Kooh…
Listening to the soft sound of breathing, Hestia closed her mouth and carefully got up from her seat.
As she turned off the lights and quietly stepped outside, she finally came face to face with Daisy, who was on her way to Leonhard’s room.
“The young master has just fallen asleep.”
“Is that so?”
On the tray in Daisy’s hand was a cup of warm cocoa.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
Daisy, who was about to turn back, stopped at Hestia’s call and willingly followed her.
Once inside her room, Hestia took a seat.
“Not long ago, the young master mentioned something strange. He said the tutor has been acting odd lately.”
“Did he mention it to you, my lady?”
Daisy showed a look of surprise and fell into thought for a moment. Eventually, she hesitated and said, “I was actually wondering if I should tell you about it… The truth is, four days ago, Baker, the tutor, came to see me.”
“He came to see you?”
“Yes, I thought there might be a problem during class, but that wasn’t the case.”
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
‘What do you plan to do from now on?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘With the Duke and Duchess passing away, we don’t know how the situation will change, do we? The young master is still young, and even though a baroness has been appointed as his guardian, I doubt how reliable she truly is. Depending on who you pledge your loyalty to, the future could change, right?’
‘That could lead to misunderstandings. I am solely loyal to the young master as his nanny. Who else would I pledge my loyalty to?’
‘…I see. I must have chosen the wrong person. Please forget what I just said.’
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
At that time, it had seemed so absurd that he was in anger, but looking back now, all of his words felt questionable.
“Did the tutor say anything to you, my lady…?”
As Daisy’s face filled with suspicion, Hestia shook her head.
“I’ve never met with Baker separately. I only learned about this from the young master just a moment ago.”
“I see. I apologize.”
“Are you aware of any inappropriate movements within the Duke’s household recently?”
“Inappropriate movements…?”
“There are forces targeting the young master.”
Daisy stared at Hestia with wide eyes. Hestia closely observed her reaction.
Daisy opened her mouth, only to twist her face in anger.
“Who on earth is it? How dare they target the young master…!”
She couldn’t contain her anger, forgetting that she was in front of Hestia.
‘She’s not a spy.’
From the atmosphere and the words she had spoken, it seemed she wasn’t an agent for anyone.
She was simply a loyal aide.
Hestia crossed Daisy’s name off from her list of suspects.
“I have a rough idea of who’s behind this, but I can’t tell who in the Duke’s household has colluded with them. That’s why I’m asking… can you help me?”
Daisy’s eyes wavered. She hesitated for a moment, contrasting with her earlier fury.
It seemed she didn’t fully trust her yet.
“You don’t have to believe everything I say. But if you find that my words are true with your own eyes, then please cooperate with me.”
“…Do you want to capture a spy, my lady?”
“Isn’t it only natural? The Duke’s household and even young Leonhard himself are threatened by these malicious forces. If we don’t uproot them in time, they will end up holding us back in the future.”
As Hestia spoke, her gaze was incredibly serious, and there wasn’t a hint of falsehood in it.
When Daisy’s long-time friend and mistress, Flora, passed away, she believed that only she could protect Leonhard.
And that belief remained unchanged; she had grown wary of any approaching person, questioning whether they had any hidden agendas.
To be honest, Hestia was one of those targets as well.
But if this was not a facade, could she not trust her?
In fact, Hestia’s actions so far had gradually begun to soften Daisy’s once-impenetrable heart.
“What should I do?”
With her decision made, Daisy’s eyes were resolute, and Hestia smiled slightly.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
“It’s finally over.”
As always, Baker headed toward the Duke’s household, fiddling with the letter he had received yesterday.
Not long after the Duke and Duchess passed away, Baker had received a certain proposal from someone.
It was to ensure that Leonhard receives basic education but not to be provided with high-quality education beyond a certain point.
This was meant to deliberately block information, preventing him from seeing the world and forcing him to depend on others, so that he would become a puppet in the future.
In short, it was a request to lay the foundation for making Leonhard a future puppet.
When he first received that proposal, he was puzzled and wondered why this person would propose such a thing, but the conditions they offered were far too tempting.
Baker dreamed of becoming a professor.
There were two main paths to becoming a professor: one is to start from the bottom by becoming a teaching assistant to a professor.
However, depending on which professor you meet, you could either become a professor early or remain a teaching assistant for a long time. Additionally, to become a teaching assistant, you also need connections.
The competition was almost 100 to 1.
The second option was to build your own career and get hired as a professor at an academy.
Usually, the experience here refers to the private education of noble children.
Especially when entrusted with the children of high-ranking nobility, your experience is highly valued, and later, you can become a professor faster through recommendations from those nobles compared to the first method.
When Baker was first selected as a tutor at the Winston household, he was overjoyed.
The contract with the Winstons was truly the best path to go directly toward becoming a professor.
He could only say he was lucky.
After about five years of earning money and building experience, he dreamed of becoming a formal professor with a recommendation from Duke Winston.
But then, unexpectedly, the Duke and Duchess had an accident and passed away, shattering his path.
Even though he didn’t have to stop being a tutor halfway through, a recommendation really only matters when it comes straight from the Duke.
Moreover, with the Duke and Duchess now deceased, the Duke’s household would no longer hold the same power as before.
Though there might be a way to secure a strong backing when Leonhard becomes the Duke in the future…
That would still take at least ten years.
He had chosen this method precisely because he wanted to become a professor quickly.
Above all, it was uncertain whether Leonhard could inherit the Duke’s title safely.
“I’m already anxious that I can’t pull him down now.”
The mere fact that they had made such a suspicious proposal to him was already a bad omen for Leonhardt.
Still, having taught him for two years, a bit of sympathy stirred within him, but…
“I’m not going to sacrifice my life for this.”
Leonhard was like a rotten rope for him.
If he clung to old feelings, there was a high chance they would both fall together. Baker did not want that.
He examined the letter again.
The letter contained a request for cooperation along with a recommendation from a famous scholar as a reward.
Baker had received various additional things, but for some reason, he felt a lingering guilt.
“Well, it can’t be helped. A bird in the hand is worth more than a bush.”
He tried to soothe his giult as he got down from the carriage. Looking up at the Duke’s residence, he felt a bit uneasy.
“Eh, what’s the worst that could happen? Maybe this is better for that kid.”
Living as someone’s puppet might not be too bad compared to blindly getting involved and ending up dead. At least he wouldn’t go hungry and could enjoy a decent life.
Justifying it to himself, Baker was on his way to the library as usual when someone appeared in front of him.
“Lady Frost is looking for you, Baker.”
At the unexpected mention of the name, Baker’s eyes widened.
He couldn’t help but smile.
“I knew it! She’s definitely not the type to just sit by.”
The guilt he had felt moments ago vanished without a trace as he adjusted his jacket.
“Lead the way.”
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
“I’m Hestia Frost. We met once before, didn’t we?”
“Yes, Lady Frost. I heard you were looking for me.”
“I have something to discuss with you, Mr. Baker. Please, have a seat.”
Baker felt a surge of excitement at her warm demeanor.
“Are you having any trouble teaching the young lord?”
“No, it’s fine. He’s so talented that it’s quite easy to teach him.”
“Is that so? But when I visited him yesterday, he seemed more busy playing than doing his homework. I was worried he might fall behind in his studies.”
“Oh… You don’t need to worry too much. I’m the one who hasn’t assigned him any homework. He’s keeping up well in class.”
“That’s a relief. I was starting to think the young lord might not be interested in studying, which would be a bit… disappointing.”
At her vague words, Baker’s eyes sharpened.
He closely observed Hestia’s face, noticing a hint of disappointment.
“Excuse me, but do you perhaps wish the young lord wouldn’t attend classes?”
“Does it seem that way? I feel embarrassed to show such a poor side to you, teacher. Please forget it.”
Hestia looked flustered and tried to change the subject, but Baker seized the opportunity.
“But you’re the young lord’s guardian. You have every right to interfere with his studies. If you have any requests, please feel free to speak up.”
“Um…”
“The young lord is still young, so the kind of education he receives could shape his future mindset. For instance, he might lose interest in the Duke’s responsibilities or matters of the territory.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I’m saying that if you really wanted to, you could have complete control over this Duke’s family for the rest of your life.”
Hestia was left speechless.
In Baker’s eyes, it seemed she had never thought of it that way before.
‘But look at those eyes.’
Didn’t they start to boil with desire?
The atmosphere that had been innocent moments ago transformed in an instant.
And he had encountered such situations before.
“That’s quite an ingenious suggestion. Is that really possible?”
“All it takes is some consistent reinforcement. If we create an environment where the young lord can’t think for himself and relies on you, it’s entirely possible.”
“But if he continues to attend classes, his critical thinking will improve, and it won’t be so easy to brainwash him as you say.”
“Actually, I’ve been considering that point too, so I’ve been slowing down the curriculum lately and only teaching the very basics.”
“…Are you serious already?”
“I figured you might be interested in my suggestion, so I laid the groundwork early on.”
“Hmph.”
Hestia cleared her throat awkwardly, but her sidelong glance was full of expectation.
