.
Hey, didn’t you hear me turn him down?!
Ralph and Hugo were probably fed up with Prince Keith’s hatred of classical literature, and they were ready to make it my problem.
I’m going to be someone who can say no!
I mustered up the courage to bluntly refuse, but just as I was about to open my mouth, Princess Margaret appeared.
“Ugh, I’m so hungry, Patience! Please call over a waiter!”
Other girls from the home ec track also arrived and began sitting down. Before I could call a waiter over, Prince Keith snapped his fingers, and a waiter ran to our table.
“I’m fine with whatever can be prepared most quickly,” Princess Margaret said, ordering without even looking at the menu. This was unlike the princess.
“What happened in cooking?” I asked.
The princess furrowed her brows.
“We had to fry fish. But for some reason, my fish turned into a piece of charcoal! It was so bad that the teacher gave me permission to not eat it. There was already a huge commotion at the beginning of class because no one wanted to touch the fish, and the teacher didn’t have the time to make a soup. We were told to just head to the dining hall.”
Fish seemed like quite the difficult task for these students, but after asking for a few more details, I learned that they had just been working with fillets. All they’d had to do was season the fillets with salt and pepper, lightly dust them with flour, then fry them in a pan with some butter.
Princess Margaret ate her lunch as Prince Keith shared his idea with her.
“I think it sounds great,” she responded. “After all, I’m working hard in difficult classes, like sewing and cooking. You should be trying to conquer classical literature as well, Keith. I’ll be counting on you to teach him, Patience.”
It didn’t seem like I would become someone who could say no anytime soon.