Saoirse Academy of Alchemy

Chapter 4: Celestial Scholars

Chapter 4: Celestial Scholars

I was trembling, hands shaking while I do my task and clean the training room that was now back to its normal state. But every move was clumsy with uneven steps on the stone floor while the earlier incident remained to haunt my head.

I knew I shouldn't be messing up right now, especially in the training room of celestial scholars, especially with all the weapons and the dangerous things surrounding me.

I kept wiping my tears off my cheeks while cleaning the entire place. It was indeed a normal room when there was no magic involved, with stone walls and high dome ceiling, and a smooth sturdy floor. Every room in the underground was like a hollowed cave.

Carefully dusting off the weapons hanging on the walls and place carefully on long tables on display, the blades and sharp tips of daggers shone under the dim light of the place.

After hours of cleaning, I eventually calmed down and headed back to the outbuilding. Did the celestial scholar inform someone about the incident? Would I be kicked out of the academy? Several questions nagged like stones being thrown at my head, making me clasp the puffy skirt of my uniform with my cold sweaty hands while walking through the dim pathway.

What would Martha think of me? I didn't want to disappoint Martha.

I arrived quietly at the outbuilding. It was late in the evening and the entire place had settled down and everyone in the building had ended their day. The golden lights had dimmed in the drawing room, the hallways whispered in the silence, and only the dining hall and kitchen illuminated lights and deciphered movements for people like me who had just arrived in the outbuilding.

Instead of going to the dining hall to eat a late dinner, I went straight upstairs. Martha was already in the room dressed in floral sleeping clothes with her long hair tucked inside a satin cap. Martha didn't look like someone who had a penchant for floral designs but most of her clothes and her stuff had traces of them.

"Did you have dinner?"

I tried not to stare in her direction while removing the apron from my uniform.

"Did you the things I reminded you of?"

I paused from placing the apron in the laundry basket. It was clear that Martha still had no idea. The incident had not reached her yet. But how long?

"Yes, I cleaned the entire place and was careful not to excessively clean the weapons and equipment inside," I mumbled, avoiding her gaze entirely.

"Good. You can rest now."

That night, after taking a shower and settling on my bed, even though I knew Martha no longer entertains questions about work once she's on her bed, I asked her about them. The celestial scholars.

"You said they're the top students of the academy..."

"Yes," she answered from her bed while reading a small old book.

"Are they that important?" I was careful with my choice of words while testing the waters on how serious my offense would be once it was known.

"I knew little about them," she muttered with her eyes still on her book. "There are five members as of this moment and the academy put special effort to train them."

"Why?"

This time, Martha placed the open book on her lap to face me. "Why do you want to know?"

I shake my head against the soft pillow while staring straight at the ceiling. "Nothing," I lied. "I'm just curious."

"Don't be," was her reply. "You don't need that kind of distraction in your work."

Martha told me to sleep my curiosity out. After all, it would be Monday tomorrow. If it would be this easy to mess up with students around, I would surely have a hard time doing my task while catering to students flocking the campus and main castle tomorrow. I wasn't even sure how long I could keep this up.