Helos’s painful life as a student of etiquette officially began, starting under circumstances where she had absolutely no room for resistance.
Duke Eisende seemed determined to completely transform her this time.
Not only did he suspend Helos’s daily swordsmanship and physical training under the pretext of “concentrating on her studies,” but he even ordered her most precious workshop to be temporarily sealed, forbidding her from taking a single step inside.
This series of combined blows thoroughly cut off all of Helos’s escape routes and any possibility of slacking off.
She was like a canary locked in an exquisite birdcage.
Her daily life was arranged with terrifying clarity; from the moment she opened her eyes until she closed them, every moment was filled with the shackles of becoming a “lady.”
Lilith, the etiquette teacher who appeared as gentle as water, displayed a demonic strictness that was the polar opposite of her outward appearance.
Her teaching was almost inseparable from Helos’s side.
From the moment she knocked on Helos’s door at exactly 5:00 AM until she smiled and bid her goodnight at 9:00 PM, Lilith’s figure was almost constantly within Helos’s line of sight, save for brief meals and rest periods.
She would use the folding fan she carried to lightly tap Helos’s slightly bent knees, reminding her that her posture was not upright enough.
During meals, she would tirelessly correct the angle at which Helos held her knife and fork.
She would even stand silently behind Helos while she conversed with others, using a single look or a soft cough to remind her that her choice of words was not dignified enough.
This all-encompassing, 360-degree “close-quarters teaching” made Helos feel like a prisoner under constant surveillance, making even breathing feel restricted.
Eleanor would occasionally visit her younger sister with a slight mindset of watching the spectacle, but every time, she witnessed a scene that made her heart jump in fear.
Once, she saw Helos pacing back and forth in the room with three thick classic tomes balanced on her head and a white line drawn on the floor beneath her feet.
Gavi stood in the corner like a perfect mirror, maintaining an impeccable posture, and was even used by Lilith as a teaching aid for Helos to observe.
***
Meanwhile, Lilith sat in a chair not far away, sipping Red Tea while pointing out in a gentle tone that the sway of Helos’s shoulders “exceeded the allowed range by 0.5 centimeters.”
Another time, she saw Helos being required to hold a small leaf in her mouth while practicing the standard upward curve of the corners of her mouth for a smile. Lilith told her:
“A truly elegant smile should be like ripples on a lake—calm and without waves.”
However, Helos’s forced smile and slightly twitching lips looked arguably worse than crying.
This level of teaching, refined to a hair-raising degree, made even Eleanor—the “star student” who had received the most orthodox noble education since childhood—unable to stop a cold sweat from running down her back.
Even she had to marvel at Lilith’s strictness and felt lucky that her own teachers had not been this severe when she was young.
Looking at her sister’s expression of total despair, Eleanor felt both amused and a surge of unnamable sympathy.
“Sister…”
More than once during training breaks, while Lilith turned her back to pour water, Helos would cast a pleading look toward Eleanor.
Those pale purple eyes were filled with a desperate plea to ‘save me from this fire.’
However, every time, Eleanor could only helplessnessly shake her head, returning a sympathetic gaze that said ‘you’re on your own,’ before quickly slipping away as if her feet were greased.
She did not want to be caught by Teacher Lilith and dragged in to “review” those formalities that were already etched into her very bones.
Under these dire conditions, the days passed one by one.
But under Lilith’s repeated “preaching,” that tedious knowledge of etiquette was still forcibly crammed into Helos’s mind.
The young girl’s posture became upright, and her skirt no longer swayed wildly when she walked.
She also learned how to use the entire set of complex silverware and could even drink soup without making a single sound.
Although she still couldn’t bring herself to say those nauseatingly complimentary words, she at least knew how to bow and greet people of different statuses.
Change was happening subtly.
Helos might not have noticed it herself, but during Julius’s occasional visits, he was surprised to find that the “tomboy” who was always rushing about and never sat properly actually possessed a few traces of the calm and elegance a noble daughter should have.
Of course, this change was limited to when Lilith was present.
And during this day-to-day interaction, Lilith was also observing Helos at every moment, never ceasing her true “work.”
She was not merely teaching etiquette.
Her deep burgundy eyes captured every subtle expression and every fluctuation of emotion on Helos’s face.
She was like the most masterfully skilled hunter, patiently approaching her prey step by step, waiting for it to reveal its truest nature.
Finally, during a posture training session, when Helos’s legs were trembling after maintaining the same position for several hours and she was almost unable to hold on—
It wasn’t mana, nor was it the “curse” on Helos that could nullify mana.
It was something more pure and more primal.
When Helos grit her teeth, a flash of stubborn refusal to lose appearing in her eyes as she tried to fight against her body’s limits, an aura filled with struggle and unyielding will flashed from deep within her body!
That aura was wild and burning, filled with a thirst for conquest and victory, like an ancient fierce beast imprisoned in a frail body, letting out an unwilling roar.
This aura was exactly the same as the **[Valiance Arts]** she had previously unlocked and used!
Lilith’s heart skipped a beat. Beneath the impeccable, gentle smile on her face was an irrepressible ecstasy.
She had found it.
She had finally confirmed the goal of her trip.
She was like a top-tier animal trainer who had finally discovered a cub with the most perfect bloodline.
It might still be weak now, but that hidden ferocity was enough to make anyone who understood its value go mad for it.
Lilith’s face maintained its impeccable gentleness and patience. She even took a step forward, encouraging in a soft tone, “Hold on, Miss Helos. You are almost there.”
But her heart had already been ignited by this startling discovery.
On an ordinary late night, the day’s lessons finally ended.
“Let’s stop here for today, Miss Helos.”
Lilith smiled, straightening Helos’s slightly messy collar.
“You’ve made great progress today. Please get some rest early.”
“…Mhm.”
Helos responded weakly, feeling exhausted in both body and mind, lacking the energy to even say one more word.
Lilith performed a curtsy for her, then turned and walked slowly toward the door.
As her figure was about to merge into the shadows of the corridor, the smile on her face underwent a subtle change at an angle Helos could not see.
That gentleness and patience peeled away like a mask, replaced by a feverish possessiveness.
The shadows of the corridor swallowed half of her face; only those burgundy eyes shimmered with a heart-palpitating light in the dimness.
The corners of her mouth slowly curled into an understanding arc, her smile carrying a hint of triumphant pleasure.
She whispered in a voice only she could hear, a voice filled with fanaticism, like a dream.
‘No mistake…’
‘This aura—she is our legendary Saintess.’