Meeting the Instructors

Ramier cleared his throat when he saw Ashley and the three instructors having a staring contest in front of him. The four, who were involved, immediately shifted their gazes and brought their attention back to him.

Shifting his gaze to her, he motioned Ashley to go inside and sit near them. Ashley, seeing this, nodded awkwardly and followed him. She sat on one of the cushioned chairs beside Ramier while facing the three instructors who were seated side by side.

Today, the three instructors he requested visited the Palace and wished to meet the legacy who they were tasked to teach.

Ashley's guesses were correct. The two women were indeed in charge of teaching her proper conduct and everything she has to learn about the rules and happenings inside the social circle of the kingdom. It was important for her to learn these things because she would have to attend social gatherings in the future.

It would be quite embarrassing if she didn't know the things to be observed during these gatherings, after all the social circle also served as an instrument to establish one's status. Though she held the status of being the legacy, it was still different if people saw her as a role model and a well behaved lady. 

One of the two women Ramier had introduced to her was Countess Mariette, the wife of Count Garlow. She will be teaching her about the etiquette and propriety of a lady.

She is known to be a strict woman. Despite being known for being very strict and labelled as a perfectionist, she did very well with her job. She was already used in teaching young ladies for proper upbringing. Many mothers would often request her to teach their children.

The other one was Marchioness Catherine, wife of the Marquise Froy. She was one of the ladies known throughout the social circle. She was always updated with the happenings and was known to always keep up with the latest trends. Countess Mariette was 50 years older than Marchioness Catherine. Though the age gap wasn't quite important to vampires, it somehow explains how people would describe the Countess as 'Old fashioned' while the Marchioness as 'trendy'.

Lastly, was Baron Miller. He was a famed scholar who was known for his deep understanding of the Arts and History of Altria. He has also been studying vampires for decades. He is a very smart man yet he remained indifferent with everything except for when it concerned his interest in his studies. He was known to be a fair teacher. He was not strict nor neglectful. To be fair with the two women, he was in the moderate zone. 

Ramier chose these people since he knew they wouldn't disappoint him and they would do a good job in teaching Ashley.

Ashley only felt passive as the three instructors introduced themselves. She already had her impression on each of them. She was okay but she slightly felt tense when it came to the woman who introduced herself as Countess Mariette.

She reminded her of an uptight old lady, though she didn't look anything like that. It was just that her gaze screamed, 'strict grandma vibes'.

As for the two, she didn't sense anything strange or surprising. The other woman seemed nice while the man didn't seem to give a d*mn. Among the three she liked the man named Baron Miller best. He seemed like a cool man. But overall, they were all fine.

Marchioness Catherine smiled at Ashley. Ashley couldn't help but admire her. She was very beautiful for her age. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties, but she was probably older than that considering she was a vampire. Maybe she was more than hundreds of years old or something. 

She suddenly wondered what Ramier's age could be. It was obvious that he was so much younger than these people. Probably, less than a hundred? Or a hundred? She didn't know but she was sure that he was somewhere in between those ages.

 Unknownst to her was the fact that he was even older than these people. 

She decided to not trouble herself about guessing their ages because she'll probably learn about matters like that when she starts her lessons. 

The three instructors explained to her their schedules and what lessons they will teach her. Ashley only nodded at their instructions and explanations. They would teach her a whole day as per their schedules.

She was surprised at how fast it would begin. Her studies would start tomorrow and guess who would come and teach her first?

 It was the countess.

She only tensed when it was announced. Why wouldn't she? The countess observed her the whole time they were having the discussion. It was like she was looking for what she could fix.

'Creepy.' Ashley shivered.

Ramier secretly expected her reaction. She was unaware that she was very obvious with her reactions. The expressions on her face were like an open book. It was clear that she was afraid of the countess. As a result, the Countess frowned.

Because the countess was uptight, she found Ashley's reaction rude. She was positively reacting at the two instructors but tensed up when it was the countess's time to talk. It was totally biased. 

Ashley wasn't doing it on purpose. She was unaware and unconsciously reacted that way. She didn't mean to appear rude but the way the countess observed her the whole time, she felt like a student caught for violating school rules. The countess would be the principal and she would be the naughty student. 

After minutes of explaining, the three instructors decided to leave. They bid farewell to Ramier and Ashley before they all left.

Ramier turned to look at Ashley who sighed deeply.

"What do you think of your new teachers." 

He wanted to know what was on her mind the entire time they were having a meeting.

"Well, they were alright... " she said.

She didn't want to complain. The lessons didn't even start yet. She didn't dislike the countess if that was what he was worried about. It was normal to be strict anyway, considering she was a teacher of etiquette and conduct. 

She knew teaching wasn't an easy job especially if that meant teaching students like her.

Ramier became satisfied with her answer and decided to walk her to her room before coming back to his office to finish his work.