Chapter 78
Sin and Punishment and Grandmother [Part 1]
"Haahhh"
Two weeks had passed since the siblings went to the slums.
Not minding that she's in the middle of the embroidery class, Emma kept sighing.
"Emma-sama, do you have to go after school today too?"
Francesca was worried about the limp and lifeless Emma and asked with pity.
"Yes. Today, too..."
Emma let out another long sigh as she stacked the finished coaster together gently on the table. Contrary to her languid expression, the coasters she embroidered had gradually turned into a pile. To move your hands no matter the occasion is the Stuart family's ironclad rule.
As punishment for staying outside without permission, Emma would have to spend 4 hours after school at Melsa's parents, Duke of Sullivan's house.
Melsa's mother, or Emma's grandmother, Hilda Sullivan, is famous for her strict etiquette.
Snack time at Joshua's safely reopened store, testing the new dyeing material, interacting with the handsome uncle Harold, fluffing with the cats, taking care of insects... Even though there's a lot of stuff Emma wanted to do, she can't do anything but give up that time for a one-to-one manner lesson with her grandmother.
"Grandmother... is 100 times stricter than Mother..."
Emma has her previous life's memories, so she had learned the minimum necessary manners.
She had learned it, but Hilda was very strict. What Hilda aimed for was different from Emma, who thought it'll be alright as long as she knew the manners that wouldn't embarrass herself.
Dinner there was more luxurious than the one at Stuart's house as she got to eat a full course meal that made her wonder from whose wedding was this. Even so, the table manners were annoying. Being lectured on how to hold a knife and fork elegantly until her long-awaited steak got cold was unbearable.
"It seems Grandmother will take me to an evening party this weekend."
'It's rude to keep refusing every single tea party and evening party without attending even one of them,' her grandmother scolded her yesterday. Emma was told that it's a banquet at the royal castle. The only thing that saved her was that there won't be any dance.
"Well, if it's this weekend's evening party, we will also attend, right, Caitlyn?"
"Well, if it's this weekend's evening party, we will also be attending, Catherine."
It looked like the twins were also invited as they talked to each other about how rare it was for Emma to attend an evening party.
"Haahhh, do Catherine-sama and Caitlyn-sama go to evening parties a lot?"
Emma felt reluctant if she had to socialize after she enrolled in the academy. And the fact that her grandmother would be accompanying her to the evening party made her even more reluctant. Emma was surprised to see the twins, who are the same age as her, were already accustomed to attending evening parties.
"We go to at least two parties a month, don't we? Caitlyn."
"We go to two parties or more a month, Catherine."
The twins came from a territory with prosperous trade, so they often attend gatherings together with foreign guests as guides, including tea parties and evening parties held in the royal capital. As even the devil-may-care twins were doing their job properly, Emma couldn't possibly say that she didn't want to go.
"I heard that the neighboring country's Prince will be attending, so this weekend's evening party's scale will be bigger. Right, Caitlyn?"
"The neighboring country's Prince will be attending, so the party's scale will be big is what I heard, Catherine."
"Haahhh......"
For her grandmother to choose such an influential banquet out of all parties, Emma could only think of it as harassment.
I want to dye Rose's dresses with the new ink...
Emma sighed again as she had many ideas on her mind but no time to try them.
"From the Bell House, Older Brother is in attendance, so I don't need to go. A frilly dress doesn't suit me, and the occasion doesn't allow me to wear men's clothing either, after all."
'I pity you...' Marion, who had skillfully avoided the evening party, sympathized with Emma.