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“This is the Milene Convent. It exists as a place to re-educate young noble ladies.”
The one who explained this was Sister Rosalia. She had a sharp face and silver glasses that covered her narrow eyes. A middle-aged woman whose hair was black mixed with gray.
Sister Rosalia stared at me as she put back her glasses.
“I’ve never seen a lady of your age here before, let alone one from the bloodline of one of the four great dukes.”
“…”
“Your status outside does not matter here. This is a place where the power of your house does not extend to. Please don’t take offense.”
Sister Rosalia guided me to a small room with only a bunk bed and a desk. The room looked like a store room, but I guess that’s the norm here. Furthermore, the bunk bed meant it was a room meant to be shared with someone else.
Ridiculous. An ordinary noblewoman would probably go crazy just from this situation.
Sister Rosalia watched me staring emotionlessly at the room, as if to see the reaction I would give.
“One thing I forgot to mention is that it would be difficult for you to get out of here once you’ve entered. Most of the young ladies never come out again.”
“Is that so.”
In a way, that seems like a better option. I don’t want to go back to that house.
“…”
“Do you need any—”
“No, thanks.”
I looked up at Sister Rosalia because her gaze bothered me. She quickly turned on her heel. Apparently, she had finished showing me to my room and was going back to her own duties.
The bedsheets were thin and the bed was hard. There were no servants here, and I had to do everything without help. It was my first time to change my clothes by myself, but the only clothes I could wear here were the clothes the Sister gave me, so it would probably be something I wouldn’t wear alone.
“What, a newbie?”
I heard a voice from outside the door. I looked over and saw a tough-looking teenager with caramel-colored, slightly unruly hair that was braided on both sides.
“You’re quite small, aren’t you? What’s your name? Oh, it’s a rule that you can’t give your family name here, so just your first name. I’m Julia.”
“I’m Dahlia.”
“I see. Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah.”
And so my life in the convent began.
I wake up at five in the morning. We pray and clean the hallways, dining room, and other assigned areas. By the way, being in the same room is like a community of fate, and if one of us does something bad, we will both be punished, so we watch each other. So, inevitably, Julia and I do a lot of things together.
My roommate, Julia, is high-spirited, tiring, and troublesome. She’s so twisted that I can see why she was sent to the Milene Convent.
“Oh my, Dahlia. Are you okay?”
I got caught on my foot and fell. My head was covered with a bucket of water.
“Yuuuck. It stinks.”
Julia giggled and laughed at me with her cronies. She’s nineteen. She was sent here when she was thirteen. I can’t believe she still hasn’t changed her ways. She had always been crooked, but I wonder if she had become so crooked that it had become normal for her.
“Would you clean this place with me?”
She doesn’t clean. She told me that she was a noblewoman and wouldn’t do anything that a servant does. That’s probably why she still hasn’t left the convent at the age of 19. But it’s a waste of time to deal with someone like her, and I don’t want to lower my reputation by causing trouble down the road.
“…all right.”
“What a cheeky face you have there, when you’re just someone who got abandoned by her parents.”
Do you dare say you’re different from me?
***
“You don’t say much, do you?”
After the cleaning, we had breakfast, followed by lectures on etiquette, dance, culture, etc. After those, we had free time until dinner. Everyone seemed to be spending their free time as they pleased, but as I had just arrived, I didn’t have a favorite place yet, so I just relaxed in the chapel.
Then Sister Rosalia came in.
“I just stay silent and do what miss Julia tells me to.”
She seemed to have seen the scenario from this morning.
“There are two main types of people who come here. First, girls like Miss Julia who have been deemed in need of re-education. Secondly, those who have been kicked out of their homes for unreasonable reasons, such as yourself.”
“…did you have me inspected?”
Sister Rosalia gently shook her head from side to side.
“I’ve worked here for long, and met people with a lot of problems on their shoulders. So as I encounter other people, it has become easy for me to see through their façade. At least from how I see it, you don’t seem to have a problem yourself.”
I couldn’t say anything back to her. I certainly don’t remember doing anything wrong. But I guess I was considered by my Father as a problematic girl. Or maybe he knew that I was innocent, but still casted me aside because I was in their way.
I don’t like these thoughts in my head.
“You have to stay here for at least five years, no matter how good your behavior is. It’s unlikely for this place to make you feel at ease, but I hope that it’d help you in some way.”
With that, Sister Rosalia left. In the end, I couldn’t say anything to her.
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