Summer Vacation – 3

One week after the final exams. The grades for all subjects except “Understanding Marriage,” which would be graded through subsequent consultations, were released. Of course, I received all A+. Even without the cheat sheets, I would have gotten decent grades with the amount of studying I did, but knowing exactly what questions would appear made it impossible to get bad grades. Still, it feels a bit strange to receive A+ here when I never got them back on Earth.

Hestia and Seol-ah were in the same boat as me. While it made sense for Hestia, I didn’t expect Seol-ah to achieve such grades.

“It’s because Lily is smart. Besides, I was originally good at studying, you know? Do you think it’s easy to join a good company right after graduation?”

That was Seol-ah’s claim. For her, a self-proclaimed top student, this level of studying was like eating cold porridge. I just nodded along with a “yeah, yeah.”

And the most surprising was Cordelia. Although she didn’t receive the overwhelming grades like the three of us, studying with us seemed to have paid off as she received quite decent grades. To be honest, I expected her to hit rock bottom, so it was unexpected.

“Oh my god! Mikhail! Hestia! Can you see?! I got an A! Unbelievable!”

Cordelia jumped up and down after checking her grades. Getting good grades is certainly a good thing, but is it worth celebrating as if she won the lottery?

“Is it really that much to celebrate?”

Hearing my muttering, Hestia whispered a response.

“Well, the Duke and Duchess were extremely worried. All the previous tutors had something to say before they left.”

“Ah.”

According to Hestia, all of Cordelia’s previous tutors had fled after being appalled by her intellectual level. Of course, Cordelia is a bit stupid. However, her stupidity is more like everyday airheadedness rather than low intelligence.

“How can people be like that?”

“I know, right? Anyway, the two of them were extremely worried that she might fail. But with grades like these…”

I understood. I guess it could be quite joyful to prove you’re not an idiot and to alleviate your parents’ concerns.

So I let Cordelia rejoice to her heart’s content, and instead started a different conversation with Hestia.

“When will the Understanding Marriage grades be released?”

“Since they said they would grade while consulting, probably after all the consultations are finished?”

Our consultation had already ended last week. I think all the consultations for students after us will be completed this week.

I recalled last week’s consultation.

“Come in and sit comfortably.”

“Yes…”

The professor had borrowed another classroom to use as a consultation room. She had even prepared simple refreshments, though I’m not sure when.

Hestia and I awkwardly sat down in the somewhat burdensome atmosphere. To be honest, I expected the consultation to be one-on-one, not with Hestia present too. After all, the exam was about writing about each other, and the consultation was based on that. Does this mean my writing about Hestia would be read aloud here?

I already felt my face burning up. I had teased Hestia before, saying I could write about her all day, but that’s different from hearing it from a third party’s mouth, which is quite embarrassing. Hestia seemed to feel the same, as her pupils trembled wildly.

“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to recite every detail in front of you two.”

As if reading our minds, the professor reassured us.

“There’s no need to be so stiff. Just for today, think of me not as a professor but as an older sister you know, and be comfortable.”

I did think that calling herself an older sister was a bit lacking in conscience, given her age, but I didn’t bring it up. Aunt might be more appropriate.

“Well, I was actually surprised. After seeing both your exam papers.”

After a moment of silence, the professor began.

“You two always showed such a good relationship. I wondered if you even needed this course. I even thought you might have signed up just to spend time together.”

We both smiled awkwardly at her words. To someone unfamiliar with our circumstances, we must have appeared that way.

“That’s why I was even more surprised. I’ve never seen such extreme exam papers.”

The professor pulled out our exam papers, which she had prepared in advance, and placed them conspicuously on the desk.

“As I mentioned earlier, I don’t intend to recite every detail in front of you. But you can roughly see with your eyes, right? The difference between your papers.”

One paper was black with densely packed writing, as if it were a cheat sheet, and in contrast, the other was nearly blank with very little written. Naturally, the black one was mine and the white one was Hestia’s.

I glanced sideways. Hestia was squeezing her school uniform skirt without lifting her head. I already knew her answer sheet would be sparse, so she didn’t need to blame herself that much.

I reached out and held her hand.

“First of all, what I felt after seeing this is that you two need to talk more.”

“Talk?”

“Of course, I’m sure you’re already talking a lot, but not just simple daily conversation. Something deeper.”

She gave examples to us, who were showing expressions of incomprehension.

“This is just an example, but… like, talking about your future career paths.”

What career paths do we have? After graduating from the Academy, I’ll return to my territory, diligently receive successor training, and eventually inherit the Grand Duke position, and Hestia will marry me.

The professor added further explanation to us, who still had expressions of incomprehension.

“No, not what you will become, that kind of problem. What do you want to do? Not your future occupation, but your dreams.”

Dreams? Come to think of it, we’ve never talked about such things. It’s not even a particularly secretive topic. After hearing the professor, I started to understand what she meant.

“Hestia’s answer sheet… I’ll talk about that a bit later, but even looking at Mikhail’s answer sheet shows it.”

The professor picked up the answer sheets and read a part of mine.

“I said I wouldn’t read everything, given what I mentioned earlier, but I asked for detailed writing, and this isn’t a detailed description of Hestia, it’s just a love letter. She is wise, she gives her best in everything, her occasional clumsy moments are cute, her jealous side is lovely…”

“P-please stop…”

Although I wrote it, hearing someone else read it is unbearable. Hestia, who was listening, seemed equally embarrassed, her face flushed as she fidgeted with her hands.

“Deep love is a good thing. There’s no need to be so embarrassed.”

But you also looked at my answer sheet with a somewhat disgusted expression at first, as if asking “what is this?”

“But since you’re embarrassed, I’ll stop reading here. Do you understand what I’m trying to say? Since Hestia wrote almost nothing, there’s no basis for judgment, but looking at Mikhail’s answer sheet, it feels a bit shallow in depth. Like lovers who haven’t been together for long?”

Well, it’s not wrong to say we’re lovers who haven’t been together for long. I was actually impressed. As expected of a professional, she had accurately seen through our relationship. In her mind, we must be engaged couples who have known each other for 10 years already, but in reality, we haven’t even known each other for half a year.

The professor is certainly right. Thinking about it, the conversations I’ve had with Hestia so far have been quite superficial. What happened today, that restaurant we went to last time was nice, the class was boring, that kind of talk.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with such conversations, but relationships without deep mutual understanding eventually go awry. After all, I often drifted apart from ambiguous friends with whom I only exchanged greetings over trivial matters.

“I’d like you two to have deeper conversations. After all, you’re going to be husband and wife?”

The consultation ended after criticizing Hestia’s answer sheet a few more times, saying there’s a problem if she can’t express herself in writing either.

After the consultation, I tried to have some serious and honest conversations as advised by the professor, but it didn’t work well. It was like hitting a wall in conversation. In the end, having to hide the most important fact about my identity made it hard for words to come out.

I put aside my thoughts and called out to Hestia. Cordelia was still happily rubbing her face against her grade report.

“Hestia, where should we go today… Hestia?”

Hestia was lost in thought. Since that consultation, she occasionally showed this kind of appearance, as if deeply troubled.

She soon made up her mind, clenched her fist, then took something out from her bosom and handed it to me.

What’s this? A letter envelope?

“Mikhail. We agreed to write letters last time, remember? Here.”

“Ah.”

“I actually finished it quite a while ago, but when it came to giving it to you, I felt a bit embarrassed. I’ve been agonizing over it and am finally giving it to you.”

So that’s why she’s been absent-minded for the past few days. I looked at the letter envelope in my hand. The bright red sealing wax had the Gracia family symbol, a shining halo angel, engraved on it.

“Did you forget…?”

“No! I didn’t forget.”

Hestia cautiously asked, probably seeing my blank expression. I hadn’t exactly forgotten, but since she hadn’t mentioned it, I thought it had been dropped. Of course, I denied it with a wave of my hands. At least I hadn’t forgotten.

“Then can I look forward to a letter?”

Hestia’s expression brightened at my response. I need to rush and write a letter, putting everything else aside.

“Huh? Oh. Of course! But I didn’t expect to receive one first, so I’ll have to erase everything and rewrite my reply from scratch…”

“No need. I didn’t write it expecting a reply. I just wrote down things I wanted to say without much order… I want to see what Mikhail wants to say to me, regardless of the content of my letter.”

My trick to extend the deadline failed.

“R-really? Then I’ll bring it to you tomorrow. I was wondering when to talk about it.”

In the end, I couldn’t resist Hestia’s expectant gaze. They say the mouth is the door to disaster, and that’s exactly right. I’ll have to pull an all-nighter, but something should come out. I resolved to stay up all night.

Now that I’ve decided to stay up all night, I also became curious about the content of her letter.

“Ah, can I read this now?”

“No! You must read it in your room.”

“I’m curious.”

“Absolutely! You absolutely must not read it outside.”

At my question, Hestia literally jumped up and down, making a fuss.

“If you read this in front of others, you shouldn’t expect to see my face for a while.”

“Alright, alright.”

I don’t lack manners to the point of opening the letter when she’s being this adamant.

“Can you give me a hint about what you wrote…?”

“Go and see for yourself.”

Hestia’s will was firm. Completely unyielding.