Celia threw herself onto her bed with her arms outstretched and moaned so loudly that her worried maids immediately came running.
"Are you all right, Lady Celia?"
"Nooooo... here, two of you hold me down and the other one takes the pillow and smothers me. Put an end to my ordeal!" Desperately, she stretched the pillow out from her maids with the last of her strength, but none of them took it. Instead, they looked even more worried. Traitors. You can't even die lazy in this house.
A few days ago, when she thought the week was going to be hard, she hadn't thought it would be this hard. Her feet hurt from the high heels she had to wear, and her waist was already bruised from having her corset laced so tight. Even her fingers were trembling, she had practiced lifting and lowering a full teacup so many times.
On top of that, she seemed to have to know the name, rank and hobby of every lady present. Even the visit to the king had not required as much preparation as this invitation to tea.
"Lady Celia, I'm sure it's not quite that bad," Dina said and took off her shoes, but then paused.
"What?" She tried to lift her head and saw the white face of her maid. "Am I bleeding? I can't feel anything down there."
"J...just a minor injury," Erin replied quickly and turned her onto her stomach. "We'd better undo the corset quickly."
"Quick is good. You'll probably have to cut me out of it. I'm beginning to think my skin has fused with this devilish thing."
The maids really did take a little longer to undo the lacing, but eventually she felt how her lungs were filled with air again. What a luxury to be able to breathe properly again!
Although the feeling was slowly returning to her feet and she could now sense the dull ache, she was relieved to be free of everything. Now she could finally rest a little. "I'll have a bath later, let me sleep a bit first," she said to her maids and waved them out of the room, still lying on her belly.
As the door closed, she snuggled into the pillow she had tried to smother herself with earlier and sighed blissfully.
(*Knock knock*)
Celia ignored it and turned around.
(*Knock*)
"Whhaaat?" she called out, slightly exasperated, ignoring the etiquette.
"Lady Celia, there's a woman here who says she's your teacher for self-defense and swimming," she heard Erin's hesitant voice.
Excuse me?
Shocked, she straightened up and then limped to the door to open it a crack. There was indeed a tall, slim and, above all, well-trained woman standing behind Erin. She bowed briefly, but before she could give her name, Celia addressed her. "Who hired you?"
"It was the Grand Duke himself," she replied seriously.
"I see... we'll start training next month. Have a good day." Celia was about to close the door when the woman quickly slipped her boot in between and smiled at her.
Ohoh...
"The Grand Duke also said that I should start my lessons today."
Celia forced herself to lift the corners of her mouth. "Really... he did?"
If his appearance wasn't godsend, I'd scratch that bastard's face.
"Well, I'm sure it can definitely wait another week," she tried to shake the woman off and pulled hard on the door. But her new teacher was incredibly strong. She now reached for the door herself to stop her. "With all respect, Your Grace, but the Grand Duke has left no room for misunderstanding. If I don't start today, I could be docked my salary."
"Then I'll pay whatever would be missing," Celia pressed out strainedly. Where does she get this monstrous power from?
"But Your Grace, it would violate my honor to accept money for work not done." Her grin only widened, leaving no doubt that she would have her way.
Celia noticed how her willpower was fading. So, with a sigh, she gave in. "All right, but I'm not going to bathe myself first and I want at least an hour's rest before we start."
The woman nodded with satisfaction. "But of course, Your Grace. A bath before class wouldn't make any sense at all. See you later!" Leaving her with this last ominous sentence she took her shoe off the doorstep. As Celia was still pulling on the door, it slammed loudly and she landed on her butt in surprise.
"Ouch." Alek, you handsome bastard! This is all your fault!
+++
"I think Celia is angry with me again," said the Grand Duke as he searched for a suitable shirt. Ramas raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think?"
"Don't pretend and tell me what I've done wrong already." He gave his secretary an angry look and Ramas sighed. "How about the possibility that you tortured her with more lessons shortly before her debut at court. Wouldn't that have been enough time until after the visit?"
The Grand Duke had finally found a shirt and put it on. "Precisely because she is alone at the castle, I wanted the lessons to start as soon as possible. I'm not there to protect her."
"As commendable as that may be," Ramas replied, "I don't think she needs to expect anyone to hit her at tea, and if she does, it wouldn't be good if it degenerates into a brawl."
Confused, his employer let him help him into his vest. "As long as she doesn't attack the princess, everything's fine, isn't it?"
How could such a good businessman be so senseless at the same time?
"But did it have to be Runa? Who knows what she'll teach Lady Celia? All you said was that you don't want her to die and that she should show her how. That leaves a lot of leeway." Bringing this madwoman into the estate will bring misfortune.
But his counterpart just shrugged his shoulders. "Runa is the best."
"Your Grace ... Runa is an assassin."
"Which is not a profession for someone untalented. Besides, she only never had a chance at a real job because she's a commoner. She could have said no. That shows that she wants to earn her money honestly," the Grand Duke argued and Ramas felt his headache coming on again.
"The fact that she's already tried to kill you once doesn't worry you?"
Waving his hand, he grabbed his jacket. "Why should it? That was then and now is now. Besides, she's well paid by me and that's all that matters to her."
Ramas followed him outside to the carriage, which was already waiting for him. "That may be the case now, but what about when the lessons are over?"
Laughing, he climbed into the carriage. "But Ramas, I've hired Runa permanently, the lessons with Celia are just a small side task." With that, he closed the door and left his secretary standing open-mouthed. "What do you mean by 'permanently employed'?" Then another thought occurred to him. "Wait, where are you going? What about your appointments?" he called after him in horror.
Why don't I just quit…