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Chapter 15
“Well, these people were telling me—”
“Ahem! This person really has a loose tongue!”
Baldir bent down toward me, about to explain what had just happened.
“You’re only realizing that now? My mouth is so light it could float in the air.”
I didn’t even need to hear it. The situation was obvious.
They were probably asking Baldir to become Lucas’s teacher so they could make him emperor.
“I’m good at keeping secrets. You can tell me.”
Pretending not to know anything, I wandered between them.
“Haha, Your Highness. We are busy, so we’ll be on our way.”
“Ahem.”
“Hey, what? Tell me too!”
Hmph, how dare they try to steal my teacher.
As I snorted and glared at the nobles hurrying away, my body was suddenly lifted into the air.
“Your Highness, you’ve arrived. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Really? Why?”
“Well, Your Highness is like light and salt to me—! Oof.”
Before Baldir could say more nonsense, I quickly covered his mouth.
“Mm. I have something to say, so let’s go to the study quickly.”
“Hahaha. You don’t want to hear my sincerity?”
“I already know, so hurry!”
Holding me in his arms, Baldir moved to the top-floor study.
“Put me down. I have something to say.”
“Hmm, what would you like to say?”
He gently seated me on the sofa and knelt to match my eye level.
“Now, go ahead.”
“Um… please… my…”
I shut my eyes tightly and shouted.
“Yes? What did you ask for?”
“Ugh…!”
That slight smile on his lips—he definitely heard me but was pretending not to.
“My tea… please…!”
But I couldn’t back out now.
“Hahaha. I’m not old enough to be hard of hearing, but today I just can’t seem to hear well.”
He leaned closer, pretending to clean his ear.
“Fine! I’ll say it one last time, so listen carefully!”
I took a deep breath and gathered strength.
“Please become my teacher!”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted, then waited.
“……”
But no playful reply came. No acceptance either.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw Baldir holding back laughter.
“……”
“Ahem.”
When our eyes met, he cleared his throat and put on a serious expression.
“Were you serious just now?”
This time, his tone was completely serious.
“I am… is that not allowed?”
I looked at him sincerely, then lowered my head.
“Your Highness.”
“…Yes.”
My voice weakened, afraid he might refuse.
Even if he did, I planned to keep chasing him until he agreed—but I had never imagined rejection.
“Why did you come so late?”
“…Huh?”
“If you had come earlier, those noble fools— ahem, nobles—wouldn’t have been coming here every day, pestering me so much I nearly destroyed this tower.”
“R-really?”
He looked genuinely exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes.
“Yes. If you hadn’t come, I was planning to go find you myself. Since you’re here now, I will gladly become your teacher.”
“Really?!”
I lifted my head instantly.
Baldir was smiling at me.
“Hahaha. You ask me first, and now you’re asking again?”
“Master!”
Excited, I jumped up and hugged him.
“Hahaha. But I will teach in my own way. Are you confident you can keep up?”
“Yes!”
At last, I achieved the first step toward changing the future.
Baldir’s lessons were far more enjoyable than I expected, but also much harder to keep up with.
Was it because I had learned once in my past life and underestimated it? Or because the teacher was different?
It wasn’t incomprehensible, but it made my head spin.
Still, unlike my past life—where lessons were meant to torment me—this was enjoyable.
I began looking forward to our weekly lessons.
I even thought about increasing them.
“Maybe every two days instead of once a week…”
It might be worth discussing with Baldir.
After changing to lessons every two days, my days were no longer dull.
As I adapted to a different life from before and learned new things, a month passed.
“Your Highness, we’ll stop here for today.”
“Yes!”
As soon as class ended, I quickly packed my books.
“Going to see the prince again today?”
I often visited Lucas during his lessons.
“Yeah. I need to check if he’s doing well.”
“Hahaha. Your Highness really cares for the prince.”
“See you next time!”
“Luca, I’m here!”
I deliberately slammed the door open.
As expected, many nobles were present, observing his lesson.
“Erin!”
The moment he saw me, Lucas lost all focus.
“Your Highness.”
“Erin, did you come to see me again?”
His teacher tried to regain his attention, but it was useless.
I had spent years taming this brat.
“What were you doing?”
“Studying!”
“What are you learning?”
“Um…”
Lucas hesitated, glancing at the nobles and his teacher.
“What did you learn?”
I pressed him deliberately.
“They told me… not to play with Erin.”
“What?”
My voice rose.
“They said I shouldn’t get close to Erin.”
“We—when did we ever say that?”
“You said it earlier.”
The nobles turned pale as Lucas repeated everything.
“Did they really say that?”
“Yes!”
Lucas chattered happily as I patted his head.
“Your Highness!”
His teacher wanted to cover his mouth but couldn’t dare touch a royal.
“Ahem… we will take our leave.”
The nobles quickly slipped out.
They’re fast at times like this.
I simply watched them as they hurried away.
“Then… today’s lesson will end here.”
“Why? You can continue.”
“…Pardon?”
I deliberately stopped the teacher.
“I want to see how your lessons compare to mine. Continue.”
“Well… they’re not much different…”
“Really?”
“Yes… lessons are all similar.”
“Hmm. I see. You may go now.”
So nothing unusual yet.
Lucas seemed unchanged—for now.
“See you next week.”
“Bye.”
The teacher quickly left.
Meanwhile, the nobles gathered in a heated meeting.
“Who would have thought the princess would take the tower master as her teacher?”
“They say the tower master approached her first.”
“That arrogant mage?”
“There are rumors they’ve known each other since she was young.”
“The truth doesn’t matter. What matters is that they’re now allied.”
Voices overlapped in urgency.
“I told you we should side with the princess!”
“What’s the point of saying that now?!”
“If we can still change sides—!”
Bang!
“Enough.”
The room fell silent.
“Calm yourselves.”
Marquis Outman Remano looked around coldly.
“We will make the prince emperor.”
Silence followed.
“Without fail.”
Losing the tower master was unfortunate—but there were other methods.
“Count Carlson.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“What about your second son?”
“Do not worry. He has been properly instructed.”
“Good. I’ll trust you.”
Even without the tower master, they had found another way to control the prince more easily.
