Chapter 24

It was my first day off since I started teaching Mr. Clark.

The lessons are five days a week, with weekends off. Nonna and I did housework like cleaning and laundry, and I suggested, "Let's do embroidery next. I'll teach you how to do it," when there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Clark Anderson."

Surprised, I quickly opened the door to find Mr. Clark standing there alone.

"Oh, Mr. Clark, what brings you here?"

"I wanted to see you today, too."

Was the lesson that enjoyable? That's great.

"Oh, really. Please, come in."

Mr. Clark glanced around the room with interest but seemed a bit embarrassed. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please."

Nonna prepared the teaware, I boiled the water, and I served the walnut and dried fig cake I had baked the night before. The fidgety Mr. Clark took a bite of the cake and exclaimed, "Mmm!"

"Did you like it?"

"Yes, very much. Where did you buy this cake?"

"I baked it."

"Actually, I baked it last night with Nonna's help."

"Wow..."

Mr. Clark's cute exclamation made him blush, which I found adorable.

"Would you like another piece? Please take your time."

"Thank you. You can do everything, can't you, teacher?"

"I can't do everything."

"No, really! Uncle Bernard always brags about you. You're fluent in four languages, and you're great at cooking and cleaning. You're also good at organizing documents and even sports."

Nonna's proud face was heartwarming.

"I grew up in an environment where I had to do everything. I was separated from my parents at the age of eight, and I had to do whatever I was told. I started learning foreign languages because I had to, but I found it enjoyable once I tried it."

"Really? You enjoyed it?"

Mr. Clark looked surprised.

"Yes. I've never traveled before. This was my first time coming to this country on my own. Before, I enjoyed reading about different countries in books. There were many books at my workplace, but they were in foreign languages, so I could only look at the illustrations at first. Eventually, I couldn't stand it anymore and started studying to be able to read them."

"Did you work for a noble family?"

"Yes, I did at that time."

After finishing his second piece of cake, Mr. Clark murmured, looking a bit dejected, "I said I was bad at studying, but that was just an excuse."

"I'll try harder. Your lessons are so much fun, and I keep learning new words."

"Oh, I'm so glad. Please keep it up."

When I said that, Nonna said with sparkling eyes, "I want to study today too!"

I saw that Mr. Clark's eyes were also sparkling. I couldn't refuse such high expectations from two children.

"Alright. Let's do some studying we can't do at the mansion today."

"Tree climbing!"

"Nonna, tree climbing might be a bit much for Mr. Clark..."

"I want to do it! Please teach me how to climb a tree too!"

"Hehe. Let's do some studying while climbing trees."

Nonna and I changed clothes, and we walked to the place where the prince had fought. There were many large trees, perfect for practicing tree climbing.

"Let's try this tree. When climbing a tree, always check if it's alive. If you climb a dead tree, even a thick branch can suddenly break and cause serious injury. You could even die from hitting your head. A tree with leaves is alive. In winter, when the leaves have fallen, you can check by breaking a small branch. If it breaks easily, avoid that tree."

"I see. Got it."

"Let me climb first, and you can observe which branches I choose and the order in which I place my feet."

I took off my shoes, climbed the tree in my socks, and climbed down using the reverse procedure. Nonna, who couldn't wait, followed suit, climbing the tree with practiced movements. When she reached the spot I had climbed to, she sat on a branch and waved.

"Alright! Me too!"

Saying that, Mr. Clark took off his shoes and climbed the tree, struggling. It took him much longer than Nonna, but he finally sat on a branch near where Nonna was and smiled contentedly.

"Branch" "Branch"

I called out the words in two languages, and they repeated them.

"Climb" "Climb," "Climb a tree" "Climb a tree," "High branch" "High branch," "Descend" "Descend"

Their cute voices followed.

"Climb a high tree and descend" "Climb a high tree and descend"

"Both of you did great! Now, come down, Nonna."

Climbing down is more dangerous than climbing up. After Nonna descended safely, I climbed up to Mr. Clark and wrapped a rope around his body, securing it under his arms. I held the end of the rope and helped him down. On the way down, I noticed the captain watching from a distance.

Oh dear.

When we safely reached the ground, the captain approached us.

"Clark, that's impressive."

"Uncle Jeff, hello. I climbed a tree for the first time and went so high!"

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Yes!"

The captain looked at me with a smile, making me feel very uncomfortable. What must he think of me, teaching the only son of the important Anderson family to climb trees? And I couldn't help but remember the time he hugged me.

"I taught the young master something unnecessary."

"No, it's fine. I've never seen Clark act so mischievously and happily before. I've always thought he was too well-behaved. You were off today, so I'm sorry for the trouble."

"No, I enjoyed it too."

While we were talking, the two children were running around, shouting the new Randall words they had learned, like "branch," "climb," and "high." They looked so happy and played together for over an hour without getting tired.

"I'll take Clark home soon. After that, would you like to join me for dinner?"

"Thank you, but isn't it too frequent?"

"I've been holding back for a while."

The large man looked away, and his awkwardness made me feel warm inside.

"It's a casual place, so you can dress casually."

"Okay."

The captain, blushing, seemed like a clumsy, large silver bear.

Clark looked disappointed but nodded happily several times when I said, "Please come play again," and left with the captain.

"Nonna, we're going to dinner with the captain tonight."

"Vicky, are you going to dress up?"

"A little, maybe. He said it's a casual place."

"Are there places where you dress up and places where you don't?"

"Yes. Nonna, you should learn about these things too."

"Okay!"

I changed into a light green dress, and Nonna put on a navy blue dress, tying matching wine-colored ribbons in our hair.

"Looking forward to it."

"Yep! Climbing trees with Mr. Clark was fun! I learned 'climb a high tree'!"

"Great job. Nonna, you have a talent for learning foreign languages!"

"Yay!"

I bent down to hug Nonna, who jumped at me, and inhaled her childlike scent deeply. I loved this peaceful smell.