𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑀𝒾𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇𝓈// 𝕄𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕠.𝕋

三(𝕊𝕟𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘)

Time skip: 1 month

It's been a month since the social event and I've been going about my days as usual. My governess sat by me at my desk, her critical gaze on me as I did my mathematics. Maths has never been my strong suit and I often got harsh lectures from my parents about the importance of being proficient in all subjects, especially maths.

As heiress, I have to be good at a multitude of subjects to run the whole House in the future. The House of Saigo has a big military and constabulary influence since it is an offshoot of the Tokugawa shogunate—who were essentially military leaders— so for years our family has been dedicated to raising future commanders and generals, myself included. It caused a lot of backlash when my father decided to put me through military training despite being female but since my father doesn't have a son he had to settle for me, not that he was particularly pleased. My mother was not happy with this as well as she firmly opposes the idea of her daughter doing military training since women are in her words "Meant to exhibit grace and elegance".

"MeLaan-sama that is incorrect. You multiply pi with the radius squared. You're multiplying it with the diameter." Takae said as she pointed at my sheet of paper where I'd made a mistake. We have been doing this for half an hour now and the amount of brain cells I had lost from trying to learn calculus was enough to make calculating the volume of a cylinder difficult. With a groan, I buried my face in my arms on the table.

"Too. Many. Numbers. Takae-san, how does calculus teach me to become head of House?" I asked feeling overwhelmed and confused, the numbers being mixed and jumbled inside my head like a hurricane.

"If you are to be head of house, mathematics is important when looking at finances and reading statistics. A bad understanding of numbers might as well send your house into debt." She explained unsympathetically to me as I remained slumped on the desk aggressively tapping the table with my pen. "And sit up straight. It is improper for a lady such as yourself to slump in such an uncouth manner."

Sighing I sat up and straightened my posture before I took a breath to compose myself, sealing my feelings of frustration into a mental box.

"Good. Now try this one. You'll do this for another 20 minutes before you must go outside to participate in training. Make sure to dress appropriately since you will be handling firearms today." She instructed as she passed another sheet of problems for me to solve for the time being. Firearms huh? Thank goodness it's something more exciting than learning about finances and cylinders. I proceeded to solve the equations which were now about exponents in algebra which was much easier than calculus and my head felt less muddled.

__

As another 20 minutes of writing and solving equations passed, I set my pen down and pushed my sheet to the austere woman who placed a pair of half-moon spectacles on the bridge of her nose as she scanned over my answers before giving a brisk nod. "You have done them all right this time. You may leave for your next lesson."

Bowing my head I got up from the zabuton I was sitting on and left the study room to change into the proper clothing for my training. As I walked down along the engawa I looked at the pristine garden. It was well-maintained since the gardeners tended to the plants often. Water softly trickled from the mini waterfall that led into the koi pond where beautiful water lilies grew. Off to the side, a Japanese maple stood at the edge of the pond, its vibrant red leaves softly swaying with the warm summer breeze. A couple of sparrows fluttered about together amongst the branches chirping.

Sliding open the shoji screen, I entered my room and knelt at my tansu. Opening the bottom drawer I pulled out a set of regimentals that were tailored to fit me. Slipping off my kimono I donned the white button-up shirt before shrugging on the khaki green peacoat. I pulled on the matching trousers and tucked them into the heavy-duty boots that came with the uniform. I tied up my hair into a low bun to avoid having it in the way and looked at myself in the full-length mirror on the wall, straightening out the military-style attire. I always feel so manly in this uniform. I thought as I buttoned up the coat.​​​​​​​ But then I feel so feminine in my kimono... huh. Which am I? Feminine or Masculine? Father wanted me to be born male so I could continue the family tradition. Unfortunately for them, I was born female and Mother thinks I should act more like a lady and hates that Oto-san is training me to fill a role meant for a man. Who do I try to listen to? Oka-san or Oto-san?