ISGJV 17

Chapter 17

“Uh….”

I stood there, dazed, unable to make sense of the situation.
Then Edmund, looking quite upset, stood up and strode over quickly.
Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?

Edmund seemed to brush past me, and then an unexpected sound came from behind me.
Click.
The sound of the door locking.

Actually, it wasn’t strange at all.
We had been holding our lessons in secret, and Edmund’s comings and goings in the library were meant to be kept quiet.
So we always made sure to lock the door.

But why does the sound of the door locking feel so ominous today?

I creaked and turned around.
Edmund stood by the door like a herder blocking the escape route.
And suddenly, he spoke.

“No.”
“Huh? What’s not?”

His usually pale face turned bright red again, as red as a strawberry or tomato, enough to make anyone exclaim, “Oh my, isn’t that bright?”
I began to worry a little.

“Um, if it’s too hard, we could just postpone the lesson…”

I didn’t want to force someone struggling with trauma to study first.

Even if I have the soul of a Korean, that’s still a bit…

But Edmund shook his head vigorously.

“That’s not it! You’re not scared!”
“…Am I not?”

But didn’t he say that last time too?
It seemed like he could read everything from my expression.
Edmund bit his lip slightly and, looking down, answered.

“I’m not scared of you. You’ve never done anything to deserve that.”
“Yeah. That’s true… I guess.”

But trauma isn’t always directed only at abusers.
Often, seeing someone with even a slight resemblance to the person can trigger it.

So being around me frequently might have been difficult for Edmund.

I’m an older woman than him, managing the villa, and giving lessons.

Looking back, there were quite a few overlaps between me and Moretti.

“Well, thinking about Moretti, it wouldn’t be weird if you didn’t like taking lessons from an older woman.”

I still believed lessons were necessary, but there was no need to push it.

Even after I explained that I was only trying to be considerate, Edmund snapped angrily.
His pretty face scrunched up.

“No! I’ve never been scared of Moretti either!”
“Ah, right. I see… Our Edmund is very brave.”

Of course, a boy his age wouldn’t honestly admit he was scared.
I activated my “Aww, poor little guy” mode.

Sadly, this only made Edmund angrier.
He tugged at his bow tie in frustration.

“I’m just saying it’s not true because it’s not true!”
“Yeah, yeah. About that…”

Then Edmund’s piercing words hit me straight in the chest.

“You’re the same age as me! Why would you be scared of a girl like that?!”
“….”

I kept forgetting.

Oh, right. I’m fourteen.
‘Kasia’ is just a kid, not much older or different from Edmund.

I pouted, lips sticking out in a duck-face expression.

“No, I’m actually a year older than you.”

Edmund scoffed and moved even closer.

“Only two months left.”
“Huh? For what?”
“My birthday.”

Edmund’s birthday.

“After my birthday, I’ll be fourteen too. Same age as you.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“And you don’t resemble Moretti at all. I hated and disliked Moretti, but I was never scared!”

Edmund emphasized again that he wasn’t afraid.
Then I suddenly wanted to ask something.
Before I could organize my thoughts, the words came out.

“So what about me?”
“…What?”
“You said you hated and disliked Moretti. What about me?”

Edmund froze.
He seemed to forget what he was doing.
Unconsciously, he blurted out a single word and stopped.

“Good…”
“Good?”

Wasn’t that too short?
I tilted my head. Edmund looked shocked, as if surprised at his own words.

What? Surely he wasn’t going to say something bad?

He covered his blazing red face with his hands.
Then, in an embarrassed voice, he continued.

“I don’t… like you!”

Hmm. Still, compared to his reaction when we first met, full of suspicion, this was much better.
I smiled slightly and asked.

“So that means you don’t hate me or dislike me, right?”

Edmund couldn’t respond.
His lips moved a little, but only a deflated sound came out.
Still, I smiled and nodded.

“That’s enough.”

Then one thought struck me.

“Then why did you say you were scared I’d grab you by the collar? Do I look like someone who would do that?”

I put a hand on my hip and pointed at his nose.
The boy looked visibly embarrassed.

“Th-That’s…”

But I wasn’t going to let it slide without a proper answer.

Character education is important too!

I pressured him silently, waiting for a response.
Finally, Edmund gave a tiny, mosquito-like reply.

“I… was just embarrassed, so I acted bratty.”

I crossed my arms and lifted my chin.
Edmund’s expression became even more uneasy.

“That’s all?”
“That’s it! Just…”
“That’s not it!”
“Huh?”

I stomped my shoe on the floor with a crisp tap!—Focus!
Edmund’s shoulders twitched.

“If you’ve finished explaining, don’t you have something to say?”
“Someth-… to say?”

Clearly, his education hadn’t been complete, not just in knowledge but in character.

No wonder he turned out so difficult when he grew up.

This was my last chance to carefully mold Edmund’s character as the “final boss.”

I explained step by step, using a tone similar to when I taught lessons.

“You knew I wouldn’t really harm you, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“But if you said something bad out of spite, what should you do first?”

Edmund seemed a little resistant to my childlike coaxing tone.
But he knew it wasn’t the time to get angry, so he didn’t answer.
After a brief silence, he finally admitted it.

“…Apologize.”
“Correct.”

I unclasped my arms and stood in my usual relaxed posture, waiting.
Waiting for Edmund to do what he needed to.

The boy, as if apologizing for the very first time in his life, looked extremely embarrassed—but he did it.

“…I’m sorry.”
“You’re welcome.”

I smiled back at him.

From that day on, Edmund no longer hid behind the curtains to attend my lessons.
He sat in front of me, pen and notebook in hand, taking the lessons seriously.
Teaching while seeing his expressions directly made me feel good.

That day would have been perfect…
If not for that incident.

We were in the middle of the lesson.
Afternoon sunlight slanted through the dust-covered windows.
Just as I was about to note how bright it was,

It’s dazzling.

My vision turned completely white.
I thought I even heard a high-pitched ringing.
Thud!—the sound of a chair tipping over. Fast footsteps approaching. And then…

“KASIA!!!”

Edmund’s worried shout was the last thing I heard before losing consciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling.

Huh? This ceiling looks familiar.

Right. It was my room’s ceiling.

What? I was clearly having a lesson with Edmund in the library…?

Unable to make sense of the situation, I tried to sit up—but something felt wrong.

“Huh?”

Plop! As soon as I sat up, I toppled back again.
My vision spun.

W-What’s going on?

People who noticed I was awake came over and asked.
Ah, it’s noisy. My head hurts.

“Are you okay, Kasia?”
“You’re awake, milady?!”

The quivering voice must be the nanny.
But the voice I heard before that was…?

I barely lifted my head. There was Edmund, supporting me with a strange expression.
His face showed relief, anxiety, worry, and…

Why is he angry?

I soon found out the reason.

“…Malnutrition? Me?”

After hearing the ridiculous reason I had collapsed.