The First Female Duke

Chapter 10

Edith glanced in Penny's direction for a moment, then averted her eyes flatly, not seeing much of anything at first glance anyway.

She thought in her mind about what her mother had said the other day, that the family this Miss Hall belonged to was subordinate to Willey's, and that she could still climb a bit of kinship with their family (though it was a bit far away), and that she had been asked by her Aunt Prendy to do so.

Edith herself did not have any opinion or idea about the companion, she considered for a while, and decided in her heart, if this Miss Hall in the talent is not a big problem, then go along with Aunt Prendy's intention, anyway, it is only a small thing, might as well do a favor.

Edith got a little lost in thought, and Elena reached out and shook her hand in front of her eyes, "What are you fuming about?"

Edith snapped back to her senses and let out an oh, "I was just thinking about chaperones."

Elena shrugged and reached for the dessert next to the table - the room had even been outfitted with an exquisitely perfect afternoon tea set just for them - and Edith huffed, watching as Elena took a big gulp of the sweet, creamy pumpkin juice.

"Are you asking nicely about Miss Hall's," Elena said absently, "with the intention of choosing her as your chaperone?"

Edith didn't deny it, her eyes turning down to the middle of the auditorium below, "Sort of ...... but we'll still have to see the results of today's awakening."

The auditorium instantly fell silent when the principal was seen walking in from behind the door with a few of the Grand Tutors, the tension gradually spreading to every corner of the air.

The principal, of course, had to give a speech for the school's most important awakening day, this gentle looking old grandpa was wearing a solemn ceremonial robe, he didn't say much nonsense, after a few short summarizing sentences, the tutors behind him brought up the awakening instruments.

All of the students' eyes were glued to the tray that held the instrument. They held their breath.

The auditorium probably had an inherently solemn atmosphere, and the tutor didn't say anything to lift their spirits - there was no need for that anymore, every student was incredibly aware of what Awakening meant to them at the moment - the tutor briefly explained the rules of the test, and then reached out to unroll a parchment scroll.

--That was the list of students to be awakened today.

The mentor lifted his eyelids and swept the students below him, the long roll of parchment dropping to the top of his feet, and then he began to read the names.

The auditorium was large, and his mellifluous voice carried echoes that reached every student clearly.

The first student whose name was called walked up, and another instructor standing next to him slipped him a potion.

Edith in the room remembered that she also drank this before her awakening, it was used to maximize the magic power in her body, but looking at the color of the potion, it was again different from the one she drank - it probably wasn't the same formula. Edith thought so in her heart.

There was a transparent crystal on the tray, it was an attribute-less magic stone, Edith inevitably looked at it twice, because she realized that the magic stone she tested when she was awakened could be much bigger than this one at school - it was like the difference between a basketball and an egg.

That student pulled out the cork of the medicine bottle, and then poured the catalyst down in one gulp, and for some reason, Edith always saw a bit of a death wish ...... The student held his hand on the magic stone and injected magic power. In the eyes of the crowd almost after a second or two, the magic stone in the boy's hands violently trembled.

The boy was a bit nervous but didn't let go, after a while, he put the magic stone back on the tray as if he was exhausted, and by that time he had sweat on his forehead.

The mentor scanned the value tester and reached for his quill before taking notes on the parchment scroll:

"Knight, innate magic value 56."

It was a moderate, unimpressive score.

But the boy was clearly relieved as he bowed slightly toward his tutor and then walked on as if relieved.

The tutor calmly read out the name of the next person ...... Some people are happy, some people are sad, the awakening process is relatively calm, a few talented ones appeared, but not to a very stunning degree, but later on, a little bit of clamor occurred in the auditorium, because there was a student who surprisingly did not succeed in awakening... ...It was a girl, and at that moment, she covered her mouth and ran out crying.

Geniuses were uncommon, and not being able to awaken was rare as well.

Edith knew very well that the reason why the country of Esdara was able to form such a rift-like class gap between the nobles and the commoners was because, the nobles possessed magical power, they held the highest value of force in the world, and with the advantage of their bloodline, the success rate of the nobles and commoners in awakening their magical power was roughly 9:1 to this day.

If an aristocrat fails to awaken, in a sense, this life is "over".

Perhaps in modern times, this "finished" is too arbitrary, but in Estara, it is a harsh reality - how can you tell a man who has lost his legs to stand up?

The girl who failed to awaken made the atmosphere in the auditorium even more depressing and tense - no one wanted to be the second person who failed to awaken.

Edith covered her mouth and yawned showily as the list on that parchment was read a third of the way down, and it was then that she heard the tutor shout:

"Penny. Hall."

Edith's spirits lifted and she sat up a little straighter.

Elena, who was on her third dessert by now, glanced at Edith's eyes, which were beaded with tears from yawning, and giggled:

"God have mercy, it's finally her turn, if you had waited any longer I think you could have just fallen asleep."

"At least I didn't eat from the start like you did - with all due respect, did your mouth ever stop for even a moment?"

Elena felt she was offended, "Are you saying I eat a lot?"

Edith's eyes couldn't help but scan Elena's stomach, and after a moment's silence, she denied it:

"I'm not."

"You did!" Sensing where Edith's eyes were looking, Elena retorted pointedly, but as if she'd been reminded, she suddenly felt a little strangled by the gathered skirt as well, and she wanted to hang her head to see if her stomach had bulged, but she held her tongue at the thought of the ridicule that was to follow.

Taking a deep breath, Miss Green heaved the unfinished pumpkin juice in her hand onto the table and grunted.

Edith stifled a laugh and finally turned her attention to the auditorium.

By this time, Penny had just drank the hypospray that her mentor had handed her.

About the time she looked too calm, the mentor in charge of recording inevitably looked at her twice more.

"Begin!" The mentor reminded.

Penny's hand gripped onto the cold magic stone as she wondered in the back of her mind, did she have to rely on the Willey family to get into Sophia, who said she couldn't get in on her own?

Two seconds later, after the crowd saw the magic stone emit a brilliant blue light, the originally quiet auditorium appeared to be noisy for a moment.

It was probably similar to a wow sound.

Elena, who had been lazily leaning back on the couch, sat up straight now:

"Water-type? Looks like the magic value isn't low!"

Edith hmmm'd, thinking that now she'd have no reason to refuse Aunt Prendi.

The water system and the light system carried the same purifying and healing effect, except that the light system had a stronger effect, and right now the situation in Estara was such that light magicians were very rare, so the water system had become a very rare alternative to the light system.

Looking at it this way, even if she doesn't go the way of Willey, this Hall family's young lady should be able to go to Sophia.

The tutor of record was probably a bit surprised as well, and he looked at Penny several times more, as if trying to memorize her.

"Water magician, innate magic value" he paused and reported a number, "80"

Generally speaking, an innate magic power value of 75 was considered excellent, and 80 was already a rather bright achievement, at least so far, no student on the field had managed to exceed this number.

At a certain moment, Penny practically experienced the meaning of the word "all eyes on her"-everyone was looking at her with a kind of burning and awe-inspiring eyes, which caused a wave of pleasure to well up from the bottom of her heart, and the suffocating feeling caused by this matter of accompanying reading miraculously disappeared under the gaze of the crowd.

She found a sense of accomplishment that she had never felt before.

In the room, Elena craned her head to ask Edith:

"Looks like she's going to be your chaperone is she?"

Edith nodded, "No surprises there."

"Are you going to go out and talk to her later?"

Edith's body relaxed against the back cushions of the couch, "No need, if she wants to be my chaperone as well, I think she'll come to me at Taggermatt."

Elena was noncommittal.

The dust had settled when the mentor read the parchment in his hand from front to back.

Most people's awakenings turned out to be expected, and only a few, got an unexpected surprise or sadness.

Penny gained a circle of praise, which put her in a very good mood, and thought that perhaps when she got home she could tell her mother that she had been able to go straight to Sophia, and that she shouldn't have to be a chaperone to Ms. Willey.

Just as she thought this, she saw a door open at the back of the auditorium-she had never noticed that there was another room there.

Then out of it came four people, and in front of them were two teenage girls.

Penny froze, recognizing them immediately - there was no student in Violet who didn't know them, I should say, even if most had never spoken to them.

The first lady of the Green family was Violet's famous little devil, who took pleasure in pranks and kept to herself because no one dared to be friends with her-until two years ago, when Miss Willey came to Violet.

They go in and out of the house together, inseparable, living with flair and fervor, always the center of attention.

Yes, Penny had long ago discovered that some people naturally attracted the attention of the majority of people without having to do anything.

It was as if, at this very moment, the people who had gathered around to praise her just a moment ago were now focused on the two young girls - and they had done nothing but merely show their faces.

Penny heard her companion say excitedly:

"Oh, it's Willey and Miss Green, have they been watching us awaken just now?"

"They don't seem to have awakened with us?"

"Are you silly, to a great noble, of course it's more accurate and reassuring to awaken in your own home!"

"I also don't know what talent Miss Willey has awakened ......"

"What's there to guess, it's definitely something we can't compare to anyway, I heard from my mom that old great noble families like Villey's have special potions used to improve their physique."

"......"

Penny didn't participate in her companion's discussion as she pursed her lips, as if the pleasure and relief she had felt a moment ago was gone.

She didn't notice that Edith glanced in her direction as she passed by, just in time to catch her lost look in her eyes.

At first meeting, Edith hadn't quite been able to tell what kind of character this Miss Hall was; she'd watched this Miss Hall smile modestly as she was complimented by the crowd, and at that moment, all Edith could think of was the kind of person her mother had once told her about:

--They don't usually look proud, but they are inclined to stick out their necks when they bow their heads.