Since the rumors were false, Miss Brice became curious about what could be more important than the girls' studies. However, she did not ask any questions.
She raised her brows when she noticed Miss Magdalene with the girls. Of course, she could guess that the woman before her was from the palace, but why was she accompanying the duke's daughters?
"Good morning, Miss Brice," the two ladies greeted respectfully as they entered the classroom.
"Good morning," Miss Brice replied with her usual smile, directing her gaze toward Elisabeth.
"Miss Brice, this is Miss Magdalene. She is from the palace and is here today to observe our class and assess our educational background," Elisabeth took the initiative to introduce her. She carefully framed it as though Miss Magdalene was there to evaluate both of them. There was no way she would let go of a marriage that should have been hers.
Miss Magdalene raised an eyebrow at the introduction. She glanced at Anastasia to see if she would react, but the girl seemed lost in her own world.
"Miss Magdalene, I am Miss Brice. It is a pleasure to have you in our class," Miss Brice said. She wanted to leave a good impression on the visitor. After all, Miss Magdalene was no ordinary maid. Miss Brice was also curious as to why a lady from the Queen's court would be observing a class.
Of course, she had her suspicions. Everyone knew that the three princes in the palace were of marriageable age. If a lady-in-waiting to the Queen was present, it was reasonable to assume that a potential bride for one of the princes was among them.
"Thank you," Miss Magdalene said with a polite smile, though she shook her head slightly. She was disappointed that Anastasia had allowed Elisabeth to manipulate the situation. To be a queen, one must be quick-witted. A future queen should never allow others to take advantage of her.
"Miss Magdalene, please have a seat," Anastasia said, preparing a chair for her. Since Miss Magdalene was there because of her, it was only right to show her proper courtesy.
Miss Brice mentally rolled her eyes. She felt that Anastasia was overly ambitious, trying to curry favor with the lady-in-waiting.
To Miss Brice, Anastasia was nothing more than a background figure in the classroom. This was a classic example of someone forgetting their place after catching a glimpse of their reflection. Which of the princes would be interested in the daughter of a mistress?
Miss Magdalene took her seat, feeling grateful that Anastasia recognized her responsibility to attend to her teacher's needs. Google seaʀᴄh novel•fire.net
"Take your seat. We have already wasted enough time," Miss Brice said, finding Anastasia's display of thoughtfulness unpleasant.
"We learned a new poem yesterday, Lady Elisabeth. Would you like to recite it?" Miss Brice asked. She wanted to give Elisabeth an opportunity to shine so that Miss Magdalene would see who truly deserved attention in the duke's household.
Elisabeth smiled, knowing her teacher was helping her stand out. She was proud of herself for taking the initiative.
Her voice rang through the classroom as she recited the poem. Since she wanted to impress Miss Magdalene, she made her tone as pleasant as possible.
Halfway through, she turned slightly to see Miss Magdalene's reaction. She hoped to see admiration or perhaps even curiosity about the poem's meaning. However, to her dismay, Miss Magdalene's attention was on Anastasia instead.
"What is this?" Elisabeth thought, peeking at Anastasia to see what she was doing to attract Miss Magdalene's interest. To her surprise, Anastasia was simply sitting upright. There was nothing to look at.
"How could a fool get such an opportunity?" Elisabeth cursed inwardly.
Distracted by her thoughts, she began making mistakes.
Miss Brice frowned, wondering why Elisabeth was suddenly struggling with such a simple recitation.
Miss Magdalene only glanced at Elisabeth when she made several errors in a row.
Elisabeth felt a wave of pressure from that gaze. She hated herself for losing focus and making mistakes. The stress only caused her to stumble further as she finished the poem.
Afraid of making even more mistakes, she began to stutter slightly while giving her interpretation of the lesson from the previous day.
"Lady Elisabeth, you must be feeling unwell today. Be sure to get some rest later," Miss Brice said once Elisabeth was done. She knew it would be unwise to praise Elisabeth as she usually did, so instead, she provided an excuse for her.
"I will take your advice to heart," Elisabeth replied, grateful to Miss Brice for covering for her.
"Lady Anastasia, your turn," Miss Brice said with a smile. Since Elisabeth had made several mistakes, she expected Anastasia to perform even worse. That way, Miss Magdalene would still be able to see who was the superior student.
Anastasia raised an eyebrow slightly. She realized this was the first time Miss Brice had smiled at her.
Sometimes, she thought that rather than spending their days scheming, the people in the duke's residence should join the theater—their acting skills would make them famous in no time.
Anastasia began reciting her verse. She did not attempt to add any melody to her voice. Though she was tempted to impress Miss Magdalene, she also feared the consequences of doing so, especially since Elisabeth had made mistakes.
So, Anastasia deliberately made more errors than Elisabeth.
"Miss Anastasia, you are the daughter of a duke. You should put more effort into your studies and avoid distractions," Miss Brice said. She didn't want to appear overly biased, so she kept her criticism light. However, her words conveyed a clear message to Miss Magdalene.
Anastasia smiled and thanked her for the advice. She was used to Miss Brice behaving this way.
Elisabeth had made mistakes because she was supposedly unwell. On the other hand, Anastasia had made mistakes because she was careless with her studies her message was clear.
Anastasia felt that Miss Brice was as cunning as a fox.
She had deliberately underperformed to put Elisabeth's mind at ease. As long as Elisabeth believed she was superior, she would continue to underestimate her.
With her impending marriage to the crown prince, Anastasia knew she had to be more careful than ever. She suspected that her inability to conceive after marrying the prince, if her dream was indeed a premonition, might be connected to the duchess and Elisabeth.
After all, how could those two bear to see her succeed?
"Anastasia, that was just a dream," she scolded herself, realizing how deeply she had fallen into her own thoughts.