After dinner, Blythe got down to work. Deciding to start with the embroidered handkerchief, she sat on one of the floor cushions by the coffee table. The reference picture of Magnus' childhood bird the embroidery was supposedly based on was nowhere in sight. Blythe shifted around the objects on the table, mostly embroidery tools and threads in search of it to no avail.

  The original Blythe had to have used a reference image, right? She refused to believe that these intricate details had been embroidered purely based off the original Blythe's memory.

  She dug around in the study desk drawers, the bookcase cabinets, and even took a walk around the walk-in closet. Try as she might, she couldn't find it.

  Holding the embroidery project in one hand, Blythe called for Suzy, who was standing by the doors outside to give her some privacy. The doors promptly opened up, and her handmaid came in.

  "What may I do for you, my lady?"

  "Suzy," Blythe said, lifting the embroidery hoop. "Do you know what this is for?"

  Suzy said cautiously, "Yes, my lady. It is a token to be presented to His Highness, Prince Magnus, at the Hunting Race. I do believe you have mentioned it is an image of his childhood pet bird."

  Great, at least she knew that.

  "Do you remember where I put the reference picture?"

  Suzy blinked rapidly. "But, my lady, you haven't been using a reference picture."

  "What do—I mean, oh, yes, that's exactly what I did." She wanted to bury her face into a pillow and never get out of bed again.

  What do you mean, she never used a reference picture?!

  What kind of embroidery prodigy was the original Blythe Ridge?

  Confusion filled Suzy's voice. "It is a point of great pride that you have memorized the portrait of the bird that is hanging in the imperial palace, my lady. Or am I perhaps mistaken?"

  That cleared some things up. If Suzy could say that, the original Blythe must have bragged about it in front of her. Furthermore, the diary entries did indicate she'd visited the imperial palace multiple times in order to see Magnus. She'd had access to the portrait.

  She tried checking the work-in-progress status window again in the hopes of gleaning new information. If she at least knew what kind of bird this was, she could get reference images elsewhere.

  It was the same piece of information she'd seen yesterday.

  "Could you be anymore useless?!" she hissed, wishing the system was physical so she could whack it like a malfunctioning TV remote.

  "M-my apologies, my lady?"

  Blythe raised her head and yelped, "No, no, I wasn't talking to you! I was ... um ... annoyed because ... reasons. In any case, it wasn't directed at you!"

  Suzy looked so nonplussed. "I understand. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

  "No, thanks, I'm fine."

  Suzy retreated to stand outside her doors once again.

  Since Blythe was supposed to already know the answer, she couldn't ask other people what species Magnus' deceased pet was. From what she could see of its half-completed body, it had coral pink legs and a deep, vibrant blue body with some black feathers. It didn’t resemble any of the birds species she knew; not that she was a bird expert to begin with.

  She took another glance down at the silk handkerchief and made the split-second decision to abandon this project. From the diary entry she'd read, the embroidery design was a surprise anyway. Magnus wasn't expecting his childhood pet bird on the handkerchief. So much for gaining experience points for her embroidery skill.

  Maybe she could simply not bother with embroidering anything for him. After all, why did she have to make him something? He couldn’t stand her, and, frankly, she was getting sick of him hovering around trying to catch her out.

  He should be happy if she didn’t pester him with some embroidered handkerchief for some school event, even.

  Blythe tried thinking back on the Hunting Race as presented in Waiting for Fireflies.

  As she recalled, Daisy had the rare natural-born ability to heal, so she took Healing as an elective. Healing was a class that could only be taken by people who were born with the ability in order to hone their pre-existing talent, so there was basically only one Healing class per year. Unlike most of the other girls in Novalbus, Daisy didn’t take Embroidery and also had no natural flair for it.

  Now that she really forced herself to give it some thought, Blythe vaguely remembered the Hunting Race being mentioned briefly in the narrative. Daisy hadn’t been interested in it at all, so the player didn’t get much information on it.

  According to the planner, this event would take place on the last day of August. She still had about three weeks to figure out what to do for the handkerchief.

  Groaning, Blythe chucked the silk handkerchief into one of her desk drawers. It was time to get started on her homework.

  ???

  The next morning, Blythe awoke to the delightful sound of birds chirping. The large double hung windows offered her an excellent view of a few birds perched in a large tree right outside. If she chose to open the windows and stretch her arm out, there was a good chance her hand would brush against the leaves.

  Hopping out of bed, she ambled over to the window. The birds seemed to notice her presence—they flew off in a hurry once she drew close enough to have a good look at them.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  As she headed for the bathroom, she yawned and stretched her arms. On her way there, she noticed a handheld call bell sitting right smack in the middle of the vanity dresser nearby. Aristocratic characters in the web comics from her original world used those to call for their servants while in their rooms.

  She nearly picked it up out of curiosity before awareness hit her that Suzy would likely come into the room if she accidentally rang the bell.

  Instead, she went and got ready in the bathroom first.

  When she returned, Blythe shook the bell. The clapper inside hit the sides of the bell with a satisfying impact, and an annoying ringing sound belted out. She stopped instantly, clapping her other hand over the bottom of the bell to muffle it.

  Almost as quickly, the door opened, and Suzy came in.

  "Good morning, my lady. Shall I prepare your morning tea now?"

  Blythe almost said yes but caught herself in time. Today was the day she began working out and improving her strength and stamina stats. There was no time to sit around and sip tea; she wanted to start exercising before the hot afternoon sun came out.

  "No, I don't need tea. Please get me a bottle of water. I'm going for a jog."

  This request was met with Suzy's rapid blinks.

  "Pardon me, my lady, but by 'a jog', do you mean you will be ... running?"

  "Yeah. I'm gonna be—“ She bit her lip. She was getting too relaxed and slipping up in her speech. "I'll be exercising a lot from now on, so don't be surprised."

  "Oh," Suzy said, gawking like a goldfish for a second before snapping her mouth shut. "I understand. Will you be having breakfast first?"

  "No, I'll eat afterwards." Eating before exercising was an easy way to get a side stitch. She didn't want to risk it.

  Once Suzy left, Blythe raided the closet for something she could wear for a workout. Walking down the rows of clothes racks, she browsed through dozens and dozens of skirts, dresses, blouses, and fancy nightgowns. Thankfully, she found some casual wear on a tiny clothes rack near the back. She didn't have to resort to wearing the school PE uniform.

  By the time she'd changed into a cotton T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and tied her hair up in a ponytail, Suzy had returned with her bottle of water. Blythe thanked her, drank deeply from it, and tucked it into her side with her arm.

  "Well, I'll be going now!"

  She began marching out the door. To her confusion, Suzy tagged along and held out her hands.

  "Allow me to hold that for you, Lady Blythe."

  Blythe stared. "You're coming with me?"

  Suzy looked back at her strangely. "As your handmaid, it is my duty to ensure I am available nearby to be called upon should you need me at any moment."

  "And if I asked you to stay here while I went jogging?"

  Blythe didn't particularly care whether Suzy came with her or not, but she was curious what would happen if she tried to shake her off.

  “I’m afraid I'm not understanding, my lady. As you are aware, His Grace will not allow that for your safety."

  Once again, Blythe felt like a complete idiot for even asking the question in the first place. She probably looked it to Suzy, too.

  "Never mind," she said, shaking her head and handing over the water bottle. "Here. Let's go."

  It seemed like a bad idea to carry a glass bottle in her hands while jogging, anyway. They went down the stairs together. Blythe's cheerful stride came to a stop at the sound of Reuben's brash voice.

  "Blythe! Going down for breakfast? Whoa, what are you wearing?" His eyes roved over her outfit as his mouth fell open. "I didn't even know you owned clothes like these. What are you planning to do, go for a run?"

  With all the air of someone cracking an inside joke, Reuben laughed to himself. She glared at him, unable to come up with a snarky response about his clothes. He looked dressed for physical training with his brigandine worn over a padded shirt and pants. The sword hanging from his belt by his hip was a dead giveaway. His confident posture made it seem like something he wore regularly, so she couldn’t snipe at him about it.

  If this was what it was like to have an annoying brother get under her skin, Blythe thought she understood Riley's feelings.

  “So what if I am?” she shot back. “Is there a problem?”

  He drew back, mouth opening comically wide.

  “You? Going for a run? I’ve got to see this!”

  “Aren’t you on your way to train too?” She gestured to the sword at his hip. “Should you be slacking off like this?”

  “I can train while you run. It’s not mutually exclusive!”

  This worked out well; she could follow him to wherever was ideal to start running instead of asking Suzy to point it out or wandering around like a lost duck.

  "Fine, do whatever you want."

  She followed Reuben behind the palace to what he called the 'training ground', a large, grassy space with nothing but a few archery target boards at one corner and a few wooden lawn chairs around a large table. Blythe imagined Tatiana sipping tea at the table while watching Alasdair train his body, then shook the thought from her head. She had no real idea of what people used it for.

  After a quick scan around, she guessed that one lap around the perimeter of this area would easily be equivalent to five laps around the training hall at Novalbus.

  "Well? Aren't you going to get running?" Reuben asked with one hand braced against the edge of the wooden table and leaning against it in a lazy pose.

  What ticked her off was the entertained smirk on his face, like she was some monkey at a circus about to jump through flaming hoops. If Reuben could lose favorability with her, he'd have lost five points for that.

  "I am," she snapped, tossing him a glare. "So much for claiming it's not going to hinder your training."

  He waved a hand at her. "Don't worry about me."

  Ignoring him, she turned to her handmaid instead. "Suzy, feel free to sit down and rest. Don't feel like you have to stand the whole time."

  "O-oh, thank you, my lady."

  She ignored Reuben's raised eyebrows as well, choosing to whirl around and begin a light jog along the perimeter of the training ground. Each time her gym shoe made contact with the soft, grassy ground, she pushed herself forward through sheer determination. She'd at least try her best to finish running one lap here before deciding what to do next.

  The sun was out, but its mild presence meant that the temperature was cool and perfect for exercising outdoors. The extremely fresh air, courtesy of the many trees lining the perimeter, tasted clean and delicious in her lungs. Focusing on inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth, she cleared all thoughts from her mind as she ran.

  Some time during her jog, she discovered Reuben had joined her. He overtook her at a pace that was impossible to keep up with. She pouted at his retreating back, which grew smaller and smaller as he continued running.

  Show-off.

  Her legs and lungs were already killing her. By the time she'd made it halfway around the perimeter, Reuben had overtaken her twice.

  When she finally finished her singular lap, he was practicing his sword swinging in the middle of the training ground. Suzy leaped to her feet and rushed to Blythe, offering her the water bottle.

  Blythe took it from her and greedily gulping down a few mouthfuls. It was exactly what she needed. She was ready to collapse onto one of the chairs, but she still had to work on building her strength.

  “Thanks, Suzy,” she said, capping the bottle again.

  That earned her a favorability notification.

  It had been such a casual expression of thanks, too. She supposed the original Blythe didn't bother much with expressions of gratitude with the servants.

  "You're most welcome, my lady," Suzy said, bowing her head and taking it back.

  Reuben stopped and came over, sheathing his sword into his scabbard. "You actually ran! I thought you were just pulling my leg. What brought this on?"

  She frowned. “You don't have to be so shocked. I'm trying to be healthier."

  “Of course I have to be shocked! No, you know what, ‘shock’ doesn’t even begin to describe it! I’m astounded. You even asked Dad for another letter this semester to excuse you from PE classes whenever you feel unwell. And don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes; we both know you’re just faking it because you don’t want to exercise.”

  That reminded her of what Jessica and the other girls had said to Instructor Grandville yesterday. It made sense that the original Blythe had done that too.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “Taking care of my health is part of me becoming more mature. Isn’t that a good thing?”

  He eyed her skeptically. “Tell me the truth, Blythe.”