As classes continued it was made very clear what position I was in. Despite being chosen by the princess, I was still looked down upon for my financial status as an orphan from poverty. I was lucky to have been left a house by my parents' will, but that was about it. Everyone else chosen came from better, wealthier families. Not only did I see a gap between my peers, but I could see the teachers didn't care for me either.
I was, however, doing quite well in school. I enjoyed learning, so that helped me out a lot. The hardest class for me was etiquette. It should have been easy, but some things were hard to get used to. It doesn't help that I'm naturally clumsy. My posture was also a lot worse than I thought as well. I was told that I looked "meek" or "slumpy". Eventually, I got the hang of that too.
As I continued my lessons, I often wrote to the princess too. She was a simple girl, who just wanted to see the world. She was sweet and smart. She felt happiest outdoors in her garden, but she often was kept indoors, going from one lesson to the next. If she was even a second late she would get punished. Her parents were rather strict, as I found out through her letters.
A crumpled paper hit me from behind and breaks my thought. "Hey!" One of the other royals in my class behind me called. "Won't you pick that up?" She snickered. I ignored her. She gets irritated.
The girl next to her raises her hand and calls the teacher. "Miss, the servant boy has been trying to pass notes to us. We keep telling him to stop but he still hasn't."
"That's not true-" I interject. Not once have I talked to these girls before, nor passed notes.
"Silence." The teacher scolds me. "You must only speak after being spoken to. Or at least raise your hand." She walks over to me and picks up the paper. Flattening it out, she reads "Having fun yet? This is just the beginning of things for you." She turns to me and stares me down. "Caden, you are being moved up to the front of the class. I will not be accepting this kind of behavior. ESPECIALLY from the likes of you."
"Yes, mam." I reply. I hide my sigh and head to one of the front desks. I hear some faint laughter from the other students as I make my way down the isle. This kind of treatment ends up being consistent. At one point I end up writing to Princess Caroline about it too, and it frustrates her too. Apparently more than I thought even. The next day I walk into class to find her in the seat next to mine. Her flawless blond curls held back in a tight ponytail. "Hello, sir Caden." She smiles wittingly. I hear multiple gasps from the others from either her recognition of me singularly or from her inaccurate use of sir. I hide my chuckle as I bow my greeting in return.