🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 10
“Please assign me another teacher. Someone who doesn’t hit me.”
I wanted to say it more boldly, but when I said “doesn’t hit,” my throat tightened and my voice cracked.
“Is that all you want? If it were me, I would’ve cut off their arms and legs and thrown them into the lake.”
“And also…”
El’s gaze slowly turned toward Madam Emilen.
The woman who had always seemed so strong now looked disheveled, her hair wild, screaming like a banshee.
“Say it.”
Caron brushed El’s chin lightly with his fingertip, forcing her to face him.
“Please drive Madam Emilen away.”
“To where? Hell?”
“The monastery.”
“The monastery, hm. A little dull, but you’ve thought it through rather cleverly.”
Caron’s eyes curved slightly, and then his lips brushed against El’s hair before pulling away quickly.
“I’ll grant you that wish.”
A knight dragged Madam Emilen out. Her shrieks grew fainter until, with the sound of a door closing, they disappeared completely.
Only Caron and El remained in the room.
El felt suffocated by Caron’s presence, his face so close she could feel his breath.
She wanted to say a hundred times over, How could you be so beautiful?
The duke’s expressionless face was elegant, but just now, his smile had been so dazzling that she would’ve offered her soul in exchange.
El remembered a day when the orphanage director had sent her out in the dead of winter to buy flour, her hands frozen stiff.
There had been some sort of charity event that day, and under the tents, rare goods never seen in the slums were displayed.
That day, El had been completely overwhelmed by a massive painting. It was so beautiful.
It was the first true work of art she had ever seen.
Of course, she had been beaten until her back bled for coming home late, but she couldn’t get the image of that painting out of her head. For days and nights she lay awake, heart racing.
“Lord Caron.”
It felt the same now. Overwhelmed.
“Take it off.”
“…Pardon?”
It felt as if cold water had been dumped over her. When El hesitated, Caron untied the ribbon around her waist himself.
The soft fabric slid from his elegant hands and fell to the floor.
What in the world was happening?
So this was what it meant to become a concubine? Was this the price he wanted? But she was skinny, plain, hardly attractive… Maybe his tastes were strange? A jumble of confused thoughts swirled inside her.
But then Caron lifted her effortlessly and sat her on a chair. Following his gaze downward, El finally understood why he had undressed her.
“I’m fine, really.”
“I never asked if you were fine, so you don’t need to answer.”
As he murmured, Caron examined the wounds on her legs. Without waiting for a reply, he began carefully checking her injuries one by one.
Then he pulled out an ointment and slowly, gently applied it to her wounds.
“I really am fine. Truly…”
A duke kneeling before me, tending to my wounds? El felt as though she might explode and vanish on the spot.
“A maid came to me asking for help. Said something must’ve happened to you.”
“Enna did?”
Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen Enna, who usually came in right after lessons ended.
El could imagine how much she must have trembled while speaking. She didn’t need to see it to know.
A rush of gratitude toward Enna welled up, and El felt tears sting her eyes again.
“Does it hurt?”
Caron’s hand paused.
“N-no. I’m just… grateful.”
Caron chuckled softly at her words. So naïve.
In truth, it had been a lie. Enna hadn’t said anything. Caron had only gone to see how the lesson was going.
He had mentioned Enna intentionally—because it was part of his plan.
He couldn’t have El running away before his plan had even begun.
Caron knew well that he himself wasn’t someone others wanted to stay beside.
The words he always heard were things like “demon,” “monster,” “cold-blooded.”
But Enna would be different.
If Enna became El’s weakness, then by extension, Caron would hold that weakness in his hands.
So that El couldn’t leave so easily.
“Crying’s actually good. It’s like coughing. Cry as much as you need.”
As he spoke, Caron’s face grew faintly shadowed. Though he acted indifferent, El could see the darkness within him at times—like now.
The Duke of Pheros that El had heard about was a selfish, cold-blooded demon who cut down anyone without mercy, a mad beast who went to war in a frenzy for blood.
That was the common opinion. Fearsome. Terrifying. Powerful.
But El couldn’t help but doubt that the man before her was the same man people gossiped about.
“Lord Caron, have you ever cried?”
“A long time ago.”
“But you said crying was good. Why haven’t you cried since then?”
“There are old men who’d pick a fight even if you only cough.”
It was a joking answer, but El didn’t laugh.
“…I must be getting more and more impudent.”
“A little impudence is necessary.”
“……”
El swallowed back the question she had wanted to ask.
Caron stayed silent as well, applying ointment to the needle scars on her hands.
El thought she might never get used to this sight.
Why are you being kind to me? All I have to offer you is a poor, shabby soul.
“That can’t be!”
Having redressed and gone to meet Enna, El was shocked by the news she heard. She rushed straight to the study and dropped to the floor in a full bow.
“El. This is an important matter.”
Caron’s tone was as indifferent as ever, but the way he spoke her name felt strangely gentle—almost soothing.
The old butler, puzzled, glanced at Caron before bowing again.
“But please, my lord… the butler has done nothing wrong!”
The shocking news was this: the old butler was to be dismissed for attempting to cover up what had happened to El.
The study’s atmosphere was like thin ice—except for Caron, who remained unchanged.
Even as he spoke of dismissing the man who had served him loyally for years, his expression didn’t flicker. He looked only bored, as if dealing with something tedious.
“El. Raise your head.”
His voice was calm, but it carried a subtle pressure.
Trembling, El lifted her head to meet his gaze.
“Please… I can’t bear the thought of him being cast out because of me.”
“It isn’t because of you. It’s because of his mistake.”
“But surely the butler didn’t know the situation clearly…”
“……”
Instead of replying, Caron took her arm and pulled her to her feet. When she staggered, his strong arm steadied her, wrapping briefly around her.
Once she regained her balance, he stepped back as if nothing had happened.
El stared at the single step of distance that now separated them, then spoke again.
“Madam Emilen always locked the doors during lessons. Today was the first time I ever admitted I was in pain. I never made a sound before, so this must be the first time the butler realized what was happening.”
“Is that the truth?”
“……”
The old butler didn’t answer. Even if he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have spoken.
Because he believed that was the choice best for Pheros.
“I’ll ask again. El wishes to grant you mercy. Will you accept it?”
The meaning had shifted completely. His innocence no longer mattered—only El’s will now gave him a chance.
The butler’s eyes trembled as he glanced at El.
El stood stiffly, lips pressed tight, clearly displeased by Caron’s phrasing of mercy.
But the butler didn’t deliberate long. He turned fully to El and bowed.
“…I accept. I will ensure this never happens again.”
“Why to me…?”
“Thank you for your mercy, my lady.”
This isn’t what I wanted. Even as regret burned inside her, it was too late.
El swallowed her disgust and nodded faintly.
Now, she had become exactly what she once both admired and despised—a noble, making others bow their heads under the name of mercy.
In truth, the punishment placed on commoners had always been far too heavy.
“Three months’ reduced pay, then.”
“Thank you.”
“You may go.”
At Caron’s words, both the butler and El bowed and turned to leave.
“El. You stay.”
“M-me?”
At his words, El stiffened, nervous.
Hadn’t everything been settled already? Did he want to test her lessons so far? Wild speculations swirled in her mind.
“We have something to discuss.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You said today was the first time you admitted you were in pain.”
“……”
“And you never asked me for help.”
“I didn’t want to… disappoint you, my lord.”
El folded her hands and bowed her head deeply.
It stung. She had wanted to prove herself useful. That was how she thought she could repay his kindness.
Caron leaned closer, locking eyes with her.
“Right now, the fact you keep calling me ‘my lord’ is more disappointing.”
“Ah— I’m sorry…”
His tone carried a playful edge, which made El fluster without realizing it.
At times, he revealed sides of himself to her that no one else ever saw. Like now.
“You apologize at the drop of a hat—what am I supposed to say to that?”
“O-oh, then I’m sorry for—”
“Yes, it is something to be sorry for. For enduring pain. For not asking me for help. For all of it.”
“…?”
But those weren’t things she felt sorry for. Still, El closed her mouth and just blinked innocently.
Her instincts told her that when someone powerful said incomprehensible things, the safest response was to look harmless and a little clueless.
“You’ll stay confined to your room for a week as punishment.”
…What? El barely swallowed the protest that rose to her lips.
But still, confinement for that felt far too harsh.
(To be continued in the next Chapter)
