The Tale of Two Hearts | Tedros x Reader

Chapter 7: Classes

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well for starters, you're friends with the witch."

Y/n stopped dead in her tracks and spun on her heel so she was now facing Tedros. The look on her face showed that she was not happy with his comment.

"Do not call her that," she said coldly. She held her finger up, scolding him.

Tedros's smile faded and he looked down at her with an apologetic stare.

"I'm sorry."

"You're no different than everyone back at home. Nothing but a bunch of bullies who know nothing about what goes on in other people's lives. It's selfish."

"I'm not selfish."

"You're right. You're selfish and cocky. You think you know everything but you don't."

"So tell me everything then. Tell me about your friends and your life back at home."

The first bell rang off as a sign that she had five minutes to get to Beautification class. She sighed and walked past him, hitting his shoulder with hers as she passed.

"Let me walk you to your class," Tedros offered.

"This conversation is over, Tedros. Go find some other princess to bother."

This time Tedros didn't follow. He let her go as she walked down the hallway, and looked at each door to find one labeled Beautification. With a few minutes before the final bell rang, she finally found the pretty pink door and turned the golden knob. Once she entered, the princesses she each stationed at a table, waiting eagerly for their teacher to begin the lesson. She looked around the room for an empty table and finally found the perfect seat, right next to Agatha. She moved over and sat down right next to her. Agatha glared for a moment until she realized who it was.

"Where have you been?" Agatha asked.

"Avoiding a certain prince," Y/n said, rolling her eyes.

Agatha furrowed her brows and looked at her with confusion. "Who?"

"Tedros."

"The show off from the assembly? What's he bothering you for?"

"Beats me. He says I'm more interesting than the other princesses. He wants to get to know me I guess."

"Well someone's already fitting in isn't she?"

"Unfortunately. What have you been up to? Anything from Sophie?"

"Actually, that's something we need to talk about. Tedros's interest in you might be useful."

"Why?"

"Sophie already has her eyes set on him. I went to Evil to try to talk to her but she's not budging. She wants Tedros to see that she's a real princess so he'll fall in love with her and she can stay here forever."

"What?" Said y/n, eyes wide.

"She said if he falls for her, it'll show that she's Good and that she and I can switch schools since she believes that it was just a mix up. There's no reasoning with her, Y/n."

Before Y/n and Agatha could continue their conversation, Professor Emma Anemone, whistling in a blinding yellow dress and long fox-fur gloves, walked into her pink taffy classroom. She looked around the room at her students, took one look at Agatha, and stopped whistling. But then she murmured "Repunzel took some work too," and began her first lesson on "Making Smiles Kinder."

"Now the key is to communicate with your eyes," she chirped and demonstrated the perfect princess smile. Each of the girls began to look in their mirrors and attempted to do their best smile. Y/n turned away from Agatha and looked into the mirror, staring at her facial features before curling her lips into a lovely smile.

Professor Anemone walked around surveying the girls. "Not so much squinting.... A little less nose, dear... Oh my, absolutely beautiful!" She was talking about Beatrix, who lit up the room with her dazzling smile. "That, my Evers, is a smile that can win the heart of the steeliest prince. A smile that can broker peace in the greatest of wars. A smile that can lead a kingdom to hope and prosperity!"

Then she saw Agatha. "You there! No Smirking!"

As the teacher stood over Agatha, Y/n watched as Agatha tried her best to copy Beatrix's gorgeous smile.

"Goodness! Now it's a creepy grin! A smile, child! Just your normal, everyday smile!"

Professor Anemone tried her best to work with Agatha but Agtha appeared to be having a hard time showing her real smile. The professor turned to Y/n, who was now looking in the mirror again trying to perfect the smile.

"Now that is quite the smile, dear," Professor Anemone said with a proud grin on her face. "You are sure to win any prince over with that smile I can tell you that." The teacher then turned to look at Agatha.

"If you ever need a man to trust you, if you ever need a man to save you, if you ever need a man to love you, whatever you do, child... don't smile at him."

After Beautification, the two girls went to Princess Etiquette, which was taught by Pollux. He arrived in a bad mood, hobbling with his massive canine head attacked to a skinny goat's body and muttering that Castor "has the body this week." He looked up and saw girls staring at him.

"And here I thought I was teaching princesses. All I see are twenty ill-mannered girls gaping like toads. Are you toads? Do you like to catch flies with your little pink tongues?"

The girls stopped staring after that.

The first lesson was "Princess Posture," which involved the girls descending the four tower staircases with nests of nightingale eggs on their heads. Most of the girls succeeded without breaking any eggs, including Y/n, who walked on the stairs gracefully with the egg balanced on her head. Agatha, on the other hand, had a harder time.

"Agatha, you need to fix your posture," Y/n said, walking next to her on the stairs.

"It's a little hard when all I do is slouch," Agatha grumbled. Shortly after, she dropped her egg onto the marble floor. That made number 20 in the number of eggs that she had dropped.

"Twenty beautiful nightingales who will not have life... because of you," said Pollux.

As class ranks appeared over each girl in ethereal gold clouds — Beatrix 1st and Y/n 2nd — Agatha spun to see a rusted "20" hover over, then crash into her head.

Y/n frowned. This was Agatha's second time getting last place. If she got one more, she'd suffer the same fate as the other children who failed. She had to keep her from failing once more, even if that meant her rank would change.