"Not the first to have been absolutely barbaric compared to everyone else, you mean," Lacey replied. She slumped a bit in her seat. "You sure I can't just use the excuse that I'm in charge and can do as I please?"

"You are in charge of this house," Madeline said. "You have to make an appearance at events. Not attending is not an option for you." She quirked an eyebrow. "I know that was in the information the lawyer gave you."

"Unfortunately," Lacey muttered. She sighed. "Alright. May as well, then."

Madeline nodded sharply. "We will begin at dinner, then," she said. She could prepare a full place setting at dinner, after all.

"Alright," Lacey said. She studied Madeline for a moment. "Are you always this tense? You can relax, you know."

Madeline tilted her head a little, looking at Lacey. "If that is your wish," she said with a faint shrug.

Lacey noticed the shrug. It was the first bit of actual personality she'd seen so far from Madeline. But for the moment, she just nodded slightly.

"If that's all for now...?" Madeline needed to get a few things done before dinner, after all.

"Yeah, that's it," Lacey said, waving a hand a bit. "Go ahead and do what you need to do."

Madeline sketched a short bow and headed back inside.

At dinner time, Madeline had a full place setting set up for Lacey, and she was standing a little to the side of Madeline's chair to give instructions.

Lacey eyed the full place setting warily as she settled into her seat. The formal setting was definitely intimidating.

Madeline motioned for her to sit and started going through everything. She figured she'd explain everything once first and then go through it all again as dinner was served.

Lacey stared at the place setting as Madeline explained, already lost. She kind of vaguely knew what most of the dishes and utensils were for, and when they were supposed to be used, but that knowledge was very vague indeed.

Madeline was patient as she explained everything and coached Lacey on proper table etiquette. It was a starting place, at least. Even if she did wince a few times.

Lacey picked up on the etiquette slowly. She knew she was making mistakes, but she really was trying to get it right.

Fortunately, Madeline could be very patient, and she was careful to discourage bad habits without offending the mistress of the house.

Lacey noticed how careful Madeline was being with her words.

"If I'm doing something wrong, tell me so," she said after a moment. "No need to sugar-coat it for me, I need to know what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it."

Madeline raised an eyebrow at that but obeyed. It was nice to not have to worry about being careful, even if it was only temporary.

Dinner ended up being very long, and Lacey was exhausted afterwards. She'd made plenty of mistakes, and she was a bit angry at herself for them because they seemed like stupid mistakes, in hindsight. So almost immediately after dessert, she headed upstairs to soak in a hot bath for a while.

Madeline left her to it, cleaning up after dinner and making a lesson plan for the next few weeks. She'd already received the first invitation, so she put up a special calendar in her work room. She'd add events to it as the invitations were sent out.

The next few weeks were crazy for Lacey. There was so much for her to learn, and she'd unintentionally developed some bad habits from watching movies, which made things worse. Most nights, she ended up just taking a hot bath and flopping onto her bed with a groan.

Madeline was a strict teacher but not overly demanding, and always careful of her mistress's moods. Her intent was not, after all, to make Lacey's life hell, or to make her feel bad. Her goal was to make Lacey an impeccable upper-class party-goer.

Lacey did appreciate the instruction. She knew it was necessary, as much as she didn't like that it was necessary. But she was glad of it, when the first party finally rolled around and she didn't feel too out of her depth.

Madeline stayed close to her, to announce her and to handle introductions between her and the others at the party. Lacey was one of a few humans to have a demon retainer, but none of them were in quite the same position.

And, because she was new and because of her unique hold over Madeline, many of the eligible suitors were jockeying to meet Lacey.

Lacey was surprisingly okay with dressing up for the party. It was the constant vying for her attention that made her uncomfortable, and it was a little overwhelming. She was grateful that Madeline was there to keep things relatively under control for her.