Two weeks had passed since the siblings went to the slums.
Not minding that sheâs in the middle of the embroidery class, Emma kept sighing.
âEmma-sama, do you have to go after school today too?â
Francesca was worried about the limp and lifeless Emma and asked with pity.
âYes. Today, tooâŠâ
Emma let out another long sigh as she stacked the finished coaster together gently on the table. Contrary to her languid expression, the coasters she embroidered had gradually turned into a pile. To move your hands no matter the occasion is the Stuart familyâs ironclad rule.
As punishment for staying outside without permission, Emma would have to spend 4 hours after school at Melsaâs parents, Duke of Sullivanâs house.
Melsaâs mother, or Emmaâs grandmother, Hilda Sullivan, is famous for her strict etiquette.
Snack time at Joshuaâs safely reopened store, testing the new dyeing material, interacting with the handsome uncle Harold, fluffing with the cats, taking care of insects⊠Even though thereâs a lot of stuff Emma wanted to do, she canât do anything but give up that time for a one-to-one manner lesson with her grandmother.
âGrandmother⊠is 100 times stricter than MotherâŠâ
Emma has her previous lifeâs memories, so she had learned the minimum necessary manners.
She had learned it, but Hilda was very strict. What Hilda aimed for was different from Emma, who thought itâll be alright as long as she knew the manners that wouldnât embarrass herself.
Dinner there was more luxurious than the one at Stuartâs house as she got to eat a full course meal that made her wonder from whose wedding was this. Even so, the table manners were annoying. Being lectured on how to hold a knife and fork elegantly until her long-awaited steak got cold was unbearable.
âIt seems Grandmother will take me to an evening party this weekend.â
âItâs rude to keep refusing every single tea party and evening party without attending even one of them,â her grandmother scolded her yesterday. Emma was told that itâs a banquet at the royal capital. The only thing that saved her was that there wonât be any dance.
âWell, if itâs this weekendâs evening party, we will also attend, right, Caitlyn?â
âWell, if itâs this weekendâs evening party, we will also be attending, Catherine.â
It looked like the twins were also invited as they talked to each other about how rare it was for Emma to attend an evening party.
âHaahhh, do Catherine-sama and Caitlyn-sama go to evening parties a lot?â
Emma felt reluctant if she had to socialize after she enrolled in the academy. And the fact that her grandmother would be accompanying her to the evening party made her even more reluctant. Emma was surprised to see the twins, who are the same age as her, were already accustomed to attending evening parties.
âWe go to at least two parties a month, donât we? Caitlyn.â
âWe go to two parties or more a month, Catherine.â
The twins came from a territory with prosperous trade, so they often attend gatherings together with foreign guests as guides, including tea parties and evening parties held in the royal capital. As even the devil-may-care twins were doing their job properly, Emma couldnât possibly say that she didnât want to go.
âI heard that the neighboring countryâs Prince will be attending, so this weekendâs evening partyâs scale will be bigger. Right, Caitlyn?â
âThe neighboring countryâs Prince will be attending, so the partyâs scale will be big is what I heard, Catherine.â
âHaahhhâŠâŠâ
For her grandmother to choose such an influential banquet out of all parties, Emma could only think of it as harassment.
I want to dye Roseâs dresses with the new inkâŠ
Emma sighed again as she had many ideas on her mind but no time to try them.
âFrom the Bell House, Older Brother is in attendance, so I donât need to go. A frilly dress doesnât suit me, and the occasion doesnât allow me to wear menâs clothing either, after all.â
âI pity youâŠâ Marion, who had skillfully avoided the evening party, sympathized with Emma.