I was in night mode for a while after the topic of Brother Oluris.
I managed to muster up the courage to say, “Well, I mean, it was an accident, wasn’t it?” But instead it ended up coming out as, “Isn’t it okay having an ivy around the neck?” Silence fell around us.
I also told him honestly that Brother Oluris was still treating me in the same kind manner as in the past, but he didn’t really take it up with me.
He told me, “There’s a possibility that he could suddenly go out of control in anger, so you shouldn’t get too close to him.” So I really couldn’t say anything after that without making it a scene.
If this was how it was going to be… no, it was going to be difficult or awkward to come to the Virgil family itself with this awkwardness, so I decided to bring up a different topic.
“Oh, um, Brother Will. Come to think of it, when do you go to school?”
There was the picnic before, and also today, and he’d been relaxing gracefully since the daytime, so I was actually wondering when he was studying.
“Oh, I actually already graduated from Lovaine. Now, I go to Advenzia Academy, but there are only a few fixed classes there, so my schedule is very flexible.”
Uh…Whoa. A nice new fantasy word came out.
I unconsciously make an excited face at the new fantasy details that keep popping up unexpectedly, and lean forward.
“What kind of place is that?”
Aunt Felicia, who was speaking to me, put aside the gloomy mood she had just been in and took over the explanation.
“Alice-chan is at an age where school is on your mind, isn’t she? I suppose Advenzia can be considered a place to prepare to become a full-fledged nobleman. You can study certain subjects, or you can get serious about your family’s business. Either way, you’re expected to produce results…If Lovaine is a place where you can do the basics, then Advenzia is more of a research facility where you can study at your leisure.”
“I see…! Wow, wow, wow!!”
The gloominess in my heart wasn’t completely cleared up, but I was really curious about the Noble Academy of Advenzia itself.
“Alice is going to Lovaine Imperial Academy of Magic next year—how are you doing with your studies?”
“Ah, well let’s see…I’ve heard that I’m going to get a tutor soon…but I really haven’t done much about it yet.”
I replied somberly. At any rate, I had had a lot going on, and was a little hesitant to meet anyone other than my relatives.
I mean, even my relatives had darkness in their lives like this. There’s really too much going on in aristocratic society.
“I see…But in Alice’s case, she’s starting a little late, so you’ll have to hurry.”
“Well, if you’re an early learner, you can start preparing a year in advance.”
“Oh, is that so?!”
What a mess. Not only am I far from being a reincarnated cheat, I’m actually behind the bunch!
My brother, who looked down on me with worry, suggested something.
“I can teach you about medicinal herbs, but what do you want to do? I suppose I could make a fixed time once a week before your enrollment, in the mornings.”
“Please do!”
I answered immediately, and Brother Will nodded at me, facing my momentum. Yay!!
“Well, Will is really knowledgable of medicinal herbs and it would be a good review of the basics. You should learn from him.”
Aunt Felicia’s go-ahead was also given, so it was immediately decided that I would start studying next week with a curriculum.
I’m floating with excitement, but of course, I won’t forget Brother Oluris’s problem.
“Since I’m the one to be taught, it’s bad enough to have you come to the Archelaus Mansion. I want to take my study at the Virgil Mansion. There is a greenhouse!”
When I offered to do so, Brother Will was reluctant, probably because of Brother Oluris’s presence, but I managed to get him to agree to it.
It was really rare for Brother Oluris to leave his room, and it seemed to be unlikely that he would encounter me.
If I attended regularly, I should be able to get a clue as to how to solve the problem.
After getting various thing settled, I returned to the mansion.
***
“I’m back, Mother!”
When I returned to the Archelaus mansion, my mother was sitting on the terrace having a leisurely cup of tea.
“Welcome back, Alice. How did you like the food?”
“Yes! It was a big hit!”
I said that while settling into my mother’s embrace, who held out her arms to me and patted me on the head.
“The food you let me eat was really good. That was delicious.”
Yes, my parents were there, of course, when we tried it. They were raving about it, so from then on, we had been able to enjoy that meat at our house. It was a good thing.
“Also, Mother. Brother Will has agreed to help me study! Is that okay?”
When I said that, my mother said, “Well, that’s good!” I was delighted.
“I’ll have to talk to your father about your studies. Shall we go to the office together?”
“Yes!”
I responded cheerfully and started walking.
Incidentally, I was also asked about how things were going with Brother Oluris, and when I told them about the kind and slightly frightened look I was sensing from him, my mother smiled normally.
The Archelaus and Virgil families are related, so I wondered if she knew about the incident…As an internal family affair, was it still kept secret only within the Virgil family?
I arrived at the office with that thought in mind.
It seems that my father had finally started work after a period of ‘recuperation,’—more like a moderate period of family love-time.
I knocked on the door with a bang and immediately heard a voice urging me to enter.
When I walked in, I saw Alphonse-san and father frantically handling documents.
But when they saw my mother and I, they quickly smiled and shoved the piles of papers to the side…Is that okay?
“………—That’s why I’ve decided to study with Brother Will. Father, may I?”
When I told him about today’s event, my father nodded his head in agreement and was pleased.
“Of course it’s alright. I’ll have to thank Mr. Wilhelm as well. Even so, my dear daughter is really so enthusiastic about learning…how wonderful!”
My father, who had turned was making a disappointing parental idiot face again, muttered under his breath. Mother was nodding yes, but I have to properly tell them the fact that I might be behind in my studies.
“Father, mother. Aunt Felicia told me that I might be a little behind in my studies. I want to study a lot, too. What should I do?”
As I threw that at him, my father groaned with a muffle.
“Well, I guess it is time I get a tutor…So what’s going on?”
My father seems to be worried about finding someone who is absolutely reliable and capable of tutoring me.
Then my mother hit her hand with an idea and suggested with a smile.
“That’s right, let’s ask Sister Heimer to do it!” (***The sister from the Heimer family–in other word’s Alice’s aunt on her mother’s side)
Older Sister Heimer?
While I had a floating question mark above my head, my father said ‘Aha!’ He had a satisfied expression on his face.
“Surely she should be staying in the imperial capital now, right? Let’s get in touch with her as soon as possible!”
Then my father took some stationary out of the drawer.
He wrote something briefly, then stood at the window and held his hand in the air and whispered something.
Then a transparent pair of wings quickly appeared as if they were melting from the air.
“Wow! Mother, mother! What was that?!”
She giggled as I excitedly asked her.
“That’s a spirit under contract with your father. It’s called a messenger spirit, and it’s a good spirit that is willing to help you in this way once you get to know it.”
“A messenger spirit…! Can I get along with it too?”
When I said so with a twinkle in my eye, my mother put her hand on her cheek
“Well, I’d actually prefer you wait until your get qualified at Lovaine, but…it’s not like it’s regulated is it? I’ll teach you how to summon it next time.”
While fluffy flowers were blooming in the background at my mother’s words. My father attached the letter to the messenger spirit’s wings and let it fly away.
“That’s it. I hope you approve.”
“Yes!”
……But at this time, I still didn’t know.
……Just what kind of level the education of ‘Sister Heimer’ would be at in this world.