CHAPTER 9

"Does anyone know why we do not greet others with a kiss anymore?" Vivienne asked, surveying her faux-pupils.

They all were taking notes diligently. Her little trick with the pop quiz and subsequent failing of more than half the class had worked wonders. She didn't know what the selected thought she did with those scores, whether she reported them to somebody or kept them on file, but her vagueness seemed to have inspired fear in most of them. She wasn't sure she wanted to be a leader through fear, but it was better than the alternative.

Vivienne hadn't actually done anything with those tests. She didn't even write down the scores. Some she remembered for being so abysmally bad, Avary with her fourteen percent, and Irina scoring a twenty-seven. (She had actually bumped that up to a sixty-eight, Irina was a little frightening.)

"Yes, Ellis is it?" Vivienne said, gesturing to the newest addition to the selection.

Ellis smiled calmly before answering. "It's unsanitary. Scientists after the third world war traced the deaths of several nobles and low-ranking royalty to diseases spread by those greetings."

"Yes, that is correct," Vivienne said. She knit her brows together for a second, genuinely wondering how she had known the answer to that. Vivienne didn't even know the reason why the customs changed until last night as she tried to finish the presentation for today.

"Some traditional greetings still do still involve air kisses, or kissing the hand, but it is extremely rude for one to actually place their lips on another's face. The most modern forms of greetings are…" Vivienne scanned the room, looking for any raised hand, "Yes, Ellis."

"If it's a familiar, then generally a firm handshake. If you are meeting for the first time, then you both nod your head," Ellis answered promptly, causing a few groans from the peanut gallery in the front of the room. Well, actually, just Charlotte. Lea looked as if she wasn't feeling well, her skin tinged green, and Pamela was writing the information down dutifully.

"Does that apply to everyone?" Jasmine called out from the back of the room.

Vivienne cocked her head to the side, "What do you mean?"

Jasmine sighed, "Like…do we just nod at everyone we pass?"

"No, of course not. There is an element of common sense to it. Please, for further questions raise your hand. Ladies should not call out."

Jasmine made eye contact with a girl sitting a few seats to her left and rolled her eyes. Vivienne shook her head, continuing with the presentation.

"For royal visits the greetings are all the same. Curtsies and titles. The rulers are Your Majesty and everyone else, regardless of rank, is Your Highness."

Desdemona, she had told everyone to call her Mona, but Vivienne wasn't exactly on nickname terms with any of the selected, raised her hand. Vivienne gestured to her, inviting her to speak. "Why is it the same? I know there are other titles."

Vivienne frowned. "Those have become so…diluted over the centuries. The ones left are usually related to the royal family or fraud."

"Fraud?" Desdemona asked.

"Goodness, are they not teaching you history here?" A few girls grumbled at that but Vivienne elected to ignore it. "It has been generations since any actual noble title was handed out, and with those…services where you can, ahem, purchase a few acres of land and a lordship, it has become hard to discern whose titles are real and who's are completely fake."

"Do people use those as a real title? I thought most people sort of knew they were fake, like they were just for fun."

Vivienne shrugged. "For every thousand that do, one might not. There is not much nobility in the world to begin with, you can see how quickly these things spiral. You do have a history teacher, do you not?"

Charlotte, in the front, shifted uncomfortably. "Of course we know history. We're not all that stupid."

Vivienne hummed. "Then I do not understand where these questions come from. They are extremely basic, it's not as if-" Vivienne's phone rang, an embarrassingly bubbly song, cutting off her grandiose speech. She went pink in the face at some of the girls giggles, silencing it.

"We can just move on then." Vivienne amended. Clearly, after the interruption, she was not going to gain any traction with her speech even if she was beginning to wonder if any of these girls had picked up any sort of history book in their lives. Truly, was it so hard to understand the fundamentals of supply and demand. If there was much demand (as in for noble titles) then the supply would increase too, making them all beyond useless.

"Is there any sort of reason why we might not greet a member of a royal family with their title?"

Pamela tentatively raised her hand. "If you have the same title as them. It's pretty simple."

Vivienne arched an eyebrow, "And, Pamela, what type of title would that be? I did not know you were in possession of any."

"I just meant-"

"No. Ellis, do you know?"

"If they had their title or other formalities stripped of them by the current monarch," Ellis answered easily. "In that case, you use basic niceties."

"What are the niceties?" Vivienne asked, not to be mean, genuinely she had nothing against Ellis, who was amounting to be her star pupil. She just wasn't sure what said niceties actually were, and if being sharp about it would get her the answer, she rather that than making a fool out of herself in front of a room of girls who in a few months time at least half would surely be cursing the name of the royal family.

"Miss, Ma'am, Sir. The normal ones for a high- oh! Is that your phone?" Ellis asked, causing Vivienne's cheeks to turn red.

"Bon dieu," she murmured under her breath. Of course. Once was bad enough, but twice? The whole room was in laughter now, watching her.

Normally Vivienne would have ignored it. She was in the middle of something very important. This was a humiliation, and Vivienne hated being humiliated. She would have continued with her lesson, glaring at any girl who dared to say anything, enforcing a dictator-like rule. But the word Papa flashed across the screen, giving her pause. Her father would only keep disturbing her like this if it was something pressing. As much as she might want to put these girls in their places, she would have to delay it.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Once Vivienne was far away from the classroom to guarantee she wouldn't be in earshot, she answered.

"Allô?"

"Vivienne, dear, how are you?"

Vivienne was started for a moment. She had expected something so urgent that there would be no greeting.

"I am fine, Papa. Is everything okay? You called twice. Are there any issues with the budgets I sent you?"

"No, those were good." He paused, his voice becoming much quieter. "Did you happen to read any of the papers this morning?"

"I did not."

"Ah, well, I sent you an article. It has some very interesting photos of your ex-fiancé. I do not know if I'm more surprised that he allowed the photos to be taken or that he didn't stop them from getting published."

Dear God, not this again. Vivienne hated when her father got started on talking about Cadence. She knew there were some issues in Illéa concerning him and his ability to rule. Some people thought his abdication was odd (Vivienne certainly agreed with that), some thought it showed he wouldn't be a good king. She knew that Cadence took it very personally. Vivienne wasn't sure where exactly she fell on the spectrum concerning Cadence.

That wasn't why Papa disliked him though. Truly, Vivienne didn't think he had anything against Cade, at least in a purely capabilities-driven view. In all her life, Vivienne had never heard any negative comment directed towards his abilities at running a country. No, Papa hated him because of how the boy treated his precious daughter.

Vivienne had given him a highly sanitized and extremely modified version of the circumstances that led to her engagement with Cadence being called off, and she supposed that no one had bothered to tell him the actual story. Vivienne would never, Andrew probably thought it was embarrassing, and everyone else who knew the full picture was dead so…

"Oh, well, I am sure they are not that bad," Vivienne hedged.

Her father wasn't listening to her though. "The young woman in the photographs, she is a part of this selection, no?"

"Yes. She is." Vivienne just assumed on that one. Who else would Cadence be out with? Vivienne didn't think he'd ever had a romantic relationship in his life, aside from their very arranged one.

"Maybe someone should inform her about what…well, I suppose he is older now."

"Yes," Vivienne answered, knowing and hating where he was going with this.

"If you want to come home, Vivienne, I could arrange something. I know we agreed you would stay for the course of his selection, but it must be hard to see the boy with those women, as if he didn't treat you like a commodity."

Okay, well, that part was not entirely false. Vivienne had told her father that Cadence had neglected her thoroughly during their engagement. Which, to be fair, he did, and Vivienne was sure that Cadence was aware of it. That might not have been the reason why the engagement was called off, that blame might lie squarely more on Vivienne, but she did not want her father to know about that.

Besides, it wasn't as if it was a lie. Mostly.

"No, Papa, it is fine. I am fine here," Vivienne answered truthfully. It wasn't like seeing Cadence date anyone was hard for her, it wasn't as if she ever had any sort of warm feelings for him in the first place.

"If you say so," he paused. "How is it going with Andrew?"

If talking about her quasi-ex with her father was embarrassing, this conversation was sure to be mortifying.

"It is going fine. I do not know what you mean," Vivienne murmured.

"Has he…do you think he wants to be King of Illéa?"

Vivienne thought back on to their conversation a few days ago. "Absolutely not."

"Good," he sounded satisfied. "It's better that way. If he doesn't want the crown in the first place, he'll be much more willing to give it up. Sometimes, I think that Cadence is fighting a losing battle over there. Maybe he should have married you when he had the chance instead of worrying about how to become the heir again."

Vivienne didn't like when her father talked like that. As if the throne going to Andrew was inevitable. Whether or not he was correct in that assumption was a different story. He had given her a very clear message before she left;

"Illéa will not allow Cadence to be king. They will find a way sooner or later. For his sake and your's, pray that it's sooner."

Vivienne didn't know if the fact that this was a completely personal vindication helped or not. Papa did not believe that Cadence, a boy who in his eyes scorned his daughter, unappreciated her, was capable of sustaining himself long enough to be crowned. It truly had nothing to do with Cadence's abilities to rule the country, the King of France just happened to think he was a social failure.

"Papa," Vivienne said urgently, "I do not think Cadence and I ever would have married."

He wasn't listening though. "I suppose the council will find a reason to dethrone him sooner or later. Do not get in their way Vivienne. We cannot afford to make an enemy of Illéa."

"I do not think that is how it works."

"Talk to the selected. Surely some must have a disastrous secret or another. If the boy marries one of them, it will be far easier for the council to get him off the throne. It seems only fair. One ruined engagement for another."

"I do not want to ruin Cadence's engagement," Vivienne added softly. She didn't even think her father heard her words. It didn't matter. Her father knew best, and she would not get anywhere as the future Queen by stepping on his toes and second guessing his decisions. She was inexperienced, the last thing she should do would be to intentionally not follow instructions.

"Vivienne, dearest, you are doing him a favor. It's better for him if the problem is his wife's rather than his own. Lord knows he has plenty of them, this is the easiest way for everyone."

"I think-"

"It is not as if it is permanent Vivienne. It will only be a few months at most. A few months of his time wasted, like he wasted your's. He's not stupid, he'll break off the engagement or file for divorce if it's between his birthright or a girl he met a few months ago."

That did help to quell Vivienne's conscience a bit.

"What if it is not only a few months? What if Andrew does not abdicate?"

"He will. I see him, that boy is so in love with you that he would give up a country for you."

That was the only issue with Papa's grand plan. Vivienne herself wasn't sure that Andrew would desert a country he was made king of for her. He loved her, he had said that plenty of times. Vivienne didn't doubt that, but she knew he also had a sense of duty. He was loyal to a fault, and he might not like Illéa, but if a country was placed in his hands, Vivienne wasn't sure that he had it in him to give it up. She didn't think Andrew had ever quit anything in his life, would he really start with kingship?

She would say that, she should say that, but she couldn't. She couldn't admit to her father that she wasn't positive just how deep his love for her ran. It was something that Vivienne herself didn't even like to think about because then she would be confronted with the harsh reality that she might leave the Illéan palace without her diamond ring.

Papa was sure that Andrew adored her more than anything else. Vivienne didn't want to disrupt that fantasy of his; that at least one of his children would get to marry for love when so many others didn't.

It was love. Vivienne loved him, and he loved her. She knew that. Vivienne just didn't know if that love was enough.

"I will speak to him," Vivienne amended. She couldn't disappoint him. "The selected too. I will see what I can do."

"Thank you, please try to stay on the council's good side." Vivienne knew what he meant by that. They already disliked her for taking away their preferred ruler. She was sure if there was some unfortunate accident or a romantic tryst that ended her and Andrew's relationship, no one would be too upset about it.

"I will."

"Marcel and Gabriel miss you. Marcel wanted to send you some of the oranges from the tree he planted, darn thing finally blossomed, but I told him they would rot."

"I miss them too."

"Try to call them in the next few days," Papa said.

"I will."

"Good. I will talk to you soon, Vivienne. Oh, and if you see Albert can you have him tell our diplomat to send over the notes for the last few international conferences."

"Sure, I will. I will take care of it Papa."

Alright. She had a task. She could do this. Find an unsuitable girl, that couldn't be too difficult all things considered. Vivienne doubted that some of these girls even knew how diseases spread.

But, the way Vivienne was acting, no one would open up to her. If she demanded perfection then they would all try to deliver that, so perhaps, she needed a new tactic, one that would open up more discussions.

"You can all put your notebooks away." Vivienne announced when she opened the door. "I think we should do something more fun for the rest of the day, it is so nice out."

A few of the girls exchanged wary looks but they all complied.

"Do you think that was her therapist on the phone?" Charlotte whispered to Pamela, not quietly enough though.

Maybe Vivienne should add that to her list. An inability for discretion and proper whispering. Surely that would make for a humiliation of a Queen.

For now, Vivienne pretended as she hadn't heard. "Does anyone have a game they would like to play? I am open to suggestions."

Catalina tentatively raised her hand, "Red light, green light?"

Vivienne didn't know what that was. She didn't care either. "Sure."

So she spent the rest of the morning piping in fake laughs with a faux-smile on her face. She didn't even say anything when Irina used her thumb to erase something from the board or when Blythe sat and watched from the sidelines. These girls were, well, they were easy to talk to. And by that, Vivienne meant they were easy to extract information from. Mostly.

"You are eighteen, correct?" Vivienne asked Nora Louise who had volunteered to be her partner for whichever silly game they were playing now.

"Yup!"

"Oh. Is that not a little young to be married?" Vivienne asked, although she knew she didn't have much of a moral high ground at twenty-two.

Nora Louise shrugged. "Maybe, but maybe not. You never know."

"That is very optimistic," Vivienne commented.

Nora Louise laughed. "I don't think so, I think I'm being realistic if anything. Besides," she sighed in delight, "who wouldn't want to be in the palace, even if only for a few months?"

Vivienne shook her head lightly at the girl's words. Well, she didn't need to ruin her fantasy. Nora Louise was sweet. She would be just fine.

"Do you cook much at home?" Vivienne moved on to Jasmine, who she recalled was a chef. Jasmine was standing across from her and Nora Louise.

"Sure do. Every meal."

"Are you missing it here?"

"Yeah. It's weird having someone else make the food," Jasmine shuddered. "It's freaky to not know exactly what's in it."

Huh. Vivienne had never considered that before. It would be so easy for her to be poisoned. Well, she supposed Jasmine was owed a thank you for that delightful imagery, but it was nothing warranting a scandal yet.

Fine. So her work (and her conscience) wouldn't be settled in two hours.

A/N: Hello everyone I am alive, very well tanned, and had a phenomenal time at camp thank you very much for asking. But, I am so excited to get back in to this story. I have the next chapter written so maybe an update within the next few days? Hopefully? I missed this so much though, so yeah. I know this chapter is a little less focused on the selected, which believe me, I'm actually a little sad about too bc I wrote this like a month ago but it's okay. I promise there is lots of romance coming up.