Chapter 13: Iro’s First Test
The goodbye from her mother was terse but she would take that over the way she had been ignored since the day she had her hair cut off. Even if things would never be the same between the two of them, Irene was satisfied knowing she was going to be able to do what she wanted in that life.
Irene had finally found a worthy adversary to the intimidation she felt when standing in front of her mother. As Commander Harald Arlin, the Duke of Tenetium, stared down at her from where he sat in his study, Irene felt a chill go down her spine.
In that life, she only had a couple of years of etiquette lessons, but in her mind, she had already passed all the etiquette tests and was well-trained to be a noble lady.
Standing in front of someone so high in title—the highest one below the king, in fact—Irene resisted curtsying. Instead, she placed a fist over her chest and bowed at the waist. All she was doing was emulating her father's actions.
There was silence and she peered up at the Duke who didn't say anything when she started to bow.
To her surprise, the old man's eyes wrinkled as he cracked a smile.
"He even emulates the bow of respect from a knight," the Commander commented. "How overly confident. I wouldn't expect anything less from the Wolf's child."
Sir Arthur smirked, hiding the fact that he realized he should have been more thorough in his teaching Irene how boys were supposed to behave.
"Iro knows what he wants," the proud father responded lightly, still feeling somewhat unfamiliar with that name. "I am just here to make sure he starts off on the right foot."