Chapter 18

Estelle stared intently at the door in front of her. She had been looking forward to this day for a long time. Since she didn't interact with many kids her age, she always dreamed to meet someone her age.

After she awakened the distance between her and her siblings grew even larger. Reason being, her parents prohibited her from meeting pretty much anybody. The less people who knew about her cultivation, the better.

A little boy proceeded to open the big door, which creaked slightly as it slowly opened. He took small but elegant steps towards her.

'I wonder how good he is as an attendant. Let's try with a few simple things first.'

"Good afternoon, milady. Would milady like some tea by chance?"

"Yeah, brew me some tea. Bring me some sweets too. Possibly chocolate. I love chocolate!"

"As you wish, milady."

Vince thus went in the adjacent room and made preparations to brew tea. Estelle shifted her attention back to the book she had been reading for the last hour, while she waited for the tea to be ready.

'This stuff is so boring… Why do I have to learn all this etiquette? This time would be better spent training instead! Even if I can't cultivate, I can always train a few techniques!'

'Dancing would have been fine too… Well, it doesn't matter. Uncle Albert promised to get me a new sword if I pass with full marks, so I have to study hard.'

As she kept reading the book attentively, Vince finally served her tea. As she observed him, she couldn't help but notice how he perfectly followed the etiquette.

She hadn't noticed at first, but now she realised that ever since he came into the room he didn't make even a small mistake. It was very unusual for kids their age to follow etiquette so naturally.

'It looks like he knows etiquette well… maybe he can help me. Well time to enjoy the tea first though.'

Estelle then grabbed the teacup and graciously started sipping.

'Mmmh this is so sweet… I put the same amount of sugar as always… how did he manage to make it this well?'

Thus she tried one of the sweets. She picked one up, put it in her mouth, and started savouring it. She was soon holding her cheeks with her small hands and making a wide smile.

'Damn, I love chocolate. Plus it's a perfect match for the tea.'

Even though she looked adorable, if one were to pay attention he would notice the pile of sweets disappearing. But when she tried to grab for one more sweet, she only caught empty air. Turning her head, she noticed that her not so faithful attendant had taken away the sweets from her! How dare he?

Seeing the little girl who was staring at him, Vince explained himself.

"Milady, eating too many sweets will do you no well. If you get a stomachache, I'll be the one to incur into trouble. They will say I served milady sweets gone bad, or faulty tea, won't they?"

"But I want more sweets! Give me my chocolate!"

Estelle started to extend her hand towards the tray, to snatch it back from that backstabber of a butler. She was confident in her speed, but she missed it for some reason. She thus tried once again but missed one more time. Trying a third time, Estelle finally paid attention to what was going on.

'He actually isn't moving fast… he's only moving it slightly, yet I'm never able to grasp it!'

Seeing that the little girl had no intention of giving up, Vince took a step back, to get out of Estelle's reach. Seeing her plan fail, Estelle started to pout. She merely wanted some sweets… Why was everyone so strict with her?

"I'll give you one last one, then no more until tomorrow, okay?"

"Aaah, I understand. Come here and let me get it."

'Hehe, now watch how I steal the whole tray!'

Estelle's plan was perfect. As soon as he was again within reach, she would leap towards him and steal the tray.

Vince, unaware of her plans, made his way towards her, slowly extending his arm, and getting the tray closer to Estelle.

'Now!'

Estelle, seeing the opportunity arise, quickly got up from her chair, and leapt towards Vince trying to grab the tray with both hands. But, she unexpectedly grabbed nothing. And fell face-first into the ground.

That would have been the case if she hadn't been grabbed by her belly from behind.

Vince, who had previously been holding the tray with the right was now holding it with his left hand, while his right hand had caught the falling girl.

"Your plan was too obvious. If milady hadn't been too greedy and instead grabbed only two sweets together instead of one, I would have had no way to prevent it. You wanted the whole tray instead, so no more sweets for today!"

"But, b-but… Right! You're a bad person! Why would you serve me a tray full of sweets if I can't even eat them all?"

"Looks like milady hasn't properly been studying etiquette. It's a custom to only eat a few, and leave the majority on the tray. Eating them all would make one look like he went to a social gathering merely to leech some food off. Social gatherings are something way beyond mere eating. The host might find it unpleasant to see someone merely eat instead of actually making proper use of the event."

"But… Right! We're in no social gathering right now! I don't have to follow etiquette for social gatherings when I'm alone with my butler, do I?"

"Even though that might be the case, we don't know each other well. And devouring sweets like a ravenous beast isn't fitting for a lady of noble lineage like milady. Also, milady should always take my advice to heart, as I'm supposed to become your closest confidant. If milady doesn't trust me, then there's no point in having me bound to a soul contract in the first place."

"But you should listen to me, since you are my attendant, right? I order you to give me more chocolate!"

"I have no obligation to perform an order that I find unfitting. Also, if milady doesn't start following etiquette at all times, milady will have a lot of trouble learning all of it. The best way to learn etiquette is to follow it even in private contexts. Only by having it become natural can one properly learn etiquette. It has to be a subconscious thing, or else, with all the rules there are, one will never respect them all. And if one has to actively think about etiquette during a meeting, one won't be able to properly interact with other nobles."

"I didn't get half of what you're saying, but in short, to learn etiquette, I have to imagine always being in a formal context?"

"Exactly. Over time, all those small actions and details that make up etiquette will come naturally. Only then will one have properly learnt etiquette."

"But why do I have to learn etiquette? Wouldn't this time be better-spent training?"

"Etiquette is essential to be liked, especially by people of high status. It's also a tool useful to achieve many important things. Let's suppose that there's a guy whom you really don't like. Attacking him in a public place is out of the question, as doing so will only get you arrested. Therefore the only way to suppress him is to avoid force and use other means instead.

Having a deep understanding of etiquette will allow one to point out other's faults; and if used correctly, one could even find fault with someone that did nothing wrong. The opposite is also true though. Knowing well etiquette will also allow you to defend yourself from people trying to find fault with you."

"To think something that meaningless has all those uses… But wouldn't it be better for everyone to just abolish etiquette then?"

"The reason why etiquette is considered vital by nobles is that it favours people of higher status. Actually, it's one of the key components that makes status valuable. It's one of the best ways possible to exercise one's authority, and it gives those of higher status ample space to manoeuvre. You could say that it was first created to establish the authority of nobles, and over time more and more customs were added, giving those who know etiquette well a lot of room for interpretation."

"I see… Wait, doesn't that mean I have to study all those irrational rules to be a good noble?"

Estelle was on the verge of tears. Having to know all those meaningless customs, just to have a slightly easier life… it was just wasted effort.

"Don't even try to tell me that at the end everything comes down to strength, as that's just what a slacker would say. Unless you have the confidence to take out every cultivator under heaven, you have to know etiquette. Look, I learnt etiquette and still survived. It might be boring, but giving up is not in my dictionary. And if you have such a word in yours, you should remove it.

Giving up means failing as a Cultivator. How many are there that can say to have tread this path without any hitch? Almost none! And if one doesn't have the willpower to stand up again after falling in this long road, he won't be able to move on, ever again. Etiquette isn't even worthy of being called an obstacle, so if you give up now, how will you confront harder challenges?"

Estelle couldn't help but stare at the little boy who had just finished pronouncing those words. Who would have expected that same kid who never showed any expressions to make such a speech?

"Sorry, I've gotten a bit emotional…"

"Ah… I still find it boring, and it's useless. The only reason why I'm learning etiquette in the first place is that my Uncle promised me a Mana Artifact as long as I get full scores in the etiquette exam!"

"Well, anyway, why are you still sneakily trying to reach the tray? I said: NO MORE SWEETS!"

Estelle was really about to cry.

'I can't care less about etiquette and whatnot! Just give me my CHOCOLATE!'