158 We are special? (2/2)

”You..”

”Must be because the topic is of interest to him.”, Ivan started to tease Serge as well since it was a rare opportunity.

”Do the two of you have any idea how interesting the human body and its recovery from stress and exhaustion is?”, the fact that he continued talking only underlined Ivan's point.

He then continued on with his statements on how interesting the human body is and why it was so interesting to research it. When he drifted off into complex medical areas only Ivan was barely able to follow him since he had to learn a lot of it for pill refining.

”Alright, alright. That's enough.”, Greg stopped his stream of words which was kind of ironic since he was the one who usually had to be stopped.

”So you now understand?”, Serge asked him.

”Sure. The human body is ultra interesting and I now have to study its recovery during bathing and eating.”, Greg cleverly gave an excuse before speeding off into the distance.

”I'll do the same.”, Irena too excused herself and hurriedly fled, leaving only Serge and Ivan behind.

”I'll conduct some experiments as well.”, Ivan too gave an excuse and hurriedly left. Luckily it seemed like Serge had used up his daily contingent of words and didn't try to stop him.

*Wow. Usually, he is so quiet but once he starts talking...*, he thought while going towards the subway, to take it home. *Maybe I could ask Celine to give me a massage? Irena said that it could help.*, he thought back to the skill she had gotten when she became a relief path servant.

Taking the familiar subway home, it didn't take him long to arrive back at the villa.

When he entered, he was surprised to see someone waiting for him. It was the servant from the palace, which had given him that uncomfortable feeling. If he remembered correctly her name was Susan. She was currently deep into conversation with Celine while drinking tea.

He thought about silently leaving again or trying to sneak into his room because he didn't really want to meet her. He didn't like this feeling that once again welled up in him when he saw her. Although it seemed different if he looked at it carefully. Although there was still fear, there was also something else, something he couldn't explain.

”You are back.”, the silky voice was exactly as he remembered and once again it sent shivers down his back.

Ivan hurriedly recomposed himself and then greeted her politely. ”Hello.” He didn't know what else to say.

Seeing the hesitant look on his face, her lips curved up. It would be fun to tease him.

”Hey, Ivan. Welcome back.”, Celine greeted him as well. ”This is Susan. She has been sent by the palace.”, she then introduced the woman beside her. She didn't know that they had already met before. Although she was a bit taken aback by how Susan had greeted him.

”Great, now that you are back, I can talk about the reason I'm here.”, Susan said while getting up from the couch.

She then bowed towards Ivan and her aura, as well as her personality, seemed to change completely. Where she seemed domineering and aloof before, she now seemed subservient and amiable. This change shocked Ivan as well as Celine since it seemed so different from before.

”Greetings Master. I have been sent by the palace to prepare you for the ceremony where you will be conferred the title of duke. As well as how you have to act after that on official occasions.”, she then explained.

”Ah, so you are here to tutor me on aristocratic etiquette?”

”That's correct, Master. The emperor told me that you have no knowledge concerning the aristocracy, so I will start with the basics.”

”Um, can we maybe do this another time? I'm completely exhausted and still have to go into the dungeons with some friends this evening.”, Ivan interrupted her.

As soon as he did, she gave him a glare, that made him shudder. ”No way, Master. I especially came here to teach you, so you have to learn.”

This made clear that although she called him 'Master' that was only a formality and she would do exactly what she planned.

”Besides, if you rest you may as well listen to my explanations at the same time.”

”But I planned to ask Celine to give me a message.”, Ivan tried once again.

”So? It's not like it matters.”, Susan once again shot down his try. She then began to explain, without giving him a chance to try to refuse her again. ”Now let's start with how you have to interact with servants.

No servant will talk to you first if it's not important for their current task. The only exception is your personal servant who will serve as an interface between you and the servants. For every other servant, you will have to talk to them first.”, she paused and then turned towards Celine.

”Now let's talk about how you give orders. The important point is that you give an order. For example, don't ask like this: 'Celine, would you please give me a massage? '”, for the last sentence, she imitated Ivan's voice surprisingly well. ”Instead do it like this: 'Celine, please give me a massage.'”

She then turned back towards Ivan.