The First Female Duke

Chapter 22

"What's wrong with you?"

Bridges crumpled up dead tight, "I said, I think we need to talk."

Edith: "?"

Very well, Bridges' face sinks, he says menacingly:

"Don't make me say it a third time."

Edith did mean it.

She was in a very soothing and pleasant mood, no, I should say raised eyebrows, and she was glad she hadn't taken the initiative to approach Bridges the other day-who would have thought that the big young man had taken some kind of a huff to actually take the initiative to come to her?

Edith didn't know what had gotten into Bridges, but it didn't stop her from wearing a smug look of "Daddy A picking on Daddy B's plan" on her delicate face.

She let out a flippant sigh, lifted her delicate chin, and said, with Bridges' usual haughty air:

"I don't know what there is to talk about between us?"

"Perhaps, you're here to spar with me?"

She glanced to the sword hanging at Bridges' waist and raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I don't think so, after all, I'm just a weak light wizard, you shouldn't see the point in sparring with me."

Bridges' temples jutted up, he was finally getting a taste of what it was like to have someone speak to you in such a provocative yet arrogant tone - that used to be his preserve.

Women proved to be far more difficult to deal with than men, and they always seemed to be gifted at it - even if Edith wasn't a woman yet, only a girl.

"Why can't we have some peace?" Bridges said wearily.

This time Edith agreed readily, "Okay, peace ...... how do you want to talk about it?"

Elena who was watching from the side for half a day finally couldn't help but interject at this moment:

"Wait, wait ...... I'm a bit baffled."

"What's ...... there to talk about between you two, what's going on that I don't know about?"

Edith: "Obviously, on the 'peaceful coexistence' front, Clark and I need to exchange ideas about each other."

Bridges nodded gravely.

Elena looked back and forth between the two for a few moments before finally waving her hand, "Okay, okay, okay, so where are you going to talk about it and do you need me to make room for you?"

Bridges looked to the dormitory building and said rightfully, "Isn't there a ready-made place here?"

This resulted in Edith screaming strangely, "No, what do you mean?" She stepped in front of Bridges.

Bridges: "??"

"Please get this straight, this is a girls' dormitory."

Bridges: "What's wrong with the girls' dormitory?"

Edith: "Girls' dorm, boys stop."

Bridges: "What kind of strange rule is that, I've never heard of it."

Edith: "...... What do you care, you just don't get in anyway."

Bridges frowned, "I'm going in."

Edith was incredulous, "What kind of boy thinks about going into the girls' dorm all day?"

Bridges thought Edith was unbelievable, "What do you mean 'all day', when did I 'all day', huh?"

Edith: "It's not 'all day' it's 'today'!"

Elena watched as the two, who had been talking about "peaceful coexistence" just moments ago, started arguing again - right in front of the dormitory door, not even two minutes ago.

She watched for a moment, clutching her chest, thinking that the two were being childish.

"It's going to get dark if you guys keep arguing." Elena slouched, "Where's the talk of peaceful coexistence?"

-- the voice screeched to a halt.

Edith and Bridges stood still and glared hard at each other, finally stopping their bickering.

Edith compromised a step and let Bridges in anyway - because Sophia really didn't have a girls' dormitory where boys stopped.

Edith thought that was a godawful loophole! Back to her, she'd take it up with Director Lola.

After entering the dormitory, Elena went back to her room, leaving the two of them room to "talk".

But a smooth conversation didn't happen - because the two were staring at each other.

They were looking (glaring) at each other as if whoever opened their mouths first had lost a step.

After a minute, Edith lifted her eyelids and broke the silence:

"If you don't say something Penny and Flanda and the girls are going to come back, and then I'm going to kick you out."

Bridges' handsome jawline tensed a little at the words.

"You're rude." He said.

Edith looked as if she had heard some great joke, "Would you go out there and ask around about your reputation before you say that?"

Bridges said quite seriously, "As far as I can tell, they're all compliments mostly."

Edith: "Have you ever heard the term false prosperity?"

Bridges:"?"

Edith: "You should hear more feedback from honest people like me."

Bridges pursed her lips, feeling like their conversation was on the verge of falling apart before it even started.

"Well, let's get back to the topic of conversation, since you're signaling peace, how about showing it!" Edith's thin white fingertips crossed and interlocked in a negotiating stance.

Bridges was silent for three seconds and said, "The day of the mentor test, you crashed my conversation with Connor ......"

Edith's expression got serious and immediately reacted to what he was about to say.

Her expression began to look bad as well, "What, wasn't it enough for me to hear it, did you have to come and tell me yourself?"

"No ......" Bridges eyes flashed with a hint of unnaturalness, "That was not said to you."

"What, am I not a light wizard?"

Seemingly opening his mouth the words that followed were less difficult to say, Bridges relaxed a bit and leaned back slightly on the couch, "Of course you are."

"But you're not like that Connor guy?"

"What's different, except for the gender, well ...... both are light wizards, what's the difference?"

"The difference is that you are better than him."

The words were spoken and both men froze, the first to calm down was Bridges, who nodded as if to reinforce the credibility of his words.

However, the person concerned did not feel elated by this compliment, and the first reaction of Edith, whose brain circuits were clear, was: this guy can't be sarcastic!

"Is this some new sarcastic routine of yours?"

Bridges: "????"

He felt extremely offended, "What's wrong with you?" He said incredulously.

Edith paused, looking at Bridges' reaction as if she had really misjudged him.

Coughing slightly, Ms. Willey said, oddly uncomfortably, "Okay ...... count me wrong, I take that back okay!"

Bridges frowned, "You can take back what you said?"

"So what are you going to do, still want to argue?"

Bridges choked, seeing for the first time in his life how difficult a woman could be - even if she was just a brat now.

He made a gesture to stop, "Stop."

"As a proper gentleman, I don't want to bother with you as a girl."

This was rather like "we men don't bother with you women", Edith snorted, "I didn't realize you were quite chauvinistic."

"What do you mean by macho?"

"It's a description directed at men."

Bridges nodded, "That doesn't sound too bad."

Edith smothered a laugh in her mind, not telling him that that description wasn't a compliment in a previous life.

"Is that what you came to me to say? If so, now that the words are out of your mouth, I think you should go."

But Bridges obviously had something to say that hadn't been said yet, "Wait."

Edith looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Bridges sat up straight, "I hear you've been getting close to Connor lately?"

Edith: "Where have I been?"

"You were clearly eating with him, I've seen it." He said seriously.

"So what, he's willing to come to me, can't I refuse?"

Bridges pursed his lips, pondering the feasibility for a moment before nodding seriously, "I think it's fine."

Edith almost rolled her eyes as she stood, making a show of sending her off.

But Bridges was relentless, "You haven't answered me?"

"Answer what?"

"Reject Connor." After a pause, the Grand Master added, "Reject it hard."

Edith said through sore teeth, "I think I'm the one who should drive you away hard."

Her eyes met those dark eyes, which were as pure as top quality obsidian, and Edith paused.

Eventually she gave in reluctantly, straightening her color slightly, Edith said:

"Don't worry."

"I've never forgotten the rivalry between the nobility and the crown."

Bridges was finally satisfied, as evidenced by the fact that he had reverted to a languid expression.

"I'm leaving."

Edith couldn't wait to send off firecrackers of joy, "Take care."

As a result, when he reached the door, the man stopped again and turned his head to raise one eyebrow as he addressed Edith:

"You're a tough little kid."

Edith rolled her eyes:

"Thanks, you're a difficult childish person too."

When it was almost time, Elena came out of her room:

"How was it, the talk with Young Master Clark? Is your 'peaceful and friendly' relationship continuing well?" She said with a smirk.

"It's okay, it should be peaceful for a while."

Elena hit the nail on the head, "Believe me, that won't stop you guys from continuing to fight later at all."

Edith's head hurt, "Don't curse me dear."

It just so happened that Penny and Flanda had finally returned from class as well, just in time to hear this from the doorway.

"What are you guys talking about?" Penny asked.

"Talking about Edith and Clark."

Clark? Penny raised an eyebrow, "We seemed to see Master Clark going out in that direction when we came in just now."

Elena smiled and nodded as she pointed to Edith, "Because she and Clark had just finished an affectionate yet serious conversation." Edith finally couldn't help but complain:

"Can you stop mentioning my name in the same breath as his all the time."

"Depends on my mood."

Edith expressed her attitude directly with her actions, she didn't even look at Elena and went straight up the stairs.

Elena wasn't angry, she was quite proud of herself, feeling self-conscious that she had gotten the game back, and smiled as she spoke to Penny:

"Look at her temper!"

Penny smiled slightly, thinking that Edith was already considered good-tempered among the nobles, but of course, that was only relative.

-How could someone who had been pampered from a young age not have a temper at all.

In the afternoon, it was a specialized class, which meant that their specialized magic teaching instructors gave them lessons.

The one scheduled for today was the Light Department, thinking of that old red-bearded man made Edith feel a headache, why was everyone around her more difficult than one another!

Because she was the only student of Instructor Faust, the place Edith went to was not the classroom, but Faust's office.

Edith knocked on the door and waited until the sound of a call to enter came from inside before she pushed the door open and walked in.

"Mentor." Edith hung her head and called out respectfully.

Faust turned around and glanced at the little girl standing below, she was wearing a school uniform, her soft brown curly hair hanging down her cheeks, her eyes were pure, and looking at her made people feel well-behaved.

But Faust wasn't fooled by this appearance, he had already seen through his student's true colors and knew that she was a slippery one on the inside.

The red-bearded old man sat idly, glancing at Edith and asking slowly:

"Magic power restored?"

It was clearly a question, but in an affirmative tone.

Edith gave a start, then smiled awkwardly as she looked at Mentor Faust's bad face and promptly admitted her mistake:

"Mentor I was wrong."

The old man grunted and opened his mouth to start criticizing Edith fiercely.

"Did you leave your brain at home without bringing it here, how dare you use up all your magic!"

"What if you weren't at school at that time!"

"In the wild, you're such a little girl with no magic, the undead could devour you down to the bone!"

"......"

Edith cried out as she was doused with criticism, "Mentor I was really wrong."

Faust finally grunted when he saw her face turn red and let her go.

"I heard you guys used the undead the school was holding during your morning magic training session?"

Edith nods, "Mr. Babbitt had us jump straight to chapter three and told us to attack that undead." The old man with the red beard grunted, "That Babbitt guy is still so haphazard ...... However, it's not wrong."

He looks to Edith, "You attacked the undead, how did it feel?"

Edith recalled the scene and thought for a moment before speaking slowly:

"At that time, the one that Mr. Babbitt released in classroom 1 was the lowest grade of undead, and I attacked it with the Fire Blast and Purification spells."

Faust nodded, signaling her to continue.

"I have found that the undead has a strong ability to recover, so if you want to kill it, you must kill it the moment the spell touches its body, and not give it any chance to recover."

"However, the situation seemed a bit different when I used the light-based spell" Edith frowned as she recalled what she felt at that moment, "I felt that my magic at that time was searing the undead's body, and the light-based seemed to block its recovery ability and was able to inflict direct damage on it."

A trace of surprise crossed Babbitt's eyes, he had only wanted to hear Edith's thoughts, and would tell her the specifics today, but he didn't expect that she could already figure out so much just through a single classroom teachable attack.

It was obvious - this student of his had extremely sharp insights.

"You're right."

"Light has a direct damaging effect on undead, and undead belong to dark creatures; light and dark are inherently antagonistic and restraining."

Light and darkness, opposites and restraints. Edith fell into deep thought, suddenly she seemed to think of something and her pupils tightened.

Faust noticed the change in her complexion and secretly nodded in his heart, his student was indeed smart, he had only reminded her slightly and she had already reacted.

"Yes, just as you thought, the outside world only knows that the light system has the greatest restraints on the undead, but it doesn't realize that the reverse is also true."

Light restrains darkness, doesn't darkness restrain light?

"So, when facing the undead, the first thing you have to think about is not thinking about how to attack it, but, how to protect yourself first."

Edith's face got serious, her brows furrowed as she was obviously thinking over Faust's words.

As a result, the old man, who had been serious just a moment ago, turned his head into a lazy look as he interrupted Edith's contemplation.

"It's useless for you to think about that now, come on, first release the purification spell you used this morning and see?"

Edith: "???"

It's not working. Why are you telling me this? Just to scare me first?

Edith had a stomach full of spit but didn't dare to vent a single word out, she honestly took out her wand and then used a purification spell in front of the old man - the result was predictable.

It seemed that in the old man's eyes - every move and every spell she made was wrong.

"Keep your hands up."

"The wand has to go around one and a half times, you've only made one turn."

"There are also light and heavy readings when reciting spells."

Toward the end he even said in exasperation:

"Did you learn your light spells from a knight?"

"You're the worst class I've ever taken!"

Edith was honestly being lectured, but she was spitting in her heart.

I taught myself my light spells, not some damn knight.

And "You're the worst student I've ever had", is that what teachers like to say in every world?

Besides, as far as I know, you haven't had many students, have you?

Didn't you hear Bertha next door mocking you for not being able to find students?

By the end of the day, Faust was even tired of teaching, and he stopped to take a sip of water before forcing Edith to rehearse all of the light-based spells she knew in front of him.

--and of course all of them were faulty.

At the end of class, Edith was stuffed with a head full of criticism, and at that point there was only one feeling in her mind:

So I practiced my light spells this poorly?

As she dizzily said goodbye to Faust to leave the office, the old man reminded her with a frown as if he remembered something:

"By the way, the other undead sealed in classroom 1, you're fine not to touch it."

Another undead? Edith thought of the place in the far corner of the classroom that was sealed by the curtain during the morning class, sure enough there was another undead there? Moreover, listening to the tutor's meaning, it seems that the level of that undead is not low?

Edith nodded her head, thinking that I have nothing to do to provoke the undead, especially after hearing her mentor say that the undead also very much restrain her.

Another few days passed smoothly.

Edith was on the verge of forgetting about it until, she heard a shocking rumor - the undead in classroom 1, was missing.

The rumor was soon confirmed, it was Mentor Babbitt who discovered it, after a night, he went to the classroom, and just as he walked into the classroom, he sensed that something was wrong, and lifted the curtain that sealed it, and sure enough, the cage there was empty.

It was a Primary Undead - a Primary Undead had escaped!

It was then that Babbitt canceled that magic training class to find the principal to reflect on it, and since then the school went on alert. The number of teams patrolling the campus increased significantly, just to find that undead.

Director Lola even called an emergency meeting to inform them that the door closing time had been changed from ten to six.

This was because the undead's strength would increase drastically at night.

--No one dared to disagree.

The story spread through the school and Edith was on tenterhooks for a few days.

But luckily, it was already Friday, tomorrow was the weekend, and she could return to Luxembourg after her classes for the day.

The Clarks had sent a carriage early to pick them up, and Bridges was going back with Edith.

Bridges' brow furrowed in a deathly frown as he watched Edith waddle slowly over.

"May I ask if you're holding a thousand pounds of stone behind you? Why else would you have such a hard time walking such a little way?" He said coolly as he lifted the corner of his mouth.

Unperturbed, Edith retorted nonchalantly, "Aha, all the more reason for you to empathize with me since you know how hard it is for me."

Bridges: "......"

He took a deep breath, and murmured in his mind, peaceful coexistence, peaceful coexistence!

By this time the driver had already lowered the pedals of the carriage, and Edith lifted up the hem of her skirt and was about to get on, only for Bridges to pull her aside as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"What for?"

Bridges cleared his throat and coughed slightly, a little unnaturally, "When you get home later, if mother asks if I took good care of you at school, you'll say yes."

Edith had a look of hell on her face:

"Where have you been?"