Chapter 12 The Curriculum For Studying And The Work Schedule
The next day, my studies began in earnest. For a typical young lady, the required subjects are conversation skills, etiquette, household management, dance, horseback riding, and sewing.
In conversation skills, skills such as "proper word choice," "appropriate phrase selection," and "smooth conversation flow" are required. However, for royalty and nobility, proper word choice greatly depends on social status. In other words, the way one speaks changes depending on whether the person is of higher, equal, or lower status.
Conversation skills and etiquette are often learned together as a set. Since the way of greeting someone and behave changes greatly depending on their social status, it's something that's drilled from a young age, along with word choice. Even in meals and tea ceremonies, there are various manners depending on social status.
"Hmm, thinking about it, I can understand why my cousins bullied me, calling me a commoner. You have to confirm the other person's status and quickly adjust your words and behavior accordingly. However, bullying is not acceptable, I think."
Appropriate phrase selection requires knowledge of literature and history, and is also influenced by trends and current events. That's why reference books like "Frequently Used Conversation Phrases (Basic and Advanced)" sell like hotcakes every year.
Unmarried noble daughters, in particular, need to be careful with phrases related to love and marriage. The reference book even included an example of a Marquis's son who used a phrase that was mistaken for a proposal and ended up having to pay a penalty for breaking off the engagement.
And the most difficult part is the ability to continue a conversation. It's extremely challenging to keep talking to someone who has no interest in common and doesn't share any hobbies. Even in her past life, Sara, acquiring business communication skills was not easy.
"Ugh... Ms. Sara, let's start by instilling the noble's social hierarchy into our bodies, shall we? That way, you'll naturally be able to use the correct language. You need to be able to guess someone's social status from their behavior and speech, even if you've never met them before. Language choice is something that should be learned through actual experience with literature and history, rather than just relying on textbooks. You don't need to rush through this education, so let's take it slow."
"Yes, Miss Rebecca."
Household management is the ability to manage a household. It includes things like 'housekeeping,' 'deciding on menus,' and 'hosting parties.' Of course, most noblewomen don't do the cleaning or cooking themselves, but they need to be able to give proper instructions to their servants, such as butlers, maids, and chefs. There are also related subjects like 'garden design,' 'flower arrangement,' 'indoor flower decoration,' and 'vegetable garden cultivation plan'.
The ability to manage a wide range of tasks is what's required for hosting a party. This includes choosing a venue, decorating the venue, preparing food and drinks, selecting and inviting guests, sending out invitations, deciding on seating arrangements, and choosing souvenirs for the guests.
"As for household management, it seems like you need to learn it from the basics, Ms. Sara. Let's practice writing beautiful letters every day, so you can write elegant invitations. If you don't continuously practice writing, you'll forget how to do it in no time."
"Then, Miss Rebecca, why don't we keep a diary and exchange it with each other? We can practice writing and get feedback on our language and composition, and it'll also help us practice choosing the right words."
"That's a great idea!"
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
Dancing is something someone need to master at least 3 basic styles. After that, it's up to their individual abilities, but Sara doesn't need to learn too many.
As for horseback riding, if it's women, they just need to be able to ride sidesaddle in a dress, and that's fine. There are some women who wear riding pants and participate in horse racing or competitions, but they're still a minority.
In fact, Sarasa had experience riding horses during her previously life. Her mom started taking horse riding lessons for dieting purposes, so she went to horse riding school with her. Moreover, she had a friend who was studying abroad and had a ranch in Texas, so she stayed with them during summer break and worked as a part-time farmhand. Since it's easier to get around a vast ranch on horseback, her horse riding skills improved rapidly.
'A ranch is not just about ups and downs, it's not all about paved roads, and when you get lost, you can't even enter the forest, you know?'
Many women who enjoy sewing, embroidery, and weaving as hobbies. Some women who weave even do dyeing, but for noblewomen, it's more common to give instructions and have their servants do the actual dyeing.
"Let's put off dancing and horse riding for now and focus on sewing, starting with embroidery. Ms. Sara, it would be great if you could find something you really want to do."
"Yes, I think so too. But first, we need to get through the crisis in the territory."
"Exactly..."
Rebecca and Sara let out a sigh at the same time.
"Let's roughly decide on our daily schedule. We'll wake up at 6 am, get ready, and have breakfast. Then, we'll study from 8 am to 12 pm, take a lunch break, and study again from 1 pm to 2 pm. After that, we'll move to the office building, take a light snack and rest, and then help with work from 3 pm to 5 pm."
A day in this world is almost 24 hours, just like in her previous life, and surprisingly, the concept of time, minutes, and seconds is the same as well. A year has 360 days, with an extra month added every few years. This system was thought up by a wise person over a thousand years ago, and there's a department called the "Astronomical Bureau" in the country that observes the sun, moon, stars, and weather to manage the calendar and time.
The Astronomical Bureau has observation stations set up all over the country, and their records are sent to the specialized team at the Astronomical Bureau in the capital. These observation stations also have clocks that ring every hour to announce the time.
"Then, we'll only have 2 hours to work. Can't we take a bit more time?"
"Depending on the situation, I can choose between studying or working in the afternoon, right?"
"That's fine, but I'd like to prioritize work for now. Is overtime possible?"
"Of course, Ms. Sara has banned overtime. It's not suitable for children to work overtime."
Sara, who couldn't shake off her workaholic tendencies from her past life, started worrying about what to do after finishing work at 5 pm.
In reality, this world didn't have electric lighting, and instead used magic stones, candles, and oil lamps. Since all of these were consumable items, work usually started early in the morning and ended before sunset. In other words, working late into the night was expensive, so it was common to finish work on time.
This was also the case at the government office. The workday started at 6 am in the summer and 7 am in the winter. However, officials might have to work overtime due to their job requirements, and there were official residences within the castle for them to stay.
"After work, I'll head back to the mansion, take a bath, and then have dinner. Even if Rob and I have to work overtime, we'll definitely be back for dinner. After dinner is our free time."
"Can't we work during our free time?"
"Due to security reasons, taking documents out is strictly prohibited. Besides, I might give you homework, you know?"
'Ah, she's really planning to give me homework...'
"Um... will you give me a lot of homework?"
"Hehe. Since you have to sleep by 8 pm, I won't give you that much homework."
"Isn't that too early?"
"For someone of Ms. Sara's age, that's normal."
'It's true that sleep is important for our health, so we should prioritize it.'
"I understand, Miss Rebecca."
And so, Sara and Rebecca's schedules were decided. However, the 2 of them would soon realize that their plans were still uncertain...
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