Chapter 6: Lessons in Nobility

1. The morning bell rang.

A maid suddenly came into the room.

Lucy, who was half-asleep, looked at her and suddenly remembered the name ‘Rubia.’

She was one of the maids introduced last night, and her purple hair and bronze skin were impressive, so it was easy to remember.

She looked down at Lucy with her sparkling purple eyes, and soon announced the morning cheerfully.

“Good morning, Lady Lucy—”

A beautiful maid came to wake her up in the morning breeze.

It was an over-the-top treat, but she couldn’t like it now.

She didn’t have enough sleep.

It was the result of wandering around outside until late at night last night.

In the end, Lucy, who was sleep-deprived, turned around and refused to get up.

“I’ll sleep for 30 more minutes…”

She said 30 minutes, but she was actually planning to sleep until lunch.

However, perhaps she had read her mind.

Rubia, who had come to help with the morning chores, did not allow her to extend her sleep.

She began to struggle to wake Lucy up, gently shaking her shoulders.

“Lucy~ If you don’t wake up, breakfast will get cold.”

“You don’t have to eat…”

“It’s not good for your health if you skip your meal.”

“Ugh… please.”

“Come on, let’s wake up and stretch.”

Despite her repeated rejections, Rubia didn’t back down easily, no, she couldn’t.

The mission from the royal family was to teach Lucy manners until Satan returned, so she couldn’t let her act like a spoiled brat from the first day.

In the end, Lucy couldn’t resist and half-forced herself to get up.

‘Since I’ve decided to act like a princess, I guess I have to maintain a minimum level of decorum.’

Getting ready for the morning was easy.

It was called getting ready, but all Lucy had to do was sit quietly in front of the vanity.

While she was doing that, Rubia would take care of ‘washing,’ ‘dressing up,’ and ‘grooming.’

It felt awkward, as if she were a newborn baby, but since she didn’t know how to dress up, she had no choice but to stay still.

After finishing dressing up, Rubia took Lucy to the dining room.

The palace banquet hall.

On a large round table, more than 12 kinds of food were plentifully prepared, including ‘steak,’ ‘soup,’ ‘salad,’ and ‘freshly baked bread.’

Lucy, who sat in the center, looked around. Despite the sumptuous meal, she was the only one sitting at the table.

“Am I eating this alone?”

“Yes, I don’t know your favorite foods yet, so I asked you to prepare as many as possible. Is there anything you don’t like?”

“No… Anyway, I’ll enjoy it.”

They ate. The taste was excellent, but since she had never used a knife before, she wasn’t very good at cutting.

Rubia, who was watching from the side, started teaching her dining etiquette here and there.

-You can use the knife like this, holding it with your index and middle fingers.

-You should be careful not to let your elbows touch the tablecloth.

-Please raise your chin when eating.

Who knew that royal dining etiquette would be this strict?

If she changed her behavior even once, another warning would immediately follow.

Because of that, she couldn’t properly savor the deliciously prepared food.

Lucy had become indifferent.

On the other hand, Rubia was diligently continuing to teach her etiquette.

“Excuse me, can’t you just eat comfortably?”

“I’m sorry, but that can’t be done. Since the princess’s admission has been decided, you need to get used to the royal etiquette before then.”

“What..?”

The familiar word lingered in her ears. Admission?

Lucy tilted her head.

“What do you mean?”

“I just got a letter this morning, and it says that Satan is planning to admit Lucy to the Magic Academy.”

“Academy..? Why all of a sudden?”

“They say it’s to improve your sociability?”

Lucy was dumbfounded when she was suddenly notified of her admission.

Even now, she was busy gathering information while pretending to be a princess, and here comes another task.

On top of that, if she enters the academy, her actions will be restricted.

“I have to enroll..”

Lucy swallowed her words in the middle.

There was no reason to withdraw my admission, and I decided that it would be best to follow Satan’s instructions.

On the other hand, I was curious about the Demon Academy.

“When is the admission?”

“There are no details, but judging from how quickly you work, I think it will be soon.”

“So that’s why you gave me etiquette lessons like this. So what’s my schedule for today?”

“It would be a bit much to have a tight schedule from the first day, so I’m only planning on learning basics today.”

“Does that mean you have some free time?”

“Yes, is there anything else you’d like to do?”

“If possible, I’d like to see the city center.”

I took a quick look around the city center last night, but because it was so large, there were many places I couldn’t go to.

And above all, the distance between dawn and morning was different.

For example, I could have seen the daily lives of the residents or the unique culture of this world to my heart’s content.

Fortunately, there were no problems with the schedule, so Rubia nodded readily.

“Then I’ll get separate permission from Lady Arasia.”

“Thank you.”

“However, it will take some time to form the guards, so please wait a moment.”

It seemed that the guards were necessary, but Lucy did not say anything.

Soon, Rubia left the banquet hall, saying, “I will go to Lady Arasia.”

Lucy, who was left alone, finished her meal and got up from her seat.

“Should I look around the castle now?”

She said that it would take time to prepare the guards, and she wanted to take a quick look around Satan Castle, and it was perfect for a walk to help with digestion.

Clank-

She left the banquet hall.

Inside the palace, several nobles were walking the hallways with solemn expressions.

They were nobles who worked in the palace, and when they encountered Lucy, they naturally made way for her and bowed their heads.

Lucy, who did not yet know the code of conduct for the royal family, tried to act blunt and passed them by.

The outside of Satan Castle.

There were five huge buildings outside, protected by a magnificent wall. Of these, Lucy only knew the palace. She planned to visit the other castles while taking a walk.

Lucy first walked to the white building opposite the palace. The square-shaped building was a kind of military facility used by the knights of the palace. In front of the building was a wide lawn, and dozens of knights were practicing their martial arts.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

Was it some kind of military training? They were sweating as they exchanged blows with their wooden swords.

Lucy, curious, walked toward them, and then a gray-haired young man who stood out among the knights began to approach her.

“Are you by any chance Princess Lucy?”

“Yes, but who?”

“Yes! I am the commander of the 3rd Knights, Ableus Leonhardt! It is an honor to meet you, Princess.”

The young man introduced himself loudly and took a knightly stance.

Lucy was inwardly surprised after hearing his introduction. He looked the youngest among the knights, but he was the commander of the knights.

Although the title didn’t match his appearance, it was a pointless thought, because the Demons couldn’t tell his age by his appearance depending on his race.

Lucy, who was convinced, belatedly greeted him.

“I’ll be kind to you, Commander.”

“It’s an honor, but what brings you here?”

Lucy hesitated for a moment. “I was out for a walk after dinner…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say such a lame thing.

“Training, I wanted to see the knights training with my own eyes… right?”

Lucy, who almost spoke informally, belatedly used honorifics. She had just heard from Rubia that it was etiquette to use honorifics with high-ranking nobles.

In the game, they always used informal speech, so it wasn’t easy to adapt to it.

As soon as Ableus heard Lucy’s words about wanting to see the training, he jumped up from his seat.

“I see, then I’ll tell them to bring a chair inside.”

“I’m just going to take a quick look, so that’s not necessary… right?”

“Is that so? Then come this way.”

He then escorted her to a shaded spot, and Lucy watched the knights’ training silently from the side.

The training method was simple.

One side was attacking, the other side was defending, and they were honing their skills by changing roles. Although the impact was not that strong, the eyes of the knights training were burning with enthusiasm.

“They’re working hard.”

“Of course, we are the royal swords, and training every moment is the only way to show our patriotism.”

“Hmm..”

Lucy glanced at Abreus. The thugs last night were weaker than expected, but how would the knight commander be? She was curious.

“Knight Commander.”

“Huh?”

“Is the knight commander strong here in Satan Castle?”

Abreus hesitated for a moment at the sudden question asking about strength, but then calmly answered.

“I think… strong.”

“How many?”

“Um… I think they’re the next strongest after Satan and the great demons.”

“How many great demons are there in total?”

“They’re called the Seven Great Demons, so there are seven of them.”

Satan and after the Seven Great Demons. In other words, in terms of combat power, it is a strength that can be counted on one hand in Satanism.

“Excuse me, I have a favor to ask.”

“Please speak.”

“Skills… Can you use techniques like Slash?”

“Of course.”

“Then can you show me the strongest technique among them?”

“Right now?”

“Yes, please.”

“… Understood, I will gladly show you.”

Currently, where levels cannot be seen, the easiest way to measure strength is to look at skills. This is because the skill tree can be predicted based on the skill impact or added characteristics, and the skill level can be measured through that.

Abreus, who readily accepted Lucy’s request, moved to where the training wooden blocks were installed.

“Then, for your safety, please do not cross this line.”

“Yes, I will.”

After increasing the distance from Lucy, he drew his sword and aimed at the wooden blocks.

There were a total of five wooden blocks stuck in the ground, and the distance from him was about 10 meters, so the sword would not reach.

Abres took a stance, putting strength into the feet that were on the ground in that state.

He turned his body halfway and placed his sword at his waist in a swinging stance.

With a loud shout, he swung his sword.

Shuaak!!

He swung his sword 180 degrees using the strength in his waist.

A whirlwind blew along its trajectory, and with an invisible sword strike, five wooden statues were cut in two at once.

-Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.

Before he knew it, the members of the knights who had gathered around were each applauding.

The technique just now was a warrior-type skill, ‘Whirlwind Slash.’

Lucy, who had raised a battle warrior as a secondary skill, knew about that technique well.

That’s why she sighed inwardly.

‘That’s not how you do it…’