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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Multiplication Mishap
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*‘Play along, will you, Mr. James Brown.’*
I pleaded with my eyes.
But my heartless father suddenly pretended to cry.
“Oh, what to do? Daddy doesn’t like vegetables.”
“Huh?”
That traitor!
I had summoned all the strength from my baby days to prove that Dad hadn’t neglected his parenting duties!
“When Daddy was always being defeated by Count Broccoli, our princess would eat him up and save the day, right?”
He was even lying!
Watching my dad raise an eyebrow with a sly grin, I had no choice but to lower my trembling hand.
“Aw, come on, kiddo. You can’t actually eat broccoli, can you?”
“It’s okay, Lilis. Broccoli tastes really gross.”
“N-No! I eat broccoli just fine! It’s delicious!”
I retorted to my twin brothers.
The milk was already spilt.
In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut and shoved the broccoli into my mouth.
*Crunch.* As I bit down, I felt its crisp texture and tasted its distinct flavor.
*‘Uwaaaah! It’s disgusting!’*
But I couldn’t let on that I was forcing it down. I chewed relentlessly.
“Pfft.”
“…Goodness.”
For some reason, my aunt and grandfather were smiling.
They must have been proud of me, which was a relief.
*‘Right. A little broccoli is nothing….’*
Count Broccoli was brutally slaughtered in the mouth of a brave and well-rounded girl who didn’t have a picky bone in her body.
“Phew.”
It was my complete and utter victory.
***
After eating, my mind started working at full capacity again.
The butler, Mr. Rem, introduced me to two maids.
“These are the maids who will be looking after you, my lady. The young master will be confined… no, I mean, he will be unable to leave his office starting today. Is that alright with you?”
“Yes!”
I answered cheerfully.
Dad would naturally be busy, returning to his duties as the head of the house after a seven-year absence.
I understood, of course.
“Jeti and Jun are veteran maids who beat a 50-to-1 competition to become your personal attendants.”
“That’s right!”
A girl with a brown bob cut chimed in excitedly.
“I’m Jeti, my lady. I proudly earned my position as your personal maid by winning first place in the bathwater temperature, drawing, and snack-making tournaments. This is Jun; she’s my sister. I’m the older one.”
Wait, there were tournaments?
As I blinked, the ponytailed Jun also shot her arm up to introduce herself.
“I’m Jun! I hold the top record with 47 push-ups, 55 sit-ups, and a 3-meter standing long jump. I will serve you with all my heart, so please trust me with your care!”
Why on earth would you need that to look after a seven-year-old?
I couldn’t understand it, but I decided to just go with it and gave the sisters a polite bow.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jeti and Jun.”
“Oh, my.”
“*Sniffle.* My lady.”
Jun snatched me up in a hug, lifted me high, and sat me on her arm.
*‘Gasp! The physical fitness champion, indeed!’*
She was so slender; I had no idea where she got that monstrous strength.
“My lady, why are you so small and cute? Huh?”
“Look at her chubby cheeks… like bread dough. I feel like they’re going to melt.”
Jun and Jeti hugged me and made a huge fuss.
“Alright, alright! That’s enough, girls. Let’s keep the introductions brief. I will now inform you of the young lady’s schedule for today.”
Rem said with a warm smile.
“The master has ordered for the young lady’s education to begin today. The tutors will arrive at ten in the morning, but…”
Rem trailed off, smiling awkwardly.
He seemed to feel bad about telling me I had to study on my first full day in the capital.
But this was just what I wanted!
I replied cheerfully.
“Yes! Mr. Rem, I can study. I’m good at it. I’ll work hard.”
“Oh, my. How admirable. You’re just like the young master in his childhood…”
Lost in reminiscence again, Rem pulled a handkerchief from his inner jacket pocket, dabbed his eyes, and continued.
“Since it’s the first day, they will likely just do light introductions and not hold any difficult lessons. So please don’t worry too much. And I heard you have plans with Lady Ordia this afternoon?”
“Yes! Auntie said she’d take me and my brothers sightseeing in the capital!”
“I see! Then after your first two classes, you’ll have lunch, finish the rest of your lessons, and then…”
Rem began to quickly jot down my simple schedule in his notepad.
“You two can help the young lady get ready for her outing!”
“Yes, Head Butler!”
“Leave it to us!”
The sisters replied with determined expressions.
***
A whole retinue of teachers sent by my grandfather was assigned to me.
He probably intended to quickly acclimate me, a girl with no formal education, to aristocratic society.
*‘Now that I think about it, he probably noticed I didn’t know proper dining etiquette, didn’t he?’*
In any case, it was a good thing for me.
Even though I had read the novel, I didn’t know the detailed etiquette of high society.
However, an unexpected problem arose.
“Now, look here. There are two apples, right? And then, poof! Two more apples appear.”
The first period, social studies, was manageable…
But the second period, math.
Yes, math was where the trouble started.
“Then we have four apples, right?”
My tutor was Countess Lena.
Contrary to her stern appearance and red hair, Countess Lena was a very kind person.
“Two times two is four!”
“Woooow.”
I let out a flat, uninspired gasp.
“What if two more apples appear one more time, for a total of three times?”
Countess Lena took two more apples from the basket and placed them on the table.
“Two times three! Six!”
Leon, sitting next to me, answered instead.
Countess Lena sighed.
“Young master, you must let the young lady answer. You already know all of this.”
“That’s right, Leon. Don’t disturb Lilis’s studies. You promised to be quiet if you came to watch the lesson.”
Theo, who was reading a book nearby, maturely chided Leon.
*‘Please, disturb me all you want….’*
I swallowed a sigh and picked up my pen.
What I actually needed were liberal arts subjects like etiquette, so attending these other classes was quite an ordeal.
Twenty-five years in my past life, seven in this one. To think that at the grand old age of thirty-two, I was solving elementary school multiplication problems…
“It’s very difficult, isn’t it?”
“Yeees.”
But a normal seven-year-old was supposed to find multiplication difficult.
Countess Lena’s eyes had gone wide with surprise when I told her I had already mastered addition and subtraction…
“Then what are two times four and two times five? Would you like to try solving them? It’s okay if you get it wrong.”
“Okaay…”
“Hey, kiddo, want me to tell you?”
“Young master, no!”
“Leon, I told you not to interrupt, didn’t I?”
Amidst the chatter, I suddenly felt a sense of urgency.
*‘This isn’t what I should be doing right now.’*
I had a lot of things to do.
First of all.
*‘I have to save Chessier, and fast!’*
Chessier became our family’s adopted son in the autumn of his thirteenth year.
Considering the age difference with Dad, Chessier was now eleven, which meant he had to endure two more years of abuse at the hands of the Onyx family.
*‘That’s not happening. I have to save my Chessier!’*
I had to help.
I had to make sure Dad found Chessier sooner.
To do that…
*‘There’s someone I need to find.’*
The head of the information guild, who would become Dad’s ally a few years from now.
If I could find him early and make him my ally, not only would saving Chessier be easier, but everything that followed would be smoother as well.
*‘To meet him, I’ll have to sneak out, won’t I?’*
But for a mere seven-year-old under a guardian’s watch, there were far too many restrictions.
And all I was doing was solving math problems in a study room!
*‘Ugh! This is so frustrating! I’ve already memorized up to the 19 times table!’*
As frustration at my less-than-ideal reality bubbled up, I began to scribble furiously with my pen.
“Y-Your Ladyship?”
“Yes!”
A bewildered voice snapped me back to my senses.
I jerked my head up to see Countess Lena staring at me in shock.
“H-How did you do this?”
For some reason, her lips were trembling, and she pushed up the glasses she was wearing with a look of disbelief.
“Huh?”
What was she talking about?
“Wow, kiddo, you’re really smart, huh?”
“You solved it without even calculating?”
It was only when Leon and Theo pointed at the desk and commented that I jumped in surprise.
*‘Oh no, I was doing multiplication, wasn’t I?’*
I glanced down and saw the answer sheet I had absentmindedly scribbled on while lost in thought.
This was a disaster.
What had I done?
Countess Lena had clearly… explained the principle of multiplication and then asked me to solve only up to 2 times 5.
*‘But I ended up writing out the entire 19 times table?’*
It was a catastrophe born from the clash between my mind and my actions.
I swallowed hard and slowly raised my eyes.
I saw Countess Lena looking at me with suspicion.
*‘Wow, I’m so screwed. How do I get out of this?’*
Just two days after arriving in the capital.
The child who had been hiding her secret found herself in a tremendous crisis.
