Chapter 29

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 29

Chapter Title: New Teachers

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It was then, as I smirked with the corner of my mouth twitching upward.

Uni set down a sheet of paper and a pencil on the table.

"You'll do your homework, right?"

Ah, right. She came under the excuse of homework.

As I reached for the pencil, I spotted a wound on Uni's hand.

"Uni, you're hurt."

"Ah, I was clumsy and cut myself. It's nothing, so don't worry."

Then Ceria approached us.

"I have some ointment."

"I'm fine, really..."

"A servant's body is their livelihood, after all."

She personally applied the ointment to Uni's hand, and Uni, looking a bit shy, bowed her head.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me."

Jacob slipped in between Uni and me.

"Shall I help? It's too noisy here, so maybe in the study..."

"It's not that noisy here."

"...Actually, I wanted to see the study."

His mumbling made him look as awkward as ever.

After finishing my homework and leaving the greenhouse, I headed straight for the duke's office.

'Now that I know who the wanted criminal is, I need to gather evidence and claim the bounty.'

To do that, I had to keep the criminal close and watch them.

My plan was to ask the duke for proper lessons as an excuse and make the criminal my teacher.

I knocked and entered. The duke was in the middle of a conversation with his retainers.

On the duke's desk sat a box I hadn't seen before. And inside it was...

Etwal!

The holy relic that had allowed Mina to unleash such tremendous power.

But this one was different from Mina's. Hers was platinum, while this was gold.

And it lacked the jewels embedded at the six points of the hexagram.

'That's it. The second Etwal.'

The one Turbah had desperately tried to obtain by deceiving Duke Duvered.

'But how did he get it so quickly?'

I'd heard about the war, but it couldn't have ended this fast.

At that moment, a retainer spoke to the duke.

"The people of that continent, tormented by tyranny, opened the castle gates to our forces themselves. That's why it ended so easily."

"Have you sent the king's head to the emperor?"

"Of course. He said it's the most satisfying gift of the year and will issue a decree praising your achievements."

"What a hassle."

Viscount Dubos glanced at me.

"This is all thanks to Little One. If Little One hadn't spotted the fraud, how would we have known about the second Etwal?"

The retainers chuckled in agreement.

I felt pretty good too.

'Duke Ballua must be feeling the pinch.'

He'd poured everything into this year's birthday gift for the emperor.

Even borrowing money from his wife's family.

And thanks to that gift, he'd earned the emperor's favor and snatched the tea trade rights he'd been eyeing.

But before he could even start profiting, he'd be drowning in debt.

I giggled inwardly, then snapped back to reality.

'Oops, that's not the issue here.'

What mattered now was my money, not theirs.

Now that I'd identified the wanted criminal, it was time to catch them.

'I have to catch them myself.'

That way, I'd get the full bounty.

I stretched my arms out toward the duke, who was seated in his chair.

"Dukey, pick me up."

"..."

The duke stared at me blankly.

'That's weird. He usually picks me up.'

Was he still in a bad mood from earlier?

Only after I cautiously gauged his expression did the duke finally lift me onto his lap.

"What brings you here?"

Hmm, since he was willing to listen, his mood wasn't bad enough that I'd need to hide for a while.

"I wanna do letters and numbers too."

"You're already learning letters."

"I know all the letters now. I wanna learn hard stuff like Henri and Ishak."

The duke stared at me for a moment before speaking again.

"If you start proper lessons, it might be hard to spend time with Henri and Ishak."

"Tha's fine."

"Aren't they your favorites? You never want to be apart from them even for a moment."

Huh?

Why bring that up here?

I widened my eyes and tilted my head.

But everyone in the room was looking at me with earnest expressions.

I didn't know what was going on, but my experience from countless trials told me one thing.

If I didn't handle this well, I'd be in for a world of exhaustion.

"No. Henri and Ishak are just my favorites in the world. My favorite in the universe is Dukey!"

"..."

I watched the duke's face anxiously.

"...Who taught you to say that?"

The duke let out a hollow chuckle and turned his head slightly toward the retainers and administrators before his desk.

Viscount Dubos jumped in like a button had been pressed.

"Where would a child learn something like that?"

"Is that so."

"Of course. It seems Little One really does like Your Grace the most. I've never heard my own kids say anything like that."

"Really? No merits to speak of, then."

The other retainers chimed in loudly with "How enviable!"

"My daughter acts like it's such a chore even when I try to hug her."

"This one begs to be picked up every time."

"You're truly blessed."

"She clings to me like that, and now she's even said I'm her favorite in the universe."

Another round of "How enviable!" followed, and the duke's lips curved upward awkwardly.

Not a displeased look, so I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

'Nice flattery.'

The duke permitted me to receive proper noble lessons.

"I'll tell Nos."

"No!"

I yelped in surprise, then caught myself and gave an awkward smile.

"Nos has thiiiis many papers. I wanna do it with someone else."

"Very well."

"The trainee admin sis and uncle are smart. (The trainee administrators are smart.)"

I spoke as childishly as possible, and one of the administrators in the office nodded with an "Ah."

"You spent such a fun time with the trainee administrators in the greenhouse, so they've won Little One's favor."

The duke nodded at the explanation, and I succeeded in making the wanted criminal my teacher, just as planned.

The next day, in the morning.

Lea and the maids surrounded me, each holding a wrapped box.

"It's a gift for Children's Day."

"Aren't you curious what it is?"

"Right?"

Handmade gloves and scarves, ribbons, fountain pens, sketchbooks.

I'd overheard their whispers since yesterday, but I pretended not to know, indulging their childlike excitement.

And every time a gift was revealed, I bounced around joyfully, making sure to show how thrilled I was.

The maids squealed and hugged me.

"So adorable."

My joy wasn't entirely an act.

Their sincere effort—thoughtfully choosing things for me, braving the markets themselves—truly touched me.

'I'll take these when I flee.'

I carefully packed the gifts into my elephant bag, taking out only a notebook, and headed to the greenhouse.

Charlie, Ceria, and Jacob were already there.

"It's an honor to teach Little One. I'll do my utmost, though I may fall short."

Ceria greeted me and explained the lesson plan.

"Jacob and Charlie will teach you the imperial language, and I'll teach history."

"Okay."

"Today, first learn language with Jacob and Charlie, then we'll tour the castle together to feel Duvered's history!"

Ceria brimmed with enthusiasm, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

I nodded, and the lesson began. The maids watched from near the greenhouse door.

Perhaps due to their intense gazes, Jacob looked tense.

"I heard you memorized the letters in just two days. Now, we combine those letters to make words—"

"Let's do foreign languages first."

Charlie cut in abruptly, shoving a thick book onto the lesson materials Jacob had brought.

"But Little One hasn't mastered the imperial language yet, so how can she..."

"Your native tongue comes naturally unless you're an idiot."

He pushed Jacob aside and looked at me.

"At that age, I could recite and write scripture from memory. Imperial language should be a breeze for you on your own, right?"

Well, aren't you something.

As if you were one of Duke Duvered's sons. Reciting scripture at four years old.

Even after yesterday's humiliation, his attitude hadn't changed.

If anything, he seemed more smug.

"I don't know where the duke heard my reputation, but choosing me as your teacher was brilliant."

He thought he'd been selected purely on his own merits.

"Honestly, I believe I should be the one in charge of Young Lord's education. But anyway... consider this practice, and we'll see about the future."

Yet he was terrible at teaching.

Unlike Nos's lessons, which focused on key points and encouraged active participation, this was just boasting about his knowledge.

If I were truly just a child, I wouldn't have understood a thing.

After the first lesson ended, I left the greenhouse for Ceria's class, heading into the main castle.

As the maids who saw me off entered the castle, I overheard their whispers.

"All the trainee administrators this year are creepy except Ceria."

"I'd agree on Charlie, but why Jacob?"

"He keeps saying Little One is so small every time he sees her. It bothers me."

"But Little One is small and cute, that's a fact."

"Still, he looks at her like he's appraising an animal."

"You're just too sensitive."

Once everyone but Lea had left, Ceria came running up.

"Little One!"

She held a thick bundle of materials in her hands.

Breathing heavily from the run, she drooped her eyebrows apologetically.

"I'm sorry I didn't come out sooner. I stopped by the library for a final check..."

"It's fine."

"So kind-hearted."

Ceria smiled brightly and walked right beside me. Lea naturally fell back.

What I noticed during the lesson was that Ceria was truly an excellent teacher.

'She's used to teaching children.'

Her explanations were never difficult, and she wove in engaging topics midway to keep attention high. She handled children well too.

"Whoa!"

As I tripped while focusing on her explanation, Lea rushed over in alarm.

"Little One, are you okay? Oh dear, your knee is red."

Unlike Lea, who fussed worriedly, Ceria simply dusted off my skirt casually.

"You're alright, aren't you?"

When adults panic, children think something terrible has happened and burst into tears.

She knew to calmly say "It's okay" in moments like this.

After dusting my skirt, she stood up. Her skirt hem lifted, revealing her instep.

There was a scar on her instep, like it had been branded with fire.