How many cups of tea had she swallowed by now?
At least twenty-five, she guessed.
Her hand moved mechanically, lifting the teacup and bringing the tea to her lips, but her mind was growing increasingly hazy.
Might as well have whipped her instead.
Was aristocratic etiquette education really always like this?
It was terrifying.
Could it be that Moliyaer was trying to make her understand just how hard things were for her through this?
【I must be crazy. With such a rotten personality, no wonder I’m treated like a dog.】
Her terrible empathy skills were nothing short of humiliating.
She couldn’t help but recall how, back then, to prevent the side effects of healing magic from interfering in battle, she would occasionally self-harm to train her pain tolerance and master her healing abilities.
The team needed a priest’s holy dispel and antidote skills, so she immersed herself in the library, humbly consulting with clerics, even going so far as to intentionally contact undead creatures and curses, ingesting large amounts of poisons to boost her resistance—all so she could substitute for the priest with her healing spells’ transfer effects.
Moreover, she took on all the miscellaneous chores for the team.
Yet all these efforts were taken for granted by Moliyaer and the others, who simply ignored them.
Ugh, this feeling was unbearable.
The weight of these memories pulled Fulo back from the fog induced by her repetitive tea drinking.
She turned her gaze to the maid who had been staring at her for the past hour without looking away.
Fulo was certain this excellent servant understood the meaning behind her eyes.
Enough already, if I drink any more, I’ll lose it.
“It seems Miss Fulo has finally understood the importance of tea etiquette?”
“You’re such a scheming villain…”
At last, she understood why maids usually wore blank expressions; whenever they smiled, it meant trouble.
But Lin Ke paid no mind to her remark.
“It’s only a small warning. We’re looking out for Miss Fulo’s best interests. Etiquette is an indispensable basic skill for nobles. Without it, you’ll face plenty of trouble in the future.”
With the mind-controlling magic lifted, Lin Ke didn’t insist on more etiquette lessons.
Instead, she called over the other maids, helped Fulo to her feet, and led her on a walk around the room—an essential form of exercise.
“Nobles… what’s noble about it? To them, I’m just a dog. Teaching me etiquette only turns me into a pampered lapdog. What’s the point of learning it?”
Fulo put on a pouty face, watching closely for Lin Ke’s reaction to her words.
“If thinking of yourself as a lapdog helps you cooperate with our lessons, then you may as well do that.”
“?”
Is that even human speech?!
She stared at Lin Ke in disbelief, but the maid only smiled serenely.
“I’m not a dog, and I have no intention of seeing myself as some lapdog. Honestly, I’m not even a woman—I’m just a prisoner of theirs…”
Fulo’s frustration exploded into nonsense.
She had been planning to say something sharp to gauge Lin Ke’s reaction, but the young maid’s seasoned demeanor was unaffected by any of her ramblings.
What was she supposed to do?
She genuinely felt that staying too long with this maid would mold her into the shape Moliyaer and the others wanted.
She needed to find a way to get rid of her—with the tools a caged bird had at its disposal.
But very soon, she paid the price for her words.
The maid, who had seemed like a wooden statue just moments ago, parted her lips slightly, an expression of sudden realization crossing her face.
“No wonder…”
“No wonder what?”
Fulo felt a surge of anxiety.
The maids accompanying her had stopped walking as if some unspoken rule had been triggered, and a subtle tension hung in the air.
Lin Ke lowered her eyes, seeming to hesitate before turning her back.
Fulo saw that she was making a communication—most likely reporting to Moliyaer.
【Confirming that I was originally male, to decide on new training methods?】
That was the only conclusion Fulo could reach.
Soon, the maid ended the communication and faced her again.
The wooden detachment was gone, replaced by sympathy, helplessness, and a firm resolve.
It was all very strange.
“Miss Fulo, we once had the honor of educating a young count from a noble family. At that time, he claimed to have mental abnormalities—he could even imitate a dog barking and crawling on the ground.”
“?”
What did that mean?
Fulo cautiously glanced at the other maids surrounding her.
They all watched her expressionlessly, seemingly waiting for something.
Were they really planning to train her like a dog?
“But even a dog must learn to eat from its dog bowl and not climb onto the dining table.
Such behavior, which damages the dignity of nobility, is utterly detestable.
We spent three days turning him into a well-mannered young lord.
So, I can say with confidence that we have plenty of experience.”
“Ahaha… That kind of experience doesn’t need to be told to me.”
Fulo swallowed hard as the situation took a direction she hadn’t expected.
Yet according to Moliyaer’s declaration, if they really wanted to humiliate her, they wouldn’t go to such lengths.
“Everything must be done step by step. We originally thought Miss Fulo was simply resisting etiquette education, but now it seems the problem runs much deeper.”
Lin Ke’s face was grave.
“If Miss Fulo can’t correctly recognize that she’s a girl, no matter how hard we try, etiquette education will be futile.”
Fulo listened to Lin Ke’s words in full.
When she grasped their meaning, the maids grabbed her arms and legs and lifted her off the ground.
“No, that’s not what I mean!”
Terrified, she struggled, but as a healer freshly revived with poor stats and condition, she was powerless against five maids working together.
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of experience.”
Lin Ke looked at her with pity, reiterated her professional credentials, then smiled gently and elegantly.
“Wait, I’m a woman! Isn’t that enough? You’re not going to do me, are you?”
Fulo’s desperate pleas fell on deaf ears as they carried her into the bathroom.
In her despairing cries, they swiftly stripped off her clothes.
“It’s okay if you’re not born noble. The lady has given you the chance to become one, and you should gratefully accept it.
But if you can’t even distinguish your own gender, that’s a major problem, second only to heresy.
This might seem harsh, but it’s the most effective way.
Please don’t cover your face.
You should be familiar with your own body.
“What we’re doing is simply letting you appreciate your delicate form.”
Watching the girl slump to the floor, hands awkwardly covering her chest and lower body, biting her lip, Lin Ke calmly instructed the maids to set her before the mirror.
As soon as Lin Ke finished speaking, the maids forcibly removed Fulo’s hands from her face, making her stand straight before the mirror.
Even if she wanted to close her eyes, magic forced them open.
An overwhelming sense of humiliation flooded Fulo—her dignity and identity utterly disregarded and trampled on in public.
She wasn’t someone who could suppress her feelings easily, nor did she possess any particularly open-minded philosophy.
Her virgin complex and the dignity she cherished so deeply would not allow her to accept what was happening calmly.
The other four maids stood on either side of her, while only Lin Ke remained behind, gently embracing her.
Not with much force, but enough to make Fulo feel an indescribable suffocation.
Her left arm circled to the front, her forearm just supporting the soft mounds, while her right hand gently held Fulo’s chin, forcing her to look forward.
“Look at this beautiful body. Among all the noble ladies I’ve served, you’re one of the most charming and beautiful.
Even delicate princesses or daughters of duchesses like the lady pale in comparison to you.
That’s probably one of the reasons the lady gave you the chance to become noble. You have no reason to feel ashamed of yourself.”
“I’m not ashamed, I…”
Her voice grew hoarse and choked.
Humans have an instinctive shame when naked in front of strangers, and Fulo’s feelings were magnified infinitely.
“Hm, I know. I just want to tell you that you’re a truly beautiful girl. Believe what your eyes see. To fully express your beauty, your posture, movements, and behavior—we can help you correct all of it. So you can trust us enough.”
Lin Ke’s even, gentle voice carried an almost hypnotic effect, echoing softly in Fulo’s ears.
No matter how soothing the words, Fulo felt forced to admit the strangest thing: “I’m not a man.”
What made her even more uncomfortable was how deliberately the maid repeated the phrase:
“This is for your own good.”
These words, indistinguishable from the attitudes of her backstabbing parents and Moliyaer, shattered the fragile psychological defense Fulo had just built.
Why did these people all feel entitled to say such things to her—and force her to do things she didn’t want to do?