The Scholar and The Crown

12

Maude

"Why are you smirking like that, Maude?" Laura asked, looking at me curiously.

I was happily looking at the set of papers on my desk.

"I finally got my revenge," I responded to Laura.

"Revenge?" I heard her stand up from her seat and immediately approach me.

"Oh, the ladies got failing grades on the test earlier, huh?" Laura looked at the papers in front of me. "Heh... did anyone at least pass?" Maisei also approached us.

"There are three, and they're the only ones who are really listening to me," I showed her the papers of the three ladies I was talking about.

"Are you gonna put their real scores on the assessment sheet?" Robert butted in.

"Why not? I shall tell the palace about their full potential," I answered.

"Are you not afraid of what the ladies might do to you?" Mabel asked, concerned.

I sighed. Those ladies excel in Etiquette but not in Royal Duties and History. Yet, these Royal Duties tutors still gave them passing grades to avoid further conflict. But I'm not them. I'm just continuing what Maeve had already done. Apparently, she gave them failing grades these past months too.

"They're the ones making their own grades, not me. I'm just here to teach them and assess their capabilities," I explained. "Plus, lying to the royal family is a grave sin," I smiled at them.

Although I've lied many times already in the face of the prince. Like he'll know it anyway.

Then we got interrupted by three knocks at the door.

"Greetings everyone, the prince is ready for the assessment report," Cedric came through the door and announced it.

It's payback time, ladies.

I was now standing near the door of the tea room, just waiting for Thomas, the last one of the Royal Duties tutors, to report his assessments of his students to the prince. A maid came by earlier and said to standby because the assessment was nearing the end.

I sighed and leaned my body against the wall behind me, holding a bunch of papers in front of me.

"Thank you, your majesty." The door creaked open, and Thomas came out of it. After that, he closed the door and jolted when he saw me.

"Goodness, Maude!" He held his chest.

"Oh, sorry," I said to him, retracting myself from the wall.

"It's alright," he laughed. "You can come in now," he informed me. I bowed to him before going to the door.

I knocked three times before opening and entering the door.

"Greetings, your majesty," I bowed as soon as I saw the prince sitting on one of the couches.

"Take a seat, Lady Maude," Cedric instructed me.

I put down the papers I was holding on the table in the middle before sitting down across from the prince.

"What drink would you like, Lady Maude?" Cedric asked.

I guess it's going to take a while. "A tea would do," I answered and smiled.

Then he called one of the maids on the side with the cart.

"Let's start," the prince ordered. So I reached for the paper on the table and got the assessment paper. "Here's my overall assessment of the ladies for this week," I handed one of the papers to Cedric.

"Only some of the ladies are taking the classes seriously. . ." I started. "Thank you," I said to the maid who had just finished pouring my tea, she smiled in response.

"Only three of them passed?" Cedric uttered and passed the paper to the prince.

"I held the weekly test earlier and only three of them passed. I've brought their test papers to prove it," I now handed Cedric the papers of the ladies.

"Isn't this a good thing?" the Prince uttered, making both Cedric and me pause for a second. "Prince Sylas," Cedric called the prince.

"We can narrow down the selection to three ladies." Huh? It's only History. Other ladies excel in other subjects too. Maybe he didn't really want this selection process, huh?

I proceeded to sip my tea.

Cedric then cleared his throat when the silence started to fill the room. "Tell us more about the ladies," Cedric returned his gaze to me.

"I have nothing further to say about them aside from the fact that they're not really listening in class," I put down my cup on the table.

"You are not lying right now?" the prince seriously looked at me.

"I'm not, your majesty," I answered. "But they seemed to listen when I was in your class the other day," he argued.

Wait, is he protecting the ladies now?

"They only did that because you were there," I leaned back in my seat. "On a normal day, they tend to stare out the window, fantasizing about living in the palace as the queen rather than listening to me," I stated the truth.

"Trust me, they also do that to other tutors," I looked directly at his amber-colored eyes.

"Lady Maude..." I heard Cedric call me.

That made me realize what I had just done again. I bit my tongue before speaking. "... your majesty."

"Lying is a grave sin—"

"I'm only reporting what I've observed. This might shock you because other tutors are sugarcoating their words, making the ladies look like they're doing well. I'm not them," I cut the prince off.

I know I always lie, but accusing me of lying while I'm telling the truth is not cool.

"Ah, you talked back to me again," the prince commented seriously. "Where did you get your confidence in doing that, huh? Your sister doesn't act like that."

Ah, I hear those comparisons again.

I put a smug look on my face. "From you," I responded.

After that, all I knew was Cedric already preventing the prince from getting near me.

"Your Majesty, please calm down," I could almost hear Cedric crying. "Lady Maude, you can go now," he instructed me to leave.

That seemed to help the Prince calm down.

"Then I'll take my leave, your majesty," I bowed my head as I stood up from my seat before leaving the room.

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