Chương 41: BECOMING A NOBLE LADY, IT'S HARD!

It was such a hectic day. Not only for Leticia but also for the maids who assisted her.

For the past twelve days since she signed the contract, her schedule was so packed that she could only take a breather when she was sleeping or drinking water.

And today, finally, she gets to relax!

"No, not yet!" Hans said as he opened the door with documents in his hands.

"What?"

Leticia's eyes wide opened as she turned her head towards him who just stepped inside her room.

"This will be the last for today. I need to check if you memorize the names of the attendees for the banquet."

'Ha-haha… do we really need to do this now? I just sat, you know."

She said as she awkwardly smiled at Hans, the head butler of the mansion.

"We can't rest until after the banquet, my lady. As you're going to be formally declared as His Grace's fiance you need to be prepared as much as possible."

"If you say it like that then I can't say anything anymore…"

She trudged with heavy steps toward the study room that was connected to her room. It became her home for the past week as she could only leave after she finished all the tasks that Hans gave her.

And also, because she knows what Hans is getting concerned about, she can't help but do it with all her heart.

'The people that will attend the banquet will either be Hugh's enemies or those who want to take advantage of him. Since most of his allies are up in the North. ' she thought as she reached for her chair and watched Hans turn the pages diligently.

The question and answer portion started as Hans picked up his teaching stick and pointed at one of the portraits that Hans prepared with all his might just to make sure that Leticia remembered them easily.

"Lady Montana Brown, the young lady of the Viscount Brown Family. Nineteen years old. She likes fashion, painting, as well as horseback riding…"

Leticia continued to tell what she remembers.

When she finished, Hans nodded as he was satisfied.

And he gave her some advice. "If you want to befriend someone, make sure to befriend this Lady. Her family strongly supports the King's faction. She have an influence ever since she was young. She started a boutique that centers on cosmetics. She's someone who's admired by the young ladies."

Leticia intently listens to Hans' tips. She understood why he was saying this.

'If I could succeed in giving a good impression and befriending her then I would have a strong ally here in the capital.'

"Also…" Hans continued, "The Lady from the house of Marquis Esteban, who's going to be debuting at the upcoming banquet will also be worthy to befriend."

"Understood." She replied.

Hans didn't need to explain any further as Leticia learned the people at the neutral faction. And the Esteban House is one of them.

Learning all about their background, the things that they like and their hobbies as well as the rumors or scandals that they are associated with. She was prepared for it all but still, she was nervous!

'I learned some of the basic knowledge so that I could keep up with them. I can't let them look down on me especially as Hans gave me a strict education and stern advice.' she thought to herself.

Leticia then was thankful for the modern curriculum of modern times as she got to understand some basics of history, fashion, and politics here as they have some similarities from the medieval era.

It was also what she needed if she wanted to establish her presence as Hugh's fiancé, to become knowledgeable and eloquent.

Tak!

The butler closed the book that he prepared as they finished reviewing all the things that Leticia needed to be able to fight verbally if someone dares to strike at her.

"You just need to make sure that if someone is rude to you, make sure that you give them to trouble that they'll never forget. Remember you're the future fiancé of the notorious Duke of the North." Hans smirk.

"Way to pressure me,"

"You can do it, my Lady! You're one of the few people that I taught and I could say that you, My Lady, are smart and charming." Hans said as he encouraged Leticia.

He knows that she was nervous about becoming the fiancé of the Northern Duke as well as becoming a noble in a blink of an eye.

"Thank you, Hans," Leticia said with a benign smile pasted on her face.

Hans only smiled back.

***

After two hours of getting stuck with Hans in the study room, Leticia left with her shoulders dropped from exhaustion.

"I need to take a walk!" She determinedly said.

She walked in a hurry as Hans only gave her an hour break before she proceeded to practice dancing again.

"But this time, he said that I'll get to practice with a partner."

Leticia stretched her arms up and turned her head from each side to lighten the stiffness of her body.

For the past few days, she was taught how to act like a noble lady. Learning how to talk with elegance, how to walk like you're floating which she found physically tiring. Also, how to drink and eat with grace and lastly, how to dance.

Getting the hang of it, Leticia needed to give her best!

When she managed to do all the physical activities, she felt a sense of achievement! Also, because of her modeling work, there was no need to correct her posture which made everything easier for her to imitate the etiquette of nobles.

Hans even was amazed and gave her a compliment at how she could absorb all of it so easily.

'I want to applaud all the nobles who have learned all these things since their childhood just because they happen to be born with noble blood.' she thought, somewhat sympathizing with them.

But what drained her to the bone was learning the names of each individual that was going to attend the banquet.

Alas! She survived!

As she arrived at the garden, Leticia saw two people walking opposite where she came from.

The man at the right with green hair and eyes smiled at her and waved his hand with delight!

"Hello, My Lady!!!"

It was Austin!

"Hello, Sir Austin," Leticia replied in exhaustion.

Then, the man with pastel sepia hair and amber eyes also greeted her.

"Are you going for a walk, sister?" he said with curious eyes.

Leticia stood still! Frozen in place!

Salis looks at her and Leticia also stares back. Silence crept in between the two or more like, Leticia didn't know what to do.

She still can't believe her ears whenever she heard Salis, one of the Black Stallion Knights, call her 'sister' like that.

Leticia push her words to come out, "Th-that's right, older brother… I wanted to get some fresh air…" she replied with awkwardness.

Salis became Leticia's step-brother in a blink of an eye. She didn't even know what to do at first after she discovered that she got a step-brother all of a sudden.

She just thought that a fallen noble family just accepted her because Hugh bought her identity with a large sum of money. Leticia didn't even expect that the Baignard household was actually a family of knights that swear allegiance to Hugh.

But when Salis greeted her out of nowhere and told her about their new relationship, she was shocked, to say the least!

What about him?!

She expected to get some stares, glares, or hurtful words from him. However, contrary to her expectations, Salis was so accepting that she didn't know how to react.

"Aww~ look at this precious interaction between the new family~"

Austin suddenly chimed and teased the two as he looked back and forth between Leticia and Salis.

"My Lady, you should act more like a younger sister towards Salis. Since you need to make sure that people will believe in this story." He added while his face was full of smug looking at her.

She scoff!

Crossing her arms against her chest, Leticia looked at their surroundings and when she confirmed that no one was there listening, she looked at Austin with one of her eyebrows, raised.

'This guy is always annoying me!' She thought and proceeded to speak her sentiment.

"You know Sir Austin! My older-brother Salis and I," she said as she points her finger towards her now step-brother, "...get to only see each other after such a long time as I'm recuperating far away from the North so it's only expected that we're quite awkward from each other… but it will get better, right? Older brother?" she paused and looked at Salis who nodded in agreement.

And then she whispered, "or that's what we plan to tell people since Hans come up with it."

Salis smiled. "You don't need to whisper, Sister. No one is here beside us. Also, all the people in this mansion who know you're a commoner before made Hans sure to swear in full secrecy so, you don't need to worry about getting found out here."

Austin also chimed in, "That's right! Hans might be stern and a jerk sometimes but he does his job well. So, don't worry! No one here would dare betray you."

Both of them assure Leticia.

She was again curious as to how Hans did it. However, thinking that he could make a hundred plus servants agree to shut their mouths, made Leticia's back cold.

Thinking about it, Hans, with his turquoise orbs and a monocle placed on his right eye, looks like a smart, trustworthy, and kind butler full of responsibility. However, under those smiles was a discerning, untrusting, cold, indifferent, and unresponsive persona.

'So, I should ignore it for now...' Leticia reminded herself again.