Upon taking a bite out of her salad, she felt like crying. “Edna, are you alright?” George asked her, thinking something was wrong. So this is what fresh vegetables and fruits arranged together tastes like… Edna had only had vegetables and fruits this fresh maybe once or twice, both on special occasions when they visited Serena. “Ish delishous,” Edna said softly, her mouth still full of food. “Miss Edna, it is impolite to talk with your mouth full. Please finish chewing before you speak,” Jason reminded her. “Shorry…”

“…what did I just say?”

“Wow, you’ve never had a salad before?”

“George, you forget sometimes her upbringing,” Jason reminded him. A grimace came over George’s face. “Sorry for that, Edna…”

“Sorry for what?” she asked him, after swallowing. She wasn’t quite socially adept to recognize the fact that being reminded of being homeless would be quite insensitive, especially in an environment such as this. “Never mind, try the steak!” Gladly taking advantage of the topic change, Edna picked up her fork and stabbed it into the steak, although she picked it up halfheartedly with the fork.

“Eh? It’s too big to fit in my mouth?”

“….you’re supposed to cut it with the knife,” George said.

“Oh really? So it’s just like regular meat, then…”

“Eh? What did you think it was?” George asked her. Edna’s cheeks turned red. “I…er, thought it was some magic food or something…”

“Sadly, it’s not that special. It’s relatively common for even middle class members to partake in, albeit every now and then. Although, it would be exceedingly rare for those lower class individuals to eat such a fine cut. Be proud to know that this particular marbled steak is one of the finest you can get in the capital; it’s far beyond the grade of any normal steak a normal person might buy,” Jason told her. Edna’s eyes grew wide as saucers.

“Wow, so steak is actually pretty common?”

“Well, more like uncommon, but not that rare. It used to be that way several decades ago, though!” George told her. “Ah yes, before the Golden Age began…”

“Golden Age?” Edna asked them inquisitively. It was the name for the current era the Empire was in, when The Twelfth Archon, Jason Black, ascended the throne and united the Empire under one house- under his reign, the kingdom prospered, revolutionary policies and inventions were made, and of course, the refinement of magitech, which at that point had been quite primitive.

However, for Edna, all she knew was that it was a name touted by people who had only experienced the good side of life, or so Veronica said. “I’ll tell you about it later, alright?” George told her, taking a drink from his glass. Realizing she had a drink, Edna went to grab her cup, but it wasn’t a cup! It was a tea cup. “Georgie…” she said pitifully, using her (genius!) nickname for him. After getting flustered over her calling him that a few times, he had grown used to it.

“Hm? What is it?” George asked her. “…how do I hold a tea cup?”

“Allow me to demonstrate, Miss Edna,” Jason said helpfully. He wrapped three of his fingers around the tea cup’s handle delicately, lifted it up, and then, for some reason, he raised his pinky, before taking a sip. “Ehhhh? What’s the pinky for?” she asked, completely bewildered.

“It’s normal etiquette for those who are high class. There is no greater display of sophistication than this,” Jason told her. This was weird, but for Edna, hearing this from a much older man, who was quite sophisticated himself, she figured this must be true, and engraved his words upon her heart.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, huh?”

George told her with a smile. Edna promptly picked up the tea cup, and raised her pinky finger before taking a drink. It was warm, but quite tasty! After a few moments of drinking it, the tea cup was emptied, and she put it down. “Fuaah…that was so good!” she said happily, although she noticed both George and even Jason staring at her. “Eh? What’s wrong?”

“Edna…are you alright?” George asked her, seriously concerned. “Eh?”

“Miss Edna…you are aware that tea is made from steeping leaves in boiling water, yes?”

“Well, yeah…so?”

“And you are aware that it is usually still poured, scalding hot, yes?”

“Um…..yes….”

“And you just drank all of that scalding water, without even blowing on it, in a single drink?

“O-oh…” Edna now realized that what she did was completely abnormal. Drinking scalding water like it was nothing, without any pain or burns, was completely beyond the accomplishment of a normal person. “Ah…I have no idea how I did that…” she admitted, her face completely red with embarrassment. Luckily, it appeared no one else had seen what she had just done. “Hm, do you by chance know any magic, Miss Edna?” Jason asked her.

Edna shook her head. She had no idea if she knew magic or not, since she had never taken a magic aptitude test. “Perhaps you just have a natural resistance to heat, then,” Jason remarked. “Resistance?” she asked. Jason nodded, and even George leaned forward to hear his explanations.

Apparently, people usually had different affinities for different elements. While it usually meant little for anyone who did not know magic or had no talent for it, for wizards, it was everything. If one had an affinity for fire, for example, fire spells and similar magic were easier to learn, while ice magic was consequently harder to learn. Of course, having an affinity for magic meant having a resistance to it.

Someone skilled in fire magic would high a higher than usual tolerance for fire, more so than someone skilled in say, water magic. And thus, Jason was implying that perhaps Edna had a hidden affinity for fire, and consequently, would naturally be able to tolerate higher temperatures. “Although, that usually doesn’t apply for hot liquids, and most of the time the resistance isn’t that noticeable…” Edna could only shrug helplessly. “…in either case, you are certainly full of surprises, Miss Edna. However, due take care not to let something like that happen again- there are no shortage of ill-mannered people who would be quite…interested in your ability, and not in a good way…”

Jason’s soft warning was quite effective, as it let Edna’s mind create a myriad of possibilities that could happen; while she was young, she wasn’t a fool. You had to keep your wits about you growing up in the streets. She solemnly nodded. “Waiter, another cup of tea for the Miss!” Jason called a waiter, who came over and refilled her cup, this time with more hot tea.

“Ah…what sort of tea is this, anyway? It’s so good…”

“I believe that particular variant is Oolong,” Jason replied. “Woooow, Jason, you sure are cultured! How do you know this stuff?” Edna asked him, impressed. “I went to the Kaldbakr Academy before I was trained as a butler,” Jason told her. The Kaldbakr Academy was an Institution for those who sought a higher education. For a hefty tuition price, it was possible to become more knowledgeable than most people on a variety of subjects, or even just general knowledge overall. It was a mandatory requirement for any would be scholar to attend.

“Jason is amazing, isn’t he? I’m blessed to have him,” George said, puffing his chest with pride. “You flatter me, Master George. I am pleased to be of service to you…”

Edna took a sip of her tea, making sure to raise her pinky and, of course, actually blow on the liquid a bit and taking tiny sips at first. The conversation died as each focused more on eating, and eventually, all the food was gone. “Wow, that was so good…I wish I could eat like this every day,” Edna said wistfully. “I’ll try my best to grant that wish, Edna!” George told her seriously.

Jason paid for their meal, which wound up costing a gold coin. Once more, Edna was throttled by the price of it. Afterwards, Jason walked them outside. “Well then, shall we go to the Aquarium?” Jason asked them. “Yes, please!” Edna said, jumping up and down with excitement. “You’ll be amazed at the fish they have,” George told her. Jason helped them both into the carriage, then climbed onto the driver’s seat. With a flick of the reins, the carriage began to trundle forth towards their next destination.