Street Mouse [Yandere Archduke x Female Reader]

10. Tutoring.

Y/N kicked her legs back and forth impatiently as Tola finished brushing though her H/C locks. Tola had told her yesterday that she was to have lessons from the Archduke starting tomorrow, and she was very nervous.

Even though he had never done anything to harm her, Y/N remembered vividly how ambiguous his expression had been the one time she saw him, and she felt that he was not a man that she would ever want to cross. It did not help that Tola seemed to be even more anxious then Y/N was. She took out her pent up worry by abusing the bread dough she was kneading as though going to war.

"Whatever that bread did to you I'm sure it's sorry," Y/N said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Never ya mind 'bout me," Tola said, continuing her merciless assault on the dough. "Ye just worry about yar self."

"But I don't know the first thing about talking to an Archduke," Y/N stated, as she felt her nerves returning. "What if I mess up and-and he sends me away?"

Tola stopped her baking, and came over to where Y/N was sitting on the kitchen stool. Getting down on her knees so that she could look the little girl in the eyes, she reached out her flour-covered hand and held Y/N's gently.

"Oi, don' ya be worryin' yar pretty head about it littlen," Tola reassured the girl firmly. "Yar a joy to be 'round, and the Archduke is a very calm man, in all the years ay've known him he has not lost his temper once. Ya jus' gotta remember to bow when he speaks to ya, and to call him Yar Grace."

"But, this is all so much, what if I forget something," Y/N asked, still worried.

Tola gave the girl a small smile as she answered, "don' fuss, I remember that the Archduke himself had trouble keeping it all straight when he was young. Now go on, get. The last thing ya want is to be late."

"But I don't know how to get to the library," Y/N protested, trying to find any reason not to go.

"Ya can' miss it," Tola chided, as she returned to her cooking. "Jus' go down this hall, then up the stairs and out of the servants quarters. Go straight down the hall until you come to a large set of doors; that's the library."

. . .

Y/N felt her legs shaking as she stood at the base of the stairs that led up to the main part of the house. She hadn't been up there since she tried to run away from Tola on her first day there.

She scurried up the stairs not wanting to be late. Once she reached the top step, and looked out into the hallway, she stopped abruptly. It was beautiful. The dark wooden floors contrasting with the light paneled walls, that held fancy candle sconces every few paces. A thin, rich blue rug ran the length of the hallway, and felt incredibly soft beneath her bare feet. As much as the girl would like to admire the lovely decor, she was now most certainly running late, and hastened to make up for the lost time.

Y/N hesitated as she reached the large double doors that stood at the end of the hall, and opened into the library. Her legs were shaking and her heart was pounding nervously. Taking a deep breath, Y/N pushed one of the great doors open and slipped inside. She was so shocked by the room that she forgot to be nervous.

The library was three stories tall, with no separate levels, but instead balconies on the second and third floors that clung to the cylindrical walls like shelf mushrooms. The half of the library that faced the outside was lined with bright windows, and tall, three-story bookshelves lined the other sides of the room.

In the center was a collection of reading tables. Looking up Y/N couldn't help but gasp as she saw that high above her, instead of a normal ceiling, there was a large glass dome that allowed even more light to luminate the great room.