Master Sinclair was so thrilled that Professor Greene was willing to teach Aurora Sinclair that he'd forgotten the man also had to teach, lead projects, and conduct research at Arcadian University. His brow furrowed immediately with worry.
"Stella is right, Professor Greene. Will your schedule allow it? My Aurora has been studying in a small town all this time. Her foundation is a bit weak, so she might take up a lot of your time!"
Chester Greene had already heard about Aurora Sinclair's situation from Beta Morgan, so he was mentally prepared and wasn't too concerned.
"It's no problem. I've already arranged the schedule. This is the tutoring schedule for me and Professor Erin Archer. I'll take Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and she'll take Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Sundays will be a day off. How does that sound?"
Master Sinclair took the study schedule from Chester Greene, feeling a surge of profound respect.
The sessions on school days were scheduled for after classes let out at Kingsford No. 1 High School. The tutoring location was Arcadian University, which was very close to the high school—within walking distance.
"By the way, Professor Erin Archer is a professor at Arcadian University's Academy of History. Is it alright for her to teach the other subjects?"
The moment he finished speaking, there was a CLANG— as the teacup in Master Sinclair's hand slipped and fell onto the table.
The smile had already vanished from Stella Sinclair's face.
***
To give Aurora Sinclair a better learning environment, Master Sinclair made a swift decision and had her move into Tanner Sinclair's home immediately.
His home was right next to Arcadian University and Kingsford No. 1 High School.
The apartment was large and in a quiet, high-end complex. Zeke Quincy often came over to play video games with him.
After getting the notice from his father, Tanner Sinclair immediately had someone prepare a comfortable guest room and sent a message to all his good-for-nothing friends.
"I've got a senior prepping for college entrance exams at home. From today on, no one's allowed to just drop by and cause a disturbance!"
Aurora Sinclair didn't have many personal belongings, but they were extremely heavy.
Butler Sinclair had prepared two large suitcases for her, and it took both to move all her things.
Master Sinclair, not trusting his youngest son's irresponsible nature, also moved into Tanner Sinclair's home with Aurora Sinclair for the first day.
It was a 1,000-square-meter top-floor apartment with an observation deck where you could go out and look at the stars.
Master Sinclair glanced at the bedroom Tanner Sinclair had prepared for Aurora Sinclair and was reasonably satisfied. It had a panoramic balcony with large floor-to-ceiling windows, an en-suite bathroom, and was very spacious.
"Pretty quick work, huh, Master Sinclair?"
Master Sinclair ignored his cheeky remark, walked in with his hands behind his back, and began inspecting the room, touching this and that like an old foreman.
Tanner Sinclair rolled his eyes and went to help Aurora Sinclair with her luggage.
"Whoa! Little niece, what's in here? Why is it so heavy? It's not more agricultural products, is it?"
Aurora Sinclair shook her head, walked over, and easily pulled the suitcase away.
Tanner Sinclair: ...
'Alright! As expected of my super-strong little niece!'
Aurora Sinclair dragged the two suitcases into her room, squatted on the floor, and began to unpack.
A metal box that looked a lot like a toolbox was placed to the side.
A bundle of short wooden planks was placed next to it.
A bag of rocks was placed beside them.
...
Tanner Sinclair's expression went from curious to utterly dumbfounded.
'A toolbox, wood, and rocks?'
'My little niece isn't a carpenter, is she?'
***
The day to register at Kingsford No. 1 High School finally arrived.
Master Sinclair stared at Aurora Sinclair's slightly oversized school uniform, his lips pressed together in silence for a long moment.
'She had picked out the size herself; he had no idea why she liked such big, baggy clothes.'
The Sinclair family's maids had redone Aurora Sinclair's hair. Her dowdy, silly-looking bangs were pinned back with a barrette, revealing her forehead.
Her face was small, and her features were delicate and beautiful. Revealing her forehead was the icing on the cake, making her look even more beautiful.
Tanner Sinclair let out a flirtatious whistle. "Master Sinclair, with our little niece looking this beautiful, I think we're going to need to hire a couple more bodyguards!"
Master Sinclair pressed his lips together and shot him a glare, then turned to Aurora Sinclair with a smile. "Aurora, did you bring the phone Grandpa bought for you?"
Aurora Sinclair pulled a red smartphone from her pocket and showed it to Master Sinclair.
"Grandpa's and your little uncle's numbers are saved in it. If anything happens, just call Grandpa."
Aurora Sinclair nodded obediently.
Master Sinclair was extremely pleased and personally escorted her to Kingsford No. 1 High School to register.
Following behind, Tanner Sinclair said teasingly to Butler Sinclair, who was beside him, "It feels like Master Sinclair is raising our little niece like she's a little kid!"
"The Second Miss is a child!" Butler Sinclair said with the look of a doting father.
Tanner Sinclair: ...
'My mistake. I asked the wrong person!'
***
「Senior Year, Class 6.」
After the class bell rang, Leon Barron walked into the still somewhat chaotic classroom.
He knocked on the lectern and coughed a few times. "Class is starting! You guys playing games in the back, sit up straight, now!"
Ethan Lowell turned around, and his few cronies next to him immediately pulled their desks and chairs back into place, but they didn't put down their phones.
These few were the class troublemakers. They were always mischievous, starting trouble, and showed no respect for any teacher. Only their homeroom teacher, Leon Barron, could keep them in line.
"Turn off the sound!"
Ethan Lowell muted his phone. The other lackeys followed his example and turned off their game's background music.
Leon Barron knew that pushing it too far would be counterproductive, so he didn't press them about the games and got straight to the point. "Before we start class, I'd like to introduce a new student to everyone: Aurora Sinclair!"
Class 6 erupted. A transfer student in the second semester of senior year?
Now that was something else!
All eyes in the class focused on the doorway. Ethan Lowell and his lackeys stopped playing their games too.
Aurora Sinclair walked in slowly, her hands habitually stuck in her pockets. Paired with her expressionless face, she gave off a somewhat cold and aloof vibe.
The boys' eyes lit up. 'An ice-cold, cool beauty!'
One of the troublemakers took the lead and let out a whistle, and for a moment, Senior Class 6 erupted once again.
Leon Barron knocked on the lectern again, his brows furrowed as he glared at the student.
"Quiet! Come on, Sinclair, say hello to everyone."
Aurora Sinclair took her hands out of her pockets, placed them at her sides, and suddenly bowed to everyone. "My name is Aurora Sinclair. I'm from Sunstone!"
The students of Class 6 were dumbfounded. 'That persona fell apart way too fast!'
'What happened to the ice-cold, cool beauty we were promised?'
'Why does such a simple self-introduction give off such strong country-bumpkin vibes?'
'And where the heck is Sunstone?'
Seeing Aurora Sinclair's self-introduction was so brief, Leon Barron paused for a second, then took the lead in applauding, prompting the students to welcome her.
"Sinclair, you can sit..." Leon Barron scanned the room. The only empty seats were in the back row, but they were right next to Ethan Lowell and his gang of troublemakers.
"How about this, Sinclair? For now, you can take the empty seat in the back row. I'll reassign everyone's seats at lunchtime."
Reassigning seats was something Leon Barron was usually too lazy to do. In the three years of high school, aside from the first day, the students of Class 6 had basically never had a major seating change.
At these words, the students of Class 6 were once again shocked.
'What's this new student's background?'
'She actually got Mr. Barron to worry enough to reassign seats?'
Leon Barron taught chemistry. After getting Aurora Sinclair settled, he had the students take out last Friday's test papers and began going over the questions.
Aurora Sinclair didn't have a test paper, so Leon Barron had the boy in front of her turn around and share his with her.
The boy, bearing the envious gazes of all the other boys in the class, wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The boy's name was Alex Warren. He was one of Ethan Lowell's followers, was a bit chubby, and his classmates all called him Fatty Warren.
His score on the test paper was only a 36.
Alex Warren was a little embarrassed and explained in a low voice, "This isn't my usual score."
Aurora Sinclair nodded.
Alex Warren normally didn't like to study, especially during these test review classes, which he usually spent playing games. But with Aurora Sinclair here today, he didn't even look at his phone.
'This girl is just too good-looking!'
'Her eyelashes are so long and curled, her skin is fair and smooth—you can't even see her pores up close. She's prettier than the class belle, Mona Lowell...'
Alex Warren's heart was pounding like crazy, right up until Ethan Lowell threw a chemistry book at him with a WHAP—.
"What are you looking at? Look at the test paper—"