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Chapter 12
Just after noon.
I visited Calix’s office to report on today’s lesson results, standing as stiff as if I were about to be punished.
Calix sat behind his desk, looking at me with indifferent eyes, but he didn’t say a word.
Does that mean he wants me to report on my own?
Tick. Tick.
Listening to the sound of the clock’s second hand, I swallowed nervously before finally opening my mouth.
“Your Majesty… today we also had an origami lesson.”
“…”
“Today we tried folding a boat, but it was difficult, so Rubellin ended up creating her own original masterpiece.”
I carefully placed Rubellin’s creation on the desk.
With a gentle push of my fingertips, the crumpled green paper rolled across the desk until it stopped in front of Calix.
“…”
A crack appeared in Calix’s expression.
After two days of origami lessons, he had finally realized that Rubellin had absolutely no talent with her hands.
After staring at the paper for a while, Calix lightly tapped the desk with his elegant fingers.
Tap. Tap.
The intermittent sound soon stopped, and his gaze shifted from the paper to me.
“Is that the entire report?”
“Yes… We still haven’t made any progress with controlling her superhuman strength.”
I answered hesitantly while secretly watching his reaction.
Please don’t yell, “Did I hire you just to fold paper?!”
But contrary to my expectations, he remained calm.
While waiting for him to speak, my eyes drifted toward the bookshelf.
“Hm?”
Next to the fountain pen holder sat a crumpled purple piece of origami.
My eyes widened.
That’s Rubellin’s very first creation…
I quickly covered my mouth in surprise.
Wait… did Calix actually keep it?
The same Calix who called my yellow frog worthless? The same Calix who looked utterly speechless after seeing Rubellin’s crooked frog?
Come to think of it…
He had revised the teaching method.
He kept Rubellin’s first origami.
He had misunderstood the word “villain” as “butt,” yet he still worried about Rubellin’s future.
Judging from everything so far, not only did he not dislike Rubellin…
He actually seemed to care about her quite a lot.
Even if he had the personality of someone who could cut off another person’s head without blinking…
He was still her uncle.
A warm smile naturally spread across my face as I looked at Calix.
The moment our eyes met, his expression turned unpleasant.
“What is that smile supposed to mean?”
“…It’s nothing.”
His crimson eyes were so terrifying that I immediately wiped the smile off my face.
Silence filled the room.
How much time had passed?
A beautiful hand suddenly entered my view and snapped its fingers.
“Lady Lucina.”
The owner of the hand was Yukar.
At some point, he had appeared behind me. Adjusting his glasses with one finger, he frowned.
“Have you finished your report?”
“Huh? Not yet…”
“His Majesty still has state affairs to attend to.”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
I scratched my cheek awkwardly at Yukar’s blunt reminder.
“Lady Lucina. Since this is your first report after being appointed as Her Highness’s tutor, I understand you’re inexperienced. However, His Majesty specifically made time for this, so please keep future reports concise.”
“Yes. I’ll do that from now on.”
Yukar let out a deep sigh and half turned away.
“Then please make the rest of your report short and to the point.”
“Oh, this isn’t part of the report.”
“…Pardon?”
His blunt interruption reminded me of the real reason I had come.
“I actually have something important to tell His Majesty.”
“Something important?”
Calix, who had silently been watching us, finally spoke.
Yukar immediately stepped back.
“Yes. Something important.”
I smiled softly and bowed slightly.
“Lucina Langport wishes to officially become Princess Rubellin’s tutor!”
“…”
The silence that followed completely ruined my confident declaration.
Huh? Why isn’t he reacting?
Confused, I slowly raised my head.
Calix rested his chin on one hand and stared straight at me.
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why did you change your mind?”
“W-Well… because Your Majesty offered a stable job with excellent pay. It’s an opportunity I’ll never get again, and it would let me pay off my debts—”
“I’m asking for the real reason.”
His shining crimson eyes darkened slightly.
“The… real reason?”
“I already knew you didn’t want to stay in the Imperial Palace. Whatever your reason was, it showed clearly on your face.”
“…”
“I figured even increasing your salary wouldn’t convince you, so I resorted to threatening you with imprisonment.”
Excuse me? That’s not persuasion—that’s blackmail!
Suppressing the urge to protest, I let out a quiet sigh.
“…This time… I sincerely want to help Her Highness.”
“So until now, you were planning to leave as soon as your temporary contract ended.”
My shoulders twitched.
“…T-To be honest, I was forced into taking the position.”
I admitted it while nervously watching his reaction.
After a moment—
“So that’s the insignificant reason you changed your mind.”
Calix lowered his eyes, sounding as though he simply couldn’t understand it.
To someone who always calculated gains and losses, my decision must have seemed ridiculous.
I had refused every generous offer before, yet now I accepted simply because I wanted to help Rubellin.
For me…
It was the answer I had reached only after weighing my own life against Rubellin’s future.
Watching the thoughtful Calix from the corner of my eye, I carefully continued.
“Your Majesty, I won’t remain by Her Highness’s side with half-hearted intentions anymore. Until she learns to control her strength, I promise I will never leave her.”
“…”
“…Of course, if you agree to one condition.”
The moment I quietly said that, his sharp eyes narrowed.
“A condition?”
“Yes.”
Without backing down, I met his gaze firmly.
Calix leaned back in his chair and gestured for me to continue.
“Your Majesty, this is only my assumption, but I believe Her Highness can control her strength only around me because she sees me as her mother.”
I lowered my eyes and spoke calmly.
“When we first met, I didn’t know she possessed incredible strength, so I treated her without prejudice. At the time she was weakened by heatstroke, so even carrying her on my back caused no problems.”
“So?”
“By the time she reached out to me afterward, she had already recognized me as her ‘mother.’ Because she treasures me, her subconscious allows her to control her strength around me.”
Back when I signed the temporary contract, it had only been a theory.
Now…
I was certain.
In the original story, Rubellin underwent brutal training until adulthood.
Yet she still failed to fully control her strength and eventually isolated herself.
Just as athletes can fail to perform because of psychological barriers…
Rubellin’s inability was likely caused by years of avoiding human contact and distancing herself from everyone.
After taking a breath, I continued.
“What Rubellin truly needs isn’t stronger grip strength to hold a fork.”
“What she needs… is people.”
“Origami and reading fairy tales may seem pointless at first glance, but they’re simply tools for building emotional connections.”
Especially building a connection with the person standing right in front of me.
I swallowed those words before they escaped my lips.
“So… the person Rubellin is most likely to become attached to—the one she can safely have physical contact with—is Your Majesty.”
“If she grows attached to you, then she’ll naturally open her heart to others as well. And once that happens, she’ll finally be able to control her strength.”
Before you destroy the world.
“So…”
“Would Your Majesty consider becoming a loving father to Her Highness?”
After going in circles, I had finally reached my conclusion.
To me…
It was the only way to stop the world’s destruction while also helping Rubellin control her power.
I glanced nervously at Calix.
He merely stared back expressionlessly.
Compared to before, he looked even less interested.
My anxiety grew.
“I-If that’s too difficult… then perhaps you could at least pretend to be a happy family whenever Her Highness is present. You could occasionally observe our lessons. I’ll act as her nanny, and Your Majesty can play the role of her kind father—”
“So.”
Calix cut me off.
“You want to play house?”
“P-Play house…”
My eyes darted around.
This wasn’t what I had intended…
But I didn’t want to lose the opportunity.
“I-If… Your Majesty doesn’t mind.”
“…”
After a brief silence, Calix’s face twisted.
“So you’re saying you want to become my Empress?”
What kind of ridiculous conclusion is that?!
I desperately resisted the urge to scream.
Frantically waving both hands, I denied it.
“O-Of course not! I’ll simply do my best as Her Highness’s nanny—”
“Princess Rubellin is under my authority.”
He spoke calmly.
“She considers you her mother.”
“Which means…”
“Technically, you are also under my authority.”
“…Huh?”
“In other words, if we’re going to play the family you want…”
“We would have to become husband and wife.”
Why are you suddenly so logical about this?!
All I wanted to say was,
“Please be kinder to Rubellin.”
How had it somehow turned into proposing a fake marriage?
“A happy family…”
Calix muttered quietly while lowering his eyes.
He didn’t seem enthusiastic.
I bit my lip.
What should I do?
I didn’t particularly want to become part of a fake marriage either.
But if he rejected even this idea…
Then I had no clue how to repair their relationship.
And if that happened…
The world…
Thinking about the worst-case scenario instantly depressed me.
My shoulders drooped.
“If you’re uncomfortable with it… I’ll think of another method…”
“Haa…”
At that moment, I heard someone sigh.
“You’re no child.”
“Huh?”
I immediately looked up.
Calix was staring at me with a frown.
“Only in front of the Princess.”
Realizing this was my chance, my eyes sparkled.
“Yes! Only in front of Her Highness!”
“Just pretending?”
“Pretending!”
“Until she can control her strength?”
“Until then!”
“Would we also sleep together?”
“Yes! We’d even sleep toge—”
I suddenly froze in the middle of nodding.
…Wait.
Did I hear that correctly?
I blinked several times.
“S-Sleep together?”
Calix’s face remained completely serious.
“I-I couldn’t possibly…”
He frowned deeply.
His expression clearly said,
“Then what exactly are you suggesting?”
“…I-If it’s necessary… then I’ll do it.”
“I’ll work as hard as I can, even if it kills me.”
I nodded vigorously.
Obviously we’ll just pretend to sleep… right?
While I worried about how far this conversation had gone off track, Yukar hurriedly interrupted.
“W-Wait a moment, Your Majesty! This isn’t something that should be decided so carelessly. Even if it’s for Her Highness’s sake, pretending to be husband and wife could easily create misunderstandings both inside and outside the palace—”
“Yukar.”
Calix casually waved a hand.
“This discussion is already over.”
Looking completely uninterested now, he returned to reviewing the documents on his desk.
“Your Majesty…”
Yukar shut his eyes tightly and rubbed his forehead as if he had developed a headache.
I could feel him glaring at me, but I pretended not to notice and cautiously spoke.
“Um… then… the contract…”
Calix looked up from his papers.
His bored expression practically asked,
“You’re still here?”
“Yukar will send you the contract.”
“You may leave.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
A satisfied smile spread across my face.
Thank goodness he accepted my condition.
Now all that remained was repairing the relationship between those two and helping Rubellin overcome her problem.
Before leaving completely, I bowed deeply.
“Thank you for your boundless generosity, Your Majesty!”
When I straightened again—
Calix was watching me with an unreadable look in his crimson eyes.
