Translator : Zimming
Editor : Sasha
Yuni put the paper and pencils on the table.
âAre you working on your homework?â
Oh, thatâs right. I had come here under the pretext of doing my homework.
While trying to grab the pencil, I found a scar on Yuniâs hand.
âYuni, huwt.â (Yuni, youâre hurt)
âAh, I got cut because I was careless. Itâs nothing, so donât worry about it.â
Then Seria came to us.
âI have the medicine.â
âItâs all rightâ¦â¦â
âAn employeeâs body is also an asset. We need to take care of it well.â
Seria applied medicine on her hand, as Yuni replied with a slightly embarrassed face,
âThank youâ¦â
âDonât mention it.â
Coming out of the room after finishing my homework, I went to the Dukeâs office.
âNow that I know who the wanted criminal is, I need to find the evidence to get that bounty.â
To do that, I have to keep the wanted criminal next to me. I thought of making the convict as my teacher under the pretext of wanting a full-fledged lesson.
I knocked and entered while the Duke was talking to one of his vassals. There was a huge box on the Dukeâs desk.
âWhatâs insideâ¦..?â
âEtwal!ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
It was the holy object that made Mina exert her power.
But that one was different from Minaâs. Minaâs etwal was platinum, but this was all gold. And the corners of the hexagonal center didnât have jewels attached to them.
âThatâs it. The second Etwal.â
The one that Turva wanted to get his hands on by swindling the Duke of Dubbled.
âHow did they get their hands on it already?â
Iâve heard about the war, but it couldnât have ended this fast. Suddenly, the vassal said to the duke.
âThe citizens of that continent were suffering from tyranny so much that they directly opened the gates for our troops. Thanks to that, the trip was faster.â
âDid you send this news to the Emperor?â
âOf course, he said he was most pleased with this yearâs gift, and that he would send an edict to honor you.â
âWhat a pain in the neck.â
Viscount Dubos looked at me.
âThis is all thanks to you. If you didnât recognize the con artist, how could we have known about the existence of the second Etwal?â
The vassals laughed. I felt good too.
The Duke of Vallua must have had a heart attack. He had put a lot of effort into this yearâs gift. He had even borrowed money from his in-laws. In my previous life, because of the gift, he bought the Emperorâs favor and acquired the tea leaf trade that he had been aiming for.
He is going all out, but if he fails this time, he will suffer from debt.
âWell, thatâs not my problem.â
Whatâs urgent now is my money, not their money. Now that Iâve found the wanted criminal,
âI have to catch him myself.â
Thatâs how Iâll get the reward.
I stretched my arm towards the duke sitting in his chair.
âDyuke, give me a hugâ
ââ¦â¦.â
The duke stared at me
âThatâs weird, he usually hugs me immediately.â
It wasnât until I gave a curious glance did the Duke put me on his lap.
âWhat brings you here?â
Well, given that heâs trying to listen, he must be in a good mood today.
It means I donât have to run away right now or avoid him for the time being.
âBwaine wanted to study.â
âIâm sure youâre already learning the letters.â
âNow I know all the letters. Iâm learning hard and I want something new. â
The Duke stared at me and then opened his mouth again.
âIt will be difficult to spend time with Henry and Isaac if you take classes in earnest.â
âItâs ok.â
âTheyâre your favorite. You wouldnât want to be away for a second, right?â
Why are you talking about it here? I tilted my head. Everyone in the room looked at me with desperate expressions.
I didnât know what this feeling was, but the experiences I had was telling me. I need to do well here.
âNo. Henly and Isyac are the nicest in the world. But my most favorite person in the universe is dyuke!â (No. Henry and Isaac are the nicest in the world but my most favorite person in the universe is duke!)
ââ¦â¦.â
I looked at the dukeâs expression with a nervous heart.
ââ¦â¦Who taught you this?â
The duke, who smiled, lightly glanced at my head. I looked at the vassals and administrators at the front desk.
Viscount Dubos replied quickly as if a button had been pressed.
âWhere would a child learn to say that?â
âThatâs right. Your baby must really like you the best. Iâve never even heard that from my children.â
âReally?â
Other vassals also echoed, saying, âI envy you!â
âMy daughter gets so annoyed every time I ask for a hug.â
âI always beg my daughter to hug me.â
âItâs a blessing.â
Finally, the dukeâs lips curled up. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.
âThey are really good at flattery.â
The Duke allowed himself to take the compliments from the vassals in earnest.
âIâll tell Nos.â
âNo!â
I shouted in amazement, but I suddenly came to my senses and laughed awkwardly.
âNos has lots of papers to do. Iâll stwudy with someone elseâ (Nos has a lot of papers to do. Iâll study with someone else.)
âButâ¦â
âThe admwinistrator sister and bwoter are smart.â (The administrator sister and brother are smart)
I spoke as childishly as I could. Soon, the vassals in the office nodded,
âI heard that she had a good time with the administrators, and they seem to like her.â
The Duke nodded. Finally, I succeeded in turning the wanted criminal into my teacher as planned.
***
Two days later in the morning.
Lea and the maids surrounded me. There were packaged boxes in my hands.
âTheyâre all Childrenâs Day presents.â
âYouâre curious arenât you?â
âRight?â
Handmade gloves and mufflers, ribbons, fountain pens, sketchbooks. I had known everything since yesterday, but I pretended otherwise.
I didnât forget to jump and smile widely whenever the gifts were opened one by one. The maids beamed and hugged me.
âLittle Miss is very cute today~â
But, I truly was grateful for their sincerity.
I took out a couple of books and headed for the administratorâs room. Charlie, Seria, and Jacob were there first.
âItâs an honor to teach you. I know Iâm not good enough, but Iâll do my best.â
Seria greeted me and continued.
âJacob and Charlie will teach you the Imperial language, and I will teach you history.â
âLetâs learn the imperial language from Jacob and Charlie first, and then letâs go around the castle with me and talk about the history of Dubbled!â
Seria was very motivated. The class began when I nodded. Meanwhile, Jacobâs eyes looked very unusual today.
âI heard you memorized those letters in two days. Now, letâs combine those letters and make a word.â
âLetâs learn a foreign language first.â
Charlie suddenly stepped in and smacked Jacobâs head with a thick book.
âHow can she speak a foreign language when sheâs not fluent in the language of the empire yet?â
âUnless youâre not stupid, youâll learn it naturally.â
Then he pushed Jacob aside and looked at me.
âOther Dubbleds kids knew how to memorize the Bible when they were at her age. Iâm sure she can learn the language of the Empire, right?â
Oops.
Unfortunately, Iâm not a real Dubbled, to be able to memorize the Bible at that age. Even after he was humiliated yesterday, his attitude had remained unchanged.
Rather, he seemed to have become more intimidating.
âI donât know where you heard those rumors, but it was an excellent choice to choose me as your teacher.â
âHonestly, I think I should be in charge of everything in your education. Yeah, well, think of this as a rehearsal, I look forward to the future.â
It was totally different from Nosâs class, which focused on the important points and still allowed me to actively participate.
It was a class where he only boasted about his knowledge. If I was really just a child, I wouldnât have understood anything.
After the first class, I left for Seriaâs class.
I caught the maids chattering as i went into the castle
âThe new administrators really gives me the creeps except for Seria.â
âI agree with Charlie, but why Jacob?â
âI donât like him seeing the baby and saying sheâs small and cute every time.â
âBut Itâs true that our baby is small and cute.â
ââ¦His gaze is like that of an animalâs.â
âYou are too sensitive.â
When all maids left except for Lea, Seria came running,
âLittle miss!â
She had a thick bundle of data in her hand. Her forehead was full of sweat.
âI should have been here sooner. Iâm sorry. I had stopped by the library for my last inspection.â
âItâs ok.â
âYouâre very niceâ¦â
Seria, while smiling, walked close to me. Naturally, Lea had retreated to the back. I felt that Seria was a really good teacher.
âShe must be used to teaching kids.â
Her explanation was not difficult at all. Plus, she was good at handling children.
âAgh!â
When I fell while concentrating on her explanation, Lea came running in amazement.
âLittle Miss, are you alright? Your knees are red.â
Unlike Lea, who was so worried, Seria fixed my skirt and said calmly.
âAre you all right?â
Seria, who fixed my skirt, rose. Then the hem of her skirt pushed up as her foot was revealed.
There was a burn scar on her foot.
TL note : Iâve bolden Leblaineâs thought, what do you guys think?