Summer Vacation – 2

The final exams approached in the blink of an eye. While some students were partying with the intention of just getting their diplomas, most were seriously preparing for the exams.

Even Cordelia showed a serious dedication to studying with exams right around the corner.

Of course, I was a bit casual since I had separately obtained cheat sheets. The scores I had secured during the midterms could cover for me to some extent unless I really messed up.

Cheating, you say? Even cheat sheets are a skill. When I heard this from a popular classmate before, I really wanted to punch him, but now that I have them in my hands, my feelings have changed.

“Mikhail, have you heard anything about the Understanding Marriage exam?”

Hestia, who was diligently preparing for the exam beside me, suddenly asked.

When the final exam period arrived, even subjects that had been replaced with practical sessions during midterms were now having exams for grade evaluation. Among the classes I was taking, “Understanding Marriage” fell into this category.

This course, as if wanting to flaunt its uniqueness until the end, absolutely refused to disclose the exam content until right before the test. Even if we had known, given the nature of the subject, there probably wouldn’t have been anything specific to study, but there’s still a big difference between knowing the content in advance and not knowing, isn’t there?

“I don’t know either. Originally, you’re the one who suggested we take this class together.”

“Please forget about that…”

I remember when I first met Hestia. It feels like it was such a long time ago, but in terms of dates, it hasn’t even been half a year yet.

At my words, Hestia blushed as if embarrassed.

“Why are you embarrassed? We ended up attending the class well. The content was better than expected too.”

Despite my first impression of wondering how such a subject could exist, I was actually quite satisfied with the class itself. It wasn’t about cutting corners or anything, but genuinely about the essence of the course: improving relationships between men and women.

While there weren’t particularly any issues to improve between Hestia and me, it wasn’t perfect either. When we really talked, laughed, and spent time as the professor instructed, I felt a slight progression in my relationship with Hestia.

“Of course, I liked the class itself too. But that’s a different issue. It’s just that when I recall what I said or did back then, I feel somewhat embarrassed…”

I couldn’t understand, but she truly seemed embarrassed, twisting her body uncomfortably. Does she consider it a dark history?

“Anyway, you don’t know, right?”

“No. I heard they give different content every time? Last year, they say, they had students write letters about what they wanted to say to each other.”

“Letters? What’s that?”

“Exactly.”

Hestia had a bewildered expression. I was also dumbfounded when I first heard it. What kind of exam is replaced by letter writing? And how would they grade it?

Of course, this information also came from Cicero. He told me about last year’s exam content, mentioning that the exams always change so there aren’t any cheat sheets.

“Hmm, if we’re asked to write a letter, what should I write?”

“Just write what you want to say. Are you asking what you should write to get a good score?”

“Even I wouldn’t think about such things while writing a letter, you know?”

She looked at me with an incredulous expression. I felt awkward and cleared my throat.

“Ahem, I didn’t mean it that way… Sorry.”

“I just wonder what I’d want to convey through a letter to someone I see and talk to every day.”

As she said, even I wouldn’t know what to write if asked to pen a letter to Hestia. It’s actually harder because we see each other daily.

Just writing about what happened or saying I like her are things I said yesterday, am saying today, and will probably say tomorrow.

What could be said in writing that can’t be said verbally? I racked my brain but couldn’t come up with an answer.

“Oh, things that are hard to say verbally? Some things that might be a bit embarrassing or uncomfortable to say directly might be easier to express in writing.”

“Things hard to say verbally…”

What finally came out of my mouth were obvious and generic words. That’s easy to say.

However, Hestia seemed to have realized something from my words, as she fell into thought and began muttering about things hard to express verbally.

“Um, Hestia…?”

“I’ve decided!”

She suddenly stood up and grabbed my shoulders.

“After the exams, let’s write letters.”

“Letters? Suddenly?”

I was a bit taken aback. Why this sudden fixation on letters?

“Don’t you have things you want to tell me but couldn’t?”

To be honest, I don’t think I do. But looking at Hestia’s sparkling blue eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to say so. I ended up nodding shakily.

Who knows, maybe when I sit in front of a letter paper, I’ll think of things I’ve wanted to say but couldn’t.

Hestia was overjoyed seeing my affirmative signal.

“Right? So let’s try writing letters.”

“…What do you want to say so badly?”

I started to feel afraid seeing her so eager to write a letter. What if the letter is filled with things she was disappointed about or disliked about me? That would hurt.

She pressed her lips together at my question and shook her head.

“It’s a secret. If I tell you now, it won’t be fun.”

“You’re not planning to criticize me, are you?”

“Who knows.”

Hestia gave a mischievous smile at my probing question.

You’re not, right?

“It feels like it’s been such a long time since we entered this classroom.”

“Because we always played outside.”

“‘Played’ is a bit…”

“Honestly, we did play.”

The “Understanding Marriage” exam was to be held in the classroom. As Hestia said, it had been quite a while since we entered this classroom. Usually, we had activities outside for practical training. We’d go out and explore the streets together, have picnics, or play games you’d see on variety shows. We truly just played.

Even Hestia couldn’t deny that we’d been playing, so she changed the topic of conversation.

“How were the other exams?”

“So-so? I think I did okay.”

Writing exams are invincible. Cheat sheets are godly.

Surprisingly, every class except Basic Swordsmanship had questions from the cheat sheets I had received in advance. While I happily solved the problems humming a tune, I was also a bit concerned. Is it okay for an institution claiming to be the Empire’s top educational facility to set questions with so little effort? Some subjects even had identical questions from the previous year, down to the very punctuation.

Basic Swordsmanship was the same as the midterms: a duel with a designated opponent. This time, I was paired with Helford again. After the incident last time, they seemed to have held a grudge, as they conducted a thorough inspection before starting. Basic body searches were just the beginning; they even had students open their mouths to check under their tongues. The assistants who had to touch each student’s tongue to check for suspicious objects had the worst time.

Especially Cordelia’s opponent. They searched so thoroughly it was as if they were about to strip him naked. When they ran their fingers under his tongue, even Cordelia, his opponent, was horrified.

“Under the tongue? That’s a bit much.”

Hestia grimaced upon hearing my story.

“Everyone, are you all here?”

In the middle of our conversation, the professor entered. She stood in front of the lectern and began counting the students one by one.

“Good, everyone’s here. It feels like it’s been a very long time since we met in the classroom. Ah, please move that desk a bit further away. Yes, that’s good.”

The student who had been pointed out moved the desk with a clatter. The professor smiled with satisfaction and began explaining the exam.

“I’m sure quite a few of you are dissatisfied that I didn’t disclose the exam content until right before the test. But I hope you understand that it was unavoidable. What I’ve prepared this time would lose its meaning if you knew in advance.”

She approached the students and began distributing blank white papers. Hestia and I each received one. The professor, who had already finished distributing the papers to all of us sitting with bewildered expressions, declared:

“The exam for our course, in keeping with the original purpose of the subject, is this: Please write in as much detail as possible about your partner on the blank paper in front of you. Grading will be done based on these exams during a subsequent consultation with each of you.”

After her words, a strange silence fell over the classroom. Everyone unconsciously made eye contact with their partners. Hestia and I also locked eyes.

Write in detail about Hestia?

“Those who finish early can submit to me and leave. I don’t think this is a difficult exam if you’ve diligently followed the class throughout this semester. Now, everyone, please begin.”

That comment is truly a macro. Even professors in this other world say it.

Write in detail about your partner. I wrote the professor’s declared problem in large letters at the top of my blank paper.

About Hestia. I twirled the pen in my hand a few times, then began writing the first sentence without hesitation.

Hestia von Gracia is beautiful. She is intelligent, diligent, considerate, has a pretty eye-smile, and her hair is like silk.

I wrote a lavish ode to her without any blockages.

I was a bit flustered right after hearing the problem, but come to think of it, isn’t this completely my specialty? To be honest, I could write about her all day.

What does it matter if it’s a bit subjective? Who’s going to stop me from praising my fiancée?

Ten minutes later, I proudly submitted my test paper, dense with writing on both sides. Gold medal. I was the fastest.

The professor looked at my test paper dense with writing on both sides, glanced at the content, and then looked at me with a somewhat disgusted expression. But I didn’t care at all.

Now I’ll just wait for Hestia to come out and we can go together. Since we were told to submit and leave after finishing, shouldn’t she be out soon? I began waiting endlessly in front of the classroom door.

But she didn’t come out after 10 minutes, not after 20 minutes, not even after all the other students had left.

She finished the exam and came out only after the allotted test time was over.

“Mikhail…”

Hestia, who came out of the classroom with the professor, was sobbing.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, why are you sorry?”

Hestia rushed to me. I patted her shoulder.

She sniffled in my arms. I was about to help her blow her nose, but I decided it was better to just stay still.

After a while, Hestia seemed to have calmed down a bit, and she explained why she had come out so late, still sniffling.

“When I tried to write about Mikhail, the pen wouldn’t move at all.”

“Why were you crying?”

“I just felt sorry. I realized I don’t know anything about Mikhail.”

“Why is that your fault? It’s my fault for not telling you anything.”

I gently held Hestia’s hand. Her hand was trembling slightly.

“Well, it’s a bit awkward for me to say this, but we’ve only been in a proper relationship for not even 3 months. This is just the beginning. We’ll be together during the vacation too, right? We can get to know each other slowly. Why are you crying over something like that?”

Her hand trembling gradually stopped, as if my earnest comfort had eased her mind a bit.

“Turn around for a moment, please.”

I obediently turned around. She probably didn’t want to show her face, which was a mess from crying.

After a while, she took several deep breaths.

“You can look now.”

Although her eyes were a bit red, she looked quite fine.

“Feeling better?”

“Phew. Thanks for comforting me. Should I call this comfort?”

“Let’s call it vacation planning.”

Her emotions had certainly settled a bit, as she smiled slightly at my words.

“You know what? Do you know what the first sentence I barely managed to write after 10 minutes was?”

“What was it?”

“Mikhail von Sirius is handsome.”

“What a coincidence. Same here. Hestia von Gracia is beautiful.”

At my words, she, like the professor, made a slightly disgusted expression.

“Why that face?”

“No, it’s just that thinking that was the first sentence of such a long content makes me feel a bit weird. What on earth did you write?”

“She is intelligent, diligent, considerate, has a pretty eye-smile, her hair flows beautifully, she’s wise…”

“Stop! Stop! Please stop!”

Hestia covered her ears and collapsed.