Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“Your pronunciation is unclear, which makes you seem less of an aristocrat. Try again.”

Teacher Rima stopped shortly, then pointed out my incorrect pronunciation.

Now that I’ve been talking nonsense childishly for a while, I never thought it’d be pointed out. My face suddenly got hot.

At the same time, I smelled a faint fragrance on her body when she got closer to me. She must’ve liked sweet perfumes.

It would be nice if you would treat me as sweet as that scent, and I bit my lips while thinking about that.

“You must be excellent… ”

“Again.”

“You must be excellent to be a princess… ”

“Sigh.”

Teacher Rima sighed for a long time and shook her head.

What the hell was different! Aren’t you just nitpicking for no reason?

Even though I thought so, I was afraid that I was the only one who couldn’t figure it out because I came from an orphanage.

Somehow, my heart started aching painfully.

“I heard that you were intelligent, but now that I see you… I am disappointed.”

Dugundugun. My stomach started to tingle in anxiety.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been here all the time.… I was somewhat depressed even though I knew that not everyone in the world would like me.

‘I’m scared.’

Both Lucy and Nina complimented me for speaking with such respect.

In fact, was it just a mere compliment because they like me?

“Politeness, integrity, and beauty. It can only be said that you stand on the starting line as an aristocratic spirit only when you have done everything. Surely… The lineage comes first.”

Foolish Shuelina! How could you forget about the coldness at the orphanage and lose your mind like this?

But as soon as I heard the part about the importance of bloodline, my mind flashed.

My bloodline can’t be at fault. Because I’m blood-related (to the Imperial Family.)

(T/N: I’m just adding the last part inside the parentheses. Though it’s not in the raw, it can help with some clarifications on who the ‘bloodline’ Shuelina was referring to.)

‘Because you are a child who can shine only by yourself, no matter where you are.’

Besides, Wyndert told me that no matter if I have my status or career, I am also loyal.

Wherever I am, whatever my past and my future, I am Shuelina.

“Teacher, I‘m a noble young lady. I’m the only Grand Princess of the Grand Duke of Vaillot.”

“Young Lady, I don‘t mean like that… ”

“But the teacher kept ignoring me. After the teacher came in, you didn’t even greet me.”

I looked at Teacher Rima and said clearly.

I’m not sure if the teacher likes me or hates me and there was nothing written about our relationship in the book. The important thing was that the teacher has continued to be rude towards me.

“I ignored you? Young Lady, this is to inspire your motivation… ”

“No. You kept referring only to my past, which is totally unrelated to the class.“

The expression of Teacher Rima, who was a little surprised by my words, changed into one of regret.

“Young Lady, I understand that you are ashamed of your past as a commoner orphan, but it doesn’t make any difference.”

A clumsy tone paired with an expression that seemed to be really worried about me.

However, I have already become a person who’s completely unable to like this teacher in any way.

Whatever the teacher’s intention was, it seems that I couldn’t like her.

“Teacher, I’m not ashamed of my past. Should I be ashamed of being a commoner?”

“No… ”

“I just want you to treat me the right way.”

Teacher Rima’s eyebrows slightly frowned at me. Then she took a deep breath. Like a forced answer.

“That’s right. I’m called Rima Vein, Young Lady. And it’s good to introduce someone inferior first so as to display courtesy.“

“Shuelina de Vaillot. By the way… I‘m a princess, but why are you treating me as a subordinate?”

Teacher Rima’s mouth opened slightly at my words. It seemed that she didn’t expect I would logically refute it.

But you don’t seem to know, I am no longer a commoner orphan, now I’m a grand princess.

Teacher Rima seems to have won a single victory title without the addition of “de” to her name.

Nobles or commoners, who either won some kind of grand award or recognition or were unfairly pushed out of their family’s line of succession, received the title ‘de’ in their names.

“…”

‘Whereas one victory nobles who don’t have “de” in their name aren’t able to earn large amounts of money, and they can’t give their children the titles.’

In other words, we have different statuses because I am the Grand Princess, while you’re only a one-generation noble.

‘That’s the day when my dad said I was a princess.’

Teacher Rima opened her mouth rather than accepting defeat with her fierce eyes which look like they can eat a person stared at me.

“Right now, it has nothing to do with our status, as it was an interaction only between the teacher and the disciple.”

“You said, as a subordinate… ”

I muttered slightly and shook my head.

“Young Lady, a proper noble young lady, if you wish to become one, shouldn’t argue like this.”

“…”

I’m just saying it! So why are you suddenly complaining?!

I looked at the desk with a dissatisfied glance.

It’s unfair! I was excited about my new teacher, but I didn’t know they would be so vain.

I’m not a person that will usually complain about something after only a day or even two, but this atmosphere….

Can I talk to the Grand Duke?

I want to apologize for being improper and for being upset by the teacher’s insignificant rudeness towards me, but the fact that I have never met a nobleman properly caught my ankle.

(T/N: caught my ankle = hindered by something/held by something)

If I’m really weird, what if I’m doing is because I’m afraid that I can’t properly assimilate into the world of nobility.

It was difficult to call it a piece of gossip from the Grand Duke’s household after this person was kicked out of the Imperial Palace.

“First of all, we should aim to match the Princess’s turnout this month even once.”

At that moment, Teacher Rima set a fire in my heart, while I was thinking about whether I had to comply.

“The princess?”

“Even though Princess Azuela is young, she is a shining sample of the perfect lady in the Imperial Palace.”

“…Is that so?”

Azuela’s name suddenly popped up, and my conflicted mood suddenly subsided. Why did Azuela become the topic here?

“The great nobles were, after all, the focal point of the local western religion. Young Lady should also try to be like that.”

“Hmm… .”

“The Grand Duke looks much more liberal compared to other Nobles, but… I’ve encountered a lot of examples of perfect ladies in the Imperial Academy.”

“… .”

“Poetry, speech, culture… In particular, the Princess was a perfect goal to imitate who had everything in place. Let’s try to keep up with her as much as possible. Are you not happy to have an example as your inspiration?”

Teacher Rima smiled tenderly, saying that she would help me out as much as she can and teach me a lot.

I’m not happy at all, how can I be happy…

You put a lot of bitter medicine in my mouth, I scrunched up my face and didn’t bother to reply.

“Young Lady should learn a lot while you’re still young….”

Teacher Rima sighed once again, looking up and down at the chair where I was sitting.

It looked like she was seeing me as a failed student already.

“Don‘t worry. I will somehow transform the Young Lady into a perfect and flawless one.”

The teacher said with a friendly voice.

What is that fond tone? Are you sweet? It’s like the teacher is kindly slapping my cheek!

I clenched my fists and stared at her.

“Why do I need to learn from the young princess? We are both six years old.”

“I think I’ve already said that an excellent Young Lady doesn’t respond in such a way. One mistake was enough.”

“Oops… .”

“Despite having the same age, the Princess has already become a perfect lady. In contrast, Young Lady is not ready for anything.”

Do it! What the hell are you saying? Isn’t there a whole lot of Azula love in Teacher Rima’s head?

I narrowed my eyes and glared at Rima’s gentle smile.

“I understand that the common people’s laws and the nobility‘s laws are vastly different, so I am not familiar with both of them… ”

“Why can’t you ignore the fact that I was a commoner?”

“I just said what I am unfamiliar with.”

The teacher answered with a gentle expression, then firmly cut off the conversation.

I’m not a commoner anymore, but even if I am a commoner, she has no reason to ignore me like this!

“Let‘s work hard so that you can become the perfect lady the Grand Duke will be proud of.”

Convinced that I could never like Teacher Rima’s boldness, I bit my lips.

I have to use a child’s number one convincing method, a reminder card!

‘Let’s see!’

***

Immediately after class, I moved to the dining room for dinner to eat.

The Grand Duke, my brothers and Lucy all came first, waiting for me to sit down.

“Eat, it’s delicious, Shu… Shushu?”

Wyndert, who was sitting at my right side, spoke tenderly and called out to me in shock.

“What are you doing?!”

“Nooo, someone else must have messed with our Shushu!”

Deleign threw his fork to the table then almost shouted as if he was selling.

“Uh… “

Originally, I was trying to drop a single tear, but unexpectedly, tears began to pour out.

I felt more relieved when I heard the soothing voices around me.

“Aaaah… .! A-appa, o-o-oraboni… . Waaah!”

As I burst into tears, everyone jumped up from their seats and approached me.

“What the hell is going on?”

“That, I also don’t know either… It seemed like she didn’t feel good after class.”

It seemed that the Grand Duke asked Nina about my condition.

In an instant, she didn’t say anything involving me, so Nina seemed to be completely embarrassed.

“What’s wrong, why is my daughter crying so loud all of a sudden?!”

I haven’t told anyone, but maybe someone knows why I’m crying.

I also want to stop crying and complain about it, but somehow the crying wouldn’t stop.

‘Ah, it wasn’t like that, I wasn’t hurt.’

My heart ached with fresh wounds.

Teacher Rima scratched at the insecurities in my mind.

When I was unable to stop crying for a long time, the Grand Duke took me away from the dining room and comforted me.

The food will get cold…

Even though I knew that, I was feeling sick because my crying did not stop, it seemed like it was going to continue on like this forever.

“That, hic … ”

When I opened my mouth, I heard a grunt. I rubbed my nose with a slightly depressed face.

“What happened? Who made you cry?”

Again, my regret soared at the Grand Duke’s question. His lips were sticking out and his forehead was wrinkled in concern.

‘Teacher Rima! She hurt me! She’s really mean!‘

I wanted to shout out like this because I felt this way, however after I figured out what I wanted to say, I opened my mouth.

“A, appa, I’m your… your daughter, right?”

“Of course… Who denied you?“

However, when the Grand Duke’s question came up, something else bubbled up from my heart that was completely different from what I was supposed to say.

“I’m afraid, … ?”

“What are you talking about?”

The angry voice of the Grand Duke rang through the air.

I clenched my fists and hugged the Grand Duke’s neck tightly. Then he hugged me tighter in his arms to reciprocate.

I only realized why the Grand Duke reacted violently and why the thoughts and other strange words had popped up.

“I’m mostly afraid of the people in the Grand Duke family feeling ashamed about me.’

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