Heartglass

Heartglass 13: The Witch's Curse

AZALEA

Yumi prepared my dress and the maidservants helped me on my bath filled with roses and lavender scented liquid soaps after eating breakfast in my room.

"The Crown Prince will be out today for business so the ladies can't meet him as scheduled," Yumi explained. She helped me dress after the bath, zipping the back of my cream, flowery dress.

I nodded, quietly celebrating the good news. I didn't even wish to see him.

The maidservants combed my curly red hair as I sat in front of the mirror. I let them tie my hair on a half ponytail. They also put on a light makeup on my face which emphasized my amber eyes and lightened the freckles on my skin.

It was Wednesday and for today's class, we had fashion-related lessons and History. After the preparation, I walked to the drawing room and met the three ladies along the way, wearing fancy dresses. We formally acknowledged each other's presence before heading inside the drawing room and sitting on the upholstered couches, waiting for our instructor to come.

I hadn't properly interacted with these ladies yet since we arrived in the palace. I would only meet them in classes and sometimes, at dinners. And it seemed they also wanted to keep their distance from the other candidates. Well, it wasn't the right time to be friendly. And we would be wary if someone approached us with kindness and friendliness, thinking they had ulterior motives.

Marchioness Jade, our instructor, entered the room with a placid expression on her face followed by some assistants. She wore a voluptuous green dress and her black hair was tied on a high bun. Her black eyes scanned the room.

"Good morning, ladies. I will be your instructor for today, Marchioness Jade of House Daniel, about Fashion and trends. I will also teach you embroidery and knitting. These hobbies will improve your focus and discipline. Also, a good distraction from unnecessary things and negative emotions. You can use embroidery and knitting whenever you want to unwind and think."

She gestured to her assistants and they provided the tools we needed for embroidery.

"For now, I will teach you the basic and intermediate embroidery techniques. I know, some of you are already familiar with this, probably studied embroidery before you even came to the palace. But I still need to gauge your knowledge before jumping to the advance lessons. So for now, please bear with me."

She taught us how to use the tools and how to place the white cloth on the embroidery hoop. She taught us the basic to intermediate techniques until we were already prepared to embroider simple flower designs and leaves.

Marchioness Jade walked around, checking out our needlework. She openly praised my skills. Well, this was connected to my business and previous line of work. Something I totally enjoyed so I had my full attention on our class. She even praised the other ladies who were doing well. Lady Candice, Lady Shirdine and Lady Jaera were also good at this. They knew their way through the needle and their designs were smooth and fine. Even though I was faster, their needlework was also of good quality.

I didn't dare lag. Although I was not competing for the Crown Princess position, I couldn't afford a poor performance on this class–on something I totally enjoyed and proud of.

"You're really good at this, Lady Azalea. Why didn't you just pursue your passion instead of joining the selection?" Marchioness Jade asked with curiosity. Her black eyes peered down on me. I'm not sure if she meant any harm but she looked innocent and level-headed. As if her question was just pure curiosity. Even Lady Candice, Lady Jaera and Lady Shirdine turned their gazes to me, interested on my answer.