The next morning after Lyrica's first day it was time for her to start her schedule. Ava had helped her pick out clothes for today that would be appropriate to wear as a royal. Cassien wanted her to wear trends royals wear in her stay here so that she could assimilate into the society. She wore a white button up blouse and pink trousers. After getting dressed up she went down for breakfast to grab some oatmeal and a banana. After her meal it would be time to start her schedule with Jeremiah.
"Okay Lady Lyrica today we're going to learn a lot of things. First I thought that we would get started with the history of Valentino." Jeremiah lead her to the library where they would be doing most of her studies. The library was at the western wing of the estate and it was huge. There were books everywhere and above the ceiling was a circular stained glass window.
Lyrica sat down at a desk near one of the bookshelves. Jeremiah went over to find some books to start off with. After a few minutes he had a couple of books in his arms and he placed the stake of books in front of her.
"Wow...This is a lot." Lyrica scanned the stack of books from top to bottom. It felt a bit overwhelming for her. She knew she never read this many textbooks in high school.
"Well first I wanted to start off with how Valentino came to be." Jeremiah grabbed the first book and placed it in front of her.
Lyrica opened it to the first page and the first page showed a family tree. It first starts off with the first king of Valentino, Christian Valentino, then it branches off to the royal bloodline. At the end it showed the current royal family.
"Right here are the Prince's parents. Their names are Catriona Valentino and Claud Valentino." Jeremiah pointed to their pictures, "Right here is his highness Prince Cassien and his young brother Peter."
"Wow they look like the spitting images of their parents." Stated at their photos for a while.
"Moving on..." Jeremiah turned the page for her, "Right here are the royal families of the Central part of the kingdom. As you can see the House of Castillo, House of Trinity, and the House of Montgomery."
In the book it showed the pictures of the first founder of each house. Lyrica's own house caught her eye because she noticed the founder was a women. She had pink eyes and dark long silky hair.
"The House of Castillo's founder was a women?" Lyrica asked Jeremiah.
"Yes, her name was Diana Castillo. They called her the Aphrodite of Valentino, her beauty was like a rose as cheesy as it sounds. The pink eyes you have is the trademark of the Castillo family. They say the God's gave her pink eyes after shielding her lover from an arrow."
"Woah, she sounds so cool!" Lyrica said excited, "And these are the other Houses...Are they also families of Dukes?"
"No..." Jeremiah pointed his finger at the text, "Right here it gives details on the Houses. So for Trinity Household their head is a Marquess and for the Montgomery Household their head is an Earl. They actually have children around the same age as you and I. The Trinity Household has an only child named Ariana Trinity. The Montgomery Household has a son and daughter. The eldest daughter is named Elizabeth Montgomery, while the son is named James Montgomery."
"Oh." Lyrica was trying to remember the information he just told her, but it just felt like a bunch of words so she just nodded her head.
They continued the lesson for another three hours. It was the longest time Lyrica has ever spent studying. Periodically she would close her eyes for a bit, but Jeremiah would lightly tap on her to wake her back up. Lyrica learned a lot, from the different parts of the kingdoms, their respective households, and what they specialize in. But, she wasn't quite sure if she was able to retain the information quite well. After their lesson Jeremiah allowed her to take a break.
Lyrica went outside of the library and saw Cassien walking down the hallways while reading papers. She smiled at him brightly and waved towards him.
"Hey!" She yelled out to him, "Sien!"
Cassien looked up and he walked up towards her. He wanted to take a break from work, but he decided to just bring his work with him as he walked around the estate.
"Did you just finish your lessons? How did it go?" He asked.
"Easy, I'm pretty sure I'll have everything memorized by the end of today." She boasted even though she was lying.
"I can tell your lying you know?" He smirked, "Can you even tell me all of the Houses in the kingdom and their respective heirs? Or can you recite to me the response you give to the Knights Oath?"
"The what? And huh?" Lyrica looked at him confused. She did learn the Houses, but she forget half of them other than the Central Houses and the Western Houses. She didn't even know a Knights Oath was a thing.
"You still have a lot of studying to do. Even with a month we're probably going to have to write down some cheats on your arm to look at." He sighed.
"Speaking of Knights, where is Grey? Shouldn't he be with me?" She looked around.
"I'm actually right here." Grey was behind her.
Lyrica jumped up frightened, "What the!" She looked behind her and saw Grey smiling at her. "Where did you come from?"
"I was standing outside of the library just guarding it. I wasn't here this morning because I needed to help at the training grounds." He explained to her.
"How was it this morning? Anyone faint or throw up today?" Cassien asked.
"Hmm..." Grey placed his hand on his chin to think, "No one so far, but it was just the morning. I'm sure later on we'll have a few guys who knock out some how."
"That sounds pleasant..." Lyrica said quietly to herself.
"I should get going." Cassien said the two of them and held up the papers he was holding, "I still have some work to do. It's like someone is sending me spam messages, but in real life." He sighed.
"That sucks." Lyrica replied, "Well, good luck with that." She only sympathized with him for a brief moment.
"Lady Lyrica!" Jeremiah called out. Standing next to him was Ava who was waving at her, "It's time for the next lessons."
"Gosh..." she groaned, but held a fake smile as she waved back to Ava.
"That sucks." Cassien snickered and walked the opposite direction.
"Jeez." Lyrica crossed her arms as she watched Cassien walk away from her.
He's such a busy guy, he barely gets time to breathe. But, he always finds the opportunity to make fun of me.
Lyrica and Grey followed Jeremiah and Ava to the garden at the gazebo where there were supplies set up for the next lesson. There was a tea set, some white plates, silver utensils, and a book.
"What's all this?" She looked at the materials in front of her.
"These are your materials for the next lesson! Mannerism!" Jeremiah smiled at her and he pulled out the chair for her to sit in, "Today we have Ava to help out with manners."
"Lady Lyrica I've been trained for a long time of manners for girls. So I'll be able to help this process go easily." She smiled kindly at her, "First I believe we need to adjust the you eat." She picked up a paper with a list of words on them.
"Uh what's that?" Lyrica asked.
"Oh the Prince made a list of things you have done that goes against all the manners in Valentino." Jeremiah explained to her.
"How did he find the time to remember and write that down?" She crinkled her eyebrows.
What's is he a robot?
"I'm not surprised. One time he typed me a eight paged essay on how I couldn't just barge into the palace whenever I wanted and eat the pastries from the royal kitchen." Grey remembered.
"He did that." Lyrica felt like laughing, but at the same time was still surprised at how detailed he was, "Can I see the paper?" Lyrica asked and Ava handed it over to her. Lyrica started to read the paper out loud, "She eats like a puppy, her posture is bad because of badminton, doesn't know how to eat soup, says whatever comes to her mind..." Lyrica said all of the things written down about her in an offended tone, "What does he mean by this!" She was a bit annoyed about his comments.
"D-Don't get him wrong! Lady Lyrica it's just that. These are sort of things that would get made fun of in the royal society, I think the Prince just wants to help you out so that...Maybe so that you would be able to talk comfortably around people?" Ava tried to explain to her. She didn't want to make her more upset so she tried to choose her wordings carefully.
"I mean...I get it that I'm quite the slob." She sulked down into the chair, "But, I mean? Write a whole essay about me being a slob. No wonder this guy has no time on his hands."
"Pfft." Grey laughed, "Your not wrong. No wonder he spends all day looking at documents."
"Anyways..." Jeremiah gave Lyrica another book.
Lyrica took the book and read the title. It said The Royal Guide to Manners: Ladies edition. She assumed she would have to read this since Jeremiah gave it to her.
"I suggest you read this during your spare time. It'll help out a lot." Jeremiah looked at his watch, "Let's officially start this lesson now."
- 1 hour later -
"And that is it for today!" Jeremiah smiled and he looked over at Lyrica. Her eyes looked dead and lost that sparkle when she first arrived at Valentino, "I think this will be our last lesson today. We'll ease you into these lessons and later they'll be a bit longer. So be prepared. For now, Ava why don't you prepare Lady Lyrica some tea so she can relax."
"Of course." Ava bowed.
"Thank you!" Lyrica half waved a her with all the energy she had left. The whole time she was told to keep her back straight now matter what. If she didn't she would have to stand and walk around with a book balanced on her head for one minute. She also had to learn the different types of utensils and what they were used for. She can confidently say the different between a dinner spoon, dessert spoon, and soup spoon.
Grey looked at her and patted her head, "You did well today Lyrica. It's hard adjusting to all of these things at first. Even I haven't completely adjusted to manners with Royals. Sometimes my true personality just wants to come out of the box. But, just know you'll be fine out there. It isn't so scary...I mean..." Grey had to think about it, because he know for girls they had to handle a lot. From their appearances, the way they talk, and present themselves, "Your going to be okay." He smiled nervouslyS
"Yea thanks." She sighed. Lyrica closed her eyes while she waited for her Ava with the tea. But, she heard footsteps coming towards her and she opened them again.
"You already tired on the first day?" Cassien had his arms crossed until he pulled out a chair to sit across from Lyrica, "It shouldn't have been that bad."
"Yea, yea, whatever." Lyrica groaned, "I just want my tea and I want to sleep. Today was tiring, at this point I can't wait to sleep."
"It already looks like your falling asleep." Cassien looked over to Grey, "In a few days we'll all be going DownTown." Cassien then looked over and saw Ava with the tea.
"Greetings your highness." Ava bowed and placed the tea set in front of them. She then poured tea into their cups.
Lyrica could smell the aroma of the tea and could tell right away what kind of tea it was, "Is this Earl Grey?" Lyrica looked up to Ava.
"Yes! How did you know that?" Ava asked.
"Probably a guess." Cassien answered.
"No." She narrowed her eyes at him, "It wasn't a guess, I used to work at a Boba tea shop back in the states. So I've smelled tea pretty much twenty four seven."
"Really?" Cassien raised his eyebrow.
"Mhm, a tea like this is good with milk." Lyrica added, "Grey do you want some too?"
"M-Me? It would be my honor!" Grey said enthusiastically.
Ava poured tea into another cup for Grey and handed it to him.
"Thank you." He replied.
"O-Of course! If everyone needs something please call me." She bowed and rushed away.
"Haha, why would that be?" Lyrica asked.
"Usually Knights don't get time to relax. I guess Grey just lucked out with me choosing him for you." Cassien replied, "Oh right I almost forgot. We're all going downtown in a couple of days."
"What's the occasion?" Grey took a sip of the tea.
"We're going downtown so we can get a dress fitting for you." He looked at Lyrica.
"Another dress?" She asked.
"Well what else are you going to wear? A potato sack?" Cassien said in a sarcastic tone.
"I wasn't complaining. But, what am I wearing to for again?"
Cassien facepalmed, "The reason why your on this trip in the first place. For my debutante, your going to need a dress to wear. So we're going to the Montgomery Boutique."
"Oh the same boutique from back then?"
"Yea, the head of the Boutique is actually here." Cassien explained, "They're one of the most famous designers I believe around the world now that I think about it."
"Oh really? Who are they?" Lyrica asked.
"Elizabeth Montgomery." Grey answered.
"Pfft." Cassien laughed.
"Shut up." Grey rolled his eyes at Cassien. This was the one time Grey wasn't annoying Cassien.
"What's so funny?" Lyrica didn't get what was going on within the laughing.
"Grey used to have a little crush on Liz, until..." Cassien laughed a bit more.
"Until?" Lyrica was still confused.
"She ended up with my older brother." Grey groaned, "I get it, jeez. You don't have to make my cringe at my past self. My brother and Liz are engaged right now."
"Did she know about your feelings?"
"She did, but she just treated me like a younger brother." Grey scratched her head, "It's honestly whatever right now. She's like five years older, of course she wanted someone her age."
"Wait how old are you?" Lyrica was under the impression that he was at least in his early twenties.
"I'm the same age as Sien." He pointed to him, "I'm just older by like, five months."
"Really! I thought you were older!"
"Grey is one of the youngest Knights I believe in Valentino history." Cassien mentioned and took a sip of his tea, "Although Grey isn't all brains academically-wise, he had the potential to be one of the best Knights since we were kids." He acknowledged.
"Wow that means a lot coming from you." Grey wiped his fake tears.
- later in the Knight -
Lyrica finished all her lessons for the day and she was tired out. Her last lesson was an embroidery lesson with Ava. Ava told her she must learn how to embroider on a hankerchief since it is an important part of the ceremony. After Lyrica got washed up, Ava helped her by drying and brushing her hair.
"Hey Ava can I ask a question?"
"Of course you can, what is on your mind?" Ava asked.
"What's the point of doing this?" Lyrica raised her poorly embroidered handkerchief to Ava.
"It's okay Lady Lyrica people aren't good the first time they embroider." Ava said to her and showed her a beautifully embroidered cloth. The embroidery design was of two swans surrounded by colorful flowers, "It took me a long time to reach this level. But, the reason why you need to learn to embroider is because of the ceremony."
"Ah I see..." Lyrica placed her handkerchief down and looked at Ava, "Do you mind if you could tell me a bit about yourself?"
"A-Are you sure?" Ava said hesitantly, "I don't really want to bore you with my life." She laughed.
"What?" Lyrica cocked her head, "I mean since you'll be helping me out with my stay here it's alright for me to get to know you? O-Omly if your okay with it! Sorry if it feels like I'm forcing it."
"N-No! That's not it Lady Lyrica." Ava tucked her hair behind her ear, "It's just...No one has really asked me about myself so I wouldn't really know where to begin. You see I started off this job as a maid and I've worked at multiple households."
"Wait aren't you the same age as Grey and Sien?" Lyrica questioned, "Aren't you young to be a maid?"
"Technically it's common for girls like me to become maids after the Academy. Most of us do go to school, but only as a part-time. You see, I don't have a great family background. My father died at a young age and my mother abandoned me and my sister. So right now I'm using the money to pay for my sister's education."
"What..." after hearing Ava's story Lyrica felt sad for her. Ava has already worked hard most of her life, it almost felt like Lyrica has done nothing.
"That's why I'm glad I qualified for this job." Ava smiled, "Especially to a kind person like you Lady Lyrica. I've worked with a couple of Houses before this as a maid and aristocrats tend to be rude to their servants."
"Really? I feel like that's something that would only happen in movies, so in real life too theres some sort of hierarchy?"
"Mhm." Ava nodded her head, "I don't think about it too much because I just think of my sister who needs the money for her education."
"You are really selfless aren't you." Lyrica smiled at her, "You are really a great person Ava and I'm glad you'll be working with me through my stay here."
"Me too Lady Lyrica, thank you for listening to me."
"Oh something else I wanted to know...What were your impressions of the Prince?"
"His highness?" Ava thought about it, "Hmm, many people are scared of him. But, when I came into this estate he was quite kind despite the rumors. I think he is just a bit misjudged. Once you get to know him Lady Lyrica you will warm up to him." She reassured.
"I see..." Lyrica had already felt like she wanted up to Cassien. In fact, it felt like she got comfortable despite her actions towards him. It felt a bit nostalgic to her.