Chapter 79: sunday again

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: sunday again

The Student Reading Lounge was noticeably busier than it had been the previous weekend.

Apparently...

They weren’t the only ones who had decided that studying was easier with company.

Claire arrived first.

Or rather...

Her books did.

The stack landed on the familiar table beside the tall windows with a heavy thud.

She looked at it.

Then let out a theatrical sigh.

"I’d like to file a formal complaint."

Amelia, who had just arrived carrying four cups of coffee, smiled.

"Against whom?"

Claire opened the notebook she had filled only yesterday.

"The Ashford Foundation."

Amelia blinked.

"Oh?"

"I thought our third meeting would mostly be planning."

Claire flipped through several pages filled with neat handwriting.

"Instead..."

"I somehow came home with enough notes to fill another notebook."

Amelia laughed.

"I know exactly what you mean."

"I kept thinking we’d finally reached the end of the discussion..."

"...then another question came up."

She smiled to herself.

"I suppose that’s what happens when an idea becomes an actual project."

Eleanor arrived moments later carrying only a neatly organized folder and two textbooks.

Claire glanced at the surprisingly small stack.

"...How?"

"I summarized my notes last night."

Claire lowered her eyes to her own collection of books and papers.

"I suddenly understand where all my free time disappeared."

Vivienne arrived last.

She smiled as she approached the familiar table beside the windows.

"I see we’ve officially adopted this corner."

Claire nodded.

"We’ve been here twice."

"I think that qualifies."

Vivienne laughed as she took her seat.

Outside...

Students drifted through the gardens carrying coffee and textbooks beneath the warm Sunday sun.

Compared with the weekdays...

The campus still felt peaceful.

But only just.

The first preliminary examinations were drawing nearer.

Amelia handed everyone their coffee before taking her seat.

For a little while...

None of them opened their books.

Instead...

They simply enjoyed the quiet morning.

Claire rested her chin upon one hand.

"I still can’t quite believe yesterday."

Amelia nodded immediately.

"When they announced the four proposals..."

"I honestly thought they were going to ask us to help implement someone else’s project."

"So did I," Claire admitted.

"I certainly wasn’t expecting ours."

Vivienne smiled quietly.

She hadn’t been surprised that Evelyn’s proposal had been selected.

That much had happened in the original novel.

What she hadn’t expected...

Was that the Foundation would implement four projects instead of one.

Including hers.

That...

She never would have predicted.

Eleanor smiled.

"I imagine the Foundation saw something worth developing."

Claire laughed softly.

"I hope so."

"Otherwise..."

"They’re placing a great deal of faith in us."

Amelia smiled.

"I think that’s the intimidating part."

A brief silence settled over the table.

Then Claire laughed again.

"Although..."

"I’m very grateful for my Senior Coordinator."

Amelia nodded at once.

"So am I."

Claire smiled.

"Every time I wasn’t sure where to begin..."

"He’d already point me toward the next step."

"And whenever I overlooked something..."

"He somehow noticed before I did."

Amelia laughed.

"I had exactly the same experience."

"My Senior Coordinator never took over..."

"But every suggestion somehow made the work feel much more manageable."

Eleanor smiled.

"I suppose that’s why they were chosen."

"They’ve spent years volunteering with the Foundation."

"They know the system."

Claire nodded.

"I honestly don’t know what I’d have done yesterday without all that experience."

She looked toward Vivienne.

"What about Damian?"

Vivienne thought for a moment.

"...He was different."

The others looked at her curiously.

"He answered every question I asked."

"But..."

"He almost never answered the next one before I asked it."

Claire tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

Vivienne smiled faintly.

"I think..."

"...he probably knew most of the answers before I even finished asking the questions."

"He knows the Foundation."

"The departments."

"The people."

"The procedures."

"He could’ve told me exactly what to do."

She paused.

"But he didn’t."

"He let me work through each decision myself."

Amelia blinked.

"Wasn’t that... harder?"

Vivienne laughed softly.

"For both of us?"

"I think so."

"It probably took much longer."

She looked down at the notebook she had filled the previous afternoon.

"But..."

"I also think I learned more because of it."

For a brief moment...

The table grew thoughtful.

Then Eleanor smiled.

"Different Senior Coordinators."

"Different mentoring styles."

Claire nodded.

"I suppose both approaches have their strengths."

"I think so too," Vivienne agreed.

"They all made yesterday easier."

"They simply did it differently."

The conversation naturally drifted to a close.

Claire glanced toward the impressive pile of textbooks waiting beside her.

Her smile slowly disappeared.

"...Unfortunately."

"The real challenge begins now."

"The preliminaries," Amelia said knowingly.

Claire nodded solemnly.

"I’ve reached another important decision."

Eleanor didn’t even look up.

"I’m almost afraid to ask."

Claire folded her hands dramatically.

"I refuse..."

"...to let Preliminary Examinations diminish my excitement for the Founder’s Ball."

Amelia laughed.

"I’ve already decided on my hairstyle."

"So have I."

Claire admitted.

Almost together...

Both of them turned toward Vivienne.

Claire smiled knowingly.

"You’ve been awfully quiet."

Vivienne laughed.

"I was listening."

"Were you?"

Amelia teased.

"Or were you thinking about next Monday evening?"

Vivienne paused.

Then smiled.

"...Perhaps a little."

Claire pointed triumphantly.

"I knew it."

A faint blush appeared upon Vivienne’s cheeks.

"I am looking forward to it."

She admitted honestly.

For just a fleeting moment...

Her thoughts wandered.

The grand ballroom.

The music.

Anthony waiting for her.

A smile quietly touched her lips.

Then...

Almost deliberately...

She reached for her Constitutional Law textbook.

"I’d still rather enjoy the Ball knowing I’ve done my best on my preliminaries."

Amelia laughed.

"That’s exactly what I’d expect you to say."

"The Ball will still be there next Monday."

Vivienne smiled.

"But Constitutional Law isn’t going to study itself."

Claire let out an exaggerated sigh.

"I dislike how sensible that sounds."

"You’ll appreciate it on Wednesday."

"I’ll appreciate it after Thursday."

"That’s probably more honest."

The four laughed together.

Vivienne lowered her eyes to the books and papers before her.

Constitutional Law.

Economics.

Political Theory.

The familiar weight of textbooks felt oddly reassuring.

In her previous life...

She had completed university long ago.

Then, years of working on their family’a business had followed.

She had learned to manage people.

Projects.

Businesses.

That experience helped her see the bigger picture.

It helped her understand people more quickly.

And it gave her the patience to ask questions instead of pretending to know every answer.

But...

Academic knowledge was different.

It had been years since she had last sat for an examination.

She was rusty.

There was no point pretending otherwise.

St. Albion’s students had been immersed in their studies without interruption.

Their minds were sharper.

Quicker.

More accustomed to absorbing new material.

She had spent the past few weeks catching up.

Slowly...

Steadily...

She could already feel herself readjusting to the rhythm of university life.

Even so...

She wasn’t arrogant enough to assume she could outperform students who had been preparing for this far longer than she had.

Fortunately...

University wasn’t measured only by how quickly one memorized facts.

Experience still mattered.

Maturity mattered.

Understanding why something worked often proved more valuable than simply remembering that it did.

She smiled faintly.

Still...

That wasn’t an excuse to become complacent.

After all...

It would be terribly embarrassing for a twenty-nine-year-old woman...

To fail her exams and get kicked out of St. Albion because she hadn’t studied enough.

Her fingers tightened lightly around her pen.

"I’d better do my part."

With renewed determination...

She turned the page and continued reading.

Finally...

Books opened.

Highlighters appeared.

Loose sheets of notes gradually spread across the table until scarcely any space remained.

The conversation slowly gave way to quiet concentration.

Claire was the first to break the silence.

"I have a question."

She tapped a paragraph in her Constitutional Law notes.

"I understand the principle..."

"But why is this exception treated differently?"

Vivienne leaned over to read it.

Before she could answer...

Eleanor spoke.

"It comes from the precedent established in..."

The discussion continued naturally.

One question led to another.

Sometimes Vivienne explained a concept.

Sometimes Amelia connected an economic theory to a practical example.

Sometimes Claire challenged an interpretation until all four were satisfied with the answer.

And whenever none of them felt entirely certain...

Eleanor quietly reached for the reference text.

No one around the table tried to outshine anyone else.

They simply helped one another understand.

The hours slipped by almost unnoticed.

Outside the tall windows...

The afternoon sun gradually drifted westward.

Tomorrow...

Classes would resume.

Club activities would begin again.

Then Wednesday.

The first preliminary examinations.

Friday.

Their next Foundation meeting.

Saturday.

Their first field visit.

And beyond all of that...

Next Monday evening.

The Founder’s Ball.

One busy week awaited them.

For now...

There were only four friends.

Four cups of coffee.

A table covered with books.

And a quiet Sunday spent preparing for everything that lay ahead.