Find a Tutor! (1)
"Nanny, are you listening to me?"
Catherine seemed annoyed that I wasn't even looking at her. She sat across from me, glaring.
I ignored her and patted Emilia's belly as the princess slept. It was her naptime.
"I didn't realize the head maid's position was so leisurely."
"Leisurely? I'm swamped! I carved out time just to spend with you!"
Catherine fired back in a rapid whisper, careful not to wake the princess.
"Why?"
"Why? Because I want to get closer to you, of course—"
She stopped mid-sentence and narrowed her eyes at me.
"You know, it seems like you don't know how to make friends."
"Pardon? Me?"
"Do you realize the other maids are afraid of you? They say you give off an icy chill!"
I tilted my head at her words.
Well, that's not the only reason.
The maids had started fearing me after the day the previous head maid was dismissed. Rumors spread that I'd shoved her to the floor and hurled insults.
Who started that rumor anyway?
I hadn't shoved her—she'd tripped on her own—and I certainly hadn't cursed at her.
"I have no obligation to be kind to the other maids."
Catherine raised an eyebrow at my reply.
"Be honest with me, Nanny."
She took a breath and whispered, "You don't have any friends, do you?"
"……"
"Oh my, look at that. You can't even answer. You really don't have any."
"…It's not that I don't have friends. I simply choose not to make them."
"What's wrong with making friends?"
She raised her voice. "Wouldn't it be nice to open up to someone? Don't you get lonely, keeping everyone at arm's length?"
Lonely, huh.
I'd spent decades unable to read even the closest person's true intentions. So what did loneliness matter?
Humans were always lonely. Whether alone or together.
That was the only truth I'd learned the moment my body burned to ash.
"The closer someone is, the more dangerous they become."
"What?"
"In a world where even family stabs you in the back, why assume friends won't?"
"Good grief. Anyone listening would think you've been betrayed by a friend."
"……"
Well, it wasn't a friend. It was a lover who drove a blade into my back.
"Still, I want to be close to you. Maybe even friends."
Catherine kicked her toes in frustration.
"You and I, friends?"
"Yes. Did you know we're the same age?"
Catherine was my age?
She looked barely in her early twenties, yet she was already thirty-three?
I stared at her in surprise. She beamed.
"Let's get along, fellow twenty-one-year-olds."
"…Fellow twenty-one-year-olds?"
Only then did I truly feel it again—I was no longer Kyla Angel.
Yes, the real Rachel Brown was just a twenty-one-year-old girl.
Twelve years younger. I suppose that's a windfall.
Who else could regain their youth without paying a price?
Then again, calling it free was hard to say, given how gruesome my final moments had been.
"Nanny? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. You just seem so young."
"Most people my age are married with children. It's not strange at all."
Catherine rested her chin on her hand, looking wistful.
"People without money like me marry late, but still…"
I found it odd. Catherine was the daughter of Viscount Veil. Even a cash-strapped noble family shouldn't struggle to find a match for their daughter.
"But you're a noble."
"Nobles come in different flavors. I'm a commoner-turned-noble."
She sighed deeply.
"My family used to be wealthy enough to buy a title, but not anymore."
"Why?"
"Father gambled away everything."
"I see."
Gambling ruined lives, as expected.
"That's why I'm still working at this age."
Catherine threw her arms up.
"I want to get married too! I want a bear-like husband and rabbit-like children, living happily ever after!"
"If marriage is what you want, why not try a matchmaker?"
"Absolutely not! I'm going to marry for love!"
"Is that so."
"Besides, I can't afford a matchmaker. I'm barely supporting my family as it is."
Catherine shook her head, pressing a hand to her forehead.
"At this rate, I won't even manage dating, let alone marriage. I came all the way to the capital to find a good man."
She shuddered as if the memory disgusted her.
"There wasn't a single decent one. All they cared about was chasing skirts."
Catherine spent a long while listing the flaws of men from her hometown. She kept the conversation flowing effortlessly on her own. At least my ears weren't bored.
"Oh, right!"
"What is it?"
"I forgot to bring snacks for His Highness Edwin."
Edwin was probably studying hard in the annex right now. Today was his weekly lesson day.
"You can give them to him after class. He doesn't particularly enjoy snacks anyway."
"Really?"
"No need to bring snacks."
"Kyaaah—! Y-Your Highness Edwin?"
Catherine shrieked at Edwin's sudden appearance. Thankfully, I'd covered Emilia's ears in time, so the sleeping princess didn't wake up crying.
"Hic, I-I'm sorry. Princess Emilia is sleeping!"
"It's fine."
That wasn't the issue right now.
"Your Highness, class isn't over yet. Why did you come out?"
"Ah, well…"
Edwin looked somewhat dejected. Instead of answering, he held out a letter.
"The teacher never showed up, so I kept waiting. Then a maid brought this."
The letter was filled with elaborate excuses, but the point was simple: the tutor was quitting.
"Quite the dramatic way to say they're done."
"What? They're quitting?"
Catherine's voice trailed off in disbelief.
"But they already took next month's tuition in advance last week!"
So they'd taken the money and run. The man should've been a merchant, not a scholar.
"What can I say to someone claiming family troubles?"
"But how will we find a new teacher?"
Catherine glanced at Edwin and whispered to me.
"Every noble with any learning turned us down. We barely managed to hire that one!"
"They turned you down? Why?"
"Why else? They're all obsessed with climbing the ranks."
Catherine shook her head in genuine irritation.
"They think tutoring a prince will land them a deanship at the academy someday. There's no bigger snob."
But Edwin was a prince with nothing. Not even the emperor's favor, and no guarantee of any important post in the future. Who would willingly take on such a prince as their student?
I turned to Edwin after hearing Catherine's words. He clutched a thick history book to his chest, looking utterly defeated. He was probably blaming himself again, thinking the tutor left because he was pathetic.
What to do.
Finding a tutor for the prince wasn't easy. Nobles with both clean reputations and exceptional scholarship were rare to begin with.
Let alone an orphan-turned-noble like "Rachel Brown" securing such a person—it was nearly impossible.
No choice, then.
I tossed the letter onto the table.
"Your Highness, do you need a teacher?"
But if it was "Kyla Angel," the story changed.
"If you do, I'll bring one."
After all, I had once led the continent's strongest assassin guild.
Before dawn.
I slipped out of the Third Prince's Palace and arrived at the castle gate used by attendants. The only gate that stayed open all day for shift changes.
Even at this early hour, it bustled with people heading home and others entering the palace.
"We're finally going?"
"Keep your voice down, Your Highness."
I raised a finger to the small hooded figure beside me. But Edwin couldn't hide his excitement.
Kids would be kids.
"What's all that luggage for?"
Edwin eyed the large pile of baggage on the carriage roof.
"Gifts for the person who will become Your Highness's teacher."
They weren't really gifts, but props we needed. He didn't have to know that.