Chapter 26

"Victoria, I heard that Clark visited your home during the last break. I was surprised to hear this from him this morning. I really feel bad about it."

Lady Eva lowered her eyebrows and spoke apologetically.

"Lady Eva, Nonna and I had a great time. We would like to have him visit again, so please don't scold Clark."

Upon hearing my words, Lord Clark, who had been looking down, suddenly brightened up.

"Did you have fun, Lord Clark?"

"Yes! It was so much fun!"

"Well, what can you do. I was worried that he was too quiet for a boy, but now he's suddenly so active that both my husband and I are at a loss."

"Lord Clark is wonderful whether he's quiet or active."

"Oh, thank you."

Lady Eva moved on to the next topic.

I listened, nodding along. Lord Clark was looking at me with an adoring gaze, but I decided to pretend not to notice.

That day, we had a language class in the form of a play.

We performed a famous fairy tale in this country, "The White Princess and the Blue Lizard."

A white-haired princess gets lost in the forest and rescues a blue lizard trapped in a giant spider's web. The lizard speaks human language and asks for help to defeat a witch. The White Princess and the blue lizard work together to defeat the evil witch, and the blue lizard regains its human form. The blue lizard was once a young man who was turned into a lizard by the witch. In the end, the young man who was once a lizard proposes to the White Princess.

"Who wants to play the lizard?"

"Yes!"

"Then, Lord Clark will be the lizard. Who wants to play the princess?"

"..."

"Huh? Nonna, you don't want to?"

"I want to be the witch. Vickie will be the princess."

"But the witch gets defeated in the end. Are you sure you won't cry?"

"I won't cry."

"Then, I'll be the princess. I can't help it. I wanted to see Nonna as the princess."

From then on, it was hilarious.

Nonna, who is usually expressionless, perfectly mimicked my voice and became the evil witch.

(I'm impressed; Nonna has a talent for acting at the age of six.)

Her hateful speech to the blue lizard and her insults to the princess while fighting, "You little brat!" were incredibly cute when Nonna played them.

Although it was a bit slow as we repeated all the lines in Ashbury and then in Randall, I could enjoy the cute, high-pitched voice of the young Nonna and the clear, high-pitched voice of Clark before his voice changed. We repeated the lines many times until they were memorized.

"Princess, will you marry me?"

"Try to pronounce 'kuremasen ka' with your tongue a bit further back. 'Kuremasen ka,' yes, that's it."

As I corrected his pronunciation and had Lord Clark repeat "Will you marry me?" many times, his face, ears, and neck turned red.

Oh. That was bad. An older civilian language teacher making a young noble boy repeatedly propose marriage. This could be considered bullying.

"I was careless. I'm sorry for making the young Lord Clark propose to such an old lady many times."

"No! Not at all! Miss Victoria is not old! You are very beautiful!"

For some reason, Nonna suddenly glared at me and stood between Lord Clark and me, spreading her arms and shouting at Lord Clark.

"No! Vickie is mine!"

I couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. "Mine"...

Could I have ever imagined being told such a thing by a cute little girl? No, never.

"Miss?"

My silly smile seemed suspicious. Lord Clark looked worried.

"I'm sorry. I was just happy to hear what Nonna said. Let's try the part where they meet. I'll say all the lines in Ashbury, and you respond in Randall, okay?"

The "White Princess and the Blue Lizard" in Randall was the best.

I was happy as a teacher when they did well, and even when they made mistakes, the two of them were so cute that it was a blissful time. It was so much fun that I worried I might be punished for getting paid to do this.

While we were making a lot of noise, no one came in, but when we took a break, Lady Eva and the maids came in.

"You looked so much fun, I couldn't help but come in."

"Mother, please. I'm studying properly."

"We were too noisy. I'm sorry, Lady Eva."

"It's not that. I just wanted to see what kind of class it was. The maids were surprised to hear Clark's happy voice, which is rare."

"Master, could we please watch as well?"

"No way."

As I was in a bind, Nonna suddenly said the witch's line in Randall.

"Cheeky lizard!"

"Oh! For such a little one, you're very good! You started learning Randall with Clark, right? That's amazing!"

Lady Eva's genuine praise made Nonna's face brighten, and Lord Clark looked a bit envious.

"Nonna, say it again. I'll continue."

"Okay."

"Cheeky lizard!"

"I will protect the princess! I won't let you hurt her!"

Lady Eva and the three maids stood up and applauded.

"Both Clark and Nonna are amazing. Your pronunciation is perfect! Victoria, even after your uncle recovers, could you continue teaching? To be able to motivate them so much in such a short time, you have a real talent for teaching."

"Miss, can't you? I want to keep learning from you."

"Let me discuss it with Mr. Bernard first."

I don't want to give up such a fun job, but Mr. Bernard is my benefactor who gave me my first job. I can't give an answer without his permission.

Mr. Bernard's permission was easily granted.

When he fully recovers, I will continue my six-day-a-week assistant job with shorter hours and take on the language teaching as a part-time job.

"Are you sure you can handle it? It's not too much for you?"

"Lady Eva, this is no problem at all. I'm grateful for having Nonna in my class."

For me, it's a joy to see my life becoming more stable. I can't get enough of the language classes.

That night, the captain visited my home.

Since we had no prior arrangement, I wondered what was up. It turned out that the attack at the ball had been unexpectedly resolved.

"Thanks to you telling me first, we were able to catch him. I thought I should report it. However..."

The man, who had a grudge against the marquis for raping his sister, had paid almost all his money to people in the underworld to become a servant in the castle and spent a year planning his revenge.

"I heard that the marquis said, 'I have no recollection of it. It must be out of spite for firing a rude maid,' and the man confessed everything. He had kept quiet to protect his sister's honor."

"Rape...?"

"The maid was about to get married, and the marquis suddenly took an interest. The rape led to a broken engagement, and the shock and sadness of the broken engagement left the victim bedridden, unable to leave her home."

"What a heinous act. Will the marquis be punished?"

"Officially, he is being held responsible for causing the situation at the ball. He has been forced to retire and pass his title to his son. The marquis held a position in the finance department, but the king decided not to pass it on to his son."

Well, that's about what I expected.

"I see. What will happen to the man?"

"Given that he had a poisoned weapon and tried to kill the marquis in the presence of the royal family, he will likely be sentenced to death."

"I see. It's the same in any country, but the value of a commoner's life is different from that of a noble..."

We both fell silent, and the captain left.

That night, I spent a long time thinking alone.