Cécilia had to blink a few times as she woke the next day, her body perfectly still in that engraved manner that she had been trained to take when she found herself in an unfamiliar setting so that she could get her bearings straight. 

Noting the white ceiling and the sound of a few birds chirping outside the glass window, the light grey curtains fluttered with the cold breeze from outside as she had opened the window the night before she went to bed, the blue-eyed girl turned her head to look around the room lazily. 

With the northern winds coming from outside blowing in the room, she didn't mind the chill in the slightest as she rather liked colder weather compared to the heat of the capital down south. 

Sitting up, her dark curls which were spread over her pillow followed and fell just above her waist in length loosely, though she always kept it pinned up unless she was sleeping. 

The sun hadn't even come up yet, though a white light was just barely visible over the horizon, showing that sunrise was imminent. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed and placing her feet down on the floor she wondered if she should train herself first before heading in to see the prince for his lessons. 

Becoming a teacher was a strange thing for her to be certain, as she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to be teaching exactly at first, given her skill set. 

She was learned, of course, as being a Klaus meant she dealt with a bit of undercover work, hence her having to hold a wider skill set comprising of languages, music and finer etiquette to list the basics, but the way she learned them most certainly couldn't be employed to teach such a sickly prince like her new student. 

To be honest, she was rather fearful of being around someone so fragile in constitution. What if she broke him accidentally?

Perhaps she would be executed for it, though. That might not be bad.

There was a basin of cool water on the dresser which she used to wash her face and then brush her hair back and tie it back with a braided band before dressing herself.

Leaving her room quietly, it seemed that no one was up yet, so she decided to lay the land and become familiar with the palace, if it could be called that.

Roaming in the hall's shadows like a ghost forever bound to the cold and depressing place, Cécilia could feel a concerned 'hm' sound building as her brows furrowed.

Although it was commonly known as the Red Palace, it was more a dark grey and gloomy colour in its overall atmosphere but the name came about since its rooms mostly took on a red decor with its curtains, carpets and furniture.

Still, it was quite lacking for a palace and though it looked clean, it obviously was done rushed and uncaringly as she ran a finger underneath a painting's frame and it came back dusty.

There were no fires lit either despite the frigid air of the north, which would make a healthy person ill at some point, let alone a person as sickly as the prince. The girl did not wonder why his sickly attacks were so random, he must be falling ill partially due to it.

The only places the servants kept warm was the servant's wing and quarters, showing the severe neglect and uncaring they held for their lord. 

This was something she noted as she watched the servants rise and start their day from her vantage point, hidden in the darkness of corners while aided by the dark colours and folds of her dress.

Having sufficiently taken in the living situation she was now in, Cécilia faded away into the background and returned into the hallway so that one of the maids could 'find' her.

"Ah! Miss Klaus!" A meek-looking blonde maid startled upon bumping into her. "You weren't in your room when I brought you breakfast. I was started to get worried."

"It's alright. I don't normally take breakfast, to begin with." Cécilia tried her hand at smiling kindly, which seemed to work and put the maid at ease. 

"Don't you get hungry before noon?" This seemed to puzzle the blonde, who was about the same age or a few years older than her. 

"Not really."

"You don't talk much, do you." The girl laughed amicably. "That's shouldn't be a problem around these parts. Most of us servants are depressed or eccentric from being out here, all isolated from the rest of the world. It really doesn't seem like we're still only in the central province, huh?"

"Hm."

The blonde laughed again, not bothered in the slightest by the one-sidedness the conversation was heading towards. "I should probably bring you to the prince, now. I guess you'd like to start with morning lessons."

With the maid guiding Cécilia down the halls to the east wing, which was much colder and darker than the one they were just in, the fact noted upon again with a frown, she continued her chatter, probably glad to talk to anyone new.

"I heard you met the young lord when you arrived, but I'm not sure how much you were told about the fifth prince otherwise, although it'd be pretty hard to miss the rumours around him."

This was true. Of all the five princes born to the Granzreich dynasty, the youngest ten-year-old royal was the one everyone knew as sickly and all-around useless with the Emperor's, his own father's, clear dislike of, hence his living separate and alone.

His older brothers were all either military geniuses, like the crown prince Cécilia's older brother served or were already governing provinces away from the capital. The youngest, Livius von Granzreich, was a mere recluse with some mysterious ailment that kept him bed-ridden most the time.

This was the prince Cécilia was now responsible for teaching. 

"Well, here we are." The blonde gave a swooping arm motion to a door just in front of her. "The prince should be up around this time."

"Should be? Don't you know when he gets up and ready?"

The maid shrugged. "We'll go in when we're rung for. Otherwise..." She leaned in as if she was about to say something that was on a need-to-know basis only. "We were instructed that the lord's existence wasn't to be acknowledged."

Although the former Talon of the Empire wasn't one to show surprise, Cécilia did allow an appalled expression show on her face.

"I know, I know! But I've been here all of six months and this was the first and most spoken rule we were taught. It comes from a power higher than the head maid." She pointed a finger to the sky.

"Does he get three meals?"

"Only the head-butler goes in with a meal tray three times a day, sometimes only twice, but he isn't starving from what I've gathered." She nodded in answer. "He should have received his breakfast already."

"Alright then. I can manage from here."

As the blonde waved goodbye, Cécilia struggled to come to terms with this new information. While the neglect was one thing, it was the fact that the boy was clearly sick atop of it and yet the only attention he received was being brought meals and medicine, she supposed, if he rang for it.

There didn't seem much of a point in wondering if he had other teachers before her. Though he was clearly literate as she was introduced to him reading a heavy book of some sort, but whether the Emperor cared enough to send instructors was something she had doubts in given what she had just heard.

Could he be self-taught?

Knocking thrice on the door, a small 'come in,' was heard before she let herself in and was greeted by the sight of the ten-year-old royal still in bed, though sitting up with another book in hand.

Perhaps he liked to read? Or was that all he could do being bed-ridden?

"Good morning, your Highness." Cécilia curtsied in respect as she came to the side of the bed. 

Though she had already met him and explained what role she would be having in his life now, the boy still seemed surprised by her mere entry. While she was first concerned there something wrong with her greeting, she now learnt that she was probably one of the first people to even acknowledge the boy's assistance instead of just working around him and delivering trays and medications without words.

"G━good morning... teacher." The boy smiled shyly, as if testing out the word before deciding he liked it.

Cécilia found herself smiling softly back before nodding to an armchair in asking if she could sit down. The prince seemed confused for a moment before blushing and telling her to 'please sit.'

"Please, do have a seat." Cécilia corrected. "Repeat."

"Oh, uh...please, do have a seat, teacher." The boy took his first lesson on etiquette with a sort of determined look scrunched on his face.

Etiquette lessons? None. Stormy blue-eyes glanced over the book title he had set down on open over his lap. It was a history book so she surmised that he would have learnt at least some basics on that subject through self-learning.

Further scanning of the room she had taken upon entrance, showed no instruments, so she would have to look into teaching him music as a subject and though there were two crossed rapiers on the wall, they were much too high for a child as short as he to reach, so she'd teach him to use those as well.

The only evidence of any education were the books living the shelves in no short supply. She would scan the titles again to see what else she could teach.

Settling into the red cushioned armchair, Cécilia folded her hands together. "My prince, I'd like to discuss how and what I'm going to teach you now."

"Of━of course. A-hem. Please, do speak, teacher."

A quick study, it seemed. Good.

"I'd like to know what you have learnt before so I can build off of that."

"I've, um, learned to read from one of the maids before she was kicked out for speaking to me." A flash of concern ran through his golden eyes. "Are you going to be kicked out for teaching me new things as well?"

Cécilia shook her head. "I was sent here to teach you new things. I can teach you whatever you'd like after you gain a strong foundation in the main subjects."

"Oh, good. Teacher, what are the main subjects?"

"Reading, writing, arithmetic, science and geography. Subjects like that."

"Oh..." The prince seemed a bit dejected. "I can only really read. I tried writing a little but it doesn't look very good. I have some books on science and geography though, so I know what those are!"

Cécilia nodded seriously, taking down mental notes as they conversed. "What about the maths? Have you learned or read anything about arithmetic?"

The ten-year-old shook his head, seeming a bit lost at the concept of what arithmetic or maths even were.

Alright then, they would start with learning penmanship and math first along with some etiquette as they went. There was a lot to teach but the boy seemed to have some motivation yet and had signs of being a quick learner. 

Just how much exactly he had gleaned from his years of reading books, was something she would have to see.

。。。。