Chapter 3: Tutoring

I took my brush and brushed my hair tightly into a high bun. Every hair was pulled back, giving me a serious appearance. I brushed my skirt down just to be sure that it wasn't wrinkled for today's lessons on etiquette. Now, for the finishing touch. Every teacher's must-have accessory. I slipped on my sleek black glasses just for times like these.

Tutoring was a disaster for me. It always has been with these Ambrose children.

Lady Sarah has always taken the lessons seriously, but there is nothing left to teach her. She is so good at everything, and it's quite annoying.

Then there's Lady Amelia. So happy and upbeat, but completely ignores lessons. It seems like she doesn't even want to be a lady.

I can't give up on them yet. I have to train them to be the best ladies England has ever known, and they will be capable of running their family's company!

One of them will inherit the company, and one of them will get married to the selected man. They don't know about this yet, but one of them will take the company name or the fiancé. Or both. It depends on who pasts the tests.

The public mostly decides who inherits the family company and fortune due to their public popularity. They must please the crowds in order for them to display their favorites. I mostly decide, though. I get to determine which girl is more cut out for taking care of an entire company. They might be good people pleasers, but they need to be responsible as well.

I really don't want to run the family company. I mean, a job to make my family proud sounds nice, but I don't think I can handle that. Responsibility has always been a…well…a bore to me. I can't seem to focus on business, and I don't even want to be a "proper lady", so how would I be able to run an entire business?

I guess it's not up to me. Veronica told me before that even if I don't want to be a lady, it is in my blood, and I can't let my parents down by disappointing them. I see Veronica almost like my mother now that my real mom is gone. Veronica takes care of Sarah and I, so I'm grateful.

Tutoring. My least favorite time of the day. A few good hours of my life wasted on something that I couldn't care less about. I'm hopeless at everything, so why bother showing up? Veronica makes me attend the lessons because it's good for my education, but I really know that she wants me to stay because it's setting a good example for Sarah. I only attend for Sarah. She looks up to me, and it's my job to be a good big sister (even if I am only 10 minutes older than her).

Today's lessons focus on poise and music. 30 minutes practicing good posture, and 2 hours on music.

Finally. Music. Something that I'm actually good at. Veronica says that it's good for us to learn about music because it "enriches your thoughts on culture" or something. I don't care, really. I love music, and I'll use any excuse to play an instrument.

I guess you can say I'm talented with the piano. I love to play, and I think I'm pretty good. Veronica never criticized my playing before, so I think that's a good sign. I can also play the flute. I'm pretty surprised that I can play the flute, but I guess I'm a natural at it. At any rate, I am only good at playing instruments.

I tend to give up on lessons that I don't enjoy. When it seems hopeless or boring, I run to the garden. I don't run all of the time, but I guess it's a habit for me to want some air. Being in the garden reminds me of what my life was like before my parents died. I remember how happy we were back then when everyone was together and happy. Like a real family.

Amelia, be sure to stay by your sister through everything. Aunt Ann once told me. When she said this, she glanced at Aunt Rachel who was watching Cousin Ciel and Sarah try to catch a butterfly. Even if it seems too hard or too impossible, remember that she needs you, and will always stand by you.

I smiled softly. Aunt Ann…she was my favorite person in this world. When she died, I tried not to seem too sad for Sarah's sake, but I felt like I was dying inside. My favorite person was gone, and I didn't say goodbye.

Everything I do is for Sarah. Everything I sacrifice is for Sarah. Everything I commit myself to is for Sarah. But, I don't mind. I want to be there for her. I want her to know that I'm still here to help her and guide her through everything. I don't know why, but she is all I live for. I know she's my sister, but I feel like I need to protect her from any danger. I have a feeling in my heart that we are all that we both have left.

Though I do sometimes get jealous of her perfection, I never show it. She works hard for her talents, and I barely try. I can't be jealous because I don't apply myself like she does. And besides, she has her strengths and I have mine. I don't see why I need to be jealous of her, but sometimes I just want some praise and attention. I get kind of pushed around by Veronica, and Sarah is treated more delicately. I suppose that's because Sarah has been through so much, so Veronica tries to make her feel better.

Maybe…I should try harder. Maybe it's time for me to start trying to be like Sarah. She looks up to me, so now I think it's time for me to look up to her. I won't be able to be treated the way I want to in this society if I don't act like a proper lady. It's been decided. From now on, I am going to give 100% effort.

Tutoring. The time of the day that I almost look forward to. Lessons on how to be treated right by acting as expected. I love to be taught new things because I never knew how much people cared about what it's like to be a lady. People (including Veronica) think it is an essential to act as shown during tutoring. I try to learn as much as I can. I want to be capable of going out into this world and be treated like a lady. I want to be capable of running my family's company, but I doubt that I can.

Amelia would be so much better at running the company than I could ever dream of accomplishing. I am too shy when it comes to people, and I can't make them listen to me. Amelia, on the other hand, is great at social events when it comes to talking to people, adults or children. She can make them listen to her thoughts. It looks like she isn't even trying, but she is exceptionally talented when it comes to people and communication. I wouldn't be able to guide anyone in the right direction if I run the company.

Our family's company is with toys and sweets. Much like Cousin Ciel's company, and it actually branched off of Funtom. The name of our company is just our last name. Ambrose. Our symbol for every tag and wrapper is a distinct, sketched, golden rose. We are quite successful in our company; in fact we are about as successful as Funtom. But the company was on hold for a year after our parents died, and now our Uncle is running the company until Amelia or I are ready.

I'm surprised that Ciel runs the Funtom Company by himself. I told Veronica this, and she said that it was because he a gentleman, and it is his duty to make his family proud at any age. Then she explained to Amelia and I that it is different for us because we are ladies, and there still needs to be a decision on which heir gets the bigger portion of the family fortune. She said that it's decided who gets the fortune when one of us gets a fiancé first, and there is one boy who has to choose between us.

Veronica doesn't know that I am aware of the situation. She has told us little hints on our fate, but nothing too shocking. She just told us about the fiancé, and not really about the company. I know that one of us will get the fiancé or the fortune, or both. It all depends on where we are in the future. I will hopefully inherit the fortune and Amelia will receive the fiancé. Her happiness is very important to me, and I'm not interested in getting engaged to a noble boy quite yet.

His name is Dominic. He comes from a wealthy family, and he was a nice boy from what I remember. Amelia and I haven't seen him since our parents died, but Veronica had told us that he would someday choose one of us to marry him. At the time I couldn't care less on how he saw me because he was just a childhood friend. Even though my future depends on his final decision, I don't really care. I'm not really interested in him. We were great friends and I don't want marriage to ruin that. Besides, I don't like him very much. He was kind of…clingy. It was a little bit annoying, and even though he probably changed over the past few years, I don't want that kind of relationship with him.

All in all, I want Amelia to receive at least one of the two futures. Wealth or love, I want her to be pleased with her future. Of course I want to be happy too, but my sister comes first. I might not show it often, but I love my sister more than anything, and I would lay my life down for her. After all, she deserves to be loved.

Here I go. Into the land of no escape. Into the land of hard work and no mercy. Where you put your sweat and blood into the work with little respect given back. The music room.

A large, white room used for the expression of thought and emotion. A room where you lose yourself in your own passion. A room with a black grand piano near the back window, just sitting there in the sunlight, longing to be played. Various instruments are aligned in many parts of the room, practically screaming for you to come over and play a sweet melody. They are calling to you. You can't turn away.

The walls were made of an elegant color of white marble. The floors were marble as well, but they were shined so thoroughly that you can see your reflection perfectly. At the back wall of the room, an enormous great window was placed, decorated with delicate violet curtains accompanying its sides. The light spilled into the room through the window like heaven's light. The floor sparkled and gleamed as the sunlight danced around it.

I entered the room, inhaling the smell of polished floors and fresh lilacs. I can't help but smile when I come in here. This is where I belong. Right here in the music room. I can finally be myself in here, and I don't have to worry about anything. When I'm in the music room, it's just my thoughts and me. Nothing else. No one else.

I began to play an upbeat melody on the piano. I'm not quite sure what I was playing. I was just seeing where the music took me as I started to drift away into my emotions. I felt joy, happiness, and love. The elements of life that made my life worth living.

My moment alone was interrupted when Sarah and Veronica entered the room together. I quickly stopped playing and removed my hands from the piano as quickly as a person would remove their hand from a hot pan.

I stood up and curtsied to both of them, a sign of a true lady. When I'm in the music room, as long as I can play freely, I don't care how much I don't want to act like a lady. I just want to be myself through my music, no matter how I act. Veronica could tell me to straighten my posture all day, and I wouldn't mind in the least if that meant that I could play the piano.

Sarah accompanied me next to the piano with her polished violin. With a quick smile and nod of her head, I knew exactly what song we should play together. A song that our mother would play with us with our father. A duet.

The song meant something. Today, it means the past. But back then, it meant that exact moment in time. It meant the idea for the present. When they played you could almost feel the hurt that someone feels. Then the hurt goes away when someone dear to you comes into your life and changes your view on love. It makes you feel like you can wait for tomorrow, because right now, you don't want the moment to be over.

My mother and father wrote that song together. The called it Right Now. Because right then, we were together. Right then, we were happy. Right then, nothing could tear us apart.

Playing that song almost brought tears to my eyes. Playing that song with Sarah made me feel at home again. Almost as if Mom and Dad were standing in the doorway watching us play like they always did, smiling and showing their pride in us.

Lessons ended too quickly. Many songs later, we had to experiment with other instruments and practice singing.

To put it plainly, I should just stick to playing the piano and the flute. Nothing more. Trust me.

Sarah, of course, was perfect at everything again. But her singing…I've never heard her sing like that before. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, but to see her show so much emotion in her singing made me feel something. It made me feel the lyrics of the song just like Right Now. I felt the love and desire in her voice, and it sent chills up my spine.

I'm so proud to call Sarah my sister.

I want to be able to make a difference in life. I want to have a purpose that no one can fully explain. I secretly want nothing more than making my parents proud by inheriting the family fortune.

Sarah should be able to win the heart of the fiancé, and I am happy about that. I think that I should receive the fortune while she receives true love. That way we're happy.

Both of us.