Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

"For the coming period, I will be instructing Miss Tilan on courses related to etiquette,"

a bespectacled maid stood in front of the young girl. She appeared to be in her thirties, neatly dressed, with a stern expression.

She seems like a strict teacher, Tilan blinked, sensing that the maid opposite her was also very strong, at least a Sequence 6, truly one of the elites.

"I understand, Teacher Pranli."

She still held great respect for these professional teachers, knowing that employing someone of that caliber for her instruction must have cost quite a bit.

"Uh, I think I can do without it," Annelli looked at the female chief maid and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, remembering the strict lessons from her family's governess during her childhood.

"Miss Annelli indeed does not need to learn the same things as Miss Tilan..." she said halfway through, at which Annelli breathed a sigh of relief, but the chief maid quickly continued.

"However, if Miss Annelli wishes to become an excellent aide, assistant, or to perfectly handle scenarios Miss Tilan might encounter in the future, then there are still many things and abilities you need to acquire." She pushed up her glasses, her gaze sharply sweeping over Annelli, causing the girl to shudder.

Though she was considered a prodigy in her family, she had become somewhat complacent in recent years, and her discipline had slipped. While Hexia might not notice any difference, in front of this professional maid, Annelli's usual behavior was riddled with flaws.

"Ugh, alright, I'll learn," Annelli thought resignedly of the hard days to come.

"Very good, then let's begin the lesson today," the chief maid immediately got into the zone.

At that moment, their place of learning was not in a classroom, but rather, in the house where Hexia was staying temporarily at Edith College. The Chief Maid Pranli had been specially summoned by Edith Academy to instruct Hexia, and was not a regular teacher at the Academy. It was said that her previous clientele were nobles from the Central Star Domain, and if not for Edith Academy's extensive network, she would not have been brought here.

First, Pranli asked Hexia to walk, drink water, and sit down according to her usual habits to observe whether her posture and manner were up to par.

After a slightly nervous performance, Teacher Pranli gave her feedback.

"Although there are many areas for improvement, it can be seen that you must have been taught these aspects as a child, so you're not without foundation. That should save us some time."

Thankful for her mother's teachings, Hexia had developed good habits from a young age.

Then, the teacher picked up a teaching crop and swished it lightly in the air, snapping it with a 'crack', startling Annelli who had drifted away in her thoughts.

"Listen well, beauty is a powerful weapon in the hands of women, allowing you to gain advantages in life and work, but! If you do not master this weapon, it will instead significantly diminish how others see you, and can even make you repugnant and rejected."

"You are still young, at the age of 16-17, which is generally when women are at their prettiest and most likely to receive preferential treatment."

"I emphasize this point because you should not consider the situations and encounters you are currently experiencing as the norm, but recognize that this is a privilege that will gradually fade over time."

"Society has different expectations of men and women, adults and children. Some things children can say may seem funny and cute, but when said by adults, they become rude and repulsive."

"If you now indulge in and become accustomed to receiving such favor, without restraint and failing to develop good habits and attitudes, then when you get older, you will encounter a significant disparity that will be disconcerting."

"A child in their tens asking you for candy and a woman in her forties with makeup flaking off asking you for candy—these two situations give vastly different impressions."

"Habits, if formed at the age of sixteen or seventeen and continued for over a decade, will be difficult to change for the rest of your life."

"Such habits formed during times of affluence can greatly conflict with later life, causing irritability, harshness, and a progressively repulsive demeanor."

"Though each of you is a young lady from a well-established family, likely ensuring that you will live in comfort your whole life, the aura you bear will only be effective with the lower classes."

"Imagine, even if you and others belong to the well-off same rank, but someone behaves rudely, some actions make you despise them, you would certainly distance yourself."

"If you only care to face those who look up to you in beggary, hoping you will bestow charity upon them, without caring whether you are rude or impolite, then of course, you need not learn these etiquettes."

"But the upper class are also people. If you still wish to maintain your family business or wish to grow and expand, you will have to deal, cooperate, and even ask for help from many of your peers, and that's when you need to mind the impression you give others."
Your journey continues on empire

"It is not to say that just because I am wealthy, I can do as I please. This attitude is common among certain nouveaux riches."

First, she elaborated on the importance of learning etiquette, and only then did she begin the actual instruction, which included adjusting the young girls' sitting and walking postures, and their tone and gestures when interacting with others.

It was not about conforming to a certain standard template of behavior, but that these actions needed to be appropriate, making both parties comfortable.

Initially, these changes may have felt uncomfortable, but as long as they were integrated into habits and subconscious action, gradually one could "follow one's heart without stepping over the line."

"Etiquette is not about behaving rigidly according to a textbook," she added later, "but allowing one's posture to be natural and sincere while also appearing beautiful and gracious."

Throughout the day, Tilan adjusted her unconscious habitual gestures according to her direction, until she finally found a balance that was comfortable for her and others.

"In learning etiquette, or cultivating other habits, there is a misconception: to only consider the benefits that the habit brings, without considering whether the habit is suitable and comfortable for oneself. If a habit is particularly uncomfortable or met with resistance, even if it is a good habit, it will be difficult to sustain."

"Because maintaining such behavior requires constant willpower, which consumes a lot of energy and is not sustainable in the long run."

"The ideal is to find a balance that is not too uncomfortable for you, while also allowing the benefits of the behavior to be realized, so that it can gradually become an unconscious habit."

A week after joining Edith Academy, Tilan began the specially arranged cultivation plan from the academy, and the first of these was the course on etiquette.