Chapter 48: Her Puzzle
It took some time but things gradually returned to a new form of 'normal' in the Academy.
There were still plenty of side effects from what happened that day.
The first was that, despite becoming a commoner, Braiden stayed in the Academy. He had already gained admittance and it wasn't like the Academy was exclusively for nobles. His previously haughty attitude was gone and he became quiet and unobtrusive. Part of that is probably due to his humiliation but I think he may have also been attempting to avoid further bullying.
There were quite a few people who tried to ingratiate themselves to me by attacking him, whether openly or in secret. After seeing it happen a few times, intervening, and eventually getting angry I had to put a foot down to prevent anyone using my name to bully others. I got the Duke involved by having him issue a letter stating the Dreman family was now a vassal to the Duchy and as such were under our protection. This served as a message to others that he wasn't to be touched. He has already been punished after all.
On top of that there were now more people who expressed respect for me than there were who criticized me, after everything calmed down. There are probably plenty of people who still don't think well of me mixing flattery with truth to get on my good side but my overall reputation within the Academy has improved.
People even began to show up to my morning exercises to train with me. I had to move everything to the larger practice field near the commoner's dorm to accommodate the increase in people, despite the complaints of some of the nobles. Some only came to try to impress me but they didn't stick around for too many sessions. Eventually I was left with around twenty people who wanted to improve themselves and weren't just there for me. About six of them were from class one, which was surprising.
This worked out for Rebecca as she had people to compare herself to and goals to work toward. She made it clear that she would be better than anyone else there to prove her loyalty to me. I had to step in when she showed up one day with a fever while being almost too dizzy to stand. I think she tried to exercise in the rain and cold one night when she thought I wasn't paying attention.
My classes were exactly like I expected, except there was one unexpected outcome brought on by that day there too. The few professors who clearly didn't like me never stepped out of bounds to directly harass me. There was only a few tests where they'd mark a question I had gotten correct wrongly and I would have to stay after to 'clarify' the situation with them. I could tolerate that and it was almost amusing how childish it was.
Overall my days passed by boringly, with the class work being monotonous thanks to my previous tutoring and education. Even the course on magic circles felt repetitive. A lot of material had to be covered to make up for many commoners needing to start from scratch. I don't fault the Academy for that as I agree with the 'equality in education' mission, I just wish there was a way to skip forward in classes. Sadly that's not possible with the strict emphasis on 'building relationships with your peers' in the Academy.
I did manage to make a few friends and acquaintances even if my attitude towards them was a bit cold. I realize that I'm overly cautious and paranoid about people's hidden desires when they approach me and that's causing me problems. Thanks to a few of the more friendly people around me things became a little easier though.
Rebecca had endeared herself to a few commoners that regularly attended our workouts. She introduced them to me slowly and helped them learn that, despite my stone-faced exterior, I'm not actually being condescending or dismissive. Well, at least I'm definitely not condescending. It's hard not to regard the warmth of others as having ulterior motives. They still worked to talk to me at least in a semi-cordial manner. And I tried to return the same sentiments.
The Young Master of the Marquis of Falden, Corin, began approaching me during breaks and at lunch. We resumed our talks from when he had visited in the past and discovered that we shared a lot of similar interests. He was talkative about experimental circle formations that could help the commoners lead better lives, while I was always coming up with new ideas for simple circle formations. Things that were trivial to utilize in engraved circles that could be easily charged for daily use without incurring heavy expenses.
He made it clear that part of the reason he was approaching me was to keep up appearances regarding our 'relationship' and to further foster misunderstandings about us. This was effective as soon things about our potential 'engagement' began to spread around campus. I told him that I had no intention of actually going forward with a relationship and he completely agreed. He never tried to cross a boundary or even hint at further entanglements. The rumors regarding our relationship also helped stymie the approach of men with less than honest intentions.
I made it abundantly clear to Venna that he and I were just friends, explaining to her his predicament and why we kept up appearances. I had noticed that she was getting nervous about how close he was to me and I held hope that it was for the same reason I might get envious if she had someone like that. She appeared relieved after I explained the situation and that got my hopes up even further.
I also had an interest in healing circles but his knowledge wasn't as in-depth in that regard. Instead, for that, I turned toward Venna's friend Solana. Elves are widely known for their superior skills and knowledge on healing circles and it turns out that the twin's parents were top healers in Feyris. I was surprised to learn that she wasn't aware of some of the methods that I had discovered on accident. I never told her about them specifically; I discovered it by subtly probing certain topics.
Sonatar was more interested in combat and hunting than in magic. I managed to learn a few things from him in that respect too. Venna was apparently the top archer among the 'branches', which I learned was how they referred to families. Like a branch on a tree, each leaf representing a person. Elves have far fewer children and live a lot longer so it's easier to keep track of every individual.
Despite their misgivings and our differences, the twins both began to slowly warm up to me. They were amusing, fighting constantly but never actually being angry with each other. I learned to accept that Sonatar was just brutally open and honest with his opinions, even when they got him into trouble.
My days passed like this until my first break three months later. I decided to stay near the Academy but my family was coming to visit using the estate here as a temporary residence so I wouldn't be alone. It would be nice to see Noah again.
Before I could enjoy things my father called me to his temporary study.
"Marisilea, I wanted to let you know that I'm going to try to propose changes to the laws regarding noble children with the hope that it might protect firstborn daughters. You'll probably hear of this soon as I'm expecting to face some criticism for it."
Should I be happy about this? I can't help but think that he's trying to win me over by telling me this.
"Is there a reason I need to be aware of this? You could just proceed forward with your plans and I'd learn about it naturally."
He shook his head and brought out a document from his desk.
"It's not as simple as just proposing new laws or changes to existing ones. I've been researching firstborn daughters in noble houses over the last few months. The last two generations had a total of three documented firstborn daughters, one in my generation and two in yours."
He was showing me some of the official records on family rolls submitted to the census office. I probably shouldn't be seeing this but it's already piquing my interest.
"It's already known that firstborn daughters aren't common, what purpose does identifying them serve?"
"I had hoped that we could reach out to them and ask them to help us speak on the subject. A statement given to the common people about their treatment might sway public opinion in our favor. I tasked a few of my contacts in the mercenary guilds in a few major cities to covertly try to contact any firstborn daughters that they could find."
He said we, that must mean there are more people doing this.
"Who is the we that you're talking about?"
"Your grandfather Marquis Brighton, Marquis Falden, the King, and a few lower nobles. We're still in the planning phase. We will be moving forward with a proposal that would require stricter review and higher approval to remove children from a noble's family roll. That's obviously not going to stop any abuse or neglect within a house but it's only our first step."
With that support it might be possible to make these changes a reality. I'm still confused as to why I need to know these things.
"I'm not comfortable talking about my life, not yet at least, so I don't want to make any statements. I'm guessing there might be a bigger reason you're bringing this up."
He pointed to the census data he had and then pulled out a few letters he's received from his contacts in the mercenary guilds. He seems a bit agitated which is surprising for my father.
"My people were contacted by a total of nearly twenty women, all claiming to be firstborn daughters. There was two that we couldn't find on the family rolls so we can't verify that they are who they claim. All of the rest are accounted for. There was a problem with exactly who they claimed to be though."
"There can't be that many firstborn daughters alive if so few of them are born every generation. There's over a hundred noble houses including the higher nobles, it would require too many people working to hide their births if there were. And you said they were accounted for on the rolls? Could they be lying about their identities?"
"I thought about that. If there were maybe two or even possibly three I might be able to believe they were lying, but twenty women not including you and Rebecca."
"With so many of their names matching the family rolls it would be difficult to disregard their claims as false."
"Exactly. That's not even the biggest issue though. Who these women claim to be would put the oldest of them at over four hundred years old."
"Wait, you're saying that these women are living to be hundreds of years old?"
"I inquired with the guilds that submitted their statements and they said none of the women looked older than thirty. I don't have any way to prove any of this and I only have theories as to why this might be. For now I've sent all of them an offer to work in the Duchy in the hopes that they might be willing to talk to me. I'd also like for you to speak to them at some point."
"Father I'm just a sixteen year old girl. All of those people are going to be adult women and aren't going to want to listen to me."
He cast a sideways glance at me and then chuckled. My father actually chuckled.
"I know the reason but it always surprises me how much you underestimate yourself."
"Fine, I'll speak to them eventually. Just make sure they find good jobs and are happy first, when they're comfortable we can work something out. I'm not sure what point my presence would even serve."
"I have some ideas. I will need to invite the Ardaines as well so it will take some time to coordinate."
It's another piece of a puzzle left for me to solve. I'm definitely invested now.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
EmpathicWan
EmpathicWan A short chapter but a chapter none-the-less.
I started feeling sick last night and I thought it wasn't anything serious but today I've felt horrible. I wrote but I just couldn't focus very well.
I basically just did some reading inbetween punching in some paragraphs for this chapter.
I'm still happy with it.
I'm not sure there'll be a chapter tomorrow cause I'll need to sleep and I've been really dizzy.
Hope you enjoyed it.
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