As with each morning, since she had first found herself living with her uncle, Ruuz was greeted by one of the maids of the house. This time it was the albino beastkin she had first met when entering the home with Doliy. While her way of speaking could be seen as harsh her words sounded like the audible equivalent of honey softly entering your ears.

“Good morning Lady Ruuz. I trust you slept well and are healthy and uninjured this morning.”

This was the same basic phrase, with only mild variations, that she heard each morning upon being woken up by the member of the staff that would bring her the clothing that had been selected for the day. This time it was a dress that was slightly dark pink or, depending on who you asked, a pale red.

“Yes I slept well. Thank you for asking. As far as I know, I am healthy and uninjured except for some mild pain in my stomach.”

Ruuz normally didn’t want to bother her parents with little things, but she had been told that her Uncle wanted her to stay healthy and to inform the maids of anything that could be a concern, even if it was minor. It was specified that even the mildest pain or discomfort should be mentioned just in case.

Witbelanc, while not the official head of staff, was looked to by even those higher ranked than her when things got difficult. She also seemed to be able to tell better than most if Ruuz was hiding something so the young lady didn’t even bother trying to hide anything from her.

“I see.”

The beastkin maid put her hand to the ladies' stomach lightly pressing against it, after she folded the days' clothing and placed it neatly on a chair. When she observed a mild change in the ladies' facial expression she stopped.

“Nothing to worry about. I will have one of the other maids bring you some pads for the next several days. Have you been properly educated about this aspect of life before you left your last home or do you need further instruction on how your body works?”

Ruuz was glad she had already been taught about this aspect of life, as it started shortly after she became able to use mana like it did with many young girls.

Doliy had been annoyed that she only knew about this in theory and had hoped that she could pass her off before having to educate her properly in that aspect of life. Ruuz, on the other hand, was glad that Witbelanc wasn’t the one who would be teaching her about it. She suspected that it would be a lot more intense than she would want if her personal experience was lacking.

“I am aware of the fact that my body has to purge itself a bit. I would rather get….”

A thought occurred to Ruuz.

“Is that why you got me a more red-colored set of clothing today?”

Witbelanc offered a soft curtsey, “The lady is quite observant it seems. I suspected based on Doliys reports that you would be starting either today or tomorrow.”

Ruuz took a slight breath as she climbed out of bed and held her arms out so the maid could dress her. This was something that she was still getting used to.

“If you knew, why ask me if it was my first time?”

The maid began to remove the girls' night dressings as she spoke, showing she was skilled enough at multitasking that holding a conversation and working meant little if anything to her.

“It was to see what sort of person you had grown into Lady Ruuz. Every day is a test of your character as well as a test of your mind and ability to act properly.”

Ruuz was starting to get tired of these constant tests. She was begining to miss home and her mom more than the whole time she was on the trip with Doliy. Sure she had been the madam of a brothel, but she seemed like more of a proper parent than her father had been so far.

She had been there and tried to raise her into a better person, even if Ruuz felt certain it was for selfish reasons. She just chose to ignore that and think of all the times before she realized she was a game piece in other people's lives.

Letting out a sigh, Ruuz let the rest of the outfit be placed on her without any hassle so she could get started with another day. She had little doubt that the day would end up like nearly every other one she had experienced so far under her fathers’ roof.

“Am I doing well on the tests so far?”

Sitting Ruuz on a small stool, Witbelanc sat in the chair right behind it and began to brush her hair.

“You are not having as many failures or mistakes as we expected, so in that regard, you are doing quite well, but you still have a long way to go before we reveal you as a debutante.”

“Before I forget there is going to be a change to the schedule today. You will not have your usual teacher between breakfast and lunch. Instead, you are going to have dancing lessons. Your Uncle thinks you might be able to attend some of the dances during the closing days of the tournament when the winners have their ceremonies.”

Finding another small knot in the hair Witbelanc started to work on it, commenting that at least there seems to be hair instead of just a mess now.

“Normally there are twelve dances that we would want you to learn, but if we are careful your Uncle thinks that you can manage with just three. So long as you are polite about turning down anyone who asks you to dance, that should be enough since this event isn’t about you.”

Ruuz felt both proud of and annoyed by the fact that she was being informed that she would probably be attending some of the events soon. While she knew this meant that her father was seeing that she wasn’t someone who would embarrass him, or at least only do so in a way he can explain away, she wasn’t looking forward to the public tests. She knew that was what this would be and occasionally thought about running away from here.

There was one big thing that kept her from fleeing. She knew that her father had given her mother a lot of money and she didn’t want to risk anything happening because she was being selfish. She had been told that a lady could be selfish to an extent but knew that everything would have its limits.

She also had suspicions she would be found pretty easily since, even if it was rescinded, Ruuz doubted her father lost his connections from being a noble.

“Does that mean someone will be escorting me to the party or will I just be attending with my Uncle?”

Removing the brush from Ruuzs’ hair, Witbelanc tied debated on adding a bit of flair to it, but ultimately decided against it.

“You will likely be going with Xan Parineth. He is the son of Master Vinulettes’ expected date. Her husband died of health complications three years ago and she has had her eye on him since. Being amongst the lowest level of nobility he previously had no desire to be out with her. Sadly there are times that life requires you to make compromises that you wouldn’t make normally.”

Stepping away from Ruuz, Witbelanc looked her up and down and did a bit of an inspection, “Breakfast will be starting soon. Your Uncle will be there for it today so it will be your chance to impress upon him what you have learned and your progress thus far. Or you may try to do otherwise, but I would recommend that you take my advice.”

Moving into a pose that showed she was done and was ready for orders if needed Witbelanc looked at Ruuz.

Ruuz knew that as the lady of the house that she had some level of power over everyone here, but the piercing red eyes seemed to make her forget that.

“I am fine. I will do my magical exercises for one turn of the second timekeeper before going to breakfast unless you think that I should skip it and leave right away to see my… uncle.”

Witbelanc took three steps towards Ruuz and promptly hit her upside the back of her head. While it wasn’t enough to cause any real harm or bruising it was enough to leave a lingering pain.

“There shall be no hesitation like you just showed when speaking of your Uncle. Remember, regardless of what your whore mother told you, the master of the house is your Uncle and anything that might cause others to suspect otherwise is not allowed.”

Many of the maids' words were backed with the smallest hint of aggression and admiration as she continued, “He was kind enough to take in his brother's bastard so you will remember this and not risk causing any embarrassment to him. Is that understood?”

Somehow the red eyes were felt in the deepest recesses of Ruuzs’ mind as she looked at the woman.

“Your father,” she continued with a bit of venom mixed into the honey-sweet tone, “was a traitor and deserved death. Your Uncle knows that taking you in will put him in a bad light. People will ask him why he does not end your life in case you take after your father. He already has some arguments against such scurrilous claims so you should do better to thank him.”

As the maid left the room she turned one last time, “Your uncle will want a bit of quiet to start but wishes to see you. I would only use the smallest timekeeper for your practice to begin today.”

The maid closed the door behind her but opened it again just as quickly, “Oh I was to tell you that someone named Victor has taken up residence in the capital. I was told that if your mana score tomorrow night is acceptable in all three manners and you desire it we will send him an invitation for a meal at the house. This is not a right however and if you do something poorly in the meantime, you won’t have this offered even if all of your scores are a ten.”

When the maid left and didn’t return, Ruuz went to sit down at what was partway between a desk and a vanity mirror.

Taking the smallest of six timekeepers she flipped it and began to do a very basic form of magical practice. This, unlike mana practice, was about using the mana you had in an effective manner instead of trying to create a body that could obtain, store, or use mana to a higher degree.

Since she was in front of her mirror in her room instead of somewhere with more safety measures she only had two options for her practice. Changing the shape of the mana as she separated it from her body or changing one of its most basic aspects when bringing it out.

This day she chose the latter and began to just let the mana form over her hand as if it were a glove. It was similar to what she would do to help carry things, but the mana was focused just outside of her body instead of engulfing whatever she was in contact with. She then began to focus on changing the essence of the mana in mild ways in a slight cycle.

She began by making it glow lightly, which was hard to notice in the mornings light, but keeping her hand in a shadow helped her see how well she was doing. From there she changed the color to a dark red, despite trying to get it to match her outfits shade. Ideally, she wanted to be able to match things perfectly, but it was only a few stages darker which was an improvement compared to before.

From there she would normally make an attempt at more forms of practice, but the timekeeper ran out of sand. When Ruuz noticed that she let the mana dissolve away before standing to go and enjoy her breakfast.

Sitting at one end of the table Sampa was eating his breakfast and was drinking from his stein when Ruuz came in.

“Ah good morning Ruuz. I see you are looking more presentable each day. I trust that you are working hard with your studies.”

“Of course Uncle,” Ruuz said as she waited for one of the staff to pull out a chair on the opposite side of the table, “I wouldn’t wish to disappoint my family.”

Once the chair was pulled out Ruuz waited for it to move forward and once she felt the chair touch the back of her legs moved to seat herself. Sitting straight down she slid her hands down her dress and made sure to keep her knees touching each other.

One of the teachers had informed her that a lady must always sit as if their knees were a couple on the day of their wedding.

While he was listening and speaking Sampa seemed to not even be looking at Ruuz, instead, he was eating his meal while picking up some paper that one of the staff had just brought him.

“Excellent. I would expect nothing less from someone with my family name. I assume you were told about what changes we had done to your schedule today.”

Starting her meal, Ruuz confirmed what he had wanted to know.

After that, there were only a few minor comments between the two until Sampa stood.

“I have to go deal with some work. You will be expected to stay within the home again today like usual. Is there anything you need or would like to request while I am out?”

Ruuz, like every day so far, wanted to ask for more things than she could imagine him listening to. She knew that the staff was taking care of all of her needs, but she suspected that this question was some form of a test. Mostly because she had gotten the same question each day they ate together.

“I was told that you’ve found Victor and he might be invited if I prove my mana scores are good enough. If that is the case would it be alright to offer him to stay here while he is in the capital?”

Sampa placed his stein down upon the table and looked over towards Ruuz, “I think not. I am not going to invite someone to stay just because you want a friend. Unless he proves himself to be more than he seems from Doliys reports on him there is no reason to consider asking him to stay. That is unless of course, he would like to become employed by the family. I suppose we could offer him the job as your personal butler.”

Ruuz held in a sigh as she looked at Sampa, “That isn’t what I wanted, but I understand your answer. I just thought that he might like to stay here since it is my fault he was brought so far from where we found him.”

Rather than discussing it further, Sampa waited for a butler to help him put on his jacket so he could leave.

“We have no further room for discussion on the matter of Victor. Do you have any other requests before I leave?”

Before she could think, Ruuz requested some cards. She had made sure to talk with some of her tutors about games that the nobility would play and specified she wanted ones that were card-based. Luckily, it seemed to be the case with the majority of them so they could be more easily transported to events in a small container rather than a large case.

Sampa asked a quick question of which type she wanted, and Ruuz quickly replied with the name of the cards she learned was the most well known amongst the nobility and wealthy.

While a part of her doubted herself in what she saw, Ruuz thought she saw her father smile just a bit.

Sampa told her that he would get her a book on how to play along with a set of cards that, once he was sure she knew how to play properly, would be replaced with a quality set.

Leaving his daughter behind Sampa closed the door without looking back at her as the staff stood in their positions and watched Ruuz finish her meal.

Despite the fact that several days had passed, Ruuz was still getting used to her new life.

The food was dramatically different than what she had been accustomed to. Despite being so young she was able to command the adults who worked around the house if she pushed the issue, something she had only done once so far because of how her first tutor had treated her. This got her a replacement tutor starting her third day of lessons.

Even simple things like getting dressed felt as if it was being done in an entirely different world than she had been used to.

Amongst all the changes, however, was the fact that her days were planned out to such an excruciating level. Sure while living in the brothel she had chores and homework expected of her, but she usually only had enough to fill up half the day, and the rest of the day she could do whatever she liked.

As it stood she had no time that was truly her own anymore. Even her baths, which were now a daily occurrence, weren’t something she could do on her own. Every time she had someone to undress her, wash her, dry her, and dress her again, often in something she had never worn before as her wardrobe was increasing at such an overwhelming rate.

When she was able to leave the table, one of the maids promptly took her to the room that was used as a library. Upon entry, she had seen that the staff had already moved all of the furniture to the side and seated all of the chairs along the same wall.

While there were two members of the staff inside, the dance instructor wasn’t there yet so one of the staff asked if Ruuz would like some tea while they waited or something to read.

Instead of doing either Ruuz moved to one of the chairs and, in the proper manner, sat down with her knees together and slightly tilted. She was hating how this was becoming so easy for her but knew that many people did things for their parents or even their very survival, that they didn’t like. There were those who put their lives at risk, committed crimes, or sold their bodies as a substitute for intimacy. Sure she grew up with that all around her, but she learned many did it in an unsafe way outside of a brother without a madam to protect them.

Thinking about how she was becoming someone she didn’t recognize or feel like she really was she felt that, in the grand scheme of things, she had nothing worth complaining about. Especially since, she assumed, eventually she could live more independently and not have to be as strict on how things were.

Especially if her father's actions versus her lessons were anything to go by. She remembered him saying something about when in ones’ own home you didn’t need to worry about the eye of society unless you invited it inside.

It wasn't long before one of the maids, someone that Ruuz hadn’t learned the name of yet, walked in followed by three people.

Of the three, the oldest of them was a beastkin man with more of a fluffy look to him than a soft look. Sort of like if you pressed your hand into the fur that was exposed it would great an imprint of your hand. At his side were two human boys who looked well-groomed, but still had a touch of awe on their faces as they looked around the room.

The beastkin gave a slight bow to Ruuz as she stood up to do a curtsy of her own.

“A pleasure to meet you Lady Ruuz. Your uncle has told me of the situations you find yourself in. I understand we don’t have time to do a full set of lessons before you need to utilize them, but I will do my utmost to ensure that you can manage should you be asked to dance so people will see you as the lovely lady you are.”

“Of course,” Ruuz responded, “And I in return will do my best to take in everything you teach me to show that I am worthy of your time and the trust my uncle has placed in me.”

Turning towards the boys that he brought with him, the beastkin introduces everyone.

The name of the instructor was Tokorea.

The other two were both humans of different height, one taller and one shorter than Ruuz was. Of the pair, the taller one was called Illiest while the shorter one was named Korrth.

In order to prepare her for a few different possibilities Torokea had made sure to bring them specifically due to their height and said this was also a bit of a lesson for them as, by his words, they still had a lot to learn.

“First I should know,” Torokea began, “have you ever had any dance training before no matter how small.”

Thinking back Ruuz did do some silly dancing with her dad back before she started the trip to the capital, but since it was just fun instead of training she decided to tell her teacher that she had never had any.

“In that case, today will mostly be academic with perhaps some small bit of dancing based on the amount of time we have remaining. I am going to tell you some basic tips that are good no matter the skill level of the dancer. That said, experts and those who had danced for years even casually will often work these thoughts into their dances without even realizing it.”

Starting out Torokea told her that in dance it was the gentleman who would lead the lady. That he would steer the flow and speed of the dance and it would be her job to trust in him and notice where he wished for her to go.

In his opinion, the best dancers were the ones who could speak and listen to each other with the smallest amount of effort. Only once he noticed a painting hanging on the wall did he compare it to how the smallest detail could make a painting look amazing, even if it was something that most people never noticed, but those who did would realize something nobody else could and try to work it into their own works.

Using the painting analogy as a starting point he went on to explain how while the role of the gentleman was to take charge and keep the woman safe so she could dance, looking out for possible trouble from other dancers in the area, they weren’t the focus. The gentleman framed the dance so the lady could shine much like a frame around a painting allowed it to shine even brighter without overpowering what mattered.

After framing the start of the lesson he continued to explain how it was the job of the gentleman to ask the lady to dance. It was also his job to know who he could help shine brighter and not just go for the lady that he thought would look best on his arm because a dance, at least in his mind, was about making a moving work of art at its core.

Knowing that it was also the lady who made the final choice if the dance would start once the offer had been made. This was typically done by either politely turning the gentleman down or extending a hand for him to take

For a bit, Ruuz practiced both accepting and declining offers to dance. She was a bit surprised to see that her teacher was offering tips on how to turn down gentlemen and how well the two boys could form different ways to request a dance.

While not something she expected from a dance teacher, she couldn’t help but assume she had seen a multitude of different offers and rejections that he told the boys to use. There wasn’t any other way that she could imagine that someone would be able to teach the hands-on part of dance that should work as a foundation no matter what dance floor you found yourself on, but also the personal element behind it.

After the part that was more about how to deal with the people at the dance was finished, as well as his personal opinions on what dancing was at its core, he looked at the timekeeper that had been placed at the start of the lesson.

“I don’t think we have enough time for practical dance practice,” he stated bluntly, “So we can do that tomorrow. With the rest of our time, I think I will have you stand with…. I think Illiest since I believe your uncle said that your date is taller than you.”

With that Ruuz found herself standing before the taller of the two teaching aids, as she thought of them. Getting a closer at him she noticed his hazel eyes were only a little lighter than his hair and he had many small freckles across his cheeks.

The rest of the class was filled with the pair separating and getting into the most common starting position when the music hasn’t started yet. Each time Torokea would move their bodies and limbs to the proper and most ideal position before having them try again.

The constant separation and connection was a bit bland, but Ruuz knew that if you wanted to become skilled at anything you had to practice. Of course, this was true of gaining skills you didn’t want as well.

She barely held in a sigh of relief when one of the house staff rang a small bell when the last of the timekeepers sand ran out.

“It seems our time is up Lady Ruuz.”

A few pleasant words were exchanged between Ruuz and her teacher who excused himself from the room. Once they were out of sight the staff started to place the furniture back to where it normally was, despite the fact it would need to be moved out of the way for the next lesson.

It felt a bit redundant to do this, but Ruuz had suspicions that her father was very picky about how he wanted things to be and didn’t bring it up. Instead, she excused herself and, after stopping in her room to see if they had provided her with some pads, took care of some of her needs and went to the dining room for lunch.

As usual, the meal was provided with more cutlery and tableware than she would have thought necessary, despite how it was explained to her. The tableware would be managed for her, for the most part, making the task easier. Additionally, she had managed to realize that it was all about using different cutlery for different parts of the meal and just moving inwards from the outermost piece, but it still felt superfluous.

Regardless of her thoughts on the process, Ruuz ate the meal as it was brought out to her and she thought about the next part of the day. She would have some assignments brought to her to work on as well as the books needed to complete them. She had been told that if she could complete the work before dinner she would be allowed to do as she liked with the remaining part of the day.

So far she had never managed to finish what she had been given before dinner had been served. Each day she had been told to stop and she would be evaluated on how much she completed and how well it was done. Each day she would be given an analysis of how she did in writing that she could look at before going to bed.

For every piece of work she had been unable to at least start on she would have her hands hit with a length of wood by whichever worker was in charge of her that day. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing if Witbelanc could be as cruel with the punishments as she could be with her words.

The first couple of days she had gotten her hands beaten badly, but she quickly managed to learn a few tricks to the academic work that she had been expected to do. It was mostly the phrasing of the questions accompanied by the book indexes that had never been in any of the books she read before coming to live with her father.

Thanks to that, she was always on the line of finishing the last piece of work expected of her before dinner was set to begin. With the expectation that managing to get everything done on time would be praiseworthy, and the motivation to see Victor again, Ruuz got to work right after lunch.

More than a little of the work was hard on her, but some of it was starting to get easier. One of the projects she almost felt as if she had done already, but at the same time, it wasn’t quite anything she had managed previously.

With all of her work, and telling the maid Witbelanc that she needed certain things before she actually ran out so she wouldn’t be delayed, Ruuz managed to complete all of her work shortly before dinner time.

Collecting the papers into a neat pile she received a bit of praise from the maid and was allowed to leave the study early.

Although in this case early was a mild word to choose as she had no more than a few moments to relax before dinner would be starting for her.

Regardless, Ruuz told herself, the fact that everything was completed before it’s expected time was an accomplishment her father would hear of. Her father had been very stern, determined, and blunt about what he wanted and expected. Despite this he had never shown himself to be impatient, cruel, or unfair and she thought that he would not push more onto her just because she finally managed to do what he wanted one time.

Perhaps, Ruuz thought to herself, this was part of being a noble. Sure her father was a fallen one and was technically just a rich and well-connected commoner, but he still had a nobles mindset. That mindset, along with his accomplishments allowed him to easily sit with the nobilities, even though they were no longer his peers.

“Will Uncle Sampa be joining me for dinner today?”

Usually, Ruuz would dine alone for any given meal. Breakfast was the meal she saw him at the most, although he would usually be distracted by something else, and lunch had never had him eat with her once, but dinner would on occasion have him join her.

“Not today Lady Ruuz. He needs to check over some paperwork with someone regarding some of his investments. Without his title, he has to be a lot more…. Well, let’s just say your uncle has to work harder without his title to bring certain business opportunities to him like it once did.”

Nodding at the statement Ruuz ate her meal in silence, wishing she could read the book she had picked up earlier since none of the work staff was willing to have any sort of a conversation with her.

After dinner, she was undressed and put into her nightwear. She read her report from the last day and did a bit of practice with her magic, for her own peace of mind, before going to bed. Ruuz knew that tomorrow she would have a day like the one that she had just finished. Despite this, she hoped that soon she would be able to leave or have someone see her that she actually could look forward to, and enjoy spending time with.

Either that or complete her self study sooner and see if she could get some enjoyment from what and who was under the same roof as her.