A Flower Or a Weed

The Duke fought for countless nights with the Duchess over Lucille's education. The Duke wanted her to be taught by Countess Bianca, Kalina's esteemed private tutor, while the Duchess insisted that it wasn't proper for an illegitimate child to share things with the legitimate child.

The Duke wouldn't back down and demanded that the Countess teach Lucille, but the Countess herself refused to teach her. She had taught the Empress and prided herself in teaching countless high-ranking noble girls, yet the Duke wanted her to teach a prostitute's daughter. It was a shameful incident for everyone involved.

The Duchess finally settled with the Duke and arranged for a baroness from nearby to teach Lucille. She was an incredibly average woman but she had good manners. It was fitting for her to teach Lucille.

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"Greetings, Lady Lucille." The baroness bowed to the thirteen-year-old girl who reclined on a velvet couch with numerous pillows piled behind her.

The girl wore a frilly yellow dress that leaned more towards being tacky than being cute. A heart-shaped pendant hung from her neck with a huge pink gem in the center. She was dressed up like a doll.

A few days, Nessa had splurged on jewels and dresses and bought dozens of them for her and Lucille. She had no fashion sense and instead chose the most flashy and expensive ones from the catalogues, like a child who had tried candy for the first time.

"Oh, uh..." Lucille struggled to remember the greeting that Nessa had taught her beforehand. "Welcome, Baroness...." She forgot the baroness's family name and just fidgeted nervously.

"Minson," Baroness Minson corrected her sheepishly. She reminded herself that it was common for a higher ranking noble to forget a smaller noble's family name, but the embarrassment lingered.

Lucille was determined to catch up to Kalina, who was a year ahead of her in lessons. But no matter how talented one was, it was impossible to learn a year's worth of studies and etiquette in a day.

Lucille didn't understand this and threw a fit when her teacher tried to tell her that she would have to start out with the basics–learning how to read and simple mathematics. Etiquette would have to be learned afterwards.

"I don't want to read books! I want to learn how to dance!" Lucille cried out and threw all the books onto the floor.

The teacher stepped back in shock. Those books had been given to her personally by Lady Kalina! She had been told to take care of them, but now they were on the floor–and a few pages must have ripped! How was she supposed to explain to her what had happened?

No, forget the books–what was she going to do with the child currently throwing a temper tantrum in front of her?

"Lady Lucille, please calm down," she tried, reaching out to try and soothe her.

Lucille just screamed louder and smacked her teacher's hand away. "Go away! I don't want you! Mama! Sister! Help me!"

The baroness stood helplessly to the side as Lucille continued to bawl her eyes out. She had believed that she would be teaching a docile and naive child who was unaccustomed to her new noble status. She had wanted to teach her how to be a proper and gentle noble lady.

However, the girl in front of her was totally the opposite of what she expected. In fact, she behaved more like a pampered young lady than Lady Kalina, who grew up being waited on hand and foot. Just one day of dealing with her hand already given her a headache.

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"Lucille threw a fit?" Kalina sat on a couch in one of the mansion's many parlors. She had been having some afternoon tea when the baroness had suddenly asked to meet her.

"Yes, Lady Lucille got upset when I informed her that she would have to learn to read before she could start learning etiquette."

Kalina lifted her teacup to her lips to conceal her spiteful smile. When she placed it back down, her expression had softened.

"Baroness Minson, Lucille is a sweet and kind person," Kalina said as she folded her hands on her lap gracefully. "As you must know, her origin is humble so she will need more assistance to get acquainted with the ways of us who were born noble. I trust that with your skills, you will be able to guide her properly."

Kalina was aware that the Baroness probably came to her to resign, but she still needed her. How could she possibly throw away a tool was still useful?

By praising the Baroness and saying that she trusted her to do her job well, there was no way that the woman would be able to quit her job without looking extremely rude and inconsiderate.

"Oh! Yes, of course. She is very bright," the Baroness rushed to reply awkwardly.

Kalina nodded in agreement. "Right now, she needs a little motivation. If you act so strict, she'll obviously be overwhelmed. So, you must comply with everything she wants."

"Everything?" The Baroness was confused. Wouldn't that just spoil her even more?

"Yes, everything. Her happiness comes first. If she wants to play, let her play. If she wants to learn, let her learn." Kalina replied. "She'll be able to learn discipline this way as well. Reward her heavily for making a little progress. Should she do something wrong, a light scolding will suffice."

The Baroness thought for a few moments before she was fully convinced by Kalina's words. After all, a strict education might overwhelm Lucille and make her behavior worse.

"I see. I'll be sure to do as Lady Kalina says."

"Oh, no. You're not doing this for me. You're doing this for Lucille." Kalina corrected her.

"Yes, that's right."

"Then, I'm counting on you. Here, a token of my appreciation." Kalina received a small jewelry box from her maid and took out a pair of elegant pearl earrings. They were too modest for Kalina's taste, but they were still of high quality.

The little gift was insignificant to Kalina, but she had been asking for the Baroness's loyalty using the earrings. If the Baroness accepted, then she would be on Kalina's side.

If she rejected, well...she couldn't. If Kalina insisted, she would have to take the earrings out of courtesy. It wasn't good to reject someone with a higher status.

"Thank you, Lady Kalina." It wasn't clear if the Baroness had recognized the meaning behind the gift, but she graciously accepted them.

Kalina nodded and sent the Baroness off. She went back to enjoying her tea as if nothing had happened.

"Miss, are you really going to help that girl?" Olivia asked from the side. It had become some sort of a taboo amongst the maidservants, especially those who served Kalina closely, to mention Lucille's name. Olivia, being Kalina's closest servant, was no exception.

She had already figured out that her miss was sharper and more cunning than other girls her age, and wondered if this was another one of Kalina's tricks.

"When did I ever mention helping her?" Kalina scoffed at the thought. "Whether she develops into a little wildflower or an ugly weed all depends on her own ability. If I didn't tell Baroness Minson to do that, Lucille would scare off all her tutors. In her situation, she has to grasp everything she is given tightly, or else someone might just steal it away from her."