CH 83

The sound of a hard knock echoed in the study room.

At the sound, the beast-children, who were cheerfully chattering away, stopped with a snap. All of them turned their ears towards the door in unison.

“This is Maria Cluster of the Aurum Class. Is Alice-sama of the Archelaus family here?”

A girl’s dainty voice echoed from the other side of the door.

So you’re finally here.

Thinking so, I nod to Johann, who had turned his gaze to me.

“I’m here. Please come inside.”

I let Johann open the door.

In the corridor, I saw three anxious-looking children, looking at me as if they were feeling out of place.

“Please come in…I see you are accompanied by Arthur Tanglewood-sama from the Platina Ward…. and Shin Yuren-sama of the Diamante Ward.

When I called out to answer, the three of them responded with a twitch, and then gave a small nod.

They looked somewhat lost as if coming in would be difficult, so I approached the door from my side. When I greeted them with a curtesy and a small smile, all three of them returned my greeting in a shy yet grateful manner.

“You wanted to talk to me about something, didn’t you? Please, come on in.”

I said as such, smiling as softly as I could to the nervous trio, and they came into the room looking a little less nervous. However, when they came in and saw the beast-children who were staring silently, and my aides who were on high alert, they shrank back a little.

I wanted to distract and take them all to another room, because I felt sorry for their deflated state. However, it would be quicker to listen to the story with everyone, so instead, I asked them to shut the door and hear what they had to say as soon as possible.

“You can come to the long table in the back. Matilda, please prepare some tea.”

I sat down after giving instructions and looked over to the three of them once again.

First was Maria-sama. This girl was an upper-class aristocrat from the Aurum Ward and was relatively close to the Heimer faction. We had talked a little bit previously at tea parties and such. She had a quiet personality and currently looked the most nervous out of all of them.

Maria Cluster

Next was Arthur-sama, an intermediate-class noble from the Platina Ward. Normally, he had a kind and quiet appearance, but right now in this situation, he was restless and fidgety.

Arthur Tanglewood

Finally, there was Shin-sama, a lower class noble from the Diamante Ward. He was the descendant of a nobleman who had come from a foreign country, and was extremely competitive.

Shin Yuren

It was surprising that this child had come, but if I had to say, it was almost exactly as I had expected.

Well, Shin-sama aside, it was faintly predictable that the others would visit here.

The reason was that this situation had been described to me in a letter from my father.

…The contents were as follows:

———

To my beloved daughter Alice,

Thank you for your letter. By the time this response arrives, I wonder if orientation*** will already be over? How is the school life that you had been looking forward to? (***T/N: The word used was “guidance” but the word orientation/school orientation made more sense)

According to the report from Will-kun, you seem to be having a good time, but I wonder if there  are still any problems?

Above all, the autumnal season has approached and the weather has become chilly, so your father is very worried about whether Alice, who is very sickly, has caught a cold or something like that…I am extremely and seriously worried that you will get sick.

For the time being, make sure to always stay warm.

Now then,

I have heard that Alice at the academy has been carefully assessing the character of her peers and has gradually been building up a network of contacts. But very soon, I am sure that there will be a large number of children approaching you all at once from the Aurum, Platina, and, perhaps unexpectedly, the Diamante Wards.

Alice still isn’t very familiar with the factions and about the situation of the country yet, so I recommend doing some research beforehand to prevent any panic.

I cannot stop worrying about you, but on the other hand, Alice is a very wise child, so I’m sure that you will be able to get along with them.

That said, there appears to be some kind of movement going on from the school’s side as well, so there is no certainty in what may happen. If you ever have any issues with your relationships, you can immediately rely on your father and mother and the people of Heimer.

If that time ever comes, I will fly over to you and solve your problems right away.

Both Father and Mother are really looking forward to seeing Alice on vacation.

I’m really looking forward to it with all my heart. So much so that I wrote it twice while in my thoughts.

First and foremost, please make sure to stay in good health, both mentally and physically, as your first priority.

From Siegmund, Alice’s Father

———

For some reason, the last part of the message looked wet and the letters were blotted out.

Are they tear marks?…it’s a happy and embarrassing parental letter, which makes me 90% happy and 10% embarrassed. I said that twice because it’s important.

Also, no matter how many times I reread the “I’ll fly over to you and solve your problems right away” part, I kept seeing it as ‘I’ll fly over (physically) and solve your problems right away’…but I’ll just chalk that up to my own imagination.

At any rate, this loving advice prompted me to do quite a bit of research on aristocratic factions and my classmates.

…Honestly, it’s more than that. Especially when it comes to this school.

I had been more interested in the magic books and teaching materials, and was so intensely curious about them that I had dizzyingly approached them instead. I was only kept away by the clever coordination of all my aides.

But with the guidance of my dedicated aides, I was able to get a rough overview.

Thanks to that, I wasn’t worried about the this visit from this trio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T/N: When I was 6 years old, my biggest worry was trying not to eat my carrots, and yet these 6 year olds are out here worrying about the political situation of their country, smh. At least there were a lot of new characters introduced today!