WBWB | Chapter 6

The duties were similar to when I taught the Viscount’s daughter, so I didn’t have many questions.

“Where can I obtain teaching materials for the lessons?”

“From the library, of course!”

Madame Pauline beamed.

“This mansion has almost as many books as the royal palace. Wait in your room, and I’ll send someone to guide you to the library. If you need anything else for the young lady’s education, please don’t hesitate to ask. Do you have any other questions?”

“No, thank you, Madame Pauline.”

“Oh, and one more thing. His Grace said you may use the rod during lessons if necessary.”

A rod? 

I flinched at her words.

“A rod?”

“There’s a saying, ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child.’ After all, it’s always the beloved children who get the rod a little more. The Duke himself was beaten quite a lot when he was younger.”

Wasn’t it usually the opposite that parents requested? 

I interpreted her words to mean that I could discipline my student a little more strictly.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Having said all she needed to, Madame Pauline withdrew, her bundle of keys jingling at her waist. With the door closed, I was alone again.

‘It’s fortunate that I got a job as a tutor, but what will happen to me now?’

Being alone again brought a surge of emotions, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes once again.

‘What if the child I’m in charge of despises and torments me because I’m a criminal? What if no one listens to me even if I ask for help? The Viscount’s daughter stopped bullying me after learning about my connection to her grandmother, but I have no backing here. What if I get fired? I have nowhere to go…’

Negative emotions flooded me.

‘I can’t be like this. I have to be strong…’

I tried to compose myself, but I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

‘Crying won’t solve anything, and there’s no one to help me, so why am I crying like this?’

If I had known this would happen, I would have returned to my family sooner.

‘To the arms of my mother and younger sibling, who were always waiting for my holidays…’

How long had I been wiping my tears with the back of my hand? 

A knock came, and I opened the door to find the young maid who had brought me food, and was standing there holding a lamp.

“I was told to give you the library key and guide you there. Miss, would it be alright to guide you now?”

“Yes!”

I tried to sound cheerful and followed the maid down the long hallways of the mansion. I wanted to look outside, but it was already dark, and the windows were black that nothing was visible. All I could see was my own reflection in the dark glass.

The maid stopped in front of a heavy wooden door.

“This is the library.”

After opening the door and entering the library, I realized that Madame Pauline’s words about it being comparable to the royal library weren’t an exaggeration born from pride as the caretaker of the mansion.

‘There are so many books.’

It was as if all the books in the world were gathered here. Inside the large library, bookshelves lined both sides of a long corridor extending from the entrance, filled to the brim with books like outstretched wings.

‘Perhaps… there might be more books here than in the royal palace?’

The Duke’s scholarly knowledge seemed to originate from this library.

‘They said he dismissed many tutors… I understand now.’

With his high standards, he must have been dissatisfied with the tutors he had hired so far. However, the level of education expected of ordinary noble daughters wasn’t usually very high.

How far did the Duke want to take his adopted daughter’s education?

‘Well, she’s not an ordinary noble, but the daughter of a Duke. She might marry a prince of another country someday, so she might need the knowledge and refinement to navigate the royal court.’

Becoming the queen of a country may require her to get involved in political battles for her children or even rule as regent for a young son. Thinking about this, I understood why the Duke had dismissed so many tutors before, and at the same time, worry crept in.

‘I somehow passed the interview, but can I satisfy him? What if I get fired for not being good enough?’

I had quite a bit of experience as a tutor, but I had only taught two students. That night, I stayed up late searching for suitable textbooks and preparing for lessons, momentarily forgetting the fear and anxiety of being exiled to an unfamiliar place.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to a knock on the door.

“It’s time for breakfast.”

Breakfast was the same stew as before.

After finishing my meal and gathering my teaching materials, I followed the maid who had been waiting. Stepping into the hallway, I was greeted by sunlight. Glancing out the windows as I walked behind the maid, I saw a strong wind sweeping away the fog that had covered the manor like a blanket.

‘It’s a mansion of a scale befitting a Duke.’

There were no hedge mazes or marble fountains, but the outside had its own charm. It felt as if a piece of nature had been brought into the courtyard. I could see a stream flowing in the distance, and a herd of deer grazing nearby. 

Beyond them, a dense forest stretched out in a wide circle, enclosing the scene like a natural boundary. The unfamiliar landscape piqued my curiosity. If I had time after lessons, I wanted to take a walk all the way there.

But I soon shook my head.

‘I didn’t come here just as an ordinary tutor.’

No one would let an exile, who might escape, wander outside alone. Nor would they bother assigning a guard to accompany an exile on a walk.

‘So, I have to stay inside this mansion all the time?’

Lost in thought, I arrived at the study, but my student was nowhere to be seen.

I took a look around the study room in advance. It was a spacious room. The fireplace was piled high with firewood, and next to it, I saw a standing embroidery frame and a pedal harp.

‘Oh dear, I haven’t touched embroidery since I stopped teaching the Viscount’s daughter, and the harp… what if the young lady is better than me?’

A desk and chair stood in the center of the room, and a bookshelf that reached my waist was on the opposite side of the fireplace. A few books that looked like textbooks were on the shelves. Flipping through them quickly, I realized they were beginner-level grammar books.

‘Beginner level? How old did they say the young lady was?’

Just as I placed the books I had brought in an empty space on the bookshelf, a knock came.

“Come in.”

At those words, a girl in a blue dress hesitantly entered. She had the same black hair and green eyes that gleamed like emeralds as the Duke of Skadi.

‘She’s so beautiful.’

Her beauty left me speechless for a moment. Come to think of it, the Duke of Skadi also had an outstanding appearance, though I had been too preoccupied with fear to notice at first. 

Was beauty a hereditary trait in the Duke’s family? 

But I quickly regained my composure, recalling my time as Young Master Mael’s tutor in the royal palace, where I had seen many beautiful people, especially women.

“Are you the new teacher?”

The girl asked hesitantly.

“Yes. I’m Jeanne de Toulouse, the eldest daughter of the Count of Toulouse. Please call me Teacher Jeanne. Here in the study room, I will address you as ‘Student Ana,’ and outside of lessons, I will call you ‘Lady Ana.’”

After clarifying the titles, I looked at Lady Ana’s reaction as she shyly sat down. She was as beautiful as an angel, but her expression was unusually clouded with worry.

‘It’s only natural.’

I assumed her demeanor was due to her recent loss of family. Having suddenly lost her parents and placed in an unfamiliar environment, she must have lost the usual aristocratic arrogance. 

I, too, had been devastated by my father’s death. Thinking about this, I felt a strange fondness for my new student, even though I still knew little about her.

I placed the test papers I had prepared yesterday in front of Lady Ana.

“We’ll start with a test this morning. You don’t have to answer every question correctly, just read them and answer only the ones you know. I’ll give you plenty of time, so read them carefully first.”

The test was an indicator of the student’s level. Last night, I had prepared test papers covering a range of difficulty levels, ranging from easy to advanced, to assess Lady Ana’s abilities.