“Yes, I do, but I’ll share it once I’ve thought it through some more.”
Benjamin began pulling at his hair and whining like a disgruntled pet.
“Tell us right now!”
Thankfully, just then we arrived at the dorm. I’m glad I can get away.
On Saturday morning, I first headed to the greenhouse and poured my mana into only the budding leaves of my plants, using my household magic to simplify the process. Before I’d realized I could use household magic, this process had taken an incredibly long time.
“Gosh, I wonder why Ms. Makias said not to use my household magic.”
Voicing my thoughts always put them through Patience’s politeness filter. My original thought had been more of an insult along the lines of “That stubborn, mean ol’ hag!” Today, I was really grateful for this filter.
“That’s because you can’t control your mana, to the point that you recklessly use magic. You really should join the mage track and learn control.”
Shoot! I didn’t even notice Ms. Makias coming into the greenhouse!
“I don’t like attack spells, so I won’t enroll in the mage track,” I replied.
Ms. Makias cackled.
“You only get to be so naive because there hasn’t been any armed conflict for over a decade. Only fools neglect their defenses during times of peace. If your own life, or if your family’s lives were in danger, would you still go around saying that you ‘don’t like attack spells’?”
I was dumbstruck by Ms. Makias’s words. I’d let my guard down because Lawrence was a peaceful kingdom. In this world, wars could start over the smallest thing. I’d learned all about such situations in world history, but I’d never thought about how it could happen to me.
“I also warned you not to use household magic because your clumsy household magic would make the stalks grow uncontrollably, and the resulting antidotal herbs would be useless. That said, if you keep doing what you’re doing now, you’ll grow some very effective herbs.”
Ms. Makias then wished me good luck before exiting the greenhouse. She was much quicker than you would expect.
She’s definitely lying about her age.
I didn’t think I could handle the mage track on top of my other courses, but I decided to give it some thought. After all, Patience had some really slow feet, so I would likely be the first to die if we were attacked by something. Also, I wanted to be able to protect my little angels.
While waiting for Mary to arrive, I pulled out my course registration form and looked over my schedule.
Yeah, I don’t think it’s possible for me to enroll in the mage track. However, I could probably just take a few courses, like magic control and defensive spells... It would be nice to be able to use healing spells, but you probably need light magic proficiency to take it. That’s too bad!
“I apologize for my tardiness,” Mary said upon arriving. “We received a letter from Countess Northcourt this morning; here you go.”
You could’ve just given me this at home. I’m pretty sure I know what it says.
“I need to bring these hot water bottles home,” I explained. “I’ll help carry them as well.”
Mary looked confused by the hot water bottles, but she proceeded to tie them up into bundles of five with some cloth and carried them with my luggage containing my clothes. All I had to carry were the several books I was bringing back for the study session, since Mary wouldn’t even let me carry one of the bundles of hot water bottles.
Once I was in the carriage, I began reading the letter from Aunt Lilianna. As I’d expected, it was about the study session taking place later today. She was asking what sort of sweets Prince Keith liked.
I know at the very least that he doesn’t like those sugar-crusted cakes.
“Mary, would it be impolite to send Eva over to the Northcourts and have her help them make some sweets?”
Mary wasn’t very fond of Aunt Lilianna, since the Northcourts lived so close to us but hadn’t helped us out. However, she did enjoy that Samuel came over to play with my brothers, and this study session would be for Samuel and Prince Keith.
“If that is what Countess Northcourt wishes, then it would not be impolite.”
Good, because I don’t think Prince Keith would eat any of their cloyingly sweet desserts.
Not only would I have to be out for this study session, but I was also expected to eat lunch at the Northcourt home. In her letter, Aunt Lilianna seemed quite panicked about how I would have to be there to greet Prince Keith when he arrived in the afternoon.
And that means I’m going to have even less time with my angels. All I could do was sigh.
Once I was home, I first went to recharge my energy. I gave my brothers a big hug, which made me feel a lot better.
“Will you be going to Samuel’s house, sister?” Henry asked.
“I would love to bring you with me, but we’re going to be studying classical literature,” I explained. “You’ll have to sit this one out.”
Nassius seemed confused by my response. He liked classical literature, so he didn’t understand why that was a deal-breaker.
“Do you think his dislike of classical literature will be cured with a single study session, sister?” Nassius asked. He’d gotten closer to Samuel through their joint riding lessons, so he’d probably heard about his cousin’s feelings toward the subject.
“I will do my best,” I replied.
I want this to be done after one session! I can’t have my precious Saturdays taken from me multiple times.
After that, I showed Mary how to use the hot water bottles.
“Not only will it keep you warm at night, but you can also use the water inside to wash your face in the morning? What an incredibly useful item!” she gushed.
I agree. It’s revolutionary for poor households like ours.
“I have enough for everyone, so be sure to use them!”
Now I was confident I could leave Mary to handle the hot water bottles. All that was left was to write a letter to Aunt Lilianna explaining that Eva could help, and to send her over. We’d be visiting soon enough anyways, but it was best to let her know as soon as possible. I also included the ingredients needed to make pancakes.