"All members of the Sinclair family, male or female, must maintain a trim figure, as they represent the family's image at various social functions. Not only must meals be eaten at specific times, but the menu itself is designed by world-class professional nutritionists. The meal plan for all seven days of the week is predetermined. We expect the Imperial Concubine to refrain from snacking outside of the three main meals. This is the second rule."
"What? So if I'm hungry at night and want some barbecue or spicy hot pot, I can't have any of it?" Ashley Bowen practically screamed. 'If I can't even decide what to eat, what's the point of living?!'
"Those are unrefined foods, Imperial Concubine. Now that you are a member of the Sinclair family, you must learn to gradually accept the ways of high society..." Ryan Osborne said, adopting the tone of a patient teacher.
Ashley Bowen was incredibly impatient, but she forced herself to keep listening.
"As for the third family rule, once the Imperial Concubine enters the palace, your daily activities and schedule will be recorded in the official chronicles. Therefore, to ensure you can adapt, you must begin strictly following the palace's daily routine here at the villa. Everything from major events, like your marital relations with His Highness, down to minor details like your menstrual cycle, how many times you urinate a day, and whether your bowel movements are regular, will be tracked and recorded by designated ladies-in-waiting..."
Ryan Osborne described all this with the utmost seriousness, but Ashley Bowen couldn't take it anymore and immediately cut him off.
"You have to record when I take a shit or a piss?"
"Yes." Ryan Osborne's expression remained perfectly calm.
"So you're going to have a shadow follow me around and watch everything I do?"
Ryan Osborne didn't refute her, simply nodding. "More than one. There will be chroniclers and various other personal ladies-in-waiting."
"Are you people perverts? I won't accept this! I want a divorce!" Ashley Bowen finally snapped, leaping to her feet and roaring.
Ashley shot up abruptly. She was better off not marrying into this powerful family!
"Imperial Concubine, you don't have the right to say no," Ryan Osborne explained patiently. "The three-million-dollar check from the Second Prince is worthless. The director of the Royal Finance Department works for His Highness. If he doesn't approve the transaction, the funds won't be transferred to the Second Prince's account, which means you won't be able to withdraw anything. As for your tuition, His Highness has already promised your mother he will arrange for you to attend the best university in the world."
Ashley Bowen, who had just leaped to her feet, collapsed back onto the sofa. 'No wonder Mom agreed to this marriage. So Yuri Sinclair made that promise.'
'I've always dreamed of studying medicine at the Norwyn Institute of Technology. Could that really happen?'
"Is everything you're saying true? I could even go to the Norwyn Institute of Technology?" Ashley Bowen asked, batting her big eyes.
Ryan Osborne nodded. "Once your marriage to His Highness is officially announced by the prominent families, you can study abroad under your status as an Imperial Concubine."
"Fine! I agree!" Ashley Bowen raised a clenched fist as if swearing an oath to the world. "Dreams are food for the soul! As long as I have my dream, I can't starve!"
"..." Ryan Osborne's expression twitched for a good while before he braced himself to continue his lengthy lecture for this wild girl.
「Two hours later.」
Ashley Bowen sat with her chin in her hands, listening to Ryan Osborne's instructions and nodding repeatedly.
"Imperial Concubine, have you committed it all to memory? There are 120 rules in total," Ryan Osborne said, his brow furrowed.
Looking utterly bored but feigning attentiveness, Ashley Bowen nodded like a chicken pecking at grain. "Got it. I've got it all. I even recorded everything Head Steward Osborne just said. I'll be sure to memorize it like a sacred mantra, even more fluently than I memorize my textbooks."