Ch 24: Do it for them.

During the rest of the week, I went to a ladies meeting in Lady Boardwalk's home.

We all exchanged compliments, worries, disagreements and even suggestions for daily tasks and future plans. I, being someone who you could basically can rely on, everyone warmed up to me when I cofessed my worries about the farm and what would I do in the day of seeing the Academy.

'Hmm. . . Do you need a specific person to take care of the farm?' Lady Johnson asked.

'Well, not really. As long as is capable to checking every now and then on the livestock, taking eggs from the chickens, clean the stables and keep everything tidy inside.' I told her. 'Plus, that the person does not have a thievery background or something worse. I'm sure you all have your secret stash of money hidden from the public and even your husbands, I do the same as well, therefore, I know you girls understand why I would like someone both experience in keeping livestock in check, cleaning and understanding the concept of not snooping around in the forbidden zones.' I said with a smile.

They all agreed on that.

'Well, I have a daughter who is a very tidy person.' Lady Boardwalk. 'But she doesn't know a lot of livestock.' She admitted.

'I do have a son who now's about livestock!' Lady Johnson raised her hand.

'Well, I don't really mind having two people in checking things in place, but I'm pretty sure it might be ackward for both youngsters to be in the same place with no one else around.' I remarked.

Both women nodded thoughtfully.

'I, have two kids.' Mrs. Liam raised her hand. 'A young men and a girl. My son can keep eyes on the livestock and my daughter can keep things tidy.'

'That sounds wonderful. But, are they too curious for their own good?' I asked. 'Because if they are, I will not comfortable enough to have them inside my sugar mill.' I made things clear.

'Of course not, Lily is a very chill girl. She might be curious to look around, but she's very obedient.' Mrs. Liam promised.

'Alright, but if anything goes missing or gets broken I'll make sure the culprit face the consequences.' I let her know.

'Understood.' Mrs. Liam took a sip of tea.

The rest of the women keep gossiping and sharing problems and frustrations, helping each other can be both a wonderful yet frightful experience, especially when you just recently moved to a new place.

.

.

.

On Saturday. . .

Mrs. Liam brought her children to my place and I showed what to do and what not to do.

Little Lily was extremely excited and even tried to go against the rules of not going to our bedrooms.

I gave a glare to her mother who immediately brought her daughter to her side and scolded her harshly.

The young man on the other hand, he was actually more obedient and was the rightfully chill kid of Mrs. Liam.

I immediately knew what to do. 'Say, Mrs. Liam, because of your daughters behavior, you know very well that I cannot allow her to be inside the house.' I told her. 'I will not tolerate her entitlement in breaking the rules in my home, therefore she's not welcomed.'

Mrs. Liam was embarrassed while little Lily rolled her eyes as if it didn't matter.

'Although, I have a solution to this problem.' I smiled malevolently. 'In fact, I use this tactic when my own children misbehave just as yours.' I offer up.

Mrs. Liam nodded to my offer.

'You see, I cannot allow Lily to be inside, but I can make stay outside in the backyard.' I suggested.

The Liam family was now frowning, not understanding correctly.

'Oooooohh!!' The twins on the other hand, immediately picked up on my indirect. 'Lily is going to shovel the poop~! Lily is going to shovel the poop~! With a spoon~!!' They chanted laughing at Lily.

The young Liam chuckled understand his breath at the mention of shoveling poop with a spoon. Mrs. Liam, not really liking the idea but knowing full well that otherwise Lily won't be allowed to stay, nods to my idea.

Lily throwed a tantrum and even face planted herself to the floor.

Mrs. Liam was about to try to soothe her, but I stopped her. 'Let her go on.'

. . .

10 minutes later. . .

Lily was now shoveling the chicken coop with a spoon, with tears in her eyes and every now and then looking at us pitifully as if that was going to make us let her stop.

'Until it is squeaky clean.' I ordered. 'Even if it takes all my trip!' I declared loud and clear.

Mrs. Liam sighed heavily, knowing now that her daughter is not that "chill" girl who thought she was. 'Liam. . .' She turned to see her son.

'My job, is to stay inside and clean, I know how to do it, mom.' Liam indirectly mocked his mother while taking the broom and started sweeping. 'I'll keep an eye on my sister every 10 minutes, knowing her she will probably want to escape, but I won't let her.' He let me know.

'Thank you.' I thanked the boy and then we all heard a chariot coming. 'We have to go, bye!' I waved goodbye with my kids.

'Bye bye!' The twins said.

'Goodbye!' Josh and Mrs. Liam waved goodbye to us back.

The coachman opened the door for the three of us, and both director and vice director were inside smiling at us.

'Ready to see the real capital of Silverenity?' The vice director asked with excitement.

'Yeah!!' The twins raised their hands in the air with excitement.

As for myself, I only smiled softly.

It was going to be a looooong day.

. . .

20minutes later. . .

The door gates opened for us and the chariot went inside. The whole capital was literally an utopia closed to the public!

The whole city was literally what in my old world would call it, a rich country inside a poor country.

Everyone wore the finest and beautiful clothes, showing off their best dressed clothes and their best smiles to everyone around us.

Kids in elegant attire would run around as if they weren't afraid of tearing those very expensive clothes and shoes, it perfectly made me understand that their parents don't struggle for money.

The roadway was a overcrowded with other chariots like a busy car road in a city, with multiple people going and walking to everywhere with fast pace and no time to relax.

I felt uncomfortable by my own clothing and the traffic before us.

'Should I have made the arrangement a bit earlier?' I asked softly.

'Oh no, my lady, no.' The director shook his head. 'This traffic is always going, there's no way to stop it. Chariot's need to be very carefully even.' The director murmured the last sentence a bit worried.

With no one to make the chariots or people stop, there's no way anyone cares or respects veryone else. I thought of it. In my old world, there were traffic lights and crosswalk lights and signs to help cars and people make their way through traffic and diminish the chances of accidents. I frowned about it. If there's no such a thing here, then that only means—

The chariot stopped abruptly.

'Aaaaahh!!' My babies and I screamed as I reacted quickly and hold them with me. We almost fell over.

'What in gods graces was that?!' The director raised his voice and a cold tone and severe tone.

'Some kids ran between me and another chariot!' The coachman exclaimed taking the control over the horse's reins with force. 'Be careful you little delinquents!!' He reprimanded the children as he took control once again and made the horses move straight ahead.

Lottie and I checked through the window and the parents of three children were already repmimanding them for their stupidity.

Serves them right. I nodded approvingly and then took my seat. 'Lottie, Charlie.' I called out with my eyes closed.

'Yes?' They asked.

'If you are bound to cross these streets, you better make sure you check both sides of the road both before and while you cross. Understood?' I told them in my own severe voice.

'Yes mom.' They nodded understanding.

The director and vice director nodded approvingly at my request to my kids.

During the rest of the journey was met through similar circumstances. Both from children and adults.

'This city needs to find a way to keep the traffic and people in check, otherwise there would be only so much one can do before making an accident.' I commented looking at the window.

'We ourselves have complained about it to the royal family since this problem also affects our students safety.' The director said with a sad tone. 'But, I'm afraid such problems are going through deaf ears as we speak.' He sighed alongside the vice director.

'Wow.' I said unimpressed.

'My thoughts exactly after seeing the newspaper this morning.' The vice director rubbed his frown.

After that we became silent and went ahead to the Academy.

. . .

At the Academy. . .

The whole academy was literally a small castle. A Disney sort-of castle even. And once we went inside the gates, the Disney castle became a small city too.

But most of people were kids with uniform. Boy's uniform had a white t-shirt, gray jacket or waist coat or sweater, and pants of the same color. Black shoes, white socks and a tie of bismuth pastel colors and a mini brooch in the heart side that had practically the same design as the director's brooch. The girl's uniform had a long sleeve ruffled blouse with a gray jumper skirt with black buttons and jacket or waist coat or sweater. White socks and black shoes with small heels, plus a bow instead of tie with the mini brooch in the center.

'I feel like I won't belong.' Lottie admitted. 'I fear, mom. Alot of them seem like they will go their way to trouboe me or unsettle me.' She said her thoughts aloud as she cuddle me for protection.

'You think so too?' Charlie asked. 'Look at the boys, they are probably the double of my size!' He started to chew his nails out.

The director and vice director frowned and looked at me. I just shrugged. 'You know, the only similar thing a drunk man and a child is that neither of them know how to lie.' I just said what was on my mind and hugged my kids back.

The men looked at each other as if they were making a huge conversation.

The vice director was about to say something when the chariot pulled to a soft stop. 'We have arrived at the Academy entrance!' The coachman declared loud and clear.

Oh boy. I sighed heavily. Say it louder, will ya? I asked internally.

The coachman opened the door of the chariot and helped each of us to get out of the chariot.

The entrance was decorate with a garden and crystal status of figures I was familiar hey unfamiliar with. The garden had blue, pink and violet hortensias, violet bellflowers and pink, white and violet gladiolus in such specific order from where we were to the entrance.

The twins and I took a deep breath at the same time as me and we followed the men inside.

The hallways were made of gray brick, with torches on the walls every few meters to give more light plus a window in the center of each corridor. The carpet was red velvet and it seemed to be on and on forever though the halls and stairs of the building.

'We shall start by showing you the houses.' The vice director told us as they guided us to the main hall.

In the main hall there were eight hallway tunnels. The one in front of us said "Amethyst Tulip," with a cursive letter and tulip of the same color on top. The one on the right of the first one said "Ruby Rose," with also cursive letter and a rose of the same color on top. The one on the left if Amethyst said "Jasper Sunflower," in the same potion as the other two. The last one similar yet different to the other three was another that said "Tourmaline Dahlia," which was just as the same as the others.

The other two tunnels said "Class building," "Office building," "School town," and "Backyard." All in cursive as well.

I turned to see if there was anything on the tunnel form where we came from, and as I figured, it said "School entrance and exit."

'As you see, this is where all the school connects.' The director extended his arms briefly around. 'The tunnels that have the gemstone flower names and symbols guide to each school house.'

It sounds like a book that became an awfully popular movie. But I can't put my finger on where have I hear it from. I thought about it but shrugged it off. 'Do they have a meaning to it, perhaps?' I asked.

'Why yes.' The director pointed to Amethyst Tulip. 'Each student is assigned to a house that has similarities to their strengths and personalities, for example, in Amethyst Tulip is where students with a particular personality that most call it "mysterious," or "weird," but their strengths tend to come around magic and witchcraft.' He walked to Ruby Rose. 'Ruby Rose students tend to have an extrovert and passionate personality as well as a very active life, usually they tend to go for swordsmanship or knighthood, but there are those who also like math and science.' He moved to Jasper sunflower. 'Jasper Sunflowers have a cheery and sweet personality and often prefer to study biology or history.' Then, he walked to the Tourmaline Dahlia. 'The dahlia students are shy yet very lovable and easy to get along with, they prefer the arts and music as well as literature but some even go for a bit of everything.'

The three of us nodded to each part of his explanation.

'How do you identify each student if they all have the same uniform?' Lottie asked.

'Well, the brooch might all look the same, but the "B" and the color with the exception of the gemstone tend to be of the same color as your house.' The director explained. 'And, the gemstone will have the same form of the flower of your house. For example: if you are in the Ruby rose house, you'll have a red brooch with a bismuth gemstone with the shape of a rose.' He detailed.

'Ooooooh!' We all nodded understanding.

'Want to go and see how do a school day looks like?' The director asked.

'Yes!' The twins nodded with enthusiasm and they followed the director..

I sighed resigned. It's gonna be a LOOONG day. I followed the group with the vice director close behind.

. . .

A good 2 hours later. . .

"We went through the class building and saw that there was a division between necessary or general classes and program classes.

The general classes were needed as general knowledge, such as basic math, science, history and geography. The program classes would be the program the students study and practice until they become experts and will use that knowledge to find a job that correlates or is about that specific program. Like an underdegree program.

While children and young ones were on class, the director presented some of the professors which would probably be for the entrance exam.

Belinda Lockwood, the professor of witchcraft and magic.

—> Practically autistic: fidgets, can't make eye contact, trouble with communication, hyper fixation with magic and witchcraft + a huge desire to teach everything she knows.

—> Personality: A shy yet determined person.

—> Practically connected with Lottie as soon as they met eye to eye.

George Crossbridge, the professor of geography.

—> Personality: Stoic yet polite with an elegant demeanor.

—> Seems to have trouble understanding both Lottie's lack of eye contact and Charlie's hyperactive demeanor but he promised that he would not mind as long as they make sure to do the homework assigned + pass the exams without any serious issues.

Hector McDonald, the professor of history.

—> Personality: Soft, good with kids but iron first demeanor in general (especially with trouble makers).

—> Is not bothered by my kid's "unusual" behaviors, but rather curious about it, especially with the history behind their behavior and lives.

Ivy Richfield, the professor of biology.

—> Personality: Sweet and cheery smiler. Although she can also be harsh with troublemakers.

—> Practically likes to use her students as guinea pigs for biological experiments. She has zero interest in personal space due to her "fascination" with genitals. (Suggested the kids to stay away from her if they meet in private)

Lingüíni Adamí, the chef of the school and the professor of gastronomy.

—> Personality: Strict and stoic. Does not take bullshit from anyone.

—> Dared me to a battle of recipes when Charlie said "my mom makes better cinnamon desserts than you!"

— Totally won and got a copy of his extremely expensive cook book for free.

Miles Maxim, the professor of Mathematics.

—> Personality: soft exterior but firm demeanor.

—> The funny part came from me when I corrected his calculation and made my own formula for him. After finishing he said and I quote: "I'm single, please date me."

—> The whole classroom when like "Ooooooooohhh" and Charlie was like, "Mom's too young for you!!" While hugging me as if protecting me.

Albertis Einston, the professor of science.

—> Personality: Odd, esccentric, professional and probably autistic as Lottie.

—> I unfortunately had the "brilliant idea" of sharing my idea (past life knowledge) about the "real" start of the universe (the Bing Bang).

—> He gave me a kiss on the cheek and started to think about it for the rest himself.

—> The whole class looked at me like, "look what you just started."

Orion Hill, the professor of literature.

—> Personality: Strict, passionate and stoic demeanor.

—> Lottie decided to copy Charlie and brag about me telling better tales.

—> After beating him in a short story contest, I won a yet-to-be-published book of poems.

—> After we left, he kinda looked at me with intrigue and. . . A blush on his face(?)

Lancelot Avalorlake, ex-general and trainer of knignts.

—> Personality: Extroverted, flirty yet polite and gentlemanly.

—> Charlie showed off about me actually beating Mr. Bonfire and about my scolding to the heir of Talonwing. I put my hand on Charlie's mouth to stop him but it was too late.

—> The whole class, Avalorlake, and the principals were gawking and staring, I had to call retrieve and had a serious scolding to Charlie about it.

Aaron de Leonardo Collins, the professor of art.

—> Personality: Passionate and creative. Always smiling unless someone says something against art.

—> The twins had the "brilliant" idea of asking to join the class with a small bluff that I was a good painter (I mean, sure I had been practicing, but I'm not that good!).

—> Somehow, I passed with an A+ and received the honor of getting a painting with my twins made by the professor himself.

—> As we left, I could feel the professor and the students in that class stare at my back.

Did I forget to mention that all this happened with students in class? Because it did!

I don't know whether to be proud of mortified!

I always thought that since it was Saturday there wouldn't be any classes!

Guess I was wrong."

I sighed heavily closing the book and focusing on eating a very good meal.

'I prefer your food mom.' The twins complained.

'Shush!' I scolded them. 'I swear you both are gonna be the death of me!' I complained in a low voice.

'What was that Miss Baker?' The director asked with a notepad in his hand.

'Eh, no no, nothing.' I laughed nervously. 'So, is there anything else we can look?'

'We still need to take you to the library, the training grounds, and to the director's office to discuss the details.' The vice director responded with his usual smile.

My eye twitched. 'B-But I haven't said yes .' I reminded them.

'Not you, but they have.' The vice director contradicted.

Shoot! I looked at the twins who were murmuring happily about this school. There they go, growing up too fast! I started to tear up on the inside.

At this point, some of the students who were on the other classes were staring at us. I wanted to go back at the farm and disappear.

But, that will happen afterwards. For now, we finished eating and went to the office of the director.

. . .

At the director's office. . .

We all sat down in that beautiful office which a giant Palladian window behind the great desk of the director, a desk made of bismuth gem and gray stone, a bookshelf on the left and a gemstone shelf on the right.

The place would be full of light and peace as long as everyone stayed silent.

'Now that you had seen everything , how did you like the school kids?' The director asked while giving me a smug her friendly face.

Show off. I gimrace at him while the kids chatted with him, lively as ever. Ugh, guess I don't have a choice. Time to pull the card under my sleeve. I sighed resigned. 'Fine. I admit it's a very promising school in boy my kid's and my eyes.' I admitted getting a happy face from both principals. 'But, here's the gist: the money problem.' I recalled bluntly. 'As a commoner, I don't have that much money. I do have my father savings, BUT, I'm planning to invest them so they money grows. It's more logical for me to invest in my future business which has almost 80% of success in the future rather than on kid's who have 50% chance of getting to this school now and especially, with the chance reduced at 30% of being able to graduate, let alone being able to pay fees on time without getting into too much debt.' I gave my explanation.

The principals were both understanding at the problem and shocked about the investment plan. Sure, they were aware that they might have been wrong about me being unfair, but they still wanted the prodigies at their school.

But before they even opened the mouth. 'I'm also not about to accept charity nor an exception from you.' I declared stopping him from even thinking about it. 'But, I have a better and more fair option.' I raised a finger.

I paused for a moment, having everyone's eyes on me.

'The scholarships.' I said. 'And not just any scholarship, but the 100% scholarship.' I specified looking at my twins. 'If you both are capable of getting into the top 5 by minimum, I'll cover the the other expenses that the scholarship doesn't cover.' I looked at the principal. 'Can I ask which are those things?' I asked to verify.

'Ah! Yes.' The principal took out some documents for the top 5 scholarships. 'The expenses that will not be funded by the Diamond scholarship will be: school trips, extracurriculars, food & clothes that come outside of school uniforms or scheduled meals per day for the school year.' The told us.

'There. I will pay those and ONLY those things if you are capable of getting to the top 5, aka the diamond scholarship.' I declared turning to look at the twins. 'If you fail that but still get the Saphire scholarship, then I would still pay those things, but you will pay for the rest such as housing, school tools and extracurricular, but things such as school trips, food and clothes, you will have to work for youselves to pay for them.' I gave them my deal. 'Any objections?' I asked.

Charlie raised his hand.

'Yes?.' I let him ask.

'If we get the Pearl scholarship?' Charlie asked.

'Forget about it, too much money debt in out three pairs of hands.' I declared. 'From Sapphire scholarship to up, or nothing.' I declared crossing my arms.

'Okay.' The kids nodded. 'We accept.' They declared.

The principals were delighted. 'In that case, we will give the children what is needed to study for the entrance exam.' He started to search for the documents. 'We would also like to ask for Miss Baker to sign some documents since the kids are still young if you don't mind.' The director pulled the documents out of the desk drawer.

'Of course.' I agree. It's a lot of pressure. But for once, I would like to be wrong about my fears and my pessimism. I sighed resigning myself to be guided through the process.

. . .

1 hour & 1/2 after. . .

We all finished up, and went to the chariot which was waiting for us.

The principal was strangely generous enough to give the right material for the programs my kids want to apply.

The good news is that Lottie has her sights on Math, Science, Geography and (surprisingly) Withcraft (although this is because of her connection with the professor for her autistic behavior).

The bad news though, is that Charlie was less specific about his own subjects and literally said, 'whichever doesn't require that much math, science or anything of he sort.'

As a result, now he has to suffer by reading for History, Literature, Art, Knighthood (this gave him a wood sword to practice some moves with it), Gastronomy and Medicine.

So you can guess, who is the one that needs to read the most.

'. . . Can I take the Knighthood out of my writing list?' Charlie asked.

'Charlie.' I warned him.

'It's fine Miss Baker, after hearing what you went through with that horrible man and the neglect of Talonwing, it's only fair that he doesn't believe in the knighthood system.' The principal took the book and eye it a bit. 'Although, Charlie, you realize that by at least trying, if you are capable of making it, then you might be able to do something about it?' The principal asked.

Charlie side eyed him. 'How? I'm just a commoner.' He raised an eyebrow.

'You may be a commoner now, but those who prove their worth, may raise their status from a Lord to even a Marques!' The principal gave the book to him. 'That way, you might give your mom and your sister the life they deserve.'

Charlie took the book. 'I can try, but not so hard.' He promised as he went to the chariot.

'Understandable.' The principal look at Charlie with pride.

The principal is practically using gender and sociocultural norms and expectations to pressure Charlie in at least to try a bit. I sighed as I waved the men goodbye. I would like Charlie to learn how to fight, but in self-defense, not to join a war nor to kill. I frowned as I hugged the kids who were already ready witchcraft and knight books.

I cannot go back now. I looked through the window and embraced myself every now and then whenever a pair of kids or distracted nobles walk through. Ugh!! I complained internally and sighed heavily. I must do everything in my power to help go through this. I may not like it, but at the same time, it might be for the best. If you can't do it for yourself, you do it for them.