The Manner Demon [Part 2]
Before I noticed it, my companions increased one after another in the empty classroom where it used to be just my teacher and me.
Turned out, many young ladies were also suffering like me, it’s just that I never knew it.
For me, it was my mother, but for others, it could be their father, home tutor, the lady they previously learned manners from… Everyone’s case was different, but the fact that each of us was in anguish and suffering was the same.
Height, weight, face size, neck length, shoulder width… Everyone is different in every part.
‘To find the most beautiful angle for that someone.’
I found that a standard had been made for something that had always been vague.
If I stick to this angle, no matter how somebody points it out, I can protect my own heart.
It led me to have self-confidence that became my charm.
To me, manners and etiquette had become the weapon to protect myself.
I got married, had children, and when my children grew up, I measured their own “angle” and gave them their “weapons”.
In particular, my youngest child, Melsa, was a bright child who learned etiquette quickly and found her own angle by herself..
When Melsa went to the academy, she chose the classes I couldn’t study before. Mathematics, Physics, Demon Science, Economics, she took the subjects that were especially difficult and were said to be impossible for young ladies.
Even when someone spoke ill of her as mannish or warned her that the nail that stuck out would get hammered down, Melsa continued to achieve excellent results.
“Why is someone as strict with manners as you letting your daughter do whatever she likes?
In this male-dominated aristocratic society, I had also received some cruel questions.
But, Melsa had perfected her manners from long ago. That child had a weapon to protect herself. And so, I could let her do as much as she liked.
“Just because a woman is smarter than a man, doesn’t mean she has bad manners.”
I, too, have become much stronger.
・・・
Time passed, and manners and etiquette weren’t talked about much as they used to be when it came to my grandchildren’s generation. Rather than strict parenting, parents nowadays tend to say that raising a child with love is most important.
When I first began to think about retiring and handing my title over to my son, my youngest child, Melsa, brought her daughter, Emma, to me.
“Mother, please teach this child. Please be a little… no, please be very strict with her.”
Melsa married a borderland Count, and the first time I met my grandchildren was just a few weeks before, which was when they moved to the royal capital.
Emma was said to have a large scar on her face, so she always wore a veil.
With the impression that the three siblings’ etiquette wasn’t top-notch but was also not bad, I felt that they were taught pretty well for children who grew up in a remote borderland.
“Calm down, Melsa. Tell me what happened first… !!!”
Emma didn’t wear a veil that day.
On her right cheek was a terrible scar that didn’t suit her adorable face, which I only clearly saw for the first time. The color of her eyes, which were looking up at me timidly, was green, different from her brothers.
A light translucent green color that seemed like it could suck you in.
It was the color of our Sullivan family.
When our eyes met, she weakly smiled. Different from Melsa and Leonard, she had a soft, gentle, calm-looking face and a short, slender, delicate body.
She looked more child-like and vulnerable than her actual age. Her scars would still remain even after she grew up, wouldn’t they?
“I understand. For a whole month, let Emma come to me after her school is over. I will prepare a carriage for her.”
I have to give this child a weapon.
Because she will live while carrying this scar from now on.
The best weapon I have ever imparted.
I may become a little too harsh.
But.
That’s because I want to get her as much equipment as I can, so she will never be hurt.
Looks like the manner demon’s retirement will be a little later than planned..
Author’s words: The color of Emma’s eyes is the color associated with Sullivan House.
It’s a rare color that rarely gets passed down, so only Hilda, Hilda’s son (successor of Duke Sullivan), Melsa, and Emma have it.
Melsa is the youngest child out of 12 siblings.
Translator’s note: Hilda is the only child of the former Duke Sullivan. She succeeded the title and became the current Duchess. Hilda’s son will be succeeding the Duke title from Hilda, not from Hilda’s husband. (Duke Hilda Sullivan was what the author wrote in the original, but I translated it to Duchess as it seemed more fitting)
