Chapter 22

As the room first lit up, Estelle woke up. It was early in the morning, and yet she immediately jumped out of bed, that same girl that would usually cry when she had to get out of bed.

'I can't wait to see the shops! I always asked to go, but they would never let me…'

Full of energy, she charged into the changing room to get dressed up. Since it was her first time going in public, it was a given that she had to look as cute as possible.

She entered the room, and the only maid there showed a surprised face seeing that Estelle had woken up already.

"Good morning milady, how comes you are already awake?"

"I was too excited! Quick, call the other maids; I have to dress up by eight in the morning! Else I won't be ready by nine!"

"Milady… it hasn't been long since sunrise… isn't it still a bit too early?"

"Just go and call the other maids already!"

"…As you wish."

Soon her room was crowded with maids bringing piles of clothes to try. Estelle stayed in the changing room for a good while trying out all kinds of clothes. After a while, she finally decided on what to wear.

Compared to other clothes, this one didn't look as luxurious. It only had a few golden finishes, but this one seemed pretty modest compared to the other garments. The long skirt was just slightly off the ground, and its snow-white colour made her deep blue eyes and golden hair stand out more.

It took her pretty long to decide over what to wear. It was already almost time to go. Just a few minutes passed before her uncle showed up. He was the one to accompany them today.

"Are you ready, sweetie?"

"Yes, uncle. Is it already time to go?"

"Yup. Let's get going. Vince is already waiting for us on the carriage along with your brother Henrick."

"Brother Henrick is coming as well?"

"He's also going to the academy starting this fall, don't you remember? He needs school supplies as well."

"Ah, I completely forgot."

Soon they reached the carriage they'd be using. One could tell it was of a Duke house just by looking at the decorations on it. It was also a very big carriage, tugged by what looked like a cheetah. It was a monster known for its high speeds and high stamina.

Usually, only the military would be allowed to have one of those, but it was clear that an exception had been made. Those monsters were known for their aggressiveness. They might not be that rare, but it was tough taming one successfully. Therefore they were treated as a strategic resource.

As Estelle got on the carriage, she saw her brother Henrick, who was making fun of Vince in any way possible. He kept on making dumb faces and verbally abusing him, hoping to get a reaction, but Vince just remained impassible.

Once Estelle sat down, Vince turned towards her with a big smile on his face.

"Good morning, milady. Have you slept well?"

"Well, not really; I ended up waking up at sunrise because of how excited I was."

"Milady, that is no good. If something as normal as going to the market caused you so much excitement, you'd end up not sleeping at all on the day we go to the academy."

Making a bit of an embarrassed expression, Estelle nodded a little.

"Sister Estelle, why are you talking to him as if he was your equal. Mother always taught me that nobles have to impose themselves! Talking as if you were equals isn't acceptable!"

"How are we talking as equals, brother? Vince is referring to me as milady. That's what he should do as my close aide according to etiquette. Pretending more will only look you arrogant."

All the time she spent learning etiquette was finally showing its results.

Estelle said that, but she hadn't even looked at his brother's clothes attentively. One could see a stark contrast between her and her brother. The first had a clean dress that only had slight decorations, the latter a dress that was more gold and gems than cloth.

One could only wonder how a child that age could support all that weight. The dress might weigh as much as him, after all.

"But sister, if I recall correctly, you are also a powerful warrior. The difference in strength should be accounted for as well."

"I might be strong, but Vince is stronger. We sparred a while back, and I lost."

"You losing against this low class? Preposterous."

"If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. How my attendant refers me to is my problem. Stop making a ruckus over this."

At this point, Henrick was already showing frowning. He couldn't understand why Estelle didn't understand him at all. Most of his brothers and sisters weren't like this.

One has to know that children's education in nobility is the mother's responsibility. Except for the direct successor, that is. Therefore education varied vastly depending on who was the mother. Among the wives (or husbands if the family head was female), there was a significant hierarchy.

This hierarchy was either decided based on status, strength or a mix of both. The children of higher-ranked consorts usually ended up receiving more care and resources.

It is also worth mentioning that even though female family heads had multiple husbands, their amount, on average, was way less than the consorts of a male family head. Why? Because a male can make children with multiple partners simultaneously, while a female can only bear one child at a time.

That's also one of the reasons male heads were usually preferred over females. Having an abundance of successors granted higher chances of at least one being very talented. But when the difference in cultivation was too high, those benefits disappeared, and a female might become preferable.

Henrick's mother was one of the highest-ranking consorts, being an in-law from a powerful Marquis house. She spent a lot of time educating her two children. She also had a duty towards her original family, as having solid figures related through blood emerge would benefit any family a lot.

Most mothers influenced their children a lot. Therefore usually, the children heavily reflected their mothers' personalities. Estelle's mother wasn't the type to give much weight to things such as nobility. She believed only in capabilities.

It was indeed very unusual, but, unlike other mothers, she didn't have to trouble herself over such matters. The reason was that she was a princess! Above all, she was beyond doubt among the five mightiest consorts, even though her talent in cultivation was considered average by the Royal Family's standards.

Only those on the top could decide how people lower than them should behave in their presence. Those halfway up the pyramid were used to those on the top demanding respect, if not reverence. Thus, most of them turned that way as well.

It's a natural instinct to imitate those we believe to be above ourselves. Thus, those on the top, not having anyone to imitate, will sometimes turn out different.

And those who didn't demand respect while being at the top were oddballs. Having a well-defined hierarchy gave those at the top a significant advantage; why would they give it up? Even if they did, nobody would care. But those who weren't at the top would be suppressed by those who were if they attempted something similar.

In a society, it's only the privilege of those at the top to define the rules, written or tacit. In the same way, only those at the top can break those rules while going unpunished.

As Henrick was about to say more, Albert stepped into the carriage as well and gave the driver a signal to start going. Some armed guards and more attendants who followed the carriage by foot also started moving along.

"Uncle Albert, say something to Estelle! She isn't pretending enough respect from her attendant!"

"What? Who cares. Come here, little Vince, let Uncle tell you something."

It was pretty safe to say Albert was one of those oddballs as well…

Albert thus grabbed the little Vince who was sitting beside him and put him sitting on his legs.

"Boy, you better become strong so that no one can say anything about you being her attendant, alright?"

Even Vince showed a bit of surprise seeing Albert treat him like this. He already knew conventions didn't bind this man, but he didn't expect it to be to this extent.

Quickly regaining his composure, Vince merely nodded and said:

"I'll try my best, sir."

"Good, that's the spirit."

Once Vince was put back to his original place, a long silence ensued. Both Estelle and Vince started looking out of the window to see the busy streets of the capital.

The rhythmical sound of the wooden wheels jumping on the tiles that made up the road resounded as the carriage went forward.

'There sure are many attendants following us. I only brought along Vince, so all of them should be Henrick's. Some of them could also be Uncle's, but I don't think all of them are his.'

Once the carriage reached a more crowded area, it had to slow down. People had to make way for the carriage, so it took some time.

Only nobles of high status were allowed to move with a carriage in this area of the city. And since there weren't many, it was unusual to see a carriage in this area. The central part of the road was thus also used by pedestrians.

Henrick, who was as impatient as one could get, started complaining aloud.

"Why are we slowing down? If those peasants are in the way, we should go over them."

As he was saying this, he glared at Vince. But he just kept looking out of the window as if this wasn't a problem of his.

"Little Henrick, be patient. It's true that people shouldn't walk in that part of the street, but this is the heart of the city. If they didn't, the sides of the road would be even more clogged than they already are."

"Then they should just learn to make way quickly."

Albert, who understood where this was going, didn't even bother answering anymore. But that didn't mean that Henrick stopped complaining.