Katarina Claes found herself enjoying a quiet tea party with Miss Maria Campbell, which quite surprised her as she never thought she'd ever use the words 'tea party' 'enjoying' and 'Maria Campbell' in the same sentence.
Of course while this occurrence may be strange, it wasn't quite enough to warrant the strange unsettling feeling she had in her gut. She subtly glanced at Maria in an attempt to figure out what had riled her up so, when she noticed that she had put her teacup down and it had hit her.
She hadn't made any noise when she set down her cup. Now that may not seem strange in any other instance as striving to be as quiet as possible was simply etiquette, one must also remember that Maria Campbell was a commoner who should barely know anything about etiquette.
It wasn't just the way she set down her teacup either, every single action she took seemed to be polished to perfection, as if she had grown up learning etiquette. In fact Katarina could vouch that she was better than some nobles she could name.
All of this begs the question: Where did Maria Campbell learn proper etiquette? And why was she so different from Katarina's own version? Of course all of these questions would not be answered simply by staring her down so Katarina made the logical decision to, instead, simply ask.
"Miss Campbell."
"Yes Lady Claes?" Maria questioned, politely smiling at her.
"It has come to my attention that you are quite different from the Miss Campbell that I was originally acquainted with."
"Oh? Is that so?" Maria replied, interest now visible on her face.
"Indeed. And it has led me to wonder why such changes exist."
"Might I ask what those changes are? Perhaps I could shed light on the reason why."
"Yes you may. If I am to be honest listing them all would take too much time, however the one that has caught my eye at this very moment are your table manners."
"My table manners?" Maria queried, worry etched onto her face, "My apologies Lady Claes, is there something wrong with how I've conducted myself?"
"No, not at all!" Katarina assured her, "In fact that's exactly what's bothering me!"
A confused frown worked its way onto Maria's face.
"Pardon?"
"You are a commoner correct?"
"Indeed."
"And might it be correct to assume that you had no prior etiquette training when you enrolled into this school?"
"It would."
"And therein lies the issue," Katarina proclaimed, "How is it that you, a commoner with no prior tutelage, have perfect manners whereas your counterpart bumbled about like a dog chasing its tail? No offence intended."
"None taken," Maria assuaged her, "I think I know what caused this particular change."
"Is that so? Please then, do tell."
"Do you really not know?" Maria inquired, a tender smile gracing her lips, "It was you."
"Me?!"
"Yes. Or, well, more accurately our you. This world's Katarina."
"Ah, of course." Katarina conceded, understanding dawning on her face, "Everything seems to lead back to her one way or another."
"Indeed." Maria agreed.
"Right. Well then, would you be so kind as to tell me more?"
"Of course. You see, as you no doubt know by now, Lady Katarina, our Katarina, has changed all of our lives for the better. For me Lady Katarina was, is, my saviour. As you probably know I've been bullied quite a bit for being a commoner born with magic."
"Indeed." Katarina confirmed, feeling somewhat guilty about her part in the bullying her world's Maria suffered.
"Well whenever I found myself the victim of an accosting Lady Katarina came to my rescue. Of course if it were just that I don't think I would have changed so drastically, however that is not all that Lady Katarina has done for me."
"Do tell."
"Lady Katarina took me in, she gave me friends and a place to belong. Things that I had never had the luxury of experiencing before."
"Really?!" Katarina wondered aloud, unable to keep the surprise from her voice, "You are a lovely and charming young woman. I find it simply hard to believe that you did not have people falling over themselves to win your favor."
"Oh, er, thanks." Maria thanked her, a light blush dusting her cheeks, "But it's true. As I'm sure you know magic is something that is used almost exclusively by nobles. That's why when I showed that I could use magic a rumor that my mother had committed infidelity sprouted."
"Tell me, Miss Maria, do you believe them? The rumors that your mother was unfaithful?"
"No." Maria affirmed, " I know my mother would never have cheated on my father like that."
"Good. Then that is all that matters. Believe in yourself, and not an uninformed naysayer. You should know as well as I do that, though rare, mages of commoner origin do exist."
"Thank you," Maria smiled at her, "You know Lady Katarina also said something quite similar. You two really are more alike than you give yourself credit for. Though she did mention something about jay-net-ics that I didn't quite understand."
"I- Thank you."
"You're welcome. But as I was saying, though I didn't believe in them, the rumors caused everyone in the village to shun me and my mother. We became outcasts and people would often only talk to us to insult us. It got to be too much for my mother and she ended up distancing herself from the world."
"You have my sympathies."
"Thank you. You don't need to worry though," Maria reassured her, "Lady Katarina saved me, gave me friends, a place to belong, and she even repaired my relationship with my mother when she visited my house during the summer. I don't think I'll ever be able to pay her back for all she's done for me."
"Indeed. That was truly a very moving tale. However, might I ask what exactly it has to do with your manners?"
"Huh? Oh! Right! Well, at this point it's not exactly a secret that I am in love with Lady Katarina. In fact I believe that everyone except Lady Katarina is aware of it. However Lady Katarina is a duke's daughter, however strange she may be. Thus, even on the slightest off chance that I ever manage to win her heart, I want to be able to stand proudly beside her. That's why I threw myself into studying the proper etiquette necessary to do so."
"I see," Katarina gave a thoughtful hum, "And this likely applies to the other changes as well? Such as why your sweets are superior even to those served in the royal palace? Sweets that were made by some of the most famous pastry chefs in the country with decades of experience?"
Maria gave her a sly grin before answering, "Well, when you have seven other people to compete with, apologies, eight other people to compete with when vying for affection you have to use every advantage at your disposal. Mine just so happens to be my sweets, and as you and Lady Katarina share a palate you're the perfect person to test them on."
Katarina froze in the middle of raising another sweet to her mouth as she processed Maria's words. Then it sunk in, she had been outsmarted! Even if she refused to give her thoughts about the sweets now Maria still knew which ones she favored from how many she ate of which kind. It seems as though knowledge of etiquette wasn't the only way in which this Maria differed from hers.
"Well played Miss Campbell. Well played."