As soon as Madam Freya arrived at work, she went to find the head butler, Cerberus, to check on the assignment she had given Berry Quartz Travel the day before.
However, when the head butler met her piercing gaze, he hesitated, showing his empty hands as if in confusion.
“Are you saying Miss Berry did not submit the assignment?”
“Uh, yes. I was busy yesterday afternoon and couldn’t be in the butler’s office. And today, the young miss…”
“She didn’t submit it.”
Cerberus, who had intended to make excuses on Berry’s behalf, immediately clamped his mouth shut in response to her sharp words.
There was nothing more to say. Madam Freya turned around and left the butler’s office.
‘I expected at least a week of diligence. Already?’
Was it complacency from seeing some initial progress?
How many children of noble families had she raised to success? She couldn’t let Berry Quartz Travel remain at a level that might fail the Academy entrance exam.
‘I need to tighten the reins.’
Madam Freya straightened her posture and walked down the hallway. Coming toward her from the opposite direction was someone walking with the same steady, composed steps.
It was Callet Lambert, who, once a legendary figure, had maintained the top rank at the Academy for five consecutive years. Now he served as the youngest aide to the Count of Travel.
“Good day, Madam,”
“Good day to you, as well, Aide.”
Madam Freya’s favorable attitude towards him was only natural as an educator. After exchanging brief pleasantries in a polite tone, they were about to continue on their separate ways when Callet made an unexpected request.
“Madam, if it’s not too much trouble, may I ask a small favor?”
“What is it?”
At her response, Callet took a notebook and fountain pen from his inner pocket.
“Would you be so kind as to write down the Edward Equation here?”
At the mention of the infamous equation, Madam Freya’s hand, which had just accepted the fountain pen, froze in mid-air.
“Are you testing me?”
“No, not at all. The Count casually mentioned it in passing, but I haven’t recalled it in some time, so my memory is a bit hazy. Since you manage the education of successors, I thought you’d be more knowledgeable on the matter than I am.”
“I see…”
Madame Freya’s hand moved slowly as she responded. Her mind was working hard. The two-line equation, complex and intricately composed of difficult formulas, alternated between clarity and blur in her mind.
But she had to remember it. This was a matter of pride.
Thankfully, he hadn’t asked her to solve the problem. She wasn’t confident in going that far.
Madam Freya pieced together her memories and wrote down the equation.
“Is this satisfactory?”
“……..…”
It was the correct answer. There was no way she could be wrong. Madam Freya asked him with a sense of satisfaction.
However, Callet’s lips pressed in a strange way as he reviewed the notebook.
As if he was somehow dissatisfied with the equation she had written. Madam Freya pushed her glasses up slightly and remarked:
“…Would you like me to prove it?”
“No, thank you. I appreciate the help, Baroness Hovant.”
Callet closed his notebook with a snap and put it back into his inner pocket. Although his thanks before leaving were polite, it was clear that he wasn’t fully satisfied with her response.
With a slight sense of unease, Madam Freya left the main building and walked to the educational building, opening the classroom door. She noticed something unusual—one person who should have been there was missing.
“Hello, Madam Freya!”
The pink-haired girl, who always disregarded the etiquette taught to her and greeted in her own lively way, was nowhere to be seen.
Madam Freya’s gaze shifted to the empty desk by the window in the first row. A familiar pile of papers—yesterday’s assignment—lay there with a thick book placed on top, seemingly to prevent it from blowing away.
Did she complete the assignment and leave it at her desk?
“Miss Berry hasn’t arrived yet?”
“She’s not coming today,” replied Calypso, who leaned back casually with his hands clasped behind his head, exuding an air of relaxation.
Ciel, sitting beside him, gave him a sidelong glance before returning to her studies. The twins in the front row were also focused on their history books, preparing for the monthly evaluation in two weeks.
“She’s not coming? Why didn’t the head butler mention that?”
Something clicked in Madam Freya’s mind. Could this be what Cerberus meant when he had said, “Today, the young miss…”?
“You might want to check her desk. She left something there,”
Calypso said cheerfully, pointing to Berry’s desk. Madam Freya walked over, lifted the book placed on top of the assignment, and found a clean sheet of paper underneath.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
Field Trip Application Form
Applicant: Berry Quartz Travel
Period: Starting today, for one week
Purpose: Visit to the Main Temple
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
The paper had two lines, each written in a different style—Berry’s handwriting in a squiggly line at the bottom and, above it, neatly written letters.
“Young master Marty, Miss Harty…?”
Holding the paper, Madam Freya called the twins quietly.
‘Oh no… she found out!’
‘Mommy…’
The twins lowered their heads further into their open history books.
11. The Savior of the Aubawth Order
‘Since I showed some sincerity by writing it myself, they probably dislike me a little less now, right?’
Moreover, field trips were an activity that Grandfather actively encouraged.
I sat in the moving carriage, swinging my legs. It had been about two hours since we’d left the Count’s mansion. Madam Freya should have found the application form by now.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Yes! I’m really excited to see the Main Temple.”
My dad, seated beside me, placed his hand on my forehead—something he’d done several times already—to check if I was alright, then lowered his hand and asked.
“Are you keeping the stone that Grandfather gave you safe?”
“Yes, it’s inside the cloth pouch that Sister Sherry made for me.”
I answered, patting the pouch that held the transformed Aqum into stone.
Yesterday afternoon…
After returning from the education center, I persistently followed my dad around, pleading with him to let me accompany him to the Main Temple.
Of course, it wasn’t easy. My dad had already made up his mind to go alone, leaving me and Theon behind.
“Do you really want to go?”
“I think I’ll regret it if I don’t.”
But I had also resolved to bring my dad along to see Theon’s grandfather.
My dad, yielding to my relentless requests, went out briefly and returned with a single condition.
“You can come, but make sure you bring what your grandfather gave you.”
“…And what would that be?”
“The small, pretty thing.”
It wasn’t hard to guess where my dad had gone. He’d gone to meet Grandfather, who had just returned from the capital.
Because of this, my dad found out that my grandfather had given me my grandmother’s keepsake.
When he realized what the ‘small, pretty thing’ was, his expression turned momentarily complicated, but he didn’t show it to me. He only said to keep it safe since Grandfather had given it to me.
Sister Sherry, worried I might lose it, made a pouch that could be attached to my waistband.
At this point, it was clear. Both Grandfather and my dad seemed to believe that as long as I kept Aqum with me, I wouldn’t fall ill.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t been sick since I came to Travel.’
It was unusual. When I lived in Bonwell Village, I would have had at least two fevers by now.
Could it really be that Aqum was keeping me from getting sick?
‘But the other me never had a private meeting with Grandfather, never received a stone, and never saw Aqum.’
And yet, I still grew up healthy, reaching the age of twenty-four. Maybe Aqum, as Travel’s guardian, knows something about my illness.
‘I’ll ask Aqum when I get back.’
They said Aqum is forced into a slumber outside the Count’s estate.
But before that, I had to fulfill the purpose of this journey!
I turned to look at Theon, who was sitting alone across from me, gazing out the window. Since we passed Hispoth Town, it had been endless grasslands outside, so the scenery must have been monotonous by now.
“Theon, are you enjoying this?”
“It’s fascinating.”
“What’s fascinating?”
“I came to Travel by this same road. I thought it would be a long time before I traveled it again, so it’s strange to be taking the same road so soon.”
Theon spoke while still looking out the window, his eyes tinged with nostalgia. This was the perfect moment. I asked my dad cautiously.
“Dad, can we going to visit Theon’s Grandfather and Grandmother on our way?”
“I was planning to stop by to greet them after returning from the Main Temple.”
Theon’s head whipped around toward us. My own gaze turned up to my dad.
“Really?”
“Truly?”
Our eyes, filled with anticipation, made my dad pause before he smiled faintly.
“Of course. I did take their grandson as a disciple without permission.”
What a stroke of luck!
Theon’s face lit up, and I looked at him and cheerfully said:
“That’s great. Take me on a tour of Theon’s Village~”
“Sure!”
With one small goal accomplished, I relaxed and leaned back against the seat, perhaps a bit too much.
“Berry, should I open the window if you’re feeling queasy?”
“No, I’m okay.”
Seeing me nearly reclined, my dad opened the carriage window for fresh air.
Through the open window, I could hear the chatter from the coachman’s seat.
Anne, who sat beside the driver, was in a lively debate with him, discussing whether sprinkling sugar or salt on rice balls made them tastier.
“It’s definitely sugar,”
My dad and I mumbled at the same time, making Theon look at us, surprised.
Oh, so you’re on the salt side.
