Failed to Train the Beast Male Lead

“Is sister home?”

The sound of her siblings returning could be heard.

Sometimes when you’re too surprised, even though you know you should act immediately, your body freezes up.

Unfortunately, this was one of those times. She should have gotten up right away and put on clothes, but she was so shocked that she just froze in place.

Thump, thump.

The sound of footsteps quickly drew near.

“If she’s not here, let’s head straight to the Duke’s residence.”

The two spoke gravely as they turned the doorknob of the front door.

Click.

Carol swallowed hard. What excuse should she make?

It seemed like anything she said would sound pitiful.

“Don’t worry.”

The Duke got up from the bed and straightened his clothes.

“What?”

“I’ll go out, and you can get dressed in the meantime.”

“Ah, yes.”

Only after the Duke went out and closed the door could Carol get up from the bed.

The Duke clicked his tongue softly and sat down in front of the cold tea they had left earlier.

However, before the front door opened, her siblings stopped in front of it.

“Hey! Has the Teacher thought about it?”

It was an unfamiliar voice. The voice of a woman who seemed to be of a mature age.

‘Teacher?’

In the Langer household, the only person who would be called “teacher” was Carol.

“What?”

As Kevin and Dylan stammered, the unfamiliar voice poured out words.

“When I mentioned Carol to the person I said I’d introduce, they said they wanted to meet her right away.”

“We haven’t heard anything about this…”

“Oh, what a pity. Giving her heart and youth to a nobleman will only end up hurting the teacher.”

Due to poor soundproofing, the neighbor’s voice could be heard clearly inside the house.

Kevin and Dylan could be heard fidgeting and making excuses, saying that wasn’t the case, in response to the neighbor’s well-meaning criticism.

Today’s timing continued to be bad, too bad.

“Have you heard such talk often?”

The Duke asked in a subdued voice.

“…Not often.”

“But it’s not the first time.”

“……”

At Carol’s silence, the Duke pressed his fingers against his furrowed brow.

As a Duke, he had never considered such talk before.

It was understandable. Who would dare say such things to the Duke’s face?

“You don’t need to worry about it too much.”

“…That’s hard for me to do.”

The Duke muttered, rubbing his face. When it came to Carol’s affairs, even the smallest things concerned him.

“I can’t be at ease at all. To think you’ve been hearing such things because of me, and I had no idea.”

The Duke was greatly shocked that Carol had heard such talk.

The Duke wasn’t unaware of the gossip that occurs when nobles and commoners meet.

But most of the harsh words come out when the relationship is inappropriate.

And since this wasn’t just a casual relationship, he never thought Carol would hear such things.

“It seems they’re asking like that even though they know about our relationship. How did you answer them?”

The Duke asked, not hiding his anxious appearance. Carol’s hand, which had been putting on clothes, stopped in mid-air.

“Well…”

She couldn’t say anything.

Though she didn’t answer, the Duke could infer the answer just from her hesitation.

“…I know it’s not true, but did you have even the slightest thought of meeting them? Leaving me?”

The Duke asked in an anxious voice. She had naturally expected him to laugh it off.

She knew the Duke liked her. However, Carol always thought that if emotions had weight, her feelings were heavier than the Duke’s.

“I didn’t say anything because I had no intention of meeting them.”

But perhaps that had been her misconception.

“It seems we might have more to discuss than I thought.”

The Duke murmured softly, staring towards the door.

The Duke stood up.

The one who opened the door first was neither Carol, nor Kevin or Dylan.

The Duke opened the door. Not Carol’s room door, but the front door.

Click.

As soon as the door opened, their eyes met. Kevin and Dylan, who must have heard the conversation from inside, awkwardly rolled their eyes.

The only one surprised was the neighbor who hadn’t heard the sound from inside the house due to her incessant chatter.

“Welcome.”

The neighbor was startled by the Duke’s greeting.

“Oh my!”

The neighbor looked at the Duke, belatedly surprised. Kevin and Dylan, seemingly calmer than before, bowed their heads in greeting.

“I felt a presence outside but no one was coming in, you see.”

At the Duke’s words as he leaned against the door, the neighbor swallowed hard. Her face had turned pale, as if recalling what she had just said. The neighbor didn’t seem to know exactly who the Duke was. But she seemed to sense danger upon seeing the Duke, who exuded an atmosphere clearly different from the typical nobles one might occasionally see in the capital.

“Um… You’re the person the teacher is seeing, right? I was just so worried about Teacher Carol…”

Though she rambled, the gist of the neighbor’s explanation was that everything was for Carol’s sake, and that she would never have done this if Carol had said she didn’t like it.

The Duke, who had been listening quietly, spoke in a light tone.

“What is there to worry about?”

“Pardon?”

“She didn’t tell you, I see? Even though you’re close neighbors.”

“…Pardon?”

The neighbor, still unable to grasp the situation, asked again.

The Duke smiled leisurely, as if he had never been anxious. For a moment, the neighbor stared at his handsome features as if enchanted.

“We’re in a relationship where we’re considering marriage, you see.”

“What?”

Everyone froze at the Duke’s bombshell statement.

Everyone except the Duke who had made the statement.

****

The house that the Duke and Carol left was quiet. Dylan and Kevin knew they needed to start preparing dinner diligently from now on to eat on time, but neither of them moved first.

That time, after the Duke and Carol boarded the carriage, Kevin and Dylan returned to their group.

[Is the Teacher alright?]

When Benjamin asked in a tearful voice, Bianca was reassuring him by saying, [Of course.]

[The Teacher suddenly felt unwell and left, she asked me to apologize to you.]

Benjamin didn’t seem to believe it easily, but perhaps thinking he couldn’t cry anymore here, he wiped his tears with his sleeve.

However, before they could guide them away, another child who had been quiet stopped Kevin and Dylan.

[Excuse me.]

[…Yes?]

The other child was standing next to the woman who had been with the Duke.

Come to think of it, the silver hair and red eyes reminded them of someone.

[I think I know what you’re thinking, but I’m from a branch of the Winternox family, staying at the main house thanks to the Duke’s kindness.]

Noah, who spoke intelligently, soon put his hands on his hips while looking at Kevin and Dylan.

[I see.]

[And it seems like things have escalated due to a misunderstanding you two had…!]

[Noah, I’ll explain.]

Elisha, who had been standing behind, stepped forward. Elisha introduced herself with a light bow.

[I’m Elisha Chesworth, the second daughter of the Chesworth family.]

[Yes.]

Despite Dylan’s stiff response, Elisha Chesworth calmly continued her explanation.

[I have a connection with the priest here, so I’m staying here, and the Duke often visits due to a request he entrusted to this temple.]

[But it was clearly said you were his fiancée…and that you would attend the banquet together…]

[Oh my. It seems a misunderstanding arose due to overlapping events.]

After hearing all of Elisha Chesworth’s explanation, Kevin and Dylan looked at each other with dumbfounded faces.

It was just a misunderstanding caused by pieces of information heard at incredibly unfortunate timing.

[The Duke only has eyes for Carol, so I hope you won’t misunderstand!]

The child spoke proudly as if he were the Duke himself.

And after coming back and hearing Carol’s explanation as well, the two realized they had completely jumped to conclusions.

Kevin was still feeling embarrassed.

But Dylan seemed to have already let go of all embarrassment.

Dylan, sprawled on the table, muttered with his eyes tightly shut.

“…Do you think I can get my sword back?”

Now that everything had been proven to be a misunderstanding, Dylan’s mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of his sword.

His sword that had been with him every night, every morning, in times of sadness and joy.

“So why did you suddenly give your sword back?”

At Kevin’s rebuke, Dylan flared up.

“You would have given yours too if you had one. We couldn’t help but misunderstand in that situation.”

“…That’s true, but still.”

Dylan, who had buried his head on the table again, suddenly lifted it, saying he had a good idea.

“If I can’t get my sword back, can we take turns sharing your sword?”

“Is your sword all you can think about?”

“There’s nothing to worry about now.”

Kevin sighed at Dylan’s response.

Sometimes they were treated the same because they were twins, and usually it was fine because they generally thought along similar lines. But whenever Dylan said something this stupid, it made Kevin angry.

He wondered if Dylan wasn’t curious about what had happened while they were gone that made the Duke even mention marriage.

Moreover, aside from the issue of getting the sword back or not, shouldn’t they formally apologize to the Duke?

“I’m not sharing my sword, so just keep worrying about yours.”

Kevin heaved a deep sigh.