7 - Walk Like A Lady

Sienna POV

That sounded easy enough.

“Come here, Ms. Sienna. Today, I’ll teach you Lessons 1 and 2.”

I walked toward the center of the living room, right in the middle of the circle of chairs surrounding me.

Then something lightly smacked my back—not hard, but enough for me to feel it. I turned to Belle, startled. The smile she had earlier was completely gone. She looked strict and serious now, like a different person when it came to work.

“If you’re going to stand, Ms. Sienna, your posture is completely wrong. Your head is too low, your back is bent forward, and it looks unpleasant. Relax your body, stand straight, lift your head slightly, and stomach in.”

My brows furrowed. Stomach in? How was I supposed to breathe if I did that?

But when I saw Belle’s stern face—no trace of softness left—I swallowed hard and pulled my stomach in anyway. My body protested, especially after everything I had just eaten. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Nicolas shaking his head and quietly laughing. Apparently, I was doing it wrong.

“Stomach in does not mean you stop breathing, Ms. Sienna. Just slightly tighten your core. The goal is to show confidence, nothing extreme. There—better. Now raise your hands in front of your stomach. You may lower them, but don’t drop your shoulders too much.”

So many rules just for posture. It’s not like I’m joining a pageant.

We spent what felt like an hour just on posture. Even the way I brushed my hair had to be slow and graceful. I felt like a robot. She even corrected the way I yawned—apparently, I had to cover my mouth. But my yawns were majestic; you could see my entire throat.

“Okay, next is how you look at someone. Sometimes, we dislike the person we’re talking to, but we must hide any expression that might offend them. Let’s try it.”

Before I could react, Red walked closer and sat down in one of the chairs. I stared at him as I stood still. His eyes were beautiful, really beautiful. Such a waste that he couldn’t use them anymore. I still wondered why he wanted revenge so badly on his ex—Cassandra didn’t even know they were already broken up.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Red said seriously.

I quickly looked away. “You’re my example for how to look at someone.” I turned to Belle. “Was that okay? I don’t think my face showed any reactions, right?”

I gave her a big smile, but it quickly vanished when she shook her head.

“Actually, while you were staring at Sir Red, you showed a lot of emotions and expressions, which you shouldn’t.”

Oh. So she wanted me to have a poker face. But what if I was happy? Was I supposed to look like I was grieving instead?

“There’s still plenty of time. I’ll learn it eventually.”

Belle clapped twice. “Correct! So let’s move on to Lesson 2. In the next few days, you’ll get used to everything since we’re taking it step by step. I’ll just guide you whenever I see something that needs correction.”

She held my arm and pulled me toward a row of boxes on the floor.

“What’s that?”

“Shoes.”

My eyes practically turned into hearts. I loved shoes—especially unique designs. I hated plain ones, and if they had heels, they had to be one inch only, so I wouldn’t struggle walking.

Belle opened a box.

The heart-shape in my eyes immediately shattered.

They were stilettos—with heels tall enough to be used as murder weapons. They must have been five inches high.

“Don’t tell me I have to wear that every day.” I slowly backed away, shaking my head. There was no way I could handle heels that high.

“Yes, and you don’t have a choice.”

“Oh, I have a choice. I’m not wearing that.”

“You’ll wear them whether you want to or not because this is part of the lesson. You need to learn how to walk properly and gracefully in heels this high.”

“Can’t I wear something shorter? I walk perfectly fine in lower heels.”

“The impression changes when a woman wears high heels. They look more elegant than women in flats.”

Wow. So other people’s happiness was what I was studying now. Amazing.

“Put them on. Start with the highest pair so you can adjust faster.”

She placed the weapon—uh, the shoes—in front of me. With no choice left, I put them on, almost falling over. Thankfully, I managed to balance.

I signaled Nicolas to come closer because Belle wanted me to walk from the far end back toward her. I needed support before attempting to walk alone. Meanwhile, Red was just sitting off to the side, casually crossing his legs like he was watching a show.

We reached the far end, where long chairs lined the sides of the room. I wondered why there were so many. Did that many people visit this place? Maybe Red’s entire clan could fit here.

Nicolas tapped my arm before gently removing my hand from his.

“Good luck, Ms. Sienna. Do well so Sir will be pleased with you.”

“I’ll do my best even if Red doesn’t get pleased with me.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Be careful.”

Nicolas stepped away. I straightened up while Belle stared at me with her arms crossed, her serious coaching face back on. Her smiles lasted about two seconds total today.

You can do this, Sienna. Ten million. Ten million. Fighting!

I exhaled several times before taking a step.

The moment my heel touched the floor, it felt like I was about to collapse. The heel was so thin. Who designed this? I needed to have a chat with them about making heels thicker.

I tried walking again, but instead of walking straight, I was slowly lowering into a sitting position. Belle hurried toward me, clearly ready to give me a lecture.

“You know that’s wrong, Ms. Sienna. Stand up and walk again. This isn’t even the hardest part. The next one is worse.”

“What? What could possibly be harder?” I asked, frowning.

Belle looked toward a table between two chairs. There were books stacked on it.

“Those books will be placed on your head. You’ll walk in heels without letting any fall. Your body must be straight, eyes forward, and your head shouldn’t move. And as you can see, I’m holding this.”

She lifted the object she had used earlier to tap my back.

Every book that falls, she’ll hit me with it.

I cringed. The earlier tap already hurt even though it was light. What more if she hit me for real? Red’s payment better be worth the pain, because this lesson was costing me my life.

“That’s easy. Why can’t you do it properly?” Red suddenly commented.