"Cherry, wait wait. Why are you pulling me? I still haven't finished eating my steak!"
Charlotte just ignored him and diligently pulled him away from the dining hall to the living room.
All the way, Jeref continued complaining about not being able to finish his steak as he cried with imaginary tears. But she didn't even give a glance at him.
After getting to the living room, Charlotte finally let go of him and sat on a couch with a sigh.
Finally got away from there~
"Cherry....you made me give up on my steak so you should take responsibility! You must tell me what gift you have prepared for me for my blessing ceremony! Or else I will never talk to you, hmph!" Jeref sulked as he sat down besides her with a face full of grievance, though his eyes were shining craftily.
Ugh, why was he so bent on this matter?
And what did he mean 'take responsibility'? Just missing out on a steak is no big deal so why must she? Was food so important?!
Well....it sure is. Can't deny...
Besides, the one who would come to talk to me after a while would still be he, himself.
"Fine fine. Just put away that face from me. (murmur) I can't stand that cute puppy face. Why is he so good looking even as a kid?" Charlotte avoided his eyes and replied with a sigh.
"Yes!" Jeref made a gut pose with a victorious smile while Charlotte wasn't looking at him.
When she turned to look at him with doubtful eyes, he quickly changed his face and smiled very brightly.
"My Cherry is the best! Now tell me quick, what did you prepare for my blessing ceremony?"
He widened his eyes filled with curiosity as he stared at her without even blinking his eyes.
Charlotte felt her lips twitch a little as she just wanted to disown this brother of hers for using cutesy to attack her. Not fair!
The blessing ceremony that Jeref was talking about was a ceremony held once every year where the children, from nobles to commoners, who have reached the age of 10 can participate in a test conducted by the magician group to measure their magic attributes and affinity to mana.
The test was very simple. One has to only put his hands on a spherical crystal then try to inject their mana inside them to the crystal. The crystal will then show the results and will be recorded.
If a genius came from a commoner family, they would either get recruited by the magician group or get adopted by some rich families through different means. After all, producing a genius in magic was very hard even once in 10 years. So they were treated specially even if they were commoners or nobles.
As for the nobles side, whichever family produced a genius would have their status lifted and could make their oppositions grit their teeth in jealousy and envy.
The test sites for the commoners and nobles were different.
This blessing ceremony wasn't only done in the capital city but throughout the whole country. In each part of the country, a team of magicians and knights would be sent out to conduct the test so that no one will be left out.
This way, they could find more good seedlings to nurture for the country and get enough manpower. This also gave a chance for the commoners to get a good job and not be suppressed by the nobles. It all depended upon their own abilities and luck.
Thus the Neil kingdom was less discriminative of status, gender and races. What they prioritised was talent that could help the country.
Of course they had to at least be aware of their status and stay bound by the rules since it was a feudal society.
The nobility had to act like a nobility and commoners had to act like a commoner. Both of them were very important for the country so none could be excluded.
The nobles in the capital held the blessing ceremony inside the palace cathedral where all rites and rituals were done.
In the capital, there was a tradition where the family members of the children who were participating in the blessing ceremony would prepare a gift for them to encourage them for their future.
It was a tradition passed on since the foundation of the kingdom. It was said to be started by the 1st queen who loved her only son dearly and prepared many gifts for his blessing ceremony. After that, many others followed her actions and this tradition came to existence.
That's why, she was being pestered by her puppy faced brother whom she sometimes wanted to just not acknowledge him as her big brother.
"It is nothing special. Just a painting made by me. As for the details, I won't say it even if you threaten me with your puppy face." Charlotte picked a book from the bookshelf at the side as she spoke calmly.
"A painting? One of your own works?! Such a generous gift?? Cherry, I knew you loved me the most!!" After hearing that it was going to be a painting made by his sister, Jeref beamed from ear to ear as he pounced to hug her tightly.
"Oof! Tight...too tight! Brother...I can't breathe!" Charlotte tapped his shoulder as she squirmed around to get out of his bear hug.
"Ah! Oh, sorry! Cherry, are you alright?" Jeref quickly let go of her after seeing her face turn red from lack of oxygen and asked worriedly.
God, I want to disown this brother of mine! Otherwise, I might die in his hands before the story plot could even start!
Charlotte really wanted to cry but had no tears for having such a big brother.
Everytime she would feel like beating him up into a pulp but then thinking of how he was just an innocent kid right now along with his cute puppy eyes, she really couldn't do anything and just swallowed the words stuck in her throat.
Sigh, forget it. As an adult, she would endure it.
A certain someone completely forgot that she herself was also a kid physically.
....
It was afternoon already.
As the daughter of a nobility, she had to take many lessons from a young age.
Physics, geography, politics, history, etiquette, sword mastery, archery, maths, accounting, etc etc. Everything was taught to her with a tightly followed routine.
But it was also fine this way. There was no wifi, no Internet, no mobile phones and computers so she took these classes as a way to relieve her boredom.
On top of that, she was someone who had gone to a top university through scholarship in the 21st century. The subjects were much harder than the ones she had to learn here so she could understand and remember the contents faster.
This led her to being called a child prodigy by her teachers which made her face burn with shame.
It couldn't be helped either. A 6 years old child being able to discuss about the current political situation with her teacher without being left out....other than those great minds from the white peony family who were taught very strictly and had it in their genes, no one else could compare to her.
At that time, she had the concept that children her age already knew such things because her mother would always tell her how her maternal family produced child prodigies with great intelligence and that these were all normal. Even her father agreed to her words so she thought it was really normal.
But then she realised that only her parents were the abnormal ones!
Since she had already let the cat out of the bag, she just accepted her fate and let it be.
She just didn't expect this to be known by everyone in the capital. Even her hobby of painting was known because of her traitorous family who sold her out everytime in a party. (They just couldn't help but boast about their precious Cherry to others.)
As for sword mastery and archery, maybe it was because of the Schneider bloodline, she had a talent for them. Magic and swords coexisted in their bloodline so what mattered was only hard work.
Today was the turn for sword class. And also the day that she really wished wouldn't come again.
Because, she would have two additional fellow students to learn with.
The troublesome siblings from the Marquise Brennan's family,
Elias Brennan and Ellie Brennan.