Aeliana woke up the next day thanks to Flora. When she stretched her arms and yawned, she glanced down to her side and found Darius asleep beside her.
It took her a moment before remembering that Darius had come in last night and after they talked for a long time, they had fallen asleep without realising.
She shook her brother and sleepily muttered, "Brother wake up..."
Darius furrowed his brows before flipping over. Aeliana huffed, blowing her bangs slightly up before shaking him even harder.
"Brother! Wake up!"
"Five more minutes..please.."
"I need to get ready for my class!!"
After a few more vigorous shaking, Darius woke up and slowly got out of her bed. Aeliana rolled her eyes and hurriedly pushed her brother out. She then got dressed with the help of Flora.
She wore a baby blue dress and tied her hair up into a ponytail. Flora held her hand as they walked down the hallway.
Aeliana felt her stomach growling so she tugged on Flora's hand lightly and asked, "Flora? What's for breakfast?"
"Bacon and eggs alongside some bread and fruits. There is also mushroom soup on the side."
Aeliana licked her lips and impatiently said, "Can we hurry to the dining room then? I'm starving!"
Flora smiled at her and shook her head, "Unfortunately, you won't be having breakfast with your family, my lady."
"Huh?"
"You will be having breakfast with your etiquette tutor."
Aeliana nearly tripped over her feet as she heard Flora's words, "...What?"
Flora brought her to another room instead of the dining hall and knocked on the door.
"You may come in." a stern voice spoke behind the door.
After Aeliana heard the voice, she couldn't help but gulp down with nervousness. Flora opened the door and glanced over at her. She knew that was the sign for her to walk inside and greet. As she walked in, she saw a graceful figure sitting on the sofa, looking over at her.
"Good...good morning, madam."
Aeliana winced slightly at her stammer. The elegant woman frowned slightly before speaking,
"Where is your curtsy?'' The tone was cold and sharp, sending shivers down Aeliana's spine.
Aeliana stood still in the quiet room. She didn't know how to do a curtsy but she knew that elegant woman wants her to do it no matter what.
Unable to get out of the situation, Aeliana tried her best to do a curtsy. She placed her right foot behind her left and awkwardly bent her knees which nearly caused her to fall frontwards. She heard a soft sigh and hurriedly returned back to her standing position.
Aeliana knew her cheeks were probably dusted pink from the embarrassment. The elegant woman slowly got up from her seat and walked towards Aeliana. She stared only for a mere second before speaking,
"Your curtsy was clumsy and terrible but with enough practice, you will perfect it." the elegant woman lightly clapped her hands together before showing a small smile.
"My name is Lucy D'Aramitz. I shall be your tutor starting from today onwards and I am quite known to be very strict. You may call me Madam D'Aramitz."
Aeliana slowly nodded, "Yes, madam.."
Lucy turns to Flora. Flora bows and quietly leaves the room. Once the door was closed, Madam D'Aramitz turned back to Aeliana.
"For today's lesson, we shall be learning how to do a proper curtsy and table manners."
***
Aeliana wondered if she was in hell as her teacher continued to drill the same practices repeatedly. If she moved her foot slightly—
"Again!"
And if it didn't look elegant enough—
"Again!"
'Someone save me!' she cried in her heart as she redid her curtsy for another time as she had already lost count.
She could feel her stomach growling even louder as time passed. Just as she thought of begging her teacher to let her eat, Madam D'Aramitz clapped her hands and spoke,
"We shall stop here for today and instead move on to table manners."
Aeliana nearly cried out with joy at the thought of food. She barely restrained herself from dashing over to the table set up with food. It was her breakfast but it had already gone cold thanks to the hours of practising the curtsy.
Nonetheless, Aeliana didn't care and was about to grab a fork to begin eating when she heard Madam D'Aramitz clearing her throat.
"There are many things you have already done incorrectly," she spoke, lightly tapping her fan against her palm.
She then tapped the fan against her back, "First, you must never slouch. Roll her shoulders back and sit up straight."
"And second— that fork you were just about to take is the salad fork. You are supposed to be using the other fork which is the main course fork."
"Finally third—" she lightly pulled the table cloth up, revealing Aeliana's tiny legs, "never swing your legs during meals."
'Can I please eat!?' Aeliana stared at her teacher with puppy dog eyes before a loud growl came out from her stomach.
Madam D'Aramitz quietly stared at her before sighing, "I think we shall stop our lesson here today. You may eat your meal now, Aeliana."
"Thank you, madam!" Aeliana swiftly thanked her and grabbed the correct fork about to dig in.
"...Huh?"
Suddenly servants came in and took the food away. Aeliana blankly stared at the empty table, devastated.
'So close yet so far..' she cried in her heart, mentally screaming out loud.
"Ah, they are coming back with a new meal for you," Madam D'Aramitz said once she noticed Aeliana's devastated expression.
As Madam D'Aramitz had said, the servants indeed returned with a new meal that was freshly served. The gleam in Aeliana's eyes came back and finally took her first bite of the day. She didn't want to be dramatic but it nearly brought her to tears how delicious the meal was.
'No more taking them for granted.'
Aeliana didn't notice Madam D'Aramitz's stare at her as she continued eating. Madam D'Aramitz opened her fan and covered half of her face. A smile was covered behind the fan as she looked at Aeliana.
Not long later, Aeliana bid Madam D'Aramitz farewell with one last curtsy before heaving a loud sigh once the door was closed shut. She sat back down on the chair and kicked her shoes off, unable to bear them any longer.
Just as she was about to doze off on the chair, the door opened, revealing Marius who had a frown plastered on his face. Once he spotted her sitting down, relaxed and peaceful, he stormed inside and tugged her hair.
"Hey you! Where have you been?!"
He yelled directly into her ear making her jolt up from her delirious state. She smacked his hand away and grumbled,
"I was with my tutor."
"Tutor? They're already here?"
"Yes but she just left not long ago."
"Then let's play! I say we play that chasing game!"
Aeliana yawned and rubbed her tired eyes as she shook her head to Marius' suggestion.
"I'm tired, another time."
She was way too tired to handle him at that moment.
"But—"
"Go play with brother Darius. You rather play with him right?"
"...Yeah! I rather play with Darius than you!!"
Aeliana nodded and waved him off, "Have fun with brother Darius, I'm going to sleep."
As she walked away, Marius stood stiff, watching her leave the room. He completely stayed in that position for some time before snapping back to reality. He grumbled under his breath before stomping out of the room, heading to where he thought his twin brother would be in.