Chapter 41: Classes Begin!

Two days after the party there was an orientation for new students. Once that concluded, it was time for classes to begin. It was a period of many new beginnings: a new life, a new environment, and a new educational experience. Unfamiliarity breeds uncertainty, and the classrooms filled with nervous tension as the students filed in for the first time. As Mia sat down and looked around at her anxious peers, she couldn't help but crack a confident smile. And why wouldn't she? She'd been through this once already, and she'd learned all the course materials ages ago. And not just the concepts, mind you; she'd gone as far as using them in applied questions.

Mm hm hm. This will be a walk in the park!

Mia was so confident, in fact, that she turned to a couple of her classmates and told them, "If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me! I'll explain it to you!"

She was just setting herself up to take a harder fall...

A few minutes in, she noticed something wasn't right.

"M-My, how odd..."

A drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.

I don't remember any of this at all.

Mia had completely forgotten that she'd never been a good student. Rather, she'd been born with the one trait that all politicians possess: the ability to conveniently forget things that are bad for their careers. For the record, back in Tearmoon, she'd studied up on the topics that seemed necessary for avoiding the guillotine in the future, but that was far from a comprehensive education. She didn't know nearly enough to be impressive to her classmates. Math, in particular, proved terribly challenging. As an uncommitted arts student — that is, having reluctantly chosen the arts due to an ineptitude in the sciences — the mere mention of arithmetics made her head spin.

M-M-Me and my big mouth!

Mia panicked. After all she'd said, not knowing the answer would be seriously humiliating! As soon as classes ended, she slipped out of the room before anyone had a chance to speak to her.

"Anne! Anne!" she yelled as she burst into her room.

"What's wrong, Princess Mia?" Anne wheeled around in surprise.

"Anne, starting tomorrow, you're coming with me to math class."

"What?"

Saint-Noel Academy had a policy allowing attendants to accompany their masters to class. Many students brought attendants who had excelled at their own schooling. They would then sit with their masters and help them with their studies. Anne, however, hesitated. Unlike those attendants, she wasn't well-educated. Seeing her struggle to answer, Mia took a moment to think.

"Ah, of course, if you come to class, feel free to cut down on your workload accordingly. You can clean the room once every two days, for example. I'll even help you."

"What? No! That's not okay at all! If I go, I'm still going to make sure I get all my work done as well!"

"Um, but then you can't help me study."

"Huh?"

"Uh, I mean..."

Mia trailed off, realizing she'd slipped up. Even she had a sense of pride. Anne trusted her, believed in her, and even admired her. The last thing she wanted to do was to say to Anne, "Can you go learn all the subjects I'm bad at and just teach me how to do them later?" After a long while, she finally came up with an excuse.

"I-I do believe arithmetics will come in handy for you in the future."

She wasn't wrong. Arithmetics would indeed be very useful. It was a necessary skill to do any form of business, and teachings in Saint-Noel were based on the most contemporary knowledge in the field. If Anne studied well, she'd be highly valued by all sorts of people.

"P-Princess Mia... You... For me..." said Anne, growing teary-eyed. "Thank you very much for this opportunity. I won't let you down."

"C-Certainly..." Mia stammered. Every word of Anne's earnest gratitude stabbed at her conscience. "D-Don't think anything of it. Besides, I'm also having a little trouble keeping up, so I'd appreciate a little help from you in class."

The chickenhearted Mia cracked under the weight of her own guilt. In order to make herself feel better, she slipped in a bit of her real motive at the end.

"Princess Mia..."

To Anne, though, it just sounded like nothing more than a hasty attempt at modesty. For a commoner, the thought of attending classes at Saint-Noel — not just for free, but getting paid while doing so — was absolutely unthinkable. It was an act of profound benevolence that moved her beyond words. In that moment, she was ready to devote herself to Mia for the rest of her life. Come rain or come shine, in sickness and in health, wherever Mia went, she was going to follow. Even if Mia married into a foreign kingdom, she was ready to serve her there until the very end.

She knew, however, that these were ultimately her own thoughts. There might come a day when she would resign from her role as Mia's personal maid-in-waiting. This arrangement was likely a subtle way of preparing her for that possibility, so that if she ever needed to set out on her own, she would have the knowledge and skills necessary to sustain herself.

Unless...

A second possibility occurred to Anne.

What if Mia was serious when she called Anne her right hand and confidante? And she wanted her right hand to have sufficient knowledge to support her in future endeavors? Responsibility and trust went hand in hand.

Perhaps the greater responsibilities Mia was placing on her were a sign of deepening trust. Though she knew this to be an overly optimistic interpretation...

"Trust me, Princess Mia. I will do my absolute best."

...Her motivation nonetheless went through the roof.