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Chapter 13
“Thank you for inviting me, Count, Countess.”
“Oh, not at all. We should’ve arranged a gathering like this much sooner. Thank you for coming, Teacher.”
The Countess laughed gracefully behind her hand.
Erne rolled her eyes at the lavish feast laid out before her, enough to make the table legs groan.
It was already overwhelming to be invited to dinner at the Vanessa County residence, but she was even more puzzled as to why the Duke of Douglas and Schuknen were there too.
“Th-this is really good.”
Ashu, glancing nervously at the adults, pointed at the meat in front of him and spoke to Erne.
The only thing that made Erne feel comfortable amidst the awkward air was the presence of her familiar students.
“Ever since Ashu started learning from you, he’s become much more talkative.”
The Countess kept dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief as she spoke.
The Count let out a hearty laugh, clearly in high spirits as he downed glass after glass of wine.
“Hahaha…”
Erne awkwardly smiled along, matching the mood—until she happened to lock eyes with Windsor.
The moment their eyes met, he smiled gently and said in a soft voice,
“I hope the food suits your taste.”
Uh… Erne didn’t know how to respond.
‘This is a dinner hosted by the Count’s household… and the food must have been prepared here…’
Windsor was acting like he owned the place, but the Count and Countess didn’t seem to mind at all.
It sounded like he had personally prepared the food just for her.
“Fortunately, everything suits my taste just fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Windsor smiled broadly, visibly relieved.
Erne found herself wondering how she ended up spending one of her two weekend days here.
From observing the Count and Countess, it seemed they hadn’t seen the wanted poster she had discovered.
‘Maybe the posters haven’t been distributed throughout Vanessa yet?’
If that were the case, it worked in Erne’s favor.
While she was poking at her meat, the Countess began recounting the hardships she had gone through raising Ashu.
“Ashu will grow up to be a fine leader of Vanessa, following in his father’s footsteps. He’s improved so much thanks to you… I don’t even know how to thank you…”
Feeling burdened by the Countess dabbing her tears yet again, Erne quickly waved her hands and spoke firmly.
“Ashu just has trouble learning vocabulary. I don’t believe he has selective mutism, ma’am.”
From the first day, Ashu had spoken quite well.
Though clumsy and stuttering, he was firm in expressing his thoughts, unlike his timid demeanor.
The Ashu she knew and the one the Count couple described were two completely different people.
Selective mutism was a condition where a child couldn’t speak in front of those they weren’t close to—but Ashu had spoken to her just fine when they first met, so that diagnosis had to be wrong.
Meanwhile, the child continued chewing his meat with an adorably tiny fork, completely uninterested in the adults’ conversation.
He was heartbreakingly cute.
“Haha! I’m proud to have someone as outstanding as you here in Vanessa.”
The Count laughed heartily, creating a warm atmosphere.
“Once they’re done eating, I think it would be nice if Ashu showed the teacher around the manor.”
“Y-yes! I’d like that!”
Ashu nodded brightly at the Countess’s suggestion, and Schuknen turned to look at Windsor.
“…”
“…”
As Windsor felt the gaze on him, he immediately understood what Schuknen wanted.
“I think it’d be good for Schuknen to join Ashu and the teacher on the tour. Don’t you think so?”
“Yeah.”
Schuknen replied as if it were only natural—he had been hoping for that anyway.
The Count and Countess, thrilled at the idea of their son becoming friends with a duke’s son, nodded with joyful expressions.
“Yes, that sounds wonderful!”
“Hoho, it seems our Ashu and the young master have become quite close.”
Erne stifled a laugh at how things were unfolding without her involvement.
The meal soon ended, and a light dessert was served.
Erne, seated between Ashu and Schuknen, helped the children eat more easily by tending to them closely.
The Count and Countess, seeing this caring side of the teacher with their own eyes, finally seemed to relax. Each time Erne helped Ashu, they clasped their hands and gazed at her with shining eyes.
‘Ugh… this is a bit much…’
To some, it was a satisfying meal—dessert and all. To others, like Erne, it felt like indigestion.
Still, the conversations and overall mood weren’t bad.
The Count couple seemed like good people—genuinely loving and supportive of one another.
Perhaps they were the truest representation of an honest, normal married couple in all of Nesheld.
“That was truly a wonderful meal. Thank you again for treating me to such delicious food.”
“Not at all. Would you care to tour the manor with Ashu and the young master? There’s a small vineyard behind the garden. It’s a pride of Vanessa—worth seeing in person.”
The Count’s kind suggestion actually piqued Erne’s interest.
Ashu and Schuknen were already up from their seats, each holding one of her hands, ready to go.
“Then, I’ll gladly accept your kind invitation.”
“Yes. I’ll help tidy up here… Oh, perhaps you two could move to a quieter room and enjoy another drink?”
The Countess subtly suggested to Windsor, but he shook his head and stood up slowly.
“I think I’d like to take a look too.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve heard the grapes of Vanessa are quite famous.”
“…”
“It’d be a shame not to take a look since I’m already here.”
Windsor casually stood next to Erne.
Technically, he was beside Schuknen, who was holding Erne’s left hand, but still.
Schuknen shot a sharp glare up at him. Sparks flew between the father and son.
The Count and Countess looked just as baffled.
‘Why is the Duke acting like this?’
‘Don’t ask me…’
‘But he’s already been to the vineyard several times before…’
The couple exchanged puzzled glances, unable to understand Windsor’s behavior.
Just yesterday, he had gone to the vineyard and even picked grapes, saying how sweet they were…
Now he was pretending it was his first visit.
The quick-witted Count decided to play along.
“Y-yes, that’s a good idea! Then the Countess and I will wait with a light tea.”
“The Count is as wise as ever.”
Windsor praised him as if he’d been waiting for that.
Erne looked down at the children, then at the Count couple, then at Windsor beside her.
She felt oddly left out.
‘Suspicious…’
But without any concrete clue, Erne simply followed Ashu’s lead and began touring the Count’s residence.
“Th-this is the pond! I-I feed the fi-fish every morning!”
Erne lit up at Ashu’s comment.
She made sure to interact warmly with every adorable gesture the children made.
“Really? Ashu, you’re so sweet. The fish must be happy thanks to you.”
Hehe. Ashu twisted around shyly, bashful from the praise.
Schuknen stared at him, then tightened his grip on Erne’s hand and tugged it.
‘Fish that die if they leave the water, wasting food—what’s so great about them?’
He didn’t like that Ashu was getting all of Erne’s attention.
Windsor, watching everything from behind, was exasperated at Schuknen’s pettiness.
‘Tsk. Where’d he get such a jealous streak from?’
Although Schuknen had been slowly improving thanks to Erne, he still had a long way to go before becoming a decent person.
No matter how much he pretended to understand sharing and kindness in front of Erne, his nature hadn’t changed.
Thanks to Schuknen’s urging, they quickly reached the vineyard.
Seeing the juicy grapes hanging in clusters made Erne’s eyes go wide.
“Sch-Schuknen, want to go in and pick some? Y-you can eat them right away.”
Normally, a child of noble status like Schuknen wouldn’t do something like that.
But the thought of eating fresh grapes was a huge temptation for the young boy.
Erne, sensing his hesitation, smiled and gave him a gentle push.
“Go ahead. I’m sure they’re delicious.”
She patted both Ashu and Schuknen’s heads, and in that moment, a strange kind of friendship blossomed.
Though he didn’t like the foolish Ashu, Schuknen figured the teacher wanted to see them play together.
With a resigned sigh, he gestured for Ashu to follow.
“Hurry up.”
Seeing Schuknen drag Ashu along, Erne was left bewildered.
‘Wait a minute… Isn’t Ashu the son of the Count? Why does Schuknen feel more like the master of this house?’
It reminded her of the same feeling she’d had during dinner with Windsor.
It was hard to tell who really owned the place.
“Ellen, wouldn’t you like to go in and taste some grapes too?”
“I’m alright. I ate too much dinner. And since we had grape pie for dessert, that’s good enough for me.”
At her reply, Windsor let out a short sigh.
The two decided to take a slow walk by the vineyard entrance while the children explored inside.
“By the way, Duke—no, Windsor… Do you know anything about the situation in the capital?”
“…Why do you ask?”
Now alone with her, Windsor had planned to ask about her health, but her question caught him off guard.
‘Did she see the wanted poster?’
No way… he’d gotten rid of it right away.
Windsor looked at her with uneasy eyes.
“I was just curious. I wondered if my mother still hasn’t given up on making me her successor.”
“…It seems she hasn’t. She hasn’t considered anyone from the collateral lines.”
At Windsor’s answer, Erne sighed.
“When will you return to the royal palace?”
He asked cautiously, trying to read her mood. He knew she didn’t have much time left, but he still thought she’d eventually return to the palace for her final days.
He didn’t know her full story—but to Erne, the Queen was still family.
Erne sighed again.
“I don’t know yet. I think I need to stay here a little longer…”
Her voice lacked energy.
In a voice as small as a whisper, she slowly looked into Windsor’s eyes.
“I just need to stay here a bit longer… to make it all worth it.”
Ah…
Windsor remained silent. Her words were heavy.
He understood instantly. For the first time in his life, he felt pity for someone.
Was she trying to create meaningful memories here, just so her short remaining life wouldn’t feel wasted?
He turned his head to hide the sadness in his eyes.
And because of that, he didn’t notice the true meaning behind her words.
‘I need to stay longer. I poured a fortune into building Cheonghak-dong, after all. I need to get my money’s worth before I go.’
Erne had mentally calculated how much she’d spent on Cheonghak-dong and decided she’d stay until she got her money’s worth by teaching the children.
