Chapter 10: The Grass is Always Greener Next Door

‘It was fun…’ Patricia thought to herself as she closed her textbook.

Even though today’s lesson was full of things she already knew, listening to someone else’s explanation was still interesting.

Hearing from someone with a different perspective brings new ways of looking at things.

As Patricia looked over what she’d written across the page with satisfaction and started preparing for the next class, she once again felt someone’s gaze from beside her.

“…………”

“…………”

“………………Um, is there something…?”

This time, since the gaze didn’t turn away, Patricia decided to say something.

The young woman gave a small shudder of her shoulders, glanced left and right a few times, and then, as if making up her mind, spoke to Patricia, “A-actually, you know, earlier—”

“Earlier?”

“About the dance, I wanted to know more about it…”

“Ah, that was…”

“Patti.”

“Clive-sama, Heine-sama.”

“Hey there.”

The two, who had come all the way over, took the empty seats in front. 

Clive looked at Patricia with concern.

“How was the class? Wasn’t it boring? Wasn’t it too easy for you, Patti? Didn’t the Academy disappoint you?”

“You, honestly…”

“I’m fine. It was a very enjoyable time.”

“…………I see.”

When Patricia smiled back at Clive, who looked relieved, for some reason the entire class started to buzz.

Startled, she looked around to see what was happening, only to find everyone’s gaze fixed on her and Clive.

“Don’t worry about it, Patti.”

“It’s all right, Lady Frentia. Everyone was just surprised by something unfamiliar.”

“Unfamiliar…?”

Patricia wasn’t sure what they meant, but since both of them said it was fine, she decided not to worry.

With that, she recalled something and turned to the side.

She had meant to continue their earlier conversation, but when she turned, there was no one there.

“Huh?”

“If you mean Lady Shelly, she left the moment we arrived, almost instantly.”

Patricia had been looking forward to discussing things in more detail, but if she’d left, it couldn’t be helped.

Despite telling herself that, she couldn’t shake the disappointment she let out a small sigh.

At that moment, Heine put his hand to his chin and gazed up at the ceiling, as if deep in thought.

“Still, this is the first time I’ve seen Lady Shelly talk to someone.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. She’s rare here at the Academy, completely devoted to her studies. I’ve never seen her interact with others.”

“……”

Maybe that faint sense of discomfort Patricia had felt was because of that.

Even though Shelly spoke so clearly during class, when she asked Patricia a question, her body had stiffened.

Maybe she just wasn’t good with people.

And yet she’d made the effort to talk to Patricia.

Perhaps it was just out of curiosity.

But here at the Academy, she was the first girl classmate to talk to Patricia  in a normal way.

That, to Patricia, was something to be truly happy about.

“I’d like to properly talk with her more.”

“If it’s you, Lady Frentia, I’m sure the conversation would go well.”

“Thank you. By the way, Heine-sama, wasn’t the previous class difficult for you? Even learning our country’s history and all…”

Since Heine is the crown prince of the neighboring Avalon Kingdom, he must be well-versed in his own country’s history.

But at this Academy, they study the history of Lorelan, so he probably wouldn’t know much about other countries.

That’s what Patricia thought, but Heine simply shook his head.

“Our two countries are friendly now, and more importantly, Lorelan is an empire. As soon as I finished learning about my own country, I moved straight to studying Lorelan’s history.”

Apparently, Avalon and Lorelan had once fought a war.

That was before Patricia and the others were born, but the scars of that time still remained in both nations.

The war ended in Lorelan’s victory.

However, as a result of negotiations between the kings at the time, Avalon ceded a territory with a huge mine, but the royal family was allowed to remain.

Perhaps because of that history, Heine is well-versed in Lorelan’s past as well.

“I’d love to hear about that, Heine-sama. How is Lorelan’s history taught in Avalon? And I’d like to know Avalon’s history, too.”

“Well… that’s fine, but if possible, I’d rather have a more enchanting conversation with you, Lady Frentia.”

“You really never give up, do you?”

“I can’t give up when nothing’s even started yet.”

“Maybe you should realize nothing’s ever going to start.”

Patricia pretended not to notice exactly what sort of “enchanting conversation” he meant, and watched their cheerful banter unfold again.

Patricia wondered if someday, she would also have someone she could chat with so easily.

Now that she thinks about it, the only person she could really speak her mind to was Emma, the maid.

That’s why Patricia hoped to have more people like that in her life.

“…All right.”

Clenching her fist lightly, Patricia renewed her determination.

‘I will definitely make friends here who are truly important to me. And to do that, I’ll need to interact with lots of people. Let’s do my best’, Patricia whispered to herself in her heart.