Victor was very pleased — Lucian's learning speed was just as impressive as the past few days. In under fifty minutes, he had committed all the remaining grammar rules to memory. It seemed that beyond being clever and gifted with languages, his memory was equally astonishing.
In his good mood, Victor quickly found inspiration. He hummed a brief melody, then clapped his hands and said with a warm smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, you've been studying for quite some time now and must be tired. Why not have some afternoon tea, enjoy some fruit, and relax your minds?"
With that, he headed upstairs to jot down the melody.
Lucian held an elegant, pale-white glazed porcelain cup and took a small sip of black tea, only to discover with some self-pity that he had already adapted to this peculiar taste. He rubbed his temples, trying to ease the throbbing brought on by several days of intensive study.
"Phyllis, when are you going to invite us to hunt at your family's estate? I miss that lovely fresh air, and the rabbits and deer hopping about," said another noble girl, Anne, with a sudden smile. She had beautiful golden hair and emerald-green eyes, but her features were rather plain and unremarkable. What's more, her family circumstances were not particularly good — her father was the least conspicuous of a baron's many children, with no hope of inheriting the title or lands. It seemed he wouldn't even inherit a single estate or property, and could only scrape by on the income of a city court clerk and the annual allowance from the baron's family.
By contrast, as a member of the Hain family — one of the great families of the Vorlite Principality — Phyllis's father, though he ultimately failed to inherit the earldom and hereditary lands, had still been left a grand estate by the old earl before his passing. It lay outside Altor, complete with forests, orchards, vineyards, and even a quarry of patterned stone. He also owned a property within the city of Altor itself.
As a result, Phyllis's family was the wealthiest among all the young nobles present.
In the sweltering summer, going to the country estate to hunt and escape the heat, enjoying wine brewed on one's own land — this was something that every ordinary noble boy and girl without an estate of their own, including Lot, envied the most. So Anne was subtly currying favor with Phyllis.
"Really, Miss Phyllis? Your estate has adorable rabbits and beautiful little deer?" asked Renie, the commoner girl, her face full of curiosity and longing.
On Lucian's very first day, Renie had already tried to get close to Phyllis, Lot, Anne, and the other noble students by striking up conversations about music, and the results had been quite good.
Encouraged by her success, she had spent the past few days picking up bits of music theory from who knows where, then posed questions to Phyllis and Anne with a show of confusion and inquiry. Through her efforts, she had finally become familiar enough with them to join their circle of conversation.
With her as an example, Colin and David — two commoner boys — also found topics along these lines to approach the noble students, with similarly noticeable results. Lucian alone was entirely focused on his studies and hadn't so much as exchanged a word more than necessary.
Since Lucian made no effort to get close, neither the noble students like Lot and Phyllis nor the commoner students like Renie and Colin would lower themselves to strike up conversation with him. They maintained their cool, distant attitude.
Phyllis kept an upright posture and replied with a standard, polite smile, "I do miss those lovely animals too, but it's only a little over three months until Master Victor's symphony performance. During this period, every weekend, Lot,
As for Anne's flattery, Renie's longing, envy, and adulation — Phyllis was actually quite pleased and delighted by it all. Who wouldn't enjoy such a feeling?
Lucian, listening to their conversation from nearby, felt a certain longing of his own and wished he had an estate to call his own. But the most important thing right now was figuring out how to ask Master Victor to lend him the Common Language dictionary, and how to flip through such a thick volume in the main hall and store it all in his Soul Library.
In the midst of the reserved or deliberately flattering exchanges between Phyllis, Lot, Anne, Colin, Renie, and the others, Victor came back downstairs. A faint trace of a smile could still be seen at the corner of his lips — clearly, he was quite satisfied with the melody he had just composed.
Just as Victor was about to resume the lesson, Ace the butler opened the front door and walked in, speaking in a low voice: "Master, your expected guests have arrived."
"Oh, I completely forgot — damn it, I got lost in music again this morning." Victor flicked his right hand in annoyance. "Show them in quickly."
After Ace stepped out with a respectful and elegantly practiced bearing, Victor turned to face Lucian and the others, spreading his hands with an apologetic expression. "I'm terribly sorry, dear ladies and gentlemen. I forgot I had guests coming today. The rest of your lesson can be made up tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock — shall we?"
With Victor being this polite, neither Lot, Phyllis, Anne, nor Lucian could very well be unreasonable about it. Lucian, however, decided that this was the perfect moment — while Victor was in an apologetic mood — to ask to borrow the Common Language dictionary for a few days.
But just as Lucian was about to open his mouth, Ace had already ushered the guests inside. One was a handsome, silver-haired man wearing a red shirt and black coat; the other was a white-haired old man carrying a wooden case in both hands.
"Mr. Rhein..." Lucian and Phyllis spoke at the same time.
A faint blush colored Phyllis's cheeks. Lucian, on the other hand, was entirely stunned — he had never expected that Rhein, who was merely a Bard, had become a guest whom Master Victor held in such high regard.
"Hello, Phyllis. Hello, Lucian." Rhein smiled and greeted them with effortless grace.
Phyllis smiled shyly, then seemed to catch herself. She and Lot and the others turned to look at Lucian in surprise — he knew Mr. Rhein?