Princesses Don't Become Engineers

by Aya Ling

She rushed back to her room, retrieved The Book of Etiquette and returned to the nursery. She walked straight up to the cradle. "Charles! Guess who has come to see you?" Elaine fluttered her fingers to get the baby's attention. "It's Elaine, your favorite aunt!" The servants looked at each other. One shrugged. The baby had only one aunt. Baby Charles stopped in the middle of his crying and stared at her. The tears glistened on his cheeks. He was irresistibly adorable, with his mother's rosy cheeks and his father's sapphire blue eyes. "Now, pay attention. This might be a bit early for you, but as the future king of Riviera, you may have to learn this sooner or later." Elaine opened up the book and began to read. "The first rule of Etiquette is..." She imitated Lady Wesley's bossy tone, going on and on about the minute rules on how aristocracy ought to act. As though under a spell, Charles began to nod. He blinked once, twice, and finally closed his eyes. By the next chapter, he was fast asleep. "There." Elaine got up and sailed out of the nursery, quite pleased with herself. Looked like it wasn't just her who got sleepy when reading The Book of Etiquette. Perhaps she could order an extra copy for her nephew. Or even better, she could simply give her own copy to him. It was still in pristine condition.

"Winnie! The princess has escaped again! We have to find where she is!" Winifred peeked in the room, a fresh load of laundry in her arms. "Don't fret, she isn't gone." "But she has run away again! What if she has left the palace already? What if she escaped to the city? What if some evil trafficker finds her and decides to kidnap her?" "Then I'd pity the trafficker," Winifred said.

Elaine blinked. She had never liked tragicomedies. For her, tragedies and comedies should be clearly separated.

"I know!" Effie said. "Marianne told Kay, who told me that three years ago, a girl from the Wesley clan wanted to study at the University. But only a few weeks later, she quit. The work was too much for her, and she even tried to cheat on a test." "Not me," Elaine said quickly. "I whine, lie and steal, but I don't cheat." Winifred and Effie raised their eyebrows. "All right, so I wrote lines on my palm when Miss Blair made me recite court rules. But I'd never cheated on an exam. It's my academic reputation at stake. Have more faith in me!"