"Yes, my daughter is so smart. I agree with Professor Tristan. So professor, do you think, with the current situation of my daughter, will she be able to make it through the etiquette of Imperial palace?"
Aillenne couldn't hide her expression and her face became twisted. Good thing nobody saw as they were engrossed with the subject.
'What imperial palace are you saying?'
"Yes, I think so, Milord."
"I think so too. Then, Aillenne, prepare yourself for we will greet the emperor and give thanks to his generosity, personally."
"I will do so, father."
Her father reached out to her without warning so she stiffened in her place. Her mind blanked at his actions.
"Remember to work hard from now on, Aillenne. This father is watching you."
He said low then patted her head.
Aillenne knew it was a warning. Her heart froze and her eyes felt like tearing up. She felt shivers ran down her spine.
She's afraid.
'Please let me wake up from this terrible nightmare!'
Aillenne swallowed hard, smiled professionally then bid her father goodbye as she was told to go back to her room. The class was postponed for the rest of the day.
'I thought I still have four more years? I still haven't have my coming of age ceremony yet!'
'The Imperial palace. Is the story finally moving towards the main course?'
'I'm not yet ready.'
Small and hurried footsteps rang on the almost empty hallway. The picture frame of the family ancestors seem to move and stare at her. The feeling is creepy adding to the hateful feeling she had inside.
'This is bad...'
The maids lay quiet as the Marquis is present in the west part of the main building. They did so to preserve their liver.
The fluttering hem of her skirt made her look like a butterfly dancing in the quite hall.
After the conversation, Aillenne went back to her room. She was anxious by the sudden pressure imposed by the Marqius. She felt afraid for some reason as the memory of what happened to the original Aillenne transpired in the palace.
She went inside her simple room. It has few furnitures and a closet of few redesigned clothes, however it is now filled with the Marquis' gifts that arrived today.
'So that's this gifts purpose. I really hate that character.'
She glanced on the hanger and her nanny's newly made jacket came to view. Among the gifts she received, she never felt a heartfelt feeling aside from her nanny's gift. She sighed and closed the closet.
"Why is living in this world felt stifling? I couldn't seem to find ways to breath easily."
On the center table, lies Derrick's gift and a bouquet of roses she saw in the garden.
She sat and contemplated whether or not open the gift. She had a lot of thoughts running in her mind and this gift add up to those pile of thoughts.
The gift box looked luxurious as it was covered by a beautiful wrap and a lace ribbons and gold flowers.
"It's pretty even on the outside. I wonder what's in the inside. Is it a frog or a cricket?"
She chuckled at the thought. Nanny Sabbie had once told me that Derrick would oftentimes bully Aillenne through these tricks so this time, she readied herself.
Derrick's gift wasn't a gross or simple thing as she thought. It is a bracelet filled with shining and beautiful jewels. It is so cute that even the sixteen year old girl inside this child's body is mesmerized.
The bracelet's color fits Aillenne's eyes and hair. She tried it on and looked at herself in the mirror doing poses she had seen in the magazines in her first life.
"Is this the right angle? Oh, Aillenne looked good if she had a kind look on her face. I wonder how she become a fearsome villainess to the beautiful female lead."
Temporarily forgetting what had transpired a while ago, she tried wearing some cute clothes by herself to see which one suited the gift, but all of them fits. Aillenne's a beauty and almost everything she wear makes her shine even more.
She looked at the bracelet once again.
'It's too troublesome though. What use could this give me?'
She wasn't fond of going out in the first place ever since the Marquis posted knights and escorts to follow her every move.
She didn't have a friend to show off the jewel. She also doesn't like dressing up when she's only inside the mansion.
As an idea popped her mind, she put the bracelet into her jewel stash for her escape. Problem solved.
'I needed money more than anything else.'
She estimated that the money she will gain from selling the jewels would be enough for travelling, food and other necessity. But things may happen along the road and I may need more. Having Derrick's bracelet among the stash reassures her survival.
'Now, there's another problem to think about.'
In a few days, Aillenne will go with the Marquis to the palace, that is where the story started for Aillenne and the Crown Prince.
Whether she like it or not, paying gratitude to the royal family is an obligation of a noble, young or old. As much as she couldn't refute her father's words, the emperor's decree is a wall she cannot climb.
'This life's getting harder as days passed'
She faced the mirror again and practiced the greetings and etiquette she learned from her teachers. She can't afford to make mistakes as her death may come sooner than she think.
'Dog's death is the only thing I do not wish to end up after these efforts. I would rather die in old age doing something I really like than be executed.'
She once thought about the possibility of being killed regardless of the changes she made.
'What if I won't ever go back to Earth as I hope and will forever be dead?
Then let's just live as Aillenne and escape when chance is given.'