MDCHC 38

chapter 38

Even though he was young, I could clearly see Lady Reynold flinch at the ugly temper in Unshow’s voice.

“Teacher. I thought you might be late for class, so I came to fetch you.”

I ignored both Unshow’s voice and Lady Reynold’s reaction, speaking calmly to her instead. At my words, Lady Reynold’s face showed a flicker of emotion before she nodded.

Honestly, the choice was already obvious. Between an angel and a devil, who in their right mind would choose the latter?

“Teacher!”

Lady Reynold was about to walk toward me when Countess Aitley’s sharp voice stopped her.

“To abandon a student like this—aren’t you ashamed as an educator?”

“……”

Lady Reynold hesitated at the Countess’s words. Kind and diligent as she was, she seemed to feel responsible for not being able to teach Unshow to the end.

“Where do you think you’re going, you stupid thing!”

Shoving aside the maid who tried to restrain him, Unshow came storming over, huffing and puffing. With his small lips pressed tight, fists clenched, and eyes glaring at Lady Reynold, he already looked every bit the delinquent he was destined to be.

“You’re supposed to teach me! To make me into a great Count Aitley!”

He panted heavily, chest rising and falling. Clearly, he felt furious. His whole demeanor screamed: How dare you abandon me? What did I ever do wrong? The makings of a future man who would live in regret.

“It seems the heir of House Aitley is in need of home training before formal education.”

And I, personally, thought regretful men ought to stay locked up in a dark room, crying alone their whole lives until it all ended.

“And who are you to lecture us?”

The Countess of Aitley shot back, offended that a mere baron’s daughter would dare to speak to the heir of a count’s family like that.

Her chest, wrapped in layer upon layer of fine lace, rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes, sharp as knives, glared at me, and her breath came in short, angry bursts.

She had once been the daughter of a viscount, proud of having married into the Aitley household. To her, giving birth to the heir of House Aitley was her greatest pride.

And that was the start of the tragedy.

She believed her son was the most precious being in the world, that he should never taste frustration, that every single wish of his must be fulfilled.

“Children can be like that. He’s still young, so perhaps his words aren’t always polite, or he hasn’t learned enough, or he’s a bit rough.”

I quietly looked at her.

I had always wondered. Why do villains become villains? Why do brats grow into scoundrels? Why do regretful men only know how to speak in such pitiful ways?

The reason stood right in front of me.

“But adults must not raise children like that.”

Looking at the truth I had finally realized, I quietly voiced my conclusion.

When I opened Daniel’s room door with Teacher Reynold, we found him sitting at his desk, diligently studying.

“Teacher!”

As soon as Daniel saw who had entered, he happily called out Teacher Reynold’s name.

“Daniel, were you studying while waiting?”

With a deeply moved voice, Teacher Reynold spoke. After all, she had just come from dealing with a little demon who kicked her, only to now see an angel sitting properly at his desk studying.

“Yes! I was doing arithmetic while waiting for you. Today I’ll definitely try addition that goes over ten.”

“Daniel……”

What was there to cry about here? But seeing the affectionate bond between teacher and student, I almost teared up myself. I quickly shut the door, not wanting to show such a pitiful side.

“Madam?”

Oh. Closing the door didn’t mean no one was there. Lord Winchester was.

“Just seeing how much Daniel likes her makes me want to cry.”

I quickly wiped the tears clinging to my eyes.

“But how did you know I was here?”

And before he could answer, I hurriedly changed the subject.

“The rain was heavier than expected, so the training was canceled, and I returned home. But I was told you went to Teacher Reynold’s house and hadn’t come back yet. Lady Reynold told me you had gone to House Aitley.”

“I see.”

I looked outside the window, where the rain was still falling hard. Though training in the rain wasn’t unheard of, today’s downpour was far too heavy for that.

“I was fortunate you came. Otherwise, I might have been in serious trouble.”

Of course, the Aitley retainers wouldn’t have harmed me physically. At worst, I would have been thrown out and left on the streets.

But Teacher Reynold might not have been so lucky. Who knew how long she would have been kept there? Who knew how long her elderly mother would have sat waiting in worry?

That Lady Reynold could return safely to her mother, that Daniel could see her again, all of it was thanks to Lord Winchester.

“Why are you calling me Lord Winchester again?”

“Pardon?”

“Earlier—you definitely called me dear.”

“Oh… that was…”

I remembered that I had done so on purpose, to show off in front of the Countess of Aitley. A very deliberate choice of words.

“Is it uncomfortable?”

“What?”

“I asked if it’s uncomfortable for you to call me your husband—dear.”

“N-no, it’s not uncomfortable. In fact, that’s the proper title, isn’t it?”

Flustered at how serious he sounded, as though this were some grave matter, I quickly shook my head. I had no intention of objecting now to something we’d already agreed upon.

“I liked hearing it.”

The quiet confession slipped from his lips.

It wasn’t that the atmosphere suddenly turned romantic, nor that his voice sounded sweet. Outside, rain still poured down violently, and his gaze as he looked out the window was as calm as ever.

“When Lady Reynold’s mother told me you still hadn’t returned, I became worried. Despite having other matters to attend to, I rushed straight to House Aitley. And the moment I saw them detaining you, I found myself holding my sword without even realizing it.”

It had happened only an hour ago, yet Lord Winchester spoke of it as though recalling something from years past.

“And when you stood beside me, called me dear, and held my arm—it was a feeling I had never experienced before.”

At last, Lord Winchester pulled his gaze away from the rain and turned toward me. Though he had been staring at the cold storm outside, not a trace of that chill was in his eyes.

The way he looked at me was simply warm.

“It was different from the feeling of defeating an enemy. Different from rescuing a prisoner. This feeling… I don’t know what to call it.”

He raised a hand to his chest, as though the emotion was trapped inside and he didn’t know how to show it.

“What came to me was simply the thought: thank goodness.”

He chose those words with great care.

“And so I felt relief.”

Peace spread across his face. Like a pilgrim finally finding rest, serene comfort bloomed in his expression.

It had been nothing more than a troublesome mother-in-law. The greatest danger had been being dragged out into the street and having my reputation ruined. And the one he had rescued was not some holy saint, not the true heroine.

It was me. Plain, ordinary me. A background character—just the stepmother of the heroine, a name no one would remember, a face that would never even appear in the story.

Even I thought of myself as nothing more than that.

But Lord Winchester, with the expression of a knight who had finally fulfilled his duty by retrieving the Holy Grail, looked at peace.

“Thank goodness, my lady.”

His sincerity struck me straight in the heart.