She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 125

SS 2: Hanael's Academy Entrance (1)

Five harmonious and happy years passed.

During that time, Sierra fulfilled her duties as a proper Duchess, hosting tea parties and managing household affairs. Naturally, she also interacted with doctors from the Hippo Kingdom, using her pharmacy skills to perform good deeds for the poor on the streets.

Hanael remained constantly at her side. She watched with fascination as Sierra administered medicine to others.

Saying things like My Mommy is the best! And I want to be like Mommy too!, Hanael filled her heart with complete happiness.

Even when she warned her to stay inside because of the danger, Hanael watched with sparkling eyes as Sierra helped patients on the street in the name of the Duchess of Ideos.

Then, one day—

An event shattered the peace of Sierra, Cassius, and Hanael as they enjoyed tea together in the drawing room of the Duke's estate.

[Hanael] "Hanael wants to go to the Academy too!"

She dropped the sudden bombshell of going to the Academy.

Sierra asked in confusion.

[Sierra] "Huh? All of a sudden?"

[Hanael] "Yup! I want to go to the Pharmacy Academy!"

Not just any academy, but a Pharmacy Academy.

Sierra asked, bewildered.

[Sierra] "......You want to go to a Pharmacy Academy?"

Signing a report nearby, Cassius answered.

[Cassius] "Hanael reached school age."

[Sierra] "Our child...... is only ten years old?"

Recently, the Imperial Academy raised the entrance age, accepting students starting at twelve years old. Concerns spread that receiving high-intensity education from too young an age could harm children.

[Hanael] "But a genius can enter starting at ten!"

She held out a pamphlet while speaking.

Having associated with friends from the Magic Tower and young noble ladies lately, Hanael acquired a new channel for information.

Sierra reluctantly took the Imperial Academy Entrance Pamphlet Hanael offered.

[Sierra] "Mmm......"

The Imperial Academy entrance pamphlet listed criteria similar to those of the past. Just as Hanael said, twelve was the standard age, yet a sentence noted that exceptionally clever children who passed all entrance examinations could enter starting at ten.

I entered relatively early because I excelled in the entrance exam back then, Sierra recalled.

While she fell into past memories staring at the pamphlet, Hanael continued quickly.

[Hanael] "It is written there, right? A genius can enter at ten, right?"

Sierra nodded reluctantly. However, the clause stating that students below a certain level couldn't enter remained invisible to Hanael. After all, she considered herself a genius, just like Sierra did during childhood.

How does she resemble my younger self so completely?

At times like this, genetics amazed Sierra. Watching Hanael chatter excitedly about the uniform's appearance, she shifted her gaze to the opposite side.

Cassius will stop her in a moment like this.

Right then, he spoke beside her with a serious expression.

[Cassius] "They say uniforms fit a twelve-year-old's average build. What do ten-year-olds do? Must we alter it?"

Here stood another doting fool. Sierra alone seemed aware of the fact that Hanael had not taken the entrance exam yet. At this rate, Cassius and Hanael looked ready to attend school tomorrow.

Needing to bring order to the situation, she tapped the table, drawing their scattered attention.

[Sierra] "Now then, let us agree that Hanael will take the Academy entrance exam as she wishes."

[Hanael] "Yup!"

[Sierra] "Hanael, then you must prepare for the exam now, right?"

Though Hanael had a tutor, Sierra wondered if hiring an entrance exam tutor was necessary. Believing it was too early to become an Academy parent, she knew nothing about entrance exams.

Sierra stroked Hanael's hair with a worried expression. Hanael grinned brightly and twirled around on the floor.

[Hanael] "Yup! Prepare for the exam! Hanael is a student now!"

[Sierra] "I told you, you have not taken the exam yet......"

[Hanael] "Anyway! I will pass! I must tell Grandma too!"

Wearing a happy smile, Hanael dashed out the door. Though the door slammed shut, shouts of Grandmaaaa! echoed down the hallway. Whenever Hanael passed through, a room lay completely overturned.

Sierra looked at Cassius and spoke.

[Sierra] "Will our child be all right going to the Academy?"

Though five years passed, gossip regarding the commoner Duchess and her daughter circulated frequently. Though the Pope offered occasional protection regarding Hanael's abilities, that was a separate matter.

Suspicious gazes still surrounded them. Over the past few years, commoners' views improved thanks to Sierra performing good deeds on the streets, yet nobles still looked down on the commoner Duchess.

I wanted Hanael to mingle with people after building a firmer foundation.

Though the Academy selected talented children regardless of commoner or noble status, nobles still formed the majority.

Sierra worried whether Hanael might suffer exclusion from arrogant nobles full of privilege, or whether ten-year-old Hanael—still a small baby in her eyes—might get hurt.

Yet, because Hanael desired it, investigating the Academy as a mother became her foremost priority.

---

Researching the Imperial Academy entrance exams recently left Sierra stunned.

She heard that interest in the Academy soared as the Noble Faction, including Duke Ideos, enacted merit-based policies. Yet she never imagined it reached this degree.

Inside the drawing room of the Duke's estate, she leaned back against the sofa while examining entrance exam pamphlets and various materials cluttered across the table.

[Sierra] "I can only sigh......"

Amille, volunteering as Hanael's entrance exam helper, patted Sierra playfully while speaking.

[Amille] "Right, understandable."

She offered an awkward smile to Amille, who brought back all this information.

[Sierra] "I honestly had no idea the Academy entrance exam was this difficult."

Still remaining single after five years, Amille chewed on cheese while nodding.

[Amille] "Of course. No decent academy exists in the Empire besides the Imperial Academy. It is the elite track."

[Sierra] "Was it like that when I was young too?"

Sierra also graduated as a talented alumna of the Imperial Academy. Yet because she attended at a young age, she barely remembered the competition rate.

Amille slapped her knee and widened her eyes.

[Amille] "Hey, do you not remember? It was like that when you were young too!"

[Sierra] "Wait, the competition rate was this high when I was young too?"

[Amille] "Yeah. Though not quite to this extent."

She waved her hand casually while speaking.

[Amille] "That was twenty years ago, but I nearly died trying to get you admitted back then."

I thought I entered easily back then. So massive a behind-the-scenes effort took place.

Yet Amille continued nonchalantly.

[Amille] "Compared to back then, educational fever has exploded even more now."

[Sierra] "Heh......"

Unlike the flustered Sierra, Amille chewed her cheese and spoke as if it were no big deal.

[Amille] "These days, everything is an entrance exam war. There are even Magic Tower prep academies."

[Sierra] "Wait, prep academies exist?"

[Amille] "Yes, so unlike the past, kids entering the Magic Tower are sharp."

[Sierra] "How the world changes......"

As she stared down at the pamphlet in disbelief, Amille dropped advice casually.

[Amille] "Word has it that entering the Imperial Academy without attending a prep academy is nearly impossible."

A prep academy......

Hanael's bright, silly expression flashed through her mind.

Should I send her to a prep academy?

Every mother wished for her child not to fall behind others.

[Sierra] "Where is it? It is not some strange place, right?"

[Amille] "It is called the Hermes Prep Academy....... You will understand once you go."

[Sierra] "......I will understand once I go?"

[Amille] "Yes. And that academy doesn't exploit kids; it recognizes talented children and provides entrance exam consulting tailored to them."

[Sierra] "Hmm......"

[Amille] "They never force kids to do anything they dislike, making it wildly popular among children. Money can't buy a spot there."

[Sierra] "Money can't buy a spot......"

[Amille] "They only accept talented children and reject rude parents. Children of royalty, grand dukes, and marquises get turned away constantly."

That level of authority seemed to place them above the social hierarchy itself. Sierra realized how serious nobles were about education and how fair the Imperial Academy selection process remained.

She exhaled a sigh and rubbed her dry face.

[Sierra] "Then will I be fine......?"

[Amille] "Mmm....... In my opinion, those people will accept you."

Amille concluded her words vaguely, wearing a face that seemed to know something.

Sierra didn't dig further, offering a nod.

Well, I will find out when I go.

---

Sierra arrived at the prep academy not as the Duchess of Ideos, but as an ordinary parent. She stood flustered by the massive crowd despite the summer heat.

Why is everyone standing outside under the scorching sun?

Beside the academy Amille recommended, carriages belonging to high nobles lined up in rows. Carriages of wealthy commoner merchant guilds rested on the right side as well.......

They said entrance exam fever spares neither noble nor commoner...... That was true.

Over there stood Marchioness Seira, whom she befriended, and over on the other side stood Count Airen. Familiar faces filled the crowd.

After standing in the scorching sun for dozens of minutes, Sierra finally received her queue number and stepped inside the Hermes Academy, reaching the entrance of the director's office.

Sweat beaded on her forehead from the heat, but she endured while surveying the neatly decorated interior.

Dozens of nobles got thrown out for throwing tantrums here, so stay patient. Do it for Hanael.

Rumors circulated that a noble suffered total ruin after the director caught a weakness, proving this was far from an ordinary academy.

The situation carried intense tension.

Sierra wondered what teacher led this entrance exam craze, and what level of prestige allowed them to reject royalty without mercy if they fell short of standards.

Word had it they acted arrogantly; she worried whether they would treat a commoner-born Duchess with contempt.

While she pondered how to win their favor and hire them, the door to the director's office opened.

A man presumably serving as the director's secretary bowed politely and spoke.

[Secretary] "Next lady, please enter."

The door opened, and she froze upon spotting two familiar figures inside.

[Sierra] "Huh?"

And panic struck those two as well.

[Man] "......Huh?"

[Man] "......?"

Silence lingered for a moment. Sierra slowly raised her fist.

To think I would meet these two here. It is hot enough to die out here, and now I need to punch them.

---

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