A Royal Lesson

The doctor left after checking on me, but I was still consumed by confusion. How was I supposed to live here when I had no awareness of the situation? What about my previous life? My studies? My career? And what about my...

I stopped.

"Lady, it's time for your bath," the girl called me.

"Could you please repeat your name?" I asked.

"Lady, you can call me Misa. You don't need to ask me so politely," she replied. But how could I not use politeness when she was someone I had just met?

"Why?" I asked.

"Lady, you are the princess, and I'm your servant," she said, evoking memories of the history lessons about social discrimination, where higher social classes treated lower ones as servants or even slaves.

Am I going to continue living here and treat her as a servant?

No, I couldn't do that.

"Lady," she called me again, leading me toward the washroom, which was nothing short of another palace. The walls gleamed, and mirrors adorned the halls, reflecting my image back at me.

I was still staring when another person tried to remove my dress.

"Ah, what are you doing?" I was startled.

"I was removing your dress so that you can enter the bathtub," she said, exposing my naked body in front of so many people who were here to serve me. Oh God, it was so embarrassing.

I somehow entered the bath, and they started massaging my body thoroughly with milk and scented oils, as if I were not a princess but a goddess.

***

"Lady."

"Lady."

"Lady Ella."

Ah, someone was calling me.

I opened my eyes and found myself in front of the mirror, fully dressed. They were combing my hair and adorning me with numerous jewels around my neck and in my hair. This was too tiring, and it had made me fall asleep halfway through.

"What time is it?" I asked, interrupting their work.

"Lady, it's only sunrise," Misa answered.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"Lady, it's only sunrise, and you have to get ready quickly and start having breakfast with the Duke and Duchess. Later, you have an appointment with your etiquette teacher, who will come to assess your progress toward becoming the crown prince's consort. And after that, the dance teacher will come to evaluate you too. Then-"

She kept on narrating, but I stopped her.

"Don't say any more."

"I understand."

I resigned myself to the life here.

Still in a daze, I thought about all the scheduled activities that Ellanious used to undertake. But soon, I found myself in the dining hall, which was vast, and the table seemed longer than I had imagined. The plates appeared to be made of gold, or perhaps they were real gold.

"Wow, it looks like gold," I exclaimed.

"Don't you like gold? When should we have the craftsman make them with even more precious jewels?" the Duke asked.

"Is it real gold?" I asked again.

"Of course, it's made from the real gold I acquired from the wars I have won, defeating other kingdoms." His explanation left me awestruck.

Ellanious De Olger Usoro, just how much wealth and gold did you possess? That question swirled in my mind.

I somehow managed to finish my meal, which I had barely touched, and then proceeded to the room where the etiquette teacher awaited me. The impression I had of her was that she would be strict, but I had no idea how right that impression was.

As I opened the door, I saw her rising from a couch and bowing 90 degrees before me. She appeared trembling from head to toe, and I couldn't fathom why.

"I, Carol Cantonese, greet the princess," she said.

"Okay, you can raise your head," I replied, but the atmosphere still felt tense. A moment earlier, she had looked scared, but now, as I gazed at her, she seemed strict and cold as ice.

"Have you learned the basics?" she inquired.

"Basics?" I asked.

"So you didn't do your homework?" Her tone turned icy again.

As I stood before Countess Carol Cantonese, her request to raise my dress above my knee was perplexing, but I complied. In an instant, a harsh strike landed on my tender thigh, causing searing pain to course through me.

She didn't stop; instead, she continued, delivering blow after blow until my anger finally erupted.

"What the hell are you doing, Countess Carol Cantonese?" I seethed.

She looked up, her gaze unwavering, devoid of any guilt.

"I'm merely teaching you a lesson because you didn't fulfill your duties properly," she calmly explained while adjusting her glasses.

"Oh, is that so?"

"P-princess," she began to stammer.

"Misa," I called out, and she promptly appeared before me.

"Yes, lady."

"Tell me the rules that are set for teachers assigned to someone of higher rank, like me," I demanded.

"There are many rules that teachers are expected to remember."

"1. The teachers should closely monitor their teaching methods, ensuring they leave no marks on the princess who is destined to marry the crown prince or the king. As it's written in the books, a Queen should not bear any physical marks.

2. The teacher must not raise their voice against a royal member.

3. They should always lower their eyes when a royal member looks at them and issues orders.

4-"

"Stop right there," I ordered firmly.

"So, Countess, have you forgotten the rules assigned to you?" I questioned, fixing my gaze directly into her eyes.

"I..."

"Answer appropriately; you are addressing a royal member," I declared with a commanding tone, causing everyone in the room to flinch, including Misa.

I found myself unaware of how on earth I had become so cold when I had never raised my voice in my past life. I was always submissive, bowing my head and obeying my superiors, saying, "Yes, sir," "Yes, sir," nonetheless, nothing more. But how come? Was it Ellanious who was forcing her power onto me? I was even more confused.