The sounds around the body were muffled and indistinct to the girl inside. There was a mock tea party occurring, and the body was still making mistakes. It was receiving another lecture from the Baroness, and Lady Beatrice's disappointed face was looming in the background. A fan was being used to position its hands as it drank, straighten its back as it sat, and abuse the table when the Baroness was particularly cross.

  It was the only one receiving this much attention; all others had been allowed to fade from scrutiny. Gertrude was to be a Countess, but as a commoner would never be expected, or allowed, to conduct themselves in the type of tea party that was being practiced. The Savelli sisters were well enough ahead of the body that they avoided notice. Lady Beatrice's manners were beyond reproach. Lady Laeta was hardly considered human from the start.

  "You are Lady Printemps," said Baroness Adler.

  "You are a Printemps," said Erika, in the girls' memories.

  "I am a Printemps," thought the girl, and this was a punishment beyond any other.

  The tea party concluded, but the world remained faraway and distant.

  The girl shambled off, to nowhere in particular.

  ---

  "Sophie?"

  Char's voice cut me out of my stupor, holding my hand tight. She was trembling in fear and concern, and her eyes were inspecting my pale face.

  The empty halls around us rang with the sound of silence, and I realized that I had been out of it for longer than I thought. The sun had already set.

  "Sophie, have you been here the whole time? Are you okay?"

  I was curled up in a ball, backed against the side of the hallway, and she was kneeling down to be eye level with me. "Your dress will get dirty," I thought, but did not say aloud.

  "I'm... okay. I'm just resting here."

  Her eyes caught mine, and I looked away, afraid she would somehow see through them and see the torrent that was building inside my head.

  She didn't say anything else. It seemed unlike her, but she simply sat there in silence for a long while, holding my hand. Her hand felt burning hot around mine, but I didn't want her to let go.

  But eventually, she did let go. "Sophie, it's past time for your evening lesson with Lady Ayda. She sent me to find you when you didn't show up. Want me to walk you there? You still have time, and I'm sure she'll understand."

  I nodded, and her hand grasped mine once more to help me to my feet.

  As we walked together down that dark hallway, we said nothing. There was no laughter, nor smiles, but she held onto my arm. I thought I might find it comforting, but the touch of her skin felt like a furnace ready to drag me into itself and burn me alive.

  ---

  "Lady Printemps, may I ask what's wrong?"

  I looked down at the slate I was holding, having barely made any progress on the problem that Lady Ayda was helping me though.

  "Your husband will be gone on a ninety day patrol of your domain. He will be bringing four horses, three men, and twelve knights. If a knight eats twice as much as a man, and a horse eats three times as much as a knight, how much will be taken for expenses if a knight eats three silver's worth of food a day?"

  I had read the problem over and over again, but my mind kept hiccuping over the words "your husband."

  When I pictured Adrian, I did not see a happy wedding on the horizon. I did not see myself living a happy life, managing these sorts of expenses while sitting at home. I could not envision a future with him.

  "I believe the answer is... six thousand, eight hundred, and eighty five?"

  Lady Ayda sighed at this. She paused, and I knew she was waiting for me to try to correct my own mistake. I quickly double-checked my work... including the part where I assigned all the little letters she showed me to numbers to make the math easier. "K for knight, M for man..."

  I came to the same result, and looked up at her, confused. "I'm sorry Lady Ayda, I don't understand where I went wrong."

  She put her hand on mine and squeezed gently. "Your math is correct, Lady Printemps. But this isn't a math problem: this is about managing your household. You've focused so much on the numbers, you failed to see the reality. Is your husband not a man?"

  I looked down at the problem and felt red with frustration. It was another one of her stupid trick questions. I quietly erased the 3 in my equations and placed a 4 in its place, then worked out the new answer. "Seven thousand and twenty silver."

  She clapped her hands together and smiled, "Very good, Lady Printemps. If we were to grade your original work, it would certainly pass, but full marks requires seeing the life in the examples and trying your best to treat each problem as a real situation."

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  I closed my eyes, trying to envision what it would look like to be a happy wife, sending someone off on a patrol. I tried to envision wanting to make sure that they were fed, and that we had made the proper preparations.

  But the face that came to mind wasn't Adrian's, so I snapped the thoughts shut like Jerem's sketchbook.

  "I'm sorry Lady Ayda. It's just difficult for me. I get the math, but these questions..."

  Lady Ayda wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me just a bit before standing up, signalling the end of our extra lesson.

  "It's alright, Lady Printemps. Being a wife isn't easy; that's why I became an accountant instead."

  ---

  Erika was waiting for me when I arrived back at my room. She was working on what was to be my tea dress for tomorrow, and for a brief moment when she looked up at me I saw the shadows under her eyes.

  A stab of guilt pierced my stomach and twisted deep inside me. Thinking of how hard she was working behind the scenes to make this work out for us, I remembered that there was no future for her if I didn't marry Adrian. There were no other options for me, no other paths worth considering.

  And with this in mind, I realized that there were now things weighing down on me that I couldn't tell her. For the first time, I could not share this burden. It was mine to bear alone.

  Erika stood up from her work and walked over to help release me from this terrible cage of a dress, and I could take a full breath again. The deep breath caused me to shudder, and then I began sobbing deeply.

  Erika held me tight to her chest and brushed my hair with her fingers. "It's always her doing this for me... Just like mother used to..."

  "What's wrong, Sophie?"

  I started to explain, almost by reflex, but the words choked in my throat. "It's... nothing... It's just the stress of it all. I'm pretty sure everyone but Char hates me here."

  Erika shook me a little, playfully. "Everyone? I've heard that Lady Ayda is giving you personal lessons, no?"

  "Huh? Yeah, why?" I said aloud, but in my head I thought, "Just how does she hear these things so quickly?"

  "You're the first person she's done that for in several years, Sophie."

  I thought for a moment about that. "Maybe she just thinks I'm that hopeless..."

  "Or maybe she realizes you just need a little help, and you're not stupid?"

  I knew that Erika was right, so I stayed quiet. I could feel that she knew I was deflecting, but neither of us pressed the issue.

  "I don't want to wear that dress again..."

  "Alright. I have enough savings now for us to go buy a new dress or two, but naturally you'll need to come with me to buy it."

  "Aren't we twins? Why can't you just go yourself? You know I have no idea what makes a good dress, and we're the same size anyways."

  There was just enough of a pause to indicate that Erika was thinking carefully about what to say next.

  "Sophie... I'm not allowed in the type of shop we need to go to unless I'm escorting a noble or carrying their seal."

  The silence left by that statement lasted until I finally fell asleep.

  ---

  Morning lessons went better than expected, my proficiency having much improved after my first private lesson with Lady Ayda. After having my slate marked, I gave a quiet apology to Char on my way out to meet Erika for our midday shopping trip.

  Going out meant that I would once again be missing the opportunity to meet the girls of Class A. I knew that this would only get more awkward the more I let it be, but I also knew that Erika couldn't keep scrapping together formal dresses every day, so shopping took precedence.

  Somehow, Erika had arranged a carriage for us, and so we made our way out to the front gates. We only had a few hours before afternoon classes, so it was my understanding that we were to act swiftly and buy some dresses that were cheap and ready-made.

  To my surprise, Tor was the driver of the carriage, and he waved at me passionately in wide arcs. "'Ey there M'lady. I know ye'd 'oped for some fancy footman, but all ye've got today is me!"

  He was dressed in his Lombardi-style jack. I knew now, from Jerem's chattering the day before, that his armor was made of thin metal plates sewn into its cloth, and that this choice would have been evidence enough that he was not a knight had I known it at our first meeting. It was cheap, and belied his low status.

  "Oh, Tor, what are you doing here? How could we possibly afford a mercenary to drive our carriage?"

  At this, I turned to Erika, rather than Tor, for an explanation.

  And in turn, all she offered was a smug smile and a shrug. "We'd best be off, Lady Sophia. We don't have much time."

  I looked back to Tor, but he just gave back a sheepish grin. "Sorry m'lady. S'not good business to reveal a client's secrets she ain't willin' to tell 'erself."

  And so, with a sigh, I allowed Erika to help me up into the carriage before pulling her in after me.

  ---

  Guldenfel during the day was magnitudes busier than it was during the evening that I had arrived. The carriage found itself in a mess of foot traffic and other carriages, but Tor rather forcefully guided us through it all.

  Canals had been dug throughout the entire city, and through the window of the carriage I saw both personal and cargo boats alike traversing a network of waterways that operated parallel to the carriage road that we were on. Little mind seemed to have been paid to the needs of those traveling on foot, who were forced to cross the river along the same bridges intended for carriages, dodging past them.

  The carriage came to a stop outside a gaudy looking boutique, with the words "La Signora d’Eleganza" in old Lombardi script written in gold lettering on the windows. In the window were a variety of dresses of various length and color, but all in a similar style. My stomach turned a bit at the look of them.

  "Remember, we're here to get ready-made dresses. We can't afford real formalwear so we'll also need some fabric so I can make adjustments to them. I can't do the talking once we're in there, so you'll need to act like a proper lady."

  "Erika, please, I have no idea at all about dresses. Just this once, can't you do the talking for me? We don't have time for me to mess this up."

  Erika huffed, but I stared into her eyes and continued pleading.

  "Alright. Just this once. I mean it. This could be really bad for us if we're found out."

  A few moments later, I stepped out of the carriage and helped Erika down after me. She was holding the edge of her dress to avoid catching it on her shoes, and she stepped lithely onto the paved stone road with elegance and poise.

  Tor immediately raised an eyebrow, looking between Erika and I, but he made no remark.

  I quietly opened the door for Erika, and then followed in after her, holding my hands pressed tight to the front of the maid's uniform that I was wearing.