One day, Elizabeth was rushing through the hallways of Castle Reinhard with her handmaiden and Sir Winstin. She had fallen behind schedule in meeting her teachers and one had to know that her teachers were extraordinarily strict. They were hailed as the preeminent scholars of their generation, some of the smartest minds that the Alzar Kingdom had. They were recruited by the Royal Family to instruct Elizabeth about every subject imaginable. Ranging from subtle subjects like calligraphy to complex topics like economics, her mind was cram-filled with knowledge from thousands of books.
In the beginning, she could cope. After all, she was riding the fire of her determination to become the next queen! Her motivation was never stronger! Yet… Reality was harsher than she realized. Even after repeatedly overestimating the hurdle, she had still underestimated it by a great deal. There was a difference between talking about a subject and knowing it. In fact, that difference was massive! One could talk about a subject vaguely and seem like an expert. That would be enough to fool the typical bystander for sure. However, to truly grasp it and become an expert… That was easier said than done!
The difficulty for Elizabeth increased exponentially because she was never formally educated. Without a sturdy foundation to build on, even the greatest scholars could not build a tall castle. Her foster parents on New Havens did earnestly try, as they knew her background. Christina had given them ample study materials for them to slowly comb over. Despite that, Roan was a brutish man, whose muscles spoke more than his brain. Victoria was better off, but not by much. New Havens was a tiny settlement, where the smartest person there might only pass as average in the world below. Victoria was plagued by the same problem that Elizabeth was right now. Without proper understanding, how could she teach Elizabeth?
So, Elizabeth's educational background was sorely absent. The scholars were forced to start from the very beginning and completely overhaul her knowledge. Everything that she knew previously was thrown out the window! If that were all, then perhaps she could manage still. However, previous monarchs had the foundation of at least twenty to thirty years before they ruled! They were meticulously trained since birth for their eventual rule! In Elizabeth's case, she had to compress all that time into a single year!
She wanted to cry tears. She would not call herself smart, but she was definitely a hard worker! She put forth her full effort! And yet… It was simply too much. Think about it. Elizabeth woke up before dawn and slept after midnight. The poor girl would get a few hours of sleep every day. She had to memorize the five hundred years of Alzar Kingdom's history. Every single monarch. Every single battle. Every single province and capital city. Then, she had to memorize every Grand Nobility Household. Every property. Every lord and lady. Every descendant. Then, there was the major organizations, political landscape, geographical data, power structure, traditions and religions… It went on and on. And that was just the Alzar Kingdom. What about the Zino Kingdom? Or the Xingyuu Empire?
Let us not forget the sophisticated arts like dance, poetry, music, calligraphy, and literature. How many times had she danced until her feet were sore? How many poems had she memorized and recited? How many instruments had she learned? The numbers were frighteningly high! Finally, there was the technical subjects, like mathematics, science, astronomy, agriculture, strategy, economics, and logistics… These required extremely rigorous and complex logic to master.
Her teachers were ruthless. As soon as Elizabeth was taught something, they would test her. If she was the slightest bit off, then punishment was in order. Normally, they would act reservedly with royalty, but Queen Bethnal gave them permission to act as they wished. This meant misery for Elizabeth. There were no breaks, no off-days, nothing. Not even when she ate, was she spared. There were plenty of times where she worked overnight, long after the castle was dark, to study. Every day, she was more tired than the last. The bags underneath her eyes were practically permanent now. However, the difficulty continued to climb higher. It seemed like she would never be done…
That was why she was running late right now. There was simply too much to do and too little time! She could not help but fall behind. The constant migraine did not help either. Her clothes and hair were ruined by her sprinting. There was also a comedic piece of bread sticking out of her mouth as she had grabbed an early snack. Along the way, servants and guards were dazed when Elizabeth rushed by. They could not help but pause and wonder if this was really the heir apparent… This created a fair share of mockery behind closed doors.
Just as Elizabeth rounded a corner, she bumped into someone, knocking herself over. As she rubbed her rear, the snarly voice of a boy entered her ears. "You! How could you! Do you know who I am?"
Elizabeth frowned. The person in front of her was a chubby boy, a few years older than herself. His cheeks were round like a baby, but the innocence was tainted by his raging appearance. His attitude alone made it easy to rule out who it could be. Not many would dare utter such words in Castle Reinhard. Indeed, the golden crown on his head revealed his identity as Prince Belmond, Elizabeth's cousin. He had accumulated a horrendous reputation for himself as a very famous debauchee. His personal hobbies made Elizabeth wince inwardly, even though this was their first-time meeting.
"Oh? It's you…" Belmond sneered as his anger vanished. "You're my new cousin, Elizabeth? How come you did not come and greet your older cousin already? Or maybe because you're the heir apparent, that you think you're better than me? You're awfully conceited, aren't you?"
"What's gotten you so riled up, brother?" a girl asked from behind.
Next, a regular-looking girl showed up. Without any distinguishing qualities like height, weight, figure, or face, she was the definition of normal. Like any other passerby on the street, the girl could drift into the background and disappear in the crowd. Her only unique trait was the crown fitted on her head, marking her as another member of the Royal Family! Elizabeth also recognized this person as Princess Rosia, Belmond's younger sister. These siblings were the children of Prince Ranir, who was vehemently aggressive during the Royal Assembly meeting with Elizabeth. Together, Belmond, Rosia, and the absent Azure were the only ones of Elizabeth's generation in the Royal Family.
"Belmond, you must be really unlucky. You were tainted by this commoner…" Rosia whispered.
"Certainly, you have something wrong here, Belmond and Rosia?" Elizabeth forced a smile.
"What did you say?" Belmond narrowed his eyes.
"Brother, you shouldn't let her anger you. It's beneath you to compete with trash."
He took a few deep breaths and smiled. "Of course, it is indeed beneath me. It's best to ignore such trash and pretend it doesn't exist."
Elizabeth's eyebrows twitched and her anger blazed. "You keep muttering trash this, trash that… Don't you know that I am blood-related to you? So, if I am trash, then you're trash as well!"
Rosia laughed. "What are you blabbering about? You think that because you're wearing that crown and those clothes that you're royalty? What a joke! Remember this… Even if you had all that and more, you'll never be one of us!"
"You think I want to be like you? Don't flatter yourself too much…" Elizabeth fired back. "If I wanted to be like you, I'd do it easier submerging myself in a public latrine pit!"
Rosia was confused and seemed clearly inexperienced with the insult. Only Belmond, whose debauchery was well-known, understood the vulgar language. After hearing the explanation, Rosia's face grew red from fury. "You would dare utter such vulgarities in my presence? You're really a commoner piece of trash, aren't you! Your disgusting mouth knows no limit!"
"I thought it was beneath you to become angry with me?" Elizabeth snidely said. "So, it turns out that the royal Princess Rosia is no different from me?"
Rosia grinded her teeth. "You must think you're so impressive, don't you? You must think you're so much better than us because you're the heir apparent now. You get to become queen!"
Now, it was Elizabeth's turn to be confused. She had no idea what Rosia was talking about.
"Don't worry, my little sister," Belmond added. "Do you really think that the Royal Assembly or the Grand Nobility Households would let such a thing happen? Not in a million years would they let her on the throne. That one-year deadline… is nothing more than a game to get her hopes up."
"Indeed, they would be fools to let this trash sit on the throne. Our grandmother is quite cruel." Rosia gave a wicked smirk.
Elizabeth was about to burst when another pair of people approached. Sir Winstin lowered his hand. He had been watching the entire time, along with Elizabeth's handmaiden and Belmond's and Rosia's Protectors. In normal cases, Sir Winstin would not hesitate to intervene, but this was beyond his power. He was a Royal Guard, not a member of the Royal Family. He had no right! When Elizabeth nearly snapped was when Sir Winstin nearly stepped in.