NOVEL WEB Chapter 162
Chapter: 162
The end-of-semester exams went by smoothly, and I wasn’t alone in that.
Especially since Ella, who had been taught intensively this time, ranked third in note-taking in our class.
Although it was third in the class, it surely meant a high rank among all first-year students in the Academy.
“Rize, is it okay to leave behind my school uniform and stuff?”
“Yes, it should be fine. Even though it’s vacation, the Academy’s caretakers won’t be coming into the dormitory rooms during that time.”
“Then I can just leave my clothes in the wardrobe… and take only the documents.”
“Should I pack all the documents into the bag?”
“Yeah, please do that.”
Anyway, with the finals over, we were slowly getting ready to head home.
After all, it was vacation time!
Of course, I didn’t have to go home specifically, but I felt compelled to return.
If I didn’t go back to the mansion during the break… Rosalyn would surely…
“Hmm.”
I decided not to think about it.
It’s better not to overthink and just enjoy my time with everyone; nothing beats that.
“The first semester ended faster than I thought.”
It felt like it lasted a long time, yet it really did end quite quickly.
Maybe it was my first time really spending time with peers?
It felt like it wrapped up sooner than I perceived.
“I hope I can change to a better dormitory next semester.”
“I’m fine with it as it is.”
“Well, a B-grade isn’t bad, but I visited Karen’s room, and it was really nice.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yeah, really.”
I did get excellent grades in the finals.
Yet, moving from a C grade to a B required less effort than jumping from a B to an A, so…
It’s a bit unfortunate, but it just couldn’t be helped.
“I think I can use an A-grade dormitory next time.”
“Is it already that time?”
“Yeah, since my grades have been so good.”
I had overwhelming scores in both midterms and finals, right?
I might’ve slacked a bit in practicals, but still, the first-year standards at the Academy made that a guaranteed good score.
I’d even done better than Ivana, I bet.
“Well, thanks to that, I’m still receiving scholarships. That’s a definite gain, right?”
“I think the lady would be pleased to hear that.”
“That’s definitely a good thing.”
“When you return to the mansion, you should mention the club activities to the lady… I’m sure she’d be happy.”
“True… that makes sense.”
There were a lot of stories I was sure Rosalyn would like.
If I told her about them when I got back to the mansion, she’d surely be thrilled.
She had always encouraged me to hang out with kids my age and hoped I got along well.
“Ugh… I want to go back soon.”
I wanted to spend time with Rosalyn again after a long while.
Honestly, it had been quite some time since I last saw her, yes.
Now I was really starting to miss her.
A few months had passed, so isn’t it only normal to feel that way?
*
“Then Karen, are you going to take lessons at home during this break?”
“Yeah…”
“That sounds exhausting. You must be finding it tough since graduation is around the corner.”
“Yeah…”
Before the Academy semester ended, we gathered in the club room and were all just relaxing.
Well, we had nothing to do, right?
Everyone must’ve taken care of their preparations, and the Academy classes finished earlier than usual, which is why we were hanging out.
“But didn’t you used to not take those lessons?”
“Ah…”
“I thought typically Grace took those lessons rather than you… Is there any special reason?”
“It’s not that… Just, my sister has brightened up a bit since before. Dad just suggested she try taking lessons.”
“Is that so?”
“Gr-Grace…!”
Well…
It really seemed like Count Rosaki was very protective of his daughter.
I remembered being surprised when Karen came to visit Rosalyn and me back then… She just showed up out of nowhere.
Not to mention, despite being the eldest daughter, she had kept to her room for a long time without any complaints.
If I were a parent, I definitely wouldn’t allow my child to live such a reclusive lifestyle.
“So, Grace, do you have anything planned like Karen?”
“I don’t.”
“Really? Since Karen said she’s doing something, I thought you’d have something in mind too.”
“I already took those classes a while ago.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
Grace had indeed substituted for Karen when she was cooped up.
In small social gatherings among kids, Grace had always been the first to show up before Karen.
“Then you’ll have no time to be bored this break.”
“Yeah…”
“Hehe…”
“But Camelia…? How long will this go on…?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Not that I mind…”
By the way, Karen was lying with her head rested on my thigh.
The bed was a bit too small for complete comfort, and there weren’t any pillows.
It had to be this way for us to kind of lounge around like this.
“I don’t mind.”
“Well, I don’t hate it…”
“Then I guess it’s fine to keep like this.”
“Y-yeah…”
I was petting Karen’s head, and she was just quietly accepting it.
Maybe she didn’t actually dislike being like this?
Perhaps?
Well, even if she said otherwise, she already agreed.
It was too late now.
“Oh, Ivana, what are you going to do during the break? You’re going to the North after a long time, right?”
“First, there’s a lot to do because of the succession of the family head.”
“Oh…”
“Succession?”
“Yes. There are more preparations than I expected.”
“Wow…”
“That’s impressive.”
“R-Right…”
Most everyone reacted with curiosity to Ivana’s statements.
After all, we were all still first-year students.
No matter how famous Ivana was, and although she was mature for a 13-year-old girl, she was still quite young.
Everyone must’ve been intrigued by anything related to the family head.
“In the summer, there’s no hunting season, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”
“I heard they hunt monsters in the North every winter, right? How many monsters come out?”
Honestly, I was quite curious.
I had heard there were many monsters hunted in the North during winter, but just how many?
Surely not just a handful?
“Hmm… Last winter we caught about 700.”
“700?”
“Yeah, last winter was a bit less since we took care of things early on, and the monsters didn’t cluster as much.”
“700…”
That was more than I expected.
Well… It made sense why the North was so noisy with monsters and all.
Honestly, I hadn’t been informed much about the North.
“Then with all those monsters, you’d get a huge amount of magical stones and make a lot of money in other ways too.”
“Well, of course. Thanks to that, we can import agricultural products from other places.”
That was certainly true.
Farming in the Northern winters must be incredibly difficult.
Even outside of winter, it must be hard.
They could easily leverage the monsters during winter to import goods from other regions… That might be one of the North’s main businesses.
“But I dislike this heat more than hunting monsters in winter.”
“Hehe… That’s true. Ivana, you really can’t handle the heat.”
“Yeah.”
We casually passed the time sharing that kind of talk.
Everyone was just lounging comfortably, relaxing…
Karen, Grace, and I were sprawled out on the bed, comfortably.
For all our club’s casualness, we hadn’t lounged like this before.
This was all after the exams ended, with the semester about to close.
“…Why isn’t anyone asking me anything?”
“Huh?”
As I was petting Karen’s soft head, Ella, who was sitting in a chair, suddenly asked that.
What was that about?
I didn’t quite get it.
“Why should I ask you anything, Ella?”
“Well, you’ve been asking everyone but me…? Everyone else has been asked.”
“Hmm… I don’t see any need to ask you.”
“…Huh?”
No, seriously.
There was no need to ask Ella about any of that.
I mean, Ella…
“After all, you’re going to the South with me, and we’ll basically be sharing the carriage, right?”
“Oh.”
“The route will be the same until we get to the South, and we can meet often once we get there. So, there’s really no urgent need to ask you, is there?”
“Well, that’s true…”
There truly was no need to ask her.
I meant, literally, the Leonhardt Mansion and the Nieshista Domain were practically next door?
It would only take about an hour in a carriage to get there.
“Are you perhaps feeling jealous that I’m asking other people but not you?”
I chuckled as I teased Ella about her sudden question.
It was a bit odd, and I just felt like joking around a bit.
“…That’s not it, you know?”
“Hehe, is that so?”
“…Yeah.”
She’s just so cute.
Ella seems oblivious to it, but I’m right, and she’s just pretending not to know, which makes her all the cuter.
Her pouting cheeks as she glared at me… That’s undeniably adorable, isn’t it?
I bet Ella doesn’t even realize that about herself.