Chapter 4

How had she even made it back to her room?

By the time Agnes came to her senses, she was holding a heavy box in her hands.

Kesenor had practically forced it into her arms when she left the drawing room.

Inside the box he had said Amy sent was a fortune in gold coins.

There was an astonishing amount of money.

Even if Agnes quit her position as a governess immediately, it would be enough for her entire family to live on for at least a year without any difficulty.

Agnes murmured blankly.

“Amy got all of this from a dragon’s lair…”

She looked down at the back of the hand where the leaf had appeared, but there was nothing there now.

Before leaving the drawing room, Agnes remembered what Kesenor had said.

“I intend to stay here for a while.”

“Miss Agnes, I came all the way here from the far north solely because of you.”

“If there is anything you wish to know, come find me anytime.”

Her head felt as though it might burst from all the complicated thoughts swirling inside it.

When she needed to organize her thoughts, Agnes found it best to repeat simple, familiar actions.

As usual, she washed herself, then removed the sleeves of the dress she had dirtied while chasing after the twins during the day and replaced them with clean ones.

The maids would do the laundry for her, but they hated being asked to handle little bothersome tasks like this.

After changing into her nightclothes, Agnes lay down on the bed.

The small room she had been given.

The familiar ceiling.

The familiar texture and scent.

Everything was exactly the same as always, and yet…

“Haha…”

So what?

No matter how absurd the whole thing sounded, Amy was alive.

She was safe.

She wasn’t injured.

Agnes smiled foolishly to herself before taking out the letter written by Rupert and Amy.

The moment she saw it, the tears she had been holding back burst forth uncontrollably.

Agnes ended up sobbing loudly like a child.

She had no idea when she eventually fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes again, morning had already arrived.

Her eyes were swollen when she looked in the mirror.

She looked dreadful, yet she couldn’t stop smiling.

Even the food she had barely been able to eat more than half of lately was completely finished today.

In high spirits, Agnes even hummed as she headed toward the twins’ study room.

As expected, they weren’t there.

She looked outside.

The weather was beautiful, so she hadn’t really expected them to be inside anyway.

“Those hopeless little troublemakers.”

After sighing, Agnes went outside.

Brilliant sunlight spread across the grounds outside the mansion.

It was spring already.

She hadn’t even noticed until now, but the entire world was covered in fresh greenery.

Colorful flowers bloomed proudly among the thick bushes, while the cheerful songs of little birds filled the air.

It was probably the same scenery as yesterday.

And yet, it felt completely different.

“How can everything feel so different…?”

Even if Amy returned, House Laverose would still be struggling.

Her father’s debts were simply too enormous.

And yet, the world seemed filled with joy.

The only thing that had changed was the hope that Amy would return.

With light footsteps, Agnes began searching the places where the twins were likely to hide.

“Not here either.”

She searched beneath the trees the twins liked and through the bushes where they often hid, but there was no sign of them anywhere.

“Leonard! Cedric!”

Even when she called out loudly, there was no answer.

Usually, the children would giggle even if she merely came close, just because they wanted to make things difficult for her.

“Should I call the servants?”

Just as she was beginning to worry that something might have happened—

A hand suddenly emerged from the thick bushes and pulled Agnes inside.

“…!”

She was about to let out a startled cry when she saw who had grabbed her.

Agnes breathed heavily and called out to him.

“Marquess?”

“Good morning, Miss Agnes.”

Unlike yesterday, Kesenor was dressed casually.

He wore a navy shirt that clung to his body along with matching trousers, while his long hair was neatly tied back to keep it from becoming tangled.

Unlike the constricting clothes he had worn yesterday, his solid physique was much more noticeable now.

“Ah…”

Agnes realized just how close she was standing to him, and her face flushed.

His face was right in front of hers.

He had wrapped an arm around her waist to keep them hidden in the bushes, pressing their upper bodies together so closely that she could even feel his warmth through their clothes.

Startled, Agnes tried to pull away immediately.

“…!”

But he didn’t let her go.

Instead, he merely tightened the arm around her waist.

“M-Marquis!”

As Agnes flustered, he lowered his head and whispered into her ear.

“Have you thought about what we discussed yesterday?”

She hadn’t had the time.

An unbelievable story that she couldn’t even properly grasp was nowhere near as important as the fact that Amy and Rupert were alive.

Seeing Agnes’s dazed expression, he twisted his lips into a smile and pointed toward a tree some distance away.

Its leaves were shaking unnaturally.

“Weren’t you looking for those children?”

“Those little brats! I told them it was dangerous!”

The moment Agnes tried to rush out, he caught her again.

At this point, shouldn’t she be angry at him for being so rude?

Just as she hesitated, he asked:

“What are you going to do?”

“This happens quite often.”

“I could use magic to bring them down.”

“It’s all right. I’m their teacher, after all.”

Only then did he release Agnes.

But Agnes didn’t immediately run toward the tree.

She hesitated for a moment.

Because of her family’s circumstances, Agnes had never had a debutante ball or attended any parties.

People usually danced pressed fairly close together at balls, so perhaps this degree of physical contact wasn’t actually unusual?

Would it be all right if I asked him not to do that?

She worried that he might think she was some unsophisticated country girl.

But after brushing the grass clinging to her skirt, Agnes finally spoke.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch me so casually next time. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“Oh, I see…”

He seemed about to apologize, but Agnes shook her head and hurried toward the tree.

For some reason, she could feel the back of her neck prickling.

Trying her best not to think about it, Agnes slipped into the thick bushes and slowly made her way forward.

Climbing a tree was nothing special.

Agnes took off her shoes and skillfully began climbing.

The memories of running around every corner of her family’s estate as a child still remained in her body.

“You little troublemakers!”

A shower of hazelnuts came tumbling down beneath the tree.

Apparently, the twins had planned to drop them on her when she walked underneath.

The children were startled when they realized Agnes had found them and began shouting.

“How did you know?! We didn’t even make a sound!”

“I told you not to climb trees because it’s dangerous, didn’t I? If you do this one more time, I’ll make you write one hundred pages of Imperial history!”

“No!”

“That’s cruel! How are we supposed to write all that?”

“Stay up all night and write it! Or would you rather I report this to the Countess?”

“That’s mean! Agnes is a witch!”

“If you don’t like it, then go ahead and try to get me fired! Do you think you’ll find another governess? If no one else comes, you’ll have to go to boarding school! You’ll have to share a tiny room with a roommate and wake up at six every morning for exercises!”

“No!”

Agnes sent the children down first before climbing down herself.

Her hair was completely disheveled, and her dress was stained brown, probably from tree sap.

She brushed the leaves clinging to her clothes and sighed.

The “Marquess” had probably seen her like this.

She couldn’t see him because he was hidden behind the bushes, but she had the feeling he was still standing there.

What on earth does he think of me…?

Not only was she a noble lady working as a governess, she had also climbed a tree without the slightest hesitation.

Well, what can I do? There’s nothing shameful about working hard for my family.

Agnes returned to the study room and made the two children sit down.

They were still sulking.

Whether they liked it or not, Agnes opened a book on the table.

It was History of the Empire, Volume Two.

“Continuing from yesterday, we’re going to study the reign of the fourth emperor, Roberto Cadium. Cedric, what did we learn yesterday?”

“I don’t know! I don’t remember!”

“You need to speak respectfully.”

Agnes glared at him sternly.

Cedric flinched and sat properly in his chair.

“Teacher…”

“What did we learn yesterday?”

“…”

“All right. If you don’t remember, Leonard?”

“You said there were repeated large and small battles with the demi-human races.”

“Good. You remembered well.”

The children were excessively mischievous, but once lessons actually began, they participated reasonably well.

That was because the Countess personally checked their grades every month and had threatened to send them to boarding school if their test scores were too low.

They hated studying, but they had no choice but to do it.

And perhaps that was why they kept running away and hiding in the forest—to avoid something they were forced to do.

“Yesterday, I told you that Emperor Roberto’s reign was extremely important. That was because he finally managed to resolve the long-standing conflict with the demi-human races. Human territory would be limited to the center of the continent, while the demi-human races would be allowed to retain their own territories. In other words, they established a non-aggression pact.”

Just as Agnes was in the middle of explaining—

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

Thinking it might be a maid bringing refreshments, Agnes opened it.

Kesenor was standing outside.

“Marquess?”

“If you don’t mind, may I sit in on your lesson?”

“Is there something you need?”

In response, he lowered his head and whispered softly into Agnes’s ear.

“I’m curious about you.”

“…!”

When Agnes looked up at him in surprise, he gave her a gentle smile.

Heat rose to her cheeks.

“Perhaps it’s because I’m a mage, but I can’t stand leaving things I’m curious about unexplored.”

For a moment, Agnes couldn’t understand what he meant.

She simply froze, staring into his eyes.