Failed to Train the Beast Male Lead

“Sigh…”

There was still some time until morning. Carol tried to relax her tense expression and replied.

“I’m really not angry. I just thought it might be boring waiting until morning.”

“Then shall we read a book?”

“A book? What…?”

“That book from earlier.”

“…Pardon?”

“Haha.”

The Duke let out a low laugh.

“I told you that book would be boring for you.”

“The title of that boring book earlier, you made it up, didn’t you?”

Carol was flustered by the Duke’s observation. She thought she had hidden it well, but when did he notice?

“…How did you know?”

“Your answer just now confirmed it.”

The Duke’s proud admission of his bluff was annoying.

“Anyway, that book…! No way!”

Carol emphasized again, embarrassed. Her reaction made it easy to guess what kind of book it was.

“Alright. I understand.”

If he teased her more, she might really get angry.

Because the Duchess rarely goes out after the Duke became a monster, the mansion contained many unexpected items. The book Carol saw was likely a possession of a Duchess from several generations ago.

The Duke wanted to explain but kept quiet, fearing it might embarrass her more if he showed he knew.

“Sigh.”

Meanwhile, Carol had made up her mind on what to do.

Since the Duke couldn’t see, she would keep her distance and leave through the window as soon as it got light to call for help.

‘It’s fortunate that I can speak when I transform into a bird now.’

Although she couldn’t call for people as a bird, Norman and Mrs. Wells would quickly notice the Duke’s absence, as he said.

‘Then I can hide in an empty room and wait until evening.’

Mrs. Wells had even left spare dresses there, so she would have clothes to wear.

She could hide her current clothes behind the firewood stacked by the door.

They might find her behavior suspicious, but she could say she fell asleep in the room she was shown earlier due to fatigue.

‘If he can’t see anything, I can just insist on my story.’

Having finished her planning, Carol tried to ease her anxiety.

Crackle, crackle.

In the quiet stillness, she could hear the wind blowing and the firewood burning in the fireplace.

Suddenly, she felt as if they were the only two people left in the world.

“Hehe.”

And strangely, that thought didn’t feel unpleasant.

“Why are you laughing?”

“…It’s nothing.”

“Don’t worry too much. They’ll come soon in the morning.”

The Duke repeated this, thinking Carol was still anxious.

It was pathetic that he could only offer such words to someone he cared for.

“I’m not worried anymore.”

“You seemed quite flustered earlier, though.”

“I was just too surprised, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, but it was a situation worth being surprised about.”

“You weren’t surprised, though.”

“If I had been surprised too, we’d have been in a state of panic.”

“That’s true.”

“I’ll take responsibility and apologize to your siblings as well.”

“You don’t need to go that far, Duke.”

“You were flustered because of your siblings, so I should take responsibility for at least that much.”

It was just an excuse. Her siblings had stopped doubting the Duke’s Mansion after visiting once. They probably wouldn’t worry much even if she didn’t return today, seeing the weather. It would be more dangerous to travel in this weather anyway.

“…Why do you go so far?”

Unintentional kindness sometimes struck deeply.

That must be why this question escaped her lips without permission.

“Go so far with what?”

“…Being so good to me.”

It wasn’t intentional, and it was just an unavoidable situation that had occurred.

“Because you’re important to me, Teacher.”

“…People might think the rumors from the capital are all true.”

Her heart raced more because he said it as if it were obvious. Isn’t it inevitable to develop feelings for someone who declares you important without a hint of doubt?

Carol felt quite wronged. Although she had developed feelings on her own, the Duke wasn’t entirely blameless.

“That would be troublesome.”

“…”

“Let’s talk about something else.”

She couldn’t bring herself to ask why it would be troublesome.

She had already crossed a line.

“Shall we?”

Carol, tired from trying to calm her racing heart, quickly agreed.

The Duke took a sip of mulled wine.

“Come to think of it, we’ve been talking a lot about Noah lately.”

“That’s true.”

Noah had instantly become the hottest topic between them. While the Duke knew nothing about children, Carol had two younger brothers.

“I’m glad he likes the gifts.”

“I didn’t know you had prepared such gifts without my knowledge.”

“Your gift was quite good too.”

“…Somehow that makes me feel a bit upset.”

Carol drank some cold tea instead of mulled wine.

“It wouldn’t have happened without you, Teacher.”

“I only suggested giving a gift.”

“Yes, let’s leave it at that.”

The Duke said smoothly with a smirk.

“You’re being annoyingly smug.”

Carol grumbled to hide her blushing face.

“Don’t view me too negatively. I said that because I wanted to hear from you that I’m doing well.”

Sincerity that slips out after suppressing emotions is more worrying and attention-grabbing than outright crying. Especially if it’s from someone you like.

“…What are you so worried about?”

“I’ll have to tell the child about the curse someday.”

“…I suppose so.”

“It’s natural for a child’s world to expand, but that fact…”

The Duke trailed off. The wider the world becomes, the more confined the room will feel when the curse manifests in the future.

The mood became heavy as the topic of the curse came up.

The Duke still showed no changes. After waiting this long, for there to be no change at all…

‘It’s a complete failure.’

As her expectations crumbled, Carol felt deflated. She hugged her knees and rested her chin on them.

Instead of comforting the Duke, Carol posed a question.

“Why do you think you were cursed?”

“…I’ve never really thought about the reason properly.”

“Is that so?”

“I was too busy trying to solve the curse or resenting it.”

“I sometimes wondered about that.”

“About what?”

“With curses being so varied, why this particular type of curse?”

The types of curses were broad and diverse.

For a curse lasting hundreds of years, they could have simply annihilated the family. Yet the Winternox family was still thriving.

It wasn’t like they were born with the curse either.

The curse seemed almost like it was giving an opportunity.

An opportunity to break free from this curse.

But this was just speculation, so she didn’t voice it. She didn’t want to appear as if she was making casual guesses to someone actually experiencing the curse.

“Yes. But what use is it, whatever we think?”

“…”

“I gave up at some point, since we can’t know if it’s close to the truth or not.”

The Duke’s tone was as dry as a withered branch.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, it’s fine. Do you know something?”

“What?”

“People in this family no longer question the curse. It’s close to giving up.”

“…”

“The family has also become adept at dealing with the head of the household turning into a monster.”

“But it’s a different person who gets cursed each time, isn’t it?”

It’s the first time experiencing the curse for that person, and even if they knew about it, the pain wouldn’t be any less.

Carol’s voice was tinged with emotion.

“Still, I’m better off.”

“…How on earth are you better off?”

The curse is still intact.

“Because I have you, Teacher.”

“…”

The weight of the Duke’s words was so heavy that Carol couldn’t respond for a moment.

As if not intending to burden her, the Duke murmured his next words softly.

“Stagnant water only rots. And you are the water that flowed in.”

“I’m not that great.”

After all, Carol had once tried to ignore the Duke’s curse even after knowing about it.

“At first, I thought it was modesty.”

“…”

“But now, it seems like you sometimes try hard to be an insignificant presence to me.”

“That’s not it…”

“If it’s burdensome because you’re not trying, I’d understand, but that’s not it, is it?”

She didn’t expect him to see through her so sharply. Like a child caught with a secret, she clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly.

“I haven’t even broken the curse.”

Her voice was filled with pain.

The Duke will never know the weight of these words.

How could she tell him that she had actually read a novel about him, knew the method, but ruined it with her own hands?

She couldn’t tell him that even the clue she had just found had vanished futilely.

“For hundreds of years, countless scholars, sorcerers, and priests were invited to try to break the curse, but we didn’t know the conditions to break it. It’s not something you could solve in a short time, Teacher.”

“…I know.”

Carol pressed her lips tightly. There were too many things she couldn’t explain, making further conversation meaningless.

The Duke didn’t want to forcibly continue the conversation with Carol, who was showing she didn’t want to talk anymore.

The conversation ended on an uncomfortable note.

“Teacher, I…”

The Duke disliked this distance. He wanted to hold onto her as she drifted away again whenever he tried to close the gap even a little.

“I thought you were somewhat like me.”

“…In what way?”

Although she had decided to hide it, the Duke didn’t know.

He didn’t know that an overgrown heart sometimes bursts out without permission from reason.