Time flew by in the blink of an eye and it's finally time to send off Louie to the academy. I didn't really notice it yet it's already spring. Louie turned 13 and ready for the admission. The Arcane Academy; the sole academy in the capital of the Empire. The students consist of young nobles from prestigious families with exceptional talents. Someone like Louie is a rare occurrence but still possible.
"Take care of yourself, Louie. Send letters to sister once in a while. If you got bullied, just go to Jeremy." I hugged Louie.
"Why should I take care of him?" Jeremy stood there with disinterest.
"Oh, come on, you came all the way here. Help us out a bit, young master?"
As we arrived at the entrance before, Jeremy was already there. He said that he was just passing by. Seriously this tsundere boy, why would you pass by the entrance during admission day with all these crowds?
"I'll try not to be a burden, young master!" Louie said to Jeremy with determined look.
Scrunching his brows, he took his time before sighing, "...fine."
"Awww, what a great young master!" I ruffled his hair.
"Don't touch me!" He tried to remove my hand.
If everything goes along the plan smoothly, these two will have to spend more time in the future since Louie will work as the Leonhart's physician while Jeremy is the member of the household.
"You should get along!" I grinned at them.
After sending off Louie to the academy, I took a detour to the Bonnefort's territory.
"Lucius said that they got the ocean here. I wonder if it looks any different?"
Bonnefort is located by the shore of the continent. Hence, the ocean had been their main income as they control the transportation of goods there.
Soon enough, I could already smell the saltiness of the water and the strong breeze. The emerald green ocean glimmers under the sun and the white sand sparkles.
"Holy shit, it's green!" I ran on the sand with my bare feet.
I stared at the endless ocean in amazement. A few ships were seen sailing and disappearing towards the horizon. I was having a 'me time' until I got an unexpected company.
"Dame?" A familiar voice called from behind
I hesitantly turned. Ah, I was hoping not to see them. Stood in front of me was a red-haired young man, hand-in-hand with a beautiful young lady.
"Yes, greetings to the third son of Everglen and the sole lady of Bonnefort," I bowed to them
"What a pleasant encounter!" Arthur smiled widely.
"Indeed, though I shall make haste now."
"Too bad, then. I thought we could have a little chat." Arthur scratched his cheek while smiling sheepishly
I looked at him, sneaked a glance at his lover before bowing yet again, replying, "Apologies. I hope you will enjoy your time together. I shall excuse myself."
Arthur never failed to form his trademark smile before nodding back. "Ah, yes. Have a nice trip, dame!"
Without further ado, I strided away from the couple. Am I sad? Not really. I suppose I had done a good job at moving on. I sighed as I turned to look at them once again.
"What a beautiful pair," I muttered
There are rumours that they're getting married soon, though there are yet to be official news. Things are looking great between them, definitely a healthy relationship. At the time, they looked like a couple out of a romance novel. Arthur's arm wrapped around her shoulders as they walked by the ocean in the breezy and sunny day. That's a typical date, isn't it? Yet people always ate up to it.
"Haizz, they made me feel so single!" I scratched my head and made my way back
The trip back felt short. I was deep in my own thought as I leaned to the seat. I'm glad Lucius let us use the carriage. If I were to ride a horse now, I may fall into a swamp without noticing. As we arrived at the Leonhart's gate, the sun is about to set already.
"I'm back." I entered Lucius's office.
"Welcome back." He put down his documents.
"That's all I want to say, I'm going to my room now." I turned away again.
"…did you went to the ocean?"
Hearing the word 'ocean', I stopped on my track and anwered without turning around, "Yeah, it's beautiful."
"I'm sorry for not going with you."
"I don't mind, you're a lord anyway. There's a lot more important things to do. I'm already so happy that you gave me lots of days off."
Recently, Lucius had been super busy. I'm not sure why, I don't see any problem around our territory. Is he preparing for future plans, instead? He really shouldn't feel guilty for such a small thing as not going with me to the ocean.
"If there's nothing more, I'm going first."
Just as I was about to leave, Lucius called out again.
"….Catherine"
"Yeah?" I glanced at him
"....Never mind, I'll tell you next time"
"Uh, okay. Have a nice evening"
*What's up with him?* I thought to myself.
The Leonhart brothers sure love to stop midway when talking.
After that, I continued my usual routine of visiting the kitchen and finally retire in my room. Now that I think about it, how long should I stay here? Maybe I should live in the town after I got enough savings.