~ Suspicions ~

"Oh my," The Duchess cooed at her. "You're quite talented, Your Highness."

Winter looked down at the spare piece of fabric in her hands. Her needlework was sloppy, but the pattern Duchess Rowena had taught her was quite pretty.

"It's all because you're so good at teaching, Madam." Winter said with a feigned smile.

"Oh my, you flatter me with such words," She beamed in response. "Is there any reason why you wanted to start with embroidery today? Perhaps there is a young man Her Majesty fancies?"

Winter shook her head. "I want to embroider a handkerchief Prince Alexion gave me."

"That's very sweet of you," Duchess Rowena smiled approvingly. "Do you perhaps know why handkerchiefs and embroidery are so important amongst nobles?"

The Duchess went on and on about the several meanings behind a lady's handkerchief. Winter tried to listen politely, but she found the topic quite ridiculous. She had no idea why people cared so much about a hemmed square of thin fabric.

Duchess Rowena was her etiquette teacher. Even without an extensive knowledge of the topic, Winter could easily tell the Duchess was refined in all aspects of being a noble lady. The Duchess carried an air of elegance with her wherever she went. From her strides to her smile, all aspects of her were polished and prim.

"Shall we begin?" The Duchess asked politely, placing a book on the top of Winter's head. "Remember to keep your chin up when you walk. A proper lady should not slouch."

From proper greetings and courteous salutations to conversation etiquette and how to sit, the Duchess drilled all aspects of being a noble lady into Winter's head.

"L-Like this?" Winter asked, struggling to keep her balance.

"Not quite," The Duchess chuckled. "Move your left foot slightly more behind your right. Remember to slightly bend your knees and don't over exaggerate your movements."

Winter let out a sigh and lowered herself into a graceful curtsy. Her body ached with fatigue.

"A proper young lady does not sigh so openly, my dear." She said with a frown. "A Princess must be mindful of her behaviour."

Winter smiled stiffly. "Yes."

"It looks like that's all the time we have for today."

"Thank you very much for your guidance today, Madam." Winter practically choked on her own frustration. "I look forward to our next class."

The Duchess smiled. "You learn quite quickly, Your Highness. It is truly an honour to teach you."

After properly escorting the Duchess out and saying farewell, Winter plopped down in a comfy armchair to start working on Alexion's handkerchief. Snowflake and North, who waited for her in her room while she had lessons, were lazing about at her side. She had some time before her magic class, so she focused on weaving the thin needle and thread as delicately and accurately as possible.

Winter thought about what Alexion had said about her new teacher. She furrowed her brows and tried to remember anyone out of the ordinary from the academy, but her mind came up blank. It didn't matter, anyways, she was just excited to learn magic. It was also the only class she had with Aiden. Since both her and Aiden insisted on taking some lessons together, Alexion finally agreed to let them take magic classes with the same teacher.

~***~

Winter immediately regretted what she thought earlier. Magic was not something to be taken lightly. It focused on quantities, symbols and shapes put together and stirred around in balanced ways to create different reactions. Before gaining the capability to manipulate your mana, you had to gain a solid understanding of the fundamentals. Much like math you eliminate, substitute and even divide certain innate magical qualities in order to generate different reactions.

Aiden, who had never done math before, struggled by Winter's side. Winter had a hard time grasping the equations at first, but after familiarizing herself with the terms and symbols she was able to understand them quite quickly.

"There are six types of mana," Professor Peregrine said. "White, black, blue, red, green and colourless. We mix, divide, multiply and even rearrange these types of mana in order to generate reactions."

Winter learned that each person's magical capabilities were based on what kind of mana they had and how well they understood magical calculations. Since different reactions were created by mixing different mana, there was a limit to what you could do based on what kind of mana you had. Those with less colours of mana had less options and vice versa.

Aiden looked like his world was falling apart. He spent most of the class making sour expressions and faces at Winter, who had a hard time controlling her laughter upon seeing his clear dismay.

Winter thought that the Professor was quite odd. He had timeworn skin with vivid wrinkles and powder-white hair. He looked so old that Winter was afraid he could drop dead at any moment. Despite this, he did a good job of explaining the concepts. Winter had experienced her fair share of awful teachers in her past life.

"Well then," He said with a shaky voice. "I'd like to teach you about something else now."

He dropped a thick book onto the desk where they sat before flipping the pages. He eventually settled on one with a large sketch of some sort of creature. The image was a detailed sketch of a human with high cheekbones and pointy ears. Winter froze. Why did it look so familiar?

"This here is a druid," He said in a tone that sent shivers down Winter's spine. "They're creatures who can channel the power of nature spirits. They can also communicate with nature, listening to what nature wills and carrying out natural order."

"Are they real?" Aiden asked with wide eyes. "They look like fairies."

Peregrine smiled. "Of course, although they're quite rare."

Flashbacks of Winter's dream of the fae boy ran through her mind. Her stomach twisted with anticipation. His soft green hair that hung over his forehead and the way he watched her with his ruby red eyes. The sweet songs that he had sung her. The way her hand felt in his.

"Professor," She said in a hushed tone. "Can druids shape shift?"

Peregrine's lips curled into a smirk. "Yes. Yes, they can."

Winter hesitated. "Are, are they evil?"

"Hmm..." Peregrine hesitated, eyes lost in thought. "It depends on how you see them, I suppose. Druids exist in this world to maintain balance. Although they appear to be human, they value different things than we do. Druids are far from being autonomous. They're an extension of nature's will, swayed by the cycles of life and nature."

"An extension of nature?" Winter repeated, eyes blazing with curiosity. "So they have no control over their actions because they follow what nature tells them to?"

"That's not entirely true," He replied. "Druids can hear the voices of the nature spirits. They're sort of like the Royal Family. You can channel power from the astral gods like druids can channel power from nature spirits. They can connect to their spirit masters in a much deeper way, swayed by what they wish for and what they order."

"Like a master and disciple sort of relationship?" Winter asked him.

"Exactly," Peregrine said with a soft smile. "Since druids borrow their power, they are easily swayed to carry out what the nature spirits wish for them to do. In other words, they have a hard time disobeying the source of their power."

Winter pursed her lips in thought. "Does that mean that the spirits can say no to letting them use their power if they don't obey?"

"Exactly. It's best not to anger the spirits."

Winter's mind ran wild with all sorts of questions. Ruby red eyes. Shape shifting. Powers. Was Snowflake actually a wolf?