Mannerism

"M-Miss!" Anna interjected, seeing her miss curtsying to the son of an Earl.

"Hmm?" Kim Su Won looked back in confusion. She enjoyed reading the webnovels but she really had no idea about the manners of peerage. Nor did she try to learn about them. Did she do something out of line? Seeing the flustered face of both Alex Laurent and Anna, she had deduced that she did.

"You are not supposed to bow to a son of an Earl. Your social standing is better than him," Anna whispered into Emmeline's ears to not incur the wrath of this super serious young master there. His face said he had almost felt offended with her miss's greeting to him.

"Sir Laurent, you do not need to feel offended. You might know already, but I do not really care about hierarchies. You are a person worthy of my respect since you have achieved so much at such a young age. I, on the other hand, have not done anything in my life despite being a daughter of a duke. I hope you would not take it in a wrong way," Kim Su Won smiled. The flustered kid's ramrod straight back straightened further on hearing her words.

Did she just praise him? How did she know about him anyway? Wasn't she the ignorant youngest daughter of the duke who had no idea about the outer world? He had always known what was going on behind the scenes and always felt pity towards this kid.

But somehow, she really felt different now. Those blue colored eyes that were lighter than any of the Whittemore, were now tranquil like a clear lake unlike a raging river that used to reflect in her eyes before the accident. It was as if she really was wise beyond her years, as if she could see the future. What had changed?

And why was she suddenly talking to him? She had never shown any interest in anyone before. Why did he feel… giddy inside… just because she praised him? His ears had started to turn red for some reason.

"I-I am rather honored that you know about me, young miss," Alex Laurent bowed to the girl who was smiling very congenially. He could not figure out her intentions but it did not feel bad to be acknowledged by one of the ladies of the house. Madame Whittemore generally ignored him and the elder miss used to make fun of him, treating him like trash, just because he was from a lower house.

Ivan was the only one who treated him as a peer. It was also probably because he was better than his master in both fighting skills and academics. And since he was the son of the right hand man of the duke, it was a given he would be put with one of the children of house Whittemore.

If this girl ever got proven better than Ivan, he would not hesitate to switch sides, ever. His father had taught him to work for the citizens and be loyal to the country, not just one house. He had put those teachings to his heart.

He knew Cecilia was a gone case. That girl had not been raised right, and she only knew how to indulge in luxury. No idea, what Madam Whittemore saw in her eldest daughter. Guess, she was raised more like the madam, just to spend the money of the house.

And this kid, Emmeline Whittemore was too young and neglected to contribute anything towards the house. He did not have much impression about her except that pity he felt for her.

"See? There was nothing to be worried about! Ah, elder brother, about the exam, I hope you will judge it fairly, no? Since it is a test for you too, in a roundabout way," Kim Su Won shifted her calm gaze from the red haired kid to silver haired kid. She, being twenty four years old in her previous life, felt a sense of responsibility towards all these kids who were ruining their future just because their parents were not capable enough. She was going to be their elder sister and bring them to the right path.

Ivan Whittemore gave up on the kid, she was too unpredictable right now. There was this air of confidence that she had gained that made her kind of intimidating. He did not want to deal with her anymore. Plus, he needed to brush up on his concepts if he were to be a good judge and make an impression on the earl.

He would not have really thought about it if not for this younger sister of his, but what he knew from Alex about his father, this might as well be one of his tests to judge who was fit for inheriting the title. He should not have taken this as lightly as he was taking.

With his thoughts traveling here, Ivan Whittemore abruptly got up from his seat, with a serious expression and marched out of Emmeline's room.

"Miss!!!" Anna yelled almost instantly as the two guys exited the room. As soon as her miss had any interaction with any members of the households, Anna felt a few years shaven from her life. Today was another such day, she had felt like she aged ten years or so. She was getting tired, she wanted to flip a table right now.

Kim Su Won rubbed her ear jokingly. "Anna, calm down! You are drawing blood from my ears," she jested.

"B-but! We need to fix your manners and everything! If you display such a thing before the earl…," Anna was really panicking. Although about an hour ago, she had urged her miss to go to the earl and ask for his help, now she had changed her mind. Her miss was just not fit to interact with anyone right now.

Kim Su Won shook her head in negative. "Those are the things that everyone knows I need to learn. If I start studying them, I would be wasting my time. I need to learn the fundamentals. Go gather some information about what the earl is like. I need to know some past projects of his and see what he truly values. We will see how we should prepare for this exam after that," the kid smirked with pride.

It seemed like she had gotten a small hint from Alex Laurent. If Anna's intel did not work, then that red haired kid would be the one to help her out.