Chapter 5

Naomi quickly felt hands on her shoulder as the Empire's rulers fought. The girl turned to see Ms. Lily smiling and settling Naomi on her hip. The head maid covered Naomi's eyes and walked out of the dining hall. She didn't know where Lily was taking her, but Naomi did not complain. The silence was refreshing, and that helped clear her head about the situation at breakfast. 'Does every five-year-old deal with this?' she thought.

"Your highness, you can open your eyes now," the maid cooed. Naomi felt the light burn her eyes as she took in her surroundings. Books were lined up on shelves that looked like they went on forever.

"Where are we here, Lily?"

Lily smiled and guided her towards the center of the shelves. Naomi notices a desk and an old man with his hands filled with books and papers. The man stood up as soon as they walked in and smiled as if he was expecting them.

"Ms. Lily, you're finally here. I have everything ready for the first princess. First, we will start with the history of the Empire. She is behind in her education, but no worries, I will catch her up." the old man grinned. Lily looked down at Naomi with worry in her eyes.

"Mr. Savant, the first princess is only five years old. Don't you think she's a little young to be pushing her so hard?"

Savant threw his head back and laughed. He walked towards the desk, dumping the books and papers in his hands onto the desk, and sat down.

"Ms. Lily, the princes were five years old and learning advanced algebra. The princess must meet those expectations and bring honor to the Empire," he spoke proudly.

Naomi raised a brow at the crazy old man's words, 'Advanced algebra?' she thought. She had never heard about that, but it seemed complicated. Lily must have felt the same way because she got down to Naomi's height and hugged her.

"Learn well and work hard," and with that, the head maid left. That only left the old man and Naomi in the room, but he did not pay much mind to the little girl. She could feel the annoyance bubbling under her skin as he ignored her.

"Mr? Am I supposed to be doing something?" Naomi finally asked. The man quickly whipped his head to face her and smile.

"Please call me Savant, your highness. It is an honor to meet you at last! Please take a seat, and I will explain." as he guided her to the desk. As Naomi got comfortable, Savant walked towards a blackboard and started writing.

"Princess Naomi, as part of the imperial family, you must receive a proper education. My job is to teach you everything you must know to succeed in this world," he spoke.

Naomi glanced down at the books and realized that she had a problem. Marie had never enrolled in school or even hire a tutor so that Naomi could learn. She did not know how to read or write, and she figured Savant did not realize that.

"Savant, I don't know how to read or write. I cannot understand what needs to be done." Naomi whispered. She could feel embarrassment as Savant froze at her words.

"Your highness, it seems like we must cover the basics. Instead of learning the Empire's history, you need to know the alphabet." Savant spoke. He quickly grabbed more books and placed them on Naomi's desk. Savant started writing on the blackboard once again while bringing out more papers.

"The alphabet consists of twenty-six letters. These letters combined create words that we use to speak, write, and read," Savant explained. Naomi nodded and watched as Savant placed some new papers on her desk and a pencil. The pieces had only one letter and blank lines on others.

"The first letter of the alphabet is A. The letter can be capitalized and lowercase depending on how you plan to use it," Savant stated. He wrote the letter A and explained to Naomi must trace the letters along blank lines on the sheets on the desk.

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3 hours later:

Naomi winced as she completed the last word of the alphabet. All twenty-six of them, along with the explanations that Savant gave. She could feel her wrist cramping and her back straining from sitting too long, but Naomi could not stop now. Even though the learning was difficult, Naomi did not hate it, and she thirsted for more knowledge.

"Good work, your highness. You are improving so well, at this speed, we could learn how to write in sentences tomorrow," Naomi glowed at the praise. Naomi could get used to this life and at the proper treatment.

It was not too much longer before Lily grabbed Naomi from Savant's lesson. Naomi waved at her teacher as they left the room of books and towards another part of the palace.

"Your highness, are you hungry?" Lily asked. Before she could respond, Naomi's stomach growled, and both girls laughed.

"Let's go eat. Afterward, you need to take a nap, and you can play outside. You need the vitamin D." Naomi groaned. A nap? Naps are for babies, and the girl was not a baby. Naomi voiced her complaints to the head maid, but the woman did not budge.

As Lily sat the food in front of the princess, she noticed that the girl was still pouting about earlier. Naomi did not complain any further, but she did show it on her face even when she ate. And her face showed her disapproval as Lily laid her in bed and tucking her in. Naomi wasn't even tired and did not need a nap.

Before long, Naomi was sleeping and lost all complaints on her face.