Chapter 1: Our Summer in Northcourt
It had been decided that my brothers and I would be spending our summer in Northcourt County. I’d expected I would have to sew some clothes for Henry before then, but it seemed like there was going to be a lot more to do before we could go.
Princess Margaret had casually invited us to visit the summer palace while we were in Northcourt, so now I had to have a whole conversation with Aunt Lilianna and my cousin Lucene. Then, on top of sewing clothes for my brothers, I would also have to tailor my own, since they’d gotten too small for me. I was glad to have grown, but I didn’t want the extra work.
“I wish I could skip going to Aunt Lilianna’s,” I mumbled to myself. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk once we’re in Northcourt County... Oh well, I suppose this can’t wait until then.”
Aunt Lilianna had gotten quite worked up when we’d had the study sessions with Prince Keith, so she would likely make a big fuss again about Samuel being invited to the summer palace.
I wonder if Samuel has unused clothes he can go swimming in. I guess Northcourt County is close to the beach, so he probably already goes swimming.
My discussion with Aunt Lilianna could possibly wrap up quickly, but Angela’s invitation was going to be a bolt from the blue for Lucene. I anticipated Princess Jane and Angela wouldn’t get along very well because of their differing interests, but perhaps meeting once would help Lucene give up on making her daughter friends with the second princess. Angela seemed like she was much more suited to join the music club with Princess Margaret.
I couldn’t really understand noble norms surrounding these sorts of things, so I had no choice but to leave Angela at the mercy of her mother. However, I did feel especially bad that Angela was forced to take riding lessons, since I myself hated them. I knew she liked music, because she’d looked really happy when I’d handed her some sheet music. I’d felt that I’d done what I could in securing her the invitation to the summer palace, bu