His finals had pretty much gone how I’d expected. His situation with PE was tough, since Mr. Cuthbert had been the previous advisor to the knight club. It seemed that he now resented the magic club and riding club, even though they had been the ones troubled by his club. Mr. Cuthbert is really problematic.
Samuel proceeded to ask me about my plans for the summer break.
“Are you going to the summer palace this year?”
Why is he asking me that? Did Aunt Lilianna put him up to this?
“I’m planning to spend the summer at home,” I replied.
A beaming smile spread across his face. He’s so adorable!
“In that case, would you, Nassius, and Henry like to come to Northcourt County with us?”
Wow, an invitation to our relative’s territory. I wanted to take care of the gardens here, but it would be nice to give the angels a chance to go somewhere outside Romano. This is tough.
“Well, Henry is only seven, so he wouldn’t be able to join us for any meals...”
Nassius would be ten, so he would be fine, but it would be sad for Henry if he had to travel all the way there only to be kept apart from us.
“While at our house in Romano, I had all my meals separately until I was ten, but in Northcourt County, I only had dinner separately,” Samuel revealed. “Henry won’t be able to join us for dinner, but my mother said he could for other meals.”
In that case, it wouldn’t be any different from when we’re at home. Hmm, what should I do?
As I mulled over my decision, Henry, who I didn’t know had been listening, answered for himself.
“I’d like to go, sister!” he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
He must know that I’m weak to his requests.
“I promise to look after Henry, so please let him come too,” Nassius said.
Don’t worry, Nassius. I was deciding whether we should all go or not—we would never go without Henry. I’m just not sure if I want to leave since I was planning on spending my summer working in the garden and researching stuff for alchemy club.
“I’ll get back to you after speaking to our father,” I said. It’s such a useful phrase in times like this, I thought, only for my carelessness to invite an attack.
“Northcourt County is on the coast,” Samuel added on. “I’ll teach Nassius and Henry how to swim.”
My brothers’ eyes glimmered with excitement, which was understandable, since they had never seen the ocean before. Samuel’s pretty clever. He knows that it’s easier to convince my brothers than me.
Henry took off running toward our father’s study. It was too late to stop him. Even if I could, I didn’t want to, because I was now determined to get my angels to the beach.
My father gave us permission to go, so it was decided that we would be spending our summer in Northcourt County. There was no time to waste on riding lessons, but Samuel wouldn’t let me go.
I want to use magic on the plants growing right now so I can plant a bunch of new stuff before leaving for the summer! Well, I still have school on Monday, since that’s when we get our grades back, so I guess I can wait until then. Oh, I need to prepare clothes for Henry too! I sewed some new pieces for Nassius, since it was his birthday. Henry’s current clothes are getting pretty tight, so he definitely needs new stuff.
I told Mary that we would be visiting Northcourt County, and she began panicking over preparing new clothes for Henry, just as I’d expected. Youngest children are always forgotten about until the last minute. I was the youngest during my previous life, and I hated having to wear my older sister’s hand-me-downs. I got new clothes for everyday wear, but anything fancy, like for a piano recital, was a hand-me-down. I’m going to sew Henry some brand new clothes!
I returned to my dorm room, and I found a letter from Ms. Makias tucked under my door.
“She wants me to visit the teachers’ offices on the last day of classes? I wonder if this is about the herbs I sold her.”
Wyatt refused to accept the money I made through the Burns Trading Company, so I’d been saving it up. I planned to use the money to pay for Henry to go to college, since Nassius and I had both been given scholarships to Romano University. It was possible that Henry would choose to join the knights’ order immediately upon graduation, which was perfectly fine, but I wanted to be prepared in case he wanted to first attend university.
Since I already had other funds being saved, I’d decided that the money I made from the herbs would be purely for fun. And now, since we were going to visit Northcourt County, I wanted to give the little angels some allowance they could spend. I’d also never bought anything on my own, so it would be nice if we all got to experience shopping on our own, perhaps by buying a souvenir or something.
Such thoughts had taken up some time, and Princess Margaret was now at the dorms. I visited her room, and Zofie prepared tea for us while we chatted. The princess seemed quite exhausted.
“Would you like to come to the summer palace with us, Patience?” Princess Margaret asked. “My mother wouldn’t refuse you. The court ladies aren’t good at waking me up.”
I guess the queen is being stricter with her. She must’ve gotten in trouble for not being able to wake up in the mornings.
“I’m very sorry, Lady Margaret, but my brothers and I already have plans to visit our relatives over the summer.”
The princess was disappointed, but I was looking forward to my summer with the angels. Samuel was also cute...aside from his insistence that I participate in riding lessons.
“Is Samuel’s family the relatives you’re referring to?” she asked. “If I recall correctly, Northcourt County is near the summer palace.”
I remembered how Samuel had said that Northcourt County was on the coast, then I thought back to a map of the kingdom. Yeah, that’s close to the summer palace. I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t want to answer her.
“Yes, however, my brothers will be with me,” I replied, trying to gently refuse any offer she was trying to make.
Princess Margaret smiled.
“The older one is the same age as Jane, and the younger one is the same age as Marcus, right? Mother wants me to set an example for Jane, but I can’t look after that rambunctious girl. You should bring your brothers with you and visit us.”
I don’t know what to do. I feel like a frog being targeted by a snake. Also, Nassius is a bookworm—I don’t think he would be a good fit to play with Princess Jane. I need to stay strong, not just for myself, but also for my angels’ sakes! Oh, I have a good idea.
“Nassius is a bookworm, so I don’t think he would make a good playmate for an energetic girl like Princess Jane. However, my cousin’s daughter Angela Satisford is not only the same age as the second princess, but she is also enthusiastic about her riding lessons.”
Princess Margaret thought for a moment before she answered.
“I see. In that case, you should visit the summer palace and bring everyone with you—your brothers, Samuel, and Angela. I think Keith will be happy to see Samuel, since they studied together. His only playmates were going to be Jane and Marcus, since Richard won’t be there. I’ll let my mother know you’ll all be visiting.”
It’s not what I was going for, but I guess this will serve as a way to repay my cousin Lucene for the riding lessons.
Though Angela wasn’t actually fond of horse riding, she did like music, so I figured that I could introduce her to Princess Margaret once she was there. If I was remembering correctly, Satisford Viscounty was also near that area.
I accepted, foolishly thinking that I was agreeing to a single visit during the summer break. I’d been serving Princess Margaret as her lady’s maid for some time now, and I’d gotten used to meeting with the queen. This agreement would turn out to cause quite the commotion, but I lacked the foresight to realize it in that moment.