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After that, there was no further contact from Lydia, and peaceful school life continued.
Since she had been too busy during summer vacation to do much prep work, Ekaterina now spends every day after school studying with Flora, working hard on both previewing and reviewing material. Even though she managed to rank within the top three in her class during the first semester, she must not forget the long-standing disadvantage of having missed out on the education that children typically begin at age five.

The magic control classes became a bit more advanced starting in the second semester. In practical training, students tackle assignments subdivided by magic attributes.
Flora’s Holy magic is a rare attribute—one that appears perhaps once in a generation—so the school hasn’t established a curriculum for it yet. As a result, she had been researching on her own, consulting with teachers, and setting her own assignments.

In fact, there is someone lending her a hand with this: Anatoli Mardov. He is Ekaterina’s former tutor, now serving as a strategist for the Jurnova Knights. Originally a researcher at the Astra Empire Research Institute founded by the Duke of Jurmagna, and having once aspired to work at the Academy, sifting through documents is second nature to him. He investigates how past bearers of Holy Magic developed their powers and sends her letters summarizing his findings in an easy-to-understand manner.

Because of her busy schedule, Ekaterina hasn’t been able to meet with Mardov very often. However, Flora apparently met with him several times over the summer break—along with his elegant wife and their adorable little daughter, as a family.
Flora brought homemade sweets as a gift, and her three-year-old daughter was overjoyed. Apparently, Flora is now known as “the second dessert lady.”
Incidentally, the first “dessert lady” is not Ekaterina, but Mina.

So, with all that in mind, Flora’s current focus is on healing.
It seems that Holy Magic is more effective at curing illnesses than healing injuries.
Considering the Demon Dragon King’s words—that the essence of Holy Magic is circulation—it might involve circulating and activating some kind of life energy within the body.
When I relayed the Demon Dragon King’s words to Flora, she widened her amethyst eyes and nodded repeatedly.

“I think I understand. You said that Earth magic feels like pouring magic into the earth, but my Holy magic is a little different… it feels like connecting with the world.”

If that’s the case, perhaps she draws in magic not only from within her body but also from the surrounding world, creating a cycle both inside and outside her body, which in turn connects to an even larger cycle.
The Butterfly Effect?
Ekaterina found herself imagining such things, and it was actually kind of fun.

Preparations were also slowly moving forward for the musical evening—a sort of class social event—that Marina had suggested.
Marina, who had come up with the idea, was refreshingly unplanned; she seemed to be the type who, even when she had an idea, struggled to put it into action. I had a vague feeling she was like that.
So, in reality, Ekaterina was taking the lead in figuring out where and how to hold the event. As someone in her late twenties on the inside, she knew just how much of a fond memory events like this from her student days could become, so a little hassle didn’t bother her. Well, you could almost say this hardworking personality was the cause of my death in a past life.

Anyway, she was currently surveying the class to see how many people are good at playing instruments or singing.
She asked Renat, her classmate with the cute face and prickly personality, but he looked sulky and said he couldn’t participate. Apparently, he has something else to do. What’s that all about, when we haven’t even set a date yet?
Wondering about this to herself, Ekaterina asked him if he had any particular instrument he was good at, and he replied haughtily:

“Anything that makes a sound.”

.

Later, Olga told me that Renat’s family, the Selezar Viscountry, is a branch of the Marquisate of Seleznyov.
In the Seleznyov domain—where music flourished after the Empress Dowager caught the former Emperor’s eye and was granted the territory—Renat is apparently a famous figure. He plays every instrument with ease and is widely hailed as a genius and a child prodigy.
That’s why he’s a favorite of Lydia, the young lady of the main branch of the family. Every day after school, he goes to Lydia’s place to accompany her during her vocal lessons.
That must be why he can’t attend the music evening.

I see. When he spouted those cocky lines, I suspected he was just being a “teenage drama queen,” but he was serious after all. Honestly, I’m sorry.
And Lydia-chan, does she take lessons every day? That’s impressive.
But Renat-kun looked really glum, and I got the feeling he might actually want to join us. Maybe he isn’t too thrilled about having to accompany Lydia-chan’s lessons.
If he’s such a musician that others consider him a genius, maybe he just wants to practice on his own.

“If you possess such talent, I would very much like to hear your playing. It would be wonderful if we could arrange a performance on a day that suits your schedule, Lord Selezar. Will you be joining us, Lady Olga?”
“Yes, if it’s a day when Lady Lydia has no engagements, I would very much like to attend.”

Huh?!
Surprised by Olga’s unexpected reply, Ekaterina instinctively exchanged glances with Flora.

“Um, Lady Olga. What do you mean by ‘a day when she has no engagements?’”
“Well, I have to clean her dorm room and bring her tea, you see.”

Listening further to Olga’s matter-of-fact reply, Ekaterina realized that it was a tradition in the Seleznyov household for the children of their vassals to act as personal attendants—essentially serving as maids—while the Seleznyov heir or heiress was enrolled at the Magic Academy.

“……”

Deep down, Ekaterina was utterly repulsed.
Using fellow students as maids? That feels incredibly uncomfortable to me. It feels like treating classmates as errand boys—the kind of thing that’s absolutely unacceptable.

At the Magic Academy, only the sons and daughters of royalty or dukes who are permitted to stay in the dormitory’s special rooms are allowed to have maids or valets. For all other students—even the sons and daughters of marquises—the rule is that they must take care of their own personal affairs. Well, there’s a cafeteria for meals, and I hear if you put your laundry in a basket and leave it out, they’ll wash it for you, so the only thing I really need to do myself is cleaning.

But still, I get that in this class-based society, it’s unthinkable for a marquis’s daughter to do cleaning. My aversion to using a fellow student as a stand-in maid is probably just a hangover from my past life.
I wonder if other marquis families are the same… Personally, thanks to Mina, I’ve never had to clean a day in my life, so I really have no right to be so put off by Lydia-chan.

Combined with how she completely ignored Flora-chan the other day, she’s just really getting under my skin!

Then, on a sudden whim, Ekaterina asked:

“Has Lady Olga’s family been on your current estate for a long time?”
“Yes, since before the founding of the Empire. They say our family is old, at least in terms of history.”

Olga answered, looking a bit embarrassed.
In other words, she comes from a native family that was there even before the Seleznyov family received their lands from Piotr the Great… meaning she’s the child of a family that’s been treated with discrimination.

Hmm.