Emi Chiba

Hina stood still in the middle of the room, her tea-stained dress was dripping, her legs shaking in terror as she slowly moved backwards. The glass greenhouse was beginning to feel smaller and smaller and she felt the air in her lungs straining away. It was getting harder to breathe.

"Is it true?"

"I can't believe she did such a thing"

"She's so scary!"

"To think a common whore would pretend to be a noble lady, it's so funny"

"Oh my! She must have been truly desperate to escape the slums"

[It's not true! I was forced into all this!]

She tried to speak.

To tell them what really happened but her voice wouldn't come out. There was a heaviness in her throat.

[I never wanted this either!] She still couldn't speak out.

Rebecca suddenly appeared before her. Her brown eyes were filled with utter disgust as she stared down at Hina.

"I can't believe you married the merchant just to get your paws on his wealth. How could you be such a scheming slut?"

[That's not true]

"Are you happy now? Is that why you wanted to get close to me? Because of my family's wealth?" Rebecca had a sly grin on her face as she kept pushing at Hina with her index finger, cornering her to the side of the wall.

[That's not true!]

The room was getting darker and the whispers intensified, sounding over and over in her ears

"She's such a whore"

"I heard she chased out the second wife with her looks!"

"But she's so young! Unbelievable!"

"She's a fake noble lady. So disgusting"

Hina failed to find her voice. She clasped her shoulders with her trembling hands as if to protect herself from their brutal gazes. Her eyes were tear-filled as their whispers began to echo. Again and again.

"Hina Kudo sold herself for some spare change!"

She heard Rebecca say out loud and the background waves of laughter followed. Tons of blurry faces filled her vision. All she could see was their eyes mocking her existence. She was a weak prey for them to pick on. A small rabbit in the presence of hyenas.

[Please stop]

She suddenly stumbled over and fell.

[Leave me alone]

"Lady Hina"

[Leave me alone!]

"My lady? Lady Hina!" A figure kept tapping on her right shoulder.

"Wake up, my lady"

Hina's eyes cracked open as Suki came into her view.

"Are you feeling unwell, my lady?" asked Suki, a worried look splattered over her pretty face. Her large brown eyes were filled with concern for the young miss she had come to cherish like a family.

"No, I'm fine" Hina lied through a forced slight smile. She was anything but fine. Recently she had been having the same reoccurring nightmare. One where she was publicly shamed and belittled in the presence of everyone, with Rebecca being the ringleader of the show. What really made it a nightmare was that she knew. She was aware that they were not just mere delusions her mind made up to play games with her. They were real incidents that happened in the novel. Real situations she was bound to face once the timeline began.

The worst part of the nightmares was that they always left her with a prickling headache whenever she woke up. Her head was banging to the point where she just wanted to remain in bed all day.

"Are you sure, my lady? Should I request for a doctor?"

"There's no need for that. I'm truly fine"

She gave Suki a reassuring look as she struggled to get out of bed. Suki observed the young lady's face one more time before walking towards the unopened windows.

"Will you be okay, lady Hina? If not, the head maid can find a way to reschedule the etiquette lesson" Suki said as she pushed the glass windows open, permitting the morning sunlight to colour the room.

"Etiquette lesson?" asked Hina. Her mind was still a bit foggy.

"Yes. The etiquette tutor the lord requested for you will be visiting today. I believe it will be a simple introduction class"

"Hmm, do you know who the tutor might be ?"

"Ah! The young mistress of Count Chiba, Lady Emi Chiba. She is the only child of the Count. I hear that she is quite a beauty and she has gained a lot of popularity among the nobles. She also seems to be an old friend of the family but I'm not sure.."

"I see.."

"I'm sure the young mistress will take a liking to my lady"

_____

Hina had a quiet breakfast alone for the first time in a while. With Tanaka attending a tea party and the merchant going into the city to check on his business, Hina didn't have to endure through the usual stifling atmosphere. Her appetite was poor but she still forced down her meal. She figured it would be such a waste if she didn't touch any of the fine food served to her.

The head maid had informed her that the new etiquette tutor was on their way and requested of Hina to comfortably wait at the drawing-room.

With her headache now dissipated, Hina sat beside the glass window, staring into nothing as she waited in silence. She watched a carriage pull up as her prospective tutor climbed down. All she could see from the window was the woman's shiny navy blue hair.

A knock on the door brought back her attention as the head maid informed her about the tutor's arrival.

"Good day, Lady Hina. My name is Emi Chiba, from the family of count Chiba. I shall be your etiquette tutor from today onwards. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance" Emi spoke softly, a dazzling smile spread across her flawless face as she greeted so elegantly. She had beautiful dark blue eyes, a colour that was similar to her shoulder-length straight hair.

"Good day to you too, Lady Emi. I am Hina Kudo. I'll be in your care from now on" Hina replied with a brief greeting. Emi Chiba- the name sounded somewhat familiar to Hina but she couldn't recall.

"Interesting. I see that lady Hina already knows the basics of a proper greeting" Emi moved closer towards Hina, still wearing a smile on her face.

"As lady Emi said, I simply know the basics but I hope to learn a lot more from you"

Emi gestured for the head maid to give them some privacy before approaching the seating area where Hina was standing.

The two sat down comfortably on opposite sides.

"As lady Hina already knows, today's lesson is a simple Introduction class"

"Yes, I'm aware. Thank you for coming all the way here"

"Of course. If I may ask, what family is lady Hina from? As someone who knows most of the noble ladies in the city, it's a shame that I've never had an encounter with the beautiful young miss"

"Ah, I rarely attend any gatherings and tea parties, so it's understandable for lady Emi to not know of me.."

"I see"

The door to the study room opened as a maid cautiously walked in, holding a tray in her hand.

"Sorry to interrupt, my lady. The head maid instructed me to bring some light refreshments"

"It's fine. Please set them down" Hina replied.

The maid placed the ceramic tray down, timidly pouring the tea into the teacups in front of her.

Hina had not seen how or when the cup tipped over. She had instinctively moved away from the table. The spilt vanilla tea quickly reached the edge of the table. She could hear the spattering sound as it soon began to drip over onto the red carpet.

[What just happened?]

"I'm so sorry, lady Hina. Please forgive me!" The young maid was almost in tears as she cleaned off the tea that had already spilled onto Hina's dress.

"Lady Hina, are you okay?" Emi asked with a concerned expression.

"Yes, I'm fine" Hina was inwardly grateful that she had reacted quickly even though she had not been fast enough.

"You should call for a doctor to check on you" Emi added

"I'm sorry, my lady! I should have been more careful. Please punish me!" The maid was panicking as tears ran down her freckled face.

"It's fine. Everyone makes mistakes. Just be careful so as not to repeat the same mistake next time" Hina pacified the girl.

"Thank you for your generosity, lady Hina. I'll be always grateful" the maid replied. She quickly left the room after cleaning up. Hina could swear that she saw hearts in the maid's eyes.

"It's good that lady Hina was quick enough to avoid the tea" Emi sighed worriedly as she adjusted her sleeve

"It would've been such a disaster if you had been burned. Can you imagine a burn scar on a noble lady's body? She'd be a defect to our society" she added.

"What?"

"You must've been shocked by the incident. Please rest well, lady Hina. You don't need to see me out. I'll see you soon for our next lesson. Take care." Emi smiled at Hina as she took her leave. Hina was still taken aback; trying to make sense of what had just happened as well as the comments that Emi had made. It sounded like a slur to Hina, who indeed had a number of scars she was told to hide.

[Am I being too sensitive about it?]

Emi Chiba. Despite her warm aura and kind demeanour, Hina couldn't help but feel like there was something off about the etiquette tutor.