Chapter 10

“What the…? Why are you here?” Bellezac demanded, jumping up from his reclined position.

His voice reverberated throughout the room. I could tell they were all surprised, but I didn’t intend to give an answer.

“Firentia?”

Had the room not been so quiet, nobody would have heard that tiny voice.

It was Lorraine, who was next to Bellezac and peeking at me.

“Umm...”

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stood still.

It had been so long since I had seen Lorraine. It was hard to believe that someone so delicate and fragile could have come from the same mother as Bellezac.

By arrangement of the empress, the Loraine from my past life had married a much older man as soon as she reached adulthood. Some called it a successful marriage deal.

Though the nobleman had been much older, he was also a hero who had fought valiantly during the war and was set to inherit his father’s title. For someone considered otherwise unremarkable, Lorraine had married up.

But no one knew the truth.

How quickly the flower would fade at her husband’s estate, far from the Lombardis and outside the emperor’s direct dominion.

Later, it would become obvious that Lorraine’s husband was not such a kind man or able to cherish a young wife. The household servants took advantage of the situation to neglect and ostracize her.

By the time Lorraine sought help from her family, Viese had already become entangled in various business ventures with the husband’s son-in-law. The only response Lorraine received from her trusted parents was, “Just try harder.”

Thus, she withered away and returned to the earth.

And at such an early age...

The last image I could remember of her was after her wedding, crying, not wanting to leave the Lombardis.

“Are you starting lessons too?” she asked quietly.

She was five years older than me, yet she still clung to a large doll. She was obviously the child of a noble family who had only seen the bright side of life.

“Yeah. I’ll be in this class from now on,” I said with a nod.

Bellezac pouted, angered by the fact I had ignored him and only answered Lorraine.

“Lies!” he shouted.

He strode towards me as if he was about to do something, but ultimately, all he did was bark.

“Liar! How could someone like you take lessons?”

This confirmed it for me. Bellezac needed a good whooping.

A few more sessions of tough love might smooth out that mouth of his. Clearly he had only picked up bad habits from the adults around him.

“What do you mean ‘someone like me’?” I asked defiantly.

“Someone like you! Common...”

“Shall I tell Grandfather?”

As soon as he heard the word “grandfather,” Bellezac shut his mouth.

“I’m pretty sure Grandfather reprimanded you for calling me such things. Are you breaking the rule?”

Father had told me that Grandfather had pulled Bellezac aside and given him an earful.

“Bellezac,” I began, stepping closer to him and grinning, “there sure are a lot of books here. Am I right?”

“Uh...”

Noticing all of the books around the room, Bellezac looked terrified.

If any of those books get in my hand, they can become a weapon, little puppy.

Then I delivered the final blow to a stammering Bellezac, “How about I go tell Grandfather now?”

“You... urgh...”

He hesitated for a moment before backing away with a scowl on his face. Eventually, he turned around and stomped back to his spot on the sofa.

Of course, he didn’t forget to kick an innocent doll out of frustration. His temper hadn’t changed.

I let out a sigh of relief after dealing with the aggressive little puppy, but I could feel another intense gaze on the side of my face.

It was Giliou and Mayron. They were eleven years old and the children of my aunt Shananet, Lulac’s eldest.

“Hmm?”

Why are they looking at me like that?

I was puzzled. Honestly, out of all my cousins, I knew the least about them. A lot of this was because, as identical twins, the two pretty little boys were always lost in their own universe and rarely showed an interest in their surroundings.

While all my cousins ignored me (except for Lorraine), these two were completely indifferent. In my past life, whenever I had cried from all the bullying, they would pass by without a single change in their expressions, seeming completely indifferent.

Then, when Aunt Shananet had gotten divorced, the boys left with their father to the Shulz estate, and I never saw them again.

After that, they renounced the Lombardi name and were referred to as Giliou and Mayron Shulz. They seemed to have made quite a name in society through their good looks and early knighthood, but I had been too busy with work and only heard about them in passing.

“Firentia.”

They spoke in unison as if they had rehearsed it.

“We heard that you hit Bellezac!”

“And that you won!”

Something was off.

These two had always had blank faces, but now there was a spark of life in them. They were smiling, in fact.

What is going on? This is genuinely scaring me.

I decided to fall back for the time being and went to sit on the large sofa opposite Bellezac. It was nice that all the furniture in the room was built for children, so I didn’t need to climb to my seat.

Giliou tapped on the windowsill and said, “Come sit here.”

“What?” I asked.

“Come sit with us,” Mayron followed.

The sunlight streaming through the window made their golden hair shine especially bright.

I glanced at them momentarily and said, “If you want to sit with me, you two come here.”

Their golden eyes widened simultaneously.

“Don’t tell me where to go,” I said, turning my head away.

Though they had never been mean to me, I didn’t like the idea of being bossed around so soon. Us Lombardi children were quite prideful, so I expected Giliou and Mayron to get angry like Bellezac...

*Thump*

The sofa I sat on shook a little.

“Wh... what?”

Before I knew it, the twins had crossed the room and perched on my sofa, one on either side of me.

“I thought you said you wanted us here if we wanted to sit with you?”

“That’s why we’re here, Tia.”

“Yeah, nice. Let’s call her Tia.”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Look at them talking like a comedy duo, and so proud about it too. I really don’t understand what goes on in their heads.

I shrugged.

They wanted to be here, and who was I to tell them to go elsewhere? I had half given up.

The door opened suddenly, and Clerivan walked in.

“I see that you’re all here. Shall we start class?”

Huh? Just like that?

Startled, I looked around. But no one else looked startled.

Where were the books? The pens? The supplies?

That’s when I noticed the paper and writing utensils in one corner of the room.

I guess I’ll get it when I need it?

My cousins were staring at Clerivan empty-handed.

Let’s play it by ear.

I clutched a cushion and looked up at Clerivan, who had stepped in front of the chalkboard.

“Starting today, we will learn about one important aspect of the Lombardi family: commerce.”

Oh, commerce? Interesting.

Thus, the formal lessons began. I was taken aback.

“...Thus commerce involves...”

Behind Clerivan’s quiet talking, I could hear background noise.

“Zzzzz... Ahem… ZZzzz...”

Bellezac was sprawled out on the sofa and snoring. It wasn’t very loud, but there was no way that Clerivan couldn’t hear it.

He glanced over at Bellezac, and I expected Clerivan to wake him, but instead he continued the lecture as if he had seen nothing.

At that moment, I felt a slight chill.

A teacher who scolds and forces students to learn is, in a way, a kind teacher. Clerivan, on the other hand, had no intention of dragging someone along who refused to focus on the lesson.

He was leaving Bellezac to sleep.

However, this would all be reported directly to the patriarch after class.

Mayron, who sat beside me, quickly lost interest in the lesson and opened a random book. Clerivan stole a peek at him.

He is noticing everything.

I quickly fixed my posture and made it as obvious as possible to show “I am paying attention!”

I opened my eyes wide and nodded frequently.

At first it was for show, but I grew more focused as the lesson went on.

Sure, this might have been boring to the average child, but Clerivan’s in-depth knowledge made it interesting.

“Now, that’s it for today’s class.”

I had been so absorbed that I hadn’t noticed how quickly time passed. Although I was a little disappointed, I could see Bellezac waking up and wiping drool from his mouth as he stood.

Seems like the only thing he heard was that the lesson had ended.

“Today, there is a special assignment.”

“An assignment?” Lorraine asked, sounding surprised as she clutched her doll.

Seems like homework isn’t typical in this class.

Bellezac and the twins also looked stunned.

“You have until the next lesson to finish. The assignment is...”

With a peculiar smile, Clerivan pulled something out from behind the chalkboard.

*Thunk*

A rather hefty sound reverberated across the floor when he set it down.

Clerivan had brought out a thick log with its top and bottom cleanly cut. It must have come from quite a large tree. Its circumference was about the size of an adult’s chest, and when standing, it reached up to Clerivan’s knee.

“A log?”

“This is wood from the vivo tree. Because of its ability to grow quickly and its sturdiness relative to its weight, it is used quite often throughout the continent.”

“What do we do with it?” Bellezac asked gruffly.

Yet, Bellezac didn’t seem surprised by the sudden request from Clerivan. Lorraine and the twins were staring blankly at the log. I assumed I looked the same.

Clerivan scanned our faces while maintaining his peculiar smile.

“The assignment is for you to sell this log by the next lesson,” he said cheerfully.