Intense Studying

The next day, Emily was woken up at the crack of dawn. The maid had opened the curtains, before shaking her roughly. "The breakfast will be served in ten minutes," she announced curtly, and left the room.

Emily let out a yawn, stretching her waist, her eyelids still heavy with sleep. Having arrived at the fortress in the middle of the night, she didn't get much rest… For a moment, she considered ignoring the maid, the breakfast, and everything else, and wrapping herself in the blanket again, but she quickly dismissed that thought. Although everyone in here disliked her based on her reputation, and that was unlikely to change regardless of what she did - they were most likely warned to be suspicious of her every move, good or bad - following diligently whatever curriculum Prince Finlay designed for her was the best she could do for herself. Knowledge was power, and she needed to learn as much as she could about this place if she wanted to survive.

Begrudgingly, she slipped out of bed, and sat down by the small dressing table. As she caught sight of her reflection, she couldn't help but pause from shock.

The face looking back at her from the mirror was just too miserable. It still carried the traces of her natural beauty, but they were completely overshadowed by the haggard appearance of her hollow cheeks and sunken eyes. Her deathly pale skin made her look like a corpse, and her lips, described in the novel as 'plump and rosy', were now white and cracked. Her platinum blond locks hung sadly from her scalp, dry and devoid of any shine. It seemed that the imprisonment, and perhaps also all the stress that accompanied all the events preceding it, had caused a lot of damage to Sylvie's charming looks.

'Well, hopefully now that I'm out of prison, the body will recover… Or else instead of seducing the Crown Prince, I will need to try to earn his pity,' Emily thought to herself, as she splashed her face with the warm water from the basin.

She quickly combed her hair, and changed into the new dress prepared for her. Just like the one he was given last night, it was also simple and plain, but Emily was more than happy with that - at least it was easy to put on. And most importantly, it was comfortable and warm, even if a bit rough to the touch.

The breakfast consisted of oatmeal porridge, and a warm cup of milk - simple, but filling, and easy on her stomach, still sensitive after the period of starving. The prince didn't join her for the meal this time, and she was the only one eating.

But, she wasn't alone.

On the other side of the table, a woman - presumably a maid, and a man - most likely a guard, sat down, sipping on some coffee. Their identities were rather difficult to figure out, as no one in the fortress seemed to wear any uniforms, just regular, plain clothes. The pair was engaged in a light conversation, in a language Emily didn't understand, and treated her as if she didn't exist.

It was quite curious. Even if Emily couldn't understand a word they said, it was unlikely that anyone here would want to have a chat, or even spend time, in her presence. And the castle wasn't so small so that there wouldn't be any better spots to sit down. Which could only mean one thing - they were with her on purpose.

'Is that supposed to be immersion or something?' Emily wondered. 'So that must be Friscar then… It doesn't sound too bad.'

The language was indeed Friscar, as she would soon have the opportunity to find out. Once she finished breakfast, she was immediately taken to a small study, where her lessons began. 

And the lessons… were intense. She was immediately thrown in at the deep end. Although she was a complete beginner, her teacher still insisted on using only Friscar in class, only resorting to Artinan when there was no other choice. It wasn't Emily's first time learning a foreign language, but it most certainly was her first time seeing such an aggressive approach…

The classes continued from morning till late in the evening, with breaks only for the meals, during which Emily was always accompanied by two or three people, who engaged in conversation in front of her. In the whole day, the only time when she was free from listening to Friscar, was in the afternoon, when she was given half an hour to walk around the courtyard, catch some sun, and get fresh air.

By the time she was finally released from her teacher's clutches, she was completely exhausted. Once again, she couldn't enjoy her bath - this time, because she struggled to stay awake, and she was worried that if she took too long, she might fall asleep and drown - she just quickly washed up, changed into her nightgown, and passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

And things didn't get any better the next day, or the day after. It was a constant cycle of being tormented from dawn to dusk, repeating Friscar words and phrases until her throat was hoarse, listening until her ears started bleeding - or at least that's how it felt, and reading until her eyes were dry and sore. It was far worse than a college exam session! Never in her life had Emily ever had to study so hard…

The good thing about it was that at least she had no time to worry about the future, and she was too exhausted to care about the cold looks she received from all the fortress's residents. She was always nice and polite to everyone, but that wasn't enough to win their hearts. They didn't bully her or mistreat her in any way, but they always kept her at a safe distance, never giving her a chance to establish any sort of personal connection.

The days had turned to weeks, then to months, and soon, the summer had passed. The days had gotten shorter, and now, Emily was being woken up even before sunrise, when the sky was still dark. The trees changed colors, into yellow and red - at least those in the courtyard, and at the edge of the forest. The fall didn't seem to affect the middle of the monster forest though, which remained a dark, gloomy abyss all year round.

Until finally, at some point, something seemed to have clicked in Emily. Perhaps she unknowingly was a genius when it came to languages. Or maybe her teacher's methods were so unparalleled. It could also be that to balance her unfortunate situation, she received a cheat of sorts from whatever force tossed her into this world. Or perhaps it was simply that the original Sylvie knew Friscar, after all, and after the extensive contact with the language, the appropriate part of her brain activated…

Either way, since then, Emily started making quick progress in her language skills, and soon a new teacher arrived at the fortress, to follow the teaching plan that Prince Finlay originally intended for her.