Villainess Reborn: SEASON ONE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TATIANA LORIEL

A strange woman suddenly appeared in Tatiana's room one day and shouted so loudly that she woke up her entire soul. That woman turned out to be Tatiana's etiquette teacher, and she will be re-learning all the lessons that she accomplished when she was seven. And that's because she lost her memories.

The queen instructed the teacher to teach her all the basics. It turns out that there will be a tea party in two weeks, and the queen doesn't want the princess to humiliate herself. But Tatiana knew that the queen just didn't want to humiliate herself with her clumsy step-daughter with an attitude.

"Keep your chest out and your chin up, princess! Don't let your spine rest even for a second!"

Tatiana had a hard time balancing out the heavy book on her head as she was walking in a straight line that was drawn on the floor. She has to walk from one end to another fifty consecutive times without the book falling or her posture faltering.

Her body ached and her legs were becoming numb. She's been trying for hours but the heavy book keeps falling or she loses her balance.

"You need to think straight, your highness." The teacher said. Tatiana wanted to roll her eyes at the woman who looked like she was in her late fifties. She never liked her. The woman had her gray hair up in a tight bun and a turtle-neck formal dress with puffy sleeves. The corners of her mouth were permanently pointing downwards in a scowl and she had thin and slanted glasses which made her look even stricter and scarier.

She was reminded of that grandma in an animation she watched back at the orphanage. The old grandma had a big baby and trapped a young girl in her bathhouse and forced her to work. Yes, this teacher was exactly like her.

Days went on on,d she had the same schedule every single day. She wakes up early in the morning to train then there will be history and etiquette lectures, and then there will be dancing lessons that follow after that. The one-on-one lectures drag on for hours on endend,d there will be quizzes most of the time after that. After dinner, there will be evening lessons that won't finish until it's already late at night and the cycle has gone on and on for weeks already.

"I can't do this anymore William," Tatiana complained. She dropped her body lifelessly on the sofa of her room. William stood formally beside the sofa. "It's so hard! And my whole body is aching!"

"This is your duty, your highness," William said respectfully.

"But I already know everything that she's teaching me!" she complained. It is true. Weirdly enough, she doesn't have memories of the previous Tatiana. They remember the lessons and etiquette like it was engraved in her body, like muscle memory.

"It is what the queen ordered," William answered calmly, once again knowing that the princess didn't need any more training. The princess knows her etiquette and social lessons like they were one of hers and that is because the previous queen taught it to the princess herself.

However, the present queen's orders must be followed. Even though it seems like the princess is just getting punished unnecessarily by the queen and the teacher she hired, the princess must injure it until it is finished.

"You need to be strong, princess," William spoke, "people are watching and waiting for you to fall. One mistake is all it takes to make you lose your crown and position in the kingdom and even the king will not be able to do anything about it."

Tatiana looked at William and sat straight in her seat.

"What if I tell you that I don't want to be crowned queen? That I don't even want the crown?" Tatiana asked. William's expression changed and a faint surprise flashed from his eyes. Tatiana knew that it was something that she shouldn't tell out loud.

"You've always wanted the crown," William answered, "ever since you were young. You wanted to become like your mother."

Tatiana sighed and hugged her knees close to her chest. She isn't even the real deal anyway. She and the previous princess were two very different people. She didn't want the crown. She just wants a normal life where she won't starve and people won't look down on her and insult her for being an orphan.

"Maybe I'm just tired," she said as she felt her eyes slowly getting heavier as time passed. Soon after, she was completely asleep and the only thing that could be heard from the room are her soft snores.

William went to Tatiana's bed and got her a blanket. She snuggled and mumbled words like 'yes ma'am' in her sleep. William felt bad for the princess, but a life of luxury and wealth comes hand in hand with danger and responsibility in being nobility.

--

END