The Empress's Eye (6)
Aten and I sat side by side in the library.
Even on our way here, we attracted a lot of attention, but as expected of a library, interest faded quickly.
Since yesterday, Aten has been following me around, so those who should know, probably do.
"Are you really going to teach me how to study?"
"Yes."
Aten looked at me as if she was skeptical.
Not that her expression changed much, it's just what I thought.
It might just be a misunderstanding.
"I'm doubtful."
It wasn't a misunderstanding after all.
She must be the type who feels relieved only after speaking her mind.
I casually flipped open my notebook.
Then, I opened the lessons I had copied so far from the workshop.
Aten wouldn't see it, but I was literally copying the content into my notebook.
"…What are you doing now?"
"To be honest, it's impossible to teach you the standard way and prevent you from failing from now on."
It's not a matter of the midterm's difficulty.
It's about the scope.
Aten, having lived a royal life, knows almost nothing about school lessons due to focusing on etiquette and skills.
This is something I know for sure from playing the game.
'After all, Constel's notes are all descriptive.'
The game doesn't make players take exams, but from what I've heard, that's the case.
Then, I can't just copy what's stored in the workshop as it is.
It's not a matter of memory.
If it's seen as cheating, I have no excuse.
So, I have to rewrite the lessons copied from the workshop in my own way.
What I'm writing now is a summary that includes that.
After writing an entire page, I hand it over to Aten.
"Here, memorize this."
"…What's this?"
"One month's worth of lessons since entering Constel."
Not everything is included.
I boldly omitted what needed to be.
I can't write them all down. There's no way Aten can memorize them all, and I had no intention of making her get a perfect score. She just needs to pass.
Aten took the paper and stared at it blankly.
"Is this really what's in the textbooks? You didn't just make this up, did you?"
"If I had made it up, it would be even more impressive."
"But right now, instead of using a textbook, you're writing directly in a notebook."
"Well, yeah."
That's because I'm copying notes from the workshop.
"Surely you can't remember everything? The whole midterm range?"
"Something like that."
That's because the workshop is mine.
I kept writing the as I answered.
Aten stared at it for a moment before focusing on the paper I had handed her.
She seemed to realize that I was serious.
Silence filled the air after that.
I copied from the workshop's contents while she focused on reading the paper I had given her.
I could tell that Aten was being thorough, as she occasionally underlined parts she thought were important.
Finally, she said, "I'm done."
I handed Aten the last piece of paper.
With this, I had briefly summarized the midterm range.
Also, while rewriting the workshop's contents in a way that fit my writing style, I gained something from it as well.
Aten took the paper from me and stared at it blankly.
At least she should be able to tell from this that I wasn't messing around.
Aten opened her mouth, still dazed.
"I heard you were lazy...."
"I'm a new man now."
Well, that's not entirely inaccurate.
* * *
At night, Aten was studying at the mansion.
She could only study for a short while each night between chasing after Frondier.
She thought it would be impossible to cover the entire midterm range with this schedule, but now it seemed possible.
"It was real."
Aten compared the paper Frondier had given her with the actual course material.
Every single word was accurate, down to the smallest detail.
Every single character is spelled accurately, even the difficult ones to memorize.
“Is this kind of memory capacity even possible for a human?”
Of course, it didn’t have the entire contents of the textbooks, but all the important information was there, without fail.
This was nothing more than further proof that he had grasped the contents of the entire textbook.
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
Just then, her sagephone rang.
The sound was loud and urgent, as if an emergency had happened.
She answered the phone.
“Yeah, Mom.”
-Aten~ You worked hard again today. How are you doing?
Philly’s sweet voice could be heard.
“Yeah, I’m doing alright.”
-Have you been able to make some friends with your classmates?
“Uhhh, not really.”
-Oh my! Didn’t I tell you to make sure to make friends? When you’re your age, friends are the most important thing, even more so than studying.
“Just a little bit, with Frondier.”
-Good job, my daughter! ……Uhhh, I mean, really?
Mom, your true intentions just slipped out.
Why can’t you hide what’s on your mind better?
I’ll never do something like that. [T/N: Yes, since she’s doing worse]
-So, um, did you ask him?
“The Dragon Heart?”
-Yup.
“No, not yet.”
-Okay. Good job. Once that boy has fallen head over heels for you, then you should ask him.
……Head over heels, huh?
She thought about it for a moment.
If I wait for that, I’ll never be able to ask him.
Philly suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke.
-Oh, and the Constel midterm exams are coming up soon, right?
“……Yeah.”
Of course, Aten knew this wasn’t something she had ‘suddenly remembered’.
-The midterms are coming up, right? I heard that outsiders are allowed to watch the practical exams. So, I want to come watch my daughter shine.
“You’re coming here?”
-Yes, with your sisters.
Aten’s expression hardened.
Her sisters were coming.
The only reason she had been able to accept transferring to Constel so easily was because of her sisters.
Haah, Aten sighed and spoke.
"Alright, fine. But don't come during the written exams. There's no point since you won't be able to see anything."
-Really? Mom is also busy, I'll make time to come see the practical exams too.
"Got it."
After a few more exchanges, Aten hung up the phone and sighed.
The sisters are coming.
In some ways, more troublesome than mom.
She briefly looked at the paper she had been reading until a moment ago.
The paper Frondier had written for her.
"……Let's work hard."
After muttering those words, Aten picked up the paper.
