ReThree: sisterhood

I turned back to Aldous in anger. When our eyes met, he grined at me that drove me crazy.

'Dammit! Now that I've met an angel, you messed things up for me? Let's get back home; you'll pay for this.'

"By the way, are you the same family that donates here weekly?" Edward asked with something in his mind.

"Wow, what a thoughtful person. Is there really someone like this?" 

"That's right. And as Courier mentioned, you are from the Stewart family." 

We turned towards mother, who was getting closer to us. Finally, she reached and stood in front of us. Ed and Leo bowed their heads in respect. 

"It's an honor to see you, Countess Bazz," Ed said. 

"Oh, this is quite a formal greeting. As you know, our family has fallen for a long time. You can speak freely." 

Then she bowed in front of them and held her skirt in her hands. 

"Greetings to the two young lords from the Duke Stewart family." 

Upon realizing their status, Aldous and I both bowed, too. 

"Oh, please feel comfortable in front of us." Edward, blocking our bowing gesture with his hand, said hurriedly. 

Mother straightened up with a smile and said,

 "When I was in school, I was classmates with your mother. But we didn't develop a deep connection. It seems that Sarah has raised some well behaved children." 

Then, saddened, she placed her hand under her chin and looked at us. 

"Unlike me." 

"Mom!" Aldous shouted in frustration. 

Mom laughed loudly. 

"Of course, it's not my fault; it's because of their father's genes." 

This time, Edward chuckled softly. Although Leo was still staring at Mom with droopy eyes and a half-open mouth. I also gave a small smile, mostly out of frustration to Aldous. 

"To say the truth, I thought of this just now when I saw you two. I want to host a party in the future and invite my classmates as much as I can. Of course, your mother isn't with you now, but I wanted to talk to her about this." 

"My parents are completely against me becoming a servant, which is why they didn't come," Edward said with a sad smile. 

"Oh... it seems you've had a bitter time." 

"No, my parents have never mistreated me. They are just disappointed at me." 

A silence settled for a moment. 

"... " 

"... But it seems your intention must have been out of a pure heart. Wanting to be a servant with your status and wealth, especially in such an isolated place, is quite astonishing." 

"That's kind of you," Ed replied with a smile. 

And I also gave a smile back to Leo. 

'He's so composed, intelligent, polite, and kind. Just like my Arina.' 

Mom looked out the window. 

"It's getting dark. We should start heading home." 

My mom gave a slight bow again,

 "It was an honor to meet you. Please send my regards to your mother." 

"I'll pass on your regards," Edward said. 

I glared at Leo. 

'Why do you keep putting all conversations on your younger brother?' 

But he turned away from me and, scratching his neck, looked outside. 

*** 

The sound of shoes and the rhythm of footsteps echoed in the sports hall, breaking the silence. 

"Run faster! Aren't you guys are after all the nobles of our Kingdom." 

The kids had no energy left to run and were struggling to jog around the hall. I was running a few meters behind them. You might be wondering how I fell this far behind. I should mention that I'm actually three laps ahead of them. Even if I fell behind, no one would care. But running is necessary to burn off energy. I overtook the rest and reached Nuka. 

"Damn it! How do you run so fast and still look so fresh?" 

I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my warm-up suit's sleeve. 

"You guys are weak. I'm just a normal, healthy girl." 

The sound of the sport teacher's shout made me twitch. 

"Have you paid attention to the brooch on your uniform? It depicts a hawk. It's the symbol of this great noble school..."

Our school uniform for girls is a blazer and skirt, and for boys, it's a dark blue suit. Each blazer was equipped with two black button pins. All trousers had a single pocket watch made of gold. Of course, Aldous and I didn't have one because we didn't pay for it. Apart from the pocket watch thing, the collars of the blazers were quite strange. They had a boat neck collar where the folded parts on each side were shaped like three sharp triangles. There was a brooch of a golden bird on the collar. 

For others, it was made of gold, and for those of us considered poor, it was relatively silver. The bird's eyes were adorned with yellow gemstones, and there was a chain connecting it to the edge of the collar. We wore a white shirt under the blazer. Overall, our uniform was something classy and unique.

"The hawk is the fastest bird in the world. It is also the native bird of our land. You all should be like the hawk—fast and agile—and fight for your homeland against enemies."

"Why is he talking nonsense?" I asked with a furrowed brow.

The PE teacher was a muscular man about 190 cm ( 6.2 ft ) tall. He was wearing a black T-shirt with tight-fitting pants similar to leggings. The tanned skin of his face didn't match the white skin of his neck, indicating how much the sun had burned him. His thick, black eyebrows extended down to his upper eyelids, and his brown eyes were sternly fixed on the person in front of him.

"Today is an important day for you, the new generation. Today you will find out who your sponsor is. I'm sure you're all excited."

Strangely enough, no one seemed excited about it. I can say with confidence that this was the first time I was more enthusiastic than any other person in the class.

"This is your last lap. Be quick."

Everyone somehow increase their pace, even Resita, who was lagging behind and couldn't move forward. Finally, we all made it to the red line.

The couch looked at us with a scowl.

"You all performed poorly. Only Diana was one round ahead of all of you."

"But what about Angela? She was three laps ahead of everyone!" Nuka shouted in surprise.

Everyone looked at Nuka, bewildered.

"Who's Angela?" Diana asked, confused.

"Huh? Angela? Wasn't she behind me?" Resita said.

"She was behind you? What are you saying..." I interrupted him with a gesture. The coach glanced at nuka blankly before continuing.

"I expect more from you next time, especially from you, Ms. Tasmania. You are one of the great nobility who is meant to defend our land."

Resita frowned. She looked away and shook her head. Nuka opened his mouth again to say something again, but I interrupted him once more.

"Don't tire yourself out; it's pointless."

"What?"

I sat down on one of the benches, picked up my water bottle from the ground, and gulped it all down in one go.

"What do you mean it's pointless? You're part of this class too. Maybe if you weren't so introverted—"

"Do i look like a introverted to you?" I said while drying my mouth with my sleeve.

"No, but..."

"Look, I've put in all my effort a long time ago. So far, no one has noticed me except for a loser like you. It seems I don't exist for others. They always ignore me..."

I didn't want to explain the situation I was struggling with to him. But this was something he was seeing with his own eyes. They even gave me grades that seemed like defaults. As if I were a robot getting the same score every time, whether I had answered all the questions or had been absent during the exam. In the midst of these thoughts, my gaze suddenly landed on Diana and her friends, who were quietly sneaking out of class. Yet, their path had nothing to do with leaving the gymnasium. Nuka followed my line of sight.

"It looks like they're going to see the Sage's Sphere."

"The Sage's Sphere?"

"You don't know what the Sage's Sphere is?"

"Well, you can't know everything, especially when you're not informed about it in class."

"But it was talked about in class."

"Oh..."

"Did you fall asleep in class again?"

"I'm trying my best to learn the lessons..."

"It doesn't seem that way."

"..."