CHAPTER 12 "DIVINE STRENGTH" (1)

The other maids were astonished when I, the duchess, personally extended my thanks to Marina.

I know that the news about me appointing Marina as my personal maid has already spread throughout the mansion. Still, I need to make sure the maids understand that she has a higher position now since she reports directly to me.

By purposefully showing preference for Marina, my actions served as a warning to the other maids. If they knew what was good for them, they wouldn't dare to insult her ever again.

This way, they won't bother Marina anymore.

Judging by their reactions, I was reasonably certain that they clearly understood the implications behind my words. Unless they dared to challenge my authority, they would respect Marina from now on. I glanced impassively at the other maids, who had momentarily stopped working because of their shock. Upon meeting my gaze, they flinched and resumed their duties without another word.

****

"You're really incredible, Your Highness!" Jean exclaimed in awe yet again.

In the couple of hours between my morning classes and lunch, which today I took in the early afternoon, the butler had been continuously lobbing praises at me.

Since morning, many tutors had constantly come and gone from the mansion to conduct my lessons. They were the few instructors in the kingdom who had managed to muster up the courage to overcome their fear of Kyle's terrifying reputation.

I bet their bravery has something to do with the fact that they were offered pay at least three times the average rate for a tutor. The power of money is really the best motivator after all.

There was one tutor who did turn tail and run away in fright after he laid eyes on the mansion's exterior, but other than that, there had been no problems. When my lessons began, I was secretly appalled. My shock wasn't because I was anxious over the course material—far from it, actually. Despite how daunting my course load had seemed that morning, the actual lessons were the complete opposite of what I expected.

Flower arrangement had been the first class of the day. After a brief introduction to the art, I was simply asked to arrange the flowers based on color. Embroidery class was next, and it rekindled my skill in handicrafts, which I already had a penchant for. Following embroidery was a round of introductory lessons in many topics that I easily completed since I had already learned them from my schooling in my previous life. In all honesty, I actually found the praise embarrassing because the types of questions my instructors had asked me were ridiculously simple compared to what I studied before. Because of how effortlessly I handled the subject matter, my tutors could not stop lavishing my intellectual capabilities with praise. I didn't particularly despise the compliments, but I did find something rather unpleasant in their words.

"I wasn't aware that a woman could possess such a deep understanding of the material."

"I can't believe a woman's ability is this amazing."

"I didn't know that Her Highness was so good at accounting."

Woman, woman, woman. My instructors had repeated that word over and over.

Since flower arrangement and embroidery were typical activities enjoyed by someone in my position anyway, there was no astonishment there. My instructors simply commended me for my hard work. In my other classes, however, my performance drew a great deal of attention because men were usually the ones who learned and excelled at those kinds of subjects.

Most of my tutors had regarded me with a strange fascination, as if I was a peculiar specimen. I couldn't confront them about their stares since I was simply a student at the time and they, as my teachers, were superior to me. Also, I was unclear whether I could even call their actions rude since I knew they did not mean any harm by their words. If anything, it was just misguided praise.

They're only acting like this because that's how I designed the system. Back then, I planned this world without thinking deeper about what that meant.

According to what I wrote, those who could seek the privilege of acquiring higher knowledge and graduate from the esteemed academy were wizards, noblemen, males of the royal family, or men with specialized jobs. Aside from those select few, everyone else in this world was poorly educated. Now I really regretted my past decisions.

Jean had accompanied me during my first day of lessons to make sure everything went smoothly, and he had also been amazed by my performance. As a result, he made a big fuss over me.

"I had no idea that Your Highness was so good at calculations!"

Only

I was honestly starting to tire of the constant praise, so I just nodded my head.

"I'm not that admirable."

"You don't have to be so humble. Where did you learn all that?"

"Oh, I don't know," I shrugged. "I just worked hard on my studies."

"Oh my God! You mean to say that you're self-taught? Truly, you're incredible!"

Enough, I was sick of this already. Since it would be too troublesome to try and come up with a different explanation, I decided to just go along with Jean's idea. I couldn't exactly tell him I was from another world, and the only other place I could have learned all these subjects would have been at the academy, which I certainly knew Riddel had never attended.

I hope you're satisfied with that. You better stop your praise, now.

But Jean's praise did not stop, and I had to continue enduring them through lunch.