I froze in bewilderment in the middle of the corridor, not even suspecting what exactly Amalia wanted to talk to me about.
A variety of thoughts instantly flashed through my head. Maybe she had noticed that I wasn't behaving like the former Hazel? Maybe she suspected something? Maybe she had seen Erica hiding under the table in the library?...
But before I could ask, the girl's gaze softened. She asked in a calmer tone:
"I heard that in the future you're planning to become a teacher?"
"Huh?"
I blinked in surprise. I hadn't even imagined that Amalia would say exactly that.
"Yes, I've thought about it..." I confirmed after hesitating. "But how do you know that?"
"Mr. Loren told me everything."
Ah, so that's how it was...
Honestly, I hadn't even suspected that our teacher would blab so quickly. Of course, it wasn't that I wanted to deliberately hide it, but still... I was a little surprised anyway.
I sighed and turned to her. Amalia, meanwhile, had already let go of my hand and was calmly waiting for an explanation.
"It seems to me that the work of a teacher suits me... So in a few years I'm planning to enter college to get a diploma and become a certified specialist."
Amalia listened to me impassively. She thought. And soon nodded.
"All right... If this is really what you want, then of course I'll support you. But..." she paused for a moment. "Are you absolutely sure you want to enter an ordinary college?"
"What?"
"Do you remember..." the heroine hesitated. "Once we discussed that it would be nice to try to enter the Imperial Academy?"
As soon as Amalia unexpectedly mentioned this, I momentarily lost the power of speech.
The Imperial Academy?..
I won't say that I remember that conversation word for word. The memories of the real Hazel were passed on to me only in fragments. And nevertheless... even so, I understood perfectly well what was being discussed now.
Despite the fact that it was impossible for commoners to enter almost all higher educational institutions of the empire, the Imperial Academy of the Holy Grail was the only exception. It was an academy that was considered the most prestigious in the empire and was under the direct patronage of the imperial family. And, however absurd it might sound, it was also the only higher educational institution where commoners could enter.
All thanks to the youth support program provided directly by the imperial family. The academy adhered to the ideology that supposedly any person, regardless of their status and origin, should have a chance to prove themselves. For this reason, every year the academy admitted a certain number of commoner students as its scholarship recipients.
It sounds very tempting, doesn't it?
Only even though I knew about this program and about this unique opportunity, until this moment I hadn't even thought about such an option.
And the reason was very simple.
"...Hazel," the heroine's voice brought me out of my brief reflections.
"Yes?" I responded.
"I support your decision about studying. And, in fact, I also wanted to enter somewhere after graduating from the orphanage. So... maybe we can try to enter the Imperial Academy together? Won't that give us much more opportunities?"
This suggestion from the heroine, which she said in complete seriousness, actually sounded so unrealistic that it was hard not to smile at it.
In fact, this was precisely the greatest irony.
The problem was that no matter how sweetly the academy's propaganda sounded about equality and access to education for everyone, in reality it remained impossible.
In a year the academy admitted only a few of the most capable commoner applicants from the entire empire.
A few people out of hundreds of thousands.
The chance that you specifically would be lucky enough to get on that list was so low that in fact it was much more likely to win the lottery.
That's why until this moment I hadn't even thought about such an option.
All because the enormous amount of effort I could spend would simply turn out to be useless.
However... Unlike me, it seemed Amalia was настроена much more optimistically.
Well, considering that we're talking about the female lead of the novel, perhaps that's not surprising.
"...The Imperial Academy?" I asked again with a weak smile. "Well, I suppose we can try."
"Really?" Amalia asked again. "You really think so?"
"If you don't try, you won't know anyway, right? So we can at least try, so that later we won't regret anything."
But in fact I already knew everything.
Amalia Sirinix was indeed destined to enter that academy.
But only under completely different circumstances than she thought now.
Amalia would enter the Imperial Academy and undergo mandatory training there, since it was a mandatory condition to inherit the title of duchess. That's how it was.
But what about me?..
Of course, an insignificant commoner like me had absolutely nothing to do there.
I initially had not the slightest hope of entering the Imperial Academy. My main goal remained an ordinary college for commoners, where I belonged.
Nevertheless, to please the female lead, I deliberately lied that I would try to enter the academy together with her. I did this simply to maintain good relations with her. But, of course, it all still didn't matter, because we would soon part ways.
"Hazel... I knew you would understand me. We really do share the same goals!"
As soon as Amalia heard my words, she was very happy and took me by the hands.
The face of the female lead, which was already always dazzlingly beautiful, right now somehow extraordinarily shone before me even brighter.
Well, probably because she was smiling happily.
"Hazel, since you say so, then I won't let you down," she said seriously. "We will definitely enter the academy together!"
Amalia squeezed my hands, and the gaze of her blue eyes, the color of a beautiful azure sky, was directed straight at me.
I couldn't help but smile back at her.
"All right, then it's settled."
Even though it was a lie, it was a pleasant lie for both of us.
***
After two weeks of an intense study schedule every day, I began to slowly lose my mind.
No matter how hard I tried, studying every day without days off was too difficult, no matter how much of a superhero you are. Just yesterday evening I fell asleep over my textbooks, and Amalia barely managed to wake me so that I wouldn't stay the night in the library. So that was a clear sign that my body was giving out.
That's what happens when you plunge headfirst into some matter and in the end completely forget about yourself...
Well, since I still had four years to prepare, I decided that I could not rush so much and at least sometimes give myself days off.
Besides, apart from studying, I had another important goal.
Namely, to bring the villainess and the heroine closer together, so that even in adulthood, when I wouldn't be around, they wouldn't become enemies, but would continue to maintain good relations.
Perhaps this was my main hope.
Since our paths would soon diverge, I had to try to spend as much time with them as possible. Therefore, I decided to organize a joint walk into the city, to have a good and fun time.
And since I myself had never been to the city yet, I was very interested in visiting there.
But unlike me...
"Do we really have to go today? It's so hot outside..."
"If we're going to go into the city, then we need to make a route plan in advance. That way there will be less chance that we get lost or wander off."
"There are too many people in the city. Why do we have to go there specifically?"
"Hazel, the capital is not as safe as you think. So it's better to stay close to me!"
...But who would have thought that these two would turn out to be such bores?!
Aren't we just going to have fun?
I stood in the middle of the room, looking at the two girls who seemed to have conspired to ruin all my fun.
Amalia sat on the bed, carefully folding some papers into a bag. She had already managed to make a list of what we should take with us, where to go, and what time to return. The list was half a page long.
Erica stood by the window, arms crossed over her chest. Her red eyes looked at me with obvious displeasure.
"...We'll go during the day," I said, trying to speak as convincingly as possible. "There will be many people in the city, but that's fun! We can look at the shops, try street food..."
"Street food?" Amalia raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know how much dirt there can be?"
"Not all street vendors are dirty."
"Most of them."
"But not all!"
Amalia sighed. Erica snorted.
I felt my desire to arrange a fun walk slowly dying...
But even so, I still didn't give up!
"Decided!" I clapped my hands. "We're going for a walk in the city. And no lists, Amalia!"
"But..."
"No lists."
Amalia sighed, but still put her papers back into the bag.
"Fine. But if we get lost, it's not my fault."
"We won't get lost. I'll hold both of you by the hands."
"...Why?"
"So that no one gets lost."
Amalia looked at me with a strange expression. Erica too.
"What?" I didn't understand.
"Nothing," Amalia said. "It's just... sometimes you act like a mother hen."
"Like a who?!"
"Like a mother hen," Erica confirmed.
"I'm not a mother hen!"
"Mother hen," they said in unison.
I opened my mouth to object, but changed my mind.
Fine. Let it be mother hen. The main thing was that they were near and didn't get lost.
Today would be a good day.
At least, I hope so...