Chapter 83 \n<h1>Chapter 83: Visitors and the Letter</h1>\nThe 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.\nThey 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.\nMaria 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.\n
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.\nShin 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)
\nFirst 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.