Chapter 226
Chapter 226
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 226
Chapter Title: The Imperial Princess's Etiquette Training
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Unfortunately, I couldn't observe the imperial traditional etiquette training firsthand.
"Aren't you leaving?"
I was holding my breath, trying to watch the Imperial Princess's etiquette lesson, when she openly told me to get out.
"Can't I watch?"
Of course, I couldn't contain my curiosity and timidly voiced my objection, but it didn't mean much.
"It's unbecoming for a man to be curious about a woman's unrefined appearance. Watch once the practice is over."
"Yes..."
She was telling me that if I wanted to see, I should come back after ripping off whatever was hanging there—in the most polite way possible—so I quietly bowed my head and left the office.
"Wait. Howard Earl's maid, you stay here."
"Ah, um..."
"I won't hear any arguments."
"Yes... Understood."
What was a bit unfair was that Emily wasn't sent out either.
I figured it was because she wasn't a man, but at least they could have asked for my opinion before holding her back.
Emily was my maid, after all.
I was her master, and I was the one who could say it was fine for her to stay.
If the other party weren't royalty, that is.
"Hing..."
I didn't have the courage to assert myself so boldly to royalty, so I left for the hallway with a sullen expression.
And in the end, I was left all alone in the corridor.
I had no idea how long the training would take...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As the witches filed into Lady Aylin's office one by one, and about thirty had gathered inside, the etiquette lesson began—and it was spectacular in many ways...
-Crash-!
I had no idea why glass was shattering during behavior correction training, but since no screams were heard, it didn't seem too serious.
Or maybe it was so serious they couldn't even scream.
Still, since it was the Imperial Princess handling it, I trusted it wasn't the latter.
If it were, it wouldn't be training for people but for animals.
If word got out that royalty was treating people like animals, that would be a headache in its own right.
And the trigger would be me?
This was shaping up to be a happy time in all sorts of ways.
-Shatter-!
Lost in thoughts of a horrific future, another glass broke.
What the hell were they breaking? I couldn't understand it.
With hardly any human voices amid the breaking sounds, the terror was no joke.
"......"
A twinge of guilt rose for the witches facing disaster because of me.
But if they'd lived normally, this wouldn't have happened, right?
It was like accumulated karma.
-Ting-!
"...!"
"...!"
As time passed and the sounds shifted from glass breaking to sharp metallic snaps, noisy voices began leaking from inside.
-Clunk-!
Soon after, the door burst open, and two people in maid uniforms emerged from the office.
From outside, it had sounded like a fierce, violent training session, so I peeked through the open door into the office.
"Huh?"
The inside of the office looked impeccably neat.
At least five glasses had shattered for sure, yet there were no traces of that—no overturned furniture or anything—just the same as when I left, except with more witches present.
"Was there a problem during the training?"
Sensing something off, I cautiously asked the Imperial Princess.
She glanced at me, then scanned the office, lifting one corner of her mouth as she spoke.
"No, the basic training is done."
It had only been 30 minutes since I left, and the training was over?
"Pardon?"
Unable to believe such an absurd statement, I stupidly echoed back to Her Highness.
Not even politely—it was a short, blunt "Pardon?"
A major blunder, but Her Highness nodded understandingly, a cheerful smile on her face.
"The witches are all adults and intelligent beings who can handle mana."
"Yes, I know that."
"So what they need isn't knowledge, but will. They already know basic etiquette; they just don't do it because it's a hassle."
"I see...?"
At the idea that it was implanting will rather than teaching, I started to nod in understanding but furrowed my brow slightly.
Isn't that even harder?
No one is as stubborn as hipsters or harder to break.
And no one is harder to drag out into the world than a shut-in.
Witches were both.
Yet she'd made it possible in 30 minutes. Did she have a hypnosis app or something?
"Your Highness, forgive me, but are you saying you instilled the will for the witches to correct their own behavior in just 30 minutes?"
"That's right. Implanting will is quite simple."
Unable to comprehend as a layman, I asked again, and Her Highness, with a triumphant smile, lightly raised her hand to head height and slowly clenched her fist.
Then, sand began gathering bit by bit on her palm from somewhere.
The sand, slowly growing in size, stopped expanding just a bit larger than her fist, then started grinding with a creak as grains rubbed against each other.
As I wondered what this was about...
"Eh...?"
The sand heated to a red glow, and the tiny grains fused into a single mass.
Sand was melting.
Starting a fire by rubbing wood is hard enough, but melting sand...
I might not know science, but I knew stones melt around 1,000 degrees.
That's lava temperature, I'd heard.
Yet Her Highness was melting sand right before my eyes with friction alone.
"......"
Watching this unbelievable sight with my mouth agape, the fused sand formed a perfect sphere.
"Fuu~"
She blew lightly on it, and the glowing red sand cooled, losing its light to reveal something on her palm that looked like porcelain—or maybe glass.
"Earl, even if you know nothing of magic, you seem to grasp how impressive this is."
"Yes... Melting sand without fire is definitely no easy feat."
"It requires delicate control to vibrate each grain minutely and intense focus to manipulate countless grains individually... Well, you're not a mage, so there's a limit."
I'd called it impressive in my own words, but Her Highness pouted slightly, looking a bit dissatisfied.
"Anyway, unless they're a mage on par with me, anyone seeing this loses the will to fight."
"It looks that way."
"So that's when I give a little warning: 'If you act unbecomingly, it won't end well.'"
"......"
Not listening means it won't end well? What kind of thug talk is this...
"Y-Your Highness, isn't that implanting fear rather than will?"
"Yes. Education starts by forcing behavior. Make them act first, then reward good performance to make them do it themselves."
"I see..."
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed closer to animal training than human education.
"Isn't that too extreme? If the witches hold a grudge..."
"Do you think it's not extreme for adults to act so sloppily?"
"That's a problem too, but they're adults—shouldn't they be treated as persons?"
"An adult who can't manage basic conduct isn't human; they're a beast."
"......"
She had me there; I had nothing to say.
It was absurd that people older than me acted like that.
"But I didn't just use the whip."
"What carrot did Your Highness offer the witches?"
"Cosmetics."
"That's it?"
"'Just'? For a woman, beauty is everything—her whole life."
I questioned the small reward after intimidation, and got a cold stare that flustered me.
"I-I see."
No matter how I thought about it, it didn't seem worth putting on the same scale as their lives, but if Her Highness said so, I nodded.
What did a guy like me, who barely used makeup, know?
"But can this method last long? Changing witches' mindsets would take considerable time—years, at least."
"It won't take long for mindsets to change; they had no expectations to begin with. And don't worry about backsliding."
Her Highness smirked slyly, glancing at the office and clenching her fist hard.
-Shatter-!
The sphere on her palm broke into a clear ring.
"I'll visit periodically to keep their spirits sharp."
"That's... a very reliable method."
I nodded, gazing at the orb that had shattered into dozens of pieces—practically pulverized.
Now even my foolish self could see the true nature of Her Highness's training.
As expected of one of the Empire's noblest, her skill at reforming people was exceptional.