Much to Ingrid's amusement, her family had hired a tutor for her in preparation for the upcoming entrance exam. It was unknown whether what kind of person would be teaching her but she decided not to ask her mother about these changes. Although, her family knew that she could read, write and could do basic math, she still wanted to learn about this world's history and having a private tutor would help that. Be that as it may, if she wanted to, she could read tons of books in the mansion's library anyway so that they won't waste their money.
Ingrid was just too lazy to search for those books and preferred if somebody would spoonfeed them to her.
The entrance exam for the academy was need everytime you have to enter higher education. In return these tests would increase in difficulty the farther you go to make sure the people who desired to enter Académie Royale would be the best of the bests.
Personally, the silver-haired girl wanted to think of this entrance exam as a way to boast between prominent families. Ingrid could not really blame them considering if her own child had gained a high score from the exam, she would also brag about it. Still, in a different point of view, the test was just pure nonsense and those who failed the examination could still enter the academy. On the other hand, it would cost them more since getting a low ranking in the exam would require them to pay more money than the child who had gotten a high score in the exam.
"My mother also hired a tutor for me." The girl beside her remarke a little irritated. "You know, I only want to go to Acre as my birthday present, Ingrid. Mother promised me that if I obediently listened and learned to that tutor, she would take me there."
"If I could learn extra, why wouldn't I?" Ingrid gave her companion a disinterested glance before she continued to flip the pages of her book.
The girl sitting beside her was named Elizabeth Bellay and from all of the children introduced to her by her family, this was the only girl she had a tolerance for. The child was neither loud nor obnoxious and she prefers to tell her thought calmly rather that shouting at the top of her lungs. The only thing that irks her was the large blue bow on her blond head. Other than that she acts quite mature for her age. Ingrid thought this might be because children from rich families had a different upbringing from children of normal families.
Elizabeth's mother and Alicia were long time friends and it was no wonder that they would introduce both of their children to each other. From what she could gather, they had known one another when they were in high school.
Other people would think they were just introducing two little brats to each other but she had an inkling they both planned to make her and the blonde companions from then on. It was hard to find a person who would be loyal to you in this society where people would eat each other alive. Alicia's plan was a precaution for the future, her sixth sense was truly topnotch.
The Bellay Family and Astor Family also assisted each other in business matters so it was no wonder Elizabeth could visit her. Because of this they decided to meet from time to time and the two children would spend their time at the garden under the shade of a large tree. They would talk about things they've recently done or something that caught their interests. From then on, Ingrid did not realize but they have gotten along really well.
Elizabeth only hummed as a reply as she leaned closer to her making her pony-tailed hair sway.
After a moment of silence, the girl beside her seemed to realize that she doesn't have any plans to start the conversation again so she directed Ingrid an inquisitive gaze. "You do know that tutors do not only teach things like reading, writing, etcetera, right? They also teach you additional things if your parents instructed them to, like language lessons and maybe if you're incredibly unlucky advance lessons in different subjects."
Ingrid's lilac eyes which were reading the contents of the novel she was holding paused for a moment, she continued and deadpanned, "It doesn't really matter, does it?" The hand flipping the pages of her book brushed the stray hairs in front of her face. "Learning more and learning less doesn't really make a difference. Both would take up large amounts of your time."
The blonde girl beside her winced for a moment as she sighed and lamented, "If possible I would like to try and paint since my cousin from overseas inspired me to."
Ingrid only raised her eyebrow and did not react. Eventually she heard an aggravated sigh from the other party. She did not comment since she could not really give an advice. Even in this world, artistic people were underrated and as much as possible she would like Elizabeth to firmly decide on what she wanted. They were both children and any of her unsolicited comments would cause a great impact on Elizabeth's decision about her career in the future. She doesn't want to influence the child, rather Ingrid wanted her to make her own decisions.
The blonde haired girl would not get poor in any case. She came from a wealthy family anyway; she could sell her artistic art pieces for a high price since she was well-known.
After a while, she indifferently closed the book she was holding. Ingrid then realized a small problem if she was to attend school.
She has to deal with a bunch of children.
A sigh escaped her lips as she supported her chin with her hand. She needed to deal with the brats in the future anyway it would be better if she would deal with them now. On the contrary, some of them couldn't be really called brats since they pretty much have learned etiquette and learned to tone down their childishness. It was a pity that they needed to postpone their childhood; however, it was their misfortune they were born in filthy rich families.
"Anyway, Ing." Ingrid winced at her nickname as Elizabeth purposely ignored her. "Did you find those things that I told you yesterday?"
"Yes, well, it was less scary than what you thought it was," Ingrid popped a few cookies inside her mouth and found out that they were too sweet for her tastes. "It's nothing you should worry about."
The blonde girl only rolled her eyes and expressed in disbelief, "You are the only person my age who did not get scared when I told them the story, well," Elizabeth also tried some pastries and found them delicious as she took the whole plate and placed it near her. "Of course some of the boys I've told the story to pretended to be cool and told me they've seen your mom before and she's nothing scary."
"Elizabeth, you meet her every day. You tell me if she scares you or not."
The blonde scoffed and appeared to be a little uneasy. "That's different! She doesn't have her guns with her during those times!" Elizabeth accidentally pushed Ingrid's book on the corner of the table. She scrambled to take it from the ground and looked at the girl as if caught red-handed.
Ingrid only rolled her eyes as she pried off her book from the latter's hand and blew off the dust on the cover. The girl examined if there were any destroyed parts and calmly placed the book on the table again after finding none. "I will gun you down if you drop my book like that again."
"I'm sorry." The blonde apologized between bites as she ate more pastries.
The silver-haired girl pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled trying to calm herself. Yesterday, Elizabeth curiously asked her if her mother had a collection of guns and then proceeded to tell mother might have killed people already — she could not remember how their conversation escalated to that. Anyway, the blonde's father told her that Ingrid's maternal family was a force to be reckoned with and reprimanded her that she should not do anything ridiculous to offend them if she sees them.
Ingrid remained unaffected by the gossip and lazily glanced at the child beside her. Alicia indeed had a collection, which was obviously influenced from her family. Her mother came from a military family and even if it was not evident when you looked at her, you'll know that it was indeed true if you see her handle a couple of deadly weapons.
She had once stumbled inside her mom's gun collection room when she was three-years-old and had known about it ever since. She did not find anything weird about it though and thought that it was pretty normal. On the other hand, it was the first time she saw a real gun in both her past and current life. She even held one when her uncle on the maternal side of the family gave her a gun on a whim which in turn earned the ire of Alicia.
Ingrid did not see that uncle ever since.
"You should go back now or your mother might worry." The silver-haired girl held the book by its spine a little irritated that her book had fallen earlier.
Elizabeth noticed her mood and stuck out her tongue. "I already said sorry, Ing. Why are you so grumpy?"
"Your apology won't fix what happened," she deadpanned and tucked her hair behind her ear. Ingrid's eyes shone under the sum and gave the blonde a reprimanding glare. She walked back to the mansion with light steps carrying the book with her.
"Nothing even happened to your precious book! Don't be too unreasonable, Ingrid. Will you really prioritize that book over your friend?" Elizabeth felt aggravated and defended herself. She eventually stood up and followed the Astor when she realized she was getting left behind.
"Yes."
Elizabeth's face contained disbelief and planned to prove to Ingrid her worth the next time they meet.
• • •
Ingrid felt an incoming headache as she drank her morning tea while browsing the newspaper. She preferred having something to read than having a phone on hand. She doesn't need those anyways given that she's still a child and having one might distract her. The tea spilled when her hand became unstable. She closed her eyes in irritation and tried to clean the mess.
The maid that was attending her, Charlotte if she remembered it right, quickly supported her as she carefully distanced the news paper on the table. The maid wiped the spill in one swift motion and placed the news paper back to its original position.
"Young lady, it would be best if you rest for awhile and inform your current state to the Mistress." Charlotte stiffly stood by her side as she readied herself for any emergencies.
Ingrid waved her concerns off as she continued to read the morning paper, a hand supporting her hot forehead. "There's nothing to worry about, it's just a cold."
Charlotte didn't know if she should laugh or cry at her current predicament. Unbelievably, it was her first time experiencing this moment and given that she was transferred from household to household already. Ingrid Astor acts as if she was far beyond her age and she often talks maturely. The maid did not know what she should do and from the looks of it, the child indeed looks fine albeit a little pale. And a little sickly.
Now that she thought about it, the young lady was a little hot when she supported her.
It seems she indeed needs to report it to her masters or she would lose her job.
The maid did not dilly dally and had called a maid outside for a moment when Ingrid was distracted. Charlotte told her co-worker what happened and added that they needed to hurry since anything might happen. Relief flooded inside her when she finally saw Alicia and Ralph Astor brisk walking down the hallway as if their life depended on it.
Ingrid, on the other hand, had no idea what was about to go down. She comfortably sat inside her room while drinking her tea. It was after she heard footsteps coming from the hallway did she turn her head to look at what was happening. Realization hit her and she realized her maid had already told them that she was sick. A little disgruntled, she tried to stand up and greet her parents and failed.
Her vision blacked out and she lost consciousness.
• • •
Alicia could not stay still as she paced back and forth inside her daughter's room. The woman could not calm herself down every time the thought that something bad would happen to her daughter. They already called a doctor earlier to check out her condition. Currently, Ralph and her were waiting for the physician's findings.
Unlike Alicia, Ralph's face was still stoic, nevertheless you could see the worry in his gray eyes as he observed Ingrid which was lying on her bed. He had postponed her daughter's schedule for the whole day which included the tutorship which had been going for months now and her weekly meet-up with the daughter of the Bellay family, Elizabeth.
The doctor was calm and collected as he stood up from his sit to talk to the two parents. "There's nothing to worry about, it's only fever. However, it's because she's not that healthy. The child's more prone to sickness and viruses than her peers as a result. You should try to serve her healthier food and you should make her eat less oily food."
The Astor couple remembered how their daughter usually spends her day. She would usually hole herself up inside her room and would only go out when she was called to eat or when about to meet her friend in the garden. They never really thought that it would affect Ingrid this much since their daughter never made them worry, causing them to have a certain confidence in her.
Alicia's forehead was wrinkled as she held the handkerchief on her hand much tighter. "Do you have any suggestions on what she should do?"
The doctor gathered his things and thought for a moment. "You should make her go outside more, let her bathe under the sunlight between 7am to 9am. Additionally, if you can, try to make her move or exercise her muscles but not too much since she is still young and it might affect her growth."
The couple briefly thanked the physician before they called Claud to accompany him to the gates.
Ralph held her wife's hand tightly as he tried to comfort the red-haired woman. His eyes seemed to waver and he guided her to the only seat inside the room. The man was lost in his thoughts as his gaze landed on the pale visage of his daughter. In truth, he was worried about his daughter and tried to think of ways absolve himself of this problem.
"I will do it, " Alicia suddenly said as she stared at his husband's gray eyes with determination. "I will try to teach our daughter the things I learned when I was child."
"Are you sure? You told me before that if possible you wanted her to distance herself from military life." Ralph placed his hands on Alicia's shoulder as he kneeled in front of her to observe her face.
Alicia bitterly smiled as she shook her head. "The situation called for it, of course I would." She gently caressed her daughters hand and glanced at her husband. "It would just be the basics so she wouldn't be as sick as like now. If she wants to continue then I won't stop her and would be more than happy to teach her what I know."
Alicia had undergone a strict regimen as a kid, however it was not as strict as her brothers who after they turned 18, entered the military school to train. When she grew up she realized she had missed out on many things that a child would normally experience. Nevertheless, she was still thankful for her father given that she knew now knew how to defend herself.
She was in primary school when she trained physically and was taught how to hold and use guns. Eventually she gained fondness for them and started a collection to entertain herself.
Suddenly, there was movement on the bed. Ingrid slowly opened her eyes, confusion evident on her face. She saw her parents gazing at her worriedly. She could not help but wince in pain as she tried to lift herself to sit on the bed. Her hair was disheveled and the only thing she remembered was seeing her mother as well as her father abruptly enter her room after that she lost consciousness.
Alicia heaved a sigh of relief as she helped her daughter sit. Her little body felt hot even with the clothes she was wearing. Unexpectedly, after Ingrid woke up, she lost consciousness again. Alicia and Ralph did not know what to do as they called the maids and butler outside.