The First Female Duke

Chapter 28

At this moment, Edith was grumbling under her breath and complaining to Elena:

"We're in first grade, why do we have to go to class with fourth graders?"

"Gathering class is just about digging up herbs, so why are we bringing fourth graders along to teach us how to dig up herbs?"

Elena couldn't hold back her laughter, and Edith glared at her, raising her voice, "You're still laughing!"

Seeing Elena's gesture of surrender, Edith skimmed her lips and continued:

"I told you how that Bridges guy looked so sure of himself in the training room today, so he was waiting for me here."

"He's going to be so proud tomorrow!"

"I'm so angry!"

Elena's face turned red as she stifled her laughter, and she thought to herself, "I'm afraid that's the whole point... the sudden announcement of a Gathering class caught Edith by surprise... and she's going to be pissed off.

Elena pretended to reassure her, "Don't think so, dear. Maybe Master Clark will forget about it by tomorrow."

Forget about it? Edith turned to her, curled her lips into a loud snort, and said with the utmost certainty:

"Oh, believe me, Elena, Master Clark wouldn't forget this if he forgot to eat - he's always on the front line when it comes to mocking me!"

As it turned out, Edith was right.

At three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, Edith and her group arrived at the entrance of Levin's Forest on time, and from a distance, they saw a group of fourth years - it was too recognizable, and the age difference inevitably caused a height difference, and compared to the fourth years, the first years seemed to be dwarfed by the fourth years.

Teenager Clark stood out from the rest of the group, his light brown hair reflecting a vague blonde color in the sunlight, while at the same time showing off his extremely pale complexion, and he was hanging his head down to straighten out the sapphire cufflinks on his cuffs, which seemed to make him look like a custom-made hand-me-down tuxedo out of a regular school uniform.

Edith realized that Bridges hadn't looked up, and was delighted, trying to take advantage of the opportunity to sneak around a corner - she knew that Master Clark would be able to see her sooner or later, but it was better to be found out later than sooner, wasn't it?

But the gods didn't seem to be on Edith's side today, and just as she was about to brush up against Bridges, he suddenly looked up as if he had sensed it - and looked right into Edith's eyes.

Edith stiffened, and the moment Young Master Clark saw Edith, his entire face immediately came alive, and he raised a high eyebrow at Edith, his thin lips curled up, and said in a voice that was both elegant and gorgeous:

"We meet again, Edith." He called her name with extreme intimacy and added, deliberately, "How did you sleep last night?"

Edith's delicate little face was expressionless, "Evidently, very well, so thank you for your extra concern, Master Clark."

"So, it's 'Master Clark' again, is it?"

Edith grunted softly through her nose, "So what else do you want, do you deliberately mock me and then I have to call you 'Bridges' affectionately?"

"Who mocked you?"

"You!" Edith said with precision, interrupting Master Clark just in time when she saw him across the room lift his lips in an apparent attempt to say something:

"Before you completely piss me off - don't say anything!"

Master Clark's dark eyes swept over Edith's pursed lips, and after a pause, he actually did obediently shut up.

Emmy and Lexi in the back couldn't hide their surprise as they exchanged glances - oh my, this Miss Willey really could cure the notoriously short-tempered Young Master Clark.

If another person spoke to him in such a tone, he could stare at you with a pair of cold black eyes without expression, letting you deeply experience how big the gap between "don't talk" and "can't talk" is.

Gabriel, the teacher of the gathering class, had arrived at the end of the school day, and he was a bit fat, with the two center buttons of his shirt pulling the fabric tightly together, just to hide Gabriel's huge belly - which was obviously under pressure that it shouldn't have been.

Gabri scanned the pile of students in front of him with a pair of sharp eyes very quickly, and then he nodded in satisfaction, "Good, that's a good enough number."

"Today's gathering class is shared between the first and fourth years, as I think you already knew on yesterday's email." Perhaps because of his large size, Mr. Gabriele's voice was very eloquent.

"And what you need to do, the first years collect the fluorescent grasses and pine mushrooms under the moon, while the fourth years have to do is to keep the first years safe - this requires you to divide up the work, and right now, you have -" Gabri fished an ancient pocket watch out of the pocket of his shirt and looked at it, then said, "have ten minutes to form teams freely, with no fewer than two and no more than five in each team."

"Of course, the teams must be paired with first-years and fourth-years."

"Okay kids," Mr. Gabriel smiled and said briskly, "please give me an accurate result in ten minutes."

It was clear from the tone and expression that Gabri was a more mild-tempered teacher, but Edith didn't feel the least bit grateful for the damned rule, "It has to be a pairing of a first year with a fourth year," Edith didn't know many fourth years - and the only one she claimed to be familiar with was Bridges.

But to pair her with Bridges? -- Don't, she might have nightmares about going back at night.

So, while everyone else was grasping at straws to form a team, Edith stood still.

Elena walked up next to her and tugged on her sleeve, lowering her voice, "Edith, why are you dry standing here, aren't you with Bridges?"

It was as if this poked Edith in some sensitive spot, the little girl said with a rather large reaction in her blue eyes:

"Why would I want to be with him?"

As a result, Elena looked quite puzzled and asked back, "Well, if you don't look for Bridges, who else can you look for?" In Elena's opinion, Edith lives in Luxembourg, and the two of them will go home together on weekends, although they often fight, but in the eyes of outsiders it's a very close relationship, and now that the collection class is in such a situation, Edith's best choice is to go to Bridges, isn't it?

But the little girl looked as if she was offended by this statement, "You make it sound like I can't find anyone else but him - is he the only one in fourth grade?"

And while they were discussing it, the three Bridges came this way.

Bridges stood in front of Edith and raised one eyebrow when he saw her face:

"I see rejection on your face."

Edith nodded, "Being able to see that means your eyesight is passable."

And hearing this, Bridges surprisingly didn't get angry, it was as if he was already used to being a little bit resisted and frustrated in front of the little girl, so at this moment, he only frowned slightly, "I know the location of all the Luminescent Grasses under the Moon and Matsutake Mushrooms in Levin Forest."

Edith hummed lightly, "I don't need you, I can find them myself."

"But besides me, who else would want to team up with you?"

Edith's eyes widened as if she couldn't believe it and said, "How is it that I've been reduced to the point where no one wants me with you?"

Bridges' eyes vaguely flashed a smile, but his face did not show a trace of it, he looked reserved and noble and said, "Then you can try."

Edith really went to try.

She looked around and set her sights on a fourth year boy who didn't seem to have a team yet, he had brilliant blonde hair, wore glasses, and looked shy, Edith had her own way of looking at people, she felt that boys like that were better to talk to, so she walked over to him and flashed a bright dazzling smile when the boy looked at her quizzically.

The killing power of this smile could be imagined, but Edith, as if she was afraid of not having enough potency, said in her sweet voice, which she was extremely good at:

"It seems to me that you haven't found a teammate yet? If you're willing, can you team up with me?"

In the distance, Young Master Clark, who was still calm and collected, couldn't help but sink his eyes when he saw this scene.

And where had the blonde boy on this end ever seen such a scene, he was swooning from the sweetness, he was red-faced and just about to nod his head, but then he suddenly felt a sharp gaze, he inclined his head to see that Young Master Clark was gazing at him icily with his dark eyes.

The blush on the blonde boy's face brushed away while Edith was still waiting for his answer, only to see the boy suddenly change his attitude and see her as if she were some kind of flooded beast:

"No, I'm sorry Willey-san, you'd better find someone else!"

Said the man, darting to the side.

Edith: "??" What's going on?

Suddenly, Edith remembered something and she twisted her head to look in Bridges' direction, the young master had a natural look on his face, as if no one could tell what trick he had just used.

Edith walked over to him expressionlessly, she finally realized why this person was so sure of himself just now, as the existence of the invisible head among the fourth years, once Bridges signaled that he wanted to team up with Edith, the other fourth years would not dare to challenge his majesty.

"It's as you wish, Master Clark."

Seemingly sensing Edith's annoyance, Bridges put away the impishness on her face and reached out to gently flick her forehead, speaking faintly:

"Don't be so reluctant, brat, at least I'm strong enough to keep you safe in Levin Forest."

Edith froze and pursed her lips slightly, not retorting anything after all.

Ten minutes later, Ms. Gabriel called a precise halt, "I've noticed that all of you have formed a team."

"Then, it's time to begin the journey into Levin's Woods."

"I'd like to emphasize that all of you, including the fourth years, are only allowed to move around the outskirts of the forest, not into the depths."

"If anyone is caught by me breaking this rule, then he will be punished with a minimum of a week's confinement."

"Alright, all go inside and meet at the same spot in two hours."

Entering Levin Forest was like walking into a new land for Edith, for someone who had never been to a forest in two lifetimes, everything here was new and strange.

Edith thought that the forest would be dark and humid, but in fact, the ground of Levin Forest was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, very dry, the nose was filled with a nice smell of grass and trees, and from time to time, you could see squirrels scurrying past the thick tree trunks.

Edith's eyes could hardly take it in.

But it was clear that Master Clark was even busier than she was, clearing away the dead branches in front of her, while at the same time keeping a part of his mind occupied with someone else who was looking around.

After a few minutes, Master Clark said tiredly:

"I'm beginning to regret teaming up with you."

Edith was smiling smugly at this moment, her mood no longer depressed as it had been a moment ago.

"It's too late for that, Master Clark, you're the one who has to stick it to me."

The adjective made Bridges' temples jut.

Taking a deep breath, he reached out with his long, slender hand and took Edith by the back of her collar to pull her to him, a maneuver that was met with great resistance from the young girl, so Bridges had no choice but to take her hand instead.

This time Edith didn't break away - the power differential was there.

"Levin Forest isn't as safe as you think ...... Well stay close to me, you unlucky naughty boy!"