"No, you picked up the teacup from. Rember to pinch the handle gently between your index finger and thumb, while letting your middle finger rest underneath for support. You mustn't grip it with all fingers like you would with a handleless teacup. But in those cases, you have to be sure to support the cup with your other hand," The Duchess said, demonstrating how to properly drink tea.
lina did her best to replicate her, trying hard not to let her shaky hands show. She had no clue that nobles cared how teacups were held. Who in their right mind would care unless they were spilling the tea? But apparently it was very important.
That, along with a hundred other tiny rules that the nobles cared about. For example, how you sat down at the table. How you kept your legs while you sat. Which tableware you used and how. Table etiquette was a whole science in its own right, and the Duchess was determined to cram it all in lina's head.
As soon as the bakery closed on Saturday afternoon, the Duchess claid lina all to herself. She wouldn't hear of any magic lessons or pastry experints or anything of the like. lina wanted to check whether there were new ingredients in the shipnt Auden Speziale sent her, but the Duchess insisted that manners ca first.
It was Sunday afternoon, and they had been perfecting manners one would require in a party setting since late morning. Thankfully, the Duchess wasn't used to waking up as early as lina, so she did have a few hours of breathing room before one of Sinclair's servants ca to retrieve her.
Her familiars were also put through a crash course in proper behaviour. Mango had to either sit by lina's leg or in her lap. Sienna… that was a bit more difficult. The Duchess wasn't sure what to do with her, since even in her smaller form, she was quite fearso with her distinctly draconic features.
"Your Grace, have you figured out what Sienna should do during the engagent party?" lina asked, doing her best to gracefully sip the tea.
"Loosen your grip, child," The Duchess said, then turned to Sienna, who peeked her head up at the ntion of her na.
"I thought about it long and hard. Initially, I thought it would be for the best to not let her into the party."
lina frowned, and Sienna let out a displeased chitter. At this point, lina couldn't imagine herself going anywhere without Sienna. She was a part of lina's life, always present. Without the wyvern, she felt unprotected.
"But I realized it wasn't feasible long-term anyway. This wyvern is your familiar, always by your side, right?" The Duchess asked.
"That's correct." lina nodded.
"Then I believe that the best we can do is take full advantage of it and display your strength," The Duchess said.
"What do you an, Your Grace?" lina cocked her head.
"Since the party is going to take place outside, you shall arrive fashionably late, as it is accepted for the fiancées. And you shall arrive on your wyvern's back," the Duchess said with a slight smile.
"On Sienna's back? Wouldn't that scare everyone?"
"I shall keep the situation under control. You needn't fear," she assured. "But by displaying your control over such a formidable creature, you will instantly establish yourself as soone to be reckoned with. I suspect we don't do sothing as dramatic as that, none of the nobles will take you seriously since you're a commoner."
lina thought about it for a mont. What the Duchess said made sense, although lina was afraid so of the nobles might react before the Duchess could do anything about it. There was another problem.
"Sienna can't fly much yet. She mostly glides," lina said, patting the wyvern on her head. She had been afraid to try proper flight, likely because she had flown before.
"Then it's another thing you must master. It will be clumsy if you two arrive, scuttling along the ground," the Duchess said firmly.
lina could feel her shoulders slumping under the heavy weight. There were so many things to learn before the engagent party, yet so little ti.
"In either case, this is enough tea party practice for today. You're too tense. We shall head to Fenrora to pick out the engagent dress for you."
"So suddenly?" lina asked, watching as the Duchess signaled her servant over. He extended her hand, helping her stand up. "Do we even have ti to travel all the way to Fenrora?"
"We'll be using a portal. Unfortunately, this ti, both your familiars will have to remain here. Bringing them to the city is too dangerous," the Duchess said.
"I… Very well. I shall arrange sobody to watch over them," lina said reluctantly, patting both her familiars.
"Excellent. I shall send a carriage to your ho in an hour. We have not a mont to waste."
As the Duchess walked out of their ho, lina couldn't help but let out a strained sigh. All this ti together with her had been so stressful. But she couldn't exactly complain, not with how much work Alistair had on his table.
"I will accompany you to Fenrora," Elowen said, having stood aside as her guard the whole ti. Alistair apparently had insisted that lina needed a guard, despite all her protests.
But the drow were now walking through the Sunglow, trying to understand why the mana levels were remaining as high as they were. So with them walking around freely, the security in Sunglow was tightened with extra Sinclair soldiers keeping watch.
Apparently, one of the drow would co and observe lina cook in hopes of learning her magical recipes. She didn't mind at all, although the timing was rather poor. She didn't exactly have ti to properly teach soone else besides Roxie, who already required quite a lot of lina's attention.
But currently, she had to focus on what was in front of her. She decided to take Sienna over to Etrian. The drow was rather curious about Sienna's evolution and would study her a little bit and then grab her along for so errands. Mango she entrusted to Leliana, who curiously asked where she was going together with Elowen.
"To buy an engagent dress with Duchess Sinclair…" lina said, dreading the event. How many shops would they go through until the Duchess found sothing that would please her? It would undoubtedly take the rest of the day, and lina would surely have to learn another hundred noblewon's rules along the way.
"An engagent dress?!" Leliana's eyes sparkled with excitent. "Oh, I can't wait to attend the party. It will surely be beautiful."
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This made lina wonder whether she could even invite her commoner friends to the engagent party. She would love for Leliana, Erina, Remi, and others to co. But could they? She would have had to ask the Duchess.
"But why is Elowen coming along?" Leliana narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Sinclair assigned as lina's guard," Elowen explained.
"Will it be all right for you to go to such a large city as Fenrora?" Leliana worried.
"I believe as long as the Duchess accepts my presence, nobody else will dare to question it," the elf said.
lina nodded in agreent. "Indeed. None of the servants has ntioned it, especially since Alistair was the one who made the decision."
"You make sure that nobody bullies him," Leliana said firmly to lina.
"Absolutely," lina nodded.
With both familiars taken care of, lina returned ho and waited for the carriage. It arrived so ten minutes later, and lina stepped into the carriage. Elowen couldn't join her, but for him, following a carriage on foot was no big deal at all.
Before long, they had arrived at the Town Hall, where the Duchess Sinclair, along with a stately-dressed man, waited for her. Initially, lina thought it was a butler dressed for going out into the city. But it soon turned out that he was a wizard, here to teleport the Duchess and lina to Fenrora.
"I'm not sure whether I'll be able to teleport the e… Miss lina's guard with us. Teleporting three people at once is already strenuous," the mage said, correcting himself before he managed to refer to Elowen as the elf.
"I can assist with teleportation. Although I'm not sure where exactly we're teleporting, you'll have to lead the spell. I'll supplent it with my mana," lina offered.
The mage looked at her in confusion. "I-I thought you were a [Baker] class."
"That's right. But I can use magic without the System's assistance," lina clarified.
The man blinked a few more tis, then cleared his throat. "If the Duchess permits it."
"I permit it. It wouldn't serve any point for my son to assign a guard to her only for that guard to be left behind."
"Very well," the mage said and held out his hands. The Duchess gracefully placed hers in his, and lina did her best to imitate the gesture while extending her hand to Elowen.
Once the elf had taken it, the mage initiated the spell, and lina added her own mana to his, allowing them to take Elowen along. Monts later, they were in front of so large white mansion with long spires. It took a mont for lina to realize that this was the Sinclair mansion.
She had visited it a few tis in the past, when Alistair was a [General], and it was just as impressive then as it was now. As lina admired the amazing architecture, she felt sothing crash into her.
"lina, you're here!" Charlotte bead at her, looking like a small, excited puppy.
"Hello, Lady Charlotte," lina greeted her.
"System, that sounds so stuffy. Aren't we going to be sisters soon?" Charlotte protested.
"Yes, and once that happens, then lina will be able to address you freely. But for the ti being, you'll have to put up with it," The Duchess said firmly to her daughter.
"Yes, Mom," she agreed forlornly, but quickly brightened up again. "The tailors and rchants are waiting."
"Wonderful," The Duchess nodded in satisfaction. "Let's not make them wait any longer."
"Wait.. Aren't we going to browse shops in Fenrora?" lina asked curiously.
"Nobles of such high standing as ourselves do not need to browse shops. We summon the tailors, craftsn, and shoemakers we prefer to our hos to make an order," The Duchess explained.
"It's so much more fun to walk through the city…" Charlotte pouted.
"Charlotte," The Duchess shot her a stern glare.
"Yes, yes. It's inappropriate," the girl huffed. "But in either case, I peeked at the dresses the tailors brought, and they're all so beautiful. I have no clue how we are going to choose."
"We must choose the best dress. Anything less than perfect will earn lina ridicule from other nobles," the Duchess said, then extended her hand. A butler rushed to her side imdiately, offering his hand for her to lean on.
lina had no clue that the next eight hours would be the most grueling in her life. First, she took the whole thing with an open mind. The Duchess only had her best interest in mind after all. She wanted this party to be a success and even thought of a way for Sienna to participate.
But she hadn't expected this. The mont servants led them to the dressing room, lina felt like all of Fenrora's best shops had decided to set up business in the vast dressing room of the Sinclair estate. There were at least a dozen tailors, rchants, shoe-makers, and jewelers in total, all eager to show off their best rchandise.
Dresses covered in pearls, jewels, and gold, with embroidery, lace, and clearly made from only the finest materials available, were displayed on mannequins. Necklaces with jewels so large that lina was sure that her neck would break if she put them on, and shoes with heels so high and sharp that they should be classified as a weapon.
She barely managed to suppress a gasp and kept her cool, only thanks to . The Duchess had warned her that these rchants worked with noblen regularly, so she had to behave appropriately.
"Thank you all for coming! I'm pleased to see that you have brought your best work for my future daughter-in-law. Let's begin the asuring," The Duchess said, sitting down in coach while the servants prepared her sweets and other refreshnts.
But lina couldn't rest. She was instantly whisked away to the dressing room, where servants proceeded to undress and dress her in a hundred different combinations of dresses, jewelry, shoes, and other accessories.
At first, she enjoyed the process a little, even if she wasn't used to it. Every dress was a work of art, and lina admired them with great interest. In her opinion, they didn't suit her in the slightest, but she certainly appreciated the work that went into creating such ornate pieces. Etrian would probably drool just to look at one of these dresses.
But as the process continued, lina's eyes stopped registering what she was even wearing. It was a cacophony of colors that she couldn't decipher, and the Duchess was ordering her to wear dress after dress in an attempt to find the perfect one.
About three hours later, lina's feet were sore from all the heels she had to wear, and she wanted to just run away and hide in so corner. She would much rather climb the World Mountain barefoot again. It seed like a much easier task. At least that had a goal to reach, while this process seed endless.
"Let's take a short break, everyone," The Duchess announced.
lina staggered to the couch and sat down. She wanted to slump into the soft cushions, but the small sense that still remained within her forced her to sit properly with her legs pressed together and back straight.
"All the dresses are really nice, but none of them are… right," Charlotte comnted.
The Duchess nodded in agreent. "Yes. I find it quite peculiar. You have a nice body, a petite fra, which should be ideal for these kinds of dresses. Yet not a single one of them suits you."
"Yeah, it's like they are missing sothing and at the sa ti are too much," Charlotte nodded, and the servants in the room agreed.
lina was just exhausted. She had no clue what this missing thing was, although she agreed that the jewels and other such accessories were too much. What would other nobles even think if she ca adorned in expensive jewelry? Best-case scenario, they would be jealous. Worst case, they would just call her a fraud who has fooled Alistair into providing all the luxuries for her.
"I don't think this kind of style would suit ," lina muttered, taking a sip of tea to hide her distaste for this whole event.
"Yeah… The jewels don't add to lina's beauty, but rather subtract from it. She needs sothing that's unique to her," Charlotte mused.
"Sothing unique… Yes, we need sothing unforgettable for others to respect her and at the sa ti never forget her appearance."
"Why not adorn her dress with magic?" Elowen suddenly spoke up, and lina saw from his expression that he was more than fed up with this whole event.
"Adorn with magic?" The Duchess and everyone else in the room looked at him in surprise. The rchants visibly flinched, likely not having expected the elf to speak at all.
"Yes. It's how we elves adorn our wedding attire. It is far more morable than any jewels, not to ntion that lina would certainly feel more at ease surrounded by magic rather than so shiny rocks," Elowen explained.
The Duchess's eyes lit up. "Please, Sir Elowen. Tell us more about the magic dresses."
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