"I didn't know when to expect you, I apologize."

It's quite fine.

She's had the dining table set with two each of tea, dinner, and dessert cutlery at different seats so she can demonstrate them as he follows along.

"A lot of this I will probably be able to pick up by just not being the first person to eat in any given course and copying other people, I'm more worried about terms of address and how worried I should be about accidentally cursing and stuff."

"If you accidentally curse the reaction will be noticeable and you should apologize and claim the word means something different in Narnia if at all possible. The most formal mode of address you are likely to need to use is someone's title followed by their family name, though Lady will suffice for women and Lord will often be acceptable should you fail to remember the title of a man. In less formal discussions Mr or Ms are acceptable for men and women respectively - you can mimic what others do if you are unsure. First names are typically only used in private and you would not be amiss to avoid using them entirely."

"Stifling. Okay. I assume I can't invite people to call me Haru and I'm going to be Duke Swan all the time."

"You could ask to be called Mr. Swan without being very impolite. Or you can claim Haru is in actual fact your last name and Swan your first."

"I can be Mr. or Duke Swan, I'll just kind of hate everyone all the time about it."

Lucette would offer to be an exception but there are servants around and people talk.

"Is it the formality itself that bothers you or something else?"

"Formality itself."

"Would it be better if you claimed Haru was a title?"

"No, it's the whole atmosphere, not the literal syllables."

"Ah, alas. I apologize for my society's inflexibility."

"Not your fault, as far as I know."

"It is not - I would have done a much better job designing society if I had had the opportunity."

"Well, I'd hear all about it but we probably have more etiquette to cram into my brain."

"We do, unfortunately."

And here is a circumspect description of what language not to use, as well as a list of generally safe topics of conversation (music, food, architecture, and fashion) and another list of things to avoid with less safe topics that are liable to come up. Gossip in particular is liable to be discussed and it would be ideal for Haru to be vague and diversionary when possible and default to weakly positive opinions when nesscary. She additionally presents him with her written notes on these subjects.

"Some of this is more cautious than strictly required but the less cautious version would be too complex to learn in an evening without risk, I expect.."

"Understandable. Is consulting these notes socially acceptable or do I have to do it while I've ducked out?"

"I don't think it would be acceptable, unfortunately."

"Alas. Is there a standard thing to say if going to relieve oneself or do you just absent yourself from the room without explanation?"

"Absenting yourself would be ideal if it can be done smoothly, otherwise a generic reason for leaving could suffice, such as you being needed elsewhere or a wanting a breath of fresh air."

"Okay."

Once he thinks he's absorbed all this she has some selections from books for him to analyze the politeness of.

He does slightly better at this than you might expect from his distaste for the concept and his recent exposure to the rules. "I might be better at literary analysis than I am at social skills," he observes.

"Well, hopefully the skill transfers somewhat?"

"One hopes."