Emelyn Windsor was mad at Edward. But anger wasn’t a feeling she was used to feeling in its realistic way. Instead of being irritated, the young princess felt her blood boiling in her veins at the fact the prince was so stubborn. He didn’t listen to her one minute nor cared. In fact, the soon-to-be-queen knew he’d rather work with Anatasia than having to talk to her, yet she wasn’t surprised about his behavior. The simple thought that the man couldn’t pass a minute without letting his intrusive thoughts take over him and make her unhappy was making her furious. 

If it wasn’t for him, Emelyn wouldn’t be stuck in a room right now, forced to listen a boring woman who teached her about things she already knew about as a punishment. Was it a punishment, in fact? The young woman knew it wasn’t one, but for her, it was one. She knew she had to have those courses eventually, yet she wanted to have the freedom to walk around and take pauses, But she couldn’t. 

For Frederick, it was a perfect way to add her to his team some more and making sure she would be a great Queen with his values and his only. The King wouldn’t want anything done in a way that wouldn’t be his, or else it would be a problem for everyone else around that project. Yet even though she was forced to get along with it and fake it, Emelyn didn’t want to be in his team. Mostly when the princess hated him at the first place. 

The woman that was supposed to be her teacher wasn’t there yet, so the girl sat on the chair and joined her hands, watching around the class. It was pretty similar to a school classroom-yet it was made in a way that there was one desk for only one student. As if royals were getting tutored here. The soon-to-be-queen couldn’t help but wonder who sat on that chair before she did and had to endure that pain of having such a lesson. 

The war between Kordania and Wron had stopped, as the bombs nearly got stopped right on time before exploding the city. The Wronans were lucky to have that chance, yet multiple citidians died from the King’s stupidity. Soon the activities were canceled so the new royals could get a hold of it and learn to become the better version of themselves. Frederick told her that time of the year, before the new King’s coronation, was reserved especially for that. 

Emelyn didn’t know whether to believe him or not, as he always seemed to make everything better than it was truly. (Well, except for the war.) The man was a great liar, the alibis being created easily with a slight part of truth and a whole part of lies. She tried to seek the truth to it, yet she believed that the war part was genuine, as she never heard explosions again. 

Which helped her to remain peaceful, naturally. Peaceful wasn’t the right word to describe her mindset, though. Filled with crazy ideas, mixed feelings, and a bit of pressure on her shoulders. She knew she wouldn’t be the one controlling it all, yet the idea of being stuck in such a wild situation made her frown. And yet. Her face was straight, and everyone thought she would become a great queen. Emelyn wished they were right-if she didn’t get influenced by her husband too much. 

Lost in thought, the woman barely heard heels knocking the ground. Then, the sound stopped, before continuing, along with the sound of something dropping on a wooden material. Suddenly noticing it, the soon-to-be-queen looked over, just to see a woman with judging face, glaring at her in annoyance. Glasses hovered over the woman’s nose, with a black shadow in them. Her eyes were a piercing jade, as she made the princess think of a snake. Her expression was full of disdain, and she looked like she was about to bite her. The teacher’s coiffure was a severe bun over the head, grey colored with a butterfly pin. 

Visibly, that woman was a noble. The way she dressed said otherwise, yet that look of superiority made Emelyn rethink it. Was Frederick forcing his nobles to wear something specific? Maybe, as she wore a white polo shirt with a tie along with a black skirt- it almost looked like a school uniform.  

“So, I suppose you must be Miss Gray, Sarah Gray, is that it?” The educator spoke in a twangy voice, holding a pile of documents in her hands. 

A bit surprised not to get called with a royal name, it took Sarah a few seconds to understand that she was speaking to her. Lifting her chin slightly, she blinked a few times and narrowed her eyebrows, responding to the woman’s request. 

“Yes, that’s me, Sarah Gray, Her Majesty the princess of Kordania. May I ask your name, milady?” 

Suddenly, the noble saw red...and became red. Her eyes widened as she clenched her jaw, growling in annoyance. She was losing her cool, cracking her knuckles as she walked closer to the princess, throwing her the deathliest glare she could ever show as she leaned her face inches from hers, her hands laying on the desk. 

“Listen to me little here. Here, it is my playground, and here, you’re just Sarah Gray. From now on, you’ll get called with your real name whether you want it or not. My name is Regina, and I want you to call me My Lady. Consider yourself lucky you have that eye color, citizen.” 

Flustered by the sudden change in the mood, Miss Gray swallowed hard and shot her gaze to the wall to her left, nodding vigorously. She was afraid she would have to say something, yet it seemed like Regina was happy with her reaction. The woman than backed up from her “victim” and stepped towards her own desk, grabbing an enormous glossary. The book was the size of a dictionary, but maybe ten times bigger. On the top, the words “A Queen’s Guide to Perfection” were written in big letters, along with the Kordanian symbol. The teacher dropped in on Emelyn’s desk and dusted her hands, a mischievous grin creeping up her face. 

“My favorite part of the lesson! Giving the manuals!” Regina snickered before walking to the chalkboard, the chalk rubbing against the board with a screeching sound, beginning to write the lesson of the day. 

Immediately, the princess hated that woman. It’s like she was doing everything to make her feel annoyed, as she even seemed to have a sadistic facade to her. Emelyn winced every time the woman wrote some words, covering her ears with her hands with difficulty, trying to ignore it. She couldn’t handle how it squeaked, how slow Regina was going, as if she was doing it on purpose. 

“First lesson of the day, being a queen involves having some patience! I’ll give you an example; if your handmaiden left to get you a towel, wait for her. You’ll know very well she’ll get back once again, and worrying about it is very useless. You must show respect to your employees and treat them as you’d treat your best friend or even your lover. Yet every time some of them are disobeying you, don’t be afraid to punish them. You shall punish them the way you want, it is one of your privileges when you are a Queen. Name one great consequence of your servant disobeying you.” 

“Um, you could remind them to show you some respect?” The woman suggested sheepishly, now knowing what to say. 

“Okay, but what way are you going to use? I want you to be specific, as everyone in the castle is working for you. They want clear orders.” Regina insisted, shaking her head as she noted something knew on the chalkboard. 

Emelyn thought for a second, trying to figure out what the teacher wanted her to say. What would she like to hear? She knew that her vision of the world wasn’t the same as the people in Kordania, so she knew she’d have to adapt to it. Yet whatever she searched; the young princess couldn’t find any respectful one to respect her values. Instead, the soon-to-be-queen chose something general, hoping it would work out. 

“Well, when I would be the Queen, I would want to be the best Queen possible. In any ways, I would like to show respect to my employees, but not faking it. I believe that if we punish our employees and make them afraid of us, it won’t be efficient.  

They would be running away from us and doing things faster to be sure to fulfill our desires, and they wouldn’t have time for themselves. If ever that situation happened, I would meet up with the specific maidservant and speak to them personally, asking them if there’s something going on. 

 If they would mention a loved one died or anything dramatic happened, I would let them have a break until they figure they are feeling well. If nothing figured in my list, I’d remind them to be respectful to me at all costs, and not wanting to be a reason. In the worst case, I’d expulse them from the castle, but I don’t think I’d get this far.” 

Brutally, Regina was furious. Once again, Emelyn said something that was bothering her at the highest level. Considering her expression, the woman looked like she was about to slap the princess right in the face and slap her. Good for Her Majesty, she didn’t have that treatment. Instead, the teacher remained silent and slowly calmed down, a forced smile replacing her fuming face. 

“Um, no, that’s a bad guess, Miss Gray. In Kordania, that’s not how things work. Your mindset looks a lot like the Mayain one: hideous and incredibly stupid. I’m only curious with this, you must answer: Where are you from, truly? Don’t lie, I’ll see it in your face.” 

Once again, the woman was lightening up suspicions in others. Which was the worst thing she knew she could be doing to her kingdom. And yet again, the soon-to-be-queen kept her poker face. But it was hard. Hard when you feel like you’re on the edge on losing everything, hard when a single lie can get you betrayed. The princess knew she couldn’t do this to Mayain neither herself; she couldn’t let that stubborn noble direct her thoughts that way. 

Instead of getting affected by it, Emelyn decided not to let it show. She forced herself to laugh, secretly hoping it wouldn’t add up to Regina’s suspicions. She arched her brows and smirked slightly, tilting her head to the side as she stared right at her educator, trying to make her flinch. 

“Oh, so now I’m acting like a citadian of Mayain? Come on now, My Lady, you know very well Mayain is extincted since eleven years, and everyone is dead here. Don’t be so foolish, Mayains were complete idiots that didn’t have a proper mindset. And no, I’m not from them, I’m from Pyril.” 

The woman felt bad about talking so badly about her own kingdom where her family and friends used to live, yet she wanted to make sure Regina wouldn’t suspect her anymore. Confirming her they were both on the same page. She thought she was very smart at the start that she had told Anastasia she was from Pyril right before the war in Wron, so she wouldn’t add up lies about different kingdoms. If she told her teacher that she was from Wron, and she would consider her as an enemy right away. And yet, insulting Mayain in such a way was making her feel bad.  

Even if it was for its own good, she didn’t feel like it deserved her disastrous vocabulary and disapproval of it’s genius mindset. At least, Emelyn agreed with Mayain and wasn’t speaking it out loud but lies were her biggest hate in humanity. Lies, alibis and everything concerning “Fake it ‘till you make it.” 

Would anyone agree with it in Kordania? Absolutely not, and mostly not that sadistic educator of hers that had the dream to tear Emelyn’s dreams apart. In a way, the woman was similar to the King, but also everything in the kingdom. The girl could not believe how different this was from Mayain, her home, where everyone was accepted whatever their social status were. 

Regina was seemingly caught off guard, as she didn’t speak for a few minutes. SHe then snapped out of her trance, her expression growing more serious, as if what she said didn’t affect her. A fake smile then broke her expression, as she joined her hands and nodded, shifting to the blackboard again. 

“Good. Now, second lesson of the day, understand your power. You are, well, will be a Queen, which is one the strongest roles in the whole hierarchy. You must understand that the King himself is more powerful than you, even though you are supposed to be reigning with him. For example, you must be sure to treat His Majesty the Prince Edward Meyer of Kordania as if you weren’t married. You must call him with royal names, but he uses whatever he wants to call you.” Regina declared, the chalk screeching onto the board like a mouse squeaking with fear. 

From the outside, the young princess seemed to agree. She nodded and rummaged through the Queen’s Guide to Perfection, finding the page and writing it down in her head. And yet...From the inside, she was boiling. Why did this have to be so sexist? She knew very well she had to treat the prince this way, yet the fact she had to treat someone she hated this way was angering her. The soon-to-be-queen always despised him for his simple existence, but for a while now, he has lost even more respect. 

“Understood.” The woman spoke, pretending she was listening carefully to what her educator was ordering her. 

The old woman was pretty satisfied with her answer, writing increasingly on the board, ruthlessly keeping up the torture, as hours and hours passed. Regina was unstoppable, as time passed by. Sarah felt like she was going to fall asleep soon, stuck in endless boredom. She was hungry, thirsty, and sleepy, yet she knew she couldn’t do anything about it. 

“Keep your eyes open if you want to be the perfection itself!” Her cruel teacher reminded her every time she closed one eye. 

Even though perfection itself wasn’t the goal she was trying to reach, she understood what she meant by it. Emelyn didn’t want to have to learn these manners since she knew every single one of them. She gained them slowly and surely in her childhood, in an endless loop of courses without any breaks. Surprisingly, the woman started to anticipate the coronation and was beginning to be eager for it. 

Normally, she wouldn’t be for all that pressure, yet if this was going to make the lost princess escape from Regina’s reality, she’d skip this for sure. The young girl could pass with those lessons that didn’t teach her, even though they were supposed to. 

Her act was fooling everyone, and it looked like everyone believed in her little games. Soon, she knew she could be the one to break apart Kordania. Revolutionary ideas coming to the world as she’d leave Edward’s ass before disappearing in thin air. Which would be a long time ago. 

The last thing Sarah knew, those lessons would be taking forever. As waiting was the only key to Mayain’s success and prosperity...And then, her auburn hair fell in front of her eyes as her shoulders shuddered, her head resting on her forearms. The woman didn’t even hear Regina raging at her comportment, yet she didn’t care. 

If she had to become a great Queen in the future, she knew she’d need some rest from all of this, even if that included inventing some new stories...