I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 57

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 57

‘Easy~’
Hehe. The exam questions were far too simple. I could barely contain the song bubbling up inside me. But no one could ever know what I was truly thinking.
I lowered my head until my nose nearly touched the test paper.
“Ugh….”
“Please remain silent during the exam.”
Madam Frea, who was proctoring the exam for the Church, responded immediately to my groan. After that, I deliberately moved my pen slowly and pouted my lips.
I was fully displaying the image of a struggling bottom-ranked student despairing over difficult questions.
The exam lasted one hour. I finished the final question with barely a moment to spare.
Exactly 61 points. Perfect.
“Wait, just a moment! Let me review this one more question—!”
The moment time was called, the test papers were collected sharply. Mati whined to Madam Frea for more time, so I followed suit.
“Just one more minute, please.”
“That is not possible.”
“Yes….”
That was enough. I released my test paper without hesitation and stretched my arms. One concern remained on my mind.
‘Did Calips do well? I hope he was okay?’
I glanced back. Calips sat in his seat with his mouth firmly shut.
The level test results for Calips that I’d requested from Akum last week—fortunately, only half were disastrous.
While some subjects showed respectable upper-tier performance, others revealed guessing skills so abysmal it was pitiful. Korean, mathematics, biology, ….

[What should I do? This boy doesn’t even have luck when guessing?]
“There’s nothing impossible for Berry the precision teacher!”

‘How much effort it took to compile that summary.’
Once the subject was decided, I checked the lecture notes from Calips’s bookshelf for the material covered over the past month.
Since Madam Frea’s assignments kept me alone in the classroom after lessons, gathering the information wasn’t difficult.
I organized the key points within that scope and asked Akum to deliver them. The content focused on what I would have chosen as test questions if I were the instructor.
‘Why is he so quiet? If he’d found it impressive, he would’ve been bragging about it by now. Could he have not read my summary notes?’
My summary was flawless. It was the kind of brilliant summary that made me want to pick it up and read it without thinking—and yet…!
There were others who found Calips’s unusual quietness peculiar. Specifically, the Twins sitting behind me. Ciel wasn’t paying attention to anything but her books, apparently preparing for the next subject.
“Brother, you haven’t said anything since earlier. Did you do well?”
Mati turned around in his seat, draping his arm over the backrest as he asked.
“Don’t ask Calips things like that. It was literature.”
Hati stopped Mati. Calips, who had been staring blankly at the noisy Twins in front of him, opened his mouth awkwardly.
“…Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Does that mean you did well?”
At the questioning tone, focus returned to Calips’s eyes. He nodded with a confident expression.
“I did well.”

***

The second exam subject on the first day was history.
Since Calips was also in a safe position for this one, I took the test with ease. Considering my level—having only just begun reading—the questions were mostly picture-based.

Choose the animal that symbolizes the Trabel Count Family from the following options.
1. (rabbit image) 2. (eagle photo) 3. (frog image) 4. (snail image)

Many of the questions had their answers laid bare. I could easily surpass sixty points without a shred of doubt.
But then.
“Ugh.”
The exams had finished by noon, yet I should have grown suspicious the moment I heard I was to return to the Education Hall after lunch.
I let out a shriek upon seeing the stack of papers piled on my desk.
“Why during exam period?!”
“Your Trabelian score was sixty-one points. Despite it being your first examination, I posed only fundamental questions.”
“But I did surpass sixty….”
“Merely surpassed it, yes. You require supplementary instruction. I’ve noted the questions you answered incorrectly—copy each question and answer ten times.”
Supplementary instruction, of all things.
My afternoon plans crumbled to dust.
I lodged a protest with Madam Frea to reclaim my freedom.
“B-but I need to prepare for tomorrow’s exam…!”
“Tomorrow’s practical examination need not concern you. Since you have not studied horsemanship, swordsmanship, or ballroom dancing, there is nothing for you to be examined on.”
“Oh.”
That was intriguing news. Tomorrow’s subjects were horsemanship and ballroom dancing. I had wondered how the exams would proceed since I’d never attended those classes.
It seemed I wouldn’t be taking any exam at all.
The pity was that I had been making some effort to surpass sixty points, which now felt wasted.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner…?”
“Did you not hear from Miss Mariane? She said she would tell you directly.”
“Ah.”
Aunt Mariane had cut her off mid-sentence. How petty of her revenge.
In any case, I get to rest tomorrow, don’t I?!
‘Once I finish this assignment!’
As if reading my thoughts, Madam Frea spoke.
“I shall prepare work for you to do tomorrow as well. Come to the Education Hall and complete it before you leave. The day after, you will review the questions you answered incorrectly on the third day’s exam.”
“…Yes.”
After Madam Frea left, I found myself alone in the classroom once more. With my assignments.
“Life is… so harsh….”
My allowance had been cut off, and the assignments never seemed to end.
The manufacturing fee that Marshall Grandmother promised to give me would have to wait until next year at the earliest.
Sigh. It was then, as I contemplated the trials of being seven years old, that I heaved a deep breath.
The door creaked open.
“Huh?”
My eyes locked directly with Calips as he opened the classroom’s front door.
What? Why did he come?
Calips never set foot toward the Education Hall once classes ended.
‘Did he come to pick a fight…!’
I hardened my gaze, refusing to yield to Calips’s stare.
Calips opened his mouth.
“Stop staring.”
With that, Calips walked toward the back row with steps tinged by faint irritation, tossing his bag onto his desk.
I continued watching Calips with my eyes, startled when he collapsed into his chair and pulled a book from the shelf.
“Oh? You’re studying here?”
“Yeah. The atmosphere at home has been suffocating lately because of your father.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
I apologized immediately. While Aunt Mariane deserved what happened, Calips wasn’t on my revenge list for the pearl earring incident.
Besides, Aunt Mariane had a temperamental nature. If Calips, living under the same roof, said the atmosphere was suffocating, it wasn’t a lie. Since I’d unintentionally dragged him into this, I owed him an apology for that part.
As I apologized sincerely, a hint of surprise flickered in Calips’s eyes.
“You’re not picking a fight this time?”
“Because I really am sorry. But if you want, Calips, I can pick a fight with you!”
“…I’m going to study, so be quiet from now on.”
Calips, cleanly dismissing my goodwill, pulled something from his bag.
‘Oh.’
The summary notes from Berry’s lectures—the kind you can’t help but notice.
It seems he benefited quite well from today’s exam.

***

“Calips scored 85 points in Literature?”
“Yes. Young Master Calips appears to have studied diligently.”
“The boy was terrified. When he applies himself, he actually does well—yet he’d been scoring in the 50s for Literature.”
Laksek, receiving the report from Callet in his Study, leaned back from his chair and clicked his tongue.
“And that one?”
By now, it was second nature to understand.
When Count Trabel referred to a specific person by something other than their name, he was typically referring to just one individual.
“Miss Berry received 61 points in Literature and 63 points in History. I did instruct them to make the questions easier….”
Callet reported in an awkward tone. Even though he’d instructed the examiners to keep the questions simple—at the level of a child just learning to read—it had apparently been difficult for Berry.
Barely passing 60 points.
‘It seemed like a hint that this year’s lowest rank in the Education Hall was already decided.’
What Madam Frea had said about Berry on the first day of class was becoming reality.
I felt ashamed. Callet didn’t need to feel ashamed, but since he’d become Berry’s guardian in spirit, it felt like he had to take responsibility for her affairs.
“If you mentioned the failing score to inspire the other young masters and ladies to study harder, I understand. However, this is Miss Berry’s first exam, and given the circumstances, she was nervous and couldn’t perform at her true level….”
“Kh-hup.”
Callet, his conscience pricking him as he kept his gaze at the edge of the desk while defending Berry, suddenly lifted his head at the burst of laughter.
“Count…sir?”
Count Trabel was covering his face with his hand, his shoulders trembling with laughter.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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