Exiting the bathroom, we saw the Marquess sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for us to appear. Smirking when she saw me hide behind Jahi, she opened her mouth to speak. "Your Dance/Etiquette class will be in the music hall across from the main library. History class and Magic class will be held in the library. Your tutors are Baroness Estra, Baron Jilk, and Arch Mage Kolia. Of the three, only Baron Jilk could be a problem. Baroness Estra only cares for how well you can perform; she doesn't care for status, since she is a recently promoted noble. Arch Mage Kolia is a woman who cares more for magic then anything else; if you slack off or just are skilled at it she won't like you. However, Baron Jilk is... well, he cares about status, so kid, be careful. Now, both of you be respectful to them. Kid, it'll be better if you start being formal. Baroness Estra will teach you the finer details, but just refer to Jahi as Lady Asmodia, and the teachers by their titles. Now go on, it's already quarter of eight."
Saying so, the Marquess turned back towards the bed, rubbing her hands together as she looked between the sleeping figures of the Countess and my mother. Jahi grabbed my hand before leading me out of the room, taking us over towards the kitchen. Walking in, we saw Lessnera cleaning up, however upon seeing us she walked over, handing both of us a plate. Piled on it was scrambled eggs, a biscuit, and a few slices of bacon. Without a word she turned back towards cleaning her kitchen. Jahi and I sat down and quickly scarfed down our food before handing the plates back to Lessnera.
Leaving the kitchen, we quickly made our way towards the Music hall. Upon entering, a tall, spindly woman stood in the center, wearing a simple but elegant black dress. Holding her hands in front of her, she looked exactly like what I pictured an etiquette tutor to be like; graceful, elegant, refined. She had a small smile on her face, sharp green eyes, and long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Seeing us, she gave a small curtsey. I returned the curtsy as best I could. I remember I had been in a play as a kid, and I thought that curtsying looked so cool, that I memorized how to do it. Bringing my right foot slightly behind my left, bowing my head and bending my legs outward. I gave a deeper one then the Baroness, as she is of higher status than me. Upon finishing, I saw her smile widen a bit, before looking over towards Jahi, who gave a light bow.
The Baroness spoke lightly, her voice melodious. "Good morning Lady Jahi, young Katherine. I am Baroness Estra, and I shall be tutoring you both in dance, music, and etiquette for the next year or two. Now, we shall start with the more important things; dance and etiquette. Lady Jahi, as you are heir to the Asmodia house, you must display a flawless exterior. Your mother, Marquess Asmodia, is renowned not only as a Knight of Cinder, but also for her outstanding social skills. While she may care little for the finer details, she is quite good at being flawless at any social event she attends; so much so that her political enemies must dig deep to find anything to use against her. Your other mother, Countess Haniel, is as flawless as the Marquess, however she is more outgoing and handles most social matters. As you have yet to be betrothed, you must be perfect. Now, seeing as you chose to bow instead of curtsy, does that mean you wish to take the male role in any social event, like the Marquess?"
Jahi smiled, before nodding. The Baroness returned the smile, before turning to me. "As you are bound to Lady Jahi, would you please take the female role during our classes? It is much better to learn with someone your age and stature."
Giving a deep nod, she clapped her hands. "Good! Now, Lady Jahi, come stand here; Katherine, stand opposite her. Good. Now, Lady Jahi, raise your left hand; Katherine, grab her hand in your right. Lady Jahi, place your right hand on her back. Higher. Good. Katherine, place your left hand on her waist. Good. Now, listen before moving. Lady Jahi, this is the order for your movements; Left foot forward, right foot out, left foot moves towards your right, right foot back, left foot back. Then repeat. Katherine, yours is the opposite; right foot backward, left foot out, right foot moves towards your left, left foot forward, right foot forward. Now try it, slowly. Move to the sound of my claps. Ready?"
Both of us nodded, before starting. First clap, I stepped backwards. Second clap, I moved my left foot out slightly. Third clap, I moved my right foot towards my left. Fourth clap, I moved my left foot forward, before moving forward with the right foot on the last clap.
"Again!"
Repeating the movements, we did it quite well, managing to not step on each other. However, I doubt that would last long, as we were moving quite slow.
"Again! Faster this time."
The Baroness started increasing the tempo, slowly but surely making her way towards what a real dance would be paced at. When she had doubled the pace from her slow claps, we started stepping on each others feet, moving too far, and tumbling into each other. Each time we messed up, she would tell us to move into place, before starting with the slow tempo, increasing it.
Minutes passed, with us slowly improving. After the first hour, my feet were killing me, and I could tell Jahi was thinking the same, as her eyes would twitch every time we messed up. When the first hour finally finished, we were given a short ten minute break before we resumed the lesson.
When the class finally ended, I was drenched in sweat and panting, whereas Jahi was breathing slightly quicker, however she seemed to be able to keep going for another two hours. Seeing that time was up, the Baroness bowed, to which Jahi bowed back and I gave another deep curtsy. Smiling, she moved towards the door before saying "I believe a bath would do you wonders. You have a few hours till your next class, so eat and bathe. Katherine, I recommend massaging Lady Jahi's feet; dance can be quite taxing on the body when you don't know what you're doing. Good day."
Saying so, she left the room. Turning towards Jahi, she was pursing her lips, her eyes lingering on the door. I waited for her, deciding I should start getting used to letting her make the decisions.
Moments passed, and she turned towards me, smirking. Grabbing my hand, she led me back towards the bathroom. Entering our rooms, I saw the Marquess was still in bed, relishing the bodies of her two women. We scurried past, before moving into the bathroom. Quickly rinsing each other off, we sat on the edge of the bath, dripping our feet in the warm water. I sighed, enjoying not having any pressure on my feet. Leaning into Jahi, she wrapped an arm around me. We enjoyed our break, before redressing and leaving towards the library. I was slightly nervous, as the Marquess' warning about our next tutor came back to me.
Entering, we saw an old man sitting at a table, a mountain of books spread across the table. Like with the Baroness, Jahi bowed while I curtsied. He bowed to Jahi, before scoffing when he saw me. Ignoring it, I pulled out a chair for Jahi before standing behind her, waiting for the lesson to start.
Drawing a deep breath, the Baron finally spoke. "As today is the first day meeting you, Lady Jahi, I will be testing your knowledge while also testing your ability to read and write. This may be a class for History, Culture, and Politics, but you are still young, and as such, I wish to guarantee you have impeccable handwriting. As you can see, those papers in front of you have questions, ranging from easy, like the name of the Empire, to difficult, like which families founded the Empire and who they were allied with. Now, as there are only thirty questions, I will give you an hour to answer them. Full sentences, no one word answers. Begin."
When he said that, he placed an hourglass on the table, motioning for Jahi to pick up the pen and begin. Doing so, she started writing the answers down. Baron Jilk glared at me before opening up a book, taking notes.
Staring at Jahi, time crawled by. I knew the man wouldn't let me sit, as he would occasionally glance at me before smirking. Ignoring him, I watched as Jahi answered each question, occasionally tapping the pen lightly on the table.
Letting my mind wander, I started reminiscing about my schooldays, thinking of nothing in particular, just remembering my time as a student, all the way from pre school to college.
Eventually, Jahi stood up, bringing me out of my mind. She moved to the Baron's side, handing him the papers. Taking them, he read them over, nodding to himself. Minutes passed, and eventually he looked at Jahi, smiling. "Why, this is outstanding! You answered every question quite well. Tell me, how did you know that our Empire, the Empire of Ash, was merely an alliance against the Labyrinthian? Most believe it to be a merging of the Demon Clans and Elf Tribes."
Sitting back down, Jahi smiled at the man, though it was slightly strained. "I read quite a bit, Baron Jilk. As you are aware, Demons mature quickly, and I passed my time reading. Since I can't study magic or train my body, the only thing left was training the mind."
Nodding frantically, a light shone in the Baron's eyes. "Amazing! Many children read only of fairytales or folk lore, not of history. Well said! Now, seeing as how you answered questions relating to our history quite well, I will focus more on Culture and Politics. As such, I'm afraid that I have very little else planned for today, as I hadn't imagined you could answer all the questions correctly. I recommend reading passages twenty of this book, seven of this one, and three through five of this one. If you have a question, please ask. I am going to start creating a plan for those subjects."
He slid three thick books across the table, before turning back to his books with a fervor. From what I have witnessed, my guess would be the Baron believes that commoners can't possibly be capable of learning the intricacies of things like history or other subjects due to not having the same resources as nobles. He believes nobles are superior due to their intellect, which may be true in some cases, but I have seen many cases where the most unlikely people did amazing things. The best example was a poor man taught himself how to read, write, and started studying medical books. Everyone thought he was wasting his time, but only a few years later he was on his way to being a certified doctor; a few years after that, a world renowned surgeon.
However, seeing as I am now in a more medieval world, I doubt people like that appear often. More than likely, natural born mages or warriors appear more frequently compared to a scholar.
Motioning for me to follow, Jahi moved towards a couch, before sitting down. She looked at the cover of the books before opening one up. Placing it in her lap, she started reading it. I tried to follow along, but terms and names I wasn't familiar with kept popping up. It seems like I will need to study on my own to be able to be of any help.
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So, I have family over from out of state until next weekend, which means I might not be able to write as often. Next Monday I should definitely be able to get back to a schedule for myself, so until then uploads will be sporadic.
Also, I am entertaining the idea of a timeskip soon; not a large one, just a few months. This would be so I can get closer to actually being able to write about things happening, not just exposition like this chapter and the next (though I think the magic class will be fun to write about; history not so much.)
I can definitely see scenes of dancing between Jahi and Kat being quite fun, as well as seeing them learn to use an instrument. However, besides doing the occasional history lesson, I can't see people liking chapters dedicated towards history and culture of places I may or may not use. I will still explain basic things, but definitely not in depth.
Magic will be interesting, at least it seems so in my head. Especially considering a certain little demon awakens her core soon...
Anyways, let me know if you would rather a single small time skip or multiple small ones (like every few chapters to eventually get Jahi and Kat to be older) because both have ups and downs.
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