Let's Train the Noble Lady
Let's Train the Noble Lady
“Now, Lady Angela. What did I say?”
“From now on, the unit of length is... His Highness Luang's leg length...”
Angela felt as though her entire world had collapsed.
It was as if everything she had accomplished had been placed under someone else's name.
The standard she had spent years researching had suddenly become someone else's.
Of course, after measuring it herself, Luang's leg length did seem to come fairly close to one meter.
But only fairly close.
Her own chest circumference was still the more accurate standard.
Angela whimpered inwardly.
Still... that doesn't change the fact that I created the standard. Maybe they'll remember my name alongside his someday.
She had been quite surprised after being reborn.
Aside from the color of her hair and eyes, her body itself was almost identical to the one she had possessed in her previous life.
Even the irritating pain in her lower back caused by the weight of her chest was astonishingly unchanged.
Thanks to that, she could be certain.
Her current body, now that it had stopped growing, was the most stable standard she could use.
At first, she had considered naming the units after herself.
But the names simply didn't roll off the tongue well.
In the end, she had brought over the units she had used in her previous life.
First, establish a unit of length.
Then use that length to measure volume.
Then determine the unit of weight based on the weight of the water contained within that volume.
She had even confirmed that the weight and volume of water changed slightly depending on temperature.
At this point, it was no longer a hobby.
It was an obsession.
To the medieval fantasy people who were accustomed to estimating everything by rough intuition, her research bordered on madness.
“This little one helped me establish a standard for temperature.”
Angela held up a small flowerpot with both hands.
Peep!
A plump little blob suddenly sprang out of it and floated gently into the air.
“Her name is Succulent.”
Luang had a hard time suppressing his laughter.
Succulent.
It was far too obvious.
At least, it was to him.
This is practically the same as advertising, ‘I'm a reincarnator from another world.’
But Luang was the only person present who noticed anything suspicious about it.
Bianca merely seemed fascinated by the fact that a spirit was right in front of her. Her eyes were unusually bright as she smiled.
“A spirit... Lady Angela, it seems you were born with a destiny beloved by mana.”
“Hehe, it's nothing special.”
When Bianca cautiously extended her hand, Succulent was wary for a moment before eventually tapping the tip of her finger.
“Wow!”
Bianca's reaction was so childishly delighted that Angela couldn't help feeling pleased.
Luang lightly rubbed his chin and asked,
“This little one measures temperature?”
“Yes. I found that Succulent prefers a fairly consistent temperature.”
“So you used the spirit as your reference point.”
“Yes. And then I recalibrated it using mercury at the freezing and boiling points of water.”
Long glass tubes were lined up along one side of the wall.
Thin layers of silvery liquid filled them.
Should I call her the only scientist in this entire era?
Seeing what looked like a scientific laboratory, Luang simply looked around without saying much.
Bianca, however, didn't regard Angela's work as nothing more than an amusing eccentric hobby.
“Lady Angela.”
“Yes?”
“Never talk about things like this in front of the other noble ladies.”
“Why?”
Angela genuinely looked as though she didn't understand.
Seeing her reaction, Bianca briefly closed her eyes before calmly explaining.
“Ordinary noble ladies aren't interested in things like this.”
“I suppose... that's true?”
“Research and experimentation are the work of craftsmen and technicians. Nobles are the people who stand above them, not those who dirty their own hands.”
That was the common sense of this world.
Looking down on the craftsmen who built their castles.
Trying to haggle over the price with the craftsmen who forged their swords.
Treating the labor of artisans as something they were naturally entitled to.
Such contempt had long been an established tradition.
And noble ladies who had to survive the marriage market hated nothing more than anything that could lower their perceived value.
But what if rumors spread that she was obsessed with research and experimentation?
It was practically equivalent to lowering her own market value and declaring that she wouldn't mind being married into an inferior household.
Angela's expression gradually hardened.
“Then... rumors about me have already spread everywhere, haven't they?”
“...Yes, I'm afraid so.”
Angela's reputation had already spread quite widely through her work creating cosmetics.
Thanks to the rarity of products made by a noblewoman and their luxurious image, the products had sold remarkably well.
But at the same time, another label had been attached to her.
The strange noble lady.
A woman who devoted herself to her hobbies rather than her dignity.
Someone far too interested in making money.
Bianca spoke with brutal practicality.
“Right now, the nobles imagine Lady Angela as a young lady who elegantly samples fragrances, reviews formulas with refinement, and creates new trends with grace.”
“......”
“They certainly don't imagine someone who spends all day shut away in a laboratory, measuring ratios like a craftsman and staying up all night mixing fragrances and ingredients.”
Angela quietly looked away.
Because that was exactly what she did.
She made cosmetics.
Observed the results.
Adjusted the formulas again.
And whenever the finished products sold well and merchants practically fawned over her, she felt an exhilarating rush.
She also enjoyed stacking the gold coins she earned neatly inside her boxes.
For someone who had lived an ordinary life, it was an unexpectedly addictive thrill.
“I understand...”
“And you mustn't go to a banquet and overwhelm everyone with topics that only you understand.”
“Uh... then what am I supposed to talk about at banquets?”
Angela looked genuinely troubled.
To be honest, no one had ever properly taught her such things.
Even when Giovanni attended banquets, he merely stayed beside people he knew and listened to whatever conversation was going on.
Recently, he barely attended banquets at all, and he had neither the time nor the experience to teach his daughter the finer points of conversation.
Seeing Angela's clumsy reaction, Bianca eventually decided to intervene herself.
“Just tell the other young ladies what His Highness Luang told you to tell them.”
“Oh, don't tell me...”
“Yes. That Lady Angela confessed her love to His Highness Luang at the banquet that day...”
“Aaaah!!!”
Angela immediately curled into herself.
Her ears turned bright red.
Bianca stepped back in surprise for a moment, then promptly grabbed Angela by the wrist and pulled her upright.
In a low, composed voice, she said,
“Lady Angela, what are you doing?”
“Huh? Wh-what?”
“Are you going to behave like that at the banquet as well?”
“N-No!”
“No?”
“No...”
Angela immediately deflated.
Bianca sighed inwardly as she looked at her.
This girl had probably never been seriously scolded by her parents while growing up.
She had business sense, she made money, and she had never caused any major trouble.
From Giovanni's perspective, it was probably enough to arrange a love marriage with someone of suitable status when the time came.
But then everything had gone awry.
She had suddenly become entangled with the imperial family.
Things were different now.
Bianca understood that better than anyone.
So she decided to straighten Angela out.
Because they were friends.
And precisely because they were friends, she would be even stricter with her.
“Straighten your back and raise your head.”
Angela hurriedly corrected her posture.
“Too high. Lower it slightly.”
“L-Like this?”
“Yes. Remember that angle. Considering your connection to His Highness Luang, you can afford to appear a little arrogant.”
“Okay...”
“Not ‘okay.’ Say ‘yes.’”
“Yes!”
“Too loud. A little softer. And gentler.”
“Yes.”
“Good. Next is eye contact.”
Bianca's instruction was cold and precise.
Angela gradually became completely worn out.
Watching her, Luang thought that the two of them oddly suited each other.
It was like watching a sharp-eyed cat train a clueless puppy.
When they were given a brief break, Luang casually delivered the final blow.
“Your etiquette instructor will probably arrive tomorrow.”
“What?”
Angela's face froze.
She already felt like she was dying from this alone, and now she had to take etiquette lessons too?
She had been much happier back when she could simply bury herself in cosmetics like she used to.
“That's wonderful.”
Bianca, on the other hand, looked quite satisfied.
“You need to learn thoroughly so you can attend banquets properly. Understood?”
“Yes...”
“You're supposed to say ‘yes,’ remember?”
“Yes.”
Bianca had now become a rather terrifying presence in Angela's eyes.
For a fleeting moment, Angela even thought it might be better to have Luang put a leash around her neck and drag her around.
At least pets weren't expected to follow perfect etiquette.
“Lady Goldrun, you're imagining something strange right now.”
“N-No, I'm not!”
“Really? Then why are you holding your neck like that?”
“...!”
Angela flinched and immediately pulled her hand away.
There was, of course, nothing around her neck.
And yet, strangely, the skin at the back of her neck had grown hot from imagining what it would feel like once something actually was there.
Bianca gave Angela a light sigh.
“You really have a long way to go.”
Angela looked as though she might cry.
Noble etiquette was terrifying.
Bianca was even more terrifying.
And Luang kept steering her thoughts in increasingly strange directions.
But the biggest problem was this—
Even while all of that was happening, whenever she heard Luang's deep voice, she couldn't stop thinking about a leash.