6

“Today we’re going to run.”

“Run? You mean running?”

As soon as Connie finished speaking, Natalie asked a question.

Is she really asking because she doesn’t know?

“Yes, running, not walking. Since we’ll have a sports day next month, we’ll be selecting relay race participants.”

“Railway race?”

“No, not railway but relay. Another word for it is baton race.”

She was about to write ‘relay race’ on the blackboard, but for some reason, there was no chalk left.

“Just a moment, I’ll go get some chalk.”

Since she couldn’t go to the teachers’ office during class, she quickly borrowed chalk from the neighboring classroom, but in that short time, the classroom had become noisy, and strangely, Callian had gone over to Natalie’s side and was saying something to her.

‘Hmm?’

They rarely talked to each other, and when they did, they always ended up fighting, so this was unusual.

“Alright, everyone back to your seats! This is how you write ‘relay race’. It’s a team competition where one person runs, then passes to another person who continues running, and then to another person.”

While watching Callian return to his seat, Connie wrote ‘relay race’ on the blackboard and continued her explanation.

“What’s a team? How do they connect?”

“A team means several people coming together as one side. And look at this. This is called a baton.”

Connie showed the baton she had brought to the classroom in advance and explained the rules of the relay race.

Before going out to the playground, she wanted to explain everything thoroughly in the classroom.

If she tried to explain on the playground, no one except William, Sana, and Daniella would listen properly.

“Teacher!”

While she was in the middle of explaining that the fastest runners would be selected as relay participants, Nathan raised his hand and interrupted her.

“Yes, Nathan?”

“When are we going outside?”

“After I finish explaining, and after you all sit properly and listen well to my explanation, then we’ll go to the playground.”

“Teacher!”

It was Lorraine.

“Yes, Lorraine?”

“When will you finish explaining?”

“Soon.”

“Teacher!”

‘……?’

Surprisingly, it was Callian who called Connie this time.

Callian had never asked questions during class before?

“Please explain quickly. We’re wasting time.”

“……?”

Callian’s words left Connie somewhat bewildered.

He had never shown any interest in whether they went outside or whether she explained anything, so this response was strange.

“Teacher, the explanation! I want to go outside quickly!”

“Yes, alright. I’ve almost finished explaining. Whoever becomes a participant will represent our class, so you must acknowledge the results and cheer enthusiastically.”

“What does ‘acknowledge’ mean?”

Ah! This was truly a difficult word.

Thanks to Natalie’s question, Connie realized she had used too difficult a word and explained it slowly.

As expected, not only Natalie but most of the children nodded, saying “Ah.”

Not holding back curiosity was definitely one of Natalie’s strengths.

Sometimes, no, often, no, even more frequently than that, she didn’t know too many things compared to others, which was a bit troublesome.

“Now, we’re going outside! Go to the hallway, change your shoes, and line up in order of height.”

Finally, they were ready to go to the playground.

Today’s goal was to select relay participants by trying straight-line running.

“Teacher, I don’t know what my height is.”

“Me too, me too!”

“Hmm……”

I’ll have to tell them their height again.

They had practiced several times at the beginning of the semester, but it seemed they had already forgotten.

Since time had already passed significantly, she was briefly tempted to just let them line up in whatever order they could quickly manage, but ultimately changed her mind.

It was better to remind them of their height than risk spending all the time mediating disputes over positions.

Besides, if she constantly responded with improvisation without rules, the classroom would soon lose all order, rules, and even stability.

Fortunately, all the girls except Natalie knew their height, and Daniella even knew Natalie’s height, so she only needed to tell the boys.

“Alright, Stuart behind William……”

William, the shortest, was standing in his place as always, so she started with the child after William.

⁕⁕⁕

After sending the children home, Connie leaned back against her chair, her head tilted far back, staring at the classroom ceiling with eyes that were almost out of focus.

“Haah……”

A deep sigh escaped without her realizing it.

It had truly been a physical education class of the highest difficulty.

It was extremely hard to persuade Natalie, who refused to run and eventually burst into tears. Natalie had to be given up on, but getting the rest of the girls to run was relatively smooth.

Daniella came in last, the other girls were about the same, but Sana finished first with an overwhelming lead, so the female participant was decided to be Sana without any controversy.

The problem was the boys.

Among the six boys, the other four had similar speeds, but Callian and William were overwhelmingly fast.

She had expected Callian to be fast since he was the tallest and had the best physique, but she never imagined William would be that fast with his small, slender body.

He was like a swift squirrel, showing that height doesn’t matter in running.

The problem was that the two children crossed the finish line so similarly that it was difficult to determine who was better.

⟨William was faster.⟩

In fact, Connie found it difficult to tell who came first, but trouble erupted when all the children, led by Nathan, insisted that William was faster.

⟨Hey! I was faster!⟩

With a terrifying shout, Callian rushed at Nathan, who had been the first to claim that William was faster.

If left alone, he might have seriously injured Nathan, judging by his momentum and speed.

Instinctively sensing danger, Connie used all her reflexes and strength to block Callian just before he could pounce on Nathan.

However, Callian’s strength was greater than Connie had imagined, and pushed by him, she fell backward and landed on her bottom.

Moreover, even after being restrained by Connie, Callian didn’t give up his determination to attack Nathan, so he continued to struggle to break free from her, causing Connie to roll around on the dirt playground.

If Ethan, who had witnessed her class’s physical education from a distance, hadn’t run over to pull Callian off, she might have ended up with bruises on her face from Callian’s flailing fists.

⟨Liars! Lies! You’re all liars! All of you, I’ll beat you all up!⟩

It was a disastrous result that prevented her from being happy about Callian showing interest in the running competition when he had previously shown no interest or enthusiasm for anything.

At least it was fortunate that no child was hurt, including Callian, and no one was hit by him.

Eventually, Callian, with his eyes red, sobbing “I’m first!” only calmed down after Connie promised him a rematch.

It was heartbreaking to see how wronged he must have felt to act that way.

He must have also felt sad that no one took his side.

Decisively, even Daniella was on William’s side.

This was the result of him not being kind to anyone except Daniella and maintaining an exclusive attitude.

“Sigh……”

But he had been doing well without violence for a while…

“Connie.”

‘……!’

Connie, who had been sighing deeply again while thinking about Callian, quickly adjusted her posture when she heard Ethan’s voice entering the classroom.

She had already shown such a mess during the physical education class, and now she was caught looking slouched again.

Her face felt like it was burning with embarrassment.

“Vice Principal.”

“So formal. Can’t you just speak casually?”

“It’s not past quitting time yet.”

“Let’s pretend it is.”

Why does he always insist on casual speech?

“I cannot.”

“……Are you alright? Weren’t you hurt badly earlier?”

Ethan finally gave up on casual speech and spoke like a proper vice principal.

“I’m fine. No, actually, I’m not fine. Not only does my body hurt, but my heart aches too.”

“……What?”

Ethan frowned as if to say, what are you talking about?

“Callian Brightling, you know him, right? The red-haired only son of the Brightling family.”

“I know, that’s the kid from earlier, right? The one who caused a commotion by rushing at you. Just like his uncle, he’s a complete mess…… no, I mean, like a puppy…… um…… a wild colt?”

“Yes, a wild colt with horns. I’m worried about that child.”

“Worried? If it were me……”

“……?”

“Never mind. It’s Friday, and I was going to ask if you wanted to have dinner together after work if you don’t have plans, but I guess today might be too much? You don’t seem to be in good shape.”

“Ah……”

Today she really wasn’t in the condition, physically or mentally.

“I’d like to, but I’m afraid today is too much. Thank you for helping with our class’s physical education today. I was so distracted that I forgot to thank you.”

“No, well, that’s what a vice principal does.”

Is that so? Ah, right!

“But how did you happen to be on the playground at that time? It was really fortunate for me, but I feel like I took away from your work time, and I’m a bit embarrassed that you saw our class children behaving that way.”

“Ah…… Garden management? I was looking at the garden.”

“Ah…… huh?”

There was no school garden in the direction from which Ethan had run to her. That was the commuting path.

“I was on my way to the garden when I just happened to witness your class!”

“Ah! I see. Anyway, I was lucky. With today’s incident and all, I’ll treat you to dinner next time.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to say you’d treat me to a meal, ever since your first paycheck.”

“……What?”

She had been thinking about it, but to hear he had been waiting, and since her first paycheck?

It was disconcerting.

“Didn’t you get paid again last week? I was really wondering when you’d treat me. If not today, let’s set a definite date.”

“Ah……!”

Her face heated up under Ethan’s continued pressure.

In truth, it was difficult to make appointments this month too because of the unpredictable Count Brightling.

“Well, I could pay instead. Why are you so flustered?”

Ethan chuckled.

“No! I’ll pay. It’s difficult this month, but next month……? Maybe?”

When she actually tried to make an appointment, she lost confidence.

She needed to save money more diligently now, but there was no guarantee that unexpected situations wouldn’t arise again.

“Sigh, it’s still really difficult to have a meal with the fairy.”

“Fairy?”

“Anyway, I’ll be the first person you treat to a meal with your salary, right?”

Why would he say something like that?

She had resolved not to attach any meaning to meal appointments.

It wouldn’t have any significance to him anyway.

“Actually, no. I’m a person with many appointments.”

The first person she would treat with her salary would be Count Brightling, not Ethan.

Last time, the Count, no, the Prince paid instead, but next time she really had to pay herself.

She needed to finish that appointment before she could treat Ethan to anything.

Of course, rather than these facts, she said it more out of spite because her heart stung from his casually thrown words.

The funny thing was that even while doing so, she deliberately exaggerated to make sure Ethan wouldn’t be offended.

To make it clear it was a joke.

“……That’s disappointing.”

‘Hmm……?’

Strangely, Ethan really looked like someone who was disappointed, with a downcast face.

Is it because I made a joke that doesn’t suit me?

Well, that makes sense.

He knew full well that she had gone through university without a single friend.

“I have many parent-teacher conference appointments!”

Feeling awkward, Connie quickly diluted her unfunny joke.

“Ah……”

An expression that said, well that makes sense.

This is really embarrassing.

“Ah! But you’re not saying you treat the parents during these parent-teacher conferences, are you?”

“Ah…… yes.”

Since I haven’t treated anyone yet. And the future treatments aren’t because of parent-teacher conferences either.

Connie attached an appropriate reason to her answer to Ethan’s question so it wouldn’t be a lie. She didn’t think it necessary to report the details of her situation with Count Brightling to the vice principal, nor did she want to.

It wasn’t a good story, and she hated talking about Count Brightling in general.

By the way, what had happened between Ethan and Hazel Gracious afterward? Were they seeing each other again? If she had been attending school, she might have overheard conversations or witnessed scenes in passing, but having spent years without friends, she had no news about her classmates after graduation.

Well, even among classmates, no one would probably remember her as a classmate anyway.

Anyway…

“Vice Principal, I don’t always sit here looking dazed like this. I was just about to start working. You should go back to your work too.”

Connie spoke cheerfully, feeling embarrassed about being caught daydreaming and wanting to shake off the awkward atmosphere created by her unfunny joke.

“……Right. Make sure to keep your promise about treating me to a meal.”

“Yes.”

However, after watching Ethan leave the classroom, Connie, contrary to what she had told him, continued to blink at the ceiling for a while.

Another one.

That makes four already.

Offering meals or asking to be treated to meals.

How strange that while she had no friends, requests for meals kept coming one after another.

It was peculiar.

No one had asked her to eat with them since her father passed away.

⟨Food monster, rice worm.⟩

She had heard such things countless times instead.

“Terrible people……”

Memories of her uncle and his wife wedged between her thoughts. Since confirming their wrongdoings at the bank, these thoughts had been popping up whenever she had a moment.

“Work, work!”

Connie shook off these various thoughts and readied herself for work again.

Actually, she didn’t have the luxury of resting like this today, as she needed to leave about two hours early to check her insurance details at Maison.

Though the aftermath of the physical education class had been so severe that it inevitably took time to regain her composure.

“Come on! Connie Clarence, stay strong!”

She needed to keep her spirits up because a different kind of fierce battle awaited her over the weekend.

⁕⁕⁕

Saturday afternoon.

Connie sat in the living room of the house she hadn’t visited for over four years, taking slow, deep breaths while waiting for her uncle to appear.

She had come to announce that she would reclaim her father’s money that had been taken from her.

In a liberal arts course she had taken before, she learned about adoption nullification lawsuits.

These were lawsuits filed to invalidate adoptions that were against the adoptee’s will or done secretly. Even while taking the course, she had thought, “I’d like to file one of those too.” At twelve, when she was adopted, she had no other guardian, so she thought there was no choice. She had only briefly considered it then, not knowing that her uncle had adopted her solely for money.

But now that she knew the adoption had been aimed only at seizing her assets, with no intention of raising her, this lawsuit was not a choice but her duty.

Her father’s money should not be stolen by such people.

In the morning, she had gone to the Royal Library to look for actual case precedents. The probability of winning was low, and she couldn’t find precedents where the adoptee had filed the lawsuit, but if there had been no precedent until now, she would have to create one.

In fact, even after deciding to sue, she didn’t want to visit her uncle right away.

There was no need to tell them in advance, and it would be troublesome if they schemed something in response to the lawsuit.

But aside from her desire not to send even a penny to these people who were worse than beasts, she needed to quickly raise funds to prepare for the lawsuit. She could prepare the lawsuit alone, but depending on the situation, she might need to hire a lawyer. That meant she needed to save money as soon as possible, but if she didn’t send money immediately, her uncle might come looking for her at school or the staff residence.

Although he was someone who cared about appearances, there was no one at school directly related to her, so he might come to school to harass her as a means of pressure. Several days had already passed since payday, so it was uncertain when he might appear at school.

Therefore, reluctantly, she had no choice but to come and inform him that she would not be sending money, and why.

‘This is the house where my father and I lived, and I am no longer the helpless child who was beaten and couldn’t resist. There’s nothing to fear. Nothing at all to fear.’

Connie clenched her fists tightly and repeated this to herself several times.

The very fact that she needed such self-affirmation was already evidence that she was frightened. But even so, she had to do this. Just the thought of facing her uncle again made her body tremble.

Help me, Dad.

“Connie!”

Finally, her uncle appeared.

The way he called her name familiarly felt awkward and creepy.

But strangely, upon seeing his disgusting and fake face, her trembling heart actually calmed down.

Because that person looked too much like a beast.

And there was no need to fear beasts.

Yes, now it begins!

“Hello, Uncle.”

As expected, her uncle’s face instantly contorted with anger.

Unlike her aunt, who always demanded to be called “Madam” at home and “Mother” outside, her uncle had always insisted on being called “Father” both at home and outside.

He was someone to whom she absolutely did not want to attach the name “Father.”

On days when she accidentally called him “Uncle,” she would get slapped.

Perhaps it was a psychological desire to firmly establish himself as her father both at home and outside, to legally extort her money.

Seeing his viciously distorted face, her fighting spirit rose even more, and her heart grew colder.

Such expressions no longer frighten me!

“What, are you going to tell me to call you Father again? I hate that…… Actually, I hate calling you Uncle too, but I did so because you are my mother’s younger brother.”

“You, has your liver grown outside your belly? You come here after years and say you can’t call me Father? After I fed you, gave you a place to sleep, and raised you, now that you’re getting a tiny salary, you suddenly come with this worm-like talk that I’m not your father? Are you trying to avoid sending your salary?”

“Worm…… I wonder who’s really talking like a worm here.”

Connie deliberately let out a sneer.

I’m not afraid.

“This, this crazy girl. How dare you…!”

“Connie Pleasure is speaking to Mr. Francis Clarence. In my house.”

“What!”

Her uncle’s voice echoed loudly in the living room, and just then, her aunt entered.

“What’s going on?”

Glaring at Connie with dagger eyes, her aunt rushed to her uncle’s side.

“This girl, this girl is talking nonsense.”

“This girl…… Hahahahaha! Who’s calling whom ‘this girl’? How dare a thief who stole my father’s trust inheritance speak to me—the rightful owner—in such vulgar language? Is your moral character and speech like that because you’re a thief?”

She had practiced these words dozens of times.

Dozens of times while falling asleep last night, and on her way to this house today.

She didn’t say exactly what she had practiced, but at least she didn’t show any signs of trembling.

“……What, what?”

Both her uncle and aunt froze like statues, staring at Connie.

“What? Did you think you could hide it forever? Did you think all your evil deeds—stealing my money, treating me like a maid, beating me, tormenting me—would never be discovered? Well, I suppose that’s why you did such things.”

“You, you…… you!”

Connie noticed her uncle’s fist trembling.

She didn’t want to see it, but his whole body was shaking so violently that she couldn’t help but notice.

Will he hit me with that fist again?

Like in my childhood days when he would knock me down repeatedly, only to stand me up again and again, beating me until I lost consciousness.

Connie’s body had started trembling too.

The memories of countless beatings from her childhood were so intense that her body involuntarily reacted.

Dad…

Connie found herself calling for her dad in her heart.

⟨Connie Pleasure, you are a strong child.⟩

⟨But I’m very small and not very strong?⟩

⟨People have a spark of courage in their hearts, you know? That spark is the same tiny size whether it’s in a very big person like Dad or in a small, pretty person like our Connie. When that spark goes out, a person becomes weak, but as long as that spark doesn’t go out, that person can continue to be strong. Dad knows that spark is burning hot and bright inside you.⟩

⟨A spark of courage?⟩

⟨Yes, just don’t let that spark go out, like now.⟩

Suddenly, a conversation with her dad from childhood came to mind.

A spark of courage…

Something very small but strong as long as it doesn’t go out.

That thing inside me.

Suddenly, she felt that small spark blazing up inside her chest, growing in size until her whole body felt hot.

“What? Are you going to hit me with that fist again? Go ahead and hit me if you can. But I am no longer that child from the past who only breathed after being beaten. The moment you hit me, I will gather evidence and witnesses of being hit. And! That evidence and those witnesses will work in my favor in the trial to reclaim my property from you.”

The spark inside her had already become a huge flame.

“What? Trial?”

With his face turning red, his fist was shaking more severely, but still unable to swing it, her uncle’s eyes grew twice as large.

“I will file an adoption nullification lawsuit and reclaim the money you stole from me.”

“What? Ha! Has this one really gone crazy?”

It was her aunt who responded sharply to Connie’s statement about reclaiming the money.

Her aunt seemed more composed than her uncle, who was just trembling with anger.

When she was young, she had feared her uncle, who directly beat her, more than her aunt, who watched her being beaten with a smile.

Thinking about it now, her aunt might have been the more cruel person.

Well, they were both equally terrible.

“I almost went crazy. The investment money from my father was resolved through insurance, and I remember everything that the demons who stole the inheritance my father left me did to me, so how could I not go crazy? I should have been crazy enough to see nothing, but I am my father’s daughter, not your daughter, so I still have my reason intact. So I will begin preparing for the lawsuit.”

“Ha! You’re talking nonsense. Adoption nullification lawsuit? Does such a thing make sense? Where are you coming up with these non-existent things, ungrateful for the grace of being raised, spouting such nonsense!”

“I’m speaking based on evidence after reading the law book and hearing the transaction details from Barfal Central Bank and Maison Insurance.”

“……”

Her aunt also fell silent for a moment.

Yes, I know everything.

“It still won’t work. We adopted you legally according to procedure and merely exercised our rights. You were a minor, and it’s a clear fact that we raised you. What you claim, what? Things demons did? Ha! You ungrateful thing, do you have evidence? I’m asking if you have evidence!”

“You committed crimes. And those crimes inevitably left dirty traces everywhere. I will find and gather all that evidence to reclaim what you took from me.”

Of course, she knew she might not be able to reclaim everything that was taken.

As her uncle and aunt claimed, she was a minor at that time, so if someone hadn’t become her guardian, she would have had to be placed in an orphanage.

Therefore, if there were no legal issues with the procedure by which they adopted her and became her guardians, they could claim that seizing her assets was for child-rearing costs, and the abuse could be recognized as discipline.

In reality, it wasn’t raising her but targeting her property, exploiting a minor’s labor, and inflicting violence, but since they had obtained the legal status as her guardians, the kingdom’s law favored them.

Still, she had to fight.

Her father had worked hard, not for such people to take everything he had built.

“Ha! Fine, go ahead. Do it as much as you want! Let’s see if things go your way.”

Her aunt sneered.

“Yes, I’ll see it through to the end. For the first time, my aunt and I agree. Now that I’ve said everything I needed to say, I’ll get up and leave.”

“This crazy bitch, blabbering with that burst mouth!”

Her uncle, seeming to have finally come to his senses, started cursing at the back of Connie’s head.

Fear surged again that she might be grabbed by the hair and dragged away by that vicious man at any moment. Reflexively, her shoulders hunched, and her feet felt like they might stick to the floor, but Connie didn’t stop and eventually walked safely to the entrance.

Contrary to her fearful imagination, until she opened the door and walked out, the vulgar curses continued, but no fists or beatings came.

Being people who trembled at the thought of losing anything, they would have found it difficult to hit her after she mentioned lawsuits and evidence.

They must have also realized that she was no longer the powerless child who couldn’t do anything.

As she closed the door, Connie felt that she had taken a step forward.

She was no longer that child who helplessly took beatings from those two people and couldn’t resist, and as long as she didn’t cower, they couldn’t hit her anymore.

There would be many more steps to take in the future, but she had succeeded in taking that first step.

So she would be able to do well from now on.

She was Connie Pleasure, the daughter whom Clark Pleasure had always believed in and been proud of, and the spark in Connie Pleasure’s heart still hadn’t gone out.

⁕⁕⁕

On Sunday, the day after meeting her uncle, Connie unpacked the bundle of belongings she had stacked in a corner of her staff residence room and looked for her diary. She had kept diaries since she was very young, and although the frequency decreased after entering university, she continued writing until graduation, so there were quite a few volumes.

She wasn’t looking for it to start writing a diary again.

She wanted to refer to the diaries she had written at that time to gather evidence for proving her uncle’s wrongdoings and filing the adoption nullification lawsuit.

Since the law wasn’t in her favor, she had to do everything she could.

[I got slapped for calling my aunt ‘Aunt.’ She told me to call her ‘Madam.’ I asked why and got slapped again. Why does she want me to call her ‘Madam’ when she adopted me? Why did they adopt me in the first place?]

This was a diary entry from the early days when her uncle’s family barged into her home.

At that time, she only occasionally wrote long entries, mostly keeping short memo-like notes. She wasn’t in a position to write diaries leisurely, either mentally or physically.

[My aunt slapped me again for calling her ‘Madam’ outside. I asked why she hit me when she told me to call her ‘Madam,’ and she cursed at me, calling me a stupid, clueless worm. I get beaten if I don’t call her ‘Madam’ inside the house, and outside I have to call her ‘Mother.’ I guess it’s not respectable for others to see me calling my aunt ‘Madam.’ Father said I should act in a way that I can be proud of myself, whether others are watching or not. I miss Father.]

Tears suddenly welled up when her father was mentioned in the diary she was reading to confirm what had happened back then. But this was no time to be immersed in longing or sadness, so she steeled her eyes.

[Madam (I’m more used to saying ‘Madam’ now) called me a rice worm. She said I eat all the food but can’t work. I eat much less than when Father was alive. She said the child of someone who left a debt doesn’t deserve to eat. But that’s not true. I am a precious person. No matter what Madam says, I am Father’s precious daughter.]

“Madam……”

Yes, from some point on, she called that woman ‘Madam’ both in front of her and when she wasn’t around. She thought it was the less wrong way to do it. She had been hit so many times for accidentally saying ‘Aunt.’

She didn’t call her ‘Mother’ at school like Sana did. She just called her ‘Madam.’

In fact, though the school teachers kept it quiet, they all knew she was an adopted daughter being abused.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, she realized that it had been quite a while since she sent a letter to Sana’s father, but there had been no reply.

I must have received the letter by now. Did they decide to ignore it and not reply? Does Sana’s father not care about Sana?

Sana tends to avoid talking about her family…… This is serious.

While thinking about Sana, Connie turned another page in her diary.

[When I said I needed money for textbooks, Uncle slapped my cheek. Aunt stopped him. Since she had never stopped Uncle from hitting me before, I was surprised by Aunt’s intervention. But Aunt said that since I was attending school, he shouldn’t hit my face, and should hit places that aren’t visible. Had I momentarily harbored some hope? Why did they adopt me if they’re like this? Did they need a child to beat?]

The diary page was stained yellow.

Traces of tears.

I cried a lot that day.

The memory of that day was still vivid because Uncle’s beating that followed Aunt’s shocking suggestion to hit places that aren’t visible was so painful.

⟨Do I have to be careful and watch where I hit? You worm-like girl! This is all because you insisted on going to school!⟩

His uncle became angrier, unbuckled his belt, and beat her back until his anger subsided.

Those scars must still be on my back…

I wonder if they’ve faded by now.

⟨Sana wouldn’t dare do anything bad to me. If she did, she’d get beaten.⟩

⟨Have the places where Sana was beaten healed?⟩

⟨Yes, the bruises will be gone by tomorrow…… Huh? That’s strange. How did you know Sana was beaten?⟩

Suddenly, a conversation with Sana’s younger brother came to mind.

After that conversation, when Sana came to school, there were no visible injuries on her body.

Out of concern that she might have been hit in places that weren’t visible, I wanted to check under her clothes, but Sana strongly refused, so I couldn’t.

I thought that if I forcibly lifted her clothes despite the child’s refusal, it might feel like assault to Sana.

Besides, the reality was that even if I discovered that Sana had been beaten, there was nothing I could do.

When I couldn’t buy textbooks, the school teachers pooled money to buy them for me. However, for the greater pain of Uncle’s violence, they couldn’t do anything beyond applying medicine to the beaten areas.

But…

How did I feel when I realized that no one, not even Ms. Lisa, could protect me from Uncle and Aunt’s violence?

I felt afraid, hurt, sad, and desperate.

Wouldn’t Sana feel the same?

My heart ached anew.

When Sana comes tomorrow, I’ll call her again to check if she’s being beaten.

If that’s really the case, I had to find a way to help her somehow. Somehow.

⁕⁕⁕

However, the next day, I couldn’t carry out my plan to talk to Sana again.

Because she was absent.

Connie called Sana’s brother from the next class and asked, but as expected, he replied that he didn’t know.

Although she wouldn’t make a home visit after just one day of absence, due to an ominous feeling, she planned to go to Sana’s house in the afternoon, but that also fell through.

Connie didn’t even need to go because as soon as the children were dismissed, Sana’s mother, Countess Lancelot, barged into the classroom.

“Hello, Sana’s moth……”

Startled by the countess who entered abruptly without even knocking, Connie hurriedly stood up from her seat and greeted her.

“Hello? How can I be fine right now?”

However, before Connie could finish her greeting, the immediate sharp response left her momentarily speechless, blinking her eyes.

“What…… Did you come about Sana’s absence? Is something wrong with her?”

After calming her surprised heart a bit late, Connie asked as calmly as possible.

“Is something wrong? Ha! You’re really funny.”

But the countess’s eyes, which mocked Connie’s words, grew increasingly fierce.

“……Madam?”

What on earth is wrong with her? Ah…… Maybe!

“I heard you sent a letter to the judge?”

So that’s what she came for.

When sending a letter to the court where the count worked, Connie had imagined the possibility that the countess might be displeased about it.

But because of that, she had taken great care with the content to ensure there was nothing objectionable.

She had met the mother a few times, but she wrote in the most general and moderate terms, saying she hoped to have an opportunity to discuss Sana’s school life with her father as well.

However, regardless of the content, it seemed the countess was angry just because she had sent a letter directly to her husband.

Perhaps it was because she had something to hide.

Just as Uncle and Aunt extremely hated having their wrongdoings exposed to the outside, this countess might be hiding her treatment of Sana from her husband.

“Yes, I’ve met you, the mother, several times, but I’ve never met the father. Among our class parents, there are fathers who are very interested in their children’s school life, so I thought Sana’s father might be too. I said that if he’s too busy to come, I could visit him.”

“Visit? Ha! The more I hear, the fsisterr it gets!”

“Madam!”

How could a parent be so rude to their child’s teacher?

Is she a female version of Count Brightling?

She wasn’t like this when I saw her before.

During the parent participation class, though brief, her attitude was moderate enough to seem polite.

“The judge is not a leisurely, inconsiderate person who meets someone at court for personal family matters. Since the count is doing national work, I take full responsibility for household matters and children’s education without the slightest negligence so that the judge doesn’t have to worry about trivial household matters. So who are you, teacher, to send a letter to the busy count and unnecessarily make him worry!”

The countess’s speech was a mess, alternating between formal and informal language.

She seemed like someone who didn’t know what manners were from the beginning.

“I just……”

“Don’t you know that the count is a judge who handles the law? You sent a letter to the court because you knew that well. So why are you interfering…… stepping into someone else’s child’s business and infringing on parental rights!”

“As Sana’s homeroom teacher, I simply expressed my wish to consult with her parents, since you haven’t come to school and said you have no plans to come in the future. So I sent a letter to her father wondering if he might be interested, but I don’t understand why you’re coming to school like this and getting angry at me, even mixing informal speech.”

Connie no longer spoke submissively.

Such people tend to become even more arrogant if they see others cower at their rudeness and verbal abuse.

And the more she acted like this, the more suspicious the countess became.

Isn’t it true that people who have something to hide or who lack integrity tend to shout louder?

Just like Uncle often did.

The reason she was being so rude and acting so aggressively toward a teacher like herself might be because she was afraid her husband would discover her wrongdoings.

As her father said, one can find light even in darkness, and there were things she had learned while enduring painful and terrible times.

The thought patterns and behavioral patterns of evil people.

Come to think of it, if her father had shown and taught her the good and right things in the world, Uncle and Aunt had shown and taught her the bad and dark things.

“As a homeroom teacher? Hmph! Are you saying that being a teacher gives you the right to interfere in someone else’s family education…… ? As a teacher, you should know your place! You just graduated from university, so you probably don’t know much, but you should at least know the basics. Well, how could a woman who hasn’t even had a child understand a parent’s heart? Do you even know how hard I’m working, raising two children at once, working my fingers to the bone?”

Ha! A woman who hasn’t even had a child?

I almost laughed out loud at such a personal attack, it was so absurd.

To hear such words from the mouth of a countess who likely abused Sana, it felt like some kind of play.

However, there was no clear evidence of abuse, and it wasn’t an issue that could be casually brought up.

“Whether one has given birth or has children does not determine a teacher’s qualifications, nor is it included in the requirements. I was simply trying to fulfill my role as a teacher within my capacity. In Sana’s case, I thought a parent-teacher consultation was necessary.”

“Whether Sana needs such a thing or not is for us, her parents, to decide, and for me, her mother, to determine, so there should be no more separate communications with the count on such matters in the future. If you send such a letter to the court again, interfering with our count, the judge’s work, and infringing on parental rights, I will formally raise an issue with the foundation, so be aware of that.”

Parental rights? You mean parental authority!

I had to restrain myself from correcting the countess’s wrong term out loud.

“It’s obvious you’re not even a formal teacher, can’t you tell the difference between high and low?”

When Connie didn’t respond, the countess threw out more insulting words.

To think such a person is a countess.

You should at least distinguish between parental rights and parental authority!

Well, I wasn’t unfamiliar with the true faces of nobles, and I knew that high social status and noble character were separate things.

Even Uncle was a viscount. Aunt was a viscountess. A recent example was Count Brightling.

Besides, didn’t they say this countess bought her status with money?

What’s the use of buying it? Her character seems worse than a common ruffian, let alone a noble.

I was about to feel disgusted by people wearing the shell of nobility.

“Madam, please watch your words.”

“I am watching them. Do you think I don’t know? That you’re not a formal teacher but a probationary teacher? This is a private school. We’re not paying just a penny or two, and you don’t believe that parents’ opinions or evaluations won’t be reflected at all in your formal employment, do you? Behave properly if you want to continue receiving that meager salary at this school. You probably don’t know yet, but I’m a parent committee member at this school.”

Parent committee member?

After the parent participation class, I had heard that there was an election for parent committee members.

It seemed this countess was one of those members.

In fact, I had heard that since the number of parent committee members and the number of parents running for it were almost the same, almost all parents who wished to become members did so every year.

Among those who became members, I had heard there were some who particularly wanted to flaunt their position, influence the school, and wield what could truly be called ‘meager’ power. Perhaps this countess was one of those types?

Anyway, becoming a member did give one a voice and voting rights that could influence school operations.

But parent committee members had no influence on the evaluation for hiring probationary teachers.

She seemed like someone who just made a lot of noise without knowing anything.

However, even if it had nothing to do with her formal employment, it was clear that this countess could become a dangerous person with even a small amount of power.

Because she had blurred moral standards, threw away manners as needed, and wanted to control others according to her emotions.

Ah……! Sana!

The sudden realization that this countess had custody of Sana made me break out in a cold sweat.

Sana, how are you really doing…

Renewed concern for Sana sparked hostility toward the countess.

But I had to suppress my emotions and stay calm.

“Are you threatening me right now?”

Connie only raised issues within what the countess had said to her.

“Threatening? I’m just giving advice to a probationary teacher as a parent committee member. Don’t interfere or meddle in someone else’s family education. You’re only a teacher within this small classroom. Don’t try to play teacher on someone else’s front door.”

“……”

It didn’t seem like I could respond appropriately and rationally if I continued talking.

It would be better to keep my mouth shut rather than respond emotionally.

“You seem to understand. Ah! My son Scott is in the next class, and it would be better not to say or do anything strange to our son. If you do, I won’t be this polite. I need to briefly meet Scott’s homeroom teacher too, so I’ll be going now.”

The countess turned around and left the classroom without waiting for Connie’s response.

“Haah……”

Was that what she considered polite?

Listening to the countess’s final words, Connie suddenly understood why she had spoken and acted so recklessly toward her.

To that countess, she wasn’t a ‘homeroom teacher.’

The only person that countess considered a teacher for her child was ‘Teacher Anna.’

Since Sana wasn’t treated as a daughter by that countess, Sana’s homeroom teacher, herself, was someone who could be treated recklessly without hesitation.

Of course, a sensible person would never act like that, but that countess was someone without common sense, culture, or morality, so she probably thought that way.

Connie recalled what Teacher Anna had said before about Steen School’s ‘Conflict Resolution Committee.’

⟨Even parents with high social status and reputation but no manners sometimes blame teachers for everything.⟩

That countess was exactly that ‘parent with no manners.’

Of course, this situation between the countess and herself wasn’t a matter that could be raised with the Conflict Resolution Committee.

That committee only convened when conflicts arose between students.

In other words, it was a committee that prevented shrimp from getting their backs broken in fights between whales, but it didn’t protect shrimp when whales crushed them.

I felt drained.

Not only could I not help Sana, but I was also being pushed around by that countess and threatened in various ways. Moreover, despite being subjected to unreasonable criticism, there was nothing to protect me.

Rather, I worried that because I had sent a letter to Sana’s father, the countess might be keeping Sana at home instead of sending her to school, taking out her anger on her.

As if saying, ‘Watch what happens to Sana if you act like this,’ using her as a hostage to threaten me.

The more I thought about Sana, the more scared I became that I might have escalated the problem or ignited a dangerous spark.

I could endure the rudeness the countess committed against me, but not for Sana. I felt like crying at the fact that I couldn’t do anything for her.

I recalled the faces of teachers who watched helplessly, knowing I was being beaten by Uncle and Aunt but unable to do anything.

In the face of parental wrongdoing, neither children nor teachers had any power.

Eventually, tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Still…… I won’t give up, I can’t!”

After shedding tears in frustration for a while, Connie suddenly wiped her tears and muttered.

No matter how hard it rained from the sky, she had an umbrella of Dad’s memory and Ms. Lisa’s love. How could she give up when she might be the only umbrella for Sana right now?

‘Teacher will protect you, Sana.’

Connie, who firmly resolved to protect Sana just as she would have protected her younger self, quietly listened.

After some time passed, she heard the countess greeting Teacher Anna in a sweet voice and leaving the classroom next door.

‘She’s gone.’

Now it was her turn to visit Teacher Anna’s classroom.

To that countess, even if Sana wasn’t her child, Scott was, and judging by the countess’s attitude so far, her affection for her son seemed more than sufficient.

Then she would use that son. That son was the countess’s weakness.

Although she hadn’t been able to meet Count Lancelot, Sana’s father, this time, she intended to create an opportunity by all means.

There was a high possibility that Count Lancelot had no interest in Sana, the daughter of his deceased former wife.

But the fact that the countess had become furiously angry about the letter going to her husband seemed like strong evidence that she should meet Sana’s father.

And anyway, the count was currently the most powerful and only hope Connie could cling to.

⁕⁕⁕

“Has any letter come?”

Ryan asked the back of Eric’s head as he was about to leave after finishing his report.

“What letter…… Perhaps you mean from Teacher Connie?”

“Teacher Connieee?”

“Hmm, do you mean a letter from Teacher Clarence?”

Eric asked after impudently pursing his lips once.

“Use the proper title. Why are you calling my Connie ‘Teacher Connie’? You should call her ‘Teacher Clarence.'”

“Ha! Achoo! Achoo, achoo!”

Eric faked a sneeze to cover up his disrespectful snicker.

As if that covers it up, you disloyal aide.

“So I asked if a letter came or not.”

But he lacked the energy to point out the disloyalty.

It had been nearly 4 weeks since he received a letter from Connie Clarence, but no follow-up letter had arrived.

In her last letter, she had warned that the next letter would be delayed due to school events, and Daniella had indeed been bringing communications from Steen Elementary School saying they were busy preparing for the sports festival these days, but still.

He was sure that Connie had begun to neglect him after graduating from university.

Even setting everything else aside, as a fan of Leonie…..

Had she perhaps fallen in love with her students?

Well, based on what Daniella had been reporting, that certainly seemed to be the case.

But the problem was that wasn’t all.

The real issue was those men wearing the mask of parents.

Just thinking about Connie’s dinner appointment with Count Brightling still made his head hot.

The scene he witnessed that day, accompanied by the grumbling Eric, didn’t deviate one bit from his expectations.

Like a man with rabies. How dare he with Connie…

While his patience was already being tested just by thoughts of Ethan Schwab, now there was a mad dog too!

“No letter has arrived. Why are you really doing this! Your Highness, the prince really shouldn’t…… You really shouldn’t be doing this! Miss Connie Clarence? An elementary school teacher? A fan of Leonie! A commoner woman who is merely nominally the adopted daughter of a viscount family, but in reality an ‘orphan’…! Haah! You really shouldn’t be doing this!”

He must have heard Eric’s nagging dozens of times since ordering him to find out the place and time of Connie and the count’s dinner appointment. His eardrums were on the verge of bleeding.

Does he think I don’t know this is wrong? I’m doing this because I have no choice.

For several days after reading the letter about her dinner appointment with Andrew Brightling, he had managed to endure while trapped in delusion and arrogance.

Thinking that his feelings for Connie Clarence weren’t that serious yet, and that he could let go of that small, tiny woman.

He had thought that he would be the one to let go of Connie Clarence.

But the fact that other men might claim Connie invaded his thoughts day by day, and after a week in that state, he finally faced the naked truth of his emotions.

Anxiety, impatience, and jealousy.

Jealousy, that unfamiliar, childish, yet powerful emotion…

How arrogant he had been to think that if he didn’t have her, that lovable woman would stand like a statue, unavailable to anyone else.

Even if she really were a statue, if he let her go, other men would immediately tear away the entire pedestal to take her.

Like Brightling who had already dined with Connie, or Ethan Schwab who had been making advances with his book. Ah! She had written that she had a home visit scheduled too. Surely that couldn’t mean she was planning to visit the ducal family?

Ah, damn it.

This was getting worse.

Duke Wayne was the most dangerous figure among them, except for the fact that he was a widower.

“Your Highness! Are you listening to me? What’s not allowed is not allowed. For Your Highness, not just a noble lady! No, no, absolutely not!”

“Be quiet, and bring me the letter immediately when it arrives. Ah! When did you say the sports festival was?”

“……”

“Eric!”

“Next Friday.”

Why does his voice sound like that? As if the sports festival were a funeral.

“Hmm. Hmm… Is Mother available that day?”

“Yes, she has certainly adjusted her schedule.”

“I’ll go that day too, so make the arrangements.”

“Your Highness! Why are you really doing this, why would Your Highness go there!”

“It’s my only sibling’s sports festival. As an older brother, I should go. And find out what kind of clothes a prince should wear to a sports festival and prepare a report. I don’t know about such things since I’ve never been.”

“Your Highness!”

This guy is about to cross the line.

Ryan’s brow almost furrowed at Eric’s insolence as he called out to him almost shouting, but he barely restrained himself.

“Eric.”

He called him as affectionately as possible, in friend mode rather than master mode.

His target was Connie Clarence, and there was no more capable collaborator than Eric in approaching that target.

Of course, even without doing this, Eric was an aide who, once given instructions, would handle tasks perfectly and bring dazzling results.

But in the process, he would also consistently and ceaselessly nag and complain, so if left as is, blood scabs might really form in his ears.

As if his heart and brain didn’t already ache enough when thinking about Connie and those parent guys…

So it was better to make him work quietly and willingly.

For that, it was generally more effective to appeal as a friend rather than press down as a prince.

Eric tended to be cold and meticulous, yet strangely weak to emotional appeals and acknowledgment.

“Yees.”

Look at that sulky tone.

“I wanted to let go too. But far from letting go, I feel anxious day by day that someone might take her. You’re my friend before being my aide. I could support you no matter who you meet, even if it were a man, but you can’t do the same for me?”

“Your Highness, do you think I don’t know you’re trying to sweet-talk me now?”

Damn it.

He wasn’t the only one who knew the other. This guy knew him too well too. A side effect of being together for too many years.

“And why does that awkward ‘even if it were a man’ come up there? I’m so busy being stuck next to a ‘man,’ Your Highness the Prince. Every day, I am suffering with work, that I don’t even have time to see my mother’s face, let alone women. If you’re going to sweet-talk, you should choose your words better, shouldn’t you? With that kind of sense, you’ll certainly win Miss Clarence’s heart. To tell the truth, to be honest, before even discussing whether Miss Clarence is suitable as Your Highness’s match or not, does Miss Clarence even see Your Highness as a man? She doesn’t.”

“……!”

Today seemed to be a day when only the coldly rational Eric appeared, rather than the occasionally emotional Eric.

Far from approaching him emotionally, his heart was being pummeled by Eric’s cold rationality.

The guy who had been wagging his finger saying Connie was off-limits was now bluntly asking if she would even be interested in him.

This cruel bastard.

It felt like his heart had been thrown to the ground and slowly trampled under Eric’s feet because the observation was so accurate.

In fact, it made no sense to think that he couldn’t let go of Connie because he couldn’t bear to lose her to someone else.

Letting go and losing her… Who was letting go of whom?

Letting go was something one could only do with something one possessed, but he had never possessed Connie in the first place.

He merely had a faithful and capable reader as author Leonie, and a moderate citizen as the kingdom’s prince.

On the day he went to the restaurant “Tempi” to prevent Brightling from becoming the first person Connie ever bought a meal for. Seeing Connie’s infinitely polite but perfectly emotionless smile, he newly realized how she treated him and how she saw him.

Connie didn’t even see him as a “man” who could be an object of romantic interest.

The prince of this country, or one of the student’s parents who didn’t need special consultation and didn’t have a good expression.

That’s all she saw him as. No, she also thought of him as an elderly female author with poor eyesight and bad joints.

Eric, who had witnessed Connie’s attitude and expression alongside him that day, couldn’t help but know this fact. That’s why he was pummeling his heart with such words.

⟨Ethan Schwab, I liked you.⟩

Fortunately, he had heard this confession alone, without Eric present.

If he had heard that too, who knows what that guy would have said.

As if that wasn’t enough, that confession kept visiting his mind unexpectedly, buzzing in his ears like the sound of a swarm of bees…

Was she still in love with that guy?

“Your Highness, just meet a suitable woman and get married. Miss Connie Clarence doesn’t see Your Highness as a man, and Miss Connie isn’t suitable for Your Highness either.”

The flow of his thoughts, which had drifted sideways again, returned to reality with Eric’s ice-cold advice.

Although Eric’s droning had stopped the buzzing sounds, his advice was just as unpleasant to hear.

The strategy of treating him as a friend hadn’t worked.

This guy who knew neither love nor friendship.

What, so you’re upset about not seeing women? I’ll make sure you keep working.

“Sir Eric Gosling.”

He had done something unnecessary. He should have pressed down with his position from the beginning, as he always did.

“……Yes.”

“That’s enough. What I need is an aide who properly carries out my instructions, not an aide who rebels by opposing my will with so-called advice. If you want to continue, it would be better to resign as my aide and leave.”

“……”

Silence…

Did he really intend to resign as his aide?

This would be troublesome.

He was the most capable one.

“Should I leave right now?”

How would he respond?

“……I’ll check the mailbox once more to see if a letter has arrived, and I’ll prepare outfits for the sports festival by color!”

As expected.

In the end, Eric chose obedience without further resistance.

“Don’t include pink among the colors. Ah! And do you remember the Steen exercises?”

Suddenly he remembered the somewhat strange warm-up exercises they always did on sports festival days at Steen Elementary School.

He had forgotten everything, but Eric, being a pervert, would probably remember.

“……Yes, I remember, but?”

As expected! I knew you would remember, Eric!

“Draw that in detail, from movement 1 to 10, and submit it as a report.”

“……Yes.”

Eric, who had been looking at him with doubt and dissatisfaction in his eyes just seconds after choosing obedience, finally accepted his order and left the room.

In fact, he had never pressed down on Eric this much before.

So Eric probably understood.

That he should not express his thoughts regarding Connie Clarence.

That he had already sufficiently contemplated and decided before hearing Eric’s advice and counsel.

Eric wasn’t the type to betray him and report to his parents about Connie before resigning as his aide.

Even if a situation arose where he had to betray him due to a royal command, he would notify him of the betrayal in advance.

He had that much loyalty to his master and integrity as a friend.

Eventually, that time would come…

Once he had decided to win Connie Clarence, a confrontation with his parents would inevitably come.

And such a situation would come faster the quicker he won Connie’s heart.

What a contradictory situation—wanting to avoid confrontation with his parents and, by extension, public opinion, while also wanting to win Connie’s heart quickly…

“Sigh……”

With a heavy heart, Ryan let out a long sigh and began looking at documents.

For now, he had to handle the work at hand.

Thud.

But soon he closed the document folder.

Did he really have to wait for a letter?

After even being told he made an uncomfortable impression?

The man she had a crush on was her workplace superior, a mad dog was rushing in asking for meals, and even a widowed duke seemed somehow fishy?

And now she wasn’t even sending letters anymore!

In this unsettled state, he couldn’t even read the letters on the documents?

Ryan finally decided to write a letter to Connie Clarence for the first time—not a reply, but one he would send first.

⁕⁕⁕

Art class. They decided to make cheering tools for the sports festival.

Since Connie’s class was on the white team, they decided to attach white paper to wooden sticks and write cheering phrases using the alphabet they had learned so far.

“I’ll hand out white drawing paper. Then write cheering phrases using the letters we’ve learned. If there are any letters you don’t know, ask me and I’ll tell you. After writing all the letters, glue wooden sticks to both ends of the paper with wood glue. You must write the letters first and then glue.”

Connie demonstrated by writing a cheering phrase on drawing paper and attaching wooden sticks.

“Like this…… See? You can write the cheering phrase about this size. Do you understand how to do it?”

Natalie raised her hand high.

“Yes, Natalie, do you have a question?”

“I don’t understand how to do it.”

“……”

She was at a loss for words.

It would be nice if she could say exactly which part she didn’t understand, but Natalie often just said she didn’t understand anything like this. Without any room for compromise.

Do I have to explain everything from the beginning? My throat already hurts…

Perhaps because the condition of her throat wasn’t good, Natalie’s stubborn “I don’t understand” drained her energy.

She had heard that teachers often had sore throats because they had to talk a lot. Moreover, first-grade children needed much more explanation. And being a new teacher herself, she still lacked experience and know-how.

Perhaps for these reasons, she had felt strain on her throat since the beginning of the semester, and lately her throat would start stinging around the third period.

“If anyone else doesn’t understand like Natalie, please raise your hand.”

Fortunately, everyone else seemed to understand, as no one else raised their hand.

“Teacher, can we start now?”

It was Lorraine.

“Yes, those who understand how to do it can start now. Natalie, I’ll come to your seat and explain.”

At least she only needed to explain to Natalie separately, so she wouldn’t need to speak loudly, which was fortunate.

“Teacher! The wood glue got on my hands!”

Just as she finished explaining to Natalie after handing out the drawing paper, Lirien approached with both hands extended forward.

“Ah, then go wash your hands. But why is the glue already……”

Looking at Lirien’s desk with the thought that she couldn’t have finished writing the cheering phrase yet, Connie saw that no cheering phrase had been written at all.

“Why didn’t you write the letters first before gluing the sticks?”

“……”

Lirien closed her mouth. She always closed her mouth when she didn’t want to answer.

Suddenly concerned, Connie looked around and saw several children who, like Lirien, were starting with the glue first.

“You need to follow the order. If you glue with wood glue, you’ll need time for it to dry so you can’t write letters right away, and it’s uncomfortable to write letters after attaching the wooden sticks, so you should write the letters first. Please, make sure to apply the glue only after writing all the letters.”

Only then did the children who were already holding glue put it down and pick up colored pencils.

Sigh, my throat really hurts.

Connie pinched her throat for no reason. As if pinching would make it better.

At least after the sports festival ended, school would be closed for one more day until Monday of the following week, so she resolved to rest her throat during the holiday as she went to the teacher’s desk. She felt reassured by the ginger tea she had brought to school. Without it, she would have had to drink plain water.

“Are both your mom and dad coming to the sports festival?”

While taking a sip of ginger tea and looking around at the children, she overheard Daniella, who was sitting near the teacher’s desk writing letters, asking William who sat next to her.

“Only Dad is coming.”

“What about your Mom?”

Connie felt uncomfortable at Daniella’s follow-up question. It would be better not to ask about Mom.

“She’s not coming.”

“My dad isn’t coming. My dad is His Majesty the King, so he’s busy.”

That’s right. We have a student in our class whose father is His Majesty the King.

Even though it wasn’t news to her, and she had met the Queen and the Prince several times, it still felt remarkable.

“Ah, I see.”

But William just gave a perfunctory answer while coloring his letters blue, showing little interest. For the heir to a ducal family, having a friend whose father was the king didn’t seem to be a big deal.

“But my brother is coming instead of my father.”

So His Highness the Prince is coming too…

“Ah.”

William nodded briefly while looking at Daniella, then immediately turned his attention back to his drawing paper.

He appeared to be responding out of politeness, showing little interest in Daniella’s story.

“Why isn’t your mom coming?”

But undeterred by William’s minimal response, Daniella spoke to him again.

Such scenes were common, as Daniella was usually very interested in and friendly toward William. However, right now, Daniella’s interest and goodwill weren’t particularly welcome.

Because having a father who is too busy to come is different from having a mother who can’t come because she’s not there.

William had never talked about his mother before. No one had ever asked about such things until now.

Well, perhaps he had discussed it with his friends and she just hadn’t heard.

In any case, since William was so well-behaved and diligent at school, and had never shown any particularly dark moods, Connie had told the Duke, William’s father, not to worry. But now that she was hearing this conversation, she became anxious.

I wonder what William will answer…

Connie fixed her eyes on the water bottle, pretending not to listen, while waiting for William’s response.

“People say my mom went to heaven.”

“……”

When no more words followed William’s statement, Connie slightly raised her eyes to look at the two children.

Daniella was staring quietly at William. He continued coloring without looking at Daniella, and only when he finished that letter did he finally raise his head and look at her.

As if to say, now that the important task is finished, I’m ready for a serious conversation with you.

“Your mom…… went to heaven?”

When William’s eyes finally met hers again, Daniella asked with an expression that suggested she might cry.

She looked quite shocked by this newly discovered fact.

“Yes, but I don’t really think Mom went to heaven.”

“Huh?”

Daniella blinked her tear-filled eyes as if asking what he meant, and Connie tilted her head, waiting for William’s explanation.

“I think Mom went to the underground world beneath the earth, not heaven.”

“Underground? Under the earth?”

Daniella now had a look of slight fear rather than sadness in her eyes.

“Mom was buried in the ground. I saw it that day. So Mom must have gone underground, not to heaven. She couldn’t even walk and was just lying down, so she couldn’t suddenly fly from underground to the sky…… It must be dark there……”

Daniella, whose tears had disappeared, just blinked with a blank expression, and Connie was also stunned.

Had he simply not shown it or spoken about it?

William seemed to have been shocked by witnessing his mother’s funeral and appeared to be worried about his mother buried underground.

Then what about you?

Apart from your mother, are you okay?

The question rose to the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t intrude on the children’s conversation.

She had pretended not to listen from the beginning, and had been eavesdropping secretly.

And she felt she couldn’t ask as innocently as Daniella could.

“But…… are you okay with your mom going underground?”

After a long pause, Daniella asked as if she could read Connie’s mind.

“……”

William was now applying wood glue to the sticks, and either because he was concentrating on that task or because he didn’t want to answer, he said nothing.

What does that silence mean? Does it mean he’s not okay?

Hearing William talk about his deceased mother for the first time made her heart ache.

He had seemed fine, but was he actually not okay?

Was his grief still great, as the Duke had worried?

Well…… it would be different from herself, who never had a mother from the beginning.

She never had a mother to begin with, and only knew her father’s love, which she had thought was enough.

But William was a child who had experienced his mother’s affection, so his sense of loss might be similar to what she felt when she lost her only father.

Feeling regretful and sorry for thinking William would overcome his sadness too easily, she found it difficult to look at him and lowered her head even more.

Fortunately, Daniella also seemed to observe William for a moment as he silently applied glue, then began applying glue to her own sticks.

She appeared to have sensed that it was better not to ask any more questions.

“Mom will want to see me. But other than that, I’m okay. Because I have the teacher.”

Connie, who had been thinking about what she could do for William with her head lowered, suddenly raised her head at William’s voice that came again.

Daniella also looked at William with wide eyes, surprised that he had started speaking again without her asking anything more.

But William wasn’t looking at Daniella. He was looking at Connie.

“……”

What does he mean, he’s okay because he has the teacher?

Though questions welled up in her mind, Connie could only maintain eye contact with William without saying anything.

“I like you, Teacher.”

William spoke again to Connie.

As if he knew the teacher had been listening to their entire conversation.

As if he had heard the question in the teacher’s mind and was answering it.

Even so, the question remained unresolved, and her mind only became more confused.

What does he mean, he’s okay without his mom because he has the teacher, and he likes the teacher?

“……Mmm.”

Connie unconsciously gave an awkward smile and a lukewarm response.

She didn’t know how to respond to such a sudden and unexpected statement whose meaning she couldn’t grasp.

In a way, it wasn’t that unusual a thing to say…

“I like you, Teacher” was something children in Connie’s class often said, and William in particular had said it more frequently.

Sometimes directly, sometimes through expressions and actions.

So she should have given a simple answer like “Thank you for liking me, I like you too, William,” but somehow those words wouldn’t come out.

It was because of the context in which the “I like you” had emerged.

It sounded like he was saying he was okay without his mother because he had his teacher.

It felt as if he was trying to fill the large gap left by his mother’s absence with her.

Of course, as a teacher, nothing could be more fortunate than being able to comfort a child’s pain.

But she was just a teacher, not a mother.

And one who had never even experienced having a mother.

Could she really live up to that child’s expectations?

How…… by accepting dinner invitations and such?

Would such things really be enough?

Probably not…

For her, no one could replace her father. Even after he passed away, her father remained in her memory as the only “father,” protecting her.

Ms. Lisa had become another umbrella for her, but she hadn’t filled the void left by her father.

Likewise, all she could do for William was fulfill her role as a teacher.

In the end, Connie never showed the response that William might have expected.

⁕⁕⁕

The day of the sports festival.

Connie climbed onto the platform and looked down at the people filling the field.

She had to demonstrate the warm-up exercises to the beat of the drums.

Since this was a sports festival in which students, teachers, and parents all participated together, parents also needed to do warm-up exercises, which made it essential for teachers to demonstrate.

Apparently, it was tradition for the youngest teacher, regardless of gender, to give this demonstration…

The eyes of more than 200 pairs of children and what seemed like over 300 pairs of parents were all on her.

She had gone up to the podium to receive awards before, but she had never done anything like this, facing hundreds of people head-on, so her heart was beating rapidly.

Make hazy eyes, hazy eyes.

Connie decided not to make eye contact with anyone.

She felt she might forget the next movement if she made eye contact with someone.

As soon as someone blew a whistle with a sharp sound, Connie began to move her body.

Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.

As she moved her body to the regular beat of the drums, the children, parents, and even teachers began to move their bodies following her. Surprisingly, the higher the grade, the more uniformly not only the children but also the parents followed the movements.

The most chaotic were, of course, the first-grade children and their parents.

Since these were traditional warm-up exercises, people became more familiar with them as they advanced through the grades, but first-graders had only practiced them a couple of times in class, so they were truly doing whatever they wanted.

In particular, the children in her class were in even more disarray because their homeroom teacher had come up to the platform and couldn’t guide them up close.

She wanted to finish the closing exercises quickly and run to the children.

However, even amid this chaos, a few parents particularly caught her eye.

Either because they were too excellent or too messy.

The first to catch her eye was a first-grade parent from Class 3, Prince Ryan Stanton.

He was already noticeable for being a head taller than others, and as he stretched out his long arms and legs, he looked like a moving sculpture.

Each movement was concise yet precise…

She thought that immortal masterpieces expressing the beauty of the moving human body might have been created using such humans as models, as the prince’s figure was both elegant and beautiful.

He didn’t seem to be exerting any particular effort and appeared to be doing the exercises very comfortably, yet amazingly, with each arm raise, the tendons in his forearm were clearly visible beneath his rolled-up shirt sleeves.

Moreover, she had never seen him wearing such comfortable shirts and pants before, and the combination of colors looked as if he had researched the most harmonious colors against the dirt-colored background of the field, showing an impressive fashion sense that was both comfortable and elegant.

So the “fairy tale prince” description is really true…

In the “Noble Channel,” Prince Ryan Stanton often appeared with the epithet “fairy tale prince.”

Every time she read it, she had wondered why they used such flowery language, but she never expected to empathize with that phrase while doing warm-up exercises on sports festival day.

When she first met the prince, she had been too flustered, and afterward, she had only seen him as a parent, so she hadn’t properly realized how beautiful a fairy tale prince he was until now.

Amazed by the prince’s surprisingly perfect appearance, Connie forgot her promise to maintain “hazy eyes” and not make eye contact with anyone. She stared at the prince and for a moment their eyes met.

The prince slightly nodded his head and smiled, and at that moment, his golden hair was slightly disheveled and covered his forehead, and the sunlight that hit his forehead seemed to bounce off his fallen golden hair, making it sparkle.

“……!”

What’s this? Why does a man look pretty?

Although the warm-up exercise movements were coming out automatically because she had practiced until she was proficient in order to demonstrate, this sudden appreciation made her feel strange.

Connie slightly avoided the prince’s gaze, thinking she should focus on the exercises.

But where she turned her eyes, there happened to be another neat man.

Duke Graham Wayne.

His movements were so precise and perfect that she wondered whether the Duke was following her movements or she was following the Duke’s disciplined, angular movements.

Just watching the father’s warm-up exercises made it understandable why his son William was so diligent and pursued perfection in everything.

Suddenly, she wondered why the prince and the duke were so good at the Steen exercises, and almost simultaneously, the answer came to her.

Steen Elementary School graduates!

Among the influential nobility, hardly anyone hadn’t graduated from this school.

The prince and the duke must have graduated from this school, even if they were in different grades.

Otherwise, there was no way these parents of new students could be performing these exercises more excellently than her, a teacher.

Newly impressed by the powerful influence of education, Connie put more passion into each movement.

Now it was time for the movement where she had to turn to the right, lower her upper body, then raise it while raising her arms in triumph.

“……!”

As she raised her upper body, Connie frowned at the sight of a man.

Standing motionless with his arms folded, as if just watching her demonstrate from the platform, was the red-haired Count Andrew Brightling.

His tall figure and red hair had caught her eye from the beginning, but she had deliberately avoided looking in that direction. However, when she completely turned her body, she ended up seeing him in a moment of carelessness.

And as soon as their eyes met, he smiled as if he had been waiting for it.

Ah, I hate it!

It was the same smile, but while the prince’s smile was like sweet honey, this man’s smile was like rotten lemon juice.

Well, it might not be just his current attitude that was the problem, but the accumulation of all the misdeeds this count had shown her so far, making all his actions unpleasant to see.

The contrast with the two men in front who had diligently learned the Steen warm-up exercises further reinforced her belief in the importance of education.

Through the prince and the duke, it seemed like seeing the future of Daniella and William, and through the count, a preview of what Callian would look like as an adult.

No, that can’t happen. I can’t let him grow up like that.

Callian, I’ll protect your future!

Fearing the count might make strange sounds with his mouth again, Connie quickly turned her body to the left and continued her demonstration to the rhythm, newly igniting her determination to guide the children to the best of her ability.

⁕⁕⁕

Graham Wayne, sitting in the stands with other first-grade parents, was following William with his eyes as he participated in a group game on the field.

While field events and track events were being held simultaneously, grades that had to wait their turn sometimes waited in the cheering section, but fortunately, the first grade started their field events right away.

The first event was a team competition where classes competed to throw more balls into baskets.

As he watched his son throwing balls into the basket, his eyes caught the small woman, Teacher Clarence, throwing balls among the children.

Partly because she was the only adult woman standing among twelve children, and partly because she was enthusiastically shouting “Class 3, go! Red team, fighting!”

Connie Clarence. The homeroom teacher William talked about day after day.

The woman who had completely stolen his son’s heart.

When meeting her one-on-one, she looked so young that she seemed like a student, but standing among first-grade children, she did look like an adult woman.

Why did William like that young and small teacher so much?

⟨Why do you like your homeroom teacher so much?⟩

He had asked many times.

⟨She’s as pretty as Mom.⟩

The answer was always like this.

Once, he was about to say that Mom looked completely different from the teacher, but closed his mouth when his son added, “Her smile is exactly the same. And when she pats my head, she smells nice like Mom.”

He didn’t want to ruin his son’s subjective feelings with the objective fact that “they don’t look alike” when he liked her so much.

Of course, their smiles probably didn’t resemble each other either.

Though he had never seen her smile, how could she resemble Laina when they looked so different?

He probably just liked her because she was a young, pretty teacher who treated him kindly and affectionately.

In fact, children don’t hide their feelings and openly like pretty things.

While that woman’s appearance, completely different from Laina’s, wasn’t to his taste, she did have looks that could objectively be considered pretty.

Anyway, it was fortunate. That his son had met a homeroom teacher who seemed genuinely good, not just pretty on the outside with a mediocre heart.

“Waaah!”

A cheer erupted, suggesting the game results were in.

It seemed that Class 3’s basket had the most balls.

Indeed, unlike the teachers from other classes who were throwing balls in a dignified manner, it was a predictable result just from seeing Teacher Clarence throwing balls into the basket with both hands full, more passionately than any child.

The children clapped and jumped up and down, and their homeroom teacher also jumped up and down while laughing.

Really, she’s more like a child than a teacher.

“……!”

Graham froze as he inadvertently looked at the teacher’s face as she jumped like a child and laughed.

He could understand why her smile was said to resemble…

When she smiled, really…

“She does look like…… Hmm.”

A groan escaped him without his realizing it.

A smile as warm as sunshine and as pretty as a flower was blooming in the middle of the field.

For the first time in a long while, a spring-like flutter stirred in his heart.

Despite the fact that it was almost autumn, becoming chilly, not spring.

⁕⁕⁕

Andrew was watching the children’s competition with indifference.

In fact, he only occasionally glanced at the children; most of the time, he was watching Connie Clarence who was conducting the competition next to the children.

The children were participating in a team event where they had to pass a wet sponge over their heads to the very back, then back to the front, with the first team to do so winning.

At the very front stood Duke Wayne’s son, who had been hit by Callian, and at the very back stood Callian.

Are they arranged by height?

The woman was moving tirelessly from the front to the back of the line, following the movement of the sponge, with energy coming from somewhere in that small body.

It was the moment when the sponge that started from the front reached Callian.

“Oh!”

A single exclamation burst from Andrew’s mouth as he watched Callian next to Connie.

What the hell is Callian doing?

Callian, who was trying to pass the sponge back to the child in front of him, apparently dissatisfied with something, had thrown the sponge directly onto Connie Clarence’s shoulder.

Has that kid gone crazy?

At Callian’s outrageous act, Andrew unconsciously stood up from his seat.

The one fortunate thing was that Teacher Connie quickly caught the sponge thrown at her before it fell to the ground.

If the wet sponge had fallen to the ground, it would have been covered in dirt and ruined.

The woman is small, but she has really good athletic reflexes?

“Hmph!”

A laugh escaped at the sudden thought.

The Class 3 parents sitting beside him were also murmuring about Callian’s behavior, and the prince had even stood up, making it funny that he was thinking about the teacher’s athletic abilities in this situation.

Nevertheless, the scene from just before, where the woman had impressively caught the sponge, kept flashing before his eyes.

Is a woman’s good athletic ability cute?

Probably not…

He had never seen a woman running around a field, doing strange exercises on a platform, quickly catching things thrown by children, or getting her shoulder wet twice by the same child, so he wasn’t sure…

But it’s cute.

Even such aspects of her are cute.

Am I going crazy?

Speaking of which, it’s Callian who’s really gone crazy. What is he doing? Causing a disturbance with the teacher in the middle of a competition.

Come to think of it, why is the prince standing up? It’s not even his nephew.

Andrew tilted his head sideways and glanced at the prince, then turned his face back to the field, following the prince’s gaze that was staring intently at the field.

Teacher Connie, with one shoulder wet from being hit by the wet sponge, was holding out the sponge to Callian while saying something. Callian glared at the teacher while breathing heavily, but when the teacher said something else, he finally took the sponge and passed it to the child in front.

Seeing that the situation was resolved, the prince sat down first, and Andrew sat down almost simultaneously.

The competition resumed, but due to Callian’s strange behavior, Class 3 was naturally in last place.

If it were him, he would want to give Callian, the cause of the defeat, at least a flick on the forehead, but the teacher was encouraging the disappointed children by clapping for them.

As if wanting the parents to hear too, she shouted loud enough for the stands to hear, “It’s no fun if you only win!”

Whether they win or lose, she says they did well—what nonsense.

She gets annoyed when I ask her to buy me a meal, and annoyed when I offer to buy her one.

But she praises the children no matter what they do.

You’re inconsistent, Teacher Connie.

Just then, the children finished their field events and began moving to the track. It seemed they were about to run now.

He recalled the butler’s repeated requests.

⟨The young master needs an adult to run with him. You must run with the young master, Count. I earnestly request this.⟩

He had listened indifferently then.

He said that since he was already going in place of the mom and dad, he should also hold the kid’s hand and run.

He had also told Callian, ‘Just because others all hold hands and run together doesn’t mean we have to do the same, so run alone resolutely.’

To which the child replied, ‘I never asked you to come in place of Mom and Dad.’

That was true, but…

The teacher gives praise well.

If she’s a teacher who praises even when they can’t run well, she’ll praise more when they run well.

⁕⁕⁕

From the time Connie was demonstrating warm-up exercises on the platform until this moment when she was leading the children to the track, Ryan didn’t even know which line Daniella was standing in or what position.

The purpose of his visit to Steen Elementary School’s field was not his sister, but his sister’s teacher.

Daniella would be sufficiently watched by their mother anyway.

“Ryan, I should go now.”

Ryan, who had been feeling uncomfortable recalling Count Brightling who had been giggling like a madman while watching his nephew’s strange behavior, came to his senses at his mother’s words.

“What? Where are you going?”

“To run. It’s the running event now.”

“You, Mother?”

Good heavens.

“Yes, the notice said that this year’s straight run would be done with children and mothers holding hands and running together. Apparently, the children keep stopping while running or wandering off elsewhere.”

“So you’re going to run yourself, Mother?”

Even so, Mother is the Queen, and quite elderly.

“Yes, and I can’t miss a running event, can I?”

His mother suddenly put her lips close to his ear and whispered with a voice full of pride.

Was that so? Was Mother good at running?

When he was in elementary school, there was no event where he ran holding hands with his mother.

Ah! Now that he thought about it, he vaguely remembered his mother participating as a parent representative in the relay race at a sports festival. But she was younger then…

While he was talking with his mother, other parents who were going to participate in the running were already leaving the stands.

Among them were not only mothers but also Duke Wayne and Count Brightling.

It seemed they were going in place of the children’s mothers who couldn’t come.

Hmm… if men can run instead…

“Mother, wouldn’t it be better if I ran?”

Unable to say that his mother was too old to participate, he asked without giving a reason.

Besides, she should consider the other parents running. How burdensome would it be to run with the Queen?

“No! If I hadn’t come, that would be one thing, but since I’m here, I should run. I didn’t come as the Queen, but as Daniella’s mother.”

But his mother firmly countered and headed straight for the track.

She really intended to run. I hope she doesn’t fall…

Ryan watched his mother for a moment before turning his gaze back to Connie.

Connie was lining up the children and mothers, telling them their order.

It seemed they would run four teams at a time, for a total of three races.

His mother and Daniella stood in the second line. Next to them were Count Brightling and his nephew, some unknown mother and daughter, Duke Wayne and his son…

“……!”

Ryan’s eyes suddenly focused as he surveyed the people waiting in the second line.

Duke Wayne, who had been talking with his son while waiting, had grabbed one of Connie’s arms as she passed by the second waiting line.

How dare that widowed duke!

His face nearly contorted with displeasure, but he barely held back.

However, the scene that followed finally made him frown openly.

The duke quickly released Connie’s arm, but he said something, and after exchanging a few words not only with the duke but also with his son, Connie took the hand of the duke’s son instead of the duke and stood in the second waiting line.

Duke Wayne went to the starting line, apparently to give the starting signal in place of Connie.

So, Connie was playing the role of Duke Wayne’s son’s mother, and in exchange, Duke Wayne was playing the role of the homeroom teacher…

“Ha! Haah!”

A sigh escaped that he couldn’t hold back.

Though he couldn’t hear it, what Duke Wayne had said to Connie was obvious.

He must have asked if she could hold his son’s hand and run instead of him, for his son who had no mother.

Judging by the ordinary expressions of his mother and other parents nearby, there was no room for doubt.

As a homeroom teacher, it would have been difficult for her to refuse such a request. Especially for a kind and affectionate teacher like Connie.

He knew that, and it made sense, but…

It felt unsettling.

The surface reason that Duke Wayne had asked for his son’s sake was understandable but irritating.

In fact, Duke Wayne had been irritating since the Steen exercises at the beginning of today’s sports festival.

He knew the duke was sincere in everything he did, but was he entering some kind of exercise competition?

He wasn’t a soldier, why was he making such precise angles?

He almost thought he could hear the sound of joints cracking.

Thinking about it, the fact that Duke Wayne was a parent in Connie’s class had bothered him from the beginning.

The man who was considered the kingdom’s most eligible bachelor at the time of his marriage had become a widower and a parent in Connie’s class—he instinctively disliked it.

And that instinct wasn’t entirely wrong, as he had invited Connie to dinner. Connie also said she wanted to accept that dinner.

Of course, the displeasure and anxiety were just possibilities.

But now, with the situation where he had put Connie in the position of his son’s mother…

“……!”

Ryan’s eyes widened once more as he looked at the duke’s son’s hand holding Connie’s, his mind becoming complicated.

What is that now?

Count Brightling approached Connie and said something to her.

With a body about three times her size, he stood so close that Connie had to tilt her head all the way back and take a step backward.

Ryan stood up from his seat once more.

He couldn’t remove Connie’s hand from that little boy’s grip, but he needed to get rid of that mad dog count before he bit Connie.

However, just as he was about to leave the stands, Connie pointed somewhere and got angry, and Count Brightling frowned and took a step back.

So Ryan’s feet also stopped.

He couldn’t tell exactly what was happening, but it seemed that Connie hadn’t been bitten by the mad dog but rather had driven him away.

Sitting back down, he slightly frowned as he watched Connie and the duke’s son, who had kept holding hands throughout the confrontation with the mad dog, approach the starting line.

Duke Wayne’s son and Connie.

The more he looked at it, the more uncomfortable the picture became.

⁕⁕⁕

Andrew nearly cursed right in the teacher’s face out of disbelief.

Damn it, hell, son of a bitch!

Of course, the curse wasn’t directed at the teacher.

It was aimed at that son of a bitch Graham Wayne.

He suddenly grabbed the teacher who was lining up the children and spouted nonsense like “Teacher, William says he wants to run with you, could you run with William instead of me?”

The nonsense from beside him was so absurd that he glared at the teacher’s mouth.

⟨I’m sorry, Father. I…⟩

Fortunately, Teacher Connie was in her right mind, but…

⟨Teacher, I want to run with you. It’s my wish.⟩

The duke’s son interrupted the teacher from the side.

What kind of ridiculous wish is that!

The child was acting like a professional.

⟨No, William. The teacher needs to give the starting signal and…⟩

Still, Teacher Connie, who was first-rate at drawing lines, firmly drew her line.

⟨I see… It can’t be helped. Alright, Teacher. I’ll just run with Dad… I’m fine.⟩

The little boy said he was fine with a face that looked like tears might drop at any moment, and Connie Clarence, watching this, after about two seconds of silence, made the insane statement, “No, let’s run together!”

He said he’s fine!

Why not take his word for it? Why get caught up in the obvious acting of this cunning little brat who’s saying “I’m not fine” when he clearly said he was?

For goodness’ sake! All the other kids are running with their moms, so why should a teacher who isn’t even a mother run with a child?

And what about Callian? Callian’s mom didn’t come either.

If the teacher ran with Duke Wayne’s son, Callian would be the only child running with a male adult.

So he confronted Connie Clarence. If she was going to run with the Wayne brat, she should run with Callian too.

But in the midst of his argument, Duke Wayne started the first line.

And most absurdly, Callian, who should have been standing next to him in the second line waiting for his turn, jumped in and started running ahead by himself.

Why on earth did he cut into someone else’s line and run off alone!

What a frustrating kid who can’t even coordinate!

What happened next was even more absurd.

Connie Clarence, seeing Callian run off alone, got angry at him instead, saying he had let Callian start alone.

Damn it, how is that my fault!

Duke Wayne, that bastard, arbitrarily started the first line, and Callian wrongly cut in out of turn, abandoning his uncle and running off alone.

She got so angry about letting the child run alone that he had to back down in the face of the fierce teacher’s demeanor.

She looked like she might hit him, which was so outrageous.

She always praised the children no matter what nonsense they did, but why was she so eager to eat him alive when he was the one who suffered the absurdity?

What kind of teacher has no sense of fairness?

The woman left him there, feeling like he might go crazy from the absurdity, and eventually ran off holding the hand of the duke’s son.

What kind of bullshit…!

Endless curses erupted from him.

⁕⁕⁕

Connie ran as fast as she could while holding William’s hand.

Even while running, the question “Is this right?” wouldn’t leave her mind, but she had no choice.

She was already running.

Beside her, Her Majesty the Queen was running while holding Daniella’s hand, who was slow.

The Queen ran so enthusiastically that Connie felt embarrassed about running ahead of Her Majesty.

However, she couldn’t avoid overtaking the Queen, who couldn’t gain speed because she was running with the slow Daniella.

She couldn’t neglect William out of consideration for Daniella.

Especially since he was fast enough to be selected as a class representative for the relay race.

At first, she had thought that no matter how fast he was, he was still just a first-grader, so she shouldn’t run too hard to match William’s speed, but seeing William’s competitive spirit and speed, she felt it would be fine to run enthusiastically.

In the end, she and William crossed the finish line first, followed by Her Majesty the Queen with Daniella, and finally Sana with her mother.

Sana probably came in last because the Countess was slow—Sana herself is really fast.

If not that, then perhaps the Countess had deliberately slowed down to finish after the Queen.

Sana must have felt upset.

Still, it was fortunate that her mother ran holding her hand. If she hadn’t shown up, she had planned to hold Sana’s hand and run herself…

“Teacher!”

William tugged at her hand.

“Yes?”

“We came in first!”

Seeing William’s bright smile and joy, her confused feelings about whether running with William had been the right thing to do were somewhat resolved.

In truth, she had wanted to refuse because it felt like she was being asked to play the role of “mother.” As a teacher, she wanted to comfort the child’s heart as much as possible, but not as a mother, and she worried that the child might become confused.

But she couldn’t bring herself to refuse in the face of the child’s earnest gaze.

How could she refuse when those baby deer-like eyes looked like they might fill with tears at any moment?

“Teacher, Callian keeps kicking dirt at me!”

Connie, who was gathering the children after they had all finished running and moving them to the Red team waiting area, stopped and turned around at Lorraine’s words.

Callian, standing behind Lorraine, was glaring at her with his lips pushed up to the height of his nose.

It seemed another fight had broken out.

Sigh.

It was a big problem that Callian had been in a bad mood throughout the sports festival.

All because of that relay runner selection…

Ah! Come to think of it, what was wrong with that count!

Even though Callian didn’t want it, he insisted that she should run with Callian, but then let the child run alone.

And Callian was already in a bad mood!

He’s just looking for trouble in everything.

Originally, Callian and Count Brightling should have run together in Connie’s line, but while the count was being stubborn, Callian seemed to get confused about the order and started early, so only three teams ended up running.

This is exactly why they changed it to the “running with mom” format.

Anyway, there was nothing she liked about what the count did.

She felt renewed anger at Count Brightling’s atrocities.

Looking at it carefully, he seemed more troublesome than Callian, and she was also angry about why Callian’s parents abandoned their child to the point of letting such an ill-mannered uncle take care of him.

Poor Callian.

No matter how she thought about it, Callian was also a child she needed to protect.

⁕⁕⁕

“Now it’s time for the parents’ competition. Do you remember Teacher’s explanation yesterday? Moms, dads, or any two or more adults who came to the sports festival can participate. Those whose parents said they wanted to participate in this event, bring your parents, and if they don’t want to participate, you can stay with your parents during this event and come back.”

All the field games had finished, and only the three-legged race for parents and the all-school relay race remained.

The three-legged race was a competition that could be participated in if two or more guardians came from one household.

It was a game to encourage parents’ participation in the sports festival, and it was said that traditionally at Steen Elementary School, this parents’ event had good participation and fierce competition, to the extent that medals made by the school were awarded to the winners. Naturally, the participation rate of lower-grade parents was higher.

She had informed the children several times in advance that the condition for participating in the competition was having two or more adults come. Because of this, even Natalie asked only once, “Can my mom and uncle participate in the competition instead of dad?” and as soon as Connie’s instructions ended, she set off for the stands to bring the adults.

During this event, children whose parents weren’t participating in the game were supposed to be sent to the stands to enjoy the game with their parents, and children who were participating were supposed to sit at the finish line and wait for their parents.

“Huh?”

Connie’s eyes widened as she watched the children bringing their parents, holding hands.

William was returning to the field with his father.

She had explained the competition condition of “two or more adults attending” so many times that William, of all children, couldn’t have misunderstood.

That’s strange…

Connie looked back and forth between William and the duke, and her eyes met William’s.

Small eyes staring directly at her with flushed cheeks… Ah! Could it be!

Connie suddenly shuddered at the uneasy possibility that occurred to her.

“Teacher, can’t you do the three-legged race with my dad?”

William, who had finally approached her, inevitably said what Connie had intuited.

“Teacher, I’m sorry, but could you compete with me? I didn’t bring anyone else because I wasn’t planning to participate in this event, but William is begging so earnestly.”

The duke followed William.

No, I can’t!

Connie inwardly refused and glared at the Wayne father and son.

William, why are you really like this today!

But William’s gaze as he met her eyes was so desperate. So much so that she wanted to refuse even more because of the excessive burden.

“Actually, William has been asking since morning, and I’m truly embarrassed to ask, but please.”

Duke Wayne even bowed his head as he asked.

The duke was a parent in her class. But essentially, he was still a duke. And now such a person was bowing his head and earnestly asking her.

People’s gazes focused on the duke and her.

To anyone watching, refusing would not only seem rude but even strange.

The duke was politely explaining the situation, and the fact that William had no mother was a well-known fact.

Everyone had eyes that clearly expected Connie to accept the request.

Of course, Connie knew too. Regardless of people’s gazes, refusing this request would be too cold-hearted.

So she couldn’t refuse.

“Yes, I understand.”

Since all the children had either gone to find their parents in the stands or were being managed by the finish line teacher, Connie couldn’t use the excuse that she needed to manage the children, so she had no choice but to accept.

⁕⁕⁕

“Ryan, when I say ‘one,’ right foot, when I say ‘two,’ left foot. Got it?”

Ryan, with his foot tied to his mother’s, barely heard his mother’s earnest instructions.

“Now, let’s practice!”

He hadn’t known his mother was this passionate about sports.

“On ‘one,’ my right foot and your left foot, on ‘two,’ my left foot and your right foot. I understand. We don’t need to practice…”

All his attention was on Connie, who was practicing vigorously with her foot tied to Duke Wayne, so what practice?

Duke Wayne seemed suspicious no matter what.

He had felt uneasy during the “running with mother” event, and now the duke had created a situation where he even had his hand on Connie’s shoulder.

In the three-legged race, the taller person inevitably had to put their hand on the shorter person’s shoulder, and the shorter person had to put their arm around the taller person’s waist.

And that made him even more furious.

“Ryan! What are you saying! We must win the medal. Do you know how upset I was when we lost to the homeroom teacher’s team in the running event earlier? This time, we will definitely win the medal.”

“Mother…”

Is this why I came to the sports festival?

To do a three-legged race with my mother while watching with my own eyes as Connie competes with a widowed duke?

For the first time in years, he felt resentful toward his mother.

Why was she so serious about her daughter’s sports festival?

“When you were in first grade, I won a medal with your father, but this time your father couldn’t come. Since your father couldn’t come, we must at least win a medal!”

“…!”

Ryan momentarily cleared his thoughts of the duke and Connie as he listened to his mother’s determined resolve.

A memory he had forgotten suddenly came back to him.

His mother had attended every sports festival without missing a single one until he graduated from Steen Elementary School 14 years ago, and she had participated in this three-legged race every time.

Since his father came only once, she had tied her leg to a palace servant instead of his father every time, just like this.

She had participated in every possible event for parents, giving her best, which is why she would be bedridden the day after the sports festival.

Now that she was older, she would probably be even more ill tomorrow.

At the sports festival, his mother was not Her Highness the Queen.

She was just Ryan Stanton’s mom, one of hundreds of parents.

How could he have forgotten such memories?

In this three-legged race, his mother had won as many as three times throughout his five years at this school, and despite the fact that the medals from Steen Elementary School were still plainly framed and hanging in his room…

The medals had become like wallpaper, causing his memory to fade, and today all his attention had been on Connie Clarence.

In truth, he had come to Daniella’s sports festival to see Connie, not for this three-legged race.

However, that woman over there, whom he first learned about three years ago and recently realized he liked, wasn’t the only important person to him.

His mother, who had loved him for 25 years, was also an important person.

The fact that he had momentarily considered his mother’s feelings as cumbersome brought back a cold rationality along with a painful reflection.

“Of course we must take the medal home! Let’s practice, Mother!”

Once the memory of the framed medals in his room and his mother gritting her teeth to win them came back to him, he had to change his goal for a moment.

To winning this competition.

Because that was his minimum courtesy and duty toward his mother, who had always put her son first in every moment.

And if he had to add one more reason… Duke Wayne! I will definitely beat that guy.

⁕⁕⁕

Connie’s mind was in turmoil.

Why was she standing at the starting line for the three-legged race with William’s father?

Just like during the “running with mother” event, she was confused about whether this was the right choice.

Why were William and the duke so obsessed with these competitions?

“On ‘one,’ left foot, on ‘two,’ right foot.”

The duke reminded her of the signal for coordinating their steps from beside her.

“Yes!”

Connie answered while trying to focus her mind.

Regardless of how strange this situation was, now that she had entered the competition, she needed to do her best.

About 50 teams were participating in the competition, and they were spread out widely across the field, waiting to determine the winner in a single race.

Even if she didn’t aim for victory, she needed to stay alert to avoid falling.

Tweeet!

With the whistle sound, all teams at the starting line began at once.

“One, two, one, two.”

Listening to the duke’s voice, Connie put aside all thoughts and focused only on left foot, right foot.

The start was fine. Even until the middle part.

No team was visible ahead of her and the duke.

But was it when they had about 20 meters left to the finish line?

Just as she thought she heard a middle-aged woman’s voice mixed with rough breathing that differed from the duke’s “one, two, one, two” signal, Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness the Prince’s team began to overtake her team.

She nearly stopped her feet in admiration of the momentum of the two people ahead.

“Teacher?”

At the duke’s voice, Connie regained her focus and started to follow behind the Queen’s team, matching her disrupted breathing again.

However, since the Queen’s team sprinted at full power without a single misstep until the end, the duke and Connie ultimately had to cross the finish line in second place.

The moment they crossed the finish line first, Her Majesty the Queen raised both arms high and cheered, then hugged Daniella, who had been waiting at the front and ran to her mother, and kissed her on the cheek. Meanwhile, His Highness the Prince, having untied the string, took his sister from their mother and spun her around.

“……”

While waiting for the duke to untie the string around her ankle, Connie somehow found it difficult to take her eyes off the three people: Daniella, the Queen, and the Prince.

It might have been because of Her Majesty the Queen, who had thrown away her position as queen and overcome the relative lack of physical strength due to age, acting solely as a mother, or perhaps her gaze was captured by His Highness the Prince, who was now holding his tired mother tightly in his arms like a child after spinning his sister.

“Beautiful……”

Words of admiration flowed out without her realizing it.

In truth, she wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking at when she said “beautiful,” but at that moment, her eyes were on the prince.

Beautiful… the prince?

Feeling awkward upon hearing her own voice, Connie shifted her gaze to Daniella’s face, who was giggling as she was being held alternately by her brother and mother.

That’s right, the princess is beautiful.

The prince resembles the princess, so he’s beautiful… huh? What am I saying?

“Thank you for your hard work, Teacher, thank you.”

At the duke’s greeting as he stood up after untying the string, Connie finally snapped back to her senses and turned her gaze away from the royal family, to whom she had been sticking like glue, to look at the duke.

“Yes. You worked hard too, Father.”

Feeling as if she had been caught staring at the royal family in a daze, Connie answered the greeting with an unnecessarily raised voice.

“Teacher! Dad and you got second place. I’m so happy!”

William, who had been waiting quietly until now, finally smiled broadly and spoke.

“…!”

Seeing William’s reaction, so different from Daniella’s, she felt strange.

She felt something like lemon juice spreading in her chest.

A slightly sore, painful, and tingling feeling.

William, after begging me so much to make me participate in the three-legged race, why are you rejoicing so awkwardly and shyly?

Connie’s gaze turned once more to Daniella, who was in Her Majesty the Queen’s arms.

Daniella was now being held by her mother again, receiving kisses on her cheek from her brother.

With a face so happy, not yet knowing any deficiency, sadness, or loss.

Turning her gaze to William, Connie slowly knelt down to match his eye level.

William quietly stared at his teacher, who was now at his eye level, with round eyes.

A gaze that seemed somewhat hesitant, a feeling of wanting to step forward more but hesitating.

“William, may I hug you?”

“……”

William’s round eyes suddenly grew larger.

“I’d like to.”

The moment after she spoke again to William, who hadn’t answered, William rushed into her arms.

Connie also hugged William tightly.

A child who still needed a mother’s love like Daniella.

A child who pretended to be fine while hiding the sadness of a departed mother in his heart.

But she could fully feel the heart of a child who wanted to fill that emptiness even through a teacher.

Now finally…

I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

Thinking she couldn’t fill the space of a mother, she had found the child’s affection burdensome and cautious. But that was the wrong thought.

She just needed to give the love she could give.

There was no need to fear or worry that it might be insufficient for the child.

If she gave nothing at all because she couldn’t give completely, that would be more dangerous.

William’s sadness wouldn’t be healed in a single moment.

As small moments of happiness, joy, and feeling loved accumulated, the deficiency and sadness would gradually reduce in volume.

So for today, no, at least for this moment, if this child could feel pure happiness because of her, wouldn’t that be okay?

Because even for just one more moment, the child should be happy.

Because he should be loved by as many people as possible.

“I’m really happy because William is happy. And you know what, Teacher really likes William too.”

Connie finally said the words she couldn’t say two days ago.

William silently burrowed deeper into Connie’s embrace.

Connie felt tears welling up as she felt the child’s warm and cozy embrace.

Strangely, while hugging William, it felt like the young Connie hidden inside herself was also being comforted.

However, Connie was completely unaware that while she was absorbed in happiness, tightly hugging William, Daniella’s brother, who had already fully enjoyed the joy of victory and contained his emotions, was watching her, and that the father was observing the teacher who was hugging his son with trembling eyes.

⁕⁕⁕

Andrew Brightling burst into a laugh of derision as he watched the field where the three-legged race was taking place.

Wow, I’m really seeing all sorts of things.

That Duke Wayne, a single father with a child, was shamelessly competing with Connie Clarence in that race.

Seeing that bastard duke with his arm around Connie Clarence’s shoulder made his neck tense and the back of his head tight.

As he supported his nape with one hand and turned his head from side to side, he spotted the duke’s son sitting at the finish line.

Really cunning, that kid.

Though he didn’t know why Callian had hit him, looking at him now, he seemed like someone who deserved a beating.

From the “running with mother” event to this current race. Both times, he had inserted Connie Clarence into the empty mother’s spot.

Using the weakness of not having a mother as a weapon to cross Connie Clarence’s clear line twice.

At that level, aren’t the son and father almost like a ducal team?

Unlike Duke Wayne’s son, Callian, whether he had thoughts in his head or not, hadn’t even asked him to participate in the race.

“Hmm.”

A displeased sigh escaped him.

If Callian had asked him to participate, it could have been him tied to Connie Clarence and running.

Well, that wouldn’t have happened either.

It seemed that what blurred that woman’s line, or allowed someone to cross over it, was when it became entangled with a child’s plea or tears, maternal love, paternal love, things like that.

These were things that didn’t apply at all to Callian, who had no interest in the teacher, or to himself, who had no children.

Really, what a strange situation where you need a child to cross a line drawn by a woman.

He felt newly displeased with Callian, who had no interest in the teacher.

Callian was staring intently at the field.

Even though he hadn’t asked to participate in that race, what was he watching so earnestly?

Oh right! Why did this kid run off alone earlier?

“Hey, Callian.”

“……”

Curious about the reason, he called his nephew, but Callian didn’t even turn his eyes, let alone answer.

This is why this kid is problematic.

“Hey!”

“Ah, what!”

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“What does it matter to you, Uncle?”

This kid!

Andrew clenched his molars tightly.

“You, why did you start running early earlier? You were supposed to run with me, so why did you run off alone?”

Just as he was thinking he should really give Callian a smack for not answering again and turned his body sharply, Andrew blinked in embarrassment.

“Why are you crying?”

Tears were welling up in Callian’s eyes.

“I’m not crying!”

“Hey, tears are about to fall right now, what do you mean you’re not crying! Did someone hit you?”

“No, no! You don’t need to know!”

That’s not something I don’t need to know?

“Hey! Tell me, and I’ll beat them all up for you.”

“……”

A tear finally dropped from Callian’s eyes.

Who the hell is it!

Who made my nephew like this!

Seeing Callian glaring at the field with tears flowing made him feel both ridiculous and furious at the same time.

“Daniella, Daniella, waaah, Daniella… waaah.”

“Huh? What are you…!”

He suddenly realized.

The one who made Callian cry wasn’t a boy, but a girl named Daniella.

But Daniella…?

A name I’ve heard often?

Ah!

Andrew looked at the field.

By now, the competition had ended, and the Queen, Prince, and Princess, who must have won first place, were hugging, kissing, and making a fuss.

Daniella Stanton.

The princess’s name.

He remembered the name that had been appearing in the Kingdom of Greet’s daily newspapers almost every day since her birth.

Come to think of it, wasn’t that also the name of the girl Teacher Connie mentioned when she visited his home before?

So, the one who made my nephew cry, not a boy but a girl, is Daniella, that princess?

“Did the princess hit you?”

She doesn’t look that strong…

Rather, the princess looked small and frail, not even looking like a first-grader.

“Is Uncle stupid?”

Suddenly wiping away his tears, Callian glared at Andrew and shouted loudly.

“What are you saying, you brat.”

“Why would Daniella hit me! Daniella is a princess, and princesses don’t hit anyone!”

“Princesses what? Really, who says that?”

“Princesses are just like that, Daniella said so.”

Talking like a princess herself.

“Then why are you crying?”

“Girls like boys who are good at running, but I lost!”

“…?”

It was difficult to follow Callian’s way of speaking or understand what he was saying.

“What running? You didn’t run with the princess earlier but ran ahead by yourself.”

“Who said I wanted to run with her? Tch! And Uncle originally told me to run alone anyway.”

“I said I would run with you again!”

“… I wanted to show her my running!”

Callian suddenly said, breathing heavily.

“…?”

He ran ahead because he wanted to show her?

“I was originally going to participate in the relay race, but I lost to William, so I couldn’t!”

Callian’s voice was sullen.

“……”

So the princess had said she liked boys who were good at running, and Callian, having heard this, wanted to impress the princess by becoming a relay runner, but he had lost to William.

Come to think of it, Duke Wayne’s son’s name was William.

So that drawing incident also happened between William and the princess.

Ah, this is really infuriating?

That widowed duke is embracing the teacher and competing, and that little William beat Callian and made him cry.

He pressed firmly on the back of his neck again and cracked it sharply left and right.

Then suddenly he looked at Callian again.

He remembered the strange thing this kid had said earlier.

“What did you say earlier? That girls like boys who are good at running?”

“Yeah, that’s what they say.”

Making all sorts of nonsensical statements.

“Where did you hear that?”

“Natalie said so.”

Natalie? Ah! That annoying bundle of questions girl.

Really, a girl who looks like she wouldn’t even walk fast, let alone run, in her entire life is saying such nonsense.

“Hey! That’s nonsense. What would little kids know?”

“No! Natalie’s mom said that men with good bodies are cool men.”

“What? Good bodies?”

“Yeah, people with good bodies are good at running and good at everything else too, and women like such men, she said.”

Really, that mother taught her first-grade daughter something nice.

He turned his gaze to the field with a derisive smile, finding it absurd.

Teacher Connie was hugging the duke’s son.

Why is that woman making such a fuss hugging someone else’s son again?

“It’s not nonsense! Look at that. Daniella is looking at William too, and the teacher is hugging William!”

As if on cue, Callian spoke pointedly beside him, apparently having seen what his teacher was doing.

“The teacher isn’t doing it for that reason.”

Childishly, it couldn’t be for such a reason.

That’s true, but… why is she hugging him so tightly as if he were her own child?

⟨Women like men who are good at running.⟩

Why does this nonsensical statement keep coming to mind?

Ah, really all sorts of…!

It was a miserable sports festival.