After attending the New Year’s service, Elaine’s position on Newt’s family has changed subtly again.
Count and Countess Newt, who used to glare at Elaine whenever they saw her, began to ‘ignore’, and Martin, Damon, and Ellie, who used to bully Elaine, also became calm. Of course, their faces were full of dissatisfaction.
‘Why is everyone like this all of a sudden?’
Elaine was not comfortable with the sudden peace. She had learned many times in her previous life that this was no different from the calm before the storm.
However, as a precursor to something else, L’Arch suddenly notified Elaine one day.
“Elaine. From now on, you will be educated with Ellie. You can start participating in the class in three days.”
“suddenly?”
“Hasn’t it been a while since I said I would treat you as a member of the Newt family?”
‘Although there was a time like that, it was hard to tell whether he was treating me as a member of the Newt family or to increase the value of his product.’
But whatever his intentions, Elaine had no right to refuse the offer.
And three days later, Elaine, dragging her heavy feet, headed for the small study where Ellie’s class was taking place.
“ah! The new student the Countess Newt was talking about. you were Count Newt’s nephew, right?”
Mrs. Bellini, Ellie’s liberal arts teacher, greeted Elaine with a bright smile.
But Elaine, who had spent a lifetime being disliked by others, was quick to recognize the young contempt and disregard in her eyes.
Another sigh was about to come out, but Elaine was no longer the child who couldn’t hide her expression.
She swallowed her anger and smiled at her.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Bellini. My name is Elaine Newt.”
“Nice to meet you, Lady Elaine. Have you ever learned about the culture of a lady before?”
“I have read some books on my own, but I’ve never been taught by a teacher.”
“I see. Hmm…… Starting this year, I’ll be teaching the class with the third book of Basic Liberal Arts for Young Ladies. There will be no problem because it is not connected to the first and second books, but I ask you to read the first and second books separately for yourself.”
“All right.”
Elaine bowed slightly and sat down in her seat.
And after waiting for a while, Ellie came with a book.
“hello teacher!”
“Welcome, Lady Ellie! Oh, it looks like there are other guests today.”
“My friend Lorina said she wanted to attend the class. Do you know Lorina, right? of the Count of Dardil…”
“Of course I know. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Lady Lorina. I hope Count Dardil and his wife are doing well?”
“Yes, they are doing well. I’ll be sure to tell my parents that Mrs. Bellini sent her regards.”
Mrs. Bellini smiled brightly and nodded at Ellie and Lorina’s friendly attitude.
It was a genuine smile, unlike the perfunctory greeting she had given Elaine.
It seemed that Elaine was completely excluded from the scene of the friendly exchange of regards.
But that was something she was used to, so it didn’t make her sad. Instead, she was more concerned about Lorina’s unexpected appearance.
‘Why is Lorina here?’
Elaine looked sideways suspiciously at Lorina, who suddenly appeared with Ellie, and Elaine and Lorina shared meaningful smiles and sat down a little away from Elaine.
Mrs. Bellini sat down, facing Ellie and Lorina, not Elaine, and said.
“It’s a pleasure to see beautiful and sweet ladies. Shall we start our first class of the year?”
Mrs. Bellini was about to start the class like that.
Then, someone else knocked on the door.
Everyone looked surprised as if the visitor was not invited.
“Come on in.”
“Sorry to interrupt your class. It’s a bit late to come early.”
The person who entered the study was L’Arch.
“That’s fine, but what can I do for you, Young master L’Arch?”
“I want to watch today’s class. Is that okay?”
“yes? Why all of a sudden….”
“Starting this year, I am going to manage my younger siblings’ studies. I think I neglected my younger siblings because I was busy.”
“Oh, you are a very reliable older brother. Hahaha!”
It seemed that Mrs. Bellini was even moved by L’Arch’s mature attitude and soft smile.
However, Ellie, the one he cared about, was frightened, and Elaine’s expression became bitter. Lorina seemed quite happy.
“Don’t worry about me and continue the class.”
L’Arch sat down at the back and Mrs. Bellini cleared her voice again and began the class.
“Then let’s go back to class. Shall we start with a light question to review and understand the learning level?”
Mrs. Bellini asked, looking through some of the basic liberal arts books that Ellie would have learned last year.
“Last year, you learned the culture as a religious imperial noble. We, the Calais Empire, serve Lord Bara, as the state religion. Do you remember how many temples there are in the empire?”
“There are five temples in large cities except the capital, two in small and medium-sized cities, and one in other areas, and 20 temples in the capital. There are 102 locations in total.”
“Very good, Miss Ellie.”
Ellie, who answered without difficulty, glanced at Elaine with a smirk.
But Elaine didn’t think much of it, though; she was just getting a little tired of being asked questions about things she had memorized in her previous life.
“Okay, next question. In our Calais Empire, there is a unique culture that shows the devotion of nobles. It is the saints system. Can you explain what you know about this system?”
“It is a system in which each noble family enrolls one of the direct children of the head of the household as a saint to learn the words of Lord Bara.”
“Usually, children in their mid-teens are enrolled, and heirs are excluded. After entering the church, men are called saints and women are called saintess, and unless there are special circumstances, they stay in the temple until the coming-of-age ceremony.”
At Ellie and Lorina’s answer, Mrs. Bellini smiled again in satisfaction, then asked Elaine as if she was conscious of L’Arch.
“Do you have anything to say, Lady Elaine?”
There was no sense of anticipation at all. Elaine hesitated on whether or not to say it because she didn’t want to be in the spotlight.
But when Elaine remained silent, Ellie and Lorina began to criticize her, as if they were right.
“Elaine doesn’t know this stuff. Can she even read?”
“She might be embarrassed if you keep asking her, teacher.”
Ellie and Lorina gritted their teeth and held back their laughter, as if it was fun to embarrass Elaine in front of others.
‘It looked so ridiculous.’
In the current situation, Ellie and Lorina could not be better at theology than Elaine, who spent 10 years in the temple.
TL: Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious belief.
Looking at them, Elaine slowly opened her mouth.
“Usually, direct children of the head of household are eligible for enrollment, but in special circumstances, even the nephews of the head of household are eligible. This is because heirs, as well as children with poor health, children who are expected to marry early, and children who will join the knights early are excluded from the list of eligible candidates.”
Then Mrs. Bellini, as well as Ellie and Lorina, all looked at Elaine in surprise.
However, Elaine continued to answer with a calm face.
“And not everyone leaves after a coming-of-age ceremony. In the meantime, if the family has fallen, or if the family doesn’t want them to return, they can stay longer serving in the temple. Of course, since you are an adult, you can go out if you want, but saints who have no support and no money usually choose to stay.”
“How do you know that?”
“ah…I think I read it in a book.”
Elaine evaded the answer with a smile.
“Unexpectedly, Lady Elaine seems to have studied hard.”
Mrs. Bellini seemed to think that Elaine studied to catch up with her belated learning, but to Elaine it was just knowledge gained through experience.
“Okay, next question. There is one major book of scripture, twelve major books, and fifty-six minor books that have been handed down in our religion; can you name all the titles of the major books?”
“Uh, uh! The Book of Genesis, the Book of Maya, the Book of Leviticus, E, Elo…”
“The Book of Elonica, the 15th Apostle, the History of Makaya, the Psalm of Nirops, and…”
Ellie and Lorina put their heads together, but they could only pick seven.
Then Mrs. Bellini looked at Elaine with a look that said “Are you sure this is all…?”
Elaine let out a small sigh and answered.
“In the order in which they were recognized as canonical scripture, The Book of Genesis, the Biography of Livoriya, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Three Books of the New Testament, the Book of Maya The Book of Elonica, the 15th Apostle, the History of Makaya, the Psalm of Nirops, Barbrian Great Prophet, and Gabba Ecclesiastes. And the Book of Leviticus, which Eli said is one of the Minor scriptures.”
TL: Canonical included in the list of sacred books officially accepted as genuine.
Elaine’s perfect answer shocked everyone.
“Oh my god…That’s amazing. Don’t tell me you’re memorizing all the small scriptures, right?”
“Shall I tell you?”
“You mean you know everything?”
“I’ll tell you the Minor scriptures in the order in which they were recognized as canonical scripture. Oh, and this order follows Archbishop Michaella’s way of organizing them. First of all, the New World Age, the post-plague history book, the Gospels of Bardo, the Gospels of Guillotine…”
By the time Elaine had recited the titles of all fifty-six of the Minor scriptures, Mrs. Bellini’s jaw dropped and she checked the contents of the book she held.
It was a perfect answer that did not miss a single letter, let alone the order.
Ellie and Lorina’s complexions were pale with embarrassment.
“Wow, that’s amazing, Lady Elaine! When on earth did you memorize all this?”
“I read books whenever I have nothing else to do.”
“Even so, I can’t believe you memorized all of this….”
Well, it wasn’t common to memorize all the titles of the scriptures. Unless it was an exam period, there were very few saints in the temple who could memorize the minor scriptures.
But Elaine had studied hard to earn a scholarship that was only given to students who ranked in the top three in their theology classes and catechism.
TL: Catechism is a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians.
The cost of staying at the temple was paid to the temple in a lump sum by each family upon joining the church, but personal belongings, meals, books, stationery, etc. had to be paid for with the member’s own allowance.
However, the Newt family didn’t send Elaine a single penny, and Elaine, who did not have the confidence to say anything disappointing to the Newt family, had to aim for the scholarship she could receive from the temple.
* * *
