T/N: Extra chapter
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If I were to Compare You to a Flower [Part 1]
-After a certain class ended-
An incident happened when the students were packing their lesson notes and hand-outs into their bags and were about to move to the next classroom.
It’s a rare incident that happened with Emma being completely uninvolved.
One noble male student came while holding a flower bouquet.
He looked around the classroom and nodded slightly after finding the person he was looking for. With confident strides, he approached a young lady and proceeded to kneel before her.
He held up the flower bouquet like he was offering it to the young lady and opened his mouth nervously,
“Emily, I love you from the bottom of my heart. I swear I will protect you all my life. Will you marry me?”
The young lady called Emily blushed and trembled from the shock.
“Logan… Why…”
“Emily?”
“Why are you asking me whether I’m willing to marry you…”
“E-Emily?”
“How could I possibly not be willing?”
“EMILY!!!”
AND I…♪, I…♪
WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU…♪, OOH…♪
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“…such an incident happened, right, Caitlyn?”
“…yup, an incident like that did happen, Catherine.”
-The courtyard in the cafeteria building-
The group of friends who had become close with each other in the Embroidery class had made it a habit to gather in the courtyard during the break time after lunch, even on days when they had different subjects for the morning class.
Emma always enjoyed the time she spent with them. She learned about rules and established routines in the academy from Francesca, listened to the Knight Order’s inside stories from Marion, and became privy to all kinds of secrets thanks to the gossip-loving twins.
Today’s topic was the incident at the end of the class the twins took in the morning. It was about public proposals that apparently happened several times a year in the academy.
“Logan-sama gifted Emily-sama a bouquet of lovely red tulips, right, Caitlyn?”
“Logan-sama said he picked a flower that represents Emily-sama the best, didn’t he, Catherine?”
“ “Fuh…” ” The twins cupped their cheeks with their hands and sighed in a daze, still having the lingering excitement after witnessing such an event.
“The two’s family status is well matched, and I heard they were originally childhood friends.”
“I see. So the reason the girls were squealing earlier about how ‘a proposal in the academy student days is the dream of any noble young lady’ was because of those two.”
Francesca and Marion had been enrolled at the academy longer than the twins and Emma, so they seemed to know more about the two in question.
Emma usually played the role of listener and engrossed herself in munching the sweets Joshua prepared for her, but she unusually added a comment today.
“? What’s good about being proposed to while still being enrolled as a student in the academy? Marion-sama.”
According to the twins, both Logan and Emily were 16 years old. Emma couldn’t help but think it was way too early to get married if based on the perception in her previous world. Even if it might be the common practice in this world, Emma, until she was 11 years old (before she remembered her past life memory), had no basic common understanding of that life aspect. You shouldn’t expect anything from a young lady whose character trait was ‘disappointing’ and who only cared about insects.
“What’s good about it, you ask… Emma-sama is amusing, huh.”
Marion laughed awkwardly upon seeing Emma’s blank face showing that she genuinely didn’t understand.
The thing most feared by normal noble young ladies who were enrolled at the academy was not being able to find a marriage partner.
Those who remained unmarried a few years after graduating from the academy would be ridiculed as a spinster and treated as a burden in their parents’ house. In the end, most of them decided to live in a monastery and serve God because they couldn’t stand the shame.
“A noble young lady will be eligible to graduate from the academy once her marriage arrangement is fixed, Emma-sama.”
Francesca told the confused Emma the thing that fell into the [what’s good] category.
Noble male students wouldn’t be eligible for graduation until they passed the required courses. Those who would succeed the territory their household governed had a higher requirement of subjects.
In that respect, there were no such conditions for young ladies.
The academy was also known as a place for bridal training and building the foundation of etiquette and relationships within high society.
