Life

Chapter 1

Seri was a bright young girl like her parents. She loved playing piano, and the violin. Mina decided to put Seri into an English kindergarten early so she would have less of a Japanese accent when she spoke English. At the age of 5, Seri could speak 3 languages fluently; Korean, Japanese, and English. Not only did she speak 3 languages fluently, but she was also great at maths even better than some kids two years older. Her parents did not know why or even how this was possible.

Mina told Seri on the first day of school; "Have fun sweetheart, and I will be right here to pick you up at 12:30. Okay?" Seri nodded as she went skipping to her teacher. But the fun was short-lasted. At the end of the year, the principal called her parents. They thought it was bad news.

"Your Royal Highnesses, hello, I am Principal Yoshida. Nice to meet you."

James said; " Hello Principal Yoshida, nice to meet you as well. So what is the issue? Has my daughter done something? Has someone bullied my daughter? " 

" Oh absolutely not, Seri is an exceptionally great child, but we have noticed that she is extremely good at maths according to our maths teacher, Ms. Ramsey." 

Ms. Ramsey said with a smile on her face: " Your Royal Highnesses, I have noticed that your daughter can recite the multiplication table from 1 to 10 with little to no errors, and she knows how to divide smaller numbers, and to be honest, the kids her age can barely count to 20. Your daughter is exceptional. Not only that she can communicate with all of her teachers in flawless English, Korean, and Japanese. So we were thinking with your permission, we would like to move your daughter to 2nd grade instead of 1st. 

Mina and James were shocked. They could hardly believe it. So instead they decided to test her themselves. Seri came rushing into the room and went to hug her Appa (Dad) and Omma (Mom). Sana asked in English: " Seri, can you recite to me the times table of 8?" 

Seri nodded and started saying: " 8 times 1 is 8, 8 times 2 is 16, 8 times 3 is 24, 8 times 4 is 32, 8 times 5 is 40, 8 times 6 is 48, 8 times 7 is 56, 8 times 8 is 64, 8 times 9 is 72, and 8 times 10 is 80! " 

Her parents were shocked they didn't know their daughter was this smart. Mina asked in Japanese: " どうやってそれを知っているのか教えてもらえますか？" 

Seri said in perfect Japanese: " 簡単だよ、おばあちゃんが1時間で教えてくれた。" 

Mina was surprised, that her mum could teach a 5-year-old the multiplication table in less than an hour. What was going on? Mina decided to call her mum and ask her: " お母さん、どうやってミナに九九を1時間以内に教えたの？" 

Her mum replied: あなたの娘さんはとても聡明なので、九九の半分を20分以内に覚えました。私はただ彼女と少し楽しみたかっただけですが、彼女がこんなに早くすべてを学ぶとは予想していませんでした。" Her mum replied in English: " So what is the matter if I taught her, it just means she is smarter now." 

Mina said, " Well mum, the principal is asking us if we want to move Seri up to the 2nd grade instead of her going to the first grade." 

"Well if anything, terrific, move her up. It will challenge her more. Better for her in my opinion." 

Mina stated: "Well James and I are still not sure. I mean what if they bully her? What if she finds it too difficult? I don't want to put that much pressure on a 5-year-old. " 

Mai, Mina's mum said: " Sana put me on speakerphone. "

Sana turned on the speakerphone and Mai said: " Listen to me, your daughter will be heir to one of your thrones. She is bright and capable of handling the pressure, but if you think she is taking on too much too soon, take her out, but let her have a trial run, tomorrow maybe, and just let her see if she likes it or not. If she does, move her to the second grade, if not, let her stay back in the first grade until she is ready. Okay? " 

James looked at Sana, and Sana looked at James. They both looked at Seri sitting in the middle of them in the car. Seri said, " I want to try tomorrow! " They were scared but proud at the same time. She was going to second grade tomorrow.