CH 465.1

Let’s go back to the dorm!

“Say Mariel-san, I’m asking this a bit late, but is it okay you didn’t go to the cafeteria? You should have let them know that you didn’t need a meal or something…”

“‘It’s not a rule to have lunch in the cafeteria, so it’s okay. There are sidewalk cafes scattered around the campus, and some people take light meals there. Basically, you have to eat in the cafeteria for breakfast and dinner, but for lunch, you are allowed to bring it into the salon building.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes. I heard that it all started when a commoner student who wanted to work in a noble’s mansion in the future asked the academy for permission to practice serving manners on their own. It seems that even nobles can practice manners on their own as long as they have good reasons for doing so.”

Hmm, I guess there would be students who take advantage of this to have lunch parties.

“In fact, I heard that the commoner students have special training with the maids in the salon building before the certification exam. I heard that the upper classman commoners give advice to their juniors in this way.”

“Oh, that’s good a thing.”

Just like in the lecture, commoners take it differently from the nobles, probably because their lives depend on it after graduation.

Even the children of nobles who are of a lower ranking or who are not the heir to the household have to find a job if they don’t find a spouse, so it seems that many of them take their studies seriously for the sake of their future.

By the way, my personal maid, Miria’s family is a viscount family, but she was born between eight sisters and a brother, and since she couldn’t find a fiancé, she went to work for our family after graduating from the academy.

In the case of the high-ranking nobles, most of them had private tutors before entering the academy, so they seemed to already understand the content of the classes, and they seemed to be relaxed or even lazy, and their attitude towards the classes was not very good.

I’m not sure if it’s because of this, but I have heard that many of the high ranking nobles who had good grades when they entered the academy often get overtaken by middle to low ranking nobles before they graduate.

… I’m going to have to be careful not to let my guard down.

“Cristea-sama, please let me know if I need to learn manners more seriously, okay? I’m still getting used to manners, so…”

Ehehe, Mariel-chan said with a shy smile.

C, cute…!

“Of course! Leave it to me!”

I’m going to teach you the manners of Teacher Retia, who is known for her strict, spartan style. Huff! Marielle-chan shivered next to me as I made up my mind.

“Oh my, what is the matter, Mariel-san?”

“Eh? No, umm, I just had chills.”

Mariel-chan answered while rubbing her arms. It’s already warm and sunny spring, though?

“Oh my… are you starting to catch a cold? Let’s have something to warm you up for lunch.”

“…! Then, ton… or not, I would like to have some Orc soup!”

“Sure. I do have some in stock, so let’s have that.”

“Yay! Thank you very much! Alright, let’s hurry up to the dorm!”

Mariel-chan pulled me by the hand while nearly skipping as she walked.

Huh? Isn’t she looking well?

As long as she isn’t catching a cold…

Let’s go back to the dorm!

“Mariel-san, don’t be too hasty, or you will fall.”

“Eh~! I will be fine~! Whoahh!”

Mariel-chan tripped on a stone slab and nearly fell to the ground, but managed to stay on her feet just barely.

Geez, I told you so.

I’m glad she didn’t fall and hurt herself, but that “Whoahh!” is not something a noble young lady should be saying, you know?

Sei, who was standing next to her, tried to help her as soon as he could, but was now staring blankly at Mariel-chan, who stepped aside with a strange shout.

“A, awawa…”

I think Sei is a gentleman as he gently turned away from Mariel-chan who was trying to cover her blunder up by laughing, and pretended not to have seen it.

“Mariel-san, the Orc soup won’t run away from you, so let’s go slowly, okay?”

“Y… yes.”

When I hammered the nail with a smile, Mariel-chan became small.

“… Fu, kuku.”

Sei… can’t hold his laughter back, can he?

And I think it would be less damaging to Mariel-chan if you just laughed it off, though.

“… Kuh, just kill me…”

Mariel-chan turned red and mumbled in a voice so quiet that only I could hear it.

Kill you!?

It’s a shame that Mariel-chan is such a beautiful girl, but there’s something wrong with her.

I was also a nerd in my previous life, so I can understand why you might want to hide your embarrassment, but you are a noble young lady now, so let’s keep it down a bit, okay?

I patted Mariel-chan on the shoulder and gently encouraged her.

When we returned to the dormitory, Miria was just coming down the stairs.

“Welcome back, Cristea-sama.”

“I’m back, Miria. I’m going to have lunch with everyone now. Could you please put this in my room?”

I handed my baggage to Miria.

“Understood.”

“Thank you. Right, were Mashiro and Kurogane waiting obediently?”

It’s strange that they didn’t come to pick me up when I was gone since the morning.

“Those two gentlemen went hunting together with Byakko-sama…”

“”Eh?””

My and Sei’s surprised voices were synchronized.

What do you mean by hunting, they went outside?

“Byakko-sama said, ‘I know you don’t like to sit around and wait, so I’m going to let you vent. I’m sure Suzaku alone would be enough for guarding the home’….”

“That fella… I’m sorry, Miss Cristea. Tora did something unnecessary.”

Sei let out a sigh and apologized.

“No, it’s because my two guys cannot settle down that Byakko-sama ended up taking care of them…”

“What about me?”

“Fugyaa!?”

“Fugyaa, what… I believe a more acceptable yell for a young noble lady would be something like ‘kyaa’ instead, no?”

Byakko-sama looked at me with astonishment.

“Oi, Byakko. It’s your fault for startling my Lord!”

“That’s right! Apologize to Cristea!”

“Yesyes, it was my fault, so I apologize.”

Ugh… I let my guard down. Kuuh, Byakko-sama, you…

Beside me, Sei and Mariel-chan were trying their best to hold back their laughter.

Kuh, just kill me!