She felt that his death was not so unfortunate, just by the fact that he was outside, under the sky, not the ceiling of the room, although he could not see.
“The main building and the nearby outbuildings of the mansion need to be renovated for a while.”
She prepared quite a lot for this day. Since the first time is the hardest, she was prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.
“…”
“We will move through the path that originally has no servants.”
“…I see.”
As the curse progressed, she entrusted all the work in the mansion to the old servant. The fact that there was something unknown in the mansion would only make the Duke’s mood fall even more.
“I asked to go out separately.”
“…You did?”
“Isn’t it strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“The fact that the owner of the castle has to stay in one room of the castle.”
It’s natural for a monster to lock itself up. All the previous Dukes did the same. It was a kind of prejudice.
But the owner of the mansion is the Duke. It wasn’t natural for the Duke to be nervous about being caught by others. While the landlord is uncomfortable, the servants can freely move.
When she first spoke to Mrs. Wells, she remembered her face, hurt by the fact that she hadn’t thought of it earlier.
“Wouldn’t it be better for Mrs. Wells to speak directly to the Duke?”
“If it’s your idea, you should say it yourself.”
“Me?”
“I’ve been serving the Duke all along…but I never thought of this.”
It wasn’t Mrs. Wells’ fault. Once a rumor starts, it spreads so fast that it’s unstoppable.
Mrs. Wells must have known this fear.
She must have been more adamant than others in keeping the secret of the Duke’s curse.
****
“It’s natural because I’m cursed…”
“It’s not like you are infected with a contagious disease.”
Carol cut off the Duke’s words.
“The servants who live in the castle were the servants who were with the previous Dukes.”
So, as long as he’s awake at night, he can go anywhere in the castle.
“I understand the teacher’s feelings… but I’m fine.”
However, the Duke still responded negatively to Carol’s words. Because not all problems were solved.
“Isn’t it impossible to be okay when you’re locked in a room and can’t do anything?”
Why would he have been so distressed if he was really okay?
Carol knew that the Duke wouldn’t accept it all at once, and that there were other problems left.
‘The stairs must be the problem.’
It took a long time for the Duke to get used to being in the room.
The standard of being accustomed meant that he could walk around as he did when he could see.
As his pride was strong, he didn’t want to show his weak side to others.
“I am a teacher as the Duke calls me.”
“…I know.”
“It’s natural to bump into new places, it’s not something to hide.”
“…”
“Because then there’s no progress.”
The reason why the Duke wanted to go out but didn’t was because he was scared that someone might see his appearance when the curse manifested, but that problem was solved.
Then there was only one reason left.
“There are countless days to live in the future.”
She consciously excluded the possibility that the Duke would die early. The Duke was quite shocked by Carol’s words.
He thought he would be in this room every day, so he put his energy into enduring the day. So he had never thought about the future.
He just vaguely thought he wouldn’t live long. Because every day felt like a punishment.
‘It’s strange.’
She spoke as if he would live long, and live his life outside the room.
‘I have to do well here.’
From now on, it was no different from actively intervening in the original work.
She had prepared as much as she could, but now that the original work was going to change, the future she knew was useless.
‘I have to pull myself together.’
Carol clenched her fist so hard that her hand turned pale.
“And I brought the item I ordered today, I hope you use it at least once.”
She was scared. She wanted to run away.
But instead of running away, Carol handed the Duke a long stick that she had ordered from the workshop the day after she got a job at the Duke’s Mansion.
“What is this?”
“It’s a cane.”
“…A cane?”
As if reading the Duke’s thoughts, Carol explained in a calm voice.
“Of course, it might be more convenient for me to support you right now, but I can’t always be with you.”
The monster that devoured the Duke the most, it was solitude. The Duke felt salvation in the life of a small bird. The more he stayed here, the more certain it was that solitude would devour him. He always sat near the window to see the invisible scenery.
There wasn’t much Carol could do for him. She couldn’t take him to the sea he liked, let him enjoy the leisurely hobby of reading a book on a yacht again, or give him sweet emotions to forget the bitter reality.
“The reason for giving this is…”
If she asked the Duke to take a walk in the garden with support, he would have flatly refused. So she prepared a cane in advance.
“If you first feel the way with a cane, you won’t bump into anywhere.”
“I see.”
“I will be right next to you until you get used to it.”
“…”
“Even if other places are like that, it’s a pity that you can’t even go to the garden behind the castle.”
All she could do was take him to the garden in the Duke’s Mansion, which the Duke somewhat liked.
“Didn’t you see the garden behind the castle on the way here…?”
The Duke questioned as he retraced his memory. Carol flinched momentarily.
The garden was only slightly visible from the Duke’s room, so it was hard to notice unless you knew it.
“Mrs. Wells told me. If you’re going out, a small garden would be better than a large one,”
“Is that so?”
Mrs. Wells never told her. It wasn’t even in the book.
She just remembered what the Duke had said when she stayed at the Duke’s Mansion as a bird. The Duke seemed to ponder for a moment. He seemed less resistant than she thought.
She had excluded all the reasons he could refuse in advance, but she thought he could refuse at once, and she was even thinking of persuading him for a long time.
It wasn’t just about going to the garden.
His departure from here meant a big change. Getting out of a comfortable prison.
[The garden behind is a garden only allowed for the Duke, and the flowers that bloom even in the severe winter are quite beautiful.]
She remembered the words the Duke had said in a low voice.
She wanted to give him back even a small fragment of the forgotten daily life. Not someone else, but herself.
“You’re quite a strategist, teacher.”
After a long silence, the Duke spoke. Her throat was dry at the words that seemed like a compliment, but didn’t seem like a compliment. Carol took a sip of the slightly cooled tea.
“Since the teacher has prepared everything, I can’t refuse.”
Besides, it was even part of the lesson.
The Duke scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. The tip of his hand holding the cane trembled faintly. He was speaking as lightly as possible, but Carol knew how heavy this decision was.
“So when would be a good time to go?”
Carol spoke as if his decision was a matter of course, hiding her excited voice. This result was obvious, but she wanted to give him some time to harden his heart.
But the Duke gave an unexpected answer.
“At the time the teacher set.”
I’m quite a diligent student.
****
With a determined momentum, Carol decided to go out today. Carol stood in front of the door for over 10 minutes. His hesitant steps were timid, unlike his large stature.
“I’m sorry.”
With an apology, he took a step.
The Duke had barely moved a step forward, but Carol was engulfed in a strange emotion.
“You don’t have to apologize to me.”
The corridor was quiet. Only the slow footsteps of the two and the thumping sound of the cane hitting the floor echoed.
The Duke’s steps were slow but steadily moving forward. He walked down the long corridor and down the stairs. Instead of going to the lobby, it was faster to go out through the back door.
He stood at the back door, not the huge front door. The back door was less burdensome, but the Duke couldn’t move as if he was stiff.
It was hard to go from the room to the corridor, but it was harder to go from indoors to outdoors.
When the door opened, the unique coldness of the north enveloped his body.
The winter he enjoyed with his whole body after a long time was warmer than he remembered. The Duke was moved just by standing here. The long-standing despair was swept away by the wind, just a little.
Carol looked at the Duke’s profile. For some reason, she felt like she was going to cry at the Duke’s face soaked in emotion.
“I’m thinking of doing a new lesson.”
“A new lesson?”
“This is just part of the lesson. There should be a next lesson.”
“Yes. I see. It’s just part of the lesson.”
“Yes.”
At the words that this was not the final goal, the Duke muttered in a drained voice.
It felt like a new world had opened up, but Carol reminded him that even this was just a passing lesson.
It wasn’t good to give too much meaning to trivial things. The more meaning it has, the more it will be buried in it.
Carol reminded the Duke that all this would become a natural life.
“Next time, we’ll do a tactile lesson. It’s about training the sense of your fingertips.”
At Carol’s words, the feeling of his feet, which seemed unable to move stiffly, seemed to lighten. As he listened to Carol’s explanation, the Duke was amazed anew.
“It’s amazing.”
“What is?”
“It’s as if you’ve prepared a curriculum just for me.”
“…That can’t be.”
She was flustered. He was just soaked in emotion and said it, but his words accurately pierced the truth.
“That means the teacher is great.”
With that said, the Duke’s jaw stiffened as he clenched his teeth.
Thud.
The cane tapped outside. And soon the Duke took a big step forward.
Cute 🥰😍