The First Princess of Granzreich

Episode 8: Leo studies hard!

"Leonhard." Bruno crossed his arms. "What is 1+1?"

Leonhard gaped before answering hesitantly. "Three....?"

They all facepalmed. Or in Kai's and Heine's case, they just smiled lightly and adjusted their glasses respectively.

Licht then pulled Bruno's shoulder along with him, turning around.

"Hold on-! With Leonie's current knowledge, can he even score 60 in three days? Our cold-blooded father will strip him of his right to the throne at this rate...!" Licht whisper-shouted.

"I told you not to speak of father that way!" Bruno whisper-shouted back.

Heine held his chin in thought. "The competency test is comprised of four subjects: Language, Mathematics, History and Geography- All of the questions are basic, with majority of the grading concentrated in Mathematics. It would be nigh on impossible to pass without a fair grasp of calculations." He spoke gravely.

Bruno looked back at Leonhard in worry. "I promised to help him study- and I intend to do to the greatest extent possible..." He said before speed walking to Leonhard's direction and grasping his shoulders.

"Think carefully, now, Leonhard. Are you sure the sum of one and one is three?" Bruno said while shaking the shoulders of his younger sibling.

"Think REEEAAL hard!" Licht and Lilia chorused, looking at Leonhard expectantly.

A few seconds ticked by, with Leonhard grasping his chin in deep thoughtfully, before he smiled, slamming his fist on his palm and turning to his siblings, smiling widely.

"I got it!" Leonhard shouted. "The answer is 11!" He smiled expectantly, wanting praise. However,

'That's not how arithmetic works.'  They chorused in their minds, a breeze sweeping their hairs and framing their dejected expressions.

"Still wrong!" Licht announced, to which Leonhard let out a dejected 'ehh' in response.

"Perhaps you should try to use your fingers, prince.' Heine advised.

Leonhard perked up then crossed his arms, closing his eyes in thought. "Ah, right, I do remember hearing this from the tutors."

He said as he turned around, and brought a hand below his face, ticking off fingers as he counted. "Let's see here....one plus one......one, two...Ah!-" He gasped in delight. "I got it!" He said, before turning back around and thrusting his two fingers forward. "The answer is two!"

Heine nodded in reply as the other royals sagged in relief.

"Correct, your highness." He said.

"Yeah, I think I can score sixty points now." Leonhard nodded in self-assurance with his arms looped across his chest.

'This does not inspire confidence.' The others all thought in sync.

Heine then pointed up a finger. "Then, let us move on to a more difficult question. What is the sum of four and three?"

Leonhard then moved his gaze back to his hand, beginning to count. "Let's see...four plus three...one, two, three, four..-" But then he stopped, looking at his hand with dread. "I don't have....enough fingers."

He then sulked at the nearby wall at his supposed lack of fingers to count.

Heine then gestured to Leonhard's direction with a deadpan face.

"Observe. He doesn't even think of using his other hand." He pointed out to the other royals. "Do you now see what I must suffer through every day?"