To briefly summarize the progress, Eciel’s teachers all willingly agreed to the method proposed by Louis and suggested by her.

Their consideration for the convenience of a child excited about their first family trip was touching, but…

‘This is a disaster.’

In other words, it meant I had to somehow ensure Eciel passed all the subjects she was studying.

I swore it was impossible.

“Studying is something others can’t do for you, Eciel.”

“But you can help, right?”

“Not until the exam.”

“Who said you should take the exam for me? Just help me get to a level where I can pass.”

“And what level is that?”

“Of course, I don’t know since I don’t know what questions will be on the exam.”

“……”

“Come on, Claire. Think about it. You’re done with your portrait work, and your class schedule is pretty free. You don’t have anything else to do, right? You’ll just be staying home?”

“…… yeah.”

“You have plenty of time, and I have a lot of exams, so let’s suffer together. We’re twins, after all.”

Was that something to say here?

But Eciel was never a child who could be persuaded by logic and reason.

After the fifth attempt to persuade her failed, I decided to just wait for the day my sister would mercifully release me.

Of course, with some effort on my part.

“…… um, Miss. So, you want to attend my classes for a while to show your sincerity to Miss Eciel?”

I nodded immediately.

But Louis gently and indirectly declined.

“In my humble opinion… there might be other solutions.”

I looked at him curiously.

As far as I knew, the best way to make my sister happy was to stay with her all day.

Louis couldn’t be unaware of that.

Driven by my questioning gaze, he reluctantly began to speak again.

“… when I was young, I was educated alongside His Excellency by the grace of the late Duchess.”

A slight shadow crossed his clean and considerate face. Guilt that slightly stood out and quickly disappeared.

“Of course, it was an honor beyond my means, and I am deeply grateful… but attending classes alone with a student who could remember every detail perfectly was quite challenging. Even though no one, not even myself, expected me to be better than His Excellency.”

He suddenly fell silent.

Louis continued cautiously and moderately.

“Miss Claire’s idea is not wrong or mistaken at all. If there were no performance evaluations, I would happily follow your suggestion.”

“……”

“But any evaluation inevitably requires a certain level of memory and comprehension… and in such situations, few children wouldn’t wish for perfect memory.”

Realizing this, I finally understood why Eciel and I had different teachers, except for one.

And why even Countess Rocard, the only teacher we shared, didn’t teach us together.

The teachers had separated Eciel and me so we couldn’t directly compare each other and so we wouldn’t fully realize our <differences>.

It was a realization that came much too late.

Louis, observing my expression, added calmly.

“Since Miss Eciel is very fond of Miss Claire, wouldn’t other methods be sufficient?”

“… that seems right. Thank you for letting me know.”

I managed to find the right response.

Louis hesitated slightly, then spoke calmly in his characteristic fluent and smooth manner.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help due to my foolishness. I’ll also speak to Miss Eciel separately.”

After declining his offer and turning away, I thought about Eciel, who was the most thoroughly interpreted and annotated existence in my small, narrow world.

The small habit of swinging our clasped hands slightly while walking. The green eyes shining brightly under the sunlight. Even all the past moments that Eciel didn’t remember now.

I definitely knew her well. But that wasn’t the end of it.

‘… it’s okay. There must be another way.’

On a sweltering summer day, my mind, burdened with many complicated thoughts, sank into a damp stillness.

But it was still okay.

I hadn’t made an irreversible mistake yet.

 

* * *

 

“So, what is Eciel making Claire do now?”

“It’s not incredibly difficult, but it’s annoying enough to do. When doing assignments or extra studying, she keeps Claire beside her and asks her things instead of looking them up in the dictionary.”

“And Claire does all of that?”

Dolores’s voice was full of laughter, but Charlotte sighed deeply.

“Even knowing it’s unreasonable, why does she always comply?”

Dolores was about to suggest that it was good the children were getting along well, but seeing Charlotte’s somber expression, she changed her words.

“Are you worried that Claire is being too accommodating?”

“Yes. Always yielding and giving in is something adults do for children, not something children should do for each other.”

She wondered if she’d been subtly pressuring Claire in that way all this time…

The traces of long contemplation were evident in her words.

While silence flowed for a moment, Dolores refilled Charlotte’s almost empty teacup.

“Although it’s true that Claire takes good care of Eciel and accommodates her, she doesn’t seem to be overwhelmed by it.”

“She’s just letting her win.”

Charlotte smiled weakly.

“If she wanted to, she could make it so Eciel wouldn’t dare look her in the eye.”

“…”

“She just… finds it hard to endure any conflict with Eciel at all.”

Dolores looked slightly puzzled.

Astariol didn’t care much about whether others got angry or not, so it seemed she couldn’t understand why Charlotte thought that way.

But Charlotte couldn’t continue and lowered her gaze to her teacup.

How could she explain it?

Claire wasn’t always this submissive to Eciel. It seemed to have changed at a certain point.

When was that?

When the whole village persecuted them, Claire had no one to rely on but her and Eciel. Since then, she hadn’t been able to argue with Eciel for long…

It was a story she couldn’t share even with an old friend.

Noticing Charlotte’s distress, Dolores gently changed the subject.

“But Eciel doesn’t harass Claire with bad intentions. She’s such a bright and lively child that just going out together should cheer her up, don’t you think?”

Charlotte was aware that she was unloading her gloomy feelings on a friend she had merely invited for casual chat.

She responded with appropriate courtesy and a calm expression.

“Perhaps. It’s too hot to go far, but somewhere nearby that the children would enjoy would be good.”

“Then how about the Galamard Department Store?”

“Galamard Department Store?”

“Yes, it’s very popular these days.”

From the description, it seemed to be a store that dealt with all sorts of luxurious items.

Not to mention the pretty clothes and hats Eciel would like…

“They also have high-quality stationery that Claire might be interested in, and I heard they recently signed an exclusive contract with the magic tower, so they have quite a few rare magical items.”

Charlotte showed a bit of interest.

“The current head of the magic tower is Zoe, right? Zoe is notoriously hard to persuade. They must be quite skilled.”

“Yes, they have a good reputation and are excellent in business. If you visit, they will surely come out to greet you, so it wouldn’t hurt to get acquainted.”

It implied that it would be beneficial to build a relationship with someone like that.

There were many merchants with good reputations and financial sense, but it wasn’t common for Dolores to speak so highly of someone.

She was about to ask more when there was a knock on the door.

“Charlotte.”

Ashel.

Knowing he would come right over upon hearing her talking to Countess Rocard, Charlotte looked a bit exasperated.

Dolores smiled slightly and elegantly rose.

“I should be going now.”

“Sorry. I didn’t expect him to still be like this.”

“Really? I did.”

Although Charlotte apologized a few more times, Dolores waved it off, saying it was fine.

She was content with living a peaceful life safely after helping Tara escape from Astariol.

“… well, take care, Dolores. Sorry I can’t see you out.”

“No, it’s fine. Stay comfortable, Charlotte.”

As soon as the door opened, a pair of cold purple eyes quietly looked down at Dolores. It was a gaze that could momentarily intimidate even the bravest person.

However, Dolores flinched once and then calmly greeted him, and Ashel also silently let her go.

It helped that Charlotte beckoned him to come in quickly.

“Don’t block the way and come in and sit down. Why are you here?”

The man sitting next to her asked instead.

“Why did you call Countess Rocard?”

“You wouldn’t know since you don’t have any friends, but sometimes people invite friends over to talk about how strange their husbands are.”

“I’m well aware that you say whatever you want in front of people rather than behind their backs. Tell me what you talked about.”

Charlotte gave up and spoke frankly.

“We were just talking about the children. I’m worried because Eciel has been bothering Claire lately.”

Only then did his cold face soften a bit. He whispered gently in a softer voice.

“If you invite Countess Rocard again, please let me join you.”