Let's Start A Bakery!

Chapter 22

Sir Leonard finished grading the test, saying, "You passed with a hundred, again. Truly impressive."

He looked at me with sparkling eyes, most likely wondering if I was some kind of genius.

"Thank you," I replied. I wasn't sure what else I should say in response, so I waited for him to speak.

"Did you study in your own free time? How did you manage to learn all of these subjects so quickly? You are still so young." He ran a hand through his long hair.

I gotta come up with an excuse, but will he really believe me?

"I just read some books about math and grammar to prepare for our class," I started to say. "I guess I just picked it up really quickly. History though, not so much. I find it more boring than any other subject."

"Still, you managed to study difficult math in such a short amount of time. And grammar is something that normally takes students a long period of time to study since it can't be absorbed all at once," Sir Leonard said.

"Ummmm, well I-"

Sir Leonard interrupted me, "At your level of math and English, you would be at the same level as most scholars. But for someone to be able to pick up subjects so quickly at such a young age... Tell me, how long did you take to prepare for our lessons."

Maybe pretending to be smart will help Sir Leonard become an ally of mine.

"I took three days to prepare," I said.

Honestly, though, it doesn't feel that unbelievable for me to have learned these subjects so quickly. The math was so easy, and the grammar was pretty basic. Then again, I don't really know how normal seven-year-olds act.

"Only three days!?" He wore a shocked expression on his face.

"I understand now," Sir Leonard said seriously. "You must be some kind of genius. Even though I was considered smarter than average in my age group when I was younger, it would have taken me at least a year to understand half of what you had learned in just three days."

"If you'd like, I could teach you more complex math and English. In the future you could become a great scholar!" His eyes shined with excitement at the prospect of being able to train a prodigy like me.

"I'm really grateful you think so highly of me, but..." I debated saying this for fear of breaking his heart. "...I really hate math and English! Especially math, which I find so boring and tedious. If anything, I'd prefer if you taught me alchemy instead. At least it's something I'm interested in."

"I see..." He looked a bit disappointed but soon got over it.

"Well that's alright, not everyone is interested in math. I was never a huge fan of it either. But I'm curious, if you hated learning it so much, why bother studying at all?" He adjusted his glasses and looked at me.

I didn't study though...

"I just wanted to get it over with. Why not learn it quickly and be done with the subject? If I had to start from the beginning, I'd spend our lessons learning math over and over again, but now I don't have to."

"Not only are you smart, but also wise." Sir Leonard said, mostly to himself. Suddenly, he looked serious again.

"You act a lot more mature than your age, and I noticed that when we first met. Do you mind if I ask some more personal questions?"

"I don't mind at all."

"Alright." He cleared his throat before speaking quietly, "I'm sure you are aware of all the rumors in high society about your..." he hesitated, "...unrestrained personality. Why did you behave that way in front of others but act so refined in front of me?"